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

our paths will cross again after tomorrow, but now rest and I will come for you in the morning'.

And with that Lucas walked out of the door, he turned round just before shutting it wondering how the futures of these three children would turn out, he smiled, shaking his head as the door slammed shut, he locked the door and walked out across the yard muttering to himself as he went,

'I'm sure it will all work out..' he said as he reached the other door and walked through it, closing it solidly behind him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Eleven

The Final Journey

 

 

Bucksy’s tail was wagging as him and Daniel were standing in the middle of a field surrounded by the tallest trees that reach up to the heavens as far as the eye could see, the sun shining brightly casting shadows across the ground as the wind blew through the grass gently almost as if it were dancing to the beat of the earth itself, Daniel was at the edge of the field looking like he didn't have a care in the world as he was throwing his favourite ball to Bucksy who barked with happiness at his toy being thrown for him to catch.

'Good boy...Go on fetch this one' Daniel threw the ball as hard as he could across the field as his friend ran off into the distance barking as he chased his ball.

'Bucksy….Bucks...come back...here boy come on' shouted Daniel as he could hear Bucksy barking from the other side of the field, he picked up the ball in his mouth, tail still wagging as he chewed down on it, Daniel kept shouting to his dog to return but Bucksy just sat there facing the other way, still wagging his tail, so Daniel set off across the field towards him but the more he walked he could see he wasn't actually getting anywhere, he started to run as fast as he could but Bucksy got further and further away, now Daniel was panicking as he couldn't reach his friend shouting as he went,

'BUCKSY….BUCKS...please come back...Please…..' His words had no effect, then everything went black around him as a voice came through the darkness, it spoke only a few words in a wispy way,

'Choose the path…...reveal the power…' Then it was gone and blackness fell completely.

Daniel sat bolt upright in the chair where he had fallen asleep looking rather bleary eyed as he searched the room for the other two,

'Bucks…' he murmured as he realised it was all a dream, he was back in Lucas’s house with Lillie asleep in one corner, laying on top of a pile of warm looking sheets, and Harvey snoring his head off in the other corner occasionally talking in his sleep,

'Mummy...bacon….yeah' he mumbled as Daniel just stared at him trying to contain his sniggering as he turned to Lillie who was stirring from her sleep,

'Morning sis' greeted Daniel, he kind of guessed it was morning by the most brilliant rays of sunlight streaming through the cracks in the curtains and blinds covering the windows, feeling the warmth on his face as he sat up and stretched,

'Morning Daniel, are you ok?, you look like something's happened, bad dream?' she asked as Daniel sighed and smiled weakly in Lillies direction,

'Dreamt about Bucksy last night, I miss him so much, it's the first time I've thought about him properly since we've been here, guess I've been kind of side-tracked in some way' He explained, sounding heavy hearted as he told Lillie about his dream,

'Oh plus I heard another voice just before I woke up, it was to calling me, something about ‘choosing a path and revealing the power’, bit weird I'd say'

'I wouldn't call anything weird in this place Daniel, that's probably the most normal thing that happens here, Keep it to yourself though, Let's not tell Lucas about it' Lillie sort of warned Daniel about sharing the contents of his dream in case Lucas wasn't all he claimed to be.

'Yeah you're right sis, this is just between us and Harv…' He trailed off as he turned to Harvey who was still snoring his head off, a drool patch covering his pillow, the occasional smile spreading across his face,

'Wonder what he's dreaming about?' Laughed Daniel as he looked towards Lillie once again,

'My guess is food' Lillie laughed as she stood up from her makeshift bed walked around the room towards the door and stretched her arms out wide before yawning away rather loudly which seemed to cause Harvey to wake up from his sleep.

Harvey looked still half asleep as he spread out across the chair, his body going as stiff as a board as he stretched,

'What did you wake me for?, I was having such a good dream' He moaned as he stretched for the last time before sitting up, his hair looking all over the place, he wiped the wet patch from around his mouth before looking around the room for something to eat,

'Is there any food in here?, I'm starving' he asked as his stomach rumbled louder with each passing minute,

'Is that all you think about Harvey? You're a pig!!' Lillie moaned at him as all she had heard recently was about how hungry he was,

'Takes one to know one Lillie' Laughed Harvey as he felt the full force of a pillow whack him round the head from behind,

'Owww…' He cried, 'What did you do that for?, I was only messing'

'You deserved that, trust me, I wanted to do that to you during the night to try and stop you snoring, and you’re so loud!!' Lillie barked at Harvey, knowing it would only wind him up further before he would get angry and accidentally break something,

'Whatever Lillie..' snarled Harvey as he turned away to grab a pillow, he swung round in a flash and threw it as hard as he could towards Lillie, she moved like lightning to avoid it just as the door opened and in walked Lucas who took the full force of the pillow right in the face,

'OOFF' Lucas winced as he was hit square on the nose.

