The Surpen King_Part 1_Return of the Gods

by Charity Kelly

  Charlie lifted his glass to his lips and took a sip, enjoying the taste of the full-bodied scotch he’d chosen as it rolled down his throat. William was watching him from the corner of the room. His brother hadn’t said anything to him about his ordeal. Charlie refused to be the first one to speak. Let William make the first move.

  As if reading his thoughts, Charlie heard William say, “Bad day?”

  Charlie felt relieved to have someone to talk to. He needed to let it out. He was dying inside. “It’s been so…”

  William cut him off. “What’s the matter little elfy welfy? Did you find out that someone with more power than you controls your existence and you can’t do anything about it? If I punched Themrock, would you feel the blow?” William laughed and pretended to punch himself. “Owww,” he cried out mockingly. “Little elfy welfy got a boo boo.”

  Charlie was incensed. How dare William! He’d been in Hell for almost a year and William’s first words to him were to mock him when he passed out because Themrock had been injured? Charlie dropped his cigarette and drink on the glass table beside him and ran over towards William. He swung his fist out to strike William's head, but his older brother ducked under his arm.

  “You know what I’d do if I was an elf and I found out someone else controlled my existence?” William asked, as he backed away from Charlie, grinning with anticipation. He was looking forward to beating down on Charlie. The idiot had it coming. “I’d kill myself.”

  “Screw you!” Charlie yelled. He’d had enough. He didn’t need to put up with this anymore. Turning, Charlie marched towards the door.

  “And here this whole time you elves have held it over the rest of us, pretending you were better than us, because Themrock gave you powers first. Well, guess what? We now know that we’re better than you. Why? Because we don’t pass out when our God is hurt, we move on, pushing forward, picking up the elfin mess that’s all over the ground and…” William was still talking, trying to bait Charlie into fighting him, when the door closed, cutting off his words.

  Charlie walked outside and wandered around the palace’s grounds. James was holding a press conference about Themrock. His mother and Reed were talking with the Elfin Royals about what had happened. Lilly and Sage were meeting with the Council Delegates and Henry was helping Rachel as she worked to discover why the elves had passed out when Themrock had lost consciousness. Everyone was rushing about, looking busy.

  Charlie plopped down onto a bench by one of the palace’s fountains. It didn’t matter that none of them had approached him to find out how he was. He had other things to think about. He made a pact with himself. He’d find the Black Angel, and when he did, he’d ask Themrock to return to Hell and save Chisten.

  Charlie pulled a fresh cigarette from his pocket and twirled it around his finger. So, he thought. How do you find a Genister God?

  Chapter 52

  Student Dining Hall – Elfin University

  The next morning, Rhen’s muscles felt sore and he was sick to his stomach. His head ached, so he closed his eyes to give himself a little relief from the light in the cafeteria as he waited at the breakfast table for Ceceta to finish eating.

  None of the other students had approached him when he’d entered the room. Rhen figured they were angry at him for letting Surpen blow up half of Rasack. He hadn't meant to do that much damage to the Rasacks’ home planet. He’d just gone a little overboard last night due to his headache. Oh well, he thought. At least now everyone would leave Surpen and her territories alone. Rhen noticed that Ceceta had finished eating, so he whispered, “I’m going back to the apartment.”

  Ceceta and the others followed him back to the Teacher’s Residence Hall. Once in his apartment, Rhen sat down on his couch and closed his eyes. He could hear his friends sitting down on the floor around him. He’d told them that he was fine, but they wouldn’t stop worrying. Rhen considered mentioning the fact that they should go to class, but he drifted off to sleep.

  Rhen jerked awake feeling panicked. He’d fallen over onto his side on the couch and Ceceta had covered him with a blanket. His friends were still sitting on the floor in front of him. It looked like they hadn’t even moved. With a groan, Rhen sat up and put his hands on his forehead. Something was wrong. He scanned Surpen’s Empire to find out what had woken him and was relieved to find that Surpen was safe.

  Rhen sent his mind over to Thestran next. "No!" he shouted, jumping to his feet. The movement caused his head to explode in pain. Rhen gripped his skull to try and steady himself as he fought against his headache.

