Epilogue
Harrison
“Commander,” Vincent called out in a deep voice of concern.
Harrison looked up from his notes, finally having time to start catching up on all of his work. “Come in, Vincent,” he said as he gestured for Vincent to take the chair across from his desk. “What is wrong?” Harrison asked after Vincent’s grave expression darkened.
“The portal,” Vincent started, “one of the men assigned to take the next shift has returned with horrific news.”
Harrison abruptly stood from his desk, noticing the Guardian standing outside of his office with a petrified expression on his face. This better not be what I think it is, Harrison thought, as he never had seen such an expression on a Pemdai warrior’s face.
“Mr. Bradley,” Harrison approached the man, “tell me what has happened at once.”
The Guardian snapped out of his daze. “I have no idea how to explain this, Commander, so I will come out and say what we encountered at the portal.”
“Go on,” Harrison replied.
“Jeremy and Messac have been turned—” he swallowed, “they are now stone.”
“What?” Harrison answered.
“Indeed. We have no idea what has caused this.”
Harrison rubbed his forehead in agitation. “Mordegrin,” he firmly responded. “Vincent, the command center is yours. Mr. Bradley, come with me immediately.”
Once Emperor Navarre was notified of the news, he, Harrison, King Hamilton, and Mr. Bradley walked out of the palace dressed in their Guardian warrior regalia and fully armed. As they walked toward the stables, Harrison’s patience grew thinner when their horses were not yet fully armored and dressed to travel to the portal.
“When has it ever taken Javian and his crew this long to prepare our horses?” Harrison growled.
Navarre glanced over at him. “Harrison, we will get to the bottom of this. For now, you must gather yourself so that we can decipher what may have happened when we arrive at Shallek’s village to seek answers.”
Harrison folded his arms and sighed. “If this is the doing of Mordegrin, Emperor, we must know at once.”
At that moment, Javian and the stablemen approached with their horses. The men reacted swiftly and were on their horses and leaving the palace at a rapid pace.
Once at the portal, Harrison swallowed hard at the sight of the two Guardian warriors who had been turned to gray stone. Impossible, he thought with anger and grief.
Without dismounting their horses, Harrison turned back. “Bradley, stay at your post. We will return once we have more answers.”
The men rode their stallions directly into Shallek’s village, and to their surprise Diexz, Oble, and Rei were the first to greet them.
“Guardians, we are most fortunate that you have returned, as we do not know where the portal to your galaxy is located.”
“What has happened?” Harrison demanded while jumping from his horse. “Two of our warriors who were positioned to guard the portal have been turned into rock. Something or someone from this galaxy has done this. Is this Mordegrin’s doing?”
Shallek approached. “Gentlemen, for fear of upsetting my people with the news we have for you, please follow me into a more private location.”
Once in a small meeting room, Navarre placed his hand on Harrison’s chest, a gesture offered to politely dismiss him from asking any further questions. Harrison glanced at his uncle and King Hamilton’s grave expressions. Navarre silenced him with his stare while King Hamilton nodded in understanding.
They all took their seats around the table. “Guardians, please accept our most sincere apologies. We believed we had finally located Mordegrin after you left our world. As your warriors have been turned to stone, Rei’s have also. That was the last location we had any reports of Rei’s men nearly capturing the Shadowy One.”
“So this is the work of Mordegrin?” Navarre answered. “Now, he is in our galaxy,” he answered sternly.
“Yes,” Rei answered. “Have you any idea as to whether or not he knows where the location of the powerful stone that protects your galaxy is?”
“No,” Harrison answered. “However, the only time we journeyed to that location, he was in our prison chambers. We strategized our journey in such a way that it would keep him from having any idea as to where it was.”
“If,” Diexz leaned forward, “by any chance the Shadowy One gains control over that stone, your galaxy surely will be destroyed.”
Navarre looked at Rei. “When did you first discover your men had been turned to stone?”
“It was only days after you left our world. That was the last contact my men had with him, and they nearly captured him,” Rei answered. “We have been searching for him since that time.”
