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The Prophesy Tower. Chapter 63. Write a Novel Challenge.

by Mishal FarazJune 29, 2020

Her senses on high alert, Neina managed a tiny smile at the guests looking at her and started taking hurried strides towards the door, “I’ll take that, Jess”, she whispered to Archie’s mother.

“Jessica…”, Archie’s mother squeezed Jessica’s hand leading her back towards the fellow mourners as Jessica questioned: “Neina, is this the Queen you told me about?”

Evading her question, Neina replied, “Will it be okay if I use the library?”

Jessica nodded, “Be careful”.

“I will”, Neina said knowing very well that no amount of caution will prepare her for what may lie ahead.

As she reached the front door, despite herself, she could not help noticing how beautiful the Queen was. It seemed like her skin exuded light. She wore a golden cape over a white gown which was swaying to the gentle breeze every now and then. Her amber eyes shimmered like intricately cut stones with a thousand facets catching light.

Neina took a deep breath and walked up to the enigmatic woman whose gaze was now fixed on her.

“Follow me”, Neina said under her breath as she headed to the library.

The Queen obliged without a moment’s hesitation.

Neina locked the library door as the Queen stood in the centre of the room, looking starkly out of place.

Neina inhaled so sharply that the air felt as if it had burned her lungs, “You have already ravaged my world beyond repair. I have nothing to lose now. I’m not scared of you anymore so tell me what is it that you want and get done with it. But stay away from the people I care about.”

“Neina”, the Queen spoke, her voice ethereal and serene like a psalm. “Please call me Orla. I’m sorry about Archie. This is not what I wanted. I never intended him to be involved in all this and follow you to the Mors World. Not everyone can withstand the searing effect of this journey. You can. That’s why you are the chosen one. The child of destiny. The one who will fulfil the prophecy…” The Queen’s voice softened,” And you don’t have to be scared of me. Remember, what I told you when we last met? I love you. I have loved you since you were little child.”

Neina felt a blinding rage building within her, “ You are not done with your mind games! Tell me what it is that you want!”

Queen Orla calmly replied “Can we step out of here? I must take you back to my world to really make you understand what it is which is making our worlds interfere with each other.”

Seeing the incredulous look on Neina’s face, the Queen spoke matter-of-factly, “Look Neina, if I had to harm you, I would have done that a long time ago. Come with me. I want to see the end of this just as much as you do. I cannot do it without your help.”

Neina gave it a thought. She really did not have anything to lose. And even if she did refuse to go with the Queen she was certain that she would be taken by force. She walked to the door, unlocked it and signalled the Queen to walk out. As Neina followed her to the front door, Jessica stopped her midway, worry lines furrowing her forehead.

“I’ll be fine’, Neina pronounced, trying to sound convincing. How she wished she could believe that herself, but at least she was taking this enchantress away from Archie’s parents’ home.

The two women walked to a deserted parking lot.

Queen Orla looked at Neina,”Are you ready?”

Neina merely gave her a sharp stare.

The Queen swirled her finger in the air and a portal opened in front of them. This one didn’t look menacingly green like the kind Neina remembered Isla conjuring. It seemed to be made of gold dust. The Queen stepped into it and held out her hand. Neina took it hesitantly and stepped into the iridescent opening. As she did, the portal closed behind her and, just like that, they were in the Mors World. But there was something else that happened. As the Queen continued to hold Neina’s hand, Neina felt light and strength flowing into her veins, replenishing her battered body and soul, healing her. She felt strong.

Letting go of Neina’s hand, the Queen stepped back, “There! You look better now. You’re special, Neina. The magnitude of energy that just passed through your veins would have killed another being. But see how it nourishes you. Come child, I have something to show you.”

They did not move but the pathway did. Neina felt as if she was standing on one of those travelator belts. The pathway swirled through grasslands, deserts, waterfalls and rainforests. Her mind comfortably numb, Neina let herself be carried away to wherever they were going.

Suddenly something appeared in the horizon that shattered Neina’s detachment. It was looming bigger with every inch they covered. Neina’s eyes grew wide in disbelief. She would know this structure anywhere.

“Oh my God! This can’t be true!”, Neina turned to the Queen, “ Stop playing these mind games! What is it that you want?”

“I’m not playing any mind games, Neina. Trust me. It is what you see.”

“The Prophesy Tower!” Neina said breathlessly. She could not believe it. It was her Prophesy Tower down to the minutest details. There it stood before her in all its majesty just like she had envisioned it.

“How is this possible?” Neina turned to the Queen,” HOW.IS.IT.POSSIBLE?”

