Armadron: The Otherworld Series: Book 1

by Corey Tate

  Potential

  Scott looked around as he exited the car. There were hundreds of people everywhere.

  They came in all colors, shapes, and sizes. Most of them had the Icranu symbol somewhere on their bodies or clothing, and they all stopped whatever they were doing and looked his way. He felt like the lead guitarist at a rock concert, the person everyone had been waiting to see appear on stage.

  Someone stood in front of him in a flash of light and held out a hand. It was Artam.

  “Hello, Scott,” Artam said as they shook hands.

  “Hello, Artam.”

  Artam turned to the hundreds of eager faces surrounding them.

  “We are here for two reasons,” Artam said, his voice suddenly amplified so that everyone could hear him. “We are here because Terminus will destroy our worlds if he is not stopped.”

  There were murmurs of agreement all around them.

  “We are also here because of Scott and the role that he plays in our destiny.” He nodded at Scott, who remained silent.

  Artam continued. “Kane is now wandering the Roots of Metali, past Inno Mountain, searching for us. Earlier today we freed many individuals, and because of our actions, Kane is now very angry. Good. He and Terminus have killed many, many innocent people. They have enslaved my brothers, and they have experimented on your children. They are done doing what they want.”

  There were approving nods and expressions of relief throughout the crowd. Scott spotted Nick and Seth standing next to Thaught, Claire, and a boy with no eyes.

  “Furthermore,” Artam continued, “I will share with you this: Kane allowed us to break free from our enemies today.”

  He let the statement hang in the air, and the crowd instantly became silent.

  “Our intel has relayed to us that Terminus wishes to use his Conjurers and his loyal, misguided Armadronian followers to keep us busy while his new race, the Upgrades, moves on to Earth past us. He thinks that we are only a minor military exercise for him.”

  Many people shook their heads, spat on the ground, or cursed Terminus’s name.

  “We will exercise them to death then!” Thaught was speaking now.

  He had morphed into a fly and flown across the field, and was now standing next to Artam, having reassumed his regular Armadronian form.

  The crowd cheered, and Artam stepped back smiling, letting Thaught finish the speech.

  “We will combine our curses and do what they cannot,” Thaught spoke with authority and passion. “Terminus has never taught them the one fundamental concept of battle: teamwork! We will stay in pairs, we will work together, and we will win!”

  Everyone cheered, and Thaught held up a hand to silence them.

  “Things have changed. Until this point, only Artam and I have ever laid eyes on Terminus. Some of you believe him to be a myth.” Thaught sneered. “Well, he is not a myth. He is a cruel, twisted demon who has taken our once-rich planet and turned it into a battleground for his own amusement. He has pillaged our environment. Darkened our skies with radioactive cloud cover. Sent us scurrying underground for security and survival. And as if that weren’t enough, he has taken your loved ones indiscriminately from your homes and experimented on them! You may not want to kill someone you once loved if they are under Terminus’s control, but they do not remember you, and we must stop the Upgrades from getting to earth, no matter the cost. If Terminus is allowed to cross the barrier, then our world is lost. He will colonize Earth before finding a way to return to Armadron. We will not allow the innocent people of Earth to be killed because of our world. Because of our mistakes.”

  The crowd hushed as Thaught paused for a moment.

  “Now we get to the plan,” he announced in a commanding voice. “Icranu teams one through forty-seven, along with Scott and myself, will be stationed next to the Gateway, engaging in battle with Terminus to keep him distracted. We believe that when his mind is focused, Terminus has a harder time keeping his Conjurers in check. However, when a Conjurer is killed, that means one less for Terminus to control, and remaining Conjurers will become stronger, faster, and more intelligent than ever before; for this reason, we must not kill them. Let me repeat this: coordinate your attacks so that you don’t kill any Conjurers. Our goal is to free them first—and then to use them on our side in the battle.”

  Now Thaught pointed at Seth. “Seth will lead teams forty-eight through eighty-one. You will stay at the perimeter and take out the first wave of Upgrades as they try to reach and secure the Gateway.”

