Kingdom of Heaven

By Lara Therrise Chen

In this concluding episode of the thrilling trilogy, we join the intrepid Ava as she begins the most dangerous quest of them all.
This time Ava and best friend, Mohammad, do more than dice with death; they become it. Entering into another world, between life on Earth and the many eternal paradises which are intertwined on the other side, Ava shows just what lengths she will go to in order to lay her beloved mothers soul to rest.
With pure grit and determination, and a little help from her friends, perhaps Ava will finally find the peace she needs to look to the future once again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
• Release date: May 29, 2018
• ISBN: 9781543745795

Lara Therrise Chen

Lara is a twelve-year-old aspiring writer, an ICAS Medal Winner (top scorer in Singapore) from the University of New South Wales for excellence in English and a Gold Medal Winner from the Queens Royal Commonwealth Essay competition. Her books, Legend of the Red Ruby (2014), Scepter of Snowy Land (2015), and Diary of a Keychain (2016), won praise from young people and adults alike.

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Copyright © 2018 by Lara Therrise Chen.

ISBN:                Softcover              978-1-5437-4580-1

                          eBook                    978-1-5437-4579-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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www.partridgepublishing.com/singapore

To my mother, father, and younger brother,
I dedicate this final instalment, the 3rd book in the series of the Red Ruby, a magical journey to find a loved one.

Praises for Kingdom of Heaven

Kingdom of Heaven is the culminating and concluding chapter of Lara Chen’s Red Ruby trilogy. In this episode, Lara again weaves her creativity, imagination and historical understanding into a fast-paced adventure in which Ava, Mohammad and their friends embark upon a voyage to the afterworld, complete with Egyptian deities and unexpected twists. Lara’s fusion of descriptive language, relatable characterization and attention to detail has established her as a remarkably talented young author with a level of insight, vision and sophistication well beyond her years. Kingdom of Heaven presents yet another exciting journey that will leave young and old readers on the edge of their seats.

Terence Dayes

Vice Principal, Yew Chung International School, Shanghai

The Kingdom of Heaven is the third and final novel in the trilogy following the adventures of Ava, our intrepid heroine. This novel is an excellent example of this rising star of the literary world and in typical Lara Chen style manages to produce a heady mix of adventure, mystery and intrigue. One of the finest young novelists of her generation.

David Anderson

English Literature, Yew Chung International School, Shanghai

Lara’s ability to shape words into stories is improving with each piece of work. She has a wonderful imagination and is able to blend simple text into wonderful imagery. I look forward to reading her work again and feel that she has great potential in fulfilling her deam to be an author.

Michael Fehon

Director of School Affaris, Wuxi International School

CONTENTS

Chapter 1:     A Message from the Other Side

Chapter 2:     Time to Say Goodbye Again

Chapter 3:     The Calm Before the Storm

Chapter 4:     Paradise Is Personal

Chapter 5:     Death Is Not the Answer

Chapter 6:     Airborne Antics and Sky Signs

Chapter 7:     The Guardians and the Golden Gates

Chapter 8:     Dying to Get into Heaven

Chapter 9:     Back to the Start

Chapter 10:   A Moonlight Flit

Chapter 11:   A Passage to Another Place

Chapter 12:   The Gods and Demons of Duat

Chapter 13:   Perhaps a Bridge Too Far?

Chapter 14:   Small But Definitely Not Sweet

Chapter 15:   Can I Call a Friend?

Chapter 16:   What Took You So Long?

Chapter 17:   In This Thing Together Now

Chapter 18:   This Is a Write Nightmare

Chapter 19:   We’ve Come Too Far to Fail Now

Chapter 20:   With a Little Help from the Gods

Chapter 21:   The Changing of the Guards

Chapter 22:   Why Such a Heavy Heart?

Chapter 23:   In the Gods’ Waiting Room

Chapter 24:   Dads Know Best, Most of the Time

Chapter 25:   The Truth Is So Hard to Explain

Chapter 26:   In That Place That’s In-Between

Chapter 27:   Sounds Slightly Familiar to Me!

Chapter 28:   Really, No Special Treatment. Please!

Chapter 29:   With This Knowledge I Surrender

Chapter 30:   Now to Live and Love Life

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All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination.

-Earl Nightingale

C HAPTER 1

A Message from the Other Side

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Ava would never have believed her own eyes if her best friend Mohammad hadn’t seen it first: Ava’s mother, a vision of beauty, as she drifted through Ava’s house from one room to the next.

The astonished pair had every right to doubt what they had just seen, for Ava’s dear mother had been dead for quite some time. In fact, they had only just returned from their latest exhausting quest to retrieve a magical scepter, with which Ava hoped she would be able to resurrect her mother permanently.

But now, as they slumped in Ava’s room, the only proof they had of this fleeting otherworldly visit was the crumpled cryptic note tightly clenched in Ava’s hands. Scrawled upon the note was a message, and they would surely need a good night’s sleep to decipher