Sahara Ashdell: Rebirth of Patreek (Book 3)

She needs answers, but she is not sure who to trust. If it was a vision, she needed a vision expert she could trust. She doesn’t feel she can trust Verdiwild and the Aran, after finding out the necklace she is wearing suppresses her powers. She takes the necklace off again and immediately feels the overwhelming presence of everything in the elf world. She can only bear it for a few moments before she feels herself drawn into a rounded hole. She quickly puts the necklace back on again, shaking her head. “I need Hexaria.” She says aloud. She knows she can trust Hexaria.

The last thing she wants to do is go see Brystol, so she finds her clothes before teleporting to Hexaria, without telling anyone at Holestroy she is leaving.

“I thought you might come visit.” Hexaria says as she motions for the other pixies in the room to leave.

“Why would you think that?” Sahara asks already knowing the answer.

Hexaria remains silent until the room is empty and she casts a double silencing veil around the room. “Were you able to save him?” She finally asks.

“You know?” Sahara asked curiously.

“About your adventure? Of course.” Hexaria says gently. “I hope the blaumbot was helpful.”

Sahara felt anxiety grow inside her. She felt the need to sit down, and so she found the floor quickly. “But Slagwart died.”

“What is death though really but the moving of spirits into another realm?” Hexaria says pulling out a greenish colored book that is about five times the size of herself. Sahara has so many questions she is not sure where to start. Before she can even speak, Hexaria drops the book down in front of her. “Getting things into the other realm is tricky but the elders were more than willing to assist.”

“The elders were in on this?” Sahara can barely believe what she is hearing.

“They are how you arrived at Holestroy with Byrstol.”

“I am confused by all of this.” Sahara scratches her head, “How was I at Holestroy the entire time but everything with Slagwart happened?”

Hexaria is flipping through the book as she speaks, “The funny thing about the Underworld is that your body can’t actually go there. It was only your mind that went.”

“The Grey Elf? She is in the Underworld too?” Sahara asks.

“Only in the same form as you, not as Slagwart is there.” Sahara is thankful that Hexaria understands her confusion and continues to explain. “It is a complex matter. You see, once an elf dies, they either go to the Underworld or the World Beyond. The Underworld is a place for elves who have died and have unfinished affairs to attend to or for those that are evil to reside for eternity. The World Beyond is the final resting place for good elves and who have no loose ends to attend to after they die. The Grey Elf is a highly powerful elf that travels through time and space. She learned how to travel between the Underworld and the living world on her own so she is not in the Underworld. No one really knows how to find her except her nephew Slagwart. You see that is why we had to get you to the Underworld, because Slagwart was the only way to find her. To get you to the Underworld was no easy task, Arenal. You see, after you went to the elders and teleported Brystol home, you did go back to Yetya and everything you remember happening did indeed happen.”

“But Verdiwild said I had been at Holestroy for three days.”

“Because you were at Holestroy, physically anyway. The elders put you into a deep sleep state and teleported you back to Holestroy with Brystol. But your spirit entered the Underworld without you noticing.” Hexaria points to images in the book showing the three different realms. “The three realms are all layered together. Those in the Underworld cannot see nor interact with those in the living realm. And those in the living realm, such as us, cannot see nor interact with those in the Underworld, unless our bodies are temporarily separated from our spirits. That puts our bodies into a deep sleep while our spirits travel to the Underworld. So, your spirit was there and typically,” She points to a new image on the pages of an elf who is in a room with other elves. “Elves that are in a dream-like state and only visiting, the mind will translate unfamiliar elves into familiar elves. The Aran you most likely met with was that of the Underworld, Aran Satavin, and not Aran Rayterbay. Your mind just translated it to be an Aran you are familiar with.”

“Is that Satavin?” Sahara asks pointing to the picture of a Satan looking elf on one of the books pages.

“Yes. That is him.”

“So, everything I did, the elves I met, the Slewbo I trained. It was all in my head?

“It is thought that only select beasts can be in both realms at once, such as if you encounter a Glorman or a Slewbo. They would remember your presence in the living realm if encountered in the Underworld and vice versa. So, if you trained a Slewbo in the Underworld, that Slewbo should remember you in this world. The elves you met were those that resided in the Underworld.”

“How did I get into the dream-like sleep to go to the Underworld?” Sahara asks, turning the page of the book.

“When you went to the elders, they already knew Brystol was in danger and Patreek had him. They had called me to meet with them and we predicted you would come to ask what you did. We knew that the dark magic that Brystol would have encountered would be a death sentence, so we developed a plan that required the summoning of the Underworld Aran. The elders are the only ones with the power to summon an elf from the Underworld. Though Aran Satavin is not an elf that can be trusted, the elders made a deal with him to ensure you could find the Grey Elf and save Brystol. You see, the elders knew that our world would be over if Brystol were to die. Aran Satavin would not allow you in the Underworld realm without a payment, so elder Massious sacrificed himself so that you could go complete the task.” Hexaria places her hand over her heart with a saddened face. Sahara feels sad that one of the elders would sacrifice their own lives to send her on such a journey. “We asked that Slagwart be assigned to Yetya to look over you and I gave Aran Satavin a letter with the blaumbot to give to Slagwart so that when you went to him, you would be able to exit the barriers. Though it is the Underworld, it still is protected by the same shields as ours in the living. Aran Satavin agreed to the plot and allowed you into the Underworld. He had only been gone for a couple of minutes when you arrived at the elders. I was there, with the elders, hiding from your view when you arrived. After you teleported Brystol, the elders cast a spell on you and we decided that the Underworld Aran needed some time to arrange Slagwart, so we sent you back to Yetya in the Underworld.”