  Seth nodded.

  “Next,” Thaught continued, “Icranu teams eighty-two through ninety-five will take the east sector, and ninety-six through one hundred nine will take the west. We’ve sent teams ahead to dig fighting positions for guerrilla tactics. East and west teams are to join them, get in position, and stand by.”

  —Ineffective plan, Plegaborne commented dryly from within Scott. What about the air?

  “As for Icranu teams one hundred ten through one hundred eighteen, you will cover air attacks. Kill every enemy on sight that is not a Conjurer.”

  The crowd roared in approval.

  “There are about a thousand of us here today,” Thaught said, raising his voice, “and Terminus will use all of his Conjurers, as well as his followers and Upgrades, to battle us, giving Terminus an advantage over us by several hundred.”

  The crowd grew silent again.

  “But as the humans say, quality over quantity!”

  The crowd roared in approval, and Scott could tell that they were ready for anything.

  Thaught held up a hand to silence the excited crowd, then lowered his voice.

  “How many of you have a family member or friend who has disappeared in the last several years?” Thaught asked.

  The crowd fell silent.

  “Who do you think Terminus has been using to do his experiments on?” Thaught softly asked. “How do you think he finally got the Upgrades to work, after all this time?”

  “We have to kill our family?” a woman in the crowd screamed. “Can’t we try to free their minds or something?”

  “No,” Thaught said and sighed. “You cannot, because Terminus is not actually controlling their minds. Terminus is powerful, but he cannot control all the Upgrades’ minds as well. We have reason to believe that their new powers have taken over and are creating alterations that even Terminus could not conceive, nor that he can control. That makes them very unpredictable.”

  “So why are they doing this? Why are they fighting for him?” Scott spoke for the first time in a while.

  “They are fighting for him because he has promised them a new life on Earth. A new beginning. And he has manipulated and tortured them for years with the help of his right-hand man, Kane.” He once again addressed the Armadronians gathered around him. “They will not know who you are, and they will be unnaturally vicious. Do not hesitate.”

  A man in the crowd created a pillar of earth that rose from the ground beneath his feet, elevating him above the hordes so he could make himself heard. “So why are we fighting this battle?” he bellowed. “If we can’t even save our own kin, why are we trying to save the humans? What have they ever done for us? They don’t even know that we exist!”

  The Armadronians started to mumble amongst themselves, but Artam stepped forward and spoke.

  “We must help them because if Terminus leaves Armadron, he will eventually destroy life on Earth. And when he has done that, he will return to Armadron more powerful than ever. He will be even more unstoppable. We cannot let him leave.”

  The crowd fell silent again.

  “Now, we have spent too long talking,” Thaught interjected. “It is time for action. Everyone, take your positions near your section leaders. Stand by for my signal and be ready for the fight of your lives. After the battle begins, we may get more reinforcements from Icranu teams as they arrive. They are getting here as fast as they can. We are going to take our planet back, today. We are going to let the fight
come to us.”

  “And the fight has just arrived.”

  Scott turned and saw a man standing behind Thaught, a mocking sneer still on his lips.

  It was Kane.

  Everyone froze with fear. No one moved an inch.

  Kane circled Thaught, grinning from ear to ear.

  Why is no one moving?! Scott thought.

  That’s when Scott realized he wasn’t moving either.

  In fact, he couldn’t move anything, not even his eyes.

  “But how will you take action when no one can move? My master has you all stopped,” Kane jeered.

  Suddenly Scott saw the hundred Conjurers flash into existence. They surrounded the Icranu crowd in a giant circle, or at least as far as Scott could tell.

  “Let’s see . . .” Kane chewed his lower lip, contemplating something. “We still have an hour until the Gateway is operational. Looks like I have time for a little fun.”

  Kane walked over to Scott, who felt chills go down his spine.

  Kane reached out his hand and pointed at Scott, his finger inches from Scott’s chest.

