Lor Mandela - Destruction from Twins by L Carroll Page B

palm, was the little silver box.
    The vritesse smiled, drew in one large gulp
of air, and was gone.
     
     

CHAPTER VI
THEY ARE THE LOCK, BUT THEY ARE NOT
FRIENDS
     
    A fter several quiet minutes in the palace foyer, Ultara's
voice broke the heavy silence. “Come on, Graci,” she whispered. “We
should go. There’s nothing more we can do here.”
    She stood and held out her hand.
    Gracielle stared at their mothers’ bodies
for a few more seconds. A nauseating emptiness twisted in the pit
of her stomach. Her mother was gone; it didn't seem real. Yet the
evidence was right there, tragically staring her in the face. She
looked up at Ultara, took her outstretched hand, and pulled herself
to her feet. “I . . . I suppose you’re right,” she sighed.
    Ultara put her arm around Gracielle’s
shoulder. “I’ll walk you to your room, and then find someone to
take care of the bodies,” she offered in a cracking voice.
    Gracielle fought back tears as they started
across the foyer.
    A nagging voice inside her
head whispered over and over again, the
Advantiere . . . the Advantiere . . . the Advantiere.
    She ignored it, but it
repeated. The Advantiere . . . the
Advantiere . . . the Advantiere.
    As they entered a hallway, the voice echoed
in her mind again.
    Gracielle stopped. “I . . . I’m sorry,
Ultara,” she said. “I just can’t seem to shake this. I’ve got to go
back to the Advantiere.”
    Ultara gaped in surprise. “You too?” She’d
also heard a voice urging her back. “This doesn’t really seem like
the right time,” she protested, “but, I don’t think either of us is
going to get any rest until we take a look at that thing. I’ll get
help from Koria first, and then meet you back in the room.”
    Gracielle nodded in agreement.
    Ultara turned and walked quickly toward the
main doors, intentionally refusing to look in the direction of her
mother’s body. Once outside, she ran down the palace steps and
vanished in a flash of blue light.
    Gracielle had to look again, just one more
moment to be in the presence of the woman she loved and admired the
most. She glanced over at her mother’s motionless form and tears
spilled in thick streams down her fair cheeks.
    The Advantiere . . . the
Advantiere . . . the Advantiere. The voice
returned, louder and more demanding than before. The Advantiere . . . the Advantiere . . . the
Advantiere.
    She drew in a deep breath and started toward
the corridor that housed the Advantiere room.
    She had barely taken two steps into the
hall, when Ultara returned looking very agitated. She informed
Gracielle that a group of Trystas were on their way, and then
stomped her foot and shouted skyward, “Yes! The Advantiere! I know!
We’re going!”
    When they reached the room, Ultara waved her
hand and the door flew open to reveal an overwhelming scene. Piles
of broken glass, chunks of concrete, twisted metal, and splintered
wood completely covered the once-marble floor. The only break in
the mess was the huge, gaping chasm—the pit from which the spirit
of Lor Mandela had come when it revealed to Gracielle that she was
carrying the child responsible for saving their entire world. The
very thought of it made her insides feel like they had been tied in
tight knots.
    Cautiously, they maneuvered through the
rubble and around the hole in the floor to where the Advantiere
glistened glittery-red on the wall. They stood and stared at it for
several minutes.
    Finally, Gracielle read aloud, “The Child of
Balance can only restore.” She placed her hand on her stomach and
sighed. “You know? I just found out today. I haven't even told
Jonathan yet.”
    Ultara touched her cousin
warmly on the arm. “If it’s any consolation,” she tried, “it
says, 'The riddle must be solved for or by
her' . I can only assume that means this
isn’t going to happen immediately. It's going to take some
time.”
    She smiled at Gracielle, who was looking all
at once pale and green.
    “I'm sure she'll be