  The Thestran Royal Palace was being attacked by the Vivists and Zorthans. He needed to change into his Black Angel outfit so he could help them.

  When the pain in his head had subsided enough that he could move, Rhen lunged forward, crashing into the coffee table in front of him. Tgfhi grabbed his arm to keep him from falling.

  “What’s wrong?” Tgfhi asked.

  Instead of answering, Rhen pushed free from Tgfhi’s grasp and ran into his bedroom.

  “Rhen, what’s wrong?” Ceceta asked, following along behind him with the others. She watched Rhen use his powers to change into his Black Angel clothes. “Oh, no, you don’t,” she said, when she saw him flexing his hand to disappear. “You aren’t leaving me here to worry while you rush off to some tragedy.” She threw herself forward and grabbed hold of Rhen’s arm just as he started to phase away.

  Tgfhi and the others followed her lead. They lunged forward and grabbed onto Ceceta in time to phase away with them. They were still holding onto Ceceta when Rhen rematerialized in King James’s bedroom in the Thestran Royal Palace.

  With his powers, Rhen snapped the necks of two Zorthan soldiers who were holding down James’s wife and kids on her bed. The dead men fell to the floor with a thud. Five soldiers to Rhen’s right turned to look, when they heard the noise. They fired on Rhen with their power blasters, but the guns’ blasts stopped in midair, their laser beams dangling above the ground. The Black Angel flicked his fingers at the soldiers turning them into small, white worms, crawling on the carpet.

  Ceceta released Rhen to help James’s wife.

  In five strides, Rhen walked out of the room through the wall.

  James’s wife was trying not to cry. She pulled her two children up into her arms. “Thank the Gods you came,” she croaked. “I think they’ve taken over the entire palace. I… I… I.” She couldn’t talk anymore. Tears of relief filled her eyes and she covered her face with her hands. Ceceta rubbed her back to comfort her as Latsoh and Crystam tried to comfort her children.

  “That’s awesome,” Erfce said. He waved his hand around the power blasts that were suspended in the air as Tgfhi picked up the wiggling worms and put them in a jar. He’d let Rhen deal with them later.

  Eventually, James’ wife calmed down enough to explain to them that the Zorthans and Vivists had joined together to try to take over Thestran. “We’re losing,” she whispered, so her children wouldn’t hear. “They attacked the palace less than an hour ago. Our soldiers can’t stop them.”

  Latsoh ran to the window to look outside. “The elfin army is fighting with the Vivists outside.” Turning back to face the others, she asked, “Why didn’t we know about this?”

  “It happened too quickly,” James’s wife explained, clutching her children to her body. “We couldn’t sound the alarm. I don’t think anyone knows. The elves were here, because they were discussing Themrock with the Council. If they hadn’t of been here with their armies…” she didn’t need to finish her sentence. Turning to Ceceta, she asked, “Where’s Rhen? Is he coming with his soldiers?”

  “I’ll check,” Ceceta said. She hadn’t realized how desperate the situation was. Reaching into her pocket, Ceceta pulled out her communicator.

  Bosternd answered her call at once. “What’s the situation?” he demanded.

  “We’re in the Thestran Royal Palace. They’re under attack from the Vivists and Zorthans. The Black Angel is here,
but he’s not feeling well.”

  “Understood,” Bosternd said, turning off his device.

  “They’ll be here soon,” Ceceta said.

  Tgfhi had left the room to help the Thestrans fight. He found Jet alone in the Council Chamber battling against a group of Zorthan soldiers. Calling forth his new powers, Tgfhi shot ice daggers out of his hands at the Zorthans as he ran to join Jet in saving the lives of the cowering Delegates.

  Rhen finished killing the soldiers, who had cornered Rachel in her lab, then phased out onto the palace’s lawn. He spotted Charlie evading two Vivists and shook his head. Charlie was bobbing and weaving around the Vivists’ tails. Rhen assumed he was drunk. If he didn’t do something, Charlie would be killed.

  Rhen phased in front of Charlie, covering him with his body protectively, as one of the Vivists swung its stinger down towards him. Charlie had thrown himself to the left to evade the stinger just as Rhen was trying to pull him to the right. Rhen grunted with surprise when he realized he was now holding all of Charlie’s weight. He stumbled forward a step, right into the path of the poisonous tip on the end of the Vivist’s tail. The stinger pierced Rhen through his back, deep into his chest and neck.