  “This is the boy who is supposed to defeat us?” He mocked.

  Just a little closer, Scott thought. If only I could—

  “Copy my abilities?” Kane said aloud.

  Scott would have gasped if he could have moved a muscle.

  “You cannot without touching me.” Kane laughed. “How useless you are.”

  Kane sat back in a sitting position and levitated six feet off the ground. He leaned toward Scott slowly and spoke into his ear. “I will kill all of your friends now.”

  Scott’s heart dropped.

  “But do not worry. I promise that I will savor every scream, every terrified whimper, and every pathetic plea for mercy, as I did with Sam.”

  Come on! Focus! How do I get out of this? Scott thought.

  “I understand that you formed a bond with Nick in the Infinite Cave. He feels to you like a brother now, yes?” Kane taunted. “What is it that the humans say again? Love can overcome anything? Let’s test that bond, shall we?” Kane disappeared and then reappeared next to Nick.

  “Now, I am going to kill him right before your eyes, and we shall see if you can do anything to stop me. If you cannot . . . well, then love just does not exist, does it?” Kane gave an evil grin.

  It came to Scott then. The thoughts began entering his mind in quick succession.

  How does Terminus have so much power and not die from overexertion of his abilities? Why was he able to control all those Conjurers? Why does Terminus want to colonize Earth when he could do whatever he wants with Armadron?

  Plegaborne had told Scott that the man dying at the bottom of the ocean had darkness inside him. Scott realized that man had most likely been Terminus, and Kane was his pawn.

  “I think I will kill him with his own weapon,” Kane continued.

  Scott saw something that resembled a cross between a gun and a sword appear in Kane’s hands. The weapon was about three and a half feet long and had knives and a gun barrel at the end of it, its functionality enhanced by a variety of levers and buttons, the purpose of which Scott couldn’t begin to guess. Kane pressed a button at the base of the sword, and tip of the blade shot out twenty feet and then sprang back. The sword was now a type of whip, with three deadly knives attached to the end of it. Kane pressed the button again, and the weapon returned to normal.

  “Your friend built this,” Kane said, looking at the weapon with disgust, “for people whose abilities are not sufficient enough to protect them. He calls this crude machine a Bastum. You see, folks, Nick believes that we should all have a fair chance at survival.” Kane waved the weapon in front of Nick’s face. “I disagree.”

  —Something is wrong, Plegaborne thought.

  —Yeah, no duh, Scott agreed. Everyone’s about to freaking die.

  —No, Plegaborne responded. Kane is not the one holding everyone suspended in motion. This is the work of a much more powerful enemy. Kane is merely a distraction to take us away from the real threat. Without Terminus’s powers that have been given to him, he only has his own curse.

  Before Scott could grasp what Plegaborne was talking about, Kane moved.

  He brought the sword up faster than Scott would have thought possible and sliced downward toward Nick’s immobilized head.

  —Take me there! Scott screamed into the far recesses of his mind.

  —You will not survive with your conscious mind. Only Terminus has done that, and it has obviously corrupted him, Plegaborne warned.

  The sword was almost at Nick’s neck.

  —Just do it! Scott screamed into his thoughts.

  The Journey

  The world was burning, and the world was flooding. The world was a black hole and a blinding light. There was death and rebirth everywhere, and Scott felt as if he had been here his entire life.

  Or was it a second ago? he thought to himself.

  —Shhhhhh! Plegaborne thought to him. The power of the mind controls everything in this Dimension! You must silence your thoughts, or we will be noticed.

  —Are we back in the Chaos Dimension now? Scott asked quietly into his mind.

  —Yes.

  —How did we even get here? I don’t remember . . .

  Scott could see giant, unfathomable monsters and beings far off in the distance. He could feel pure, unimaginable power coursing through the air, making the atmosphere vibrate and crackle with energy.

  —Or are they right next to me? Scott thought, feeling fearful.

  —There are no laws of physics here, Plegaborne whispered in Scott’s thoughts. There are only the laws of thought.

