“I’d like that,” Kiara said blissfully, snuggling against his chest.
After dancing for another minute, they were interrupted by a knock at the door.
“Sorry if I’m interrupting,” Sable said with a smirk, “but you two love birds are inseparable, and my best friend just came back from the dead.”
“Sable!” Kiara screeched with excitement, running to the door. Raiden laughed as they squeezed the life out of one another.
“I can’t believe you’re here!” Kiara exclaimed, allowing the Coder to breathe.
“Thanks to your boyfriend over there,” Sable said, shooting Raiden a wink. “He saved us all. Now on to more important matters…is that handsome prince still available?”
Kiara’s smile suddenly faded, and Sable realized she’d hit a sensitive topic. She turned Kiara away from Raiden and whispered in her ear.
“Is there something we need to talk about?”
Kiara nodded uncomfortably.
“Alright, Raiden,” Sable ordered playfully, gesturing at him to leave. “Out.”
“Wait, but-”
“Now. You had your turn.”
“Fine,” Raiden sighed, shaking his head. He walked towards the door, kissing Kiara’s cheek on the way out. “I’m gonna go see how things are going with Rio and the angel. Come find me when you’re done.”
He walked out of the room and headed down a metal corridor past a multitude of doors leading to similar sleeping quarters and weapon lockers. As he turned a corner on his way to the central chamber, he nearly walked into Suriel, who approached from the opposite direction.
“Excuse me, Your Majesty,” Raiden said quickly, startled. When he looked more closely, he saw that the Prince’s eyes were red with tears.
“Is everything alright?” Raiden asked.
“Everything is fine,” the Prince said sharply. “I was just on my way to see Kiara.”
“She’s with Sable in their assigned sleeping quarters,” Raiden said, then chuckled. “But you might have a problem getting in there.”
“I will take my chances,” Suriel said coldly, then continued walking.
“Hey,” Raiden called after him. “I just wanted to thank you for protecting her while she was away. She told me what happened, that you saved her life on more than one occasion. Any friend of Kiara’s is a friend of mine.”
Suriel glared at him with a torn expression, then turned back around without another word.
“Nice guy,” Raiden muttered sarcastically to himself before continuing into the main chamber.
The chamber was extremely large, spanning the length of two Earth football fields lined one against the other. Inside was an assortment of hovercars, laser cannons, and other powerful weapons too large to keep in the armories. Hundreds of rebels worked at small communication desks scattered around the room, transmitting messages to rebel outposts throughout the Dinges.
Raiden walked across the boisterous chamber to the other side where Gavriel stood speaking with Rio, Pete, Mara, and Ferrus.
“So you’re tellin’ me,” Rio said, “that even though the King agreed to stop the war, I still need to order my men to fight in your celestial family feud?”
“This is no laughing matter,” Gavriel said grimly. “Mikael will use all the fallen angels under his command to capture my champion and turn him to the darkness. Suriel must be protected at all costs, and he will need an army. If you do not comply, there will be no city left for you to protect.”
“We faced Mikael and some of his Decrepit,” Mara added. “They were attempting to turn all the villagers into cursed slaves, as you said they did to you. They have more than enough to use as an army.”
“They were using us to dig, not to fight,” Rio said.
“That may have been true before, but can you be sure it will not change?” Mara asked.
“If Mikael retrieves Suriel and the God Power, he will manipulate him to revive Azarai,” Gavriel said. “Azarai will destroy all of existence and start this galaxy anew under his own, wicked rule.”
“So we should keep the amulets separated,” Raiden suggested, joining the conversation. All eyes turned towards him.
“We shall keep the Electus Prime in two pieces, far from each other, until my brother has been killed,” Gavriel agreed. “You should stay in this place, and I will take my champion with me to ensure his protection.”
“He would be safer in a bunker,” Pete pointed out, bowing towards the angel as he spoke. “No offense to Your Greatness or whatever, but you ain’t exactly the best hidin’ spot.”
