by Jason Wilcox
Smiling, Caden stared at him. He knew he had recognized the man, but he had aged quite a bit since he saw him last. “Sir, you’ve never met me and may not know who I am, but I do know who you are. You are our third highest ranked general and were the old field general that oversaw the missions I went on when I was in the military.”
“Ah. You remember.” The general smiled. He looked back at James. “Strange how he talks like it was just yesterday that our government was intact.” Still smiling, the general looked back to Caden. “However, you’re mistaken. I do know who you are. I know about the things you did when you served in the military. You were a hero. I was saddened the day you chose to leave, but I understood why. It wouldn’t be easy for anyone to go through what you went through. It was a shame you went to SDS instead of working with us. We could’ve used you.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “James informed me that your team was oblivious to us monitoring SDS operations. We had been watching you for some time before the war, for at least a couple of years. Moles in your company told us what SDS was working on and watched for innovations. We used some, but mainly we did our own research and developed a lot of equipment. We even developed gear to deal with the evil black creatures. Your company may not have known about them, but we did and were watching them cautiously.”
“If you really are Caden...” James spoke before anyone could say anything else, getting right to the point, not even giving Caden time to process what the General had told him. “Then where have you been for so many years? Why were you traveling with one of those evil creatures? And why are your eyes and skin messed up?” his voice was hostile as he approached Caden.
“I don’t know all the answers to your questions. I’m not sure where I’ve been and how it is that I’ve been gone for so long,” Caden spoke calmly, surprised by James’s attitude. “The blackness that is in me came from when I was locked away in the dark soul’s prison, but I escaped.” Even though he was rescued, somehow he needed his story to be believable and didn’t think he could explain his rescue. “After I escaped, I went back and killed all but one of the dark souls who now serve me.”
Caden hesitated before he went on, debating if he wanted to go into more details. “There was a portal. A portal that allowed more dark souls to come here, so I cut the portal down and in the process I was somehow zapped into the future.” He furrowed his brow, confused by his own story. “At least that’s the best way I know how to explain what I’ve gone through.”
“He seems reasonable enough,” the General began, “and he’s not acting like Toby.” He scratched his chin for a second. “Unshackle him.” The guards quickly moved to obey his command.
“I don’t know about this.” James grabbed the General’s shoulder as he spoke. “What if it’s a trick? What if he’s just become good at fooling others from so many years of practice?”
The General turned towards James. “I believe his story. And besides,” he turned back towards Caden, “he’ll be under surveillance. But as long as you prove to truly be Caden, I would like to invite you to join our team, help us restore a democratic government and destroy the evil that plagues this once great country.”
With four clicks and some clanking, the shackles were off. Caden sat up, and noticed guards around him. Some of them pointed guns at him. Something was wrong, something different. He reached back only to find his sword gone. Not caring about the guns, he spun on the table to face the General.
“I would be honored to join.” Caden felt bad, he knew he was lying. As soon as he could, he planned to return to his own mission. He figured he’d probably be there a couple of days, which would be good, it would give him time to talk with James and assess the situation.
With a look of almost anger, James turned around and walked out of the room, Mags following at his heels. The General, on the other hand, smiled from ear to ear. “Excellent. I’ll have one of my men begin showing you the ropes and get you to your room.”
“Three requests, if I may,” Caden asked before the General left.
“Absolutely, I would be obliged to help a rare asset as you are,” his booming voice seemed to be full of life.
“One, where’s my sword? I want it back.” The General made a hand gesture to one of the men standing next to him, keeping his smile on his face. “Two, I want my servant back, the dark soul. He’s safe, and he serves me.”
“That request is harder to fill.” The General kept his large smile on his face.
“He’ll be under my supervision. I give you my word he only serves me, so he’ll be good.” Caden scooted off the table and onto the hard floor.
“Under one condition,” the General spoke, his smile gone from his face. “He stays with you at all times. If we catch him without you, wandering around this facility, we’ll kill him on site. Is that understood?”
