“That is not of importance right now, Miss Coleman,” the man sighed and rubbed his temples with his hands. “What is important is that you sit down and you listen. It is of the utmost importance that I am able to give you the information that you all need, so we can take the next step in this journey.”
“No one is taking any journey with you, Chester,” Noah said, waving the phone in the man’s face.
“Please, if you allow me just one moment I can explain,” the man said firmly. He motioned again for Kennedy to sit. Reluctantly, she obliged.
“Go ahead,” Max said. His heart was racing with anticipation. For some reason, this stranger no longer seemed threatening to Max. Instead, he seemed like someone who might be able to explain the weird things that were happening to him.
“Thank you,” the man nodded at Max. “Mr. Baker, your attention is especially important to me as I need to ask you a few questions.”
“Okay,” Max said hesitantly.
“Your mother is Evelyn Alice Baker, maiden name of Tyler, born in Atlanta, Georgia. Is this information correct?” the man asked. He removed a small notepad and pen from the top pocket of his black button down shirt under the trench coat. He flipped the pad open to a blank page and began taking notes.
“Um. Correct.”
“Your father’s name is Colin Alexander Baker?”
“How do you know about my father?” Max asked.
“Again, Mr. Baker, we have to move through these questions quickly. I cannot stress how limited our time is here. If I am correct, then I am not the only one who is searching for you.”
“Why would anyone be searching for me?” Max asked.
“I promise you that I will provide you with answers as soon as I can verify this information, and then get you three to the Council.”
“Woah,” Kennedy said, “I don’t know if you’re some sort of cop or if Max is in some kind of trouble, but I’m not involved in any of this, and I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“I am not a cop,” the man said.
“Well, whoever you are,” Kennedy sneered, “neither Max, myself or anyone else for that matter is going to answer any more questions without an attorney or our parents present.” She grabbed her backpack and began to stand up. “We will be leaving now.”
The man in black looked at Kennedy. He looked very annoyed. He took a deep breath.
“My name is Donovan Reese,” the man said, “and I have been sent here on orders from the Council of Twelve to locate and secure Max Baker.”
“Council of 12 what?” Noah asked.
“The Council of Twelve is the governing body of the Ninth Sector.”
Max started to ask what the Ninth Sector was, but Donovan quickly cut him off.
“The Ninth Sector is a system of 12 planets, stretched throughout neighboring galaxies. The planets are connected by intergalactic highways, or gateways from one planet to another. I believe that they are referred to by your scientific community as wormholes.”
“An intergalactic what?” Kennedy asked, wearing a very confused look on her face.
“Intergalactic highway. It is a portal that allows someone to hyper jump through space faster than the speed of light. Earth is one of the 11 planets that make up the Ninth Sector.
“The Council of Twelve is the ruling body of the Ninth Sector. It is a group made up of a representative from each of the inhabitable planets, plus three additional representatives that are voted on by the Council. Planet Earth’s representative, Elder Moore, was the one who made us aware of the possibility that the Guardian was here in Forest Valley.
“Max Baker, you are believed to be the child that the prophecies were written about. You are the chosen one. Max Baker, the Council believes that you are the Guardian of the Ninth Sector.”
“Pause,” Noah said with a smile. “Let’s play along with your little fairy tale for a minute.”
“I am not playing,” Donovan said angrily, “and this is not some fairy tale.”
“Right,” Noah said, cutting him off. His smile grew wider. “Let’s rewind this back. What you’re trying to tell us is that there is life on other planets, and there are ‘intergalactic highways’ that get you back and forth between these planets. Not only is Earth aware of this, but they are a chair holder of the ruling government of outer space.” Noah started to chuckle, regained his composure and continued. “And to top everything off, there is some prophecy floating out there that says that Max Baker is king of the universe.”
“He is not the king of the universe,” Donovan snapped at him. “He is the Guardian!”
Max, Noah and Kennedy sat silently, first looking at Donovan and then at each other. They all burst into laughter.
“Oh my God,” Noah said, “Max, he’s not a child molester. He’s a friggin’ mental patient.” Noah laughed and picked up his phone. “I’m going to call Forest Valley Psychiatric Hospital to see if they are looking for you, bud.”
Max laughed, but couldn’t help but feel cheated. For a split second, he had thought that this crazy person possessed some sort of knowledge that could help him understand what was happening.
“Please, put that down,” Donovan said.
“Hold on,” Noah chuckled, putting the phone up to his ear. “Guardian of the Ninth Sector…that’s awesome. Man, I thought you were going to be the dangerous type.”
Donovan sighed, staring at Noah contemptuously. Max watched as the man’s hand turned a bright blue color.
“Hey,” Max said, staring at Donovan’s hands as they grew brighter.
In one fluid motion, Donovan pointed at the phone and then to the wall. The cellphone rocketed from Noah’s ear and smashed into the wall behind them.
“What the hell, man?” Noah said, backing out of his chair.
“We do not have time for these games,” Donovan said. His hands were slowly fading back to their original pink color.
