Lor Mandela - Destruction from Twins by L Carroll Read Free Book Online Page B

sharply and bolted into the air. She flew
across the room and crashed into a large window—shattering it into
millions of pieces—before dropping like a rag doll to the
ground.
    Gracielle instantly snapped out of the
trance. She jumped to her feet and dashed toward the door, not even
realizing that her mother was there until she caught a glimpse of
her out of the corner of her eye. “Mother!” she cried. “What’s
wrong with Anika?”
    “There’s no time to explain!” Lantalia
yelled. She gestured toward the floor and a large section of it
completely vanished, revealing an endless dark pit. “Stoi Cantara!
Lor Mandela!” she commanded.
    A hazy white light grew from deep within the
pit, but then faded.
    Once more she shouted, “Stoi Cantara! Lor
Mandela!”
    The light returned—a little stronger this
time—but then went out again.
    “Stoi cantara! Lor
Mandela! ” She literally screamed it this
time.
    A blinding flash blasted from the pit,
knocking Gracielle and Lantalia to the ground. The heavy fog that
had been consuming the room quickly dissipated, and the room became
eerily silent.
    Gracielle slowly rose to her feet. “Mother,
are you all right?”
    Lantalia was curled up in a motionless ball
on the floor.
    “Vritesse?” Gracielle tried again,
cautiously moving toward her.
    For a moment, Lantalia didn’t respond but
then, she suddenly pushed up onto all fours. Her back heaved up and
down, and her breathing became heavy and labored. She lifted her
face and stared wide-eyed at Gracielle.
    Much to Gracielle’s surprise, something—some
sort of image—seemed to be materializing in her mother’s lavender
eyes. “It . . . it’s Lor Mandela,” she whispered as a revolving
likeness of the planet came into focus in each eye.
    Lantalia nodded. “Yessss, Atoh.” Her voice
was clearly not her own. It flowed from her mouth like a deep
haunting song. “I am a portion of the spirit of Lor Mandela. The
rest of me resides in Anika and we are both dying.”
    “What? But how . . . th . . . that would
mean . . . .” Gracielle muttered.
    Lantalia moved closer and locked Gracielle
in her stare. Her lilac eyes glowed brightly with the now crystal
clear images of Lor Mandela. As Gracielle watched, pools of large
tears began to well up and flood out onto her lashes.
    Just as they were about to spill from her
eyes, they swiftly reversed their course, rolling back like
waves—breaking violently against the glowing purple images. They
swirled and twisted, swelling into torrential rapids that pounded
buildings, swept away animals and people, and consumed everything
in their destructive path. After a few seconds—and much to
Gracielle’s relief—the waters seemed to calm and finally
recede.
    She kept her gaze fixed on the images as
somewhere far behind Lantalia’s eyes, the sound of an eerie,
distant rumbling started to build. The rumbling grew louder, and
louder, and louder; the images of Lor Mandela shook and shuddered;
and then—in a deafening explosion—they burst into billions of tiny
pieces and disappeared in a haze of glowing purple dust.
    Gracielle jumped. “No!” she cried. “Wh . . .
what does this . . . Lor Mandela can’t . . . I mean . . . what does
this mean?”
    “Yes, Atoh, Lor Mandela is
doomed. But there is one way to save us,” the voice explained.
“This will be our
fate unless balance is restored.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Balance has been destroyed—the balance that
has kept Lor Mandela alive.
    Suddenly, an evil,
gravelly voice seethed from across the room. “ Nooooo, ” it screeched. The shadow of
Anika had regained consciousness. She sprang to her feet and in a
smoky, black blur, sped toward Gracielle.
    Lantalia instantly threw herself between
them, catching Anika completely off guard. She slammed into
Lantalia and fell lifeless to the ground, but the blackness that
had possessed her was no longer there. It was now inside
Lantalia.
    Lantalia’s appearance was shocking