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

steps ended and the children were greeted by the sight of about six doors, all identical and bearing the crest of the castle on them. As they stood there looking round Daniel realised he couldn't see Harvey anywhere,

'Harv…' he whispered gently 'Harv...where are you?' but no answer, it was creepily silent where they were standing, the only sound they could hear was what sounded like a dripping tap and the occasional moaning coming from behind the walls, Daniel and Lillie slowly stepped towards the first door making sure their footsteps didn't make

any sound, Lillie reached out her hand to lift the latch on the first door to see if they could spot Harvey, just as the door creaked open…

'WAHHHH…' Harvey jumped out from the darkness and scared the living daylights out of them both sending them crashing to the floor.

'HAHAHAHA....' laughed Harvey who was doubled over in laughter, 'Oh that's so funny...you should of seen your faces hahaha', Lillie dragged herself up off the floor and lunged at Harvey grabbing him by the scruff of the neck, pressing her nose up against his,

'NOT...AT ALL...FUNNY!!!' Lillie scolded Harvey as he stood there looking deep into her eyes and could see the anger building inside of her.

'It...It was just a j..joke!!' Harvey felt his whole body go limp with fear as he had a feeling he had overstepped the mark this time,

'Oh yes. It’s so blooming funny to have someone jump out on me in the pitch black and in a place we've never been to before, you've gone too far this time Harvey!!' Lillie’s patience with Harvey had finally snapped and she felt he needed to be taken down a peg or two,

'I'm sorry!!!...' Harvey whimpered 'I didn't mean to scare you both that badly!!', Daniel dusted himself down and felt he needed to say something but knew that he needed to stay calmer than his sister was,

'Look Harv...You really are starting to annoy everyone here so please just stop with all the scaring, it's starting to wear thin and I'm not in the mood for you're totally unfunny jokes now'

'Y.y..yes Daniel...I promise I'll stop it from now on, just call Lillie off, I don't fancy my good looks being damaged' Harvey tried to push Lillie off but she was far too strong,

'Lillie...Let him go please!!' Daniel said but Lillie was still burning her eyes into Harvey's scared face,

'Lillie!!!!, Leave him please, he's had enough!!' Daniel pulled Lillie’s arms off his friend as she took a step back and angrily replied,

'Last warning Harvey...Last warning!!!', Lillie turned towards Daniel still looking angry so she didn't notice the evil glint that was present in Harvey's eyes and had spread across his face now, it seemed something had taken over him for a second as he heard a voice in his head saying ‘good. Good, it's working….’, then it was gone and he seemed to forget about it.

Their attention was taken by a groaning noise coming from a room hidden deep in the darkened corner of the corridor,

'What's that noise?, where's it coming from?' Harvey asked,

'Sounds like someone in pain!!' Daniel answered back, as the trio made their way towards the corner and into the darkness feeling their way along the wall.

Inside the room the King's son was becoming restless on the bed, his body twitching with every movement, the doctor in the room noticed this and stood there scratching his head as he watched his wounds beginning to heal faster with every passing second,

'What is going on here now??' the doctor asked himself 'why are his wounds healing much faster?, I must go and find the King!!' He said as he made his way towards the door.

On the other side of the door the children were looking for a way in when they heard a noise like something unlocking right next to where they were standing, they all looked at each other in panic and scattered into the other rooms just as a secret door flung open and out strode the doctor who was now in search of the King, the doctor forgot to close up the secret door as he speedily climbed the stairs and off out of earshot.

Daniel was the first to slowly open his door followed by Lillie and finally Harvey made an appearance by accidentally slamming the door shut behind him which echoed through the halls and up the stairs causing Lillie and Daniel to stare at him angrily before their attention turned towards the secret door.

The three children stood there looking at the door wondering what lie inside,

'Sh...Should we take a look inside?' Harvey's voice got slightly squeakier as he began to worry about what was inside, Lillie slowly stepped forwards, edging ever closer to the door which was slowly creaking on its hinges due to the light draught swirling around the room,

'Shhh...I'll take a look!!' Lillie gestured to the boy's to stay put,

'Be careful sis..' Daniel held his hands up to his face as he watched his sister edge ever closer.

As she reached the entrance to the hidden room she took a deep intake of breath and let out a small shocked noise as she noticed someone lying on the bed in front of her, she stood there just transfixed on the person who to her looked like they had been injured somehow.

'What is it Lillie?, what can you see?' asked Daniel,

'You better come take a look for yourself Daniel!!' she replied as Daniel crept over to where his sister was standing, followed by Harvey who was holding onto his friend for dear life.

