Dead Time Series

by Jason Wilcox

  Tagen didn’t move; he just stared at Caden with his dark red eyes. He had the look of a deer caught in headlights.

  “Well, go on.” Caden pushed on his chair to snap him out of it. “Tell them everything.” There seemed to be a sense of shyness about Tagen that caught Caden off guard. After being with the dark soul over the last while, he never thought Tagen would be shy nor have problems giving a report.

  “What do you want me to say?” Tagen finally spoke up. His eyes darted from Caden to the General.

  “Just tell him everything you saw.”

  “Fine.” Tagen disappeared from his chair and out of Caden’s sight only to reappear in front of the large map. His actions were odd, but Caden figured he was putting on some type of performance.

  With long claws outstretched, Tagen began telling the small group about the towering walls that stretched around a massive area the General didn’t have marked. He talked about the outside patrols and even talked about the dark souls that released the strange dark soul dogs, which was the first time Caden had heard the details himself. He proceeded to tell about the areas within the city where the dark souls lived and where the humans lived. The General was most interested in how many troops they appeared to have. But most of all, the General became uncomfortable as Tagen explained who was leading them and the experiments they were doing below ground.

  Caden finally chimed up as Tagen talked about the experiments. “Sir,” he spoke more respectfully now that the General was giving them respect, “If I can add something here. We dealt with one of the experiments, and even though I couldn’t see it, I felt its ferocity. If he has more of those down there, he could be raising a vicious army.”

  “He’s raising an army alright,” Tagen jumped back in. “The dark soul that showed me around told me that Hermue is doing just that, and it’s growing daily.”

  “I appreciate the information,” the General sounded more humble than he had before. He looked off towards the door and bit on his lip. “Well, I need to meet with the others now. This information is going to change things. And Caden, I’m going to take your advice and call in my informants to see what is going on,” he paused for a moment and looked at both of them. “Thanks for the information; you and your dark soul can leave now.”

  “Hold on.” He wasn’t going to stop with informing; he wanted to get things going to overthrow Hermue. “I have a plan that will quickly end this fighting.”

  “That won’t be necessary. I’ll meet with my men and we’ll come up with a plan. So, if you will excuse us Caden and…” The General looked back at Tagen.

  “Tagen.”

  “Caden and Tagen. Huh.” The General got a strange look on his face that Caden didn’t know how to read. “Very ironic.”

  Ignoring the General’s comment, Caden continued with his agenda. “Sir, listen to the plan. I’m sure you’ll find it pragmatic and solid, so you can put an end to fighting once and for all.”

  “Not with the dark soul in here. Now, I told you when it came to planning, I didn’t want him in here, and that’s final.” With a scowl on his face, Tagen disappeared.

  “If Tagen was going to do something, he wouldn’t have given you information.” Caden could feel his heart rate go up and his fists tighten. “You can trust him.”

  James shifted in his seat and looked at the two of them. “Look, I’ve known Caden for a long time, and he’s good at what he does. How about you hear his plan, and if needed, Tagen and I can go into the hallway. I’ll watch over him.”

  The General grew red in the face and bit his lip. “Fine,” he grumbled. “Take him to the hallway. But Tagen, stay visible, and if you try anything, I’ll have you shot.” Looking back at James, he continued, “James make sure there are others with lenses and guns helping you watch him.”

  Tagen reappeared along with his scowl. He wouldn’t look at Caden, instead he stared at James. Not wasting a second, James stood and walked out of the room with Tagen close behind.

  “Make it quick.” The General stood up and paced slightly. “I have men waiting for me, and they are busy men.”

