Rebecca Newton and the Last Oracle

  Title Page

  Rebecca Newton

  &

  The Last Oracle

  a novel by Mario Routi

  Book II

  OAK TREE PRESS

  Publisher Information

  Published by Oak Tree Press

  65 - 67 Bute Street, Luton

  Bedfordshire, LU1 2EY

  www.oaktreepress.co.uk

  An imprint of Andrews UK Limited

  www.andrewsuk.com

  Copyright © 2015 Mario Routi.

  The right of Mario Routi to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Cover design, layout and formatting: Damonza

  Dedication

  To my children

  1

  Dear Diary,

  Today was my sixteenth birthday and I received the Flame for the second time, which means I have decided to remain an Orizon. Most Orizons need to make that choice at eighteen but I, being the daughter of the King and Princess of Utopia - and therefore a princess myself - needed to make this decision two years earlier.

  The truth is that ever since my mum became the Princess here and decided to stop keeping the immortality fact a secret from the trainees, everyone chooses to remain an Orizon. I mean, who would choose not to be immortal if they were offered the option?

  Today was the first time that I got to hear the tragic story of Leylah, my mother’s best friend from her youth, when she was still on Earth. I was named in her memory. I also heard the whole story of what my mother and father went through just to be together. I know my dad can get on my nerves sometimes but I really hope I will find a man as loyal and loving as him someday. He was the ruler of the Kingdom of Beast, later renamed Thunder, which makes him really ancient, even though he looks young enough to be my older brother. I know the Wise Tree is older but, apart from that, I think that my dad is probably the most ancient soul here.

  When I first heard that Mum and Dad had started out as sworn enemies, I thought it was really exciting. It was like one of those classic romantic novels in the library and I’m glad that they decided to tell me all the details of their turbulent meeting and what happened consequently. The truth is my dad was seen as the bad guy for centuries, but in reality he was always the sweet man everyone knows him to be today.

  They told me about how they met and the long battle that raged from here to the Elysian Fields and I was thrilled to realise that my mum had not only met with the Gods, but had even fought alongside them.

  It was also the first time that Mum talked to me about the Earth. I still find it hard to imagine what it’s like over there. Mum actually lived there, and so did most of our family, but I’ve only ever been here all of my life. Everyone in Utopia is friendly and life is peaceful, a bit like a living sonata. We do a lot of interesting things, one of which is the War Games. People gather from all around the Land of the White Sun to enjoy the War Games and to see who has gained the most from their training. It is an incredibly exciting time.

  My favorite part is watching Alexander participate. He is the son of our Lady Felicia and Lord Leiko. The mighty Hercules is his grandfather so, as a prince, he also took the Flame when he was sixteen instead of eighteen, just like me. Alexander is nine years older than me and apart from his enormous strength, he is the swiftest and most agile fighter imaginable. He fights furiously and yet he never seems to have a hair out of place. It’s a bit unnatural to be honest but I don’t mind, because when he poses in victory it makes him look even more like the great heroes you read about in books.

  Now that my Flame has been renewed my life will become more interesting. For the past sixteen years, I’ve done more or less the same things every day. I go to the training grounds, I read my books, I go to the cultural events and the art classes and I eat my meals. Nothing really exciting has ever happened to me. I have been living a very peaceful life which, in some ways, is good but as the Flame I received at birth gradually weakened inside of me, the beauty that’s all around me seemed to dim a little bit more with each repetitive day.

  I would talk to Dad about this constantly and he always knew what to say. That’s probably because he was forced to run his Kingdom without the Flame for so long. He is so wise. He’s just opened up a new school for the more “curious of mind” and he even intends to be one of the instructors. He tells me that there will be all sorts of different subjects to study there but he won’t tell me what they will be. He says he wants to keep me in a state of anticipation, like a child searching the heavens for a rainbow after a storm.

  I can hear Mum in the kitchen. I know she’s dreading tomorrow because she realises she is going to have to stop being so over protective of me. Up till now, I’ve never even been allowed to go to the other Kingdoms of the Land of the White Sun, let alone to Earth. I wonder what it must be like in those Kingdoms now that everyone lives in peace. I can only imagine what marvels they’ve managed to construct with the powers of the Flame.

  Tomorrow is the day I begin training with actual weapons instead of wooden equipment. Mum says that, if I want to, I can watch how my crystal sword will be made. I hope that at some point I will be taught how to make a crystal sword myself. I’ve never been like the other girls who like to stay away from crystal mining and spend all their time in the fields with the animals. The work of putting pickaxe to stone always seems to calm my nerves and I like that, much like fishermen describe how peaceful it is to be sitting in the middle of a silent lake.