The doors of the library burst open. In the entrance way stood a creature on all fours. It looked like an overgrown dog; its body was lean and muscular, reminding Max of a pit bull on steroids. The creature was covered in a smooth black fur and wore tattered white rags around its torso and legs, almost as if it was wearing clothes. Max stared in shock at the snarling monstrosity. Drool cascaded freely from its slack jawed snout. It had the head of a dog, but the eyes of a cat; black slits centered in orange glowing orbs. Whatever this thing was…it looked evil.
“We are out of time,” Donovan said, staring at the creature.
“What is that thing?!” Max yelled. He jumped up from his seat.
The creature’s ugly head spun toward the group, and Kennedy let out a high pitched scream. The monster revealed rows of razor sharp teeth; they were enunciated by two elongated fangs hanging from the top of its jaw.
Max, Noah and Kennedy began backing themselves toward the tall shelves of books behind them. Only Donovan stood between the creature and them. Max could hear the kids and parents screaming from the children’s section. He had an uncontrollable urge to run to them…to save them. But that was interrupted by Donovan’s screams.
“Head to the emergency door!” Donovan yelled at them, without taking his eyes off the creature. “I will meet you outside.”
Donovan threw his arms out to his side. Bright blue balls of energy engulfed his hands. The creature lowered itself onto its haunches and let out a roar that shook the foundation of the building. The creature’s eyes darted toward the group. It roared again, and Max knew in his gut that the creature had just changed targets.
“Go!” Donovan screamed to the group, the blue energy swirling around his hands.
Max felt Noah pulling on his shoulder, and he followed the two toward the rear of the building. He could see the emergency exit just between the shelves marked Adult Fiction J-Ki and Ki-M.
Noah reached the door first and threw it open. The library’s fire alarm immediately began blaring. Max looked back into the library and could see that the alarm had confused the beast. It look
ed frantically toward the ceiling as Donovan extended his arms outward in the direction of the beast. The two separate balls of energy became one large one that the man held in front of himself.
An explosion of blue light narrowly flew past the creature, causing it to regain focus on Donovan. Through the doorway, they watched as the beast looked past the man, another ball of energy forming in his palms, and spotted their group standing outside of the building. The beast roared angrily and sprinted past Donovan.
“Shut the door, Max!” Kennedy squealed.
But it was too late.
The creature was merely feet away from the door before she had finished her sentence. Max stood there frozen and braced himself for impact.
Right before the creature reached the door, Max saw another burst of blue light detonate from behind it. The black slits that had been focused so intently on Max and his friends grew wide and then went dead.
The creature’s momentum carried it through the frame of the door, causing an explosion of brick and mortar. It erupted out of the narrow doorway, slammed into the pavement, and came to a sliding stop only inches away from where Max stood.
It lay there motionless behind the library, smoke rising from its body. Donovan exited the building, his hands quickly turning from blue back to their normal hue of pinkish flesh.
“The crazy guy is a wizard,” Noah said to Max.
“I am not a wizard,” Donovan said as he approached the lifeless beast.
“You just made magic light come out of your hands,” Noah said. “Don’t tell me you’re not a wizard.”
“It was not magic light,” Donovan said, placing his hand in front of the creature’s snout. He held it there for a moment, “I harnessed my lifeforce.”
“Magic, lifeforce, whatever you want to call it…sounds like sorcery to me, man.”
Donovan removed a strange looking dagger from the waistband of his pants. The elongated blade curved back and forth, ending in a sharp point. The handle was wrapped by the tail of a creature that resembled a dragon; it was the same creature that Max had seen on the doorway of the castle. Max thought the dagger itself looked like something one would buy at a renaissance festival, but much older.
“Dude,” Noah said, looking wide eyed at the blade, “have you been carrying that around in your pants the whole time? Weren’t you afraid you’d cut your…you know?”
“Grow up, Noah,” Kennedy said, her face twisted in disgust.
“What is that thing?” Max asked.
Donovan did not answer immediately as he continued looking the creature up and down. He rolled the beast onto its back; the beast’s razor sharp claws hung lifelessly in the air. After a moment, he lifted the blade over his head and brought it down swiftly into the chest of the creature. A weak groan escaped from the creature’s open snout.
Kennedy screamed.
“This is a scout demon,” Donovan said, removing the blade from the creature’s chest cavity; it was covered in black ooze. Donovan made a face of repulsion as he pulled a handkerchief from his coat and wiped it off. He left the cloth napkin on the ground beside the creature and stood up facing the group.
“Can someone please tell me what is going on now?” Kennedy asked, her face turning a slight shade of green.
“Unfortunately, Miss Coleman, we are completely out of time,” Donovan said to them. He stood back and sheathed his blade. “There will be more of these coming once this one doesn’t return, and I can’t risk fighting them off with Max not being ready to assist me.”
“Me?” Max asked.
Donovan stared deeply into Max’s eyes. It made Max feel uncomfortable. Donovan cocked his head to the side as if he were uncertain if Max really was this guardian character, or if he was just a normal, 16 year old boy.
“My car is around front,” Donovan said, finally breaking his stare down with Max. He turned to head back into the library. “Use the alleyway and I will meet you out front.”
