The King Of Heavens.

PROLOGUE

Many years ago Talik, the ruler of all worlds and king of the heavens became very ill, he was very old and knew it was time to choose a new ruler. So he turned to his two sons, his eldest son was called Sheba a strong but greedy young boy who, Talik knew, would turn out to be a great commander of the warriors who protected the kingdom of the heavens. Olra the younger son of the two was a wise and trustworthy young person who would make great decisions in further life. After a while in deep thought Talik decided it would be wise for Olra to become king and be wise in his choices and Sheba to be made the commander of the warriors and lead great battles. But Sheba was outraged by his father’s choice that he had not been made king and soon as their father past away he took revenge on his brother.
After years of his brother’s nasty tricks of trying to take place as king, Olra decided enough was enough. He sent out some of his finest warriors to find Sheba and bring him to the council. Olra and the council talked firmly to him but Sheba would not make peace. He still believed strongly it was Olras fault he was not king, so he was escorted to the dungeons and has been there ever since.

CHAPTER 1

Sheba wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead as he ran for his life. He could hear the pounding of feet getting closer and closer behind him. He knew he didn’t have much time. Quickly slipping in to the shadows of a small alcove around the corner, he was just in time to see about twenty palace guards sprint past him. Catching his breath, he watched them disappear around the corner, sprang out of his hiding place and dashed down the passageway in the opposite direction. He knew the guards would not come back down this way as they thought he was going to escape away from the palace, but he had another task to complete before he made his getaway. Knowing the palace like the back of his hand he took no time at all in reaching his destination. He raced through the passageways, slipping through the shadows until he reached the steps lead out to the beautiful palace gardens. All of a sudden he heard voices coming towards him down the passage. Hastily he ducked behind a faded old tapestry and pressed his body against the cold stone wall of the dungeons. He could hear the guards walk passed their heavy gold armour clanking slightly as they passed. The sound of the armour faded a little and finally stopped. Sheba let out a deep sigh of relief and smiled to himself. Not long now he thought. Unexpectedly a blade slashed through the tapestry and clanged against the wall and inch away from his head. “Who in there?” demanded a stern voice. Sheba recognised it as Gobba, a huge muscular man. The sword slashed through the tapestry again, just missing him. He slowly lay down on the floor making sure he didn’t move the tapestry. Gobba kept on stabbing at the tapestry, for he knew it was so big and heavy he would never be able to lift the whole thing up. “Come on Gobba, there’s no one there; it was probably just a mouse” Said the other voice, who Sheba recognised as Karsa, a small but speedy young guard. “Hmmm” muttered Gobba, not sounding convinced but stopped stabbing at the tapestry anyway. Sheba heard their footsteps fading down the passage way and this time waited for a few minutes before peering out the curtain. The coast was clear and without any hesitation sprinted out and up the steps into the gardens. He crouched down behind the statue of his father, The Great Talik, outside the entrance to the vault containing the seven crystal orbs. Guarding the entrance was a fearsome centaur with shining gold armour and a lethal bow and arrow. Sheba gazed longingly at the huge wooden doors to the vault. He was so close; all he needed to do now was to get passed the centaur. The only way to do that was to take him down.

Suddenly Sheba leaped at the centaur with his dagger drawn, the blade flashed in the sun light as it cut across the centaurs throat. The centaur, taken by surprise, staggered back as blood dripped down from the cut Sheba made on his neck. Weakened, he struggled to pull back the string of his deadly bow. Sheba quickly struck again, this time though his sword clanged against the centaurs armour. Then all of a sudden the burly palace guard Zennith hurtled around the corner, his sword drawn.
The centaur looked relived as he saw Zennith coming to the rescue. But to the centaur’s surprise, instead of charging for Sheba he headed straight for him. The centaur let his arrow loose and it struck Zenniths’ arm. Zennith swung his sword at the centaurs head but missing as the centaur ducked to one side to then meet Sheba’s fist knocking him down. Zennith quickly broke the centaur’s neck with his huge hands. As the centaur slumped to the ground Sheba whispered some magic words under his breath and the doors swung open. Quickly stepping over the centaur’s body Sheba and Zennith entered the vault.

The vault was a gloomy room with no windows. The only light came from the shimmering orbs on a golden table in the middle. Sheba rushed forward but was soon stopped by a magical shield protecting the orbs. “What now?” asked Zennith in a gruff voice. “You managed to escape from the prison then. I was worried that I hadn’t distracted the guards for long enough.”
“Shut it” hissed Sheba as he was trying to complete a spell to remove the shield.
All of a sudden the shield became visible and started to fade away. In a matter of seconds it had completely disappeared. Sheba gave out a cry of relief and hurried towards the orbs. He picked one up and gazed at its beauty. Swiftly he passed it over to Zennith who put it in his pouch. Then unexpectedly the huge oak doors at the other end of the vault swung open and Olra appeared. Olra’s eyes opened wide in surprise before being replaced by a calm and serene look. Olra was known to stay calm in even in the worst of situations.
“Well, well, well.” Olra said giving Sheba a knowing look, “Look who we have here.”
“My dear brother.” Said Sheba giving Olra a sly smile, “Long time, no see, don’t you think. Now if you would just let me and my fellow guard here get on with our business, we’ll let you get on with yours.”
“I have no time for your fun and games just put back my orbs and I might reason with you.” Olra said forcefully.
“Now, now, dear brother of mine, I have never wanted to reason with you. You took what was mine, so I’ll take what is yours. Fair don’t you think?” smiled Sheba.
Olra took a few steps towards Sheba “The throne was never yours, father made a fair decision. It is only you who can’t accept that.” cried Olra, magical power whirling through the air around him. Sensing their king in danger five fine warriors rushed through the wooden doors.
“Quick, grab as many orbs as you can Zennith, while I open the portal!” yelled Sheba.
“No, don’t let him open the portal” cried Olra as he summoned his magic to create a new shield around the magical orbs. The guards hesitated. “Go!” shouted Olra “Zennith is not your brother warrior anymore, he has turned against you!” The warriors rapidly turned and sprinted towards Zennith and Sheba. But it was too late the portal was open and they were stepping into it. Just before he disappeared, Sheba turned towards his brother. A black mist surrounding him and making the air around him pulse. “There is worse to come.” And with that he disappeared.
Olra shook his head and sighed. “Did they manage to take any of the orbs” he asked the warriors.
“I’m afraid so, my Lord, they took three.” The head warrior Troy informed him.
“We must call a council meeting immediately.” Said Olra, “His powers have increased greatly. I have never wanted to kill my own brother but now it looks like I have no choice.” Said Olra gravely.

