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DOORS OF DESTINY.
Copyright © 2018 Bronwyn Leroux
All the characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, contact the author at [email protected]
https://bronwynleroux.com/
Cover design by Lena Yang Designs
ISBN: 978-1-953107-05-3
Doors of Destiny
Bronwyn Leroux
Chapter One
“What does she have that I don’t?”
Tarise’s plea ripped into him. Jaden tried to ignore the unshed tears glistening in her eyes, wishing for the earth to swallow him whole. Hadn’t Tarise, just yesterday, said it was alright? Now here she was in his home, demanding explanations and being all emotional before he’d even had breakfast. Why were women so complicated?
Had it really only been yesterday that they were up in the mountains having fun together as a group? It seemed like a lifetime ago. Especially considering that this was when he first figured out Tarise had feelings for him. He still hadn’t wrapped his mind around that one.
Her confrontation of the situation, such as it was when they parted yesterday, was so unexpected that he had floundered in the shock of the revelation. But she had said it was okay. Although, if he was being honest with himself, he knew that wasn’t true. He had seen how she stomped away from him. And he could still feel her eyes accusing him as she glared at him right before climbing into their family’s terraporter. Ugh, what can I say? There really is nothing that will help Tarise get over the fact that I chose Kayla instead of her.
Getting no response from Jaden, Tarise sneered, “Is she prettier than me?”
Oh, there’s no way out of that one, Jaden thought, subconsciously backing away from Tarise. Whatever answer he gave, it would be wrong. Tarise was pretty enough. She just wasn’t Kayla.
As if realizing she had given him an impossible question—or one she didn’t want an answer to—Tarise hissed, “Smarter than me?”
“No.” Thankfully, that answer required no thought. Everyone knew Tarise was a genius. Jaden was glad she hadn’t thought to ask the question more specifically, as was her wont. Kayla might not be the genius Tarise was, but she was a different kind of smart; the kind Tarise would never be.
“Then what is it? Why did you choose her?”
Jaden sighed. Nothing he could say would satisfy her. It wasn’t something he could explain anyway. It was something she had to experience, and . . .
“Answer me!” Tarise demanded, her shrill tone making Jaden want to slap his hands over his ears.
“I can’t. I mean, it’s not that she has something, and you don’t. I didn’t plan for things to happen between us. They just did.”
“How is that even possible? You’ve only known her a few days while you’ve known me almost your entire life!”
“Perhaps that’s why,” Jaden murmured.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
Jaden flinched. Maybe those hadn’t been the most prudent words. “It is possible that because I’m so used to having you around, it was difficult for me to realize how you felt?”
“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?” Tarise whirled, snatched her pack off the sofa, and stormed out of the room.
Jaden sagged. Well, that wasn’t any fun. Can’t Tarise just accept that Kayla and I are together without making me feel terrible about it?
“Glad that wasn’t me, bro,” Atu whistled, sauntering into the room.
Jaden sent him a baleful stare. “How much did you hear?”
“Enough.”
“And you didn’t think to walk in sooner and save me?”
“No way! My mom always said never get between a girl and what she wants.”
Jaden expelled an exasperated sigh. “Isn’t that the truth?” He dropped down on the couch next to Atu. “Tarise sure was mad.”
Atu rubbed his chin. “Well, look at it from her point of view. She doesn’t know that you and Kayla have actually spent months together. Remember that time freeze thing that happens when we’re with the gliders?”
“Ah, yes, her comment about me only knowing Kayla for a few days. Having been my friend for so long, I suppose it’s understandable her questioning Kayla and I getting so close.”
“Uh-huh.” Atu nodded, looking satisfied.
“That still doesn’t help me,” Jaden commented, amused when Atu’s smirk fell away.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, how do I explain gliders and Gaptors to Tarise when she can’t see them, let alone the ludicrous idea of time freezes? She’d think I was making things up to excuse my actions, and that would only make things worse.”
“Yeah, valid point.”
“Any more sage advice?”
“Nope, you’re on your own, bro.” Atu raised both hands, resigned.
“Some friend you are.” Jaden laughed and gave him a friendly shove on the shoulder.
Atu picked up one of the gaming controllers they had left on the table the previous evening. “How about a game to release some of that tension?”
“You couldn’t have spoken sweeter words.” Jaden snatched the other controller.
The pair scurried down to the basement gaming room. It had turned out remarkably well if Jaden did say so himself. The setup was still in its infancy, with none of his planned enhancements. However, it was functional. He and Atu had worked on it together since their return, and it had only taken a few days to get things set up the way Jaden had envisioned . . . only a few weeks ago?
This time freeze effect was making it difficult to keep things straight. In “real” world time, it truly had only been a couple of weeks since he showed Kayla the basement and shared his ideas with her. In reality, he, Kayla, and Atu had spent months together training with Sven and traveling to find and recover the items Zareh had sent them for. No wonder Tarise was upset. His mind drifted back to their conversation. The same question he had asked before returned to plague him. Why can’t Tarise just be happy for me?
