by D. N. Leo
Lorcan raised an eyebrow. “I assume you don’t want the info from the ordinary databank because you could just do that search yourself. You want me to use our special source, right?”
By special source, Caedmon meant the wicked databank of the multiverse called the EYE. Even his father didn’t have access to it. Getting caught stealing data from the EYE was a grave offense.
Caedmon nodded.
“Like father, like son,” Lorcan muttered. “Your father had the same look on his face when he wanted me to do the same thing.”
“Please?”
“All right. It’ll take some time. I’ll get back to you, and— Holy cow! You’re in 2999 Earth time. Look, Orla!” Lorcan pointed at the screen.
Orla narrowed her eyes. “Do you know what it means to practice magic, Caedmon?”
“No. All I know is that the computer simulation told me the real Scorpio key is here, in this time and close to this place.” He rolled his eyes. “By this place, I mean New Earth.”
Orla nodded. “Now I’ve got more to do.”
Caedmon heard footsteps. “I’ve got to go. Oh, just so you know, here I’m just a human, a filthy rich LeBlanc buying Amaraq’s business. So if you need to contact me, please don’t flash the holocast when I’m in public.”
As soon as he turned his communicator off, Pukak kicked the door in.
Before Caedmon could do anything, a light beam struck him, and he was thrown into the opposite wall.
8
K eymaster would be asleep for a little longer. He always took long naps in the afternoon. And the making of the Scorpio key seemed to be more taxing for him than the other keys he’d made. The bloodstone must be harder to carve.
She checked for one last time to ensure he was sleeping soundly, then she sneaked through the back door of the small hut and ran into the nearby forest.
It had been eight long years, and she still remembered the sound of the flesh being torn from her mother’s body as she was slaughtered. They didn’t think an infant could possibly have had awareness or any memory about the incident. Because of that, they hadn’t killed her. They had shown mercy.
She wished otherwise.
It was too far for her to travel back to the stone mountain where her parents were murdered. So every day, for as long as she had been able, she came here to this small cave, to remember and to plan her revenge.
Revenge our death, our sweet child. Remember, we love you. Forever. She repeated her mother’s last words every time she was in this cave.
She didn’t know her name, but she was happy with what Keymaster called her. Thunder Child. It sounded strong. She smiled to herself. Keymaster had always thought of himself as a predator, but he didn’t realize how sweet he was with children. She had never seen him kill any creature that hadn’t deserved to die.
On that note, he wouldn’t be happy to see what she was doing in this cave. She took out a knife she kept hidden underneath a stone. It was the hunting knife he thought he had lost. She clambered out of the cave and went hunting. The creatures in the woods that she would kill today to practice her fighting skills were innocent. But she had to practice. She had to hone her skills. When she faced the murderers of her parents, she would be on her own. She would kill them will her own hands.
She raced through the woods. There—she saw a movement. She chased the shadow. It was a four-legged creature. Furry. Black and gray. She didn’t know what it was, but it ran, and she chased. In no time, she had caught up with it. Her skills were improving. She ran faster every day. And she became stronger every day.
She got close enough to recognize that it was a wolf she was chasing. Wolves were dangerous animals. She could kill it.
She jumped in the air, stabbed downward, and caught the animal in its tracks. It was on the ground, kicking its legs in pain, uttering desperate noises. She stepped up to it to finish the job, but then she heard faint whining noises and saw three small pups by a nearby tree. The mother wolf turned and looked at her with big brown eyes and let out a mournful sound.
She always finished the job. But maybe not today.
She let the wolf get up. As soon as it regained its footing, it raced to the pups, and together, they ran away.
“That was weak,” an elderly male voice said from behind her.
She yelped, jumped aside, and swung the knife upward. A tall man with red eyes and long white hair in a long black cloak grabbed her wrist and twisted the knife out of her hand.
“Who are you?”
“I am your teacher.”
“Keymaster is my teacher.”
“He doesn’t teach you how to seek revenge. He doesn’t teach you how to kill or how to survive.”
“Why do you want to teach me?”
“Let’s say we share some common enemies. I am bound by a curse and can’t kill those I need to. But you can do it for me. So I’ll teach you how to kill. Simple.”
“You want to use me.”
“Yes, and feel free to use me back.”
She looked him up and down. “I don’t trust you.”
“That makes you stronger. I like that. If you’re strong, you’ll stand a chance against those you want to kill.”
“How do you know who I want to kill?”
He smiled, and his red eyes sparked with something strange. “I told you, we share common enemies.”
“Did they kill your parents, too?”
He chuckled. “No, but they killed my children.”
“Why?”
He crouched and looked her in the eyes. “You’re not ready for the reason why they kill. Let’s keep it at that. When you’re ready, I’ll tell you.”
She nodded.
“You have to keep this from Keymaster.”
“Why? Are you his enemy? You can’t use me to harm him.”
“You’re a smart kid,” he said. “I have no intention of killing Keymaster. But he has to focus on making keys. That’s his job. So why don’t we let him focus on that?”
“You have to promise no harm will come to Keymaster.”