“A God Prince does not hide,” Gavriel grumbled. “He fights alongside his men.”
“Whatever you say,” Pete backed off. “When you’re naked and made of gold, you call the shots.”
Raiden couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Now that you’ve made peace, do you think there’s a chance the King would help us fight him?” Raiden asked.
“Peace?” Rio scoffed. “I’d hardly call it that. I could have Suriel ask, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.”
◆◆◆
Suriel walked nervously through the corridor, his mind swirling with a sea of different thoughts and emotions. The conversation with his father had left his heart in a tumultuous state, raging between feelings of anger, fear, love, and loss. He needed someone to talk to, someone who could understand him. Someone who loved him.
I am the son of a murderer, Suriel thought. My entire life, I have been lied to. My father is a monster, a monster whom I love. How can I call myself a prince if my father does not deserve to be king? But then again, I am even more than a prince. I am the chosen one.
That’s what the angel had called him. The chosen one, destined to rule over the galaxy.
How can I rule over the galaxy if I cannot rule over my own heart? He thought in distress. His hand curled into a fist, and he banged it angrily against the wall.
That man, the one with the red hair. He’s standing in the way between me and Kiara.
“Then get rid of him. You are the God Prince, and you can do as you please!”
The foreign voice intruded in on his thoughts, masking itself as his own.
But love cannot be forced. It is a choice, Suriel convinced himself. Getting rid of him would only hurt Kiara.
“Then get rid of her too. You heard the angel. You are destined for things much greater than that girl.”
But I love her…
Suriel took a deep breath as he reached Kiara’s door. He heard voices talking in the background, unable to make out what they were saying. He knocked, and the voices stopped.
“I thought I told you to-” Sable stopped, quickly realizing it wasn’t Raiden standing before her.
“Oh, sorry, Your Highness,” she said. “You and Raiden look oddly alike.”
“I’d like to speak with Kiara,” Suriel said, overlooking the awkward incident.
“Of course,” Sable obeyed. She shot Kiara a supportive, comforting glance, then exited the room.
“Hey,” Kiara said with a soft, anxious voice.
“You do not need to look at me like that,” Suriel said, drawing closer to her. “You can be yourself around me. I am still the same man I was before your old friend returned.”
“He’s…more than an old friend, Suriel,” Kiara said slowly. “I thought he’d been killed. But, he hadn’t and I…I-”
“You love him,” Suriel finished for her, turning away momentarily to hide his pain.
“Yes,” Kiara whispered solemnly. “I do.”
“I understand,” Suriel said, making his grief beneath a tone of indifference as he turned to leave.
“Suriel, wait,” Kiara said, rushing up to him and grabbing his arm.
Suriel winced as if burned by the familiarity of her touch.
“That doesn’t change how close I feel to you,” she said. “We can still be friends.”
Suriel hesitated as he took a deep breath, relishing the serene comfort of her warm
th against his skin. He wanted nothing more than to turn around and embrace her, to hold her close. But instead, he tore his arm from her grasp.
“No,” he said firmly, his voice quivering with anger. “We cannot. Not when I still feel this way about you. Coming here was a mistake.”
And with that, he stormed out of the room, leaving Kiara alone in the room, tear-riddled and speechless.
Chapter Eighteen
The Uprising
1 day before planet’s destruction
“The King is dead! The King is dead!”
The words echoed from loudspeakers on every street throughout the Capital as panicking citizens scrambled to the shelter of their homes, not knowing what to expect. A black cloud hovered over the roof of the royal palace, swarming with hungry Decrepit.
Kain raced down the central road towards the palace on his raptor, his stump of a left arm wrapped in a sling around his shoulder. A stampede of White Riders followed behind him, loyal to their commander despite the change of leadership. He’d regrouped with them at Balron before continuing to the Capital.
I should have been there, Kain thought bitterly. It was my duty to protect the King, and I failed. Once again, I’ve let down my family.
He glared resolutely at the black cloud above the palace.
