Lives of Future-Past (The Chronicles of Max Gunnarsson Book 1)

by S. K. Benton

  Ryder Johnson stood in front of the cell and appraised Jennie’s injuries, and then, turning to the soldiers said, “Lock her up. Right here, in this cell, so they can be girlfriends. Maybe they’ll get it on and we can watch,” as he pointed at the cell adjacent to Jennie’s.

  Alea started howling as they forcefully pushed her into the cell, not even bothering to chain her to the ground. Johnson turned to leave, but paused briefly, saying, “You know, Lord Vladros simply wanted to execute you and send your head back as a gift, but I convinced him to hold off a bit. The fun has yet to start. We never did finish what we started on the ship…” Backing off, Johnson disappeared back into the darkness and out of view, but not smell.

  Locked in her cell, with little hope at the present, Jennie just sat where she was. She stared at a facing wall for a few minutes, only hearing the moans of the normal prisoners. Then, without even turning to Alea she said, “You bitch…” (*15*)

  The entire chamber in Krynos’ castle was in a state of absolute chaos, with everyone yelling over each other as more and more soldiers filtered into the room. Krynos attempted to call everyone to attention, but to no avail. Suddenly, and without warning, a large cracking sound thundered throughout the hall, Draagh having slammed his staff to the ground. Everyone immediately fell silent, and Draagh merely motioned for Krynos to address the attending lycans.

  “It appears that we have been betrayed, and that Jennie Escalante has been abducted.” Looking at Draagh, Krynos asked, “My friend, is there anything that you can do to help determine her location?”

  Draagh looked out at the ever-growing crowd of lycan soldiers, and then at Max, saying, “Oh, I already know where she is, my son. Vladros has her in his dungeon.”

  Max looked at his grandfather, horrified. “Vladros? The vampire leader? How do you know?”

  Draagh solemnly nodded, and then continued, “Max, my boy. Those clothes you wear, did I not conjure them for this evening’s festivities?”

  Max nodded his head, still maintaining a look of extreme concern on his face.

  “As I made them, they have a very particular connection to me. In fact, I detected her change of location not long after she was taken, though there was little I could do at the time. In fact, I was going to change my clothing and address this situation, but you had responded so quickly I simply came here with everyone else.”

  Max looked at his ancient grandfather and desperately asked, “Then, what can we do?”

  “Why, we go and rescue her, of course!”

  Draagh explained to Max, and the unnaturally quiet lycans, that Vadros’ castle had an ancient protective cantus, which prevented anyone from simply entering via magic.

  “We will have to enter just like we would into any other building in lesser situations,” said the ancient mage.

  Max’s eyes shifted right and left, as he tried to figure out what Draagh meant, when Donus quickly boomed, “We shall dig a tunnel! Lycans specialize in tunnels!”

  “A… tunnel?” stammered Max, who was starting to look even more confused. “We dig? How long will this take?”

  Donus replied, “Not long at all. We start to make preparations immediately,” to which Draagh added, “Max, my dear boy, please do not worry. Though I am unable to breach the castle’s defenses with a 3D slip, once inside we can quickly locate Jennie and pop out – the protection is not a two-way defense.”

  “But what if they kill her? Oh my God, what are they going to do?” Max cried out.

  Draagh rested a hand on the young man’s quivering shoulder and said, “Calm yourself, my son. She yet lives. I am able to see her, and although she has been roughed up a bit, I can do some things to help keep her from being further damaged. There is something you should all know. We have suffered at the hands of a traitor. Two, in fact.”

  “Who might they be?” demanded Krynos, while everyone started to look at each other with suspicious glares.

  “Oh, they are not here. Not anymore. Your resident minor-mage, Siegfried, and the skills trainer Alea are both in Vladros’ castle, but it appears that things did not turn out so well for the woman, as she now resides in a cell next to Jennie.”

  “She told me there was a traitor in the castle!” exclaimed Max, who continued, “I should have listened to her! But wait, SHE was the traitor? Oh damn.”

