by T. J. Quinn
Kael's: Time Adventure
Chimera Drak, Book 1
T.J. Quinn
GTQ LLC
Orlando, Florida
Copyright © 2017 by T.J. Quinn
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.
GTQ LLC
PO Box 540375
Orlando, FL 32854
www.gtq.com
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Drogons Medieval Adventure/T.J. Quinn – 2nd ed.
ISBN
CONTENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
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Chapter One
Kael looked at the control screen in front of him and realized they weren’t going to make it. The ship had come out from the black hole somewhat damaged and at an uncontrollable speed. They would never survive entering planet Earth’s atmosphere.
“We have to abandon ship,” he informed his friends. “It’s not going to make it,” he explained, jumping out of his chair. They only had a couple of minutes before the total destruction of the ship.
“Are you sure?” Nezir asked, startled.
“Ask questions later, Nezir. We have to leave now.” The urgency in his tone finally convinced his friends, and they jumped out of their seats to follow him to the escape pods. “Try to stay together and in touch as much as possible. It’s going to be a rough landing, so be prepared,” he shouted as he ran through the hallways.
“What if we get separated?” Gaend yelled back.
“You all have the coordinates we were given before we left home. Do your best to get there. Good luck,” Kael yelled back, entering his escape pod and sealing it.
He didn’t press the escape button until his friends had abandoned the ship. As the captain, he believed it was his duty to see to his men’s safety, and he hated sending his men out there without knowing exactly what they were facing.
The last readings he had gotten from the planet they were heading to, had nothing to do with the stories his mother had told him throughout his life. It was as if they were arriving at an entirely different planet.
Once the last escape pod left the mother ship, he pressed the escape button too, and his pod was thrown out into the atmosphere. Only a few seconds later, the mothership exploded into a million pieces, and the massive wave of the explosion scattered all pods in different directions.
Kael wasn’t even able to see the rest of the pods, to establish their position. That would have helped him estimate their trajectory, but before he knew it, he was all alone, crossing the planet’s atmosphere at high speed.
For a moment, he thought the pod wasn’t going to resist the pressure, but the extra speed proportioned by the blast took him faster across the atmosphere and directly into some woods on the surface. That was the last thing he saw before the impact and losing consciousness.
Having no idea how long he had been out, Kael checked his vitals, making sure he was alright, thankful he didn’t have any severe wounds that would require medical treatment.
He was about to move when he heard someone outside the pod. Unable to establish if whoever was out there, was friendly or not, he kept his eyes closed and didn’t move an inch.
The person moved around the pod, thoroughly examining it, and a few moments later, it was no surprise that the person was able to open the pod. It had a security lever on the outside that allowed any person to open it in case of an emergency. He should have secured it as soon as he regained consciousness, but he had forgotten.
He scented the person approaching him, and he was immediately able to tell it was a woman. She used a delicate floral perfume that made him think of his mother. But the moment the woman reached out for his neck, he felt suddenly apprehensive and his whole body stiffened alert.
His clawed hand jumped up and grasped the woman’s wrist, strong enough to make her protest.
“I’m only trying to help,” the woman said, in a soft tone, stilling her hand to let him know she was no threat to him.
He opened his grey eyes and looked at her. “Who are you and where am I?” he asked in flawless English, apparently, surprising her.
“My name is Gwendolyn, and you’re in Penllergare Valley, Wales,” she replied, still using the same calm tone.
She was a very old person, judging by her white hair and the wrinkles on her face and hands, but he couldn’t know for sure. He was probably older than her, but his race didn’t age the way humans did.
“Wales, as in Great Britain, Wales?” he asked, trying to remember all he knew about the planet.
“I have no idea what you mean by Great Britain. We’re on a big island, divided into three nations, Wales, Scotland, and England,” she explained, slightly tugging at her hand.
Could it be possible the black hole had made them travel back in time? He remembered clearly his mother mentioning Great Britain and one of his aunts was born in England.
“Would you mind releasing me? I’m no threat to you,” she asked, with a warm smile, cutting his train of thoughts.
“Yes, of course,” he released her and watched her take a step back. She didn’t look scared, so he guessed she was only giving him room.
“Who are you and where are you from?” she asked curiously, looking at him and surely realizing how different he was from the men she was used to seeing.
“My name is Kael, and I’m from Zuvrak,” he said, unbuckling the seat belts and hopping out of the device.
She let out a sigh. “I’ve never heard of such a place, but I’ve never left Penllergare Valley, so that’s not that surprising,” she admitted.