The pathway stopped moving and now Neina and Queen Orla stood right under the breathtakingly exquisite structure. The older woman spoke, weighing every word before articulating it, “Neina, we are all dwellers of a multiverse which is bigger than anyone could ever comprehend. That little star that you call the Sun is just one of the many that are speckled around this massive space. Has anyone ever told you that there are more stars in the multiverse than there are grains of sand on your planet? Well, let’s just say that life exists on many other planets. It’s just that we never cross paths. That’s how it is supposed to be.”

Catching the look of disbelief on Neina’s face, the Queen continued, “I know it is hard to believe, but, really, don’t you believe it now after all that you have gone through, seen and experienced? Our multiverses are not meant to be linked in any way because that would disrupt the space time continuum in a way that could disintegrate everything that has ever existed. You live in yours and we live in ours. We have abilities which are…er… a little different,“ the Queen swirled her hand in the air and conjured a burst of snowflakes.

Neina shivered as the dewy flakes fell on her skin.

“The Prophesy Tower is like the nerve centre of our universe”, the Queen continued to explain, “ Many decades ago it suffered a malfunction and fired up a massive spark which opened what you call a wormhole. So theoretically speaking, it is like a tunnel which connects two places – in this case your universe and ours are at the moment connected. But it is imperative that this wormhole closes for the safety of your universe dwellers and the safety of ours.”

“So, with all the powers you have, why don’t you just do it yourself?” Neina asked skeptically.

“We can from our end, but we need someone to close it at the other end – and at exactly the same time. Someone powerful. A human. For years, we looked for the chosen one- the one who was destined to bring back order in the multiverse. And then we found you. We’ve kept a watch on you since you were a little girl- Janus, Isla, Charlotte…they were all sent to guide you to fulfil the prophecy. But you see, just like not all of your kind can withstand the pressure of our world, not all of ours can withstand yours. They faltered, turned rogue, came back in the fold again. That’s why I decided to come to take you.”

“Why me?” Neina asked, her mind in a frenzy.

“Think about it Neina. Do you remember when you were a little girl and you would lie back on the grass in front of your farmhouse and look up at the stars? Do you not remember how you felt – as if they were calling out to you, talking to you?”

Neina could only nod. She remembered vividly the pull she had always felt whenever she looked up at the stars.

The Queen continued, “Do you remember how you felt when you were designing the Prophesy Tower?”

“Like something was guiding me through every single stroke!”, Neina said breathlessly.

The Queen smiled, “Yes, because you were destined to duplicate the Prophesy Tower and, eventually, with me, close the openings of the wormholes on either side.”

Neina felt as if the crushing weight of the universe was balanced on her shoulders. How was she supposed to make sense of all that was happening around her? She was a mere mortal. How was she expected to close a wormhole in space and save the universe from falling into chaos?! She yearned to have her ordinary dreams back. Dreams. The very thought sent a dagger through Neina’s chest.

“But why Archie? Why did you have to pull him into all this?” Neina’s voice was a mix of anguish and rage.

“Trust me, I did not. He was approached by Isla and Janus without my knowledge. They thought getting him involved would help make you cooperate. I’m sorry, Neina. I did not want him to get involved.” Queen Orla’s eyes, it seemed to Neina, mirrored the genuine remorse carried in the Queen’s impassioned explanation of how they had all come to be at this point. The Queen tried to hold Neina’s hand but Neina reeled away from her touch.

“ Neina”, Queen Orla spoke softly,” We need to act fast. There is a brief window during which this wormhole can be closed. The locations of closure lie within the Prophesy Towers – yours and ours only rarely. The precise time window when your world and ours will next align with each other in space is in only two days. If we don’t close it now, the next time this happens will be in thousands of years. It will be too late! Everything will be annihilated by then. There will be nothing left to protect.”

“Two days?” Neina said incredulously, “The construction of The Prophesy Tower started only 13 weeks ago. We do not even have the ground floor rising yet and the London planners, as usual, are slowing everything to a crawl. How do you expect the tower to rise up in two days?”

“The location is not situated in the heights of the tower Neina. It lies deep within the ground underneath it. Haven’t the foundation been laid for The Prophesy Tower?” the Queen asked Neina.

“Yes”, replied Neina, well aware that it was a rhetorical question.

“Did you not wonder why you insisted on tunnels beneath the foundations and the glass borehole in your drawings? Did you not think at the time how odd these were? It is from that glass borehole that the precise location can be discovered. But you know this, don’t you.”

As the Queen spoke, her eyes locked with Neina’s and, for the first time, Neina saw something that she had never seen in them – desperation.

For our independent review of The Winchester School Jebel Ali, click here.

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For further information on the Write a Novel Challenge by SchoolsCompared.com and WhichSchoolAdvisor.com, please click here.

The Prophesy Tower – A Novel.

To read Chapter 1, click here.

To read Chapter 2, click here.

To read Chapter 3, click here.

To read Chapter 4, click here.

To read Chapter 5, click here.

To read Chapter 6, click here.

To read Chapter 7, click here.