Worlds Without End: The Prophecy (Book 3)

by Shaun Messick

  Once they arrived, the Gnol shoved Adrian down to his knees. “Bow before your lord,” the Gnol said.

  Adrian looked up at his captor as Major Washantu made his way next to Dorange. “Dorange Gar will never be my lord,” Adrian replied boldly.

  To Skip’s surprise, Dorange laughed nefariously rather than lash out Adrian for his defiance. “Oh, Adrian. I have become more powerful than you can comprehend.”

  Adrian glanced at Skip before looking back up at Dorange. His eye contact let Skip know something was up.

  “Enjoy what you have now, Dorange. Your newfound power is only temporary. It won’t protect you from what awaits you on the other side,” Adrian said.

  The brash smile on Dorange’s face washed away, replaced with an expression of the realization that Adrian Palmer might be right about his awaited fate. “You have no idea what I have become!” Dorange roared as he stretched out both of his arms.

  Skip could feel the invisible force that Dorange controlled within the air around him. He watched, horrified, as Dorange telekinetically grabbed hold of a nearby grove of palm trees, about ten in all. He tore each tree from its roots and held them all in the air for a few seconds. Then with a defining scream, he thrust his arms forward. The trees sailed through the air at a high velocity toward the nearby town roughly a half mile away. The trees crashed into a building that had not been destroyed, toppling it to the ground.

  Skip couldn’t help the fear that rose within him. Dorange was truly more powerful than he had ever been before. He looked at Adrian, who watched the entire sequence. From his face, he knew that Adrian now realized it as well.

  Breathing heavily, Dorange reached behind him with his left hand while he scowled at Adrian. Major Washantu, now holding the satchel that Adrian had brought with him, pulled out the gold plate of Gnolom and handed it to Dorange. To everyone’s surprise, including Adrian’s, the plate emitted a soft glow of light.

  “Why is it glowing?” asked the Gnol who had taken the satchel from Adrian.

  Dorange held the plate up to his eyes, examining it. “It means the third and final piece of the puzzle is nearby.” He handed the plate back to Major Washantu and looked at Adrian with a victorious expression. “Where is Sage Merrok?”

  Adrian, continuing to stare Dorange with defiance, stood his ground silently.

  Dorange knelt down and whispered in his ear loudly enough for everyone close by to hear, “You would be wise to tell me where he is.”

  Again, Adrian didn’t respond. Dorange stood back up and looked at the other Gnol that had secured Adrian’s hands behind his back. “Lieutenant, gather a search party and find that traitor, Sage Merrok.”

  “Yes, my Lord,” the soldier acknowledged.

  The lieutenant signaled for five other Gnols to join him and then they headed off to the nearby town.

  Once they left, Dorange turned his attention back to his prisoner. “I have no further use for you,” he said as he withdrew the handle of his sword from his waist. He clicked a button on its side. The double-edged, razor-sharp blade erupted from the hilt. Then a hissing and popping sound echoed from the blade as blue plasma energy snaked around the blade.

  Dorange nodded to one of his soldiers who was standing behind Adrian. The Gnol grabbed Adrian by the hair. As he did so, Adrian made eye contact with Skip. The quiet confidence that had been in Adrian’s eyes before was now replaced with worry, as if his plan was about to go awry.

  Skip thought quickly, perceiving what Adrian wanted him to do. Dorange raised the sword high above his ahead. “Good-bye, Adrian Palmer,” he said. Then he swung the blade down toward Adrian’s neck.

  “Wait!” Skip shrieked.

  Dorange stopped, the edge of the blade cutting into the flesh of Adrian’s neck. The smell of burning flesh filled the air around them as the plasma energy burned Adrian’s skin. Skip could tell from Adrian’s expression that he was in a tremendous amount of pain.

  Dorange turned his anger away from Adrian and pointed the sword at Skip just under his chin. This time, the energy snaking around the sword burned Skip’s flesh. Pushing the pain aside, Skip met Dorange’s hate-filled eyes. “You can’t kill him, or us! . . . Not until your lieutenant finds Sage Merrok.”

  “I can handle one rogue Gnol,” Dorange replied.

  “Yes . . . yes, you can,” Skip continued, “but what if there are more? You kill us, and Sage may attack with a force of his own. We’re the only bargaining chips you have.”

