A Life Beyond by Mark Church (ebook reader web TXT) 📕

over there' Lucas smiled as he watched the trio stumble their way through the darkened room, Harvey slamming his shin into the bench with a ‘THUD’ as he walked forward, trying to find where he needed to sit,

'OUCH!, Now that's my leg broken, what's next?, attacked by a pack of dogs maybe?...or eaten by a group of sharp toothed butterflies!!'

Daniel laughed at Harvey's over the top reaction to hitting his shin and told him to shut up as he needed to find answers to why they were all here, Lucas knew that Daniel would need to know about why they had ended up in a strange new world and spoke to him before he had a chance to ask,

'I know what you want to ask young Daniel...' Lucas started

'And I promise I will be as helpful as I can in the time we have but time is very limited for you all here, in this house I mean, as even as we speak you are all being hunted for who you are related to, so I will allow us to have some time together, for you all to rest and for me to help you understand why you are here but by first light I must send you on your way so you can complete the final part of your journey'.

'I do have a lot of questions I need answering Lucas so thank you for helping us' Daniel smiled as he knew they weren't far from finding out the truth about what was going on here,

'But first I just need to give us the time I need to be able to explain to you what is going on, so if you'll excuse me I'll be back in just a minute..' He stood up from his oversized chair and off Lucas went into the room at the far end of the room, grumbling as he went, moaning about his knees and back.

'What the heck is going on now!!' Harvey asked as he knew his sight had returned now and he was able to see where they were and what was in the room,

'I hope it's to make food, I'm starving!!' He moaned again as his stomach rumbled in the quietness of the room. Lillie just sat there seemingly frozen to the spot, not daring to move in case anything jumped out on them, which in this world they didn't know could actually happen

'I don't like this Daniel...You know how much I hate the dark, He needs more lights..' It seemed if Lillies words had been heard once again as one of the lanterns that had been left inside the room by Lucas lit up at the sound of her voice.

'Look at that...it's happened again' Smiling as her words seemed to bring light to even the darkest of rooms which made her slightly more at ease with her surroundings as she could now see what was in the room with her, which wasn't very much apart from some darkened photographs which sat alongside her on a table made out of a fallen log, she couldn't make out the other faces in the picture as they seemed to have been faded by time but she could make out that Lucas was in the picture with two other people, she picked it up to take a closer look, it seemed that one, if not both of the people in the picture must be a relation to Lucas as they were all huddled together as you would expect when having a picture taken, she smiled as she could see how happy Lucas was in it, but her attention was broken by Lucas standing close to her he knew what she was looking at so he decided to let her know about the picture,

'That's a picture of my family Lillie, it's the only one I have now...' He sighed as he took the picture out of Lillies hand and stared lovingly at it,

'You see they were taken from this town, and me, many years ago during one of the most brutal wars we had ever witnessed here, In this picture are my wife Tira and daughter Sula, I do miss them so much, I don't know what has happened to them and I'd give anything to find out whether they are alive or…..' He couldn't bear to carry on the sentence for fear of showing weakness in front of his young guests.

'Anyhow…..' Lucas pulled himself together, put the picture down beside the chair and turned his attention back to the children,

'Right younglings I'll do my best to answer any questions you may have, I might not be able to answer every question you have as my knowledge is somewhat limited but remember time is short and you must rest also'.

Harvey's inquisitive mind meant he was first to ask Lucas a question about where they were,

'So as you know already we have been brought here by goodness knows what to find whoever it is we are meant to find and I know it has something to do with their dad but I do have one question I'd like answering...What are these Fourteen Bells all about?? I asked that lady in the cottage but she didn't answer my question so maybe you could help'

'Ahhhh yes, ‘The Fourteen Bells of Peace’, well there isn't much can tell you about them for the safety and protection of them but they are the key to peace in this land…' Lucas carefully choosing his words as all three of the children edged closer to him, listening intently as he carried on explaining about the origin of the bells,

'You see the ‘Fourteen Bells’ had been hidden on this land for as long as anyone can remember, well I say Fourteen Bells as that was their original name.

Over the centuries their numbers have diminished from the wars which have plagued our land, there is now only four left.