“Completely clear. So, do I get him back?”
Again, the General made a motion at a guard who immediately left. “Be careful with that dark soul, as you call it, they are evil. Now the third request?”
“Do you have some other clothes?” Caden grabbed at his torn, dirt caked, clothing that still smelled of sulfur.
A guard came back into the room holding Caden’s sword. He handed it to the General who looked it over. “So why can’t any of us draw the sword? Is it some kind of trick?”
Reaching out to take it, Caden answered, “I honestly don’t know.” The General kept it out of Caden’s reach, not handing it over. “I’ve only recently been given it and am still learning about it myself.” Caden reached farther this time and took it from the General. The General didn’t put up a fight, but neither did he offer it.
“Your dark soul should be here shortly, and the guards will see you to your room,” the General said as he began making his way out of the room. “I’ll look forward to meeting with you over the next couple of days to see how you like our base.” He gave a half smile and exited the room.
A couple of long awkward minutes went by while the guards stood around Caden, guns ready. Finally, the door flung open, and five guards dragged Tagen in, wrapped in a net that was made out of strange red fibers. He struggled with the net and hissed at them, disappearing and reappearing. Tagen went in and out of shadow form, but it made no difference, he was contained.
Tagen screamed at one of the guards close to him, and the guard slammed him in the face with the butt of his gun, causing Tagen to scream louder.
Caden moved closer to them. “Hey, careful with him!”
All but one of the guards backed off. Only one guard stayed, holding the net closed. He glared at Caden. “Here,” he spoke. “Here’s your evil creature.” With his left hand he held the net out and with his right readied his gun.
Displeased with the way they treated Tagen, Caden snatched the net out of the guard’s hands. Tightening his lips, Caden gave all of them a look of disapproval but knew he had no authority to do much more. Tagen kept fighting.
“Tagen,” Caden bent down and called to him but didn’t release him yet, afraid that he might come out aggressively and get himself killed. “Tagen, you have to calm down.”
“He treats him like a child,” one of the guards chuckled in the background, whispering to one of the other guards. A couple others chuckled since the comment was loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Tagen. Enough!” Caden snapped. “You need to calm down so I can let you out.” With that, Tagen stopped clawing at the bag and looked at Caden, red eyes blazing. “Listen. When I let you out, you have to behave.”
More guards chuckled, but Caden ignored them, not caring what they had to say.
“They’ve put you under my care,” Caden continued, “and they’ve given me their word that as long as you stay by me, they will do no harm to you.” Tagen looked around at the guns pointed at him, a smirk stretched across his face.
One of the guards that had been in the room the entire time, stepped beside Caden. “And let me explain something to you dark sou
l, since you may not realize. These guns have special ammunition that will eat you alive like acid to a human. If you don’t believe me, try and make a run for it. You’ll be dead before you make it out of the room.” Tagen hissed at him. “Oh, and about your little cloaking trick…” He tapped the strange glasses that everyone was wearing. “We can see you, so no tricks.”
Feeling that enough had been said, Caden opened the net and backed up. Surprisingly, Tagen didn’t bolt. Instead, he pushed the net off and let it fall to the floor.
“So, now what?” Tagen hissed with a disgusted look. The guards began lowering their guns, and a number of them whispered among themselves. Caden figured they’d probably never seen a compliant dark soul before. Possibly, they may not have heard one talk before.
“To my room, correct?” Caden looked up to the guard standing next to him.
The man took a second before turning to look at Caden. “Umm…yes…to your room.”
A number of guards went in the lead, followed by Caden and Tagen, and the rest of the guards took the rear. The room they left had no windows, nor did the narrow hallway they began marching down. He wondered if they were in a basement or possibly farther underground.
Staying close to Caden, Tagen appeared leery and on edge, with eyes darting about.
“How far?” Caden asked, worried Tagen could snap soon. None of them answered or paid attention to him. His question was answered after five more steps as they stopped in front of a door and a guard opened it for them.