  With the General’s comment, Caden quickly stood and walked to the map. He pointed to where Tagen and he came out of the tunnel. “Right here, there is an old tunnel, cave, mine, whatever you want to call it. It isn’t too far from a secret entrance that will lead you right into the prison cells where they are doing the testing.” He moved over and pointed out the opposite opening. “If we can have half of your army go through that route, led by Tagen, and the other half follow me to the back of their site, they wouldn’t be expecting it. There’s a desert behind there and it would be perfect to go in that way. If we both started…”

  “Enough. I’m not going to do that.” The General let out a sigh. “If we went into their strong hold, we would be slaughtered. We can’t go up against them like that; we’ve lost every time we’ve tried. We’re set up here. I don’t know if you’ve seen it yet, but we have a shield around our base that doesn’t allow the dark souls in unless we let them.” He ran a finger around the base. “We’ve been sending out small patrols to watch their movements and picking them off a little at a time, and it works like magic. We lose very few men and kill many of theirs.”

  Caden couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This was a General that had run the nation, and he was basically lying down for the enemy to take him over. “What? What are you talking about? Did you not hear what we’ve been telling you?” He threw his arms up. “Hermue is creating a force that is going to annihilate you unless you stop him now. You don’t have time to sit back on this!”

  The General tightened his jaw muscles. “Caden, I said enough. I will not sacrifice my men for your lofty ideas. They can’t get into our base and haven’t ever. We are protected here and we’ll keep sending out patrols to slowly pick them off. Even if he’s building a bigger army, we can’t take them head on, we’ll lose.”

  “You’re wrong.” Caden had a lot more to say, but knew it was no use. There would come a day the General would regret ignoring his advice, but for now, it was time to move on. He turned and walked out of the room. The General didn’t say a word as he left.

  Outside in the hallway, Tagen sat on the floor picking at his black teeth with his black claws. Five men stood around him with guns drawn and pointed at him. The tips glowed green. James was on the opposite wall leaning against a window staying out of the way of people walking up and down the hallway.

  “Let’s go Tagen,” Caden said, while stepping in front of the men with the guns. “Let’s go take a walk outside.” It was time for him to see the supposedly amazing shield they had around the base.

  CHAPTER 18

  More and more plants were appearing in the desert as Bridget and Raestal rode in the hands of the larger of the two giants, Merz. They had walked most of the way, but after a little discussion between the two giants, Bridget assumed they got tired of how slow Raestal and Bridget were walking, because the giants picked them up.

  The sun was starting to set, and the glowing cactuses were showing up in the distance. Bridget couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at seeing them, remembering how worried Raestal had been about them.

  With each large step the giant took, a breeze would blow across Bridget’s skin. It was refreshing and relaxing. The cool wind reminded her of her mother’s home on the beach. She always wondered how her mother was doing. Azgiel had forbidden her to go back there, telling her it would be too dangerous after her transformation.

  “Frestas loi toba,” Merz’s loud voice boomed. Bridget plugged her ears as he spoke. He pointed forwards and Bridget could see green from the forest ahead. It was still a little ways off, but as fast as they were traveling, they would be there soon.

  “What did he say?” She looked over to Raestal.

  “I’m not sure.” Raestal turned his head to look at her. “I’m assuming since he pointed to the woods, that’s where the protection is.”

  The giant seemed to be speed
ing up with night coming on. His large steps pounded the ground. Trees here and there began swishing by and the snapping of branches could be heard from below as he stepped on bushes.

  Finally, he stopped and lowered them to the ground. In front of them was a large stone statue of what looked like a demon, but scarier. The thing had sharp, long teeth and fire on its hands, which looked like it had been painted at one point but faded. Moss grew at the base along with weeds.

  “We shouldn’t be here,” Raestal stammered and took a step backwards. He began looking about, peering into the woods.

  “Plocta,” Merz said and pointed into the woods. His deep voice still sounded magical to Bridget. He brought his hands down and pushed both of them towards the woods. “Plocta,” he spoke again. Raestal fought against Merz’s pushing.

  “What’s going on? Where are we?” Bridget began to get concerned by Raestal’s actions.

  “We need to get out of here.” Raestal turned and walked back towards the giant. “No plocta!” he yelled.