“I can promise not to harm him. But I can’t control others’ intentions. And there are many others who want him dead, little child. He’ll be dead one day. He can’t protect you forever. So you’d better get some real training. What do you say?”
She looked up at him, then she nodded. She would learn the necessary skills from him. She would figure out the next step later.
9
C aedmon picked himself up from the floor. It felt as if he had been struck by lightning. Not that he’d ever been struck before, nor did he want to know how it really felt. Pukak moved quite quickly for an old man. Caedmon was sure he could take him down, even in his ordinary human body, but he wasn’t going to fight an old man.
Caedmon wiped the blood from his cut lip. “You can’t beat someone up for no reason,” he said. “A mage has a code of conduct, does he not?”
Ben walked into the room and glared at Caedmon.
“Ben said you put light into Alyna,” Pukak growled. “I know you’re not a mage. You’re a creature. But what exactly are you? Why are you infiltrating Amaraq?”
Caedmon rubbed at his jaw. “So that’s what this is about?” He chuckled. “I’m disappointed in Amaraq.” He tapped his wrist unit. “I resuscitated Alyna with a special LeBlanc technology. Yes, it does have a kind of electric current. When I performed CPR on her, she stopped breathing. You’re suggesting I should have stood there and watched her die?”
“It was magic!” Ben growled.
“It’s advanced technology, not magic.”
“Let me see!” Pukak reached his hand out.
There was no way Caedmon was going to let anyone touch his wrist unit, the crucial piece of technology that connected him with Eudaiz. Not only it was his only way back, but it also carried critical information about his make along with a lot of Eudaizian technology.
He had used his eudqi to resuscitate Alyna. He’d switched on his silver blood spe
cial energy and pumped it into her. Ben would have seen his palm glowing when he performed the procedure, but he wouldn’t have seen the dematerialized creature that had attacked her. Human eyes couldn’t detect dematerialized forms.
“It’s patented technology. I can’t let you handle it.”
“I only want to look at it. You think an old man like me could steal your technology?”
“I can’t let anyone touch it. It’s that simple. If you don’t want our business, then I’ll go.” He walked toward the door, but Ben stopped him.
Pukak turned toward him. “You want our secrets. I can’t let you go.”
Caedmon chuckled. “Look, it’s blatantly obvious that you are in financial ruin. I can walk out of here and forget about Amaraq in no time. This isn’t a big deal to the LeBlancs.”
Ben threw a punch at his abdomen. Caedmon saw it coming, and he could have stopped the hit, but he didn’t. Be human! he reminded himself. He didn’t have his special energy on, but even with his human body, he was a lot faster and stronger than an ordinary human like Ben—if Ben wasn’t a mage.
But judging from the punch, Ben was only human.
Caedmon heaved and clutched at his stomach. No matter how strong he was, a punch in full force still hurt.
Ben grabbed Caedmon’s collar and shoved him against the wall. “Fight back. Show me what you’ve got. Show me you have super power.”
“If I had super power, I’d break you in half right now.”
Ben punched him again, but this time, Caedmon grabbed his fist. “I’m not trained in martial arts like you, but I don’t care for being bullied. I offered financial help. If you don’t want it, then let me go.” He pushed Ben away. Ben looked at Pukak.
“Let him go. I have to see to Alyna now,” Pukak said.
“Pukak, he spied on us! I’m telling you he’s something else. No one without training can block my punch—”
Caedmon punched Ben in the face, sending him reeling backward. “Violence needs no training. Now, that’s just a taste of it. Don’t piss me off, Ben.” Then he kicked the door open and walked out.
On the street, a few blocks away from Alyna’s place, Caedmon turned onto a quiet corner and turned on his wrist unit. Lorcan appeared on the screen.
“You didn’t even give me enough time to drink a glass of water before you called back, Caedmon.”
“The plan has changed, Uncle Lorcan. Amaraq just kicked me out.”
“That’s good. Get out of that mess, Caedmon. The key might not be with them.”
“What do you mean?”
“You asked me to look into Ethesus, so I took a quick peek. Amaraq isn’t a transformed version of the mage tribe that you and Sedna took the key from. They existed at the same time. So did Ethesus. The tribe you and Sedna worked with was the only one with pure and consistent energy. Amaraq and Ethesus were messy. If Amaraq were a genuine mage operating group, someone at high rank in that group would have a connection with the multiverse. Same with Ethesus. So before you know who is who, and who is looking for what, get the hell out of there and give me some more time to dig deeper.”
“Can you get me the list of those in Amaraq that might have shady connections?”
“Yes, but it’ll take some time. And why do you care, Caedmon? You’ve been there for, what, two seconds? Get the hell out of there.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Don’t do anything silly, son. Your father might be bed-bound for a week, but nothing can stop me from alerting your extensive family in Eudaiz and a series of kick-ass commanders to drag your ass back where you belong.”
“Understood.” He heard a noise and footsteps from just around the corner. “I’ve got to go.” As soon as he turned the communicator off, Ben stepped out with a dozen men.
“Pukak said to let you leave, but he didn’t tell me not to beat you up. No one lays a punch on me and walks away intact.”
