Forged

by G S Michaelson

  “Douglas knows where it is. He had the map to it hidden in the Marauders’ base,” Rachel said. “He’s also going with Derek. That means something.”

  Rumours had circulated that Douglas West knew where the Arche was, but those had subsided after no one from the Nephilim had come for him. People quickly figured out that if he actually had something of value, he would have been taken by the Nephilim as soon as he surfaced in Pesque. He had spent years spent fighting in martial arts tournaments in different regions. As the years went by, the rumours dissipated. Still, some had wondered if Douglas really did know where the Arche was.

  “He has the map to the Arche?” Zeke asked. “Well, that still doesn’t explain why I should care. By all rights, we should simply capture him and hand them over.”

  “You know that you don’t want to do that,” Simon said. “You want the Arche just as much as anyone else. It’s the key to taking down the Orisha and the Nephilim. Everyone else may be fine with them, but I know you and I sure as hell aren’t happy with the bastards.”

  Zeke closed his eyes. Images of fire and blood still filled his mind when he slept, he hadn’t told Simon that. One of the Nephilim’s lieutenants had nearly killed them as he rampaged through their hometown, and he had borne a grudge ever since.

  “The Arche is the thing that threatens the Orisha the most.” Simon said, “That’s why they killed all the Sunset group researchers about 8 years ago. Rachel too has a grudge against the Nephilim, if you join us, this could go a lot faster.”

  Zeke closed his eyes to think, then they snapped open just as fast.

  “And what about them?” He asked, “Why would you assume they’ll want us on board?”

  “Oh us?” Rachel replied, “We already signed up.”

  * * *

  Yesterday.

  “I’ve decided. Your journey to find the Arche. We’ll help you?” Simon had told Derek on the way back from the Marauder’s compound. They had had to walk through the busy path back to Pesque, slowed down by the unconscious Zeke, who Derek was carrying as the antidote took its time healing him up.

  “We can’t possibly let him join us.” Douglas had replied. He was opposed to Zeke’s presence in the group.

  “Why not?” Derek had countered, “He’s a good guy, I can see it in his eyes.”

  “You just met him. How could you possibly know that?” Had come the response.

  “They were attacking your men, which is why you attacked them.” Derek had replied, “I overheard snippets of conversation in the Shed, and put the rest together. These two had made Pesque their hometown, and they didn’t want someone with a reputation like yours to set up roots here so easily.”

  Douglas had to admit, he had built up his reputation to be a deterrence, and to project a certain villainous image, it hadn’t occurred to him that bounty hunters would attack him for altruistic purposes. Ironically enough, the main reason he had set up the Marauders in the same place, was the same reason that Zeke and Simon had interfered with them.

  Simon had been impressed. Derek had gotten them down pat, even if he didn’t know their complete motivation.

  “Besides,” Derek had said, “Even with such a crappy reputation, I’m with you, aren’t I? We can give them a chance.”

  “Fine.” Douglas grudgingly agreed as the quintet approached the Thunderdome through the bushes, “Why would they want to help us anyway?”

  “Why would bounty hunters need a reason to hunt the most previous bounty in the world?” Rachel had then asked, “If you ask me, the adrenaline rush is enough.”

  “You helped me, this is my way of paying you back. The two of you won’t be enough to take down all the bastards that will get in your way.” Simon added with a grin, “Plus, Pesque was becoming a little stale anyway.”

  * * *

  One Week Later.

  Zeke had finally recovered enough from his injuries to make the trip back to the Shed.

  Simon would not be coming with him, having opted to remain with Derek at the Thunderdome. Douglas was bankrolling everything. Apparently, the former gang lord was loaded. Who would have guessed?

  A journey for the Arche was what Derek and the others were selling, and he had bought in. They had saved his life, and he was grateful for that if only a little. Simon was eager to get on board in any case.

  “So, you’re finally leaving this town, eh,” old Steve asked Zeke. The man had come to collect on some owed bounties from the Shed, but something about his demeanour had given it away to the ever-perceptive Steve that it was for the last time.

