The Joining: The Saga of the Shards Book One (The Cycle of the Shards 1)

by Chris Stephenson

  “Except you’ve tried all that before.” Critock stepped forward, cutting Pt’ron off. “The great Pt’ron, ruler of all he surveys! It’s a nice fantasy, and would be a hell of a leap considering you started off as a simple traitor.”

  “What?” Pt’ron fixed his gaze upon the Marconian.

  “So that’s the future. Here’s your past, Pt’ron, unless you’ve been here so long you’ve forgotten it. You were a simple soldier in the Marconian Empire that literally flew too close to the sun. You’re a brainwashed traitor to everything you have ever held close to you, and it was always because of you that you lost everything, no matter how much you wanted it to be someone else’s fault!” Phelps and Shanna were forgotten as Critock moved forward to the stairs.

  Pt’ron placed one foot on a step slightly higher from where he stood. “Who are you?”

  “Oh, shouldn’t the great Pt’ron know? Shouldn’t he know everything? He’s got the Shards after all. The most powerful things in the universe! Unless they’re still dormant. Then they’re simple, pretty rocks.”

  “WHO! WHO ARE YOU!”

  “For those rocks you betrayed an empire, and destroyed a friendship that would have defeated anything!”

  Pt’ron retreated up the stairs. “WHO!”

  “For those rocks you killed billions! You hurt your friends!”

  “WHOOOOO!!!”

  “For those…You killed her.”

  Pt’ron stopped retreating, and looked at the boy a few steps below him with a sudden look of realization and hatred. “No….”

  Critock reached behind him and pulled out the Sword of Kon, it igniting as he swung it around and placed it between him and his enemy. “You know my name.”

  “NOOOOOO!!!” Pt’ron had reached into his pocket and retrieved his ice weapon, which he quickly and frantically pulled out and fired at Critock, who held the sword in front of him as if a shield. The blast harmlessly ricocheted off of the sword into the floor, which formed an icy patch.

  Critock kept advancing. “Give me the Shards, Pt’ron. That’s all this has ever been about.” He waved his sword as he moved up the steps. On one of the waves, Pt’ron saw a small opening. He launched himself at Critock, who wasn’t able to move his sword back in time to end this quickly. Pt’ron’s full weight landed on Critock, who was able to stagger to the side instead of tumbling down the stairs. He let out a groan as his already sore back hit the banister, and found himself struggling with Pt’ron, who had one hand on Critock’s wrist to keep the sword at bay, and the other reaching for Critock’s throat. Instead of protecting his throat, Critock immediately brought his other hand to the sword hilt and was able to exert the needed strength to push the sword back towards Pt’ron’s body, despite the hand that was now trying to squeeze his life away. As the sword sparked, Critock was able, despite Pt’ron’s best efforts to pull it towards his enemy’s hand. Just as the first electric arc hit Pt’ron’s hand, he lurched back in fear of losing a limb. He stumbled back up the stairs as Critock rolled his shoulders, reasserting himself as he began to walk up towards his old friend, Tom, Shanna and Phelps below watching and never wishing to be more invisible than they were right then.

  “NO! YOU CANNOT HAVE THEM! NOT NOW! NOT EVER!” Pt’ron spat at Critock even as he retreated. Critock simply waved the sword in front of him again.

  “It’s over, Pt’ron. You’re not the only alien on this planet anymore. And you’re out of practice.” He had almost reached Pt’ron, and his adversary tried to scramble away fruitlessly onto the second floor landing. Critock was tired of this already. Pt’ron was even farther gone than he remembered. There was truly no trace of his friend left in this insane shell. Just a madman who had been waiting lifetimes for a single moment and was desperate to not have that moment stripped from him. This needed to be ended quickly, if not for the planets sake, than for his own. Critock quickly slashed the back of Pt’ron’s ankle, and he collapsed with a loud yell of pain. Instead of crawling away, the traitor turned on his back and propped himself up on his elbows.

  “It doesn’t matter! None of this does! You’ve already lost! This changes nothing! You can’t run from what you did! What you did to her! It was all your fault!” He yelled into Critock’s face, who sighed. This had gone on long enough, and he had had a very, very long couple of days.

