After the Battle: Aletheia Adventure Series

By E M Wilkie and Eunice Wilkie

The great battle at the Rumour Mill is over. Hordes of Meddlers have been destroyed. But not all. Their leader, crafty Sir-Meddle, always has a plan, and already the evil creatures are preparing to rise again. Hot on their heels, the Aletheian Swift Response Team is tracking the Meddlers through the land of Err. They are determined to discover the creatures' location and learn more of Sir-Meddle's plans. Will they uncover the Meddlers' new hiding place? Can they, at last, destroy Sir-Meddle?

This Bible allegory story is suitable for children aged 9 to 14. It begins more or less when The Rumour Mill, Aletheia Adventure Series Book 6, ends. In this novella, you'll see the famous battle with the Meddlers from a different point of view, and if you've ever wondered about the Meddlers that escaped from the Rumour Mill and what happened next, this story explains a bit about that.

You can read this story as a standalone book, but I've assumed a certain amount of knowledge of the land of Err and all things Aletheian; I haven't stopped to explain some of the things that are explained in other Aletheia stories. If you'd like to know more about these things, please explore the other Aletheia Adventure stories which you can find at: www.aletheiabooks.co/aletheia-adventures.

I hope you enjoy this additional story about the mysterious land of Err and the wonderful Rescuers of Aletheia!

• Language: English
• Publisher: E M Wilkie
• Release date: Oct 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215141182

Book preview

After the Battle

E U N I C E W I L K I E

Written & illustrated by Eunice M Wilkie

www.aletheiabooks.co

Copyright © 2022

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from:

The Holy Bible, New King James Version®.

© 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

To my niece, Emily, who loves Aletheia as much as I do, and who may well have had this adventure, for all I know…

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God,

a worker who does not need to be ashamed,

rightly dividing the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:1

PREFACE

This story was originally written for my niece, Emily, on the occasion of her twelfth birthday. It’s an account that begins at the battle of the Rumour Mill in the land of Err (see The Rumour Mill, Aletheia Adventure Series Book 6 for the full account of this battle). In this novella, you’ll see the famous battle with the Meddlers from a different point of view, and if you’ve ever wondered about the Meddlers that escaped from the Rumour Mill and what happened next, this story explains a bit about that. You see, the Rescuers of Aletheia, being thorough in everything that they do to defend and uphold the Truth of the Bible, set out on a mission to track down the escaped Meddlers. And this tale is about that journey and how it ended.

This book has only been lightly edited! It started life as a story for family members, but it occurred to me that others (like you!) might like to read it too. So, if you find any errors or can contribute to improving it, please email me any suggestions at: [e-mail].

You can read this story as a standalone book, but I’ve assumed a certain amount of knowledge of the land of Err and all things Aletheian; I haven’t stopped to explain some of the details that are explained in other Aletheia stories, such as, how the ‘armour of God’ is more literal in the land of Err, and other such details which are explained elsewhere. If you’d like to know more about these things, please explore the other Aletheia Adventure stories, which you can find at:

www.aletheiabooks.co/aletheia-adventures

I sincerely hope you enjoy this additional story about the mysterious land of Err and the wonderful Rescuers of Aletheia. Happy reading!

Eunice Wilkie x

CHAPTER 1

Emily stared into the forest. How scary it looked! Dark and dense, the giant trees were crowded together so thickly it was impossible to see what lay beyond them. In fact, there was no clue whether the wood was large or small, flat or steep, or where in the world it was, either.

As she looked, Emily began to see people moving stealthily through the undergrowth, so cautiously that they seemed to be more shadow than substance. They were armed like troops going into combat – albeit rather old-fashioned troops. Their articles of armour, like helmets and breastplates, were almost reminiscent of Roman soldiers. The thin light in the gloomy forest picked out the momentary glint of steel.

A girl flitted by the door where Emily stood. She was carrying a bow, beautifully etched with gold and silver, with a quiver of golden-tipped arrows on her back. Her dark cloak fluttered behind her; it touched the rough doorframe, so close to Emily that she could have touched it. But the young officer didn’t notice her: she was focussed on what was ahead. A pinecone from the forest shifted as the girl moved. It rolled across the threshold and onto the basement floor. Entranced, Emily picked it up. Holding the pinecone in her hand made everything seem much more real. Emily looked around to make sure she was still in the basement at home. Yes, there were Dad’s tools, the half-finished wall of the new room he was making, the guinea pigs’ cage, the sofa … all the familiar things of home. And yet – in front of her, through the makeshift doorway of the unfinished room, still inside the basement, was a strange forest.

Now, you or I might have thought we were dreaming or had eaten something exceedingly strange that was causing impossible hallucinations. But not Emily. Apart from the fact that she clutched a real, live pinecone from the forest, she knew what she had found. Nothing else could explain the dense trees in the basement – where there should only have been the usual remnants of DIY – nothing else came close to explaining it, but that she had at last found an entry into the land of Err. For months she had searched for it, even when she wasn’t sure it could be found in the USA at all. She had poked about in odd corners on rainy, indoor days; dug through snowdrifts on cold winter days; looked in the cupboards at church; searched concealing places at school … but on her birthday, just as her friends were about to arrive for her party, she had found it! Perhaps Dad had got carried away with his DIY – drilled into some substance he shouldn’t have – and somehow connected with another world. But she had no time to think about how it had happened, the question was what to do about it.

From all she had read about the land of Err, she knew that the time in her world didn’t move at the same pace. If she was lucky, she could make a quick visit, have a look around, and be back in time for her friends arriving for her party. Couldn’t she…?

The last of the secretive