“Whoa,” Kennedy said. Donavan stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Miss Coleman, there will be more of these creatures coming once this one doesn’t return,” Donovan spoke quickly and with purpose. “I must insist that you three accompany me to the Council so we can receive further instructions. If you want to live, you’ll stop wasting what precious time we have and get in the car.” He spun around, quickly heading towards the gaping hole where the door used to be.
“Where are you going?” Max asked.
“More than a handful of humans just saw a scout demon in the flesh. I have to assess any collateral damage for my report.” The man entered into the building and disappeared into the rubble. The group lingered in silence for a moment.
“I still contend that he’s nuts,” Noah said.
“Yep,” Max and Kennedy said simultaneously.
Chapter 12
Leaving the Valley
The car entered onto I-20 in silence. Kennedy sat in the backseat with Noah; both of them stared out of their respective windows. Max sat up front and examined the picture of himself that he had found crudely taped to the glove compartment door. It was his school yearbook photo from his freshmen year. He looked much scrawnier than he did nowadays.
“Why do you have this?” Max asked, finally breaking the silence. He held the photo in the air.
“I was not informed of what you would look like,” Donovan said.
The car’s engine revved. Max saw the speedometer reach 85. In the side view mirror, Max could see Forest Valley fading into the background. He felt queasy as he watched it disappear beyond the horizon.
“Where are we going?” Max asked.
“I have told you,” said Donovan, “we are going to see the Council.
“And where exactly is this council located?”
Donovan did not respond. He kept his eyes fixed straight ahead.
“Hey!” Kennedy exclaimed from the back seat. “He asked you a very valid question. My parents aren’t going to like me leaving the city limits with some weirdo.”
“The Council is located on Sidus Refugium,” Donovan said.
“Sidu…what?” Kennedy asked.
“The star of refuge,” Max said.
“You speak Latin?” Donovan asked.
“Only a little,” Max said.
“That is very impressive,” Donovan said, staring at the boy.
“What does that mean: the star of refuge?”
“It is a neutral zone for the Council of Twelve. When it was discovered, 325,000 years ago, it was void of all life and truly uninhabitable due to the lack of atmosphere. After the formation of the Council, the kingdoms of the planets of the Ninth Sector built a sanctuary for them. Since then, additions have been made, all of the gateways have been discovered and secured, and the planet will be able to serve as a safe haven for refugees in the event of another war.”
“Wait,” Noah said. “We’re going to an uninhabitable planet, discovered hundreds of thousands of years ago, to see a bunch of old fogeys that control some place called the Ninth Sector?”
“That is correct,” Donovan answered.
“And how exactly,” Noah continued, “do you explain that the name of this planet, which was founded hundreds of thousands of years ago, is in Latin? Latin was invented on Earth 200 years ago.”
“More like 2,000 years ago, moron,” Kennedy corrected him.
“Whatever,” Noah said, rolling his eyes. “Explain that.”
“Do you think that we just abandoned this place completely after the Great War?” Donovan asked. “All of your spoken and written languages originated from travelers.”
“Travelers?” Max asked.
“A person that travels from one planet to another,” Donovan said. “After the Great War, once the Council had determined that Armeddia was safe to return to-”
“Armeddia?” Kennedy asked, interrupting him. “I am so confused right now.”
“Earth used to be known a
s Armeddia,” Donovan said. “But that is another story for another time. After Earth was deemed inhabitable again, a survivalist group of travelers started a colony in what you know as North Africa.”
“This is crap,” Noah called from the back seat. “What you’re saying disputes everything that modern science has discovered.”
“Your modern science,” Donovan continued, “is nothing more than boardrooms full of scientists and doctors using primitive technology to make their best guesses about how the world was created. Look at your theory of evolution. The bones of homo habilis are nothing more than the bones of a Gorthic Demon, not a link in the chain of human evolution.”
“Gorthic?” Max asked. “Is that any relation to Gorthon.”
Donovan jerked the wheel of the car as the name of the demon left Max’s lips. A tractor-trailer in the neighboring lane blew its horn, and Donovan swerved the car back over. His face turned stoic and lost all of its color. He pulled the car over into the emergency lane of the freeway.
“How do you know that name?” Donovan asked.
“It was in a dream,” Max said.
“Gorthon is very, very real.” Donovan’s voice was shaky, and Max shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “And he is very, very dangerous. Please tell me how you know of him.”
Max proceeded to tell Donovan about Gorthon and the dark city. He told him about the castle and about the man with the fedora and scarred face. Max could feel everyone staring at him.
“You’re such a weirdo,” Kennedy said from the back seat after Max was finished.
“Shut up, you stupid snob,” Noah fired at her.
“Snob?” Kennedy retorted angrily. “It was you two snobs that stopped talking to me in the eighth grade. Not the other way around.”
“Can you two please be quiet?” Donovan snapped at them angrily, resembling a father midway through a long road trip.
“It’s real, isn’t it?” Max asked softly.
“The place you are describing is Arressnia, the dark planet,” Donovan said. “And the man that you speak of, the one with the fedora, his name is Ausiris, and he has every intention of one day ruling over the Ninth Sector. He has already taken over Harowadur, Gorthon’s home planet. The fact that you visited the castle changes things…” Donovan trailed off.
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