  The people who work in the mines around Utopia are always so cheerful and I like hanging out with Bull the Minotaur, who seems to enjoy mining just as much as training. He always says, “Mining toughens the hands and uses every muscle, including your brain. You have to be precise with your strokes or you’ll end up cleaving your foot. In a lot of ways, it’s similar to sword fighting except we have shade and cooler air.”

  Since I wasn’t fully ready to handle a real weapon, the pickaxe was the closest I could come to practicing with a sword. My body has always been slim but quite athletic and I’m pretty sure I have more muscles than most of the teenagers who are allowed to train with swords at my age.

  Sometimes Mum yells at me for spending so much time in the mine when I should have been studying but recently she seems to have given up worrying about that. She and Dad just exchange knowing smiles whenever I tell them that I’ve been in the mines. My dad always blushes when Mum looks at him, as if he were still a shy young boy, although he is never actually the bashful, peaceful and modest person my mother claims he is. Often, after Bull and I finish mining, Dad will challenge Bull to a sword fight. I asked him why he picks Bull every time and he said, “He’s the only opponent who can give me a real fight, dearest.”

  I never understood it though because Mum never let me stay to watch them - until last night. It was the most amazing sight. I’ve never seen anything like it in the training grounds. My dad was so fast but Bull overcame him with sheer cunning and strength. The noise of the swords clashing was dea
fening and time seemed to stand still as I watched Dad going up against one of the most revered fighters of all time. For the first time ever, I saw a crystal sword break, which I thought was impossible, but apparently Bull is that strong. The sound that came from it was like a wave of thunderbolts crashing down, rolling out across the whole of Utopia.

  Bull and Dad hid in the bushes like a couple of naughty little boys as Lady Felicia and Mum came running into the area. I thought I would never stop laughing! Bull was too big to be able to hide from them for long and he wore a guilty grin as he hung his head to shield his face from the scolding they both gave him.

  Mum wants me to make friends but I simply don’t seem to be very good at it. Well, at least I have Mo, the Cyclops, but Bull has always been my best and closest friend. He taught me almost everything I know. We played constantly, using wooden swords because Mum refused to let me use a real one. I love his cooking the most because that Minotaur can really put together a scrumptious meal. He makes something different every day.

  So, tomorrow my warrior life really begins, even though we don’t have wars lately as the demons don’t dare attack us anymore. I’ll start receiving combat training from Nemesis, the General of the Amazons, General Hunter, who leads the Centaurs, and other instructors. I will also get to watch several young Orizons arrive from places all over Earth in spaceships that I have never seen the inside of. Many of us will be heading to the Welcome Ceremony when they arrive and will then go on to the amphitheater to hear the same speech that I have heard every year of my life - although my mother always makes it sound like she’s giving it for the first time.

  There’s just so much to do tomorrow. I can’t wait for the morning to come. I wonder what my future is going to be like. I can’t stop thinking whether I will ever have a chance to meet the Gods like Mum did.

  Of course, the most fun part of my life right now is my dear English bulldog, Bebi. He has been with me since forever. He was my grandparents’ gift to me for my first birthday. They brought him over to the Land of the White Sun fifteen years ago and made him immortal. Bebi even sits with me at the table and shares every dish that I have. He also enjoys playing with my mum’s favorite pet, a lion she saved years ago on Earth that she named Larry. When I’m in the house and my parents are not, Larry is my guard although I can’t understand what he is supposed to be guarding me from, since we live in peace, but my parents are over protective and...

  ***

  The door to Leylah’s room cracked open slowly and she saw her mother’s eye peeking through.

  “Honey, it’s getting late,” Rebecca said. “You need to rest for tomorrow and don’t tell me that you don’t, because you fell asleep on your horse this morning.”

  Leylah giggled at the memory. “Yes, Mother. I’m just updating my diary.”

  “Okay, sweetheart. I love you.”

  “I love you too, Mum,” Leylah said, feeling her heart glow at her mother’s gentle kindness and realising her eyelids had grown heavy. The door clicked shut and Leylah bent her head over her diary once more to bid it goodnight. As she closed it she stroked the leather binding which had cracked from the years of use. The pages inside were fragile, with the papyrus starting to brown and the ink seeping through to the other side, as if trying to escape into the exciting future she herself was dreaming about.

  2

  London, UK - Earth

  A man in his late thirties, Ricky Soblett, awoke to brilliant sunshine in his Knightsbridge apartment. Pulling himself out of bed he walked to the glass wall that overlooked Hyde Park and stretched luxuriantly before padding to the bathroom. The generous proportions of the apartment dwarfed him.

  Peering into the mirror through puffy blue eyes, he gave a sigh of satisfaction as he carefully combed what was left of his red hair and flexed the scrawny muscles that were trapped inside his tight polo t-shirt. He bared his large yellow teeth and stroked his closely cropped red beard. His nose had caught the sun the previous day and looked raw and red like an eggplant. Behind his back his employees thought he resembled a rat but he considered himself to be a truly dashing fellow. His high opinion of himself knew no bounds.