“Earth to Jaden,” Atu prompted.
“Sorry, I spaced for a moment,” Jaden mumbled. “What did you say?”
“I asked which game you wanted to play.”
“You choose.”
Atu obliged, all the while sliding appraising glances Jaden’s way. Aware of the scrutiny, Jaden bristled. He wasn’t the problem. Tarise was. And her little tirade had gotten under his skin. He needed to snap out of this funk.
As if reading Jaden’s mind, Atu elbowed him. “Bet I can rack up a hundred points before you do!’
The taunt had the desired effect. Jaden’s attention snapped to the virtual environment surrounding him, and he grinned. “I doubt it. Game on!”
Setting their interactive consoles and donning their lenses, they began their battle.
Jaden immersed himself in the intricacies of the skirmish, bouncing around the virtual movement quarter. Deftly feinting and slashing with his sword, he worked up a sweat as he felled one foe after another. The tension eased from his shoulders. Doing something he excelled at was exhilarating. At least here he didn’t have to worry about girls, wretche
d things that they were.
But that was a generalization. Kayla wasn’t wretched. She was incredible. Just thinking about her made him smile. He could spend hours with her and not feel one ounce of frustration. Well, unless she got stubborn about things. Or unless she was putting herself in unnecessary danger, as she seemed compelled to do. What was it about girls that got him so wound up?
Jaden sliced another beast as it rounded on him, gratified when his sword hit home and it died. A quick glance at the scoreboard showed he was losing. Unacceptable! Letting his mind slide fully away from the problem of Tarise, he succumbed to the game. Slaying one beast at a time was the only way to win.
Jaden and Atu were so engrossed in their combat that neither heard Markov greeting them. Only when the round ended and they lifted their lenses for a breather did they notice him sitting on one of the chairs along the wall. He had made himself at home and was sipping a soda, idly watching them.
“Hey, dude, sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.” Jaden bounded over and exchanged his usual complicated handshake with Markov.
Atu hovered in the background, waving when Markov nodded a greeting his way.
“You two been playing all morning?” Markov asked, like he just wanted to make conversation.
Jaden wasn’t fooled. He knew Markov wanted answers, but Jaden wasn’t about to make it easy for him. He decided to play along. “No, only for an hour or so. Want to join us?”
Markov grinned. “Do dogs have ears?”
Jaden smiled, handing Markov a console and pair of lenses. He should’ve guessed Markov wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to beat him. Well, Markov was about to be disappointed.
After programming his console, Markov donned his lenses. “Ready?”
“Yes,” Jaden and Atu responded.
The game began again. This time, Jaden didn’t need any lead time to hone his focus. When the battle ended, he didn’t bother checking the scoreboard. It was sad, really. Maybe they should call Kayla so he could have some real competition.
Markov dropped his lenses on the table, disgusted. “How do you always manage to pull that off?”
“At least you beat one person,” Atu grumbled. “I can’t seem to win with this guy.”
“Join the crowd. There should be a way to give him a handicap.”
“Ah, don’t kid yourself,” Jaden retorted. “If you won and I had a handicap, you wouldn’t feel like it was justified.”
“True.”
“Let’s have lunch,” Jaden suggested. “I’m famished.”
“When was that anything new?” Atu remarked.
Markov laughed. “You’re getting to know him pretty well, aren’t you?”
And there it was, the lead-in to the questions. “Pizza?”
His friends agreed enthusiastically, and Jaden preceded Markov and Atu up the stairs to the kitchen. In the pantry, he set the dough prepper, considering what to tell Markov. Markov had known him long enough to give him the benefit of the doubt, but that didn’t mean he would believe Jaden. Heck, Jaden had lived the nightmare, and he still found it difficult to believe there were monsters out there: monsters that only seekers could see, monsters who were out to destroy this world and everyone in it.
The dough prepper beeped, and Jaden startled. He still hadn’t come up with a plausible explanation. Markov wasn’t one to give up. If he caught even a whiff of subterfuge, he would go at the problem all out, something that would probably entail Markov getting all or part of the rest of their group involved. Jaden preferred to avoid that. Sighing, he accepted he would have to tell Markov the truth and hope Markov would be satisfied with that. Slim chance! But it was the only option. And it meant one less person he would have to lie to.
Taking the dough bases with him, Jaden reentered the kitchen and dumped them on the pizza stones. Atu and Markov had already set out toppings, so the three of them dressed the dough as they discussed their game. Jaden was surprised that Markov waited through the baking time and until they had finished eating before raising the question he had come to ask.
Leaning back in his chair, Markov glanced first at Jaden, then Atu, and then folded his arms. “So are you two going to tell me what’s really going on?”
Jaden almost laughed at Atu’s shocked expression. He looked like a rabbit facing down a speeding truck. Instead, Jaden berated himself. Atu didn’t know Markov as well as he did, and that question had come out of the blue. He should’ve warned Atu last night, so they could’ve come up with a plan. Too late to do anything now.
