Underground Ring: Book 1

by M. M. Reid

  “This isn’t about some stupid macho showdown, Augrais!” Ben said, his voice rising. “Let’s go before anyone gets hurt!”

  “Go then. I don’t care.” I said, then looked at them dangerously. “But let me make this clear: this is my fight. If you get in my way, I’ll put you down myself.”

  Without another word, I sprinted forward, screaming like lightning towards Lokus. He hadn’t even raised his energy yet, I thought as I was almost upon him. There’s no way he could dodge this—I was suddenly rolling away, ribs and jaw stinging, the world tumbling around me. I dug my hands and feet down, decelerating myself. The ground peeled away and my hands felt like they’d been dragged over hot coals, and then I caught a final glance of his knee rushing towards my forehead. My head cracked back as I slid across the grass as if it were water.

  “Not good. Not good!” I heard Lee cry.

  I was stunned as Lokus pulled me to my feet and struck me hard in the chest, and then again on the cheek. Warm blood was flowing from my forehead into my eyes making my vision a red blur. His hand clamped around my throat and raised me up.

  “Do you remember this test, Augrais?” he asked me. Thunder rumbled above us as the memory of the second test made my blood boil. I remembered being smashed into the ground, unable to breath, already exhausted. Who would do that to a child? “Do you remember the moment when I taught you your destiny? You promised me you would protect your friends, Augrais. You lied. You would pull us all into harm’s way time and time again. I will not stand for it any longer!”

  Rage fuelled me. What did he know about what I had sacrificed to save the Pagans from the Shadows? He had no right to question me this way. But I still had him exactly where I wanted him. I grabbed his hand hard and glared at him with my good eye.

  “Gotcha,” I said simply, knowing from our first fight that his Earth gift only takes affect when he’s concentrating on using it. With one quick movement, I broke his grip, dropped my weight, and threw my fist into his chin with all my body behind it, causing the surprised old man to rocket upward. Centreing all my energy in my legs, I catapulted forward as if I were being shot out of a cannon right at Lokus. With each moment, I felt more and more accustomed to the new powers of a Vitae Lord. The power felt like it were the weight of wearing heavy armor.

  “I’m not a child anymore, Lokus,” I cried as my shoulder struck him in the chest. “You’re a fool if you think you can rely on your Earth gift this time!”

  Lokus gritted his teeth and dragged his feet into the ground, slowing me ever so slightly. Then, in a flash, he fell backwards and used my own momentum against me. I fell face first to the ground. Enraged, I got my feet, glaring as Lokus mirrored me.

  “Did you let my father be murdered by that demon Laucian?” I asked, willing nothing but the truth with my whole being.

  The Vitae Lord stood in silence, his hand tightly gripping the hilt of his sword.

  “Answer me!” I screamed, as lightning forked behind the old man, silhouetting his body.

  A smile slithered over the old man’s lips. “I just saved you the trouble of doing it yourself.”

  Though I knew the answer, hearing it was completely a different story. Rage overtook my mind. I let out a howl of fury as I ripped Balmung free, the metallic ring of the blade tuned to thunder in the background. Lokus was going to pay for what he did to Father.

  Lokus smirked.

  Another lightning bolt streaked across the sky and it started to rain. The Fire had awakened in me again. I felt its power seep into me, like the rain into my skin. I was so enraged I was shaking.

  “Stop it, both of you!” Ben’s yell was drowned out by thunder. He wanted to intervene but did not know how.

  We clashed, with swords sparking and energies flaring, making the storm above worse. Rain pounded on our backs as our blades smashed into one another, sending small embers to illuminate the blackened sky.

  The others watching could not tell whose blow was whose. We were both using our Earth gifts to full capacity in order to stay one step ahead of the other. I swung Balmung like a baseball bat at Lokus’s head. He ducked just in time, dipped his shoulder, and rammed his sword’s handle into my chest. I threw Balmung and spun around him, catching the blade before it reached the ground. I willed more and more of my Fire to surround me and harden my skin and strengthen my muscles. For a fleeting moment, I wondered if this is what my father would have wanted—for me to be battling a fellow Mystic to the death. Did this really need to happen? Lokus saw my momentary hesitation and took full advantage. He took a quick and powerful swing at my midsection which should have cleaved me in half. To my surprise, it came at me in slow motion.

  “Stop pretending,” Laucian’s voice came from within, jeering me as Lokus’s blade came at me. “We both know you are stronger than this so,”—I lifted my blade with one hand and tilted the blade up as the two swords were about to connect—“prove it!”

  Lokus’s sword hit Balmung and shattered. My father’s blade then swept across Lokus’s chest like it was warm butter, blood and sinew satisfying its vengeance.

  The old man collapsed and I stood over him. I was breathing heavily, my Vitae completely drained. I wondered briefly why time had slowed down like that, but I set the thought aside as there were more pressing issues. Lokus was still alive and was struggling to get to his feet, a very deep gash on his chest leaked dark red blood.

  “This is why!” I screamed at him as lightning struck right above us followed by a deafening crack of thunder. “This is why Laucian still lives. This is why the Shadows are killing us. You’re too weak to do what is necessary. You’re too weak to protect your people just as you were too weak to protect my father!”

  Lokus put his hand up in surrender as he slowly crawled away.

  “Respond, old man!” I spat as I kicked him. He cried out in agony as I kicked him again and again. “Say something!” I lifted Balmung and prepared to bring it down and finish Lokus. “For you, Father,” I whispered as I swung Balmung down onto Lokus’s neck. Out of nowhere came the sound of clashing metal. Trosian, squatting, had used his sword to intercept Balmung.

  “Get out of my way,” I said bluntly, rain now falling in thick sheets around us.

  “No,” Trosian said resolutely, even though his body was shaking under the force of Balmung.

  “I will not kill you,” I said through gritted teeth, “but I will hurt you. Now move.”

  “He doesn’t deserve to die,” Trosian said. “I will not let you do this.”

  “Fine.” I pressed down on my sword, breaking Trosian’s block and then push-kicