ConQuest (The Quest Saga)

by Dhayaa Anbajagane

  CONQUEST

  Book one of The Quest Saga

  -DHAYAA ANBAJAGANE-

  Dhayaa Anbajagane is a school-going teenager from Chinmaya Vidayalaya, Anna Nagar, Chennai, fondly known as CVA. He has an intense passion for physics and tries to connect everything in real life to it; from why the sky is blue to how Rafael Nadal uses the Banana Shot to MS Dhoni’s Helicopter Shot. This is one of the factors driving him to be at his tennis coaching every morning at 5 am so he can try to manipulate the game with physics.

  Though he’s a mischievous student, he tries to maintain discipline within himself. A curious learner, he has tried his hands at many things ranging from piano to kalaripayuttu (Keralite martial arts) to acting to cooking.

  He likes to write for himself and share it with others.

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are completely fictional. Any traits, characteristics and possessions they have in common with the real world are purely a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual people, living or dead, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2014 Dhayaa Anbajagane

  Cover Design copyright © 2014 Dhayaa Anbajagane

  Visit us at Dhayaaanbajagane.com

  CONQUEST

  Book one of The Quest Saga

  -DHAYAA ANBAJAGANE-

  Acknowledgements

  Jency Samuel, my young-at-heart editor, who understood my world

  My mom, dad and sister who stood by me ‘behind the scenes’

  My friends who were the first readers and critics (and of course partners in crime!)

  Ashok Uncle and Kalpana Aunty who taught me how to think differently

  My teachers who encouraged me to be ‘me’

  My friend, Swathi, who introduced me to the world of Rick Riordan

  And Rick Riordan who ended his story with a cliffhanger and shook the slumbering author in me awake

  To

  My Sister, Nivedha, for showing me how to enjoy life

  Gateway to Danger

  Spy

  S.P.A.C.E

  Hidden powers

  Dreams

  Annihilation

  Predator

  Warp Drive

  Zygrade

  Aliea Academy

  Lights Out

  Intruder

  School Again

  Moon Base

  Sonic Burst

  Battle of Heroes

  Roommate

  The Dark Knight

  Answers

  Poison

  Temple of Time

  Kronogravia

  Pyrophate

  Space Patrol

  Blocked out

  New Year’s Eve

  Maxi Blast

  Suspicion

  Temple of Giants

  Sunset

  The Tracker

  Beast

  Umm…

  Take a Swim

  The Core

  Galactica

  Temple of Judgment Doom

  VRT

  God of Death

  Temple of Last Hope

  Perfect Ten

  Traitor

  Ice man

  Dragon

  Reunited

  Try, try again

  Man from the moon

  Purple light

  Pandora Cannon

  Loss

  Obliteration

  Attacked

  Illusions

  Palace of Being

  Final Destination

  Prelude

  Hand of Gandalf

  Happily Ever After?

  Once upon a time

  “No video games in class,” screeched a voice.

  That was Mrs. Angelo. You’d expect her to be a cool teacher considering that her name had both ‘Angel’ and ‘Jell-O’ in it, but if life teaches you anything it’s that it is never really what it looks like.

  Oh, and by the way, she doesn’t like to catch you playing Super Mario in the middle of class. If you need to know more on that, just talk to Q.

  Yes, his name is just ‘Q’. He was a dude of about fifteen years of age and this is a story that will change your perception of the word ‘Danger’.

  Mrs. Angelo’s voice made everyone turn to look at Q. He was infamous for his addiction to breaking any rule enforced on him.

  He looked at Mrs. Angelo, not even the slightest bit worried. He raked his hands through his wavy black hair. His dark eyes stared at Mrs. Angelo like they were ready to vaporize her. The harsh sunlight fell through the window and bathed his pale white skin.

  “This is the limit. I’m going to call your brother!” she threatened him.

  She put the phone to her ear, her foot tapping the floor. Q, though, wasn’t the least bit shaken.

  Q lived with his brother Carlos, a nanotechnologist by profession. Carlos was a young guy of twenty-five, and had been featured in various magazines for the groundbreaking discoveries he had made in his field.

  He had been at his prime when he developed a nano army that could wipe out any disease. The WHO had decided to use it as a form of combat against diseases like malaria and HIV.

  Q was also a tech freak, though nanotech wasn’t his thing. He often wondered if the addiction to technology ran in his genes, but then again, that was something he could never find out…

  Q had never seen his dad or mom even once in his entire life. Sure, it would’ve been painful for any kid who had had loving parents and then lost them, but when you’ve never had that experience, you’ll never know what you’ve missed.

  Q’s parents had died when he was still a child, so he had no memory of them. Carlos had told him that his parents had been diagnosed with brain malfunction, but that happening to both your parents is definitely not normal.

  He had to admit though, he’d always thought that their death had some mystery attached to it; but hey, what could he do about it? He’d learnt to live life without asking too many questions.

  That aside, Q lived a luxurious life. Apparently nanotechnology was very profitable and so Carlos was this amazingly rich guy.

  One look at his bank account and you would probably need a mathematician to tell you that such numbers even existed.