  “Yeah,” Zeke nodded at him, “I think it was about time to move on.”

  “I see,” Steve replied, “I take it was that new friend you made that lit a fire under your ankles?”

  Zeke gave him a thumbs up.

  “The Arche?” Steve gestured at nothing in particular, “It’s a dangerous journey. If you fail, it’ll be aimless. If you succeed, they’ll make you dead. Are you sure you want that?”

  “Thanks for the concern,” Zeke said, as he walked away.

  He took one last look at the dark building he had worked for from the last few years, and he left without looking back.

  * * *

  Rachel walked towards Douglas and Derek as they prepared the Thunderdome for departure.

  Simon lay inside, on a bed. It was surprisingly roomy inside, and Zeke told them he had used his knowledge of Runes to store extra ‘space’ inside. Runes were nothing complicated, after entering the Rune Knights, users would be taught how to control abstract concepts with runes. It was surprisingly hard, and only a few Knights could get past basic concepts like ‘hard’, ‘cut; and things like that. Zeke had taken the concept of ‘space’ and used various Runes to trap ‘space’ in the Thunderdome, expanding it drastically.

  On the outside, the Thunderdome was normal sized. Inside it had the space of a large apartment and was furnished as well. Rachel had to admit, Zeke had a good sense of style. Odds and ends picked up from various towns over the years had made this a home for them. She noted they had separate rooms. Simon noticed her staring and laughed. He knew of the rumours too.

  Derek asked how Runes worked, and Simon had shrugged his shoulders. “It’s just like hacking the universe,” Zeke had told them, but at times like this, it seemed like pure magic. Simon concurred. He had once tried to use Hephaestus to sync with the mana that powered runes, hoping it’d give him a boost. It was too exotic for even his Godspark.

  Rachel stood there, with a backpack, and a weapon folded up and at her side. She had stayed in Pesque as a bounty hunter for the past year, but the Arche business interested her. Helping Derek and Douglas the previous week had gotten her a foot in the door, and Zeke’s past friendship with her got her in.

  She had her own reasons for wanting to leave Pesque as well, but those reasons were a story for another day.

  She stood next to Douglas and Derek.

  “I just want to say, before we set off that this is insane.” She directed her next words at Derek, “If we’re doing this, we’re going to end up taking down the Nephilim and destroying everything that this world takes for granted on our way.”

  Derek replied, “If I cared about the current world order, I guess that would probably mean something to me.”

  Simon came out of the van to join the group, Zeke had approached by now.

  “I’ll tell you something else though. I know, we have a really small chance of succeeding. This is basically a suicide journey, this journey itself is likely to get us all killed. And I’m fine with that.” Derek said, “If we succeed, everyone wins. If we fail, everyone continues to live in their own bubbles much like this. And I don’t think the world is much of a world, especially compared with that came before. I don’t have much in my life right now, so I’m happy to throw it away, I’m not asking anything of you guys that you wouldn’t want to give either.”

  “Well said,” Zeke smirked as he dumped his holdall in the van.

&n
bsp; “In that case, as this is a suicide mission. I do have my own last will and testament.” He looked everyone in the eye as he took on a solemn tone.

  “Before we set off to wherever we’re going, I’d like to make a detour.”

  As Zeke elaborated on his request. Simon’s eyes widened.

  * * *

  A Week Ago

  After Zeke had been rescued, Derek and Douglas took some time to talk to themselves, alone. Derek had a room in a hotel, and Douglas had taken a room in the hotel after learning he was there.

  Derek and Douglas were finally alone. In Derek’s room in the Thunderdome, the two finally had some space and time to talk and talk they would.

  Douglas nursed his face where Derek had punched it earlier, and Derek smiled to himself as he noticed the gesture.

  “So, where do we begin. Derek,” Douglas’ eyes sought his, seeking a connection with him, and to his father who had saved him years ago.

  “Where have you been all these years?” he finally asked. “You’ve had 10 years, but you never went anywhere, nor were you spotted by my Marauders.”