  “I’m sorry Pt’ron. Sorry I couldn’t have done this sooner.” He raised the Sword of Kon, ready to make a final slash and end the thousand years of what might’ve been, end the risk to Earth, and end Pt’ron once and for all!

  As he did so, a small arc of red electricity arose from Pt’ron’s pocket. As the sword slash came down, Critock was caught off guard when it suddenly stopped in mid air as though it had hit a wall in it’s path. Confused, he tried to move it, but the sword refused to do anything but stubbornly hang in mid air. He looked at the sword, and then up at Pt’ron, who was now smiling again with an evil tooth-filled grin. The next thing that he knew, he was flying backwards, pushed by a wave of red energy, through the air and down onto the floor with a grunt, and sliding right into Shanna and Phelps. While Phelps and Tom couldn’t take their eyes off of the other Marconian, Shanna kneeled quickly to Critock. “Cri-Tock! Are you all right!” She was almost screaming with worry.

  Critock shook his head quickly, warding off a spot of dizziness from the shock. His back was screaming at him from the punishment it had taken, but he didn’t think anything had broken beyond repair. He gingerly rose to his feet, Shanna supporting him, as he looked at what both Phelps and Tom were staring at, mouths agape. All that he said was, “Oh no.”

  Pt’ron was no longer laying down at the top of the stairs, nor was he standing. Instead he was floating, his body incased in a thin see-through red bubble of energy, red electricity arcing off of it in every direction. The bubble was floating very slowly, but approaching the stairs again. Inside, Pt’ron was laughing uproariously, again raising his outstretched hands to the ceiling. "AT LAST! ATTT LAST!"

  He raised a hand, and a red bolt of electricity fired off of the bubble and down at the group. “DO YOU SEE, CRITOCK? DO YOU SEE NOW THE POWER THAT YOU SCORNED?” It was Phelps that grabbed them and threw them all to the side, as the bolt struck right behind them.

  They hit the ground hard, but had only moments before they had to quickly move away from the stairs as Pt’ron threw another bolt, and another. “WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS PLANET WILL CALL ME, CRITOCK? SHALL I BECOME GOD?” As Critock stood again, Pt’ron twisted his hand slightly differently, and red streaks of electricity arced through the air as though a lightning storm. Critock quickly held his sword vertically, and the electricity seemed to arc right to the blade, catching each electric string and absorbing it. For a moment, the two were at a standstill, the powerful energy cascading from Pt'ron's hand, streaking through the air and terminating at the sword. Shortly after, Critock took a step forward. The powerful energy had a force of it's own to it, and it was tough to push forward against, but he refused to let Pt'ron win. So what if the Shards activated? He had accepted that as an inevitability only a short time ago, but even with that, there was still hope. As long as the missiles had not impacted Earth and ignited her oxygen, there was still hope. So he moved towards Pt'ron still, who by now was calling forth energy from the awoken Shard with both hands.

  The energy was unstable and arcs from Pt'ron's manically waving hands were not just going into Critock's sword but also throughout the room. Phelps, Shanna, and Tom had retreated behind a small pillar near the entrance, where they didn't have to worry about a stray bolt catching them, but still could watch Critock try and save the world.

  Critock continued to move forward, speaking loudly as he went to ensure that Pt'ron could hear him, despite the task at hand. "I'm sorry, Pt'ron. I don't know what she did to you...I should have been a better friend, but this has to end." If Pt'ron was hearing him, he was hiding his impulses well as his face was the same shade of red it was when they had begun facing him. His facial expres
sion was manic. The heat from the otherworldly energy that was coursing through the awaken Shard, through his body and channeled out through his fingers, was growing the more he sustained the power, but he couldn't, wouldn't stop. Of all people throughout the universe, they had sent him! After all that he had done! After he had worked so hard to put the memory of Critock behind him, and what he had done to her... His rage fueled his power, feeding off of the limitless energy provided by the Shard, drawing from an unknown source. The heat grew the closer Critock came, forcing Pt'ron to step back, again back up the stairs as Critock climbed them, effortlessly using the sword to contain the red electricity.

