The Book of Tamonah - (Return to Elysia)

Fast-paced High fantasy / portal fantasy When Benji starts getting frightening and dreamlike ‘sendings’, his girlfriend, Kim, seeks Professor’s Long’s help. The dark fae witch Orma is on the move, and it’s now apparent she has the, now dead dark fae leader’s baby daughter, Opina, in her keeping. Long tasks Kim to work once more with her one-time partner Darsh to establish Orma’s whereabouts. Thrust back into the turmoil of life in Elysia, Benji has no idea what’s going on, having had his memories tampered with. He believes the kelpies are his enemy, and with Amy, another of the kelpies ‘projects’, he flees Prenya, the kelpie’s main city, and ends up in Orma’s hands. Orma has no use for a baby, and uses her considerable skills to elevate Opina’s growth and development in order to tap into her magic. Reading from the tome ‘The Book of Tamonah’ Orma fixes on Benji as the foretold consort of the witch queen, Opina, with herself as the power behind the throne. The light clans must all work together to prevent Opina and her patron, Orma, bringing forth the Demons to Elysia as she plans her rise to dark power.

Chapter 1 – Sending When Kim got back home to the flat, she could hear Benji shouting frantically, His loud cries resounding throughout the corridors. Swinging the front door wide she dropped her bag and rushed into the bedroom. She found Benji with sweat dripping from his face as he thrashed about. Kim threw herself to her knees on the discarded duvet and shook him by the shoulders. Her heart skipped a beat when Benji’s lids suddenly popped open. Terror shone in the whites of his eyes. Kim had to duck a potential blow from his flailing arm before, finally, awareness found its way back to his startled face. “Where were you?” pleaded Benji. “I woke up and you were gone. There were…things in the room with me. Dark creatures. They wanted to kill me.” “It’s just a dream hun.” This is getting out of hand. He’s not been this badly affected before. Kim needed to calm him – play it down. “I wish you’d stop reading those scary fantasy books.” “But…” “Hun, there are no dark creatures here. Look around,” she waved her arm about the room. Benji sat up straight and looked desperately at Kim. “I was awake…earlier…it was so real. Just like before, only this time there was a woman. She looked kinda normal, except there was bright, silvery light all around her. I couldn’t see her all that clearly, but the light didn’t seem to be coming from her. It’s like she…I don’t know…was sucking it in. The rest of the room went black…I mean really black…and then…and then she called my name.” He was gulping air as the panic rose again. Alarm coursed its way down Kim’s spine as her own mind conjured up an image of the dark fae, Orma. But Benji had never seen the witch. Was it some kind of ‘sending?’ This was serious. She needed to speak to Professor Long, urgently. They had a class with him later that morning. She would try to get him alone after the lesson. “Come on, get yourself showered while I cook up some scrambled eggs. You’ll feel better with some breakfast inside you.” Kim rubbed the tiny gland behind her ear and released a little of her pheromone – just enough to ease Benji’s mind. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t do that to him anymore, but sometimes, desperate situations justified desperate measures. Benji complied, as she knew he would, and Kim supressed a flash of guilt. ***** The bell rang in the lecture hall later that morning, followed by a cacophony of buzzes, tinkles and short tuneful notes, as forty or more mobile phones sprung to life and headed out the door. “Benji hun, why don’t you go and get to the front of the lunch queue? Order us some sarnies and coffee. I just want to clarify something with the Prof, shan’t be long.” “Sure. Cheese salad for you?” “Great.” Kim headed down the steps to the podium and waited patiently while another student discussed the finer points of preconception with the Prof. She watched quietly as the young man left. Finally they were alone. “You seem agitated Kimjora.” Kim snorted. Only a wizard could have sensed agitation in her outwardly calm demeanour. “I’m not sure, but I think Orma is on the move.” She described what happened with Benji earlier. “You were right to bring this to me.” Long scratched his head. “We need to talk further. Can you contrive to extricate yourself from Benjamin for a couple of hours and meet me at the Cherry Tree Tearoom, about 4.30?” She nodded her assent. ***** In the Cherry Tree that afternoon, the Prof had a pot of Earl Grey, an elaborate cup and saucer and a scone, on a matching plate, in front of him, while Kim used her spoon to make patterns in the froth of her, otherwise untouched, cappuccino. Long took a sip of his tea then went to work buttering his scone, whilst peering at Kim over the top of his half-rimmed glasses. Kim broke the silence that seemed much longer than it probably was. “How goes the search for Orma?” “Not good. She’s a powerful witch…” A woman looked over from the next table. Long leaned in