Inscribed on each of the bells is a passage written by the original founders of Erwin, a group of peacekeepers who swore that no harm would come to such a beautiful world while the bells still hung, but as the founders were a peaceful race they swore that if they ever fell, all fourteen of them, then the land would become lost to the dark, and whatever evil forces roamed this peaceful land would be able to wreak havoc on who or whatever was here at the time…..'.

Daniel was listening intently to Lucas’s explanation waiting for his chance to ask some questions but Lucas was still talking and explaining the history of the Fourteen Bells to Harvey,

'...So the bells had to be protected from harm in the only way the founders knew, they constructed a mighty army made of stone, faceless warriors who stood as high as the tallest trees in the forest, ready to protect the secrets of the land, their numbers hid the entrance to the caves where the bells hung, forming a shield of stone so nothing could penetrate them. They would stand dormant for many years, standing guard, never moving, until an act of war triggered the keepers of the ‘Book of the Silent’, which was the statues are known as ‘The Silent’ to them but to us we know them as ‘The Overgaard’, to use the book to bring the surviving Protectors ‘alive’ and ready to stop whatever forces were trying to gain control of our world, the book controlled the statues themselves. Whoever read the sacred script held within the pages of the book would then be in complete control of the stone army but the book couldn't be read by just anyone, you see for anyone who actually gets to read from the book will be met with blank pages as it's said that the book has to read you before it can be read, that's why no one knows where the book is hidden so as to keep peace on our land'.

'Wow that's a bit of a long story, but what does it have to do with us, and what do you know about my father?' Daniel felt the need to step in now as he was desperate to find out some answers for himself.

'Well, master Daniel, I was just getting to that part, as the legend goes the Peacekeepers predicted that if the number of bells ever dwindled to almost none then ‘The Leader of Three’ would appear to oversee the protection of the land, any of these ‘Three’ could access the book and use it for good, so just after the first real big war your Father was paraded through the town with two other people.

These three were chosen as our protectors, one I'm told was his brother and the other one is still unknown to this day, but it seems they weren't able to work together as a team and eventually there was a fall out between them which sent them in different directions, they never heard from each other again and the land was once again waiting for the arrival of another ‘Three’ but we have been waiting years for them to come along until….' Lucas looked up at the children who were hanging on his every world until the penny seemed to drop for Daniel who looked up at Lucas, a twinkle lit up his eyes knowing there was something good about all this,

'Oh you mean us!!....We are ‘The Three’ that's what you're saying, but we don't know anything, how are we supposed to help?'.

Daniel seemed to be struggling now with this new information but Lucas tried his best to reassure Daniel, Harvey was too busy looking round the room watching some sort of flying insect looping it's way in front of him which caused him to laugh out loud,

'Have you seen this fly thingy?, It's going nuts here!!...' Harvey was too distracted to hear the news that would shape their new future so Lillie slapped him on the arm to get his attention back,

'Will you listen Harvey, have you not heard anything Lucas has been telling us? We are supposed to be the ones to help keep peace here'

Harvey's eyes lit up as all he could think of was holding huge weapons and fighting off dragons and whatever else was out there, a

smile spread across his face as his head shot round to Daniel, he couldn't stop grinning as he was hitting Daniel's arm constantly,

'I told you something was special about us!!....and you never listened, I was right all along Dan!!'

'Stop hitting me Harv, something doesn't feel right to me, So Lucas what can you tell me about my...sorry OUR father?, I don't feel we know enough to understand what's going on here' Daniel felt he needed to ask as a lifetime was passing him by without him really knowing about his father,

'Well unfortunately I personally don't know much about your father...' Lucas felt slightly sad that he opulent answer some of the questions Daniel was asking him,

'...but I do know that he is a most fearsome warrior of immense power and strength who will stop at nothing to protect this town and its people, he has rarely been seen here, only during battle does he ever show himself, it's like he has to stay in the shadows, only appearing when he senses that the tide is turning in the battle of the town. I was personally picked by him to stay here in this house and make sure that the secrets of the land stay out of the clutches of evil, this house is central to the safety of Vaymia, I have been sworn to protect this house and the secrets it holds deep within, and I will fight for it with my last breath' Defiantly Lucas pumped his fist to show his loyalty to protecting his home and the land he loved, Harvey sniggered behind Daniel's back before whispering to him,

'Blimey Dan...Bit over the top that wasn't it?, is he for real?'

Daniel wasn't concentrating on Harvey as he felt that Lucas