Gabriel sat on her bed, browsing through her phone, while the leopard lay not far from her on the mat and gave the ear muscle alert with its eyes on the closed door. “What is it, Linda?” she was now troubled too.

Kate and Ember arrived at her door with a huge white cake. Delighted with her treat, Ember said: “Happy queen’s day!”

“Aah, you shouldn’t have!” protested Gabriel as the servants came with the tray to hold the cake.

“We made it on our own!” exclaimed Kate, placing one big candle on top.

“You know we always have an after party!” said Ember, retrieving a slice of cake for Gabriel, then sat on her wide bed with a bright smile.

Gabriel took a bite. “Girls, I swear this is really good!” she said, licking her thumb. “I’m not going anywhere today. I’ll spoil myself the whole day with you two!” they laughed along as her friends joined in for a treat.

Porto is expecting great guests’ today that will help fight back the ruling animals. King Igor conquered the natives of Eden before his nation was called Igors. They wear black leather skirts fitted with bones from the dead. Dre the giant is his great warrior and his face is enclosed with a tigers’ skull from both shoulders, and he whips his enemies with a chain fashioned from the spinal column of the animal.

Ken, joined by his brother Blade, welcomed King Igor, who arrived carrying a heavy stick with a dark human skull. “Please make yourself at home!” Blade said from the front doors next to the open sight of Porto.

With great pleasure, King Igor looked at the classical paintings. The walls were painted with pictures of naked men and heads of animal gladiators helped illuminate the house. Igor laughed at Scissors’ head, pointing it out to Dre. “He used to put a great show during our visits here” he said.

Ugly as a buggy man, Igor’s throat held a necklace crafted with black claws which made a noise whenever his head moved. Igor took a chair from the long table with several inviting seats. The correspondents stood far off as observers. Another king to make his way was King Barbara who was a barbarian midget; his tribe carried spears and weapons that exceeded their height. With him were two men of his age.

Kevin Mayhew was the most handsome king, his tribe shaved their hair and carried expensive guns made of diamond rocks. Ken resented his presence and welcomed his charming Queen Monica with a kiss on her hand as she looked with no interest over his shoulder.

Queen Phoenix arrived late with her best warrior, Alex, among her amazon tribe. Alex was a strong woman dressed in black wolf skin holding a huge axe with a sharp edge. Phoenix was all in white with a black dimple on her cheek; she ranks herself high among the royal men who despise her presence. On her flight, she only touched down on the wooden table upon her entry. The kings were insulted, examining her with amazement.

“If it isn’t Phoenix and her woman who disrespect every king in his house!” the deep voice of Igor said

Phoenix took the remaining chair that was meant for Ken, leaving her footprints all over the table. The servants rushed to clean her boot marks from the woodwork while she lit a pipe on one of the candles on the table.

Gabriel, in her dressing room, was playing dumb with her friends and threatening to wear tight jeans and a wrapped t-shirt. “I’m the queen with swag!” she said, turning around from the mirror to watch their reactions. The make-up artist let the play go on for a while before they picked the perfect dress. Soon after, Gabriel made her way to the royal audience. Queens took their front chairs from the high seats of the interior arena to watch over their kings discussing important matters.

The Queen of Porto choose her seat next to Monica who glared at Gabriel and then looked down at her hands. Gabriel crossed her foot and chewed gum, browsing the latest trends on her mobile. “She’s the new queen, right?” Gabriel got everyone talking as they looked back at their very own stunner.

Gibeon and his team beneath Porto engineered small bug machines and sent them to go spy on the humans. Every bug machine had a screen displayer back inside Gibeon’s refuge. “Search every room in those castles until you find them. This is an emergency!” he shouted, staring down at his team driving the bug machines towards the kings’ houses.

Ken and Blade got back to the royal house, and Blade stood among the best warriors and Ken lost his seat, stunned by Phoenix placing her sexy foot on the table and enjoying a pipe. “Phoenix the one and the only queen of the amazons!” Ken the king jeered.

“Mmm, that’s my name I guess,” said Phoenix in a low tone. Ken took a hard breath before he sought an available chair.

“Hey Ken! I told her the same thing, but you know how stubborn she is! Ha ha ha!” said Igor. There was a lot of noise at the table as the kings were already drunk and laughing loudly.

Ken said, taking a seat, “Never mind my seat. She knows her role around this table!”

Gabriel initiated a conversation with the youngest and most beautiful queen, Monica Mayhew. “Who’s that woman?” she asked, adjusting her seat with worry.

“She’s the most feared woman the amazons ever heard of!” said Monica, staring at Gabriel’s nest as a crown.

“Well, I’m not afraid of her!” said Gabriel while Monica minded her own business.

Gibeon and his machine bugs entered the royal house that hosted all the human kings. The first thing that got his attention was Gabriel’s face in the audience. “There you are!” he said with some excitement.

“Okay everybody,” said Scott. “We’ve found Gabriel, so now we can move in!” his team members cheered with delight. “No, wait! Can you zoom in to those kings down there? I think we might miss something important!” he said, changing tactics.

Ken started: “I would like to thank everybody for making it today!” but he was interrupted by Phoenix.

“There are now eight international borders that need a new Doon of leaders, and we’re here to discuss who will fight for which state in the world” she said with an aggressive tone. Her arms now held a bow, directing her speech to the speechless kings. Ken signalled his royal servants with a fake cough, and soon after, they delivered some documents which were later shared with the guests.

“I hear your argument, Phoenix, but we have set an agenda which the house should follow this afternoon” he said, looking at his papers. Phoenix took her time to consider hers.