There is still Suriel, and now Liosa. I will protect them, no matter the cost.
As they approached the vast, flowery garden surrounding the castle, they were spotted by the Decrepit. A horde of the fallen angels poured down at them from the cloud, screeching with bloodlust and rage.
“At the ready!” Kain sounded his command, and the knights drew their glowing saberblades, following his lead. Kain balanced himself upon his speeding raptor with only his legs, wielding the blade in his hand.
The knights charged bravely into the oncoming storm, never slowing their advance.
“Now,” Kain yelled. “Attack!”
The knights’ saberblades clashed with the shadowy blades of the Decrepit in a majestic, yet terrifying dichotomy of light and darkness. Kain pushed on his raptor’s horns, forcing him to go faster and faster as he steered around the Decrepit, trying to break ahead of the swarm. Five knights rode directly behind him, following his every turn, while the rest of them scattered throughout the battlefield.
One of his accompanying knights screamed as the sword of a Decrepit speared through his back and lifted him violently from his raptor. It consumed his life energy, then cut off his head.
“Onwards!” Kain yelled, and the remaining four knights condensed closer together, trying their best to maintain formation.
A Decrepit materialized nearly directly in front of them. Kain shoved his raptor’s neck desperately to the right, and the beast tried its best to leap out of the way. The raptor shrieked as the Decrepit’s blade carved a deep gash through the side of its body.
“Come on, Dios!” Kain yelled. “We’re almost there, we can do this!”
Another knight screamed as the Decrepit tackled him to the floor.
With only three of his men remaining, Kain raced towards the gates of the palace. His raptor was beginning to slow as blood oozed from its injuries.
“Almost there, my friend,” Kain patted the creature’s neck. “My brave Dios.”
The raptor drove on with every last ounce of its energy, until its eyes began to close in exhaustion. Finally, Kain jumped as the creature crashed to the floor and rolled across the grass, only meters away from the palace doors.
Kain landed on his feet near the raptor. He approached the old beast, who’d served him loyally for the past twenty years.
“We did it, my friend,” Kain said gently, stroking the dinosaur’s snout. The dinosaur whined softly, opening one eye just wide enough to see its master, then closed it again.
“Now, Dios, you may rest,” Kain whispered, a single tear falling beneath his eye.
“Sir!” one of his knights shouted. Kain turned to see two Decrepit approaching from the battlefield.
“You go on ahead, Sir!” the knight said, his voice rife with determination. “We will hold them off!”
Kain nodded, then ran to the tall, steel palace gates. However, instead of trying to push them open, he ran half a kilometer along the wall’s perimeter to a nearby oak tree and pressed his hand against its trunk. A faint humming noise sounded as a device scanned his handprint from within the tree, and a small, hidden door opened in front of him.
Kain hopped onto a ladder inside and shut the door behind him, leaving himself in the darkness. He climbed down the ladder into a tunnel system below, then unsheathed his saberblade, using it for light.
He trotted down the tunnel with a racing heart and a focused mind, pushing away all sense of fear or emotion, allowing only one to remain—revenge.
He reached the platform beneath the throneroom and hacked open the King’s old, metal chest, removing the picture of his sister. He gazed at her image, admiring her joyful, familiar eyes.
“I will make this right, Melina,” he promised. He smashed the frame against a nearby wall, shattering the glass, then took the picture from inside, slipping it into a pocket on his shirt.
Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the center of the lift, staring straight ahead.
“Take me up,” he ordered cooly.
The floor above began to separate as the platform rose. Kain wrapped his fingers tightly around his saberblade, and focused his thoughts, preparing for battle.
As his head rose above the surface, he saw the torn, shriveled bodies of the King’s advisors sprawled around the room, the floor soaked in their blood. Jaaro stood in front of the King’s throne, dressed in the royal garb. They were alone in the room.
“What is this!?” Jaaro exclaimed, staring flabbergasted at the masked knight who’d risen from the floor. “Who are you? Guar-!”