  Q got anything that he wanted. Let’s face it. When a guy owns an iPhone, an iPad, a MacBook, a Nexus phone and an Alienware Laptop, he’s pretty much got it all. And this was without taking into account his fifteen game systems.

  Of everything he owned, he had lost at least six gadgets to Mrs. Angelo.

  Paulo Coelho in his book ‘Alchemist’ says, ‘everything that occurs once never occurs again, but everything that occurs twice will always happen a third time’. Q had proof that Coelho’s theory worked up to six.

  The bell rang just as Mrs. Angelo came over to Q. He didn’t need an anvil dropped on his head to see that she was angry. If you’re wondering why, it was probably the Super Mario that he was playing in class. He swiftly put his Nintendo system into his pocket and made a run for it.

  “Get back here, Q!” Mrs. Angelo demanded - bellowed was more like it - but Q wasn’t planning on going back.

  Q was interrupted halfway through his getaway.

  “In trouble again?” a voice said.

  Q stopped and turned around. It was a girl. She was about as tall as Q. Her skin radiated like it was one of glow-in-the-dark costumes. Her blond hair was neatly pulled into a ponytail. Her lightning blue eyes gleamed in the light.

  “Hi, Taylor,” Q said.

  The girl’s name was Taylor, Taylor Quasar. She was a year older than him and had been a close friend of Q’s since his childhood. He’d spent many a wint
er throwing snowballs and making snowmen with her.

  “Stop that boy!” Mrs. Angelo yelled.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” Taylor grinned.

  Q noticed two male teachers running after him.

  Mrs. Angelo must have finally convinced someone to catch me, Q thought.

  “Got to go, Taylor. Talk to you later,” he said in a rush.

  “Sure. Later then.” She waved at him.

  Q wasted no further time in running to the entrance of the school. He got into a car that had just pulled up to him.

  “Shall we leave?” asked the driver, with a heavy English accent in his voice. Q nodded his head. That was Charles. He had been originally hired as a housekeeper for Carlos’ mansion, but also functioned as a driver.

  He was an old man of around fifty. His grey hair was neatly combed back. His pointy face and brown eyes showed a serene calmness.

  It was a short 10-minute drive to their mansion. The mansion, according to Carlos, had been built in the early 1800s. It had an old look to it, but was still a teensy bit contemporary because of the renovation that was done recently.

  Q entered the mansion. “Carlos!” he called out “I’m home!” There was no answer.

  “That’s odd,” Charles said. “The master was home when I left.”

  Q figured out that Carlos had probably just gone out for a long drive. It was a small routine of his. He said it helped him relax. Q never understood it though. The last thing you’d call relaxing is driving a sports car at 200 miles an hour!

  Carlos usually came back home for dinner after a drive, so Q decided to go to his room and play his G.A.M.E. It was a virtual reality system that he’d developed with Carlos’ help.

  You have no idea what potential a FIFA game had until you played it on the G.A.M.E. If you’re wondering what it stood for, it’s Gaming Awesomeness Made Easy.

  He started playing his G.A.M.E. He breezed through the initial stages and reached the league final. He was halfway into the game when all of a sudden a dark form fell from the virtual sky and blocked a shoot that he made.

  Q thought it odd since there wasn’t supposed to be any glitch.

  The black figure smiled. Instead of the color of pearly white teeth, a blood red arc formed, sending shivers down Q’s spine.

  “Deactivate!” Q said. He needed to get out of the virtual reality.

  His vision turned bright white. When it dimmed down Q saw the familiar surroundings of his room.

  He had installed certain safety procedures for the G.A.M.E, in case it malfunctioned, though he’d never thought that it’d actually malfunction. He had it all voice-controlled. So all he had to say was ‘deactivate’ and the G.A.M.E would shut itself down and bring him back to reality.

  Q was a bit tensed. He’d never experienced a glitch in any of his games before. It may be okay in a normal game but in a virtual reality game it might have drastic effects on the player.

  Theoretically, he could be trapped in the virtual world forever. His thoughts would flow through the system as 1s and 0s while his body remained lifeless, hoping for his mind to return.

  Q’s anxiety was rattled by a loud blast that left the room shaking. His instincts took over immediately. He rushed out of his room and looked around.

  There was no smoke or debris. He looked over the railing at the ground floor. Charles walked by with a tray in his hand. He seemed calm and cool.

  It was as though the blast had never happened!

  Q wondered if he had imagined the whole thing. He was sure that he’d heard a blast. He’d even felt the ground beneath him shaking.

  He turned to go back to his room when something caught his eyes. He noticed lights coming through the rim of the door that led to Carlos’ lab. Shades of unearthly colors flooded his face.

  A tiny part of Q’s brain recognized the light. Memories flooded his mind.

  When Q was very young Carlos had told him that aliens lived inside his lab. Sure, that was baby talk. But when Q tried to get in one night, he saw eerie lights flashing on and off. When a ten-year-old sees something like that, he never wants to try it again.

  The lights that he saw now flashing from the door resembled the same lights that he had witnessed five years ago. He held on to the handle and turned it.

  The door was open! Carlos never left the door to his lab open.

