CHAPTER SIX- FREEDOM

Like silhouettes, several ghosts moved around the house and while some were walking slowly and drunkingly; others were running wild all around the building and Orion could see them. Some others however have beautiful pink and gold orbs floating above their heads with sparkling and lightning, some violent and vicious, some cunning and putting up different appearances to fool whoever steps his foot into that house. Orion began to see movements soon enough and the flicker of light, his first real nightmare began the second day as his first night was peaceful and calm asides slight movements and flashes of ghosts. The second night he saw a tall skinny woman with long black fingernails and red fiery eyes, creeping up unto him while he slept, watching intently.

Immediately he saw her, her face morphs into a demon like creature with fangs in her teeth preparing to bite but in that same instant, he sees himself and the phoenix merging together, its eyes glowing white and he saw her vanishing into the thin air at the appearance of white light then he heard the monster whispering to his ears 'You are the phoenix child, you have always been' ....

Orion kept on seeing things for days and nights afterwards, on his way to find the red room he came across the specter of an old man with a long white beard, moving around with shackles and chains. The man who was in pains gave him a warning 'Leave the house while you can Orion, this is no place for you' and then started roaming about; his chains and shackles dangling around him on the floor till he vanished

On the seventh day, the mind games began and he began to see things, he was taken to the point where his father survived the injury that killed him and the father telling him he was home now 'I am here to stay Son, come away lets go hunt some griffins'

Mlaric image runs across and Yarah and Salsa come out into the garden tending to the daffodils and enjoying the beautiful sight of his yellow blossom.

The whole family then moves towards a lake side, a sight to behold with the moon casting a wonderful white glow over the landscape, they began to talk like one happy family and in this illusion, everything is okay and in order with Orion having fulfilled his destiny and Salsa having united all the kingdoms,peace at last so it seemed, Orion however is not buying it and he pushes his father away saying to the rest of the family that this is not real.

Suddenly they began to hear a screeching, at first thought maybe crickets till it began to get louder and closer, like someone running towards them. This was followed by a hollow scream, the voice of a woman so eerie and miserable screaming at the top of her voice, everyone was uncomfortable now Yarah said out of panic to their husband 'We need to leave here' but at this point; the darkness was getting thicker with the moon getting dimmer....

Everyone began to run, but they could not seem to outrun whatever was chasing them as the hollow voice kept getting closer and closer, then when they finally saw it they realized this was no human. The moon had cast its reflection on a dwarf like silver giant lizard , It was bright and shining and was still screaming coming directly at Orion in particular with everyone running for their dear lives, then there was total silence....

Everyone were still looking around, few moments later Orion in his hiding place looked over his shoulder when he felt a strong sensation and saw the creature who said in a low effeminate voice 'Got you' and then he fell and realized he had been running around the house all these while, he fell by the stairs, a little bit exhausted and from a distance he could see the red door beckoning to him and him hearing voices in his head saying 'Join Us' so loud the head began to bang with an headache and then he passed out.

When he woke up he could see several human silhouettes flying around the building, some appeared like humans while some others looked strange, he sees a local woman with her skin constantly drenched and the water dropping off her garment upon every step she takes, a terrifying apparition of a black horse with its horse symbolizing a unicorn of darkness.

The horse begins to get closer to him and in the process transforms to a glowing ball of lightning before it vanished.

Orion did not forget what he was there to do, for the purpose of his mission, to retrieve the Acrimony of Legions and restore order to the land of the mortals and spirits, he could see flashes of Cake and how she was snarling at him menacingly before the flashes vanish.

He remembers the instruction on how to find the red door and begins to channel his inner energy towards his phoenix eyes a creature which had merged into him by now, he could see all the doors glowing differently, each in a bid to outshine the other except one which seemed ordinary and old. This particular door appeared so ordinary unlike the rest and while Orion's eyes glowed he silently follows his inner light as a wingman for the spirit of whispers ,his path brightens just as the Monster said ..... Surprisingly he opens the red door with ease but little did he know he was in for another ephialtes.