  Draagh waved his hand out and said, “Oh, my boy, that was just a ploy of hers to get into your bed, as at that time she was unaware of any such nefarious activities. However, I never much cared for the skulking, sneaky Siegfried, and I had mentioned it to Lord Krynos on various occasions in the past.”

  “Well, he was inexpensive,” said Krynos, wearing a regretful look on his face. He then immediately called out with great authority, “Prepare thyselves, great warriors of the Rhönen! We go to rescue our sister!”

  With that order everyone cleared the room as fast as lightning, except Max, who stood there, helplessly looking at his grandfather.

  “Draagh, we will rescue her, won’t we?” he inquired.

  “Yes, my son. She shall be retrieved safely. Now go prepare yourself for battle.”

  Max spun around to leave the room and was gone instantly, and after roughly 20 minutes of preparation, a Rhönen Special Forces recon team had been assembled of the warriors most skilled at fighting in enclosed spaces. This meant that many of the largest warriors were not to go, as Vladros’ castle ceilings were lower than that of a lycan castle - vampires being shorter in stature than their mortal enemies. Max stood at the forefront with Donus, who, although rather large, was to lead the effort. Wearing a lighter version of his battle armor, protection that would allow him to sneak about while making much less noise, Max had his katana strapped to his back, along with some other, smaller blades lining the sides of his boots. Draagh approached Max and held out his hand, presenting the young man with Jennie’s katana.

  “Here, my boy. She will want this. I managed to make some minor improvements to it while it was in my possession.”

  Max took the weapon and examined it closely, not initially seeing anything different. Then, a look of understanding grew on his previously preoccupied face as he spun around, pointing it at an old table in an empty part of the room.

  “Undaincantatio ad mortem!” he screamed out, as everyone in attendance gasped in awe.

  He had reduced the table to nothingness, not even ashes, after focusing a thermonuclear cantus through the tip of Jennie’s blade. Draagh had basically rebuilt the katana as a magical object for Jennie, and Max was really, really pissed off and planned on using it – on Vladros. (*16*)

  The recon team rode out of the castle on horses after Draagh had slipped up ahead, making sure that no one was spying on their activities. It was assumed that Vladros would not expect such a quick reaction, if even one at all, as he was not aware of the love and respect the girl had garnered in her short time in the Rhönen. His only information on her came from Ryder Johnson, who simply wanted to rape and hurt her for having been the cause of his being stuck in the strange world - and also because he was the personification of evil cowardice.

  After some hours, the lycans stopped in a wooded area to replenish water and let their steeds rest out of the rays of the sun.

  “We shall go another hour, and then leave the horses in the transition area, as we must continue on foot,” commanded Donus, whose horse was an offshoot of a Clydesdale, yet much more massive than those of the past.

  After reaching the transition point, they tied of their horses and proceeded on foot, coming to the boundary of Vladros’ castle land. As there was still daylight, the lycans would have an advantage in approaching the castle. Although there were vampires that could tolerate some sunlight, their vision was severely limited by the strong and deadly UV rays.

  Max stood by with Draagh and watched, as a single lycans soldier named Kornus morphed to his battle form and started to dig quite rapidly with his enhanced claws. Dirt flew out as some other soldiers moved the loose earth
back and out of the way. Another lycan jumped down into the newly made tunnel entrance and started widening it, following Kornus. It was a matter of mere minutes before the two had disappeared into the earth.

  Crouched down and ready to go, the team was finally given the ok to enter into the tunnel, which surprisingly, was high and wide enough to simply walk through. Max had no idea that lycans were such incredible tunnelers, but was glad to know of the skill, and planned to practice once they had safely retrieved Jennie from the clutches of the putrid half-dead.

  Jennie sat in her cell, glaring at Alea, as she had been doing for the past few hours. Not knowing what would happen next, she threw a small rock through the bars at the woman who sat just three meters away.

  “Hey, idiot. Happy now that you’re getting us both killed?” she asked, with a definite tone of hostility.