  The giant smiled and waved. “Plocta.” He pointed into the woods, and waved again. “Mariota.” He waved one last time and turned to leave. “Oopdatu,” he said over his shoulder and walked off, moving quickly. Bridget could see him look at the sun that was almost set and pick his pace up more.

  “We have to get out of here.” Bridget looked over just as Raestal stretched his dark black wings out and reached for her. Just as he gripped her white robe, something made a cur-chunk sound and a thick heavy net hit them. As they collapsed to the ground, Raestal protected her from the weight of the net. With a growl, he shifted and the net lit up, Bridget could see the quick blaze through the small opening where his wings wrapped around her.

  Stretching his wings again, Raestal lifted off, holding Bridget close. Red coals and ash from the net flew about. They were only a couple feet off the ground when something smashed into them from the side. Unable to hold onto Bridget, Raestal lost his grip and she hit the ground hard, rolling through the dirt, coming to a stop in a bush.

  She heard swords being drawn and quickly crawled out from under the bush. In front of her were demons with swords drawn but just regular swords. Raestal had his drawn as well. The green etchings glowed in the darkening evening.

  One of the demons lunged at Raestal, swinging his sword at him. Raestal pivoted and swung his sword. The two metals collided, and with what looked like a small green blast, the unfamiliar demon was knocked backwards. More of them started coming out of the woods and some slammed to the ground, coming out of the sky. Others rode up on what looked like small, fast, elephants.

  The demons circled Bridget, pointing their swords at her. She did the only thing she knew. She raised her arms into the air. One of the demons, on a strange elephant-like creature, jumped off and approached her. He was dark orange with a black face. Strangely, none of the demons had tattoos like Raestal and the demons back home.

  Raestal kept his sword out, pointing at the wall of demons that circled him. He growled viciously, baring his teeth.

  “Why are they attacking us?” Bridget yelled to Raestal, completely confused at his own kind attacking them. He didn’t answer, instead just kept turning, watching for the next attacker.

  The dark orange demon walked up to her and gripped her face. His long claws dug into her skin. He turned her face to the left and then to the right. As much as she wanted to kick him, she controlled herself.

  “Lo som Maselda?” the demon let go of her face and spoke in a very deep voice. Bridget was becoming fed up with not understanding the languages. She had no idea what was going on.

  “He must think you’re the Witch,” Raestal shouted, while trying to move towards her, but demons clustered around him, and he backed up once again.

  Bridget brought her hands down in front of her, shaking them. “No, no. I’m not Maselda.”

  With a swift fluid motion, the demon drew his sword and drove it through her. Pain shot through her stomach and she fell into him, the sword sliding deeper into her abdomen. As he pulled it out, he pushed her to the ground.

  A green blast came from the right of her and before she knew it, Raestal had her in his arms. Another demon charged from the side and he swung his sword. As the swords collided, an amazing green blast lit up between them, knocking the demon back a couple of feet. Other demons snarled and circled around, holding their swords out.

  Something shook the ground and everyone halted. The vibrations were rhythmic.

  Bridget looked down at the wound, a white glow came from it and the rest of her skin seemed to be dulling, almost becoming translucent. Her breaths grew short. Maselda told her she was immortal; she didn’t understand what was going on; she didn’t feel immortal at the moment; she felt like she was dying all over again.

  Raestal pulled her closer. “It’s going to be okay. I’m going to keep you safe.”

  The ground stopped shaking, and a loud voice that shook her spoke up but in the ancient language. She didn’t try to listen to the words, because it took too much effort. However, she could see the demons back up and move away from them.

  Something moved, and she looked out to see Merz’s hands gently lifting them into the air. He was back. She had begun to wonder if he had left them to be killed.

  Merz yelled, but Bridget’s hearing was becoming muffled and her eyesight darkening. The giant kept yelling, which caused her body to become more uncomfortable. She cringed from the pain that moved through her limbs. Merz must’ve noticed her pain and lowered his voice.

