Kingdom of Life and Death (The Fifth Element Chronicles)

Chapter 4 "Burning truth" [part 2]

The sensation of reality taking over my body again felt like a sudden weight on my shoulders.

I had seen it with my own eyes, there was no denying it.

Crey had been the villain all along.

History had lied.

It had all been a story of lies.

'Now you know, now you saw,' the wealcere told me, though I still couldn't react.

I just had to think about what to do.

'If he made it and that caused the war... it means something happened with the Fifth God,' I thought aloud.

'Exactly, or at least that's what is believed.'

'Then I must do the same. Change the story from the beginning. If the problem was with the Fifth God, then I must fix it with him.'

Suzanne nodded silently, perhaps still grief-stricken by the memories she invited me to visit.

'Child, you must be careful. The power of the signs can be... too much. If you set out to summon the Fifth God you must know that such power could cost you dearly.'

I knew that.

But I also knew that I was not driven by a desire to become a powerful being, I simply wanted to end the war once and for all. No more prophecies, no more vengeful Gods. Peace for many centuries. If I had to talk to the God to achieve it, nothing would stop me.

'If you do it, you must convince the Kings and Queens to give you access to their signs. It won't be easy, but if you succeed, you could change the course of history.'

It won't be easy was an understatement. I had no idea how I could convince the monarchs to share their power with me. It seemed impossible, but the impossible had never stopped me before.

'Thank you so much Suzanne. You changed everything.'

Her pain-filled smile made me realise how much she had sacrificed for that information. Love, pain, sorrow, it all came together on her face.

'Well, you got what you wanted, so say goodbye Queen,' Isabelle told me.

'Isabelle, behave yourself. Remember who she is, who she will be. What began with her blood, must end with her blood...'

The smell of smoke wafted over me in a second.

In my head his voice boomed. His voice unmistakable through my thoughts.

We are the same, you and I, we will always be the same.

Jonah.

'We need to get out of here, now.'

My statement, mixed with my panicked face was enough to set off every one of Isabelle's alerts.

'Get up Suzanne, we're leaving.'

'I can't do it.'

Isabelle stood petrified beside her.

'Here's as far as my journey goes.'

'No, I will not leave you here. The Queen will open the portal here beside you. Or else... travel, you are the matriarch, go to another Universe but you will not stay here.'

The heat of the fire began to be felt beneath our feet.

'Gaia! Tell me you are here, Gaia. Where the hell are you?' Caelus' scream chilled my skin amidst the heat.

'Caelus!' I replied, unable to contain myself.

The door to the attic burst open and he was climbing through it in less than a second.