CHAPTER THREE- A PATHWAY

Orion has been preparing himself for weeks now, he had been engrossed in rigorous training in the arts of combat and skills and also the study of the book of times while getting answers to his questions from his monster companion and messenger whose name he still does not know. There are however dark books that he can't study yet like the sealed Acrimony Of The Legion book written by the being born out of light and darkness and forbidden to be read by the lords of the universe themselves, It is a book that gives incredible powers but also corrupts the soul of a reader who has not mastered the art of balance within himself.

This book magnifies the greatest desires of he who reads it and it becomes a part of the soul of such being, fueling the reader's strength, greed and darkness, this is the book that was stolen by Vlada long before the era of humans and the battle of will and flesh.

After Vlada was defeated and ran from the universe to the land of mortals, Acrimony was taken and sealed away from all mortal beings living and kept inside the loop within the triangles of stones and iron,the balance between light and darkness. Orion will need a spell in the book to seal and lock Vlada away forever but he was needs to train to be balance and be in control of his inner man, calming the spirit of conflict within him.

Sometimes I get scared, what if I am defeated Orion said to the monster who had been his only companion for sometime now ever since he went to the wild to train and prepare for what is to come, Then the efforts of all the pure lord's of the universe who are the custodians and whispers of the spirits,times and seasons would have come to nothing replied the monster whose eyes glow had grown dim.

You have to believe in yourself child, you are the child of the lords, the only one true mortal with Avalon blood who is to bring an end to man's biggest enemy asides himself, the exiled lord of the spirits who has now become just more of a minion and human puppeteer; we defeated him once we can do it again have no doubts. Orion says nothing afterwards even after the monster vanishes, he instead reminisces on his childhood and all his escapades and the things he had survived with his sister Salsa.

Orion was six at this time, he and his three year old sister Salsa had been playing hide and seek and had gone far further into the wilds

'Peekaboo' now you see me , now you don't with that Orion vanished into thin air wandering far into the wild without realizing it. It was began with him hearing movements accompanied with a snarling and low growling, then they began to emerge. Gray wolves Orion said, In the night time they could have been mistaken for a pack of aggressive dogs white silver with a thick and glossy fur; their eyes reeked of danger and pure evil characterized of a form of boldness that makes them almost like mortal men.Those hazel eyes that scanned for preys to devour and wild adventures to explore.

As he looks into their eyes and they into his, Orion sees himself in them, he sees his will to be free and explore and his desire to let all hell loose.

At the sight of their ominous presence, he is petrified and even though they were a few yards away, he could feel the pulsating force with which his heart is racing and the coldness of his ribs that was the first time he realized he could talk to wolves.....

He could understand everything from their growling and barking to their snarling and yelping, the moment their eyes met his he just realized he could understand them. The leader of the pack came forward and he told Orion of the dangers of the wild and why he should not be straying to far, an utterly still speechless Orion was soon startled by the screams of his sister Salsa who had found him eventually with the help of their father Mlaric, and when he tried telling them to look at the wolves his father did not see any as they had all suddenly vanished and no one believed he had seen them; years after that incident he had never set his eyes on those wolves even till the present.

Meanwhile far above the clouds where the lords of the spirit of whispers stay, above the realm of mortality we see a glimpse of the lords of the universe watching over mortals and the land of flesh and blood in a mirror before them. The most supreme is standing beside his second in command Xioti and they both watch silently as Orion goes about his journey of life, they have been watching ever since he was born. supreme do you think he will make it, this is a heavy burden for a child , the supreme looks at his deputy lord and ally, his eyes and cloak glistering like crystals and he smiles; He is tougher than he looks, he has all it takes.

Due to the laws and acts of the principle of the real and unreal made the custodians of the realm called the Beast of order who uphold the law and order of the universe and the mortal world , the immortal cannot come to the realm of the mortal and cannot fight their wars or interfere in their battles unless they have a messenger who is a mortal himself through which they pass their message across and fight their mortal battles.