“You and your creature can stay in here,” the guard that opened the door spoke. He made no eye contact, and his tone was cold.
“Thank you for taking us to our room,” Caden politely responded as Tagen and he entered. The door slammed shut behind them, and they were alone.
CHAPTER 12
The wooden bridge swayed and creaked as Azgiel made his way across. His team of demons had only left about twelve hours ago, but Azgiel was getting nervous. He fidgeted with his hands as he walked and brainstormed ideas about what to do. It was starting to get darker as the sun was getting ready to set, and as far as Azgiel was concerned, they should’ve been back by now.
A dark orange demon stood at the end of the bridge looking down at the forest’s floor.
“Where’s the Witch?” Azgiel asked as he walked up to him. He had been looking for her for the last fifteen minutes with no success. The last time he had seen her was before Bridget and the team of demons left, when Maselda and he fought about sending Bridget with the demons.
Looking up, the demon gave a bow of respect. He had no horns, unlike the others. “I haven’t seen her,” his voice was soft. “If she’s not here, you might try the troll’s homes along the water.”
Frustrated, Azgiel let out a deep sigh and jumped over the bridge’s rope railing. With a thud, he slammed into the ground and dust flew up around him. He should’ve thought of the troll’s homes before. She loved going down by the lake.
Frogs croaked in the distance, and the evening bugs were starting to fill the forest as Azgiel walked down the well-worn trail to the trolls. Vines grew up the large tree trunks that filled the woods, underneath them he could see old carvings that swirled around the bases of the trunks. Between some of the trees stood moss covered stone ruins from when the Witch had battled Triaad so many years ago. All types of carvings could be seen in them, designs with ancient writing that gave the forest power.
Looking forward through the large trees, Azgiel could see the lights of the troll mounds glowing in the darkness. Movement came from his right. Turning, he watched a large deer jump into the thicket.
A glow lit the brush and tree trunks. He knew exactly what was causing it.
“Hello Maselda,” Azgiel spoke, turning to see his beautiful wife standing on the trail. Her white dress flowed on the ground.
“What are you doing over this way?” she asked with a flat tone.
“Looking for you,” he spoke softly.
She moved closer, pushing her body into his. Her soft silky cheek slid against his as she spoke into his ear, “And to what do I owe the honor of you looking for me?” Between her closeness, touch, and intoxicating voice, Azgiel almost forgot the reason he had been looking for her. But there was a strange hostility in her voice that kept him on edge.
After a swallow and deep breath, Azgiel continued, “I’m worried they aren’t coming back.” He placed his cold hands on her soft arms. “They should’ve been back by now. If they had followed the plan someone would’ve returned.”
Growing even colder, the Witch pulled away and took a couple of steps back down the trail with her back to Azgiel. “Why did you have to send her?” The tone sent a shiver down Azgiel’s spine.
Feeling his left eye twitch, Azgiel rubbed it. His new body wasn’t the same caliber as the old one, which he missed daily. “We’ve gone over that, you know why we had to send her.”
Turning her head to look at Azgiel, the Witch’s eyes glowed. “I let you tell me what to do, I allowed you to lead us, but I disagreed. She was defenseless; you didn’t let me train her. You wanted her to die.” She turned completely around and slammed her foot down. With a thunderclap, a blast of wind blew around them knocking Azgiel back. A liquid darkness encapsulated the woods, freezing everything around them. Bugs were stuck in midair, their chaotic movements frozen.
The white glow that came from the Witch’s eyes turned into black flames. “I told you to send a preel first! I warned you that sending a team was dangerous! So, now we have not only lost Bridget, but possibly four incredible demons as well. One of those was a bodyguard to me, which I purposefully sent to guard Bridget behind your back.” Her clenched fists lit up with a black flame, and her skin started to darken.