  Dorange thought for a moment, contemplating Skip’s reasoning. “You may be right, but I don’t need all of you . . . just the important ones.” He withdrew the sword, the blade pulling back into its hilt with a screeching sound. He then nodded to another nearby soldier.

  The Gnol replied with a nod of his own as he pulled out his dagger. He walked toward Jennifer and Tim.

  “No!” Jennifer screamed as the Gnol grabbed Tim by the hair.

  Tim struggled but to no avail as the Gnol slit his throat. Blood poured from the wound as Tim’s body convulsed for a few minutes before slumping down, a victim of cold-blooded murder.

  “You monsters!” Jennifer screamed.

  The Gnol who killed Tim grabbed her by the hair and placed the same bloodstained blade next to her throat. Tim’s blood dripped from the blade onto her flesh.

  Dorange held his hand up, stopping the Gnol from taking his next victim. “No more,” he ordered.

  The soldier nodded, let go of Jennifer’s hair, pulled the dagger away, and wiped Tim’s wet blood from its blade on his pants before placing it back in its sheath at his waist.

  Dorange turned his attention back to Adrian. Reaching out, he grabbed Adrian by the throat and lifted him into the air. He spat into Adrian’s face as he spoke. “You will escort Major Washantu and me into the chamber. I want to see your face when I take possession of Earth’s gold plate.” He dropped Adrian to the hard ground. Adrian’s knees hit first, and then he fell to his side in obvious pain.

  Dorange, ignoring Adrian, turned to the soldier that had retrieved the satchel from Adrian. “Captain, you are in charge. Notify me once Lieutenant Dresden finds Sage Merrok.” He then looked at Adrian indignantly.

  *****

  Bantyr peered through the scope of his sniper rifle. His heart was beating out of his chest as he witnessed the Gnol soldiers force his father to his knees. An overwhelming feeling of helplessness overcame him as sweat dripped from his head.

  He pulled his eye away from the scope and the helpless image of his father. Looking around, he searched for Sage, hoping that he had returned. But Sage was gone, fulfilling his part of the plan. And without communications, Bantyr was truly alone.

  He looked back through the scope. This time, to his horror, he watched as Dorange withdrew his sword. The image before him told it all. No one needed to explain to Bantyr that his father’s plan was about to fail.

  Bantyr’s breathing became erratic. He took a few deep breaths, calming himself. He set Dorange in his sights, but just as he was about to squeeze the trigger, something told him not to fire.

  *****

  Sage, hidden securely in a nearby grove of palm trees and subtropical brush, looked through his binoculars. His and Adrian’s guess about Dorange wanting to keep Adrian alive was about to go sorely awry. He cursed under his breath, frustrated that he had no way to communicate with Bantyr. He waited to hear the shot that Bantyr was sure to fire any second now to save his father from being beheaded.

  He continued to watch in helpless horror as the plasma-glowing saber clutched in Dorange’s hand swept down toward Adrian’s neck, stopping just as the blade cut into his flesh. Relieved, he pulled his eyes away from his binoculars and lowered his head, taking a deep breath. He was grateful that Bantyr hadn’t fired. If he had, the other Gnols would have certainly killed Adrian and the others. In addition, it would have given away his position. Besides, from what he witnessed with Dorange’s newfound powers, a bullet seemed to be the least likely way he could die.<
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  Sage pulled the binoculars back up to his eyes and searched for the group of Gnols that had left the main camp just a few minutes earlier. They were obviously sent to search for him, and he was about to make their mission a success. He moved his binoculars to his right and found the group of six Gnols heading right for him. They were about a quarter of a mile down the road that left Teotihuacan. In a few minutes, they would arrive at his position.

  Sage knew the Gnol military tactics well. He knew that they wouldn’t walk past a grove of palm trees. A grove was an obvious place for someone to hide. The Gnols were now close enough that he no longer needed the use of his binoculars. He placed them back into the thigh pocket of his fatigues and waited patiently. The lead Gnol in charge stopped a few meters before the grove, holding up his fist to signal the other Gnols to stop. He then signaled for two soldiers to enter the grove.