This has been the order since the begining of time and memorial and the reason the dethroned deputy lord who became exiled after his fight against the supreme came down to the land of the mortals, by breaching the law, he is now unfit to return to the Avalon the land of immortals and the throne of the universe where the immortals, lords and guardians of the universe dwell.

Knowing fully well the lords are not the ones to back down and that they would send a mortal messenger to face him in the world where flesh and blood reside, he had been preparing his minions and legions,the immortal ones who fought and were defeated with him, building his Empire of doom and possessing humans whose heart is filled with evil, turning them into his puppets and controlling them to do his dirty duties until the time is right, he however has an ace up his sleeve that now one knows about even his minions; He intends to set deadly trap for the chosen one .

In the midst of these we have the ordinary people of Ziva are busy going on with their various lives, unaware of what is really going on in the upper chambers. They triumphed in combat and wars, blessed with variety of food crops and livestock for sale asides their rich mineral resources, they were living the dream life ignorant of evil schemes and what is to befall them.

Vlada had set his plan in motion and had the perfect plan, he chuckled lightly and said to himself If the chosen mortal had no family and no land, he would beg for his life before me and I would end him still...we are shown the upper avalon of the universe once more and the lords who are still watching, they are always watching...

The wedding took place at the Floral castle, Salsa and Orion are yet to be seen but we can see the groom Vicafi waiting in anticipation and eagerness alongside his friends; It was a very private wedding with the couple surrounded by family and friends. The king of Bell city is seated with his queen,right hand and guards present, while Yarah the bride's mother is seated on the other hand surrounded by guards and her hand maids.

Salsa on the other hand is trying to hold back tears while being consoled by her friends Ired and Yowa who are themselves trying to hold back their tears as well, she longed for her father and. wished he were there at this crucial moment of her life ,"If only" She keeps wondering "If only"

Vicafi's heart pounded in his chest, he inhaled deeply while he waited patiently for his bride who is yet to come out, while being seated close to his father, You know my father wanted me to take that malicious Xianne and my refusal almost caused a rift between us ,but I have been able to prove myself worthy of him eventually and he has finally seen what a gem my damsel is.... Vicafi boasted happily to his friends. Salsa paused at the entrance while she was being conveyed by her brother to her dream groom,taking a deep breathe before stepping into the room aglow without different shades of red, purple,orange,yellow and blue.

Flickering candles with scents like flowers like jasmine, sweet and delicate. The wedding was done in no time and both partners made their vows to each other which sealed the alliance between the two lands as well as the begining of another royal lineage, the story of the greatness of Salsa has just began.....

Lately, Orion had been waking up feeling flustered and nervous due to his dreams. He had been shown the evil men had done to get extreme power as well as the deals made with the evil lord in exchange for power over the land of mortals which brought about the era of humanoid creatures and puppets...

In a flash he sees a primitive man born many centuries before the dawn of the hour, given the gift of foretelling by the spirits of whispers. This man foresaw his destiny and his sister's own as well and the decline of what is true and that which is the light in the mortal world long before man became perverted and started to sell himself and his people to evil lord Vlada who is ever willing to grant any desires so the person is willing to submit to him forever.

He sees how this foreteller is being ignored and even laughed at because his family was not a family of foretellers but he was destined by the spirit of whispers to foretell what is to come and his mission.

He was a gripper call Atlas, and his end was a fall so tragic and sudden, in his flashes Orion saw how he was born within the cubicles of a farmer and how his mother died at birth. Atlas was well aware of his destiny and began foretelling as early as the age of ten, he would see people and tell them what is to befall them in latter times and it would happen

He became popular with this for seven years, as people came from far and near to learn from the wisdom of the future which comes from him.

Atlas however had an achilles heel, he could not predict his own doom. His fatal end, he could not see into his own future except that of others; if only he had seen it coming.....