  Voices from below yelled up and a discussion began between Merz and the demons. Even Raestal, who hadn’t let her go, joined into the conversation, even though his statements were short. Bridget couldn’t follow any of it except for Maselda’s name coming up a number of times.

  It was about the time Raestal yelled something, then pulled her in, letting her head rest on his shoulder, that Bridget passed out. When she came to, she was in Raestal’s arms. He was carrying her, and they were walking down a wooded path. Her stomach still hurt from where she was stabbed. It throbbed, and she wondered if Raestal had done a healing chant on her. But it was difficult to control her thoughts, and she passed out again.

  Raestal shifted Bridget in his arms, waking her once again. She looked about and saw they were walking with the demons that had attacked them. Merz was nowhere in sight.

  “Where’s Merz?” Bridget said softly, having little energy.

  “Get your rest.” Raestal looked down at her. “You’re safe for now. You need to sleep so your body can heal.” Some of the demons that walked beside them looked in their direction, but didn’t say anything.

  “Are we prisoners?” She looked at the demons around them.

  “No. Don’t worry yourself.” Raestal looked forward where the dark orange demon rode on his elephant like horse. “Just rest. You aren’t fully healed yet.”

  “Did you heal me?” She moved her right arm down to the wound and found it still there, which shot pain throughout her body.

  “No. The healing chant won’t work for you. Only time will. You’re body has to heal itself, and if you rest, it will be quicker.” He looked back down at her with a stern look.

  “What time would it be back home?” she asked, fighting her body’s desire to fall back to sleep.

  The demon tilted his head and gave her a funny look. “Umm, it’s early into the night here, so I guess maybe early morning at home.” Raestal looked away from her, almost to say, no more talking.

  She missed home. She missed having Maselda to take care of her, even more, she missed her mom and being a regular human. Trying to fight back tears from too much emotion, she closed her eyes and cuddled into the demon’s rough skin. Coming here had been a mistake. She had come to help save Caden, only to find out he’s dead! She missed him and would give almost anything to have him back. Just his touch or even to have him smile for her one last time would be worth so much.

  Letting out a heavy sigh, Bridget tried to
swallow, but her mouth was too dry. A tear rolled down her cheek as she allowed herself to give into sleep.

  CHAPTER 19

  After a long night of getting news from the preel and sending demons off on missions, Azgiel felt productive even with little sleep. He looked over at the meticulous trolls working on the old ruins. The cool morning air was quickly dissipating.

  The trolls worked like a small group of ants, doing their parts in a very organized fashion. Their inner workings impressed Azgiel. Some were small, some were large, some had few eyes, and others had no visible ones. There were some that clawed into the rock surfaces and moved up them like squirrels scampering up a tree, cleaning out the old moss that grew in the crevices. Others had small chisels and were re-carving the designs as the Witch once had made them, even adding new markings as Azgiel directed.

  “Sir.” A small troll that came up to Azgiel’s waist stood to his side. His voice sounded pinched with a lisp. “The first is ready,” his fat lips spat slightly and he blinked all four of his small beady eyes. Sweat from his hard work dripped down his wrinkly, rough, earthy brown skin.

  Looking past the troll, Azgiel saw the ruin closest to the road completely cleaned and redone. “Thank you,” he said as he headed towards the massive boulder.

  Circular designs flowed across the surface of the rock with two lines that went straight down. Each ruin had its own inscription for power, doing something unique and vital. This particular one was the most simplistic design, however, it was the most ruthless. If the Witch or Azgiel were to be killed in a battle on their land, an explosion of sorts would spread outward and suck every living thing to its death for miles around. It was a safe guard, to make sure that if they ever failed there was a backup to kill the enemy.

  Now it was time to bring the ruin back to life. Azgiel stepped forward and ran a hand down the rough surface and then a finger along a number of the carvings. He could feel the energy within the boulder begin to come alive from the inscription being cleaned, even without power going into the boulder yet. Maselda had done well with her carvings. The energy still lay inside of them after all this time.