The Palace Beast

John was lying on his bed when he began having a series of dreams. In his dream, he saw himself being taken to the sky and into the second heaven. He was lost and wondered what was happening to him. His thought was that he's dead and now in the heavens to face his final fate.

The second heaven has a gigantic gate made of gold and the ground he walked on was cloudy. He couldn't see the ground he walked on for the ground was covered with white clouds.

As he approaches the gate, the gate opened on its own. Walking through the gate, he saw an old man dressed in a fine white robe with golden stripes. The old man makes his way to meet with him. "Am I dead?" he asked.

The old man gave him a soft smile and then said in a soothing voice. "No, you are not dead."

“Then what am I doing here?"

"Come with me, the Bonnie awaits you." The old man motioned to John to follow him as he takes the lead.

Approaching a golden castle the old man with a wave of the hand forced the gigantic gate to open. The gate was made of gold too. They both walked in and the gate shuts on its own.

Seems like the old man isn't the only one in this beautiful place; they are a lot of people here dressed in the same robe he's wearing. They are mostly men and women.

John became bothered about not seeing anyone else that is not advanced in age. He turned and asked the old man. "Why are young adults or even children not here?"

"This is the second heaven where witches and wizards come to after their death. Even if a witch dies as a child, she must take the appearance of a woman and not of the child she was during the time of her death. And if the witch or wizard dies at a certain adult age, they must take the appearance of an old man or woman here."

"And why is that so?"

"Every witch or wizard after death becomes an Elder."

"This is insane. If I end up dead I won't take the appearance of an old man."

"You don't choose the path, it chose you. Every witch or wizard after death joins the Council of Elders."

The Elders reside in the second heavens and communicate with witches through their assigned Whitelighters, giving them messages and warning them of impending threats. As prominent figures on the side of good, the Elders also intervene when they deem it necessary and discipline others when they break their rules.

Although they are powerful and have great influence, the Elders are not the highest authority, being outranked by Angels of Destiny and potentially greater forces like Neena. "So why am I here?"

"To learn the Bonnie and make choose your fate."

"I don't understand, Neena has explained this to me. Why do you want to start over again?"

"Neena is the first witch but that doesn't mean she is always right and has not embraced the darkness." Leading John into the courtyard, the old man asked him to sit beside him.

The courtyard was filled with beautiful flowers and all kinds of birds that have never been seen by any man or woman. Things around here look different.

John sat beside the old man in the courtyard and then glanced at him as he fired a question. "Do you work with Neena?"

"Neena has left the good path of magic and has embraced the bad path."

"What are you talking about?"

"After obtaining the power of the Underworld, the first witch Neena set out to conquer the second heavens and attacked the Elders on the 'Golden Gate Bridge.' There, she slaughtered some of the Elders and took their powers making her more powerful than she was. Neena and her warlocks' army began their assault on the second heavens. As the Elders retreated into the afterlife, Neena turned to her true goal, obtaining the 'Sphaera of Light and Dark.""

The 'Sphaera of Light and Dark' are two magical spheres that represent the magic of light and dark. One contains the power of the Upper Regions while the other contains the power of the Underworld. When combined, the spheres merge the realms as one and allow a gateway to be opened to the higher realm. The spheres are kept in a vault in the Upper Regions.

"So are you trying to say, she's the bad guy here?"

"Yes, and you need to know she can't be trusted and we need you to defeat her."

"If I can't trust her, I can't trust you either."

"Neena forced us into hiding in the afterlife and her quest to save her mate was what led the gods to leave the sky. Their purpose of causing chaos was triggered by Neena when she attacked the second heaven; she also caused havoc in the sky where the gods dwell. In retaliation, the gods left the sky and came to live with mortals. They are brutal to the mortals because of Neena."

"So everything Neena told me is all lies?"

"Not everything. But the prophecy about Neena winning the war against the gods with the help of a mortal from the world beyond is true. However, that's not the only purpose you serve for Neena." "What other purpose?"

"Neena wants to resurrect her mate and your body is the host."

"What the hell!" John exclaimed as he quickly stood to his feet. He glances at the old man wondering why he's telling him all this. He didn't just let his thought be without answers, so he fired a fresh volume of questions. "Why are you telling me all this? If this is true, how am I supposed to fight it?"

"I'm telling you this because the elders need your help. Neena allowed you have almost all her powers in you because she was testing you to know how much power your body can absorb and if you are a perfect host for her mate. As soon as he summons her mate from the underworld, you will be gone forever because your body will be Neena's mate and if this happens, we all are doomed."

John swallowed a lump in his throat and spoke with a quivering voice. "What are we to do?"

John has been misled by Neena. All this while, he thought he was just trying to survive Strange Land but it's beyond surviving. It's about escaping the nightmare of being Strange Land. If Neena brought him here, he's not here to just help win the war between the gods and the warlocks. He should have seen this coming. His body is a host body for Neena's nameless mate.

The old man cast a stern gaze at John and then whispered to him. "The 'Book of the Shadows' will help. Find it and read from it."

The 'Book of the Shadows' is a big tome with a green leather cover, two markers, and the Triquetra symbol on the front. It informs the bearer on demons and other magical beings, aiding them with spells and potions and other useful information about the craft. Besides information about the craft, the 'Book of the Shadows' contains many entries on several beings from the magical community, including demons, warlocks, and other evil beings. It also contains many spells and potion recipes.

The 'Book of the Shadows' went missing after the death of Neena's mate and ever since then, the Elders have not come across it since they are all in hiding in the afterlife.

John cast a stern gaze at the old man. "You didn't make mention of how I get back to my world. That's important to me and you know that."

"The Book of Shadows contains everything you need and it contains a spell that will help you journey back to your world. But before you do that, help us return to the second heaven. The afterlife is not our dwelling and we are growing weak staying there."

"How do I get back to Maxis?"

"You are already in Maxis. It's all a dream but when you wake up, don't just call it a dream because we depend on you to act." The old man stood to his feet and then placed his right hand on John's chest and then whispered into his ears, "Don't let Neena know I made contact with you or she will foil the plans."

John was awakened by a loud banging on the door of his chamber. He quickly jumped up and stared around. He just had a flashback of the dreams but he was suddenly interrupted when one of the knights barged in after several banging on his door.

"What's the matter?" John snapped at the knight. He expected the knight to wait for him to invite him in.

"My Lord, we are under attack!"