a little, lowered his voice and pulled his glasses off. “She could be anywhere. With her level of magic, even the wizards can’t find her. We’re certain, however, she won’t stay hidden. She’ll be up to something, you can be sure of that. My guess is she’s somewhere in this world. The wizards can’t even try to search for her here. If we invoke our power, even the humans will be able to see our auras.” Kim whispered too. “What about the sprites? If you’re right, surely one of their trackers could find her.” “Huh! There’s no talking to Arbani at the moment, not since his wife, Dailabi, turned dark and took off with a big chunk of his citizens. Besides, after what happened last time one of his trackers came to the human world, he’s not going to be very receptive to sending anyone else.” Kim’s heart sank. “My fault then. I should have protected Pynora better from the attack.” “Oh, it’s no good blaming yourself. Dark fae were responsible, not you.” “Yes but…” “No ‘buts’, it was not you that killed her, remember that.” Another question burned inside of Kim. “Have you seen anything of Darsh?” “I’ve sent her out in search of Osun’s baby daughter, Opina. After the Battle of the Triangle, she disappeared. No doubt one or more of the dark fae spirited her away after Osun’s death. She’s the first fae ever to be actually born dark. The wizards need to locate her. If we can’t turn her to the light…” Long shrugged and left that thought hanging. “What if Orma’s taken the child?” “That is one possibility we have been considering. If you’re right and Orma’s taken charge of Opina, she probably already has, at the very least, got the rest of the dark fae under her thrall by now. One of my sisters, Rana, is keeping a weather eye on Dailabi. I need to speak with her. If Orma is planning any kind of offensive, she may well be working with the dark sprites too. This is bad Kimjora. After defeating the dark forces in The Battle of the Triangle, we hoped they’d still be licking their wounds.” Another silence hung between them for a couple of minutes, yet Kim could see Long was studying her face out of the corner of his rheumy eye, waiting for her to say more. She shifted on the hard chair, put her spoon down and began tearing bits off the doily from the serving plate that now held only crumbs. “Come on, out with it,” said Long. Kim hesitated a moment before answering. “It’s just…well you know…I spent centuries searching for the one that would restore my people…” “And now you have everything you ever wished for and you don’t know what to do with yourself,” Long concluded. “It sounds selfish I know. It’s just that Benji became so much…more, if you know what I mean, and now he’s back to being…” “A boring, average psychology student with no ambition.” Kim screwed up her face. She could only concede the point. “He has no idea of his heritage. No idea who his mother really is, or that he saved her life. No idea that, because of him, my people have regained their full glory…it just seems so unfair.” “Kimjora, you are an agent and a warrior of your people. Sometimes your work is not glamorous. I understand it’s been difficult for you going back to the mundane life you shared with Benjamin. Anyway, after what you told me earlier, it seems this whole business is far from over. He needs protecting now more than ever. What happens if his memory starts to come back and you’re not there to deal with the outfall?” “Do you think it’s likely? It’s been over a year, and all he gets is the dreams – though I have to admit, they are getting worse.” “No one knows what might happen. The situation is unprecedented.” Long sighed. “It seems I’ll have to go ‘off sick’ from work again. I need to get back to Elysia and call a meeting with the rest of the wizards’ council.” Kim watched fascinated as a string of thoughts and emotions played across Long’s animated face. “Are you going to let me in on what you’re thinking?” Long studied her again, then seemed to make up his mind about something. “Change of plan. I want you working with Darsh. At the moment she thinks she’s just searching for a handful of dark fae and the child, but if the situation is as serious as we think it might be, if Orma is, as you put it ‘on the move’, it will be best that the two of you reform your partnership. Be very careful though Kimjora, even a formidable team such as yourself and Darsh are no match for Orma. Find her. See if she has the child. Find out if she is drawing the other dark clans to her, and not just the dark fae, and then report back to me. Do not put yourselves in danger.” Another quiet moment while Long mulled over his plans. Mmm. What to do about Benjamin.” His brow furrowed as he weighed up the options. “Can you call his mother? She will be able to shield him from any interference from Orma.” Kim nodded. A little thrill of excitement seeped into her psyche at the thought of actually doing something once more. And, of course, she longed to see Darsh again. “I’ll call Carylinia now. Benji will wonder why we’re finishing up in the middle of the term, but I’ll think of something to tell him.”