Heaven

Sweat poured down the brows of the 4 of them as they sat in the keep's main hall. Beyond the four pillars, the soldiers were forming a barricade against the great wooden doors as it came under ground shaking blows from the enemy's battering ram on the other side. The once solid wood was beginning to splinter and it's supports were giving way. It seemed that it was only a matter of time before they broke it from it's hinges. Kyle watched the soldiers as they fell back each time the ram came into hard contact with the doors. "There is no hope left." He said as he tightened his grip around his sword, "They are weary from the fighting and cannot hold on much longer."
Joshua let out a sigh and hung his head on his fist. Samuel and Shane were silent. Fear had encompassed all of them. What was on the other side of the doors was a mystery to them. All they knew was that they had broken the defenses of the walls and were now outside the keep, ready to give the final stroke. Kyle lay against the stone steps which led up to the fountain and shut his eyes. Granel, who was pacing up and down the flight of stairs laid down his colossal axe at the foot of the fountain and took a seat next to Kyle. "This could very well be our final stand. They have us surrounded."
Samuel lifted himself from against the wall, "Is there no passage out? "
"Unfortunately, after the women and children had gone, the tunnel was sealed by a falling stone column. There's no way to get in now." Granel replied.
"So what now? We're just going to sit here and die?" Shane burst out.
Everyone turned to look at Granel for his reply. He sighed and repeated once again, "This could very well be our final stand."
The four of them collapsed back down to their prone positions. A large piece of wood broke off from the door and fell onto the barricade of soldiers below as it came under another solid smash.
"So, we give up our lives so that our friends can live to fight another day. This is where our part in this tale comes to a close." Samuel said wistfully.
"I never thought that it would end like this.." said Joshua as he lifted his head slightly.
Granel looked around and saw their faces full of despair and fear. "End? My brave young boys, death is not necessarily the end." He said gently.
The 4 of them looked up at him once again. "What makes you say that?" Shane asked.
"Because life was never the beginning in the first place. All souls come onto this earth from a power higher up than anything in the world. And once the time on this resting ground has ended, it is then time for us to continue the journey, death and beyond."
"What’s beyond death?" Kyle skeptically questioned him.
Granel dropped his head slowly and clasped his hands together. The four of them were just about to return to their hopelessness. He pulled his head up again and said, "A great white light. You see it just before the end. And as you pass it, the past behind you turns to silver and the future ahead of you turns to gold. The lands ahead, where your dreams encircle you and spring to life. You will be reunited with those that you lost. The ones you had loved. You will hold them close once again in those lands beyond and all your hate, sorrow and despair will be released as you touch the water at the white shores. There will be no more to fight for, no more to kill for. Your life after the grim reaper. Your heaven."
The room was silent again, save the sound of the ram. But it was not the same silence as before. The 4 of them were hanging on Granel’s every word. "You must not fear death. It is but your passage into the New World ahead."
"Well. I guess death doesn’t sound so bad now." Joshua said quietly.
"No. It doesn’t does it?" Granel replied with a smile.
They all smiled at one another. For that one moment, at least a portion of their fear had been dropped. But in their hearts, they still clung on to the last ounce of hope they had left.
"If we die today. We die together. And we shall walk the lands of heaven as friends again." Said Kyle.
After he spoke, he took off the pendant that Nydia had given him and laid it in the crystal water of the fountain. He closed his eyes and sighed. Joshua removed his necklace from which hung a feather and placed it beside Kyle’s. Samuel dropped his star shaped pebble in as well, the one that was given to him on the night of the ball. They looked toward Shane. He sat on the steps for a while not wanting to move. Reluctantly, he got up and placed his engraved buckle into the water with the rest. The four of them stood at the edge of the fountain’s steps. Kyle put his fist out into the center and was joined by Joshua’s, then Samuel’s and then Shane’s. They bowed their heads to one another.
"It was always an honor to have you as friends, and comrades in battle." Shane said.
"It has been a good run my friends. And I know we will gather like this once again. Be it in heaven or on earth." Kyle added.
Granel walked up to the fountain as well. He looked up into the skylight and smiled at the blue havens above. Removing his wedding ring from his finger, he carefully placed the ring into the bottom of the fountain, withdrawing his hand slowly and letting the cool water run through his fingers. "I shall see you soon." He whispered to himself.
Granel threw his arms over Shane and Joshua. "Well, it is time. For us there is not much hope. This is our final act, to contribute to the pages of those who will survive us."
"Amen." Joshua said.
They laughed as they walked down the stone steps together. Granel picked up his oversized axe and flung it over his shoulder. Another huge piece of wood broke off from the door and crushed a few soldiers below. It was on it’s last legs. "The door is splintered. Ready your arms." He said as he began to walk toward the four pillars. Kyle and Samuel unsheathed their swords. Shane readied his axe as Joshua held his spear steady. "Lets do this to give our friends a better chance." Joshua said.
"Let’s cripple this army and make it easy pickings for the rest!" Samuel exclaimed
The door came under another huge blow and was half broken. "Come now boys! Let us meet our foe and smite them!" Granel called as he ran toward the group of soldiers at the door.
They ran down to the four pillars and stood beside Granel and a line of about 200 soldiers. " Stay strong. Whatever comes through that door will be brought down!" Granel commanded and the soldiers responded with a bellowing war cry. The door came under one final blow and it flung open, knocking a few soldiers down. Smoke and dust covered the entrance and total silence filled the halls now. Nothing could be seen beyond the great arc. Kyle looked at the others and they nodded back at him. With one cry in unison, the four of them charged forth toward the arc followed by Granel and the soldiers. They charged together still with fear. But the fear subsided with each step they took. The only thing that separated them from the enemy was a cloud of dust. And as the four of them broke through that cloud, they were one step closer to the white shores of heaven and the lands beyond….

-Kyle Ganapathy
An excerpt from the unfinished series "Youngbloods". From the collection of the fantasy pages.








Damian abruptly woke up from his sleep. He looked around the room which he was in. "Where am I? Where the heck is this place?!"
He tried to get up but a sharp pain struck him in the side. He looked down and saw that his abdomen was covered in bandages. "Hey, relax." A familiar voice said.
Damian looked to his right and Geoff stood at the door. "Geoff! Where the heck is this place?"
"Take it easy Damian. You fell from your horse about a day ago. Hadriel found you and brought you here for treatment. This is George castle. We stopped by here before the others went over to the fortress of Mosin " He replied
"But I was supposed to go there! What about Shane and the rest? Are they alright?"
"Last we heard was that they were under attack. We don’t know if they were able to make it out."
"That’s it, I’m riding there now. Tell them to saddle up Fergy."
Damian tried to get up once again but was hampered by the pain in his side. He fell off the bed onto the floor.
"You won’t be going anywhere for now. Hadriel and Judith went to scout the area. All we can do now is pray for them." Geoff said as he helped him back up onto the bed. "Rest up, we may need to ride to battle in a few days as well."
Damian got back into bed. "This is stupid." He said as he hit the pillow beside him, " Alright I’ll stay here. But the least you can do is get me some water."
"You have some of Penny’s potato juice right there."
"Potato juice? Yuck! Anything but that!"
"Direct orders from the princess. Drink up!" said Geoff as he laughed and turned to leave.
"Bastard." said Damian as he tucked himself back under the blanket.