Gardens of Destruction
CHAPTER 53

Jana’s maternal instincts, honed by a connection only a mother could possess, told her that the helicopter descending towards the monastery’s verdant lawns was somehow linked to her daughter. Or at least she clung to that hope. Without it, she feared her sanity would shatter, unable to bear another day engulfed in the agony of uncertainty concerning her child.

She sprinted towards the slowing rotor blades of the machine. As the door slid open, initially, no familiar faces greeted her, and she halted, taken aback. But then, her heart nearly burst with joy as two small legs appeared in the doorway and leaped to the ground.

“Valentina, my love!” Jana’s voice broke as she cried out.

“Mom!” the child responded and ran into her embrace.

In that moment, time itself seemed to pause, the very birds in the sky halting their songs for the duration of their embrace. No one dared interrupt this infinite moment of happiness. Everyone around watched the scene unfold with a mix of tenderness and awe.

Mark, emerging from the helicopter and limping forward, slowly made his way to the reunited mother and daughter. Finally, Jana’s gaze shifted to him, tearing away from her child. She looked at him with tear-filled eyes and murmured,

“Thank you, Mark! I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to repay you!”

“He’s a brave warrior, mom!” the child chimed in.

“I never doubted it, sweetheart!” Jana smiled warmly. “I knew you two would come back!”

The old priest stood not far off, and Jana’s gaze met his. He nodded at her with a gentle smile. At that moment, General Patterson leaned out and called loudly,

“Let’s move! I’ll take you to the Cave of Dreams!” His inviting smile beckoned them to follow.

***

The old father watched the helicopter fly away, and suddenly, his eyes widened in horror. A vast swarm of creatures vaulted over the fence, mercilessly slaughtering the innocents seeking refuge within the monastery walls. A humanoid figure in a purple cloak stopped before the petrified priest.

“I am not afraid of you, children of Satan! The Lord is truly with me now, she showed me!” the priest declared with courage.

With a grating, metallic voice, the creature retorted,

“The Lord is there, in the Gardens! We are all children of the Gardens, all will become one. She must be forgotten, erased! She is a threat to all. The balance must be restored. These powers do not belong to her!”

“Anathema! Begone, back to the depths from whence you came, this planet is our Eden!”

With a swift movement, the D’kra warrior plunged its hands into the priest’s chest, tearing it open. Carefully, it laid the body on the ground, then delicately extracted a small crystalline structure resembling a flower and gently placed it within the open chest cavity.

“This planet is our new Garden,” the creature whispered softly.

As the wind slightly lifted its cloak, the open chest cavity, veiled by a membrane, sparkled with a flower of crystalline structure.

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