'Be careful Dan..' said Harvey as they both reached the open door to be greeted by the same sight of a soldier lying wounded on the bed, weak moans could be heard coming from him as he lay there unaware of the children standing in the doorway just looking at him with shocked looks on their faces. Harvey whispered to Daniel about who it might be,

'Do you reckon he's an important soldier or something Dan?, I mean look at how he's dressed, all shiny and scary looking'. Daniel had noticed the symbol on the soldier’s bare arm which was exactly the same as his,

'Wait...guys, have you seen this?' Daniel moved closer to the stricken soldier, trying to get a closer look at the symbol,

'That looks like yours Daniel!!' gasped Lillie as she stared at Daniel then back at the soldier's arm,

'Looks sort of alike Dan…' smirked Harvey as he stood there just looking around the room for somewhere to sit,

'Do you remember what the King said earlier...about only a select few having this mark on them and how important they were, do you think this is our fath…' before Daniel could finish what he was saying and as he held his arm close to the stricken soldier, the special marks they both had started to glow a light blue colour beneath the skin,

'Daniel...your arm!!! What's it doing?' Harvey stood there pointing at the glowing symbol on his friend's arm,

'Wh..What’s happening!!' Daniel said as he was rooted to the spot now unable to move.

As their arms touched it was though they could see each other’s thoughts and memories, Daniel was now seeing everything that he had seen in his dreams, The soldier standing on the hill, the dusty land far from the castle, he was also hearing the voices of all the people who had swirled round inside his mind before they had got to the castle. Then there was an image he hadn't seen before, a dark looking figure with his head covered by a cloak but a pair of eyes burning as bright as the sun surrounded by blackness.

Then as the images disappeared the soldier's arm gripped onto Daniel's so tight that it scared him senseless and he let out a scream,

'Yaaahhhhh!!!' he cried out loud

'Huhhhhh...' the soldier took the deepest breath like he had just been brought back to life and his eyes opened slowly, he was still lying on his back just looking up at the ceiling when all of a sudden a face appeared in his view,

'Hello' Harvey had leant in for a closer look, smiling as he stared right into the eyes of the soldier who seemed to be struggling to focus on anything,

'Wh..Wha..Who’s there?' came the reply, Daniel was still frozen with fear as the soldier was still gripping his arm tight and Harvey was waving his hand in front of the soldiers face.

'I don't think he can see me' laughed Harvey as he kept waving his hand across the face of the soldier like a demented lunatic when all of a sudden the soldier sat up dead straight causing Harvey to lose his balance and fall to the floor. He turned his head towards where the children were standing and stared intensely at both Lillie and Daniel, his eyes squinting as he tried to focus them, he inhaled deeply as if ready to speak then…,

'That really hurt!!...' moaned Harvey as he rubbed his backside gingerly ' and it's going to leave a mark!!' he continued whining as the soldier swung his legs round and sat on the edge of the bed carefully as he was still feeling a bit groggy. He lifted his head up, brushed back his hair, Daniel took a step forward and Lillie gently tugged at his arm,

'Be careful Daniel…' she said but Daniel had seen something that made him sure he knew who the mystery soldier was,

'I...I've seen his face before..I know him!!' Daniel said as he was drawn deeper into the soldiers eyes, they both leant in at the same time, Daniel staring at the soldiers face taking in every line, wrinkle and scar on his face. The soldier squinting his eyes took in every detail of Daniel's face as he too felt something between them, he opened his mouth as if to speak and small breathy noise came out, just as he was about to speak the silence was broken by the sound of doors banging behind them and what sounded like a small army clomping down the stairs,

'Children….come to me please!!' It was the King shouting as he raced towards the open door, both Daniel and the soldier looked away as the King appeared at the door,

'Why are you three down here?' he asked 'You were supposed to stay in the quarters until I came for you, Garin was under strict instructions to keep you there'

'It wasn't Garins fault, we sneaked out when the guards changed over, I wanted to see what was going on and I dragged these two with me' Lillie put her head on her chest as she knew what they had done wasn't the right thing to do,

'You can't just go wandering round the castle, especially without an escort' The King replied as he made his way over to the soldier on the bed and stared at him with a smile as Safin carefully lifted up the soldier's arms to look at the wounds,

'The wounds have healed your majesty, something must have happened!!', said Safin who seemed so surprised by the state of the soldier now. The King turned toward Lillie and Daniel, leant forward slightly, a smile stretching from ear to ear as he put his hands on their shoulders,

'Daniel...I know you know who this soldier is right here..I can tell by your expression, and Lillie...it's time you all found out the truth'

'So who is he then?' said Harvey as he pointed at the soldier, 'I'm totally confused now!!'.

The King strode over to the soldier and rested his hand in his shoulder,

'My son...I have been so worried for you lately, but things have been moved a little faster than I have anticipated, I haven't been totally honest with you and I feel the state you found yourself in is because of me keeping something from you for all these years, something that now I can see has had a serious effect on you and your health'

'Ohhhh, now I get it!!' a light seemed to click