Everything around him changed and he stepped into another realm, the nether world, the doomed home of Vlada. It had been hidden in this room all the while, the hell within an abode and resting place for all horrors to feast, Orion stood face to face with all of Vlada's minions, He was first confronted with Frotos who stood at the entrance to the nether world , leading his own army and chanting, his legions began to attack and most of them were no match for Orion, a man who had been preparing his life and defeating mortals and even supernatural creatures in combat, Frotos whispers to him in his head 'I am impressed you got this far, but it is quite unfortunate that your journey ends here' and then he laughed wickedly in his head. It was a fierce battle as sweat stung his eyes like little vipers as they dripped down his face, the whole atmosphere was one of total chaos and anarchy as the screams of defeated demons and ghosts filled the air as they vanished forever into the nether land prison never to get out again.

Frotos vanished and transformed into a black unicorn which multiplied into many versions, the same unicorn Orion had seen earlier and he began to try and get into his head, reminding him of his greatest phobia in childhood, the fear of black unicorns , Orion who had been told and had seen what lay ahead of him brought out his Crossbow and with his phoenix eyes began to observe the unicorns as they came close to him, trying to figure out the real one, he remembers what the monster told him 'Never be afraid child, I am always with you and your light will always shine your path as long as you trust it' He realized with his phoenix eyes that one of the unicorns had a different heart than the others , its heart the shape of a triangle and cold as ice , not beating like the rest of the other versions of unicorns.

Quickly, Orion set his cross bow and shoots it in the head and immediately we hear a defeated scream of No!!!!!! as Frotos vanishes into thin air ,appearing back in the prison he escaped from, doomed to be slave of the dark lord for all of the moments of time. Orion kept going, before he finally comes across Cake, Vlada's trusted ally and she leads other allies alongside her huge army of demons to attack Orion, He however tapped into his inner energy and immediately transformed into a phoenix as he destroys every of the legions with a beam of his pure light, the demons could not withstand the pure power instilled in Orion by the priests of the spirit of whispers themselves as they each began to succumb to defeat after a bout of combat, the remaining demons seeing they are losing the battle decided to merge themselves together and they transformed into a six headed beast on long snaky necks with a cephalopod face, each head had a triple row of wolf like teeth and it stood on twelve feet, it was strangely fast for its its weight and the fierce fight continued with the creature trying hard to gulp down Orion in its throat.

Orion in his moments of dilemma transformed into his human form and leaned towards the monster for help, it was at this instant the monster appeared with a sword in its hand and gave it to Orion , and he began to face the creature, in the process of holding the word he gained speed surprisingly and this feat seemed strange to him as well.

Once he slashed the middle head of the creature, it reduced its speed and soon enough all of the cephalopod creature came crashing down with its whole body turning into dust and vanishing into the wind, Orion triumphantly began to move towards Cake who is the last one standing and Cake who has never been known to accept defeat began to try and lobby Orion into joining the dark lord kingdom, 'The house on the hills with all its gold will be yours, all you need to do is swear allegiance to us' the demon said to him, Orion wastes no time in cutting her head off, and as she vanishes into thin air too. He wonders how he has not been able to see and feel the self acclaimed golds and diamonds in the red room he had already passed....

As Cake Vanishes, Orion sees a white tree not far from him and runs towards it, having been told to be sensitive of his surroundings always by the monster, he goes to the tree and takes one fruits to eat and as he eats, he sees a small entranced opened within the tree and inside it lay the Acrimony of Legions, a small black faded book and the moment he opened it, he could see the writings as old as time itself and could feel the presence of the pure priests around him.

He read the book for two days and was following the advice of his monster not to get engrossed in it as it could corrupt the soul which is hungry for power.

Having mastered all the arts of the book, and being able to see in the past the origin of the book, he was ready to confront the evil lord but he was not looking forward to it, due to the great sacrifice that is required of him....

The monster appeared to help him with questions that he might have and his third eye as a wingsman which also made him the phoenix of steel came in handy as he could see into the future and past at will. The monster also helped him to keep a level head so as not to get engrossed in the arts of the book as the book had the power to grant every of one's heart desire but at a price .

According to the monster, he need not find Vlada anymore as Vlada is already around him, but Orion not been able to see signs of the evil lord anywhere kept on studying and meditating, he got heavily engaged in constant adequate preparation in order to end his enemy.

At first he met a man who claimed to be a generous man in these lands, a prisoner of the evil lord 'Come in and let me treat you to a feast my hero' but Orion denied the request. Later on his journey he came across another woman who offered food, water and her body for soothing relief, 'You have freed us in this lands my hero, let me please my lord as he wishes' but Orion denies as well knowing better, Vlada visibly angry that his tricks were failing at getting Orion to eat his poisons teaks .

