by Ross Buzzell
Xero cherishes the moment for some time. Ten individuals, five men, five women, all wearing lesser royal garb with each of their family crests aglow in different colors, on their chests arrive on the patio from inside the palace accompanied by the royal guard. One of the guards steps forward and declares the arrival of the royal families.
“High King Lorian, it is my honor to announce the arrival of the kings and queens of the five kingdoms.”
Ro turns and faces the group, a smile on his lips.
“Thank you Masa’ani, you all are dismissed.”
The royal guards bow slightly before turning and disappearing into the halls of the palace. Xero approaches his brother placing a hand on Ro’s shoulder.
“It appears the kings and queens of our great planet have come to swear loyalty to their new High King. If I may ask your leave, I must enter the mourning period for my new king.”
Xero looks behind his brother as the other five kings and queens, each with different colors of hair from raven to magenta, with eye colors and family crests to match, approach the new High King.
“Allow me to enter mine as well my love; this is the business for the High King, not me.”
she kisses her husband’s cheek and exits back into the palace. Xero and Ro shake hands once more before Xero turns and jumps on the ledge of the patio. Using the sun’s radiation to ignite his hands and feet, he flies through the air as Ro turns to begin talks with the other royal families of the planet.
Soaring through the sky Xero flies towards a mountain range. He places his hands to his sides as his body begins to emit more solar radiation as he speeds up. The roar of the wind grows louder in his ears as he increases speed. A cone of mist briefly forms in front of him before dissipating around him. Then silence, nothing, there is no sound of the wind or the whistle of his cape can be heard behind him. He enters the mountain range flying low and fast. The crack of the sound barrier echoes through the ravines of the mountains as his speed continues to increase. Xero, moving unassisted faster than any being on his planet had before, feels a rush of exhilaration. Pushing himself further and further, he breaks mach two, then three. His heightened senses allow him to process the treacherous ravines and their turns making everything appear to move slower to him. The range begins to narrow as a crevasse fast approaches Xero. Placing his hands forward and ducking his head, Xero slides between the two rock faces like a piece of string threads a needle.
Xero flies at such an accelerated rate that as he enters the crevasse some of the stone from the walls gets pulled off and sucked into the vacuum behind him before finally dropping with gravity’s pull back to the ground. Xero approaches a cavern, an area which he had discovered long ago that was hidden in the mountain. He would use it to escape from the world below. As he approaches the mountain face he throws his hands forward. They flair and release a small solar flare from each of them. Xero almost immediately grinds to a halt. He drops his hands to the side and begins to hover. Hearing a rumbling, Xero slowly turns and looks behind him as the vacuum he had created catches up, tearing up the valley. Xero braces himself for the impact. What he was not ready for was the sound. As the force of his flight collides with him, Xero is only pushed back a few feet. But as the explosion of the sound barrier breaking catches up to him, the explosion of sound rings like a mini-nuclear bomb in his extremely sensitive ears. Xero holds his head and lets out a cry of pain as the shock of the sound reverberates throughout his system causing him to lose focus. The solar energy dissipates and Xero falls thirty feet to the ground.
Gradually the ringing in Xero’s ears subsides. In shock from the sound of the blast Xero slowly pulls himself off the ground to his feet. Not far away sits an old friend, the ancient weapon of the Seraphs forged into a blade and stuck in the ground. After a moment of hesitation he makes his way to the blade as his mind reaches back to all those years ago when he was told he was not yet ready. Perhaps his time and experience has made him ready. Slowly he reaches out and grasps the blade. Instantly gold light explodes from the blade as his ancient ancestor appears once more, this time he seems angry. The phantom reaches out; grabbing Xero by the shoulder pads, he slams the prince into the stone wall.
“You have betrayed your people. You are corrupted and will never be worthy of the gift of the Creator. It would have been if better you fell on the Dark World.”
The sudden outburst of his ancestor takes Xero by surprise. The shock that he managed to gain a physical form that he was so powerful that Xero could not budge under his strength. And the emotion of anger that permeates from him could be physically felt as a white heat on the prince’s skin. Just as quickly as he appears he disappears leaving Xero bewildered and slightly fearful of Starfall. He pauses for a moment as he contemplates attempting to pick it up again but decides not to before returning to his place of landing.
Xero turns toward a rock face; he takes a deep breath, shakes his head to throw off the last remnants of the soundwave and walks toward it. As he approaches, Xero puts his hand up. It passes through the rock face as if it was not there. The entire face shifts for a moment as the hologram designed to conceal the entrance is interrupted while Xero enters his secret sanctuary.