  —Wow.

  —Do not think that, Plegaborne warned.

  —Think what?!

  —You were just pondering whether you could open your eyes or walk around. Do not do it. You must use your sixth sense in order to navigate this place.

  —Okay.

  —You also must hurry. You came here in order to stop Kane and Terminus, yes?

  —Yes.

  —Then you must figure it out quickly, or your feeble human mind will be ripped apart by the Higher Beings.

  —Geez, Scott thought, that’s comforting.

  Scott knew what he had to do. He had to find Kane’s power source and trace it back to Terminus.

  —Power source? Plegaborne questioned.

  —You said that Terminus used you as a shield in order to enter this place, like how I’m doing right now, Scott explained. I realized that if he knew about you, then he wouldn’t stop there.

  —Go on.

  —He would want more power. I can see that in this Dimension you guys are all-powerful and whatnot. Terminus is all-powerful on Armadron supposedly, so he must have gotten the power from here somewhere, seeing as how no one else has ever become this powerful.

  —Where would he have gotten his power?

  —Well . . . , Scott thought. Where do you get your power? How did you always go back and forth from Armadron and the Chaos Dimension?

  —Of course, Plegaborne said, something dawning on him.

  —Of course what? Scott pressed, growing excited.

  —Terminus must always have a portal open inside himself, so that he can take the infinite energy from here and use it on Armadron.

  Mind over matter, Scott remembered Claire saying to him before he had entered the Infinite Cave with Nick.

  —He’s been lying! Plegaborne exclaimed. He just takes the power of thought from here, and on Armadron he can do almost whatever he wants to do with it! And he gave some of it to Kane so that he can hide in the shadows and no one will ever know!

  A loud noise that sounded like a wild animal screaming reverberated through the Dimension.

  —However, Plegaborne noted, ignoring the sound, on Armadron he is tethered by the laws of physics. He cannot create new matter per se, he cannot create or destroy energy, and his thoughts are only as powerful as his limited imagination. He has thrown
aside the part of my essence that he had been using as a shield. Now, the gateway to his power is in his mind. He is unstoppable as long as his mind is connected to the Higher Planes.

  —Where can we find him in here? Scott asked.

  —It could take millennia to find him.

  —But we can’t get to him on Armadron either! Scott cried.

  —Then we shall get to him on Armadron from here, Plegaborne said.

  —What are you talking about?

  —Right now, Terminus exists in two places at once. I shall show you.

  Scott felt a buzzing sensation in his head, and then he saw a familiar sight.

  He was once again standing by the Gateway. All the Conjurers and Icranu were by him, and Kane’s sword was just an inch away from Nick’s neck. Scott gasped when he took in this sight, and he suddenly realized that he had control of his body, not just his mind.

  —Do not worry, Plegaborne thought, he cannot hurt your friend in this place. But we must hurry before Terminus realizes that we are here.

  —What do I do?

  —You must kill Kane. Quickly. That will get Terminus’s attention.

  Scott no longer thought about how gruesome it was to kill someone. He was way past that, and Kane had already killed Sam and countless others. Instead, he used one of his many curses and shot a bolt of lightning out of his right palm. It came out slowly, trickling toward Kane.

  Something in the corner of his vision moved.

  He looked at the spot but saw nothing. Scott looked back toward the lightning and saw a man standing in front of Kane, blocking the bolt. The man had blond hair and was of medium height. He didn’t even look scary. He just looked like an everyday normal guy. He was even wearing a plain brown cotton T-shirt and simple black shorts.

  Aaargh! Scott cried out in his mind.

  The man crossed his arms, annoyed. His eyes moved, and the bolt of lightning disintegrated into electrical dust.

  —Uhhh, Plegaborne? Scott asked fearfully. Can he see us?

  “I can see you, Scott,” the man said out loud, straightening up. “And if you were wondering, then yes—I am Terminus.”

  Scott remained silent, backing up a little.

  “Are you afraid of me?” Terminus laughed pleasantly.