  The sun dazzled him as the front door of the building opened for him and he walked quickly through the densely planted area, avoiding the splashes from the automated sprinkler system. He could not understand why the building managers bothered with flowers when the space could be used much more effectively for parking, so that he wouldn’t need to walk all the way round to the garage.

  His new assistant, an attractive woman in her mid twenties, was waiting for him at his limousine, espresso in one hand and the Financial Times in the other. Grabbing the espresso, he took a noisy sip as he climbed into the large car, sinking so far down into the leather seat that his head just barely showed in the window.

  His assistant left the newspaper on the seat next to him.

  “Sir, the...”

  Ricky raised a hand. “Do not talk to me until I finish my coffee. I’ll fire you the next time you interrupt.”

  Her mouth tightened as she vainly searched her brain for an acceptable response.

  “Is that clear?” he demanded.

  She nodded and began to settle into the limousine next to him but he put his hand up again.

  “This is my space, go sit with the driver.”

  She shut the door with a little more force than she would normally have used and stalked around to the front of the car. Ricky sniggered and took another sip.

  A couple of hours later he was at his desk in his office, playing a game on his mobile phone. He loved his business - building luxury boats for rich clients - but it was running so smoothly these days he often found time hanging heavily on his hands. There was never any shortage of wealthy people wanting to buy the best boats in the world.

  He looked up as raised voices interrupted the absolute quiet of the office. A customer was giving one of his employees a hard time. Ricky stood up from his desk and strolled closer to his office door in order to hear more clearly.

  “There’s no way I’m going to pay such an exorbitant price,” the customer was saying in a heavy eastern European accent. “I made you a fair offer and if you don’t like it, then someone else can have my business.”

  “Sir,” the smart young man replied, smiling politely as he had been trained to do, “I understand how you feel. It is a lot of money but this is the lowest price that I can offer you. Would you like to speak to the manager?”

  “No, I just want to purchase this boat. I made you an offer. All you have to do now is tell me yes or no!”

  Ricky slunk into the cubicle, aware that his bodyguard, Marcus, was right behind him sensing possible trouble. “What seems to be the problem?” asked Ricky.

  “Your young man here won’t see reason regarding the price of the boat I want.”

  “How do you think a business works?” Ricky asked a hint of menace behind the rodent-like smile.

  “You meet all of my requirements for an affordable price,” the man blustered, taking an instant dislike to the ugly little man in front of him.

  “So,” Ricky’s smile now looked more like a snake preparing to pounce, “do you think it is your job to set the price for what it takes to make our services possible?”

  “Uhhh... No.”

  “Do you know how to build the product we offer?”

  “Of course I don’t.”

  “Can you find this specific product elsewhere?”

  “No, that’s why I came to you.”

  “Then I will set my price as I choose and if you have a problem with this, you can leave.”

  The customer stood for a moment, speechless, then turned on his heel and stormed out of the room, slamming the door on his way out. Ricky turned his attention to the employee and crossed his arms.

  “You’re
fired!” he said.

  “What? Why?”

  “If you don’t have the guts to handle a customer on your own, then you are not the sort of salesman I want representing my business.”

  “With all due respect, Sir, I thought that I should try my best to satisfy the customer and to not lose him. I thought we were expected to be polite to the customers and win them over.”

  “I don’t pay you to think, just to sell. Maybe you should think about that in your next job.”

  Ricky walked slowly and deliberately back to his office, feeling energized by the encounter. He loved the feeling of exerting power over others.

  Marcus, his bodyguard and one of the few people in the world Ricky had any respect for, followed him into his office.

  “Mr Soblett, if I may ask, why did you fire Jack?”

  “I tell every employee when they begin working for me that I will not tolerate failure under any circumstances. It’s even written in their contracts. Go look at that and leave me alone.”

  Marcus gave a small bow of acceptance and went back to his seat by the door.

  The hours passed and one by one the employees went home, until only Marcus was left, sitting patiently by the door. Ricky called out for him to summon the limousine and was surprised when Marcus came into his office instead and stood in the door, blocking his way out.

  “Get out of my way and...”

  Marcus grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him back into his chair. “Shut up! Sit down and listen.”

  Ricky did as he was told, his brain spinning through all kinds of possibilities. He had heard stories of bodyguards betraying their bosses before. Was he about to be kidnapped?

  “Little Ricky Soblett,” Marcus said, calmly and deliberately as if about to deliver a lecture, “son of Theodore Von Soblett, who sadly passed away six years, six months and six weeks ago. Do you even know who your father really was, Ricky Soblett?”