King Herald: “So now we have cleared this one out, and three days from today we will be bringing the world to a standstill!”

Kevin Mayhew raised a questioning hand. “I don’t see any timeline here. How long do we expect this one to go on?” he asked, scanning the paperwork.

Ken responded. “Yes, all the regions have confirmed their presence, and three days from now we can expect a long lasting dispute if we had to come out with a victory.”

Phoenix gave Alex a hand signal to come closer; she signed the papers and allowed her witness to do the same, then she rose. “Now that I’ve heard it all” she said, surprising everyone with her short stay, “I pledge to rule the heart of Manhattan which shall be the first state to fall. May I wish everyone very good luck before their death!” she said. As she started walking away, she pointed at the table as her warriors picked up a dish full of meat. She then waited outside the royal house to let her women dig in from the meat pot. Shortly afterwards, Phoenix spread her wings among the great amazons in the sky.

Kevin Mayhew was relieved: “I’m glad she’s out of the way. Now we can work this out as men! I want the brief of events as we need to set a certain target or we won’t deliver every king his state” he said, holding his hand near his mouth, expecting a more precise response from Ken.

At the earths’ surface, Gibeon and his team were devastated by the news that had just broken out. “They will begin in Manhattan, which is 2000km away from us!” the mouse in front of the big screen said.

“But we still need to meet with all the states immediately. One way or another, this will affect us all!” said Gibeon. The team continued to listen to the discussion held in Porto.

Tom, in his new world, plays volleyball with the students of Holens. An alien crowd came in just to look at him play and take photos. The ball was bounced to him but he kept hold of it, disturbed by something else.

The day was bright when heroes of Dormend found their way across the gates with their army truck. Tom stopped playing as the scholars followed the truck’s progress as it parked randomly on the playground. With dark shades, the three Dardens jumped out from the roof top of their vehicle.

Tom threw back the ball, seeing his guest walking towards him.

Lorden smirked: “We are the Dardens who brought you here. I hope you stay good for the course!”

“Oh cool. It’s great to meet you” said Tom, stunned by his visitors.

“By the way, I’m Lorden, and this is Niane and Dandy. Did the old man say to expect us?” Tom agreed with no confusion. “Good! This way with us!” Lorden said.

The Dardens took off but Tom was uncertain about following them; staring at the Holens entrance and hoping to see Orkold, but he finally submitted and trailed the warriors.

The army truck of Dardens drifted along the forest to get to the open lands, giving the truck a rough ride before they stopped near a fallen log. They jumped outside once more like alien gangsters to rest on top of the rotting wood, watching over Lorden and Tom getting ready for the first lesson.

Tom pointed at Dandy. “Does he always drive this way?”

Dandy laughed. “Don’t worry you’ll get used to the ride!” and the other Dardens laughed too while Lorden lead Tom to their preferred spot.

“Time travel is the first and last great power you will ever obtain!” Looking far ahead, Lorden vanished from his sight and re-emerged ten yards away, waiting for Tom to catch up.

“Wow! How did you pull that one off?” Tom asked, flapping his wings to continue the slow walk.

“I have to say it’s quite simple for me because I don’t think about. It comes naturally” they stopped walking as the confused young man did not understand the context of what was said.

“Mark a circle around your foot and let your eyes study this until the picture of it lingers in your memories,” Lorden said. Tom waved a hand across the grey sand and later both strayed far in the woods. Lorden continued: “The deepest memories increase the likeliness of Telekinesis. Instead of taking photos, we time travel to watch again the moments we love the most, study what we missed and return back from the future to fix our past mistakes,” he said.

“Wow I wish I was born a Darden!” said Tom. “So tell me, can you bring someone with you into your memories?” he asked.

“You can,” said Lorden “it’s all about how much power you possess over that person.”

The environment become dark with a blurry image, and Tom looked at his image reflected in the wonderlands of his dreams affecting their surroundings, while Lorden looked on. The next place they found themselves was at Tom’s house, 15 years ago, when he was writing a love letter to his new crush back in school.

God! You’ve sent me someone who could change my world. Can I be the same and teach her how to ride a T-Rex?”… “Okay, that’s sounds good enough!” young Tom said, while chewing a pen in his room. “Am I doing all of this?” asked Tom. Lorden and Tom were both standing behind the ten-year-old Tom.

“No! I have possessed your powers and used one against yourself, but that kind of power is a lesson for another day” said Lorden.

They changed course to a time when Tom carried two school bags around a sports field, kicking a football during late practice. He unzipped the bag with a big roach known as Aaro. Soon after, Tom playfully took penalty kicks whereas the agile goal keeper saved off-target shots. During class exams, Tom would hear correct answers coming from his backpack while Mr. Urys could not invigilate the cheating Tom.

The first day Tom introduced Aaro to his best friend, Freddy, they made him close his eyes and not peek. Freddy removed his hands only to be confronted by an overgrown insect. In his surprise, Freddy closed his eyes again hoping to see a better surprise, but the monster was still in evidence next to Tom.

“Okay, the journey to my mind ends here!” Disappointed, Tom got them back to where he first drew a circle around his grey foot.

“I guess you have completed your first task!” said Lorden, grinning. Tom was still in disbelief about how he made it happen. “I have a long day today so I hope to see you tomorrow, same time, and same place. Remember you’re now a Darden and no power is out of your reach. If I were you, I would try using this trick as a mode of transport back to Holens!” and with that, Lorden vanished from his sight.

Stunned by the turn of events, shortly Tom vanished too.

***