Disclaimer: I don't own the Beyonders Series and its characters. They all belong to Brandon Mull. I only own this story's plot.
CHAPTER 1: A DIFFERENT WORLD
This is a mistake. She is not the Heroine. I told you that gateway is not ready yet," said a first voice. The speaker, Nia could tell, was very annoyed. Questions swirled in Nia's mind.
What gateway? She thought. I am must be either dreaming or just losing my mind.
She pushed those questions out of her mind and focused on listening, or rather eavesdropping, to the conversation with her eyes close.
"I don't believe so. That gateway is very much ready," another voice replied. This one sounded anxious yet at the same time confident.
"If the gateway is really ready like you said, then, we must have summoned the wrong person. We must return her to her own world immediately. We already have many problems here and we can't afford to have another one," the first voice said, She was clearly getting more annoyed by the other speaker's stubbornness.
"We may have summoned a different person but my senses tell me that we have summoned the right person. She will be able to help us in some way. I am sure of it. After all, Esmira always said to trust your senses," the second voice insisted.
"Then maybe your senses are wrong. Maybe the late Esmira was wrong. Maybe . . ."
A stern voice cut her out, "Enough you two. There will be no disrespecting of Esmira in my presence. Understood?"
The voice came from a third speaker. Her voice held a kind of authority that immediately stopped the other two from arguing.
"Yes, Your Eminence," the first voice answered quietly.
"Good," there was a pause. Then she continued, "It looks like the girl has awoken."
There was silence which was broken when the third voice spoke.
"You can open your eyes now, my dear," the third voice said. Nia couldn't believe it. She was a good actress. How can she be easily caught?
She slowly opened her eyes and looked towards the source of the voices. She saw three women looking at her with different expressions.
The first one, the woman on the left, looked at her like all of these were Nia's doings. She assumed that this was the source of the first voice. She was wearing a fine-looking white robe and has a couple of accessories on her. She looked around her mid-twenties but something told Nia that the woman was much older than that.
It must be her eyes, Nia said in her mind. They seem to be much older than her face.
The second woman, the one on the right, looks kinder than the first one. She realized that she must be the second speaker. She was clad in the same way as the previous woman and also looked to be in her mid-twenties.
She turned her attention to the last woman. She was also wearing a robe but hers was much more elegant-indicating that she has higher authority and position compared to the last two women. Her robe is golden and has a lot of golden accessories on her. She looked like she was around thirty but like the others Nia also got the feeling that this woman was also older than she looks. Only this time, the woman is much, much older than the first two.
She was pulled out her thoughts when the middle woman spoke. "You two are dismissed."
The woman on the left looked like she was about to argue but then decided against it. "Yes, Your Eminence."
The two women bowed to their leader and went out of the room. The remaining woman turned to Nia, "Hello, my dear. I'm glad you're awake. I am Ulani, the Oracle of Mianamon."
At first, Nia didn't know what to say. She was afraid that she might anger the oracle so she took the least dangerous option.
"Uh, nice to meet you, Ulani, I mean, Your Eminence," she said while bowing to the oracle.
"There is no need for formalities, for you are a guest here. Also, you may call me Ulani. Now, may I know your name?"
"It's Nia."
"Very well, Nia. Do you know where you are?" Ulani asked. Then as if she had a good dose of caffeine, Nia suddenly became aware that she doesn't know where she was. And that made her nervous.
"Where am I? Who were those two? What did they mean when they said that they summoned the wrong person?"
"Calm down, Nia. You are overwhelming yourself," Ulani said patiently. "To answer your questions, you are in Lyrian, in Mianamon to be exact. Those two are my acolytes. They study Edomic here in the temple. As for what they were talking about," she hesitated. "You see we have . . . some problems here in Lyrian."
"What sort of problems?"
"The son of Maldor has shown himself, and he plans takeover all of Lyrian, just like what his father, Maldor, did before his downfall."
"Who is this Maldor? And, uh, who defeated him?"
"Maldor was the last wizard left in Lyrian at that time. Because of that he easily took over Lyrian. Many tried to defeat him but they all failed. Even King Galloran failed. He was imprisoned for a long time. He was only released when he was already in his weakened state. All hope was gone then. Until two Beyonders appeared, that is. They were not from this world but from your world, the Beyond. But even though they were not from this world they still helped save it from an eternity of darkness. And together with King Galloran and his rebellion they succeeded in thwarting Maldor. Thus they were dubbed, Hero and Heroine of Lyrian. After that the Heroine returned to the Beyond but the Hero remained in Lyrian in order to fulfill the prophecy."
Nia was silent. She was absorbing this new information that she had just learnt. Somehow, the story was familiar to her but she couldn't place a finger on where she had heard it before. She tried very hard to remember it but she still couldn't. Finally, she decided to push that thought away, for now. She turned to Ulani.
"Do you think that my coming here was really a mistake or it was done on purpose?"
"I am still unsure, Nia. I will try to see the future after this conversation. I might see something that can help. But for now you must rest. We will converse again tomorrow." Ulani said before standing up and heading for the door.
"Good night, Ulani," Nia called after her.
Ulani nodded then she proceeded outside.
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