  In the middle of the stairs Critock caught back with Pt'ron by suddenly doubling his speed, marching up the stairs, bringing his sword down while still collecting the Shard's energy and using it to strike the protective bubble of energy that surrounded his enemy. He didn't know what would happen when he did so, but as it was the only thing keeping him from Pt'ron, it had to go. When the point of the metal blade pierced the energy, Pt'ron looked on in shock and ceased his electric attack as the sword seemed to absorb the energy completely, the bubble around him unraveling and gathering into the sword itself. Critock's eyes widened as the sword changed colors from it's usual orange tint to red, which grew brighter and brighter the more of the energy it had absorbed. As the energy bubble disappeared, the hilt of the sword itself turned from black to bright red and Critock suddenly yelled out in pain, his arm lurching and letting go of the handle, sending the Sword of Kon falling off the stairs and down to the floor of the lobby.

  Pt'ron was seething at the loss of his shield, but he still had his power, and his enemy was defenseless! He lifted up his arms and again began coursing energy out through his hands, and this time Critock had no ability to block the power. The red power was not electricity per se, but it certainly felt like a strong electric shock to Critock once he felt the energy hit his body, feeling as though every cell in his body was screaming. He felt himself being pushed back, down the stairs, and rolling on the ground. He tried to yell out in pain, but all that happened was he felt his mouth open, and red arcs of power surging between his teeth. In his head though, there were two sets of screams, his, and Kyle's.

  Pt'ron laughed as he stopped the attack, and looked down at his adversary. How weak he still was! "Poor, poor Critock. Couldn't finish me then, can't touch me now. I wish you could taste this power! To know what it feels like to hold the fate of the universe in your hands!" He began to walk down the stairs towards Critock, who was still shaking from the aftershocks from the power. "You cannot imagine what it feels like! I feel like I can crack the walls of reality!"

  Critock tried to prop himself up on his elbows. "You...failed...before. You're doomed...to lose." He wheezed out every breath, as Pt'ron shook his head with a sad smile, stepping off of the stair and striding forward.

  "What power in the universe is going to stop me, hm? In one moment, I have surpassed the ability of this entire solar system to even attack me!" Pt'ron waved a hand upwards, and Critock was picked off of the floor, trying to struggle but held uselessly in an invisible grip. Shanna, still watching from her hiding place, put a hand over her mouth, trying to remain quiet lest they become Pt'ron's next target but not wanting anything to happen to Critock and Kyle.

  Pt'ron stopped right in front of Critock. "You see, Critock, you've wasted your time. I imagine you've thought a lot about me, hm?" He started walking around the helpless Marconian, taunting him. "I haven't given you a thought in a thousand years. I've been waiting for my ascension. I am glad, though, that you made it here to witness it. It's fitting since you're the cause of all of this." With a quick wave of his hand, Critock was thrown back once again, hitting with a hard crash against the gymnasium doors. Somehow, he still had the energy to move now that he had been released from the hold, but it was painful and difficult just to lift his head, let alone rise to his feet.

  "You have no comprehension of what I am now, do you! What just one Shard has given me! Imagine what will happen in a few minutes when the other one activates!" He raised one hand at the ceiling, and looked up as a wooden support plank began to shake, and then was ripped off the ceiling, flying through the air with no physical reason why, aiming right for Critock's head.

  Critock slumped down to the floor as the plank struck the doors above him, narrowly missing catching it full to his face. Pt'ron laughed as he raised another arm, and two more planks wrenched loose from their anchors. Critock was forced to find energy deep with him to climb quickly to his feet, groaning as he did so, and quickly moved out of the way before he was struck with one or both of the boards.

  Pt'ron snarled at the continuing determination of his enemy, trapped in a weak human shell. This was taking too long. It made him a lesser being to not be able to finish a battle with one Marconian, considering he was going to have to fight millions more in the cycles to come! "I'm tired of these games, Critock." He said his name as a curse, and again approached Critock, who had by now fallen to his knees, finding it very difficult to breathe. He didn't use any of his newfound Godlike powers now, it was more personal than that. When he reached the struggling soldier, Pt'ron simply reached down, grabbed him by the throat, and pulled him up, pressing him against the wall and squeezed his neck. Critock grabbed onto his arms uselessly, not having the strength to pull them away, and stared into his enemy's eyes, the black ring now shining in the light and taunting him for not having noticed it earlier.