  Through the Black Angel’s body, Charlie felt the impact of the Vivist’s stinger as it hit them. He heard the Black Angel hiss in pain from the blow. “No!” he yelled. Themrock’s powers couldn’t heal a Vivist’s poison. He’d just killed Themrock!

  The Black Angel swung his hand out behind him and shot the Vivists surrounding them with a blast of white energy, killing them instantly.

  Charlie felt the Black Angel pull back. “Are you okay?” he asked as the Angel staggered back another two steps and grunted in pain.

  Something about the Angel’s grunt sounded familiar. “Rhen?” Charlie asked, stepping forward. “Rhen, are you the Black Angel?”

  Before Rhen could answer, Charlie fell to the ground unconscious. He’d been hit in the back of the head by a flying rock that had come from the battle between James and two Zorthans.

  James swore as he threw a blast of his powers at the Zorthan on his right. If he could just make it to Kate, the two of them could fight back to back, protecting each other. He took a step in Kate’s direction and felt his foot go numb. Throwing up a shield, he glanced down at his foot. It appeared that one of the Zorthans he was fighting had water powers. James’s foot was frozen to the ground. “Hell,” he cursed, stumbling back slightly with his left foot when he felt two blasts hit his shield. He pulled forth his powers, dropped his shield and fired on the Zorthans attacking him.

  James’s power ball bounced off the Zorthans’ shields, striking a few elfin soldiers in the back, who were fighting a Vivist nearby. “Crap!” James yelled. He raised his shield again and shot a blast of his powers at his foot. The heat from his blast melted the ice that had frozen his foot to the ground, but he’d miscalculated the strength of his powers and he ended up burning his shoe and blistering the skin on the top of his foot in the process.

  James glanced behind him, looking for Kate. He needed help. Unfortunately, Kate seemed to be in worse shape than he was. She was pinned to the ground by a group of Zorthans who were throwing power blasts at her. James staggered back again when he felt the Zorthans’ power blasts strike his shield. Someone screamed to his right. He glanced over to see an elfin soldier being lifted into the air by a Vivist’s stinger. “Themrock!” James cried out. There was no way they could stop the Vivists. They were going to lose. He couldn’t think of any way out of their current predicament. He prayed his wife and kids had made it out of the palace in time.

  Rhen scanned the battlefield. The Thestrans were going to lose. He couldn’t believe how unprepared they were for this attack. He had thought that after their battle against Andres, they would’ve at least increased their defensive forces. Stepping over Sage, whose neck had been snapped, he glanced down at William, who was lying on the ground beside him screaming in agony. A large whole had been blown through the center of William’s stomach. Rhen didn’t have the time to heal his brother just yet. He needed to stop the war first, then he could save William’s life. Glancing at the enormous Vivist, who was about to kill Reed, Rhen felt a burst of hope when he recognized King Nirs. Thank the Gods. He could reason with the Vivist King. If he could get Nirs to back down, he’d have no trouble handling the Zorthans.

  Through a haze of pain, William vaguely noticed the Black Angel above him. He reached his hand up for help, but the Angel phased away. William couldn’t believe it. Why hadn’t the Angel saved him? The bastard had deserted him in his time of need. William cursed the Angel with his entire soul. He’d get the Angel back for this, even if he had to haunt him until the end of time.

  Up in James’ bedroom, Latsoh yelled, “Look! The Black Angel is outside fighting with the Thestrans.” The others crowded around the window to watch as the Black Angel materialized in front of Reed. Reed was lying on the ground with his hands up in defeat as the Vivist above him raised its tail to strike. The Black Angel lifted his left hand into the air, telling Nirs to stop.

  The Vivist King hesitated. “Why are you here?” he clicked to the Black Angel with his pincers, his tail hovering high above him.

  The Black Angel pointed towards the Vivists’ ships in the distance.

  Reed rose from the ground to stand beside the Black Angel. He couldn’t believe it. The Black Angel had just saved his life. Themrock had saved his life! Themrock was standing next to him! A nervous chuckle escaped his lips as he watched Themrock face down the Vivist who’d been attacking him.