“Without knowledge of where the portal to your world was, we could not warn or notify you that this occurred.”
“We could not trust anyone with the portal being opened,” Harrison answered. “It would seem that we should have placed more trust in your kind, as now our world is in grave danger.”
Navarre remained silent as the men continued to discuss the new threat to Earth and how they would search out and capture Mordegrin.
“Harrison,” Navarre finally spoke. “Is there a way that we can send Guardians to discreetly guard the stone’s location without giving the location away? There may still be time. I do not believe Mordegrin knows where the stone is, or he would have acted by now. We would have already suffered the effects of the stone being altered by such a being.”
Harrison exhaled. “I believe we can guard the location. But if Mordegrin does not know where the stone is—and I agree, we would have known by now—we may give the location away by guarding it.”
Navarre looked at Shallek. “If this creature seeks to destroy our world, do you believe he would have acted by now if he could access such great power with the stone?”
“Without a doubt,” Oble answered. “Before you realized your men were turned into rock, he would have already begun the process of destroying that galaxy.”
King Hamilton sighed. “Well, in light of all this tragedy, this is at least some good news.”
“Mordegrin must have failed to extract the information from Emperor Levi’s mind,” Rei answered.
“We have been assessing his mind, and it appears as though it was severely damaged while preventing Mordegrin or the Olteniaus females from extracting the map from it,” Navarre said.
“Very interesting,” Shallek answered. “Your minds are indeed powerful. Has Emperor Levi made any form of a recovery?”
“Fortunately, he has,” Navarre said somberly. “However, he has lost his memories, and we can only wait and be hopeful that they will return.”
“Memory loss?” Rei answered. “That is confirmation that Mordegrin was unsuccessful in extracting the map. Although, it does not guarantee that you will be safe.”
“How so?” Harrison answered.
“There can only be two reasons Emperor Levi lost his memories when his mind was attacked,” Shallek said in a voice of concern.
“The first?” Navarre asked.
“Either Emperor Levi’s mind shut off all of his memories during the time his mind was being attacked, or Mordegrin caused the memory loss himself.”
“Why would Mordegrin do that?” Harrison asked.
“So that he would become Mordegrin’s servant at will. He would have altered Emperor Levi’s mind to serve only him by this memory loss,” Rei answered.
Harrison shook his head. “Impossible. Reece said herself that she mentally battled against their intrusion.”
Shallek exhaled in what seemed to be relief. “This is great news, then. It appears as though Reece protected his mind from the extraction.”
“This still does not solve anything,” Navarre returned. “How do we hunt down this creature and destroy him?”
“He can only be destroyed if the Empress Reece has her powers fully restored. She is the only one who can destroy him. He cannot be killed by anything other than mental persuasion,” Oble answered.
“That is it,” Harrison answered. “Mordegrin was unsuccessful in retrieving the map from Levi’s mind. He turned our men to stone to make us aware he was in our world.” Harrison looked at the men around him. “Do you not see? He knew we would return to this galaxy, learn that Reece was the only answer to his death, and we would have to take her to the stone.”
Navarre nodded. “That very well could be his plan. We will not journey to the stone in order to destroy the creature.”
“Very wise decision, Emperor Navarre,” Rei answered. “Mordegrin’s ultimate desire cannot be fulfilled unless he has the stone.”
Navarre clasped his hands together and leaned forward on the table. “It appears as though our Guardians will have their hands full on Earth, as I want Mordegrin tracked down and imprisoned. Once this occurs, Reece will return to the stone, gather its powers, and rid this threat to our world.”
“Emperor Navarre,” Shallek spoke up, “do not be misled into believing it will be as easy as that.”
“It is what my Guardians are trained to do,” Navarre returned.
“If Mordegrin so much as suspects you have discovered him in any of your worlds, he will shift into a new form.”
“Shapeshifting?” King Hamilton answered.
“Yes. That is why we have struggled to find him ourselves,” Rei answered. “Until you are certain he is destroyed, do not allow anyone who desires to enter your protected dimension to do so. To do so might be the worst decision you could ever make.”