The rains were heavy, accompanied with thunder and lighting. It was a heavy downpour on the day Atlas was murdered, in the flashes Orion saw, he was invited to a ceremony far away from his land and a special horse carriage was put in place by the king of Atlur himself, the king choose to come himself with his guards to convey Atlas to the destination as Atlur is a desert colony, a land as dry as a barren wilderness .

They got there and he was treated to a sumptuous meal, courtesy of the king and that was all he knew, only for him to collapse and pass out soon after taking his wine .

When he woke up, he realized he had become a paraplegic, totally paralysed from waist down and he could no longer speak . Orion watched the vision in horror as Atlas is being butchered by the king's guard in the king's presence while the king chuckles in satisfaction and looks him in the eye till he take his last breath; a smug look on his face.

Orion is still obviously disturbed by the traumatizing scenarios in his visions but he vows to learn from them and build himself up not to fail, he now knows he has to see his enemy coming and learn a counter move, he now knows that he cannot fail and that he cannot afford to falter on the path destiny has set out for him...

In one of his flashes he also sees the united kingdoms after peace has been restored and the evil lord has been banished from the mortal kingdom forever, the peace, serenity and order that comes with it.

Also he is shown the anarchy that follows should he fail, the begining of damnation and uncontrollable perversion. The loss of identity and purpose, the killings and spilling of blood among mortals, its gory sight too gruesome to behold with corpses of men, women and children pilling up on the streets as the evil lord Vlada becomes the ruler of the mortal world and brings upon the era of the mad king.

He sees as his sister Salsa,her husband Vicafi and his mother Yarah are slaughtered in a twinkle of an eye, after they have been found by Cake the female ally and chief executor of evil lord Vlada. He sees as lawlessness becomes the order of the day and everyone is turned into slaves and incarcerated except the humans who bow to the evil lord and are taken into his army, while being used to hunt down their fellow mortals

Orion can see its all in his hands now, as his loss can mean fatal fate to all of mankind, his monster appears to him briefly and repeats the words 'Everything you need is within you' and then vanishes .... Orion is done training in the wild and is ready for his next journey, the journey to the Red door in a hill house on the mountains.

The Red door lies at the front of a hill house on the mountains of horror, not many have been able to survive long enough to get to the house talk less of reaching the door, and the ones who have been able to get to the house have been said to die within before they could reach the red door, like the Orga of Cape a young man who tried getting to the house twenty years ago.

Orion saw in his vision how Orga of cape tried and persisted and got to the House on the hills, got the red door and gets within, but unknown to him. The house has its own tricks and its own powers, he began to see horrifying things till he bashed his head on the floor from the upstairs and ended it all. Orion saw him die and his body lifted, the red door opened and his body thrown inside, no one sees the body of anyone who has perished along the way to the house or within it, they simply vanish.

The house on the hills, the domain of death was a place feared by a lot of mortals as no one who has been into its abode has lived to tell the story, no one usually knows what happens to them;they just simply vanish and over centuries people assumed there was another world within the walls of its building and it consumes all that go into the house.

According to the legends, the stories of ancient books, the house on the hills is said to contain valuable golds and treasured valuables including money,diamonds and antiques.

The ghosts that haunt the house were actually people who made a deal with the evil lord in exchange for their souls to get wealth and fame and for generations ,after they die their souls stay stuck as slaves and serves the evil lord forever while no one else can enter the house and steal the valuables, so many have tried over the years and perished with their souls locked within the house as part of the slaves of the original family set to live in the house on the hills.

No one knew how the house got to be there but legend has it that the evil lord Vlada built the house with sorcery and dark arts after he was exiled from the Avalon in where the priests of whispers dwell,he took dominion of the mortal world and used tricks and powers to gather valuables which he stack up in there, making him the richest man in the mortal world. With all the various valuables of the world at his disposal, he made himself lord of the mortal world and made himself a god among humans, he told humans they can have it all but at a price.....

There was a certain man who worked as a physician in those times, his name Frotos and he was curious about this unlimited power, as Vlada had already come to know that man's greed and quest for power had no limits.....