Gathering Storm (The Salvation of Tempestria Book 2) by Gary Stringer (howl and other poems .txt) 📕

long time. Daelen was a frequent visitor to our mortal world, treating it as a refuge from the war at home.

It was a simple matter for entities of his kind to Descend to the lower planes. To make the transition, he needed to shed those parts of his essence that couldn’t fit within the confines of this realm. He would leave those parts of himself behind, ready for him to reclaim when he returned, like so much left luggage. The hard part was returning. That required a dimensional control device to form a connection between the two parts of his essence and bridge the void between the planes. These devices were endlessly customisable, taking on almost any shape, design and colour. To many of his kind, they were as much a fashion accessory as a practical device. As a young boy (or at least his species’ equivalent) Daelen had often enjoyed dropping down a few levels to wind up those who called themselves ‘gods’ of Tempestria, though they were no such thing. In fact, Daelen knew one person who firmly believed that mortals could one day surpass their so-called gods. Perhaps even the shadow warriors – Daelen scoffed at the idea.

Kullos had long been a friend to Daelen’s family, ever since Daelen’s father had been killed in the war. In fact, having no family of his own, Kullos was soon accepted as part of theirs. As a shadow warrior Champion, Kullos was at the forefront of their war, and as Daelen grew up, they became close. Daelen worked hard and quickly grew in power until he became a shadow warrior, too, and Kullos’ most trusted Lieutenant. His right hand man.

However, it is often said that war can change people, and the change in Kullos epitomised this. He became increasingly agitated, nervous and paranoid, finding neither sleep nor rest. Daelen saw the shift happen almost overnight, but no-one knew exactly what had happened to initiate such a transformation. Whatever the cause, Kullos began to see enemies in the shadows and in the light. He saw danger where there was none, except that which he created himself, though he could never accept that. He began to lash out at his allies, his friends and ultimately his family. At first, it was verbal, and Daelen was able to pull him back from the edge of the abyss. He frequently opposed taking action against Kullos, firmly believing he could get through to him if only he kept trying. Despite his efforts, however, things continued to get worse, until one day, Daelen came home to find his mother, Farrella, severely injured and unconscious. He immediately summoned healers and rushed to her side.

The healers arrived, and as they began to stabilise her for transport to a healing facility, Farrella came around and whispered Daelen’s name.

“What happened?” Daelen asked. “Who did this?

“Ku—Kullos,” she croaked.

Daelen was stunned. He hadn’t wanted to believe Kullos would go that far, but clearly, he had.

Sharing her thoughts telepathically, Daelen saw it had finally happened: Kullos had turned on Daelen’s mother in a ferocious attack, accusing her of plotting against him. He had raved that she was in league with his ‘real enemy,’ another shadow warrior, who was planning to kill him.

Consumed by rage, Daelen growled, “Well he’s right about that. Another shadow warrior is planning to kill him: me!”

Farrella had fought Kullos as best she could, but she was really only alive because Kullos had suddenly rushed off, deciding he had a ‘better idea’ of how to find his ‘real enemy.’ Farrella had slipped into unconsciousness then, so she didn’t know where Kullos had gone.

The healers interrupted to say they really needed to take Farrella to a healing facility for proper treatment and she allowed herself to be transported away.

If Kullos’ shadow warrior instinct was untempered by thought or reason, if he truly believed some imagined ‘real enemy’ was plotting to kill him, there was no telling what he might do. Daelen had not a moment to lose. He had to find Kullos before he did any more damage.

Forcing down his fear and panic, Daelen admonished himself to calm down and think, he remembered that Kullos kept a personal energy record – a kind of diary – and rushed to find it. He broke into it, feeling they were way beyond issues of privacy and quickly scanned his most recent entries.

No-one knows precisely what Daelen read at that moment, gentle reader. All he would ever say was that he felt himself go cold.

“Of course,” he berated himself. “I should have known!”

Kullos had long been against Daelen’s penchant for visiting the mortal realm and one world in particular. It was the world upon which Daelen now cast his protective gaze. The world we now know as Tempestria, but according to the legends, in those days it had another, more ancient name. Some say that knowing the world’s original name would reveal Daelen StormTiger’s true motives for his self-imposed status as this world’s Protector. Others believe that the revelation of this name would spell the end of the world. Daelen always refused to confirm or deny any of this.

More than once, Kullos had forbidden Daelen to ever again take corporeal form. He considered it, “an obscene, filthy, disgusting state,” but Farrella disagreed and always overruled him. Daelen realised this is where Kullos had gone.

Presumably, in his delusional state, Kullos was convinced his `real enemy` was hiding here and plotting against him. If he was here to kill that enemy, then he would tear our world apart without a second thought to do it.

Daelen had no choice. He Descended quickly – too quickly. Setting up his control device would take time. Time our world didn’t have. He had to stop Kullos and protect our world before it was too late. But if Daelen Descended without a control device, there would be no way to access what he left behind. Maybe his people would be able to help him, but he didn’t know for sure. As