“I don’t think you’d believe us if we told you,” Jaden said.
“Try me.” That steely resolve Jaden knew all too well glinted in Markov’s eyes.
Jaden glanced at Atu for permission. Atu shrugged and gestured to Jaden that he had the floor. But when Jaden opened his mouth, he heard it: the sound he hadn’t expected again so soon. At least, not here.
In one fluid motion, Jaden leaped to his feet, ripping his DD from its sheath. Pressing the DD’s hilt, the curved blade of light sizzled to life. He had only a moment to notice Markov’s frozen face before vaulting over the kitchen counter toward the stairwell. He almost collided with Atu, who beat him to the narrow stairway. Jaden chased him up to the roof.
The pair of them burst through the door to the landing site and stopped dead. Where were their gliders? Why weren’t they here? Had their link failed? But no, Markov’s frozen features could only be because he was stuck in time, meaning the gliders were close.
Hearing a familiar raucous cry below, Jaden sprinted to the edge of the landing site. Han and Aren were tearing what was left of the Gaptor with their talons. The Gaptor’s inherent evil still oozed from its hideous, armored body, despite it being dead. Jaden grimaced as Han ripped the tail off. A garish version of a scorpion stinger, it landed with a hefty thump. Han didn’t even wait for it to settle before sinking his teeth into the unnaturally long, scaly neck. With a twist, that also went flying. How had he done so without getting sliced by the monster’s scimitar of a beak?
Aren was just as bloodthirsty, tucking into the Gaptor’s wings and shredding the scraggly fingers that constituted each wing. Just as well the blades that lurked beneath the surface of the wingtips didn’t release upon death, or Aren would be in worse shape than the Gaptor.
Relieved that neither glider appeared harmed, Jaden grinned. Although the eight-foot-tall gliders were smaller than the Gaptors, they were acting like the bats they resembled, darting around a fruit tree rather than a corpse. “You two having fun down there?”
Han squinted up and gave Jaden a toothy grin. “Feeling left out?”
“You bet! Was this the only Gaptor?”
“Yes.” Han frowned. “It is quite unusual for a Gaptor to turn up alone.”
Jaden froze. “Kayla,” he breathed.
“She’s alright,” Han assured him. “Taz is with her, and there are no Gaptors near her home.”
“How do you know? Are you sure?”
“She and Taz only left a moment ago, once they figured out you were alright and that there weren’t any more Gaptors that needed execution.”
“Oh.” Jaden was simultaneously comforted and disappointed. She’s okay. But she was here and then she left without even coming in to say hello?
Han snorted. “Don’t make a face like a pig. She noticed your friend was here and didn’t want to intrude.”
“Oh,” Jaden repeated. Then recovering, he added, “Well, tell her to come in next time, no matter who’s here.”
Han chortled, the generous sound rumbling and reverberating around the building. “I’ll tell her. But don’t think she’ll do that just because you told her to.”
Jaden rolled his eyes. “She may surprise you.”
That only made Han laugh even more, and this time, Aren and Atu joined him. Jaden glared at Atu.
“What?” Atu sputtered. “You know it’s true.”
Reluctantly, Jaden allowed a smile to touch his face. Yeah, it was true. Ka
yla would do what she thought was right, one of the reasons he loved her. Studying the bloody mess that constituted the remnants of the Gaptor, Jaden hollered, “What are you boys going to do with that?”
By way of answer, Han launched himself into the air, followed by Aren. The pair circled once before turning back and diving down on the dead Gaptor. In unison, they stretched out their talons and grabbed polar ends of the corpse. Easily hefting the bulky Gaptor, they spiraled upward until they were clear of the buildings.
“You may want to take that thing far from here. Even if people can’t see it, they’ll surely smell it after a few days,” Jaden called.
“Orders, orders, and more orders,” Han grumbled good-naturedly. “Whatever happened to some gratitude that we took care of the beastie for you?”
Jaden laughed. “Of course, where are my manners? Thank you, gliders. Where would Atu and I be without you?”
Out of the corner of his eye, Jaden caught the smirk on Atu’s face. Jaden and Atu sniggered as Han’s griping floated back down to them. “Mercifully, he’s too far away for us to hear what he’s saying,” Atu commented.
The pair of them lingered on the rooftop, watching until well after the gliders had passed from sight with their grisly cargo.
“Jaden?”
The voice behind them made Jaden spin around. Markov dawdled there, looking uncertain. That’s a first, Jaden reckoned.
“How were you two able to get up here without me seeing?” Markov asked. “And what in mercy’s name, are those gadgets in your hands?”
Jaden glanced down, noticing his still blazing DD. He had forgotten it was there. Yes, it probably did look like something from a science fiction movie, with its long, curving blade of light, sizzling and spitting with current. Thumbing the catch, he studied Markov as the blade slid back into its hilt, reducing it to nothing more than an innocuous carving knife. His friend was staring at him with a mixture of awe and curiosity. As he sheathed his DD under his shirt, Jaden sighed. It was time Markov knew the truth.
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