Chapter Two
It had been roughly 15 billion years, since Drellic was first imprisoned at the core of the Architect’s ice world. Violent celestial events shattered the massive structure a few centuries after his incarceration and reignited a spark of life within Drellic’s mutilated body.
The Architect’s mysterious super element that still coursed through Drellic’s veins, was once again becoming self- aware. It spent countless years forming an airtight chamber beneath the surface of Charon, where Drellic was seemingly destined to spend his remaining years.
Eventually, it extracted vital elements from the water ice in the region to form a breathable atmosphere, and then used its own heat-based energy to increase the temperature of the prison, all to suit Drellic’s biological needs and ensure its own survival as well.
Once this process was completed, roughly one thousand years before the arrival of the Hades spacecraft, Drellic had finally regained enough strength to open his eyes and stand upright. His mind’s eye was projecting a jumble of events and emotions which he could not yet even attempt to understand.
Finally, after nearly a century of mental instability, Drellic was able to sort through the various memories of his past and establish a definitive timeline in his mind. It wasn’t very long after that, that he remembered everything. He had finally taken control of the super element and formed a symbiosis with it.
The Architects had two names for the compound that was responsible for Drellic’s supernatural abilities. It was referred to as both Starblood, as well as The Blood of Aia.
Aia was known as the Master Architect. According to The Architect’s historical records, she was the first of their kind and was rumored to be the only sentient star in the known universe; a being comprised a pure energy that could take on any desired organic form, at will.
She then, according to legend, abandoned her people after they had first conceived the notion of creating and depositing life forms throughout the galaxy. She was apparently offended by the idea of the universe being overrun with genetically engineered species and planets, but by her own law, could not overturn a majority vote.
During the creation of the human race, the Architects were experimenting with genetic material from one of Aia’s organic forms and used it to create Starblood. The goal was to fast track the evolution of the Architects, who were limited to an unknown physical organic form.
They wanted to pass beyond their physical bonds and become one with the universe; and in doing so created monsters amongst the human race, who would’ve seen the Architects destroyed, if they were not destroyed first.
Drellic had become completely aware of his situation and had regained full use of the Starblood within him. However, he knew he would never survive another encounter with the vacuum of space and remained in his sanctuary on Charon.
As his body required no nourishment of any kind, he spent centuries reliving his past over and over again, in his mind. He dwelled on his hatred for the aliens that had shattered his world and his longing to be reunited with his people. He also had no concept of how much time had actually passed since he was first imprisoned.
Drellic stood roughly eight feet tall; a common height for humans on the original Earth. He was bald, muscular and his skin was much paler than that of the average modern Caucasian.
After countless years, his clothing had all but deteriorated, but his sanctuary would remain as warm or as cool as he willed it to be. After regaining total consciousness, he would live for one thousand years in total solitude, before the arrival of the Hades spacecraft.
He spent nearly all of that time, living in the past. The Blood of Aia allowed him to project memories so vivid, he could almost smell the air and taste the food from his beloved city of Siren. He would revisit his wife, Moya, from time to time and live out an entire lifetime with her and the family they never had.
He would imagine it all, right up until the point of her death and the death of their children and grandchildren; then start it all over again.
It was that constant reminder of having never really obtained his deepest desires that made him all the more bitter and dangerous.
Centuries of self-induced lucid dreams had passed, and it was merely a month before the arrival of Hades and its unsuspecting crew. Drellic was lying flat on his back and appeared to be in a deep sleep, but was actually reliving within a non- fabricated memory of his life in Siren.
He was standing alone at the base of a massive stone pillar. There was a tall stone staircase behind him. He turned to see his beloved Moya descending the staircase. She was being escorted by two armed soldiers and her hands were bound by chains; her long dark hair, nearly covering the tears that streamed down her face.
When she reached the bottom, she looked upon her husband with an expression of anger and disgust.
“I won’t let you do it,” she angrily exclaimed in the ancient human language.
“You don’t have a choice,” Drellic replied, with a look of utter disappointment.
“The people will listen to me,” she cried. “They have to listen. Don’t you see? You’ve gone mad; and all of your people are going to suffer and die for your madness.”
Drellic began to cry, but he choked back his tears and struggled to remain strong and confident.
“I love you with all my heart,” he sobbed. “But I have to do this; just like I have to do this to you.”
“But you don’t...” she pleaded through her panicky breaths.
“Yes, I do!” he screamed in her face. “What I do now, I do for our people!”
He then instructed the guards to take Moya away. Moya was then led up a short flight of metal steps and held in place by the guards, in the center of a large metal platform.
The platform was surrounded by thousands of citizens, and the events taking place were being broadcast on large monitors, throughout the city around her.
As the sun set behind her, she glared angrily at the people and shouted, “The Architects have come in peace! They will not harm us! My husband, your leader, has gone insane! He’s gone mad and if you attack them, if you provoke war, we will all die! Don’t you understand?!”
The people closest to the platform, began screaming obscenities at Moya. Drellic then ascended the staircase and stood in front of his wife on the platform.
The crowd cheered and chanted his name.
While continuing to hold back his sobs he cried out, “They have already declared war upon us! This is how we survive! This is the only way we take back our worlds!”
The masses cheered for Drellic and demanded that Moya be adequately punished for committing treason. Drellic then turned and looked down in order to hide his agony from his loyal subjects. He then turned his attention to Moya and was handed a pistol by one of the guards.
The crowd grew silent as he pointed the weapon at his wife.
“Please don’t...” she cried fearfully.
He paused for a moment, then pointed the pistol at Moya’s face and pressed it firmly against her forehead.
She shook with fear and whispered “I loved you.”
“And I you...” he whispered back. He then charged the weapon and said, “For my people”, then pulled the trigger.
The energy pulse from the pistol passed through her skull and her body fell lifelessly to the metal platform. At that point, he could no longer hide his tears from the spectators.
As he wept, he slowly left the platform and retreated into the shadows of the large stone building at the other end of the walkway.
Within his sanctuary on Charon, Drellic opened his eyes and quickly sat up. He then let out a blood curdling scream, at the top of his lungs. His cries echoed throughout the chamber, as he fell silent and turned his attention to the chamber’s ceiling.
He used the Starblood to project his voice beyond the confines of his prison and out into space. In the ancient human language he said, “I am still here. Come for me. I am wa
iting.”
It was a message intended for the Architects. However, unbeknownst to him, the Starblood was transmitting his words all the way back to Modern Earth, in the form of a radio broadcast and had been doing so for some time.
The Drellic Saga: Books One, Two and Three Page 4