“If we were in the Underworld, how was I able to encounter Patreek?”

Hexaria suddenly looks alarmed. “What do you mean?”

“After Slagwart and I used the blaumbot to get out of the protective walls of Yetya, I could see all of the holes to portal through and was drawn to a round one that I found Patreek in.” Sahara stops talking as she sees the alarm on Hexaria’s face.

“How do you know of the holes?” Hexaria sounds just as alarmed as she looks.

“Slagwart taught me how to portal to get him away from the two elves that were watching him.” Sahara says wondering what is wrong.

“The blaumbot was to be used to get you past the barriers. You had no need to portal, unless...” Hexaria looks in thought as she buzzes around for a moment. “He had two elves watching him you say?”

“Yes, they were outside the Inn he was staying at. I portaled him to my bedroom in Yetya so we could sneak out to the protective wall and teleport to the other side of it.”

Hexaria looks worried. “What became of the two elves that were watching him?”

“They didn’t see us, so I assume they were still out on the street of the inn watching his empty room.”

“How did you find the Grey Elf?” Hexaria continues to buzz around in thought and worry.

“I mean, I had the blaumbot on and Slagwart had taken my necklace so after I teleported us across the barriers, I could feel so many holes. I found a round hole and Patreek was in it. Beyond him was another hole that I wanted to open but Slagwart pulled me out. Then, I don’t know, his aunt just appeared then.” Sahara isn’t sure what Hexaria is so alarmed by.

“I had hoped Slagwart would not have turned evil yet, or at least not toward you.”

“What do you mean? Slagwart didn’t turn against me. He helped me.” Sahara defended Slagwart.

“You didn’t speak Pixie any time did you?” Hexaria looks hopeful.

“Well,” Sahara remembers speaking Pixie to respond to the Grey Elf before she could see her. “I did it once.”

“What did you say?” Hexaria suddenly yells at Sahara and gets close to her face.

“I don’t know.” Sahara couldn’t remember what she had said.

“Think. You must remember!”

“I don’t know.” Sahara says feeling pressured. “I think I asked who was there. Yes.” Sahara nodded her head remembering. “I could hear the Grey Elf but could not see her and she said to take off the amulet so that I could see her, but I didn’t. I only asked who was there.”

“And you never spoke Pixie again?” Hexaria buzzes up close to Sahara’s nose as she asks.

Sahara tries to think about what she said. She had talked to the Grey Elf but she does not recall if any of it was in Pixie language or not. “No.” She shakes her head knowing that she couldn’t have spoken any more Pixie language. “That was all I said. Why?”

“And you never said a word you were unfamiliar with?” Hexaria asks looking relieved by Sahara’s last response.

“No.” Sahara only remembers saying something when she opened the portal that she didn’t know. “Well other than the portaling spell.”

“Spell?” Hexaria looks alarmed again. “Portaling from such a small measure of space and not through barriers requires no spell for an elf with your powers.”

“Slagwart was not able to portal and he tried using the spell first but then I tried and I was not fully strong enough to open the portal so he said the word with me.”

“What did you say?” Hexaria yells angrily toward Sahara and she finds it unsettling.

“I don’t know, something like telekansic or telekaska.” Sahara can’t remember the word exactly.

“Telkinasika?” Hexaria says falling in despair on the floor next to Sahara.

“Yes, that was it.” Sahara says confused by Hexaria’s reaction. “Then when I opened my eyes Slagwart was standing in my room through the portal.

“You had your eyes closed? You have no idea what you have done.” Hexaria says heavily. “You opened the gate.”

“The gate to what?” Sahara asked feeling like this conversation was familiar.

“The gate of evil.” Hexaria says. “That was no portal you opened. It was foretold that an elf with great power that can speak pixie and is of the living world but only visiting the underworld could open the gate of evil. No wonder Aran Satavin was so willing to allow you to come to the underworld. He used Slagwart to trick you into opening the gate. He must of opened a portal to your room himself after you opened the gate of evil so you would not see the truth behind what you opened.”

“Slagwart would never do that.” Sahara doesn’t believe her own words.

“The Slagwart you knew is no more.” Hexaria stands up before she starts to buzz around Sahara. “I must go to the elders at once to alarm them.”

“What is behind the gate of evil?” Sahara asks feeling worried.

“All the evil beings that were banished to the Underworld by the elders. Many are worse than Patreek and more vile than you could imagine. You have released them into the underworld. It is only a matter of time before they find their way out and into the world of the living. I must go.” Hexaria says releasing the veil from the room and quickly leaving Sahara alone.