“I’m sorry I hurt your ego. But you attacked me first.”
“You asked for it. I know what you did for Alyna had nothing to do with technology. I’m not a mage, but I work with enough supernatural people to be able tell the difference.”
Caedmon smiled. “Even Pukak can’t tell. So do you mean you work with higher caliber supernatural people, perhaps crossing between Amaraq and Ethesus camps?”
“Bullshit. Get him.” Ben signaled, and the dozen men behind him charged at Caedmon.
10
A lyna whirled around, grabbed her boots, and slid them on.
“Can you slow down, Alyna? You just got up on your feet.” Pukak looked at her in disapproval.
“Ben will hurt Caedmon. I’m sure of it.”
“Alyna, Caedmon isn’t exactly defenseless.”
“But you said Caedmon punched Ben in the face.”
“Yes.”
“A man with crushed ego is dangerous. Ben hurts people, not the other way around. That’s how he operates. Caedmon can throw a few punches, but he’s just a corporate guy. I doubt he has any combat training.”
Pukak chuckled. “You should see how he punches.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing. Maybe he’s just talented.”
Alyna rushed out of the house and darted around the corner and down a dark street that led to the main road. If Caedmon wanted to get transport back to his quarter, he would have headed that way.
CAEDMON SMILED AT BEN. He would teach this human and his petty ego a lesson to remember. As the group of twelve charged at Caedmon, he switched his eudqi on. The super energy enhanced his natural agility and gave him incredible speed and strength. That was all he needed with this group of humans.
Soon, the group of men were crawling on the ground, moaning. They slowly got up but didn’t dare charge again. Caedmon looked straight at Ben, cocking an eyebrow. The other men looked at Ben, too. Ben had no choice but to run at Caedmon.
In a swift move, Caedmon knocked him to the ground. He made sure he had total control of his strength. He didn’t want to break the guy’s neck.
Then, because his super power was on and his senses were super sensitive, he heard breathing and movement from Alyna. She was rushing toward him.
He immediately switched off his super power.
At the same time, Ben pushed himself up from the ground and charged at him again. They fought, exchanging blow for blow.
The other men could see the changes in the synergy of the fight.
“Get him, you cowards!” Ben shouted at them.
They all rushed at Caedmon at the same time. What followed was a sea of fists, legs, and elbows. All Caedmon was worried about was protecting his wrist unit. In the worst-case scenario, he could just open a portal and leave, but without the wrist unit, he’d be stranded on Earth.
“Stop! Stop all of you!”
It was Alyna’s voice. The stream of punches and kicks stopped. He pushed the man standing next to him aside and walked away.
“Thirteen of you against one?” Alyna said.
“You should have seen him before,” Ben said.
“Yes, I heard. He punched you in the face, didn’t he? You embarrass me, Ben. Now go. All of you.”
Caedmon heard the footsteps of the retreating men and then Alyna’s footsteps, following him.
His injuries hurt. All he needed was to turn on his eudqi. The healing process would start instantly, and he would be in perfect condition in no time. But he couldn’t do that in front of Alyna or any other human. He needed the privacy of the unit where he was staying.
He felt Alyna’s hand touching his shoulder. She turned him around. “This looks really bad, Caedmon. I have to take you to a medical center. Our clinic is closer, and they’d do a good job, but I don’t think you’d like it. Please let me take you to the medical center.”
“I just need to be left alone. Thank you.” He kept walking—or maybe he was passing out? He could feel that a couple of his ribs were broken. He was hurting badly and needed to heal them as soon as
possible.
He felt Alyna’s arm around his waist. She was a lot stronger than he expected. “If you don’t want to go to the medical center, fine,” she said. “But I have to at least get you home safely. You owe me, remember?”
“Excuse me?”
“When you unclasped my bra, you said I could beat you up if I wanted to.”
“That was rhetorical.”
“But I took it literally. Obviously, I don’t want to beat you up. But I do want to take you home.”
“Fine,” he muttered. He tried to be as unfriendly as he could, but it didn’t deter her. He’d have to play along. They walked for one more block and were about to get to the main road when they heard stealthy footsteps. He recognized them. They weren’t the footsteps of thugs from street gangs. They were the stealthy steps of well-trained mercenaries.
Alyna left him leaning against a wall and put her hands on her two guns.
“Seriously, Alyna?”
“It’s Ethesus. And yes, I’m very serious.”
“You can’t just kill people on the street.”
“It’s kill or be killed, Caedmon. I don’t know about you, but I prefer the former. I want you to get down as low as you can.”
“No.”
“Caedmon! There’s no room for ego here. I’m the one with the guns.”
“I can use one of yours.”
“Have you ever fired a gun before?”
“I know how to pull a trigger.”
She nodded and reluctantly gave him one of her two guns.
While she was busy surveying the surrounding area, he switched his eudqi on. He could feel the healing energy surging through his body, fixing his broken ribs. But he stopped the process at ninety percent, leaving all his external injuries as they were.
They walked along a narrow street with high fences on either side. He could see that while Alyna might be lethal at one-on-one fighting, she had no combat training at all.