Before he could finish his word, Kain hurled his sablerblade like a spear, and it slashed through Jaaro’s abdomen, sending him tumbling to the floor. As Jaaro cried out in pain, Kain sprinted beside him to retrieve his blade, then held it inches from Jaaro’s throat.
“Tell me what has happened here!” Kain demanded.
“I-am-your-King!” Jaaro managed to cough out.
The doors of the throne room opened, and guards rushed into the room.
“Help!” Jaaro rasped.
The guards raised their blasters to fire, but hesitated as Kain lifted his mask, revealing his face.
“Have you men no sense of loyalty!?” Kain shouted. “You have known me for over twenty years, and this man has been your King for not even a day! If you will not help me, then at least leave me to my vengeance.”
Jaaro’s eyes widened with fear as the men lowered their weapons and exited the room.
“Please, he begged. “Do not do this. Mikael will kill you.”
“I do not fear death, Priest,” Kain seethed, recognizing Jaaro from his first battle against the Decrepit. “My cause is righteous. Is yours?”
Jaaro’s jaw quivered, his eyes began to tear. He tried to read Kain’s face, but couldn’t focus through the pain and Kain’s mask.
“You shall answer only what I ask, and nothing more,” Kain demanded. “At the first sign of a Reader’s trick, I will detach your head from your shoulders. What is the angel’s plan?”
“He has ordered an invasion of the Dinges,” Jaaro said, gasping for breath. “He is searching for the Prince and his amulet.”
“What does he want with them?”
“To restore order to our galaxy,” Jaaro replied.
“I do not have time for riddles, Priest!” Kain shouted, pressing the blade closer.
“He plans to revive Azarai, the rightful God Prince!” Jaaro admitted in desperation. “The Lord is trapped within the gemstone. He requires a worthy body to set him free.”
“And Suriel is worthy…” Kain muttered slowly.
“And if not Suriel, then the human,” Jaaro said. “Raiden Williams. Now,” Jaaro spoke, his voice
turning deep and hypnotic. “I have told you all I know. You must-”
Before he could finish the sentence, Kain swiped the blade across the Reader’s neck, severing his windpipe, then walked back to the moving platform, leaving the new king to choke on the floor beneath the throne.
◆◆◆
“Rio!” Pete said, running up to Rio from one of the communication desks. Rio stood by a table with a handful of rebel commanders, drawing out maps and assignments. He turned around to face Pete.
“Where’s the angel?” Pete asked urgently, looking around.
“With the Prince,” Rio answered. “He’s teachin’ him how to be king of the galaxy or whatever. Somethin’ about controlling his power.”
“Well, we need’a go find ‘em. We just received an urgent dispatch from our men at the gate. The entire White Army is marchin’ on the Dinges, focused at the main gate. We’re under attack.”
“What!?” Rio raged. “We were fools to think we could trust that murderer. Order all gate patrols to fire as soon as they’re in range. Then we’ll fight ‘em on the streets with guerilla warfare, just like we trained for.”
Rio rushed over to one of the communication desks and grabbed the microphone from the rebel who worked the station, barking a command.
“Patch me through to all speakers,” Rio ordered.
“Yes, sir,” the rebel adjusted a few knobs on an electrical device connected to the microphone. “Go ahead.”
Rio cleared his throat.
“Attention all residents of the Dinges,” Rio spoke with confidence and determination. “Despite our efforts to pursue peace, the corrupted King has ordered his entire army to strike us down. The fact that he feels the need to utilize his entire force comes to show how much he fears us. He considers us a threat, a serious one, but we are much more than just that. We are a people, a movement…a family.”
All around the Dinges, families gathered around old, kitchen radios and dilapidated public street speakers, listening intently to their leader with a sense of both excitement and fear. Rebels tuned in from their posts throughout the Dinges and its gates where they awaited the enemy, preparing for the moment they’d trained for.
The Chamber of Genesis Page 27