  There’s something fishy going on here, Q thought.

  He opened the door slowly. Suddenly the lights stopped glowing. A pitch black room awaited him on the other side. Q felt around the wall for a light switch and turned it on.

  He took soft and careful steps as he searched the lab for the source of those lights. It was only when he’d finished searching that he took a good look at the lab.

  Q was astonished by what he saw. The whole place looked like Dexter’s Laboratory (without the robots). He half-expected ‘Deedee’ to show up.

  Q whistled, clearly impressed. “To think Carlos had a place like this,” he chuckled.

  He ran around Carlos’ lab like a hyperactive three-year-old, carefully observing every little device. He noticed that Carlos’ lab had a library.

  Q was going to pick up a book when he felt a ray of light fell across his eyes. He looked at the ceiling and noticed a network of surveillance cameras.

  He checked out all the cams when he realized that something was wrong. He picked up a pen and a piece of paper from a table.

  “I need all the cam positions,” he murmured.

  He went around noting down all the cams’ positions. When he finally finished, he looked at the paper. His suspicions were correct!

  The area right in front of the door was completely hidden from the surveillance system. It was a blind spot!

  Carlos never made a mistake like this. He had to have done this on purpose. But why would he create a blind spot in his own lab? For the kind of research he was doing, he needed top level security.

  There were so many thoughts racing in Q’s mind that his head started to spin . He decided to take it one thing at a time.

  He searched around the blind spot. He looked for anything out of place, anything odd on the floor. But even after an hour he couldn’t find anything.

  “Absolutely nothing!” Q cursed as he walked to the door. He was about to leave the lab when he suddenly felt a searing heat on the whole of his back.

  It felt like someone was using a flamethrower against him. Strangely, it didn’t seem to cause him even the slightest bit of pain.

  He turned to investigate the source of the heat. You could imagine his surprise when he just saw thin air.

  Suddenly he heard a high pitch sound. A circle of light slowly formed, gradually getting brighter. Then suddenly it expanded. Inside the circle was nothing but a black void.

  “A portal…..” his jaw dropped as he stared in awe.

  That’s when he realized he didn’t really want to hang around to see what came out of the portal. Sure, an E.T coming out would be awesome but what if the terminator came out instead?

  He searched around frantically for some space. Under one of the research tables, he finally found a spot large enough for him to hide. Only then Q realized that the portal had emerged in the cameras’ blind spot. It couldn’t just be a coincidence.

  “Carlos must have had all this pre-planned,” Q murmured.

  After the light died away and the heat came down, he lifted his head up with a mix of anxiety and fear.

  A humanoid exited the portal. The portal immediately closed behind it with a bright flash. The form slowly brought its hand to its helmet and took it off.

  With what Q saw next, he wasn’t worried that his heart might skip a beat; he was more worried if it might skip a whole cycle!

  Spy

  It was Carlos!

  Q could make no mistake. The man looked exactly like his brother. His short brown hair and the beard he kept trying to grow were all proof of the man’s identity. Q wondered why Carlos was wearing one of those high tech s
uits that you would’ve probably seen only in video games.

  Carlos uttered the word ‘Ethosien’. The armor detached itself from him and turned into a Rolex watch. Q silently remembered the time when he had accidently dropped the very same watch into a swimming pool. He sincerely regretted doing that.

  Q crouched behind the table, his teeth clenched. He didn’t want to get caught. It was not that he would get grounded but he was sure it wouldn’t be a pretty picture. If Carlos had kept this big a secret from him, Q sure didn't want to tell him that he’d just stumbled upon it.

  He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Carlos walk out the door. That was one experience he’d never want to have ever again.

  A million chances and I still wouldn’t have guessed that Carlos would come out of the portal, Q thought.

  He finally dragged himself out of the lab. His brain was still going crazy. He was trying to process everything he’d seen. Carlos had stepped out of a portal in full mech-armor.

  Q wondered why he was in that armor. Was he a Navy SEAL? But even those dudes didn’t use portals to move around. Maybe Carlos had something to do with Area 51? Even then, portals seemed to be too much!

  He was still in deep thought when he heard Charles call him for dinner. He walked to the dinner table.

  The whole room looked like JK Rowling had designed it. Large paper chandeliers hung from the wall. Two banners of green rose up on either side from the bottom of the stairs. And to add a touch of ‘witch’ to it, there was a Jack ‘o’ Lantern, fully lit and creepy.

  By the time Q sat down, Carlos had already started his dinner. Q observed Carlos, who was sitting opposite to him, with a new-found curiosity.

  He was wearing a white shirt and blue jeans and no armor. He still wore his Rolex though.

  “How was your day?” Q said expectantly.

  Carlos lifted his eyebrow. Q could feel Carlos’ coffee brown eyes trying to analyze his face.

  “Just fine. I spent the whole day trying to enhance the nano army.”

  Q knew that he was obviously lying. The only conclusions he could come up with were: One, Carlos was hiding something. Two, his mind had been taken over by aliens like in Ben 10: Alien Force. Three, he really did do what he said. Four, Q had eaten too much Jell-O and hallucinated the whole portal incident.