  Alea looked over and had tear stains all over her face, being unable to cope with the fact that she had basically ruined not only her own life, but also that of an innocent.

  Before Jennie could say anything else, a voice softly called to her in her head.

  “Jennie, hold fast, my dear girl. Do not make a sound. Just think to me and do not speak. We are here for you and shall arrive soon,” said the voice.

  “Draagh? Is that you? How can you do this?” she asked in her mind.

  “It is the clothing you wear. I conjured it for the party, and as an added benefit it allows me to maintain a connection to the wearer. I am only so very glad that no vampire decided to disrobe you.”

  “Yeah, so am I,” she thought back, “they weren’t built for wearing a tango dress, that’s for sure.”

  Jennie thought she detected telepathic laughter, but was unsure. She then thought back out, “What do I need to do? I don’t even have a weapon.”

  “Max has your katana. I improved it, and you will no longer need to strap your wand to it in order to direct cantuses. It is now quite, how shall I put it - cool - if I do say so myself.”

  Jennie snickered mentally, and then simply continued ignoring Alea. The woman had betrayed her once, and Jennie wasn’t even going to give her any indication that rescuers were on their way. In fact, she hoped that Alea would attempt to fight the lycans upon their arrival, just so she would have an excuse to kill her. She used her enhanced hearing to listen intently for the sound of invading forces, but only heard vampires milling about, and the light sound of some stones being moved, initially believing it to be slave laborers performing tasks for their disintegrating masters.

  Suddenly, and without warning, she heard screaming and growling, as well as the sound of flesh being torn. Trying to pinpoint Max’s or Draagh’s scent, she looked over to see Alea wearing the most terrified expression she had ever seen on a person’s face. It appeared that the lycan woman actually feared her own kind more than the vampires who had so easily betrayed her, and it brought Jennie a quieting satisfaction.

  After stealthily entering into the basement area of the castle, the recon team had set out for the dungeon area, two levels below, but were all detected by hellcats who immediately attacked and made the lycans’ position known. Elsewhere in the castle, Vladros called on his own personal protection forces to surround him, with Johnson trying to get in the middle, only to be shoved out by the vampire king.

  “You, coward, do not belong here. My son was to take his place by my side, and is dead due to your incompetence. Die like a lower-caste foot-soldier, alien slime.”

  Johnson gave him a look of pure hatred, and dashed off to find a hiding place of his own. He wasn’t about to go into battle with a bunch of psychotic lycans – he would pick and choose his battles as they suited him. Finding a chamber filled with corpses, he dove into the rotting pile of bodies in an attempt to hide his scent and avoid detection.

  Max and Draagh stuck together, while Donus and the others used their new katanas to easily slice the attacking vampires and hellcats to ribbons.

  “Oh-HO! I do so love this fine blade!” Donus cried out, “I shall name it… I shall name it kalte tod - cold death, in the language of my forefathers.”

  With that, he completely and merrily bifurcated a hellcat that had been running inverted on the low ceiling, causing its two separated halves to fall to opposing sides of the walkway. Max, who had regrouped with the lycan commander, looked at the newly halved creature on the ground, which was amazingly still moving, and then gave Donus an inquisitive look, raising a brow.

  “No, my good man, they are not for consumption. They are – how would dear Jennie put it? Oh yes, they taste like ass.”

  Max grinned at Donus’ comment, figuring that was exactly how she would say it, and opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Draagh, who urgently called out to them both.

  “Come, she is this way.” The mage then bolted down a left corridor, surprisingly fast for someone who had been alive for eons.

  Arriving in the dungeon area, Max, Draagh and Donus ran to her cell, only to hear the girl cheerfully say, “Hey fellas. What took ya so long?”

  Max looked at her with a combination of anger and grief, as it was obvious she had suffered some abuse at the hands of whoever had abducted her. Her once-beautiful white dress was torn to shreds, and she still had clotted blood matting her face and hair. Before Max could even reach to open the cell door, Draagh simply waved his hand, causing the door to open - Jennie’s opened, but Alea’s did not.