Xero looks around at the inside of his sanctuary that is filled with trophies from conquered enemies, beautiful sculptures of metal bent into shapes, books lining full walls of a lab similar to that in his vision. And on a desk, chained to the table is the massive gold and black book that he had discovered for the first time all those years ago. Xero walks through his hideout. Grabbing one of the branches of medal from a sculpture he pushes on it. The metal creaks and groans under the force that is being exerted against it before giving way allowing Xero to bend it to his will.
Xero takes a step back and looks at the tower of twisted metal. He smiles and nods to himself before walking to the massive ancient text on the table. He places his hand on the dusty leather cover and with a single swipe a cloud of dust and dirt shoots into the air. The gold engravings on the book glow briefly as the dust settles back down. The ancient language of the Boronian people line the outside of the book and on the center of the cover the symbol of the Emissaries gradually begins to glow gold. Xero places an index finger confidently off to the side of the circle and draws a line that touches the bottom left of the circle. The line begins to glow as well as the sound of a lock opening echoes through the chamber. Xero opens the book, the pages, yellowed with age and tattered are empty.
“Chronicle of the Emissaries. I pray you show me wisdom.”
Xero’s voice is firm and calm as he speaks. The book responds to his voice and content from within begins to gradually reappear as if hidden from the world yet yearning to share its wisdom. Xero runs his fingers over the coarse paper as he reads from the book. So entranced he does not realize that the minutes have bled into hours and hours to days.
On the third day of reading, weariness finally begins to take hold. Xero nods off onto the table, his face on the pages of the book. As sleep takes him, light from the book seeps from the pages and into the young soldier’s mind. Xero twitches as images begin to fill his unconscious thoughts. Xero opens his eyes. He sits at his table, the book with him but the land he is in has changed. Instead of a vast mountain range Xero sits in a forest with towering trees and a thin layer of fog covering the forest as if to hold back a secret. Xero, in bewilderment, pushes his chair back to stand up but there is resistance. Xero looks down and sees his chair is stuck in sand. Pushing his way out of the desk, he realizes that the entire forest floor is covered in a layer of sand.
“Hello!”
Xero calls out. His words echoing in lower intervals with each reverberation.
“Is anybody there!”
Nothing, still the deep quiet of the woods grips Xero like a muffling vice. The forest was beyond silent. It was as if the sound was being pulled from the air creating a vacuum. All joy, happiness and life leaving Xero only with the crushing sensation of dread. A hand grasps
Xero’s shoulder. The soldier spins around ready to face anything, or so he thought. Out of the fog emerges his father, not old and frail as he was remembered but in his young body adorned in a white garment.
The High King puts his hand up. A rumble reverberates through the woods as the fog dissipates, and the sand slowly turns into running water. Xero, dumbfounded, takes a step backward in disbelief.
“Father, you have died.”
The High King nods and places his hands behind his back.
“That I have. This is the medium ground between this life and the next.”
Xero takes a step towards his father, his mind racing. So many questions whirled through him, wanting to speak but the words eluded him. After a moment of silence Xero is able to mutter one soft word.
“How?”
The High King looks at the book.
“You should not have that book. It is meant for the Matriarch of the Emissaries. Even you, the first born of the leading royal family, could not hope to control its power.”
Xero slowly moves between the book and his father.
“It has taught me so much father. I am more than just a soldier. I am learning, teaching myself the way Ro was taught.”
The former High King closes his eyes in sorrow. He gently squeezes the brow of his nose.
“My son, leave the schooling to the educational and leadership class. You are a soldier. Remain in your own class. There are reasons we do it this way.”
The High King takes a step toward his son. Xero pulls away.
“What if I don’t want to be just a soldier? What if I want to be well rounded both war and intelligence!”
The High King looks at his son in confusion as Xero yells at his father.
“Is this because you were not chosen for High King? It takes much more strength and intelligence to realize that sometimes to protect the universe the sacrifice of a single planet is sometimes worth it.”
Xero takes a deep breath. He shakes his head in disappointment to his father.
“It’s not that father. I did not want to be High King in the first place, Ro cracking was his own choice. I admire that choice. To unleash all of one’s energy in a single powerful attack destroying both the planet and the threat which dwells upon it. It’s a good strategy, and he will make a far greater king than I.”
The High King, perplexed at his son, moves in front of Xero and looks him dead in the eye.
“If it was not to contest your kingship, then why have you come to the between?”
A deep voice rings out from the woods, a familiar one to both men.
“Because he seeks answers.”
The Dark Titan had located Xero once more. Both men look at the Dark Titan as he emerges from the trees. Each step he takes is so toxic that it scars the ‘between’ causing the plants to die and the trees to rot. The High King turns to face the Dark Titan who keeps his eyes on Xero. Clenching his fists he yells out at the behemoth.
“If you are here for revenge Titan know that you cannot kill me for I am already dead!”
The Dark Titan puts up a hand; the king stops, wincing in pain. The Dark Titan looks at the High King.