  “We heard what you did to the Rasacks last night. That was wrong,” Nirs clicked.

  Instead of answering Nirs, the Black Angel pointed towards the Vivists’ ships.

  Rhen was starting to feel the effects of the poison in his system. Pain surged through his back. It felt worse than the time when he’d been bitten by a Rasack. He fought to keep his hand from shaking.

  Nirs hesitated then clicked, “I don’t understand. Since you’ve decided to support the Surpens, why are you here protecting the Thestrans? You destroyed part of the Rasacks’ planet last night on behalf of Surpen. Why would you want to protect the Thestrans? They aren’t friends of Surpen.”

  Again, the Black Angel remained silent, his hand pointing towards Nirs’ battleships in the distance.

  Nirs had heard that the Black Angel was the Genister God Themrock, but he hadn’t believed it. If the Black Angel was Themrock, then why would he help the Surpens? Themrock had always championed the Thestrans.

  Nirs had joined with a group of Zorthan rebels to attack Thestran, because he had believed the Black Angel, whoever he was, supported Surpen. He had assumed the Black Angel wouldn’t mind if he made a play for Thestran. Yet, here he was, telling Nirs to go. Nirs swung the stinger on the top of his tail to the left and right as he considered his options. He checked on the Zorthans’ progress. Kate was down on the ground being pummeled by their power blasts. Her force field appeared to be weakening. It wouldn’t be long before she was dead and James had just about run out of power. Nirs figured he’d be dead within the next few seconds.

  Out of the corner of his tail eyes, Nirs caught sight of the Black Angel moving his hand to point it directly at him. Suddenly, Nirs was gripped with an intense, sharp pain in the center of his carapace. It felt like his internal organs were about to explode. Remembering what the Angel had done to the Rasacks on Tgarus, Nirs made his decision. “We will return to Vivist,” he clicked, scuttling backwards, away from the Angel.

  Nirs breathed a sigh of relief when the pain he was feeling lessened at once. He was about to turn towards his spacejet when he noticed the Black Angel shiver. Pausing long enough to take a deep breath, Nirs caught the scent of a Vivist’s poison racing through the Black Angel’s blood. Nirs closed his pincers with anticipation. They’d won. They just needed to wait until the poison did its trick. Flicking his tail, Nirs told his troops to retreat.

  As they made
their way back to their jets, Nirs’s second-in-command questioned him on his decision. “We’ve won,” Nirs clicked, his pointed feet scurrying across the grass towards his command vessel. “A Vivist has poisoned the Angel. He’s still too powerful for us to stop right now, but in a few days’ time, we will return to conquer Thestran. Even if the Angel is still alive when we do, we’ll have no trouble defeating him.” Nirs’ generals snapped their pincers with pleasure after hearing his announcement.

  Once Nirs and his army had turned to go, the Black Angel shot a blast of his powers at James’s attackers, killing them. He then phased over to Kate. She was crying as the Zorthans around her blasted her with their powers. Rhen didn’t recognize the Zorthans who were attacking Kate. He wondered if they’d received permission from their King to attack Thestran or if they were working on their own.

  Holding up his hand, Rhen told the Zorthans to leave by pointing at their ships. Instead of heeding his advice, like Nirs had, they blasted him with their powers. Under normal conditions, such a move wouldn’t have affected Rhen, but in his weakened state, the pain seemed unbearable. He fell to his knees, his body in agony.

  Rhen threw his left hand into the air, bent his fingers then turned his hand counter clockwise. The Zorthans’ powers surged out of their bodies as white lights, leaving them writhing on the ground in pain.

  The Thestrans watched, as the Zorthans’ powers swirled through the air above their heads, before coalescing to form a bright, white ball above the Black Angel’s fist. The Black Angel opened his hand and the Zorthans’ powers floated down to rest in his palm. He lowered his hand and pushed the Zorthans’ powers into his chest, where they disappeared. Meanwhile, the Zorthans thrashed about on the ground, screaming in anguish. Rhen felt terrible about causing them so much pain, but they’d left him no choice.