  “Max, take Jennie and get out of here. A simple 3D slip to the entrance of Krynos’ gate should suffice. I have other things in which to attend.”

  “Oh no you don’t!” howled Jennie, standing and moving out of the cell, her shackles falling to the ground with loud clunking sounds, having been magically released by the ancient mage. “I’m gonna find Johnson and make his head into a trophy. Gunnarsson, give me my sword.”

  “How did you know I have it?” started Max, as Jennie shot back, “Oh, a little birdie told me - and Draagh, can you do something about these rags?”

  The old mage waved his hand, causing them to reform in an impressive, white leather battle outfit, albeit with some of the blood stains she had earlier acquired.

  “Pops, do you have a bead on Johnson’s location?” asked Max, as the mage looked around, with the battle still going on in the upper levels of the castle.

  “No, my boy, and if you cannot detect his scent that means he has either fled, done quite a splendid job of hiding himself, or has been killed and eaten. We should hope for the latter, but I digress. I should like very much to find Siegfried, as he is the one who betrayed us all.”

  Then looking at Alea he said plainly, “My dear, you have created quite a mess, and I am afraid that it is not myself to whom you must answer.”

  Alea simply continued looking down. She was so panicked over being told that her husband, Morgus, was alive that she didn’t stop to think it could have been a trap or a lie. She chose evil, and one who chooses evil never wins in the end.

  “Leave her there,” commanded Draagh, “I shall retrieve her upon my return.”

  The four searched all over the castle, but could find neither Siegfried, nor Vladros. They had both fled, as evil is generally masked cowardice. Many of the lycans returned to the outside of the castle via their hastily made tunnel, but Max made sure that Jennie was out first and then had a good time 3D slipping four of them, running back through the tunnel after each slip to get another. As he had done this without the use of Draagh’s staff, his timeout meter was depleted and slowly creeping back up, keeping him from using any more magic for at least a minute.

  Maintaining defensive positions, as the sun had already set, they waited until the team had completely arrived, along with Alea as their prisoner. There were no losses, although one lycan soldier had suffered a hellcat bite that, unfortunately, was painfully poisonous.

  “I didn’t even get to use my sword,” complained Jennie, with Max giving her a look of complete disbelief.

  “Jennie, you were kidnapped and beat
en. Can’t we just go home?”

  “Home,” she said softly, “I like the sound of that.”

  Chapter 22 – Banishment

  The castle’s great hall was filled with all of the lycans from the Rhönen Dominion, every single one standing at attention, as Krynos, king of all he surveyed, addressed the crowd. Directly in front of him was Alea, the traitorous woman who assisted in Jennie’s kidnapping.

  The lycan leader gave her gaze of detest, and then looked out at the crowd, saying, “As we are a nation of laws and nobility, we must always adhere to the written rules upon which we live our daily lives. We have suffered at the hands of betrayal, and with great sadness we turn our backs on Alea, who was a valued member of our family. In most cases, these circumstances would result in the instant execution of the bearer of ill-will, but as Alea did serve the Dominion well for many years, and also due to the fact that she was betrayed by her cohorts, believing that her husband, the greatly-missed Morgus, was alive and held captive by Vladros, I have determined a modified punishment for our former sister. Alea, you are herewith banished from the Rhönen Dominion for the rest of your life, to wander the wilderness and perhaps come to grips with the crimes of which you have been convicted. This is the will of your former king.”

  Krynos looked at the honor guard that surrounded Alea, and nodded for them to escort the woman out of the castle. As she turned to leave, she gave Draagh a look of anguish, knowing that she had indeed ruined what was a good life, and had almost ruined the life of another. Draagh simply glanced at her and then looked away. He had many lovers during his long life, and this was not the first time he had been betrayed by the fairer sex.

  Max and Jennie stood in the crowd and quietly watched the procession lead the woman out, with Jennie giving her a glare of contempt.

  “You really never liked her, did you?” asked Max.

  Jennie looked at him and plainly stated, “No, I always thought she was a bitch.”