  “I was in Soltair, it was a small village, not more than a hovel, easy to miss.” He replied. “For the past 10 years, I’ve had to stay in there, just to keep it active.”

  “It?” Douglas asked. “Are you talking about…”

  “I could leave it, but no longer than a 25-36 hour period, or it would collapse,” Derek continued, “So I stayed in Soltair. To keep it open and keep him alive.”

  “Wait…” Douglas’ eyes widened in disbelief, “You stayed in the dimensional overlap created by his Godspark.”

  Both had experience with West’s Godspark. It was a strange one. It created a space which overlapped the real world, extending about 30 feet. A person could slip in and out if West granted them access, but otherwise, no one else could access it. It was the perfect hiding space.

  For West, he would have to leave a piece of himself itself. It would remain alive, for as long as the ‘space’ remained open. Derek had kept it active, to keep West alive for as long as he could.

  “I did,” Derek said, “West found me after an accident and treated me like I was his. But you— you’re his, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah, that is accurate.” Douglas nodded,” I’ve had to stay here as well. As you can guess, I had to meet you, either that or I’d give up. That’s what I pledged.”

  “Dad died finding the true history of the world.” Douglas said sadly, “I had his radio as the Orisha finally cornered him, chased him down, and killed him. His screams were haunting.”

  “You know, he’s not really dead,” Derek said, “As long as…”

  “That’s not true Derek. And you know it.” He wiped a stray tear from his eye, “I never figured why he made you the key, and not me. I would have wanted to go on and do it on my own. This whole Arche quest thing.”

  “I was going to die anyway, ” Derek said wistfully, “Back then, my body was in tatters, and it was all I could do to crawl. West found me and saved me. He took me to Soltair and used his Godspark to freeze my body in his ‘space’, so I could heal. He told me I could go at any time, but I had nowhere to go. I just wanted to die. He didn’t want to let me, so year after year we annoyed each other. He must have told me the same stories about a hundred times. Eventually, we came to an agreement, and here we are. The eight year gap was to give us a chance to have a life and quit if I wanted I’d imagine.”

  “I had a chance. I had a life, I went fighting around the world, I founded the Marauders to help Sophia. I did all sorts of stuff, even some I’m not proud of,” Douglas said. “Our dad was a hell of a man.”

  “Our?” Derek repeated.

  “We’re not brothers — don’t get me wrong. But we shared the same parent, that counts for something.”

  * * *

  As they all piled into the Thunderdome, each choosing their own rooms and quarters, Derek had to admit, he kind of liked this motley crew. Douglas and he had bonded over the past week, and they felt like brothers. Simon had dropped the dark persona he temporarily adopted and had returned to being his cheerful self once more. Likewise, Zeke was his sullen, silent self again.

  Rachel remained quite the enigma, but he was sure he would get a read of her eventually.

  “So, I guess we’re off then,” Rachel said, as she sat in her chair.

  “Yeah,” Zeke replied, as he turned the ignition. “We’re off to Karn County.”

  Beside him, Simon frowned. Ashes and smoke. Tears and blood. Zeke’s back retreating into the distance as he abandoned him for years. Those were his last memories of Karn County. He only hoped that Zeke knew what he was doing.

  * * *

  The bounty hunter watched them. Chatter from the Marauders had reached him earlier in the week, Douglas West was leaving town, and he had left the Marauders. Allegedly, it had not been pretty.

  No one knew why, and no one cared. He himself didn’t care.

  But someone did, someone had been paying him to find out Douglas’ movements, with a bonus if he left town.

  As a bounty hunter, the request was atypical, but the pay was good.

  This news, he reasoned, would be a big payday for him.

  Chapter 10 - The Shining Spectacle of Karn County

  After a week and a half of driving, the Thunderdome finally approached Karn County. The County was not so much a County, as it was a rather large town.

  It stretched over 20 miles east to west and was marked by tall, white buildings in the County centre. All this, they could make out from outside the town. It was surrounded by hills with a river flowing through giving it a natural boundary wall on one hand. On the other, it was gated and walled.