“You really think I didn’t know about that?” Azgiel snapped back at her. Of course, I knew. Does she think I’m stupid? He watched Maselda’s bodyguard go with Bridget, and he allowed it, hesitantly, but allowed it.
The blaze on the Witch’s hands grew. Standing quietly, not moving a muscle, Azgiel stopped talking, knowing that if he said anything at that moment things could get ugly. If it were anyone else talking to him that way, they would be dead, but patience was needed for his wife.
“Now that you’ve sent them in and gotten them killed, we’re busted. It’s just a matter of time before Triaad comes through those gates.” The Witch’s feet raised off the ground a couple of inches. Her dress flowed around from the wind. “We are weak, and absolutely unprepared for a war with him. He’s going to come here. We’ll have to restore our defenses and hope they’re strong enough to keep them out, or he’ll destroy us! And you’ve brought this upon us.” She tightened her jaw and threw her hands into the air. A blast of air came at Azgiel as the ground heaved up in a snake like pattern, heading straight towards him.
Black roots shot out of the ground in front of Azgiel, diving for him. Displeased, Azgiel lifted a hand. The roots dropped to the ground, lifeless. The ground went back to normal and the blast of air dispelled.
“Enough Maselda!” Azgiel snapped. He rubbed his brow with his fingers. Everything around them stayed frozen. She was right and he knew it. The preel would’ve been a better route to take, but he had been blinded with eagerness to get his sword back. On top of that, his fears got the best of him. He had been worried that Bridget would turn on them and know too much about their small community.
Swallowing and taking a deep breath, Azgiel prepared to say something he hadn’t said in a very long time. “I’m sorry,” his voice was soft as he spoke. “It was a rash decision.”
The darkness that blazed in the Witch’s eyes died down, and her feet touched back to the ground. Her hands stayed ablaze. “You’re sorry?”
“Yes. I should’ve sent a preel in the first place.” Azgiel stepped closer to her, his hands outstretched.
With a puff, the flames disappeared from her hands. “It’s too late now. You’re apology doesn’t matter. You’ve already put our lives at risk.”
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“Not necessarily.” He was only two steps away. “We don’t know if they’re dead, we just haven’t heard anything. I’m going to send a preel in and find out what’s going on. They may still be alive. And, besides, if any of Triaad’s men come through that gate, the guards will destroy them.”
“And if you find Bridget alive?” She tilted her head and ignored the rest of what Azgiel said.
“She will be all yours…” As he spoke, the Witch threw her arms around him. “But,” he quickly added, “you have to give me your word you will do what it takes to take care of her if she turns on us. She will be your responsibility.”
Maselda stared at him for a moment, but finally her eyes looked towards the ground and she nodded her head in agreement. “But she’s not going to turn on us.” She looked back up at Azgiel with a stern look.
Again, Azgiel’s eye began to twitch. She had changed so much since he knew her many years ago. Before he had been put in the cell of time, she was mild mannered and followed every word he said. There was no questioning his decisions or even trying to go around him. Her loyalty was impeccable back then.
Looking over her beauty, he did know one thing. He still loved her even if their relationship had changed. Besides, she did have a point. Sending the preel first would have been much wiser; he had just been too stubborn to see it at the time.
Azgiel rubbed his eye to stop the twitching. “I hope you’re right. She would be a gift if she stays loyal to us.”
“I’m glad you see that now.”
The white gown fluttered in the air as the Witch turned. She spoke a word under her breath, and everything around them returned to normal. Croaking could be heard in the distance, and the bugs were flying once again.
“Wait.” Azgiel reached out and grabbed her arm. The dynamics of their relationship had changed, and it was now becoming clear what he needed to do. He hadn’t realized until now that she had run things and kept his followers alive for many years. He needed to show respect for such leadership and embrace it. “We need to prepare for the time we go against Triaad, and I want your help in doing so.” He swallowed a dry swallow. “Help me. Lead with me.” She deserved to take a stronger role; she had done beautifully while he was gone.