From the dawn of time, the world has always been divided, there was the good and the bad and the existence of the pure and the impure, the mystery of truth and falsehood, mortality and death have dwelled amongst us since time immemorial. Hence the evil was not just born today, Orion is fully ready for the battle of his lifetime, he finally meets with Vlada and like the monster told him, Vlada located him with his crows, he had been watching him closely all this while .

After the imprisonment of Cake, Vlada assembles the rest of his legions in the inner chamber and a ferocious battle ensures , days and nights went by as they battled , Orion fights with his sword and defeats various creatures as the legions kept transforming;

From vipers to scorpions to wolves and dragons, but with the guidance of his inner strength and light, he was able to conquer them all.

When Orion eventually came face to face and fist to fist in combat with Vlada the evil lord, Vlada decided to try yet again one of his tricks, with his legs intertwined with each other and his feet disappearing. His head was thrown aback and while his nose grew longer and longer, with every other part of his face vanishing except his eyes, he wanted to defeat Orion with the Numen State.

Orion knowing what he had to give up and now understanding what the monster meant clearly fused himself with the sword and unleashed all the spells he by chanting them forth, Instantly he transformed into a celestial being and became light on his feet and as he began to feel himself lifting outside his body, while he watched his body fall unto the earth .

With him being in the celestial state he became unstoppable as he had left the mortal world behind and entered into the surreal. He immediately unleashed his power, with the force of fire began to burn Vlada with a yellow fire while the later began to cry in pain, Vlada's plan to use the invisible Numen state to defeat Orion failed woefully as his neck was held and squeezed as he burned, Orion could see through his invisibility which would not have been possible if he were still a mortal.

As Vlada burned, he reminded Orion that he still had all the powers and riches of the mortal world and all it look was for him to 'stop being arrogant' and just swear allegiance with his soul, 'I have heard this before, its time you return to your prison' Orion replied as they both transformed in the yellow fire, Vlada crying in pain as he burnt to crisp while Orion transformed into a white Phoenix as his soul lighted up and he can see the priests of the spirit of whispers smiling down at him while ascends to the avalon, he had become an ally of the priests and as an ally can visit the earth and address with humans but he can no longer live in the mortal world . He looked down at the earth and thought about his mother and sister, 'Order at last' He said while he ascends and the priests of the whispers welcome him into the Avalon with a big satisfying smile from the High lord and his subordinates. ...

It has been years afterwards , the queen stares at the golden stature of her brother whom she misses very dearly , beside her stood her twin boys Celtic and Ambidnus also staring in awe, It has been years now and whilst her husband perished with the war against the evil lord and his legions, while Orion was on the journey to the land of doom, Vlada knowing the destiny of Salsa tried to kill her entire family but Vicafi stood up and fought which led to his death, while his family fled. The years have passed after the death of Orion and Vicafi , and Salsa has been made the ruler and queen holder of all the lands thereby restoring order and balance to the mortal world.

With Vlada and his legions gone, everyone stepped in line and lived in peace and harmony with each other , the house on the hills has also perished as Vlada's sorcery was what had been keeping the house alive and even though Orion never saw the gold, with the house gone no one would have to again. The priests of whispers were happy, the high lord satisfied, peace has been restored in the human world and Vlada had finally been put in his place the Nether land, and the mortal world rejoices for it.

Orion sometimes visits the Bell city where his sister resides in the form of an old man, the first time salsa saw him, his wrinkled face crumpling as he rubbed it with his hands she thought to herself 'A stranger of the seven seas as he had the look of wealth and affluence around him. His wizened face peered at her from under the wedge of his black hat, his eyes heavily lidded and weighed down with wrinkled folds that it almost seemed like she was talking to someone asleep.

The wrinkles on his face told her about his most incredible journey, which makes her wonder if they had met before ; His eye lines had the appearance of joy and bliss, he was jovial and cheerful and spoke with more warmth and affection.

His forehead had the appearance of the burdens of the past as well as the hope for the future, but most importantly they told the story of a man who had travelled through time and has witnessed the joys and sorrows of the past and looks forward into the hope of the future....