“My vessel was seriously damaged on the trip here, and we had to abandon it,” he explained, rubbing his ridged forehead, finding some blood in it.
“You have a small scratch there. Nothing to worry about,” she told him, smiling.
“I know, my people heal quickly,” he informed her, looking around.
They were surrounded by trees and bushes, and there didn’t seem to be anyone around. He worried about his men and wished he had a way to contact them.
“Were you alone on your vessel?” she asked, looking around.
“No, I was with three other men, but the escape pods went in different directions when the main ship exploded. I have no idea where they might have landed,” he explained.
“So, you’re alone? This isn’t a good place to be on your own. We’re raided by some nasty creatures almost every day, and you would have trouble fighting them on your own,” she warned him.
He considered telling her he didn’t fea
r any creature, but that would sound arrogant and probably inaccurate since he had no idea what kind of creatures she was talking about. This clearly wasn’t the place his family had described to him, or at least, not the time.
He had to be prepared for anything.
“What do you suggest? Is there a place where I can stay?”
The woman looked at him, shaking her head. “I’m not sure, taking you to the village would be a dreadful decision. They would kill first and ask later,” she said, in a scornful tone. She didn’t seem to share the other villagers’ point of view.
“Why would they want to kill me?” he asked, frowning.
“Because you’re different. I can tell you’re a good soul, but they won’t. They will only see the claws on your hands, the ridges on your forehead, your size, and your strength. They will only see an enemy,” she explained.
“You didn’t,” he pointed out, intrigued.
“Let’s say I see more than just appearances, young man,” she said with a sassy smile.
“What should I do then? I have no intentions of fighting your people, but I will defend myself,” he warned her.
“Yes, that’s understandable, and that’s why I don’t want to put you in that position,” she replied, fixing the knitted shawl around her shoulders. “Why are you here?” she asked him.
Kael considered telling her the truth, but he finally decided against it. He had just arrived, and if he didn’t find a way to contact his home planet, he was stranded on this planet, probably forever. He had to investigate a bit more before he could confide in anyone.
“I’m on a reconnaissance mission for my people. I’m only here to observe,” he explained, telling her a half-truth.
She sighed and looked at the skies above them. “We need to get out of here as soon as possible. I have no idea who else saw you crash,” she explained. “Staying here any longer might be dangerous, for both of us. You can come with me, for now. I live just outside the village, and not many people visit me, so you should be fine there, at least, until you decide what to do,” she offered.
Kael looked around, trying to scan the place for danger, but he was unable to detect anything. He should be fine on his own. Based on the information he had about the planet, there should be no species that could be a threat to him, but, considering the inconsistencies he had noticed so far, perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad idea to accept the old woman’s help. At least, until he learned more about the place he was in.
“I’ll go with you, thank you.”
She nodded and looked around. “Is there a way you can hide this thing?” she asked, pointing at the device he had been in.
“I should be able to unless the crash damaged the camouflage function,” he replied, walking towards the pod.
“Then, do it. I really want to leave, now,” she urged him.
He peeked inside the pod, retrieved a survival backpack all pods were equipped with before he pushed a button. In a blink of an eye, the pod closed up and became invisible. No one would find it unless they bumped into to it, and even if they did, they wouldn’t know what was there.
“It’s done.”
“Will you be able to find it again?” she asked, astounded by what he had just done.
“Yes, of course. I’ve memorized the coordinates to this place,” he assured her.
“Good, let’s go then before we get unwanted company.
Despite the woman’s age, she walked fast, and soon they were far away from the crash site. The woods around them reminded him of the woods back home, though the trees were a lot smaller here. The air was fresh and cool, and he took a few deep breaths, relishing it after so many weeks locked up on the vessel while he traveled here.
Recycled air was never the same. Kael always went to the mountains every time he returns from a mission, to replenish his lungs with fresh air and recharge his batteries.
Chapter Two
The old woman finally stopped in the middle of nowhere beside a pile of firewood.
“I was gathering firewood when I heard you crash,” she explained, noticing his curious look. “I need it to cook and to stay warm at night,” she added.
He frowned at her words. “What year is this?” from what his mother had told him, people on this planet shouldn’t be using firewood to cook unless they wanted to.
She looked at him intrigued by his question, but answered anyway. “It’s the year 5022, as you should know…”
“It can’t be! Did you have wars or an apocalyptic event that destroyed the planet?” he asked, astounded. Could it be possible the black hole had taken them that far into the future?