Harvey’s mouth dropped as he realised what he had done, Daniel on the other hand burst out laughing at the sight of Lucas standing there looking rather annoyed at what had just happened.

'I hope that wasn't really meant for me Harvey otherwise I'd of made you go eat with the Groggles outside my boy, come to mention it you do seem to look like one of them, I think I'll name it after you!!',

'It was meant for Lillie but she was too quick, I'm sorry Lucas, totally my fault' an embarrassed Harvey replied hanging his head in shame as Lucas towered over him shaking his head,

'You must learn to tolerate each other as a three otherwise you may not end up on the right path, learn to accept each other's failings and embrace your future' Lucas said wagging a giant finger at all three of the children who were just standing there looking at him as he spoke,

'We will do our best Lucas, I will try to keep us all together, I just hope Bucksy is safe, I need to find him now, he's the reason why we are all here' Daniel felt a sense of sadness as he spoke of his most loyal companion but also hope, hope that they would be reunited soon, he knew he couldn't be far away now, Lucas sensed the sadness Daniel was feeling so he felt the only way was to distract him,

'Right my young friend's, it is time…'

'Time for what Lucas?? Breakfast?...I'm starving!!' Moaned Harvey as he held his stomach,

'I mean it's time you three went on your way, the spell is close to ending and once it does you will be visible to everyone in this land, so please you must follow me to the Under Land' Lucas was now looking slightly agitated as he knew they must go now otherwise their presence would bring all sorts of evil to Erwin,

'What's the Under Land?, sounds horrible' Lillie asked as all these new places seemed to confuse them all,

'The Under Land…' Lucas explained ' is the network of tunnels created under this town, we have used them on many occasions to flee the wars, there are three routes, one leads to the edge of the other side of the forest, the second goes deep into the heart of the mountains, and the third…..well it can only be accessed by a few special people',

'Why is that one so special?' Daniel asked, looking quizzically at Lucas,

'Well Daniel that tunnel leads deep into the belly of this town, it descends thousands of feet below Erwin then spreads out across the land in all directions just in case anyone evil manages to somehow find a way in, it is rigged with all sorts of traps and challenges and there are numerous tunnels leading off into nowhere, but only the few can walk straight through each one as it leads to the Bells, It's a hazardous walk that only a few have made and lived to tell the tale' explained Lucas,

'But now children no more questions as it's time...I have packed you each a small sack with enough food to keep you going on the rest of your way, I have given you each one of the Lanterns from the courtyard but they are just normal lanterns to you as you need to learn their characters and let them become attached to you, I can give you no directions on where you need to go but can only ask that you make your own choices from now on and please above all else….choose the right path'.

'That easy then!!' Laughed Harvey as he felt they were on an impossible journey and likely to come into harm,

'Shut up Harv…' hissed Daniel as he stepped forward towards Lucas and thanked him for everything he had done,

'Please follow me now children, the Under Land awaits and you must go now, follow me and I will lead you to the beginning of the final journey' Off Lucas strode to a side door in the room, he tugged it open and walked down the stairs into the darkened room below, beckoning the children forward to follow him as he lit a lantern which shone his shadow onto the wall making him seem even larger, he pulled back a group of boxes stacked against the wall and whispered at the wall not loud enough for the children to hear and the wall groaned, creaked and clicked as it opened up in front of them all to reveal the start of a tunnel which stretched as far as the eye could see,

'Welcome to the Under Land children…' beamed Lucas as he gestured the children to the entrance of the tunnel.

'Y..you want us to go in there??' Lillie asked nervously as she didn't feel safe seeing how deep it went and just how dark it seemed,

'It's fine…' Lucas said, doing his best to reassure the children, 'I promise you...These tunnels are as safe as any other place in this land, No one knows they are here, Now you must go inside and begin what must end',

'Are there any dangerous creatures in the tunnels though?, I don't fancy being something’s dinner!' Harvey said in a scared but jokey tone,

'There may be a few creatures down there but nothing that will harm you, you have my word on that' Lucas smiling as wide as his mouth would allow him, revealing his oversized teeth to the children who just stared at him in amazement,

'Blimey Dan have you seen the size of those!!' Harvey sniggered at the size of Lucas’s teeth which to him looked like a row of dirty old spades.

Daniel told Harvey to be quiet as he just stared straight ahead, looking deep into the blackness of the tunnel in front of him, he turned to Lucas who was trying to move the children along, knowing this might be the last chance he had to speak to