  Pt'ron stared back, wanting to see Critock's own life drain away. He had lied about not thinking about him. In truth he had fantasized about this very moment almost every single day he had spent on this planet. Critock would have been his first goal once he was able to leave Earth, and the result of his vendetta would have been very similar to what was now playing out.

  It was right then when Tom, knowing that neither Shanna nor Phelps had the ability to help Critock in any way, summoned all his bravery, and with a yell, began flashing white light as bright as he could, desperate to distract Pt'ron by any means necessary. Pt'ron heard him coming, but paid him no mind, as a bolt of red electricity suddenly shot out from the Shard, searing through Daniel's pocket and striking the soul directly head-on. The energy sent Tom flying backwards out of control, hitting the ground and bouncing a couple of times before sliding to a very still stop.

  As Critock struggled to gasp, and Pt'ron smiled at the thought of ridding the universe of her murderer, They were suddenly jolted, both falling to the floor as Claire, having snuck downstairs from her hiding place to witness most of these events, ran full speed into Pt'ron. Without the benefit of knowing that she was attacking, Pt'ron had no ability to block or shield himself, and he hit the floor as anyone would, hard and painfully. When he landed, the awoken Shard slipped out of his pocket and slid across the floor, leaving his possession and taking its power with it.

  Claire seemed possessed as she kept the attack up on her former boyfriend. She didn't know what was going on or how any of this was possible. All she knew was that somehow this wasn't Daniel, he had hurt people, and now he was going to hurt her friends. Not if she had anything to say about it. She rained blows down upon him, and before he could regain his senses she took her hand and clawed his face with her long, sharp nails, leaving red streaks of blood in a diagonal streak. Finally he slapped her with all of his strength, and she flew off, sliding away, her face bruised already from the hard strike.

  Critock saw this and had to swallow his urge to help her because he also saw the Shard lying on the ground, no longer under Pt'ron's control. With every ounce of energy he had left he started crawling across the floor, willing himself to move, reaching out for the Shard...

  Pt'ron saw the effects when Critock grabbed the Shard, but couldn't do anything about it. When Critock's outstretched hand closed on the shard, he felt a rush of energy unlike anything he had ever known. It was different than when he had been struck by Pt'ron's fire, instead of hurting him it was energi
zing him, bringing him back to life and then beyond peak condition. His body was drinking in the unknown energy and was using it to fuel him endlessly. He now knew what Pt'ron had been talking about, how he could break down the walls of the Universe and stride across any barrier. Defeat any enemy. Visions of dominating the Empire came unwillingly to him. It was addictive. And it was all his.

  Much like Claire, Pt'ron took the advantage as he saw it. He lowered his shoulder and ran full speed into Critock's side. Not expecting the sudden strike, Critock lurched in pain, and his palm opened, sending the Shard flying again. As soon as Pt'ron had struck, he had moved away from him, expecting the Shard to be jarred loose. He watched for it to hit the ground, and when it did, he sprinted towards it.

  At the same time, Shanna had watched what happened when Critock had grabbed the shard, how he rose to his feet and seemed to recover immediately from the damage that had been done to him, and knew that Pt'ron could not be allowed to gain control of it again. Without any word to Tom or Phelps, who were silently watching the battle, unable to help lest they be as hurt as Critock was, she quickly ran out from their safe place, and ran to where the Shard was falling. It was a foot race between her and Pt'ron, and unfortunately, Pt'ron got there a moment sooner.

  As soon as he grabbed the shard off of the floor and felt the energy rushing through him, Pt'ron sent out another wave of energy to force Shanna off her feet and sliding backwards. Critock felt the wave but being slightly farther away was able to keep his footing. "ENOUGH!" Pt'ron bellowed, as Critock stared at him but also trying to see where the Sword had landed. "I have no more patience with this! As though a human could ever dream of holding this power!" He sneered at Shanna, who tried to scramble backwards, Phelps and Tom still unable to join the fray and Claire unconscious.