  The two Gnols raised their plasma rifles and began to walk toward the grove. As they were about to enter, Sage jumped to his feet, dropped his own gun, and raised his hands above his head.

  “I surrender,” he said.

  The two Gnols rushed toward him. The first soldier stretched out his hand and held Sage in an invisible grip, surprising Sage with his use of his telekinetic powers. The second Gnol thrust the butt of his rifle into Sage’s abdomen. “Traitor.”

  Sage curled over, getting the wind knocked out of him. After recovering, the first solider held him motionless again while the second bound his hands behind his back with plastic ties, strong enough that Gnols couldn’t break through. He then searched Sage for any other weapons. Once they were finished, the two Gnols escorted Sage to their leader.

  They walked out of the brush, pushing Sage along.

  Once they arrived, the leader spoke, “Sage Merrok, the traitor. We finally have you.”

  Sage didn’t respond, glowering at the Gnol who stood a few inches shorter than he did. The Gnol reached up and clicked the comlink in his ear. “General Gar, we have Sage Merrok in custody.”

  The leader waited for a few seconds, listening for Dorange’s reply. “Very well, my Lord,” he said. He then looked at the Gnol that bound Sage’s hands behind his back. “Take out his mind inhibitors.”

  The Gnol slammed the butt of his rifle into the back of Sage’s legs, knocking him to his knees. The other Gnol grabbed his hair as the other pulled pliers from his tool pocket. He pulled Sage’s ear forward and then paused, looking back up at his commander with a perplexed expression.

  “What is it, private?” the leader asked impatiently.

  “H-he doesn’t have any mind inhibitors.”

  The leader looked for himself behind each one of Sage’s ears. Confused, he clicked on his comlink again. “My Lord. . .”

  After a few seconds, Dorange responded.

  “Sage Merrok does not have any mind inhibitors, and I am unable to read his thoughts,” the leader said.

  The leader listened for Dorange’s reply and then nodded his head. “Understood, my Lord.” He clicked off his comlink and looked at Sage suspiciously. “Is there anyone else here with you?”

  Sage shook his head. “You really think I would give myself up if there was someone with me? The only person I came here with is in your custody now. I gave myself up to save my own life.”

  The leader continued to stare at Sage with skepticism. He leered toward Sage as he spoke, “Well, you may have only saved yourself a few hours.” The leader then looked back up to his subordinates. “Take him back to camp. General Gar will notify us once he has possession of Earth’s gold plate.”

  *****

  Once they arrived back to camp, the Gnol soldiers dropped Sage to the ground next to Skip. His hands were still secured behind his back, so they didn’t bother tying him to a tree, for which he was grateful. Skip looked at him, an anguished look on his face. Jennifer sat nearby, trying to control her sobs. He gave Skip a confident but slight wink after making eye contact with him, hoping to give Skip reassurance that their plan was working perfectly.

  Sage then assessed the situation. He counted twenty-four Gnol troops, which caused a certain amount of distress for a few moments because he wasn’t sure he could take on that many, especially if any of them were skilled in their abilities. He just hoped that Bantyr would be able to take out as many as possible. Looking to his left, he counted eleven soldiers sitting under the shade of a grove of palms, trying to keep cool from the subtropical sun. To his right, he counted another seven sitting under two other palm trees, and just past them, he saw the five Gnols that he had surrendered to talking with two other Gnols. He was able to identify one of the two as a captain, signified by the bars on his uniform.

  After assessing the situation, Sage closed his eyes and focused his energy on the plastic ties securing his hands behind his back. Rather than hoping he could control the ties without the physical gesture of using his hands, he needed to believe. Celeste taught him that this was the key to using his powers, to be able to simply control matter with a visual picture in his mind. While Celeste and even Jake had become quite adept at using their abilities this way, Sage struggled. When he trained with Celeste, the best he could do was simply move pieces of paper. Like most Gnols, he needed the use of his hands to access the full use of his abilities.

  Once he had a clear visual representation of the ties secured around his wrists, he felt them tug on his wrists, an indication that his mind had connected with the matter that made up the strong plastic. Now the question was, would the matter obey his commands without the use of his hands gesturing what he wanted the material to do, which was rip apart.

