Crossing Into Forever

Chapter 10

The man that had been so angry just moments before, looked down at Ella while she was in her deep sleep. Now that he was looking at her in a less volatile moment, his eyes softened. She couldn't be that old, he thought to himself. Maybe even younger than he originally thought. Looking at her angelic-like features made him feel a twinge of guilt for the way he had treated her. He had that nagging feeling again that she looked familiar, but he brushed it off quickly. He couldn't help but be angry with her for being there. She should never have entered a place that she had to have known she didn't belong. If she only knew how close she had come to meeting a tortuous and violent demise. He knew Erebus, even though he was comparatively weak, would have the power and strength to harm or even kill a normal person like her. She was obviously not from Spirotest and did not have any sort of special power.

Erebus was a dangerous creature that lived in the woods on the west side of the school grounds. He was the son of Icarus, who, when alive, was a powerful and evil sorcerer. Icarus was originally from the planet Spirotest, but due to some unfortunate but intentional happenings on the planet as a result of Icarus's dark magic, he was banished to the planet Warbrotum many years ago when he was a young man at twenty-five years old. Being that Warbrotum's society had not evolved into a modern world, the citizens were much more accommodating to someone with his mysterious skills and were mesmerized with his knowledge and power. Icarus had twin sons, Erebus and Ansgar, while living on the planet Warbrotum. Through the years, the two young men grew up hating each other. They were aware that when their father died, only one of them could inherit his powerful abilities and the other would be left with a dismal amount of power and skill. It was because of this that the rivalry existed. When Icarus died at the age of 60, the boys battled for a year before Ansgar came out the victor. He could have killed his brother, but he decided it would be a greater disgrace to his brother to turn him into a monster and banish him to Spirotest, the planet that had exiled their father so long ago. Weak and defeated, Erebus went into hiding for years while living in his new home until he could muster up the strength and courage to venture out to see his new world. It was at this time when Erebus was twenty-nine years old, and Nicholas was nineteen that they encountered each other for the first time. Nicholas, having special powers himself, could tell that Erebus could pose a threat to the safety of those at the school he himself had been raised at and others on the planet as well. He forbade Erebus from coming out of the small area of woods he had allowed him to inhabit. With his powers he could also sense if Erebus crossed into an area that was not considered his territory. He felt as long as Erebus stayed in his territory, there would be no danger to the residents at the school. He was a reasonable man and made the agreement with the monster that as long as he stayed in his territory and did not bother anyone on the planet, he would allow him to live

Erebus followed this agreement for many years, and he stayed in his territory. He also stayed on Spirotest since this was his home now and it took much of his strength to move through the portals. There had been no reason for him to venture out of Spirotest and waste his precious energy. He had everything he needed here for now. Also, if someone was in his territory, it would no doubt be easy for him to capture them. Not many people could escape him, and no common person would have the means to defeat him or even defend themselves against him. It was well known to all students and staff that they were to stay out of these woods because of this. But He had always had hopes that one day, some unlucky person would accidentally venture on to his grounds.

Unfortunately for Ella, she was that unlucky person. She couldn't have known the grave danger she had put herself in by following her friend, even if it were under innocent circumstances. To make matters worse, Erebus had tasted her blood during their encounter and had learned many things about her with this. She was a virgin and virgin blood provided the means to make Erebus powerful again. He could taste that she was a virgin and unknown to Nicholas and Ella, Erebus had the unique ability to sense that Ella had royal blood from Losslurse. He had known about Losslurse all of his life as his father had been the one that, with his evil abilities, helped lead the invasion onto the planet and massacred all of the planet's men while kidnapping all of their women. A virgin from Losslurse that was of royal blood could bring him very strong powers and with this he could then defeat his brother, Ansgar. He decided, with his new information, that his future may be looking up and he would not stop until he reaped the benefits of this newfound knowledge.