Again, she looked at him puzzled. “No, not, as far as I know, we have the annoying demons I mentioned before, making our lives miserable, but I wouldn’t call them apocalyptic,” she replied.
“This is planet Earth, right?” he asked, unable to shake off his astonishment. Something was wrong, but he still couldn’t figure out what it was.
“Yes, of course, now, let’s get going,” she said, walking away.
“Wait, let me help you with that,” he said, taking the bales of firewood from her back so he could carry it.
“Thank you.”
They walked in silence for several minutes, as fast as possible and by the time they reached the edge of the forest, the sun was coming down in the sky.
“Demons love the night, and they usually spend it flying around the woods and the villages. We better hurry up,” she warned him, looking around before she stepped out of the woods.
“Where did these creatures come from?” he asked, as he walked right next to her, attentive for any suspicious movement.
“We have no idea. Demons don’t speak our language, they only speak some gibberish no one really understands. It’s hard to establish a communication with them, even if they wanted to,” she explained, with scorn. “So far, they have only shown interest in raiding our villages, killing our men and taking away our women.”
He frowned at her answer. “Aren’t you able to fight them?”
“We are, but no matter how many of them we kill, the following night there will be the same number or more. They reproduce faster than we’re able to kill them,” she stated, with a sad tone.
“How long has this been going on?”
“A few years now. According to the few travelers that go through our small village, this is happening all over the country.”
“That’s terrible. There has to be a way to stop them.”
“I believe so too, but we haven’t found it yet. We stay away from them as much as we can, but we often have some casualties.”
He nodded. Kael wanted to offer his help, but he needed more information about the situation before he would be able to act.
A few minutes later, they arrived at a small basic cabin, made of wood. He assumed the demons didn’t have fire. Otherwise the cabin wouldn’t last a second.
She invited him in and asked him to drop the firewood in a small deposit box near the stove. “I have a spare room, from when my children lived with me, so I guess you’ll be comfortable enough. The bed wasn’t made for someone your size, but it will be better than sleeping on the floor,” she explained.
“Thank you, anything will be fine.”
She walked towards the stove and lit it, putting a heavy pot on it. “I’ll prepare some stew for us, so why don’t you take a shower? I’m sure it will do wonders for your body, after that crash.”
“That would be great,” he nodded.
“Come, I’ll show you the bathroom.”
She took him to a small room behind the kitchen, and he was happy to see it had a rudimentary plumbing system, with cold and hot water. There was no tub, but a shower would be just fine.
She rapidly explained how to use the shower and left him alone.
Not for the first time, Kael thought of his friends and prayed they were alright. Finding him would be an impossible task so he would do better to head to the rendezvous point. He would
have to travel undercover, but that shouldn’t be that much of a problem.
By the time he got out of the shower, and he changed into a clean jumpsuit he found in his bag, Gwendolyn already had the meal cooking on the iron stove.
“How are you feeling?” she asked him, with a smile.
“Much better, thank you.”
“Why don’t you take a seat? I would like to take a look at that scratch,” she asked, grabbing a small wooden box from the kitchen counter.
“There’s no need. It’s already healed. I can’t even tell where it was,” he explained to her.
“That’s impossible,” she was astounded.
“See for yourself,” he offered, taking a seat and allowing her to check his forehead. “I told you my people heal incredibly fast,” he said when she let out a small cry.
“It’s amazing, are you immortal as well?” she asked, sounding as if she was having trouble believing her eyes.
“No, we die too, when the injuries are too severe or when we become aged, but we do live longer than you,” he explained.
“That’s nice I guess. I’m not sure I would like to live much longer, though. I’ve lived too much, been through too much,” she let out a sigh and turned away to check on the food.
“Do you live here all alone? I thought you mentioned your children,” he asked, curious. Gwendolyn was starting to feel like the grandmother he never had, and he liked the feeling.
“Yes, I had two. A boy and a girl, but they are adults now, and they have their own lives. My husband died during one of the first demon attacks leaving me alone,” she explained, with a sad tone.
“Why don’t you move in with one of your children?” Family was essential to Kael and his people, and they took care of each other all the time. He could imagine how worried his mother would be when she didn’t receive news from him.
“I guess I could, but I don’t want to. I’m used to living my own way and being a guest, I would have to live under someone else’s rules,” she explained, scowling.
“I understand your point of view, but considering how dangerous things have become, perhaps you should reconsider.”