“This may be true dog, but I can send you back from wince you came in a very painful manner.”
The Dark Titan lifts his hand; the king begins to groan in agony as he is slowly ripped into light and dissipates back to the afterlife. Xero turns to the Dark Titan ready for yet another rematch but the Dark Titan does not appear aggressive. He approaches Xero and looks down at the soldier.
“Learn all you can young soldier. Your knowledge will be needed.”
The Dark Titan slips something into Xero’s right hand before taking a step back.
“Now, it’s time to wake up!”
Xero jolts awake in his chair. He looks around the room. The day sun had set and the night had risen. Xero places his hands on the desk to push himself off and stops briefly. Slowly Xero lifts his hand and sees a blue glowing stone in his right hand. Perplexed Xero closes the book and brings the blue stone to his lab to study it.
Chapter: 14
Xero works feverishly at an analyzer scanning the blue stone bestowed upon him by the Dark Titan. The scanner opens a hologram of hard light showing the molecular structure of the blue stone. Xero looks at the hologram. Placing his hands on either side he pulls them apart. The hologram zooms in on the stone even further. A smile slowly forms on Xero’s now bearded face; he moves quickly to another station. Lifting a needle from a table full of assorted advanced medical devices the unarmored soldier jams the syringe through his cloak and into his arm. Red blood with a blue tinge slowly fills a vile on the far end of the needle. Xero pulls the needle from his arm and marches back over to the scanner.
Pouring his blood onto a plate of glass Xero scans his DNA. The hologram projects Xero’s DNA. Xero zooms in on his blood platelets and begins to laugh. He takes a step back and runs his fingers through his hair while laughing. His celebration is quickly interrupted when he hears the voice of the Emissary echo through his cavern.
“There are things that even you should not be aware of Xero Lorian!”
Xero’s smile fades as he turns around to see a clearly enraged Emissary. She begins to approach him and stops next to the book of the Emissaries. She places her hands on it and closes it.
“How did you find me?”
Xero takes a step forward, putting himself between the Emissary and his work. With a wave of his hand the holograms both fade away. The Emissary holds the book up, pointing to Xero with it and raising her voice to him.
“Your continued use of the book allowed us to track its power. How did you find this? It was stolen from the Emissaries millennia ago during the Titan Wars!”
Xero’s jaw clenches at the Emissary. His words seep through his clenched jaws as a growl.
“Ask your Matriarch.”
The Emissary’s tone changes quickly. As Xero snaps at her, she hides the book under her cloak. Her tone changes to that of concern.
“Xero, my prince, she died… you do not understand this book holds all of the known knowledge of the universe. It was assembled by the Emissaries and is bound by us. Prolonged exposure and use of that energy to anyone who does not share the Emissary bloodline can be driven mad.”
Xero pauses for a moment as he dwells on her words. The itch in the back of his mind had grown more powerful. He could now feel its presence as a dwelling force within his mind. She takes a step closer to Xero. Observing his clearly tense body language; she speaks softly to him as if relaying bad news.
“You’ve been exposed for too long Xero. We need to get you to the tower and…”
“It is you that does not understand Emissary. I must finish my research because without it this planet will fall. The Dark Titan is returning and he will raise this planet to the ground unless I succeed!”
Xero slams a closed fist down onto a stone table which causes it to crack. The blue Boronite flairs; this catches the eye of the Emissary. Her eyes widen in sheer terror as she backs away from the prince.
“Xero where did you find that stone?”
“Do you not recognize the greatest weapon of the Titan race?”
The Emissary backs into a table. She feels for the edge.
“Xero blue Boronite was forged to turn our power against us, so that we will kill ourselves! Why would you use our deadliest enemy’s greatest weapon?”
Xero smiles as he approaches the stone. He picks it up causing it, his family crest, and his eyes to flair blue.
“It’s a warrior’s tactic; use their greatest weapon against them. This stone’s molecular makeup is an exact match to my families. Only this stone is not electron deficient like us, no, it is overflowing with them. You know what that means?”
The Emissary whimpers in fear as she sees her prince having turned. She whispers softly as she holds the book close to her.
“Absolute power.”
The Emissary presses the glyph on the front of t
he book just as Xero squeezes the stone. A surge of power courses through his system as he feels everything within him get stronger. His senses, his muscles, even his own radiation absorption power almost immediately perfect themselves. A yellow, protective aura that surrounds the Emissary is pulled from her and into Xero as a wormhole opens behind the Emissary. On the far side there is a group of men and women, dressed the same, all with yellow auras about them. The portal opening catches their attention as light itself begins to be pulled into the prince, the intoxication of power clouding his mind.
“Lend me your strength!”
The fading Emissary whispers. The book dissolves into a yellow energy and falls into the Emissary as she collapses back into the wormhole which closes behind her.