Chapter 2

The king of the heavens had a worried frown on his face as he welcomed in his court.
“Greetings my friends, today I have some very important news.” His court settled down as he placed himself in his grand chair in front of them. He cleared his throat and spoke once more “Sheba, my brother, our greatest enemy has escaped the prisons and to get his revenge has stolen three of the seven crystal orbs.” Loud gasps echoed around the room. Olra the king heavens keeps seven magical crystal orbs, each one looks over and after a different land. A red one for the underworld, yellow for human life, blue for the waterworld, white for the skies, green for the tree people, pink for fairyland and silver for the land of the spirits. Olra spoke again “It must be decided what we are to do, as we must make a decision fast. In the wrong hands, the orbs could cause chaos.”
He paused for a moment, “Are there any ideas?” he said finally. He scanned his eyes around the vast room waiting for an answer.
“Yes,” spoke up an old croaky voice, it was Quoluk, a wise old man with a long white beard.
“The three missing orbs are water, life and the underworld, so we must send three people who we can trust with the knowledge of the missing orbs.”
What a load of rubbish we don’t need any help at all, I say we declare war,” snarled a strange looking man called Imiq.
“Quoluk’s a lot wiser and older than any of us here, I think we should listen to him,” argued Minala a fierce demanding woman.
A loud chatter went round as everyone agreed with Minala. Olra put his hand up for silence and spoke once more, “It looks like most of us are in agreement with Quoluk’s idea. I will consider it.” Imiq growled in disgust as Olra a few minutes later stood up to talk again, “Now we must understand what danger we could be putting these people in if we ask them to do our task, and even then they might not agree.”
“It is the only idea we have, we must at least try.” Spoke up Minala. A mutter of agreement went around the council. Olra sat in silence for a few minutes more. He then stood up once again “Well it seems we have agreed that it is worth a try. We need to form the magic circle of light and teleport the people that I have decided on, with the knowledge to complete this task, up to our world!”
“I think now is the time, but Quoluk I am going to pass over the honour to you to conjure up the power of light!”
Everyone turned to look at Quoluk as he stepped into the middle of the circle and got ready to do a very powerful piece of magic that takes many years to learn.
“Are you ready my friend?” asked Olra.
“Yes” said Quoluk with his voice full of confidence.
Quoluk stretched out his arms and closed his eyes. At first nothing happened, but the suddenly, everyone gazed in awe as a bright blinding light flashed in the middle of the big circle they were sitting in and there as the light faded stood three young girls each one from completely different backgrounds.
“What the…”
“Oh my gosh”
“Jumping jellyfish” gasped the girls as they stared at the rows of people.
“Welcome young people” Olra said smiling as the three girls whirled around to stare at him. “I’m Olra, the King of the great heavens.”
“Um... your majesty.” Said one girl who took hold of her beautiful aqua dress and curtseyed, tucking her perfect hazel hair behind one ear, “Where in the great seas is this and why am I here?”
Olra laughed “Please call me Olra, this is the great heavens a place of afterlife. And you my friend are all here because we,” Orla’s hand swept around the room, “need your help.”

CHAPTER 3

Arabella gazed around the huge room. Swirly gold pillars spiralled up to the pearl studded ceiling. A mass of faces stared back at her; they were all sitting in a semi circle of chairs the layers going up and up. Behind her on a soft velvet throne sat a strange man with a pointy beard and four shimmering balls floated on a glass table in front of him.
“How do you need our help” asked the girl standing next to her. She had short brown hair and a questioning look on her freckled face.
“You must be Faye” Olra smiled. “Well you see these orbs in front of me, they are very magical. A long time ago my father chose me to be king, my brother was furious. We tried to reason with him but he wouldn’t listen so we locked him in the prisons. A few days ago he escaped and took three of these orbs with him. These orbs are very important as they look after different worlds, but in the wrong hands they can cause great disaster. We need you to find them for us. That is if you agree to help.”
“But how do we know where to find them?” asked the other girl.
Arabella admired her sparkly aqua dress, but of course it was no match for her gorgeous pink one laced with strands of gold, the shimmering layers of silk swirling down to her feet. She was a princess after all.
“I will tell you in good time, but you need some rest first, why don’t you go out on the balcony and get to know each other while I finish the meeting.
“But what about are families at home?” asked Faye.
“There is no time in the heavens; your families will be peaceful in their homes with no worries for were you are. Now off you go, the balcony is just there.” Said Olra waving his hand behind him.

The girls walked away from the staring faces of unknown beings towards the huge golden arches Olra had pointed them towards. Arabella stared up at them, gasping at their beauty as they stretched along the back of the whole room letting in the dazzling sunshine. The three girls stood on the balcony gazing out into the seemingly endless pink shimmering mist.