  Keeping his eyes closed, he imagined pulling his wrists apart, stretching the plastic until it tore apart. He felt the plastic loosen a little. He increased his focus, squinting his eyes. Beads of sweat that weren’t already there from the heat began to form on his forehead and drip. A sharp pain erupted in his forehead, precisely where the visual cortex of his brain resided, an indication that maybe he was doing more harm than good as he tried to focus his mental energy.

  He let out a small grunt from the pain as it exploded over his entire forehead.

  “Are you okay, Sage?” Skip whispered.

  Sage felt the plastic ties tighten again as he momentarily lost concentration. Ignoring Skip, he tried again. This time, the pain was unbearable, but he knew that he had to succeed or all would be lost. Pushing the pain aside, he focused every amount of mental energy he could into imagining his wrists pulling and ripping the cords apart. Again, the cords loosened. Sweat poured from his head as he felt his body beginning to overheat, and the pain in his head had now reverberated to every part of his brain and down his neck, nearly causing him to black out.

  “What’s wrong with him?” came a voice from a Gnol soldier who had obviously seen his distress.

  “I-I don’t know,” said Skip.

  The unbearable pain now reverberated throughout his entire body as Sage ignored the Gnol who had approached them and Skip. The bands loosened again, and then, with one more imaginary tug in his mind, he felt the physical bands tear apart. The pain immediately left his body as if it was washed away.

  “Cap—”

  Before the Gnol could get his captain’s attention, Sage thrust his hands forward. He invisibly grasped the soldier’s head and then twisted violently. A loud crack echoed throughout the ancient Aztec ruins as the Gnol’s neck broke. He dropped to the ground, his rifle landing beside him.

  Three shots then echoed off of the buildings within the temple complex. Sage quickly assessed the situation. The captain, the lieutenant, and one of the soldiers that captured him in the grove dropped to their deaths before they could even register what was going on.

  “Nice shots, Bantyr,” Sage said as he immediately turned to Skip. In one motion with his right hand, he broke Skip and Jennifer free from their bands. Tossing Skip the dead Gnol’s plasma rifle, he said, “Kill as many as you can.”

  Three more shots echoed through the complex an
d three more Gnols went down, leaving eighteen to go. Skip jumped up, grabbed Jennifer, who was in shock, and took off for the cover of the entrance of the Pyramid of the Sun. He quickly took out four more Gnols, who had just realized what was going on. The remaining Gnols were in a state of confusion. They didn’t know whether to attack or take cover with an unknown sniper firing at them. Again, three more shots ripped through the air, this time only taking out one frantic Gnol.

  After making sure Skip was secure behind the entrance of the pyramid, Sage was about to turn his attention to the stunned Gnol, who had just witnessed the death of his captain, lieutenant, and comrade with whom he had just been speaking with a few seconds earlier. Before he could attack, Sage felt a powerful grip on his head. A Gnol near and from behind had just used his own telekinetic powers to grab hold of his head. It was obvious that the soldier was trying to break Sage’s neck. As plasma fire and sniper fire filled the ruins, Sage had to use almost that same amount of mental energy when he broke his bands in order to resist the Gnol from twisting his head. Pain erupted throughout his body again.

  Just before Sage felt like he didn’t have any strength left, the invisible lock on his head disappeared. He whirled around just in time to see the Gnol who had a hold on him drop to his knees, a bloody hole through his neck. The soldier fell to his face, dead.

  Gunfire erupted again from Bantyr’s sniper rifle, catching two more Gnols who were retreating for the cover of the ruins. Sage’s eyes scanned the complex. Out of his right peripheral, he saw three more Gnols retreating, searching for cover. He took off after them, scooping up a fallen Gnol’s plasma rifle. He fired, hitting each one in the back. They fell forward, dead.

  Sage, now standing in the middle of the ancient road, which the ancient Aztecs called the Avenue of the Dead, spun on his heels, alert. As the plasma fire from Skip’s rifle and the sniper fire ceased, Sage realized how significant the name of the road was, for he truly stood in an avenue of death. In a matter of mere minutes, Bantyr, Skip, and Sage had killed all twenty-four of the Gnol troops, which was surprising to Sage. After all, these Gnols were very skilled in their abilities. Dorange wouldn’t have picked them for a mission like this if they weren’t. Just another indication that something bigger than themselves was helping them.