  “The gates around the city prevent people from entering and leaving. If you’re a tourist, you’ll need to have your card details processed. There’s a trackable tourist card that the head of immigration has access to at all times. The traditional Bounty Cellular System doesn’t reach Karn. We won’t be able to reach each other either using regular communicators,” Douglas said. The Marauders had been around the area a few times, so he was the one best suited to planning the trip.

  “I’m a bit out of the loop,” Derek held up a hand. “Can you give me a reminder, how do we reach out to each other again?”

  “Seriously?” Douglas said, “You could have asked me before we left Pesque.”

  “I was going to,” Derek said, “But it never seemed like a good time to ask it.”

  “So you would just have never asked, ever?”

  “It’s like asking you when you poop. I need an entry point to ask that question.”

  “You don’t need to ask that,” Simon said.

  “5 am before anyone wakes up.” Douglas nonchalantly walked to his suitcase and started rifling through it, “Anyway, I’ve got—”

  “You definitely didn’t need to answer that, bastard. Should I shoot you in the head or something?” Simon looked disgusted.

  “Ah that’s right, you’ve been a hermit for years, Derek,” Rachel had decided she was taking charge of the conversation before it drifted too away from the topic. “I’m more of a world traveller, so I’m better equipped to explain for you.”

  Douglas shrugged and went on rifling through his bag. Rachel took that as his agreement and continued on with her explanation.

  “When it comes to reaching out to each other, we use either phones, radios or digital sheets. In essence, since the factions that govern the world need to be able to communicate, comms are essentially off-limits — a mutual truce. The only difference is what network framework they use. Everyone uses the Cellular Overlay Network as a baseline, so there is at least potential of cross-communication. For more specialised functions like using the Sheets or Phones to send messages or images to each other, we’ll need to be tapped into the network of the region itself. In a Rune Knight dominated area, you’ll need to join the Rune Broadcast System. The Nephilim have the Media Broadcast Network and all c
ounties under their domination are linked up to them. Bounty hunters tap into the independent broadcast system with their own Bounty Cellular System.“

  Derek stared at her blankly. “As long as you take care of it for me I’m fine with whatever system uses whoever’s network or whatever.”

  “Then why did you make me explain?” She sighed. “Honestly, I’m almost having second thoughts. What about you guys?”

  “Don’t look at us.” Simon and Zeke said in unison.

  “I wanted to come here most of all,” Zeke continued. “Nothing’s changed for me.”

  “Tourist Cards and all that,” Simon said. “Karn County’s certainly changed since we were kids.”

  Douglas returned to the table. He had apparently found whatever he was looking for. With a thud, he placed five grey, compact radios on the table.

  “We’ll be using these. These aren’t the best or the most stylish, but they can survive being dunked in an ocean, set on fire or thrown into a valley — at least that’s what the marketing says. The range extends all over Karn.”

  The Thunderdome group picked up their radios, fussing and playing with them. Rachel was a practised hand, and hers was set up in minutes. Derek just stared at his, fiddling with it and shaking it as if to see what would happen. Simon tapped him lightly on the back of his head, gesturing for him to hand it over. Zeke had probably done the same as Rachel, he was sitting again -- lost in thought.

  Douglas cleared his throat and his face took on a grim expression. He was speaking to all of them, but to Derek most of all. It was time to make a final choice.

  “This is Karn County. It’s directly under control of a Lieutenant -- a Principality of a Nephilim -- Timothy, known as Zealot. Under him, there are five other famous people with reputations of their own. Tyler the Town Taker. He helped take down Karn County originally. Alongside him are Julian ‘The Prophet’ who sees the future, Georgina the Shredder, Richard the invulnerable ‘Wall’ and Annabelle the ‘Bomber’. Against Timothy and this notorious five -- If we mess up, we’re dead in so many ways. That doesn’t even begin to touch on the ground forces of the Order Squadron and the infrastructure they have to control this country. We should avoid them all at costs. Now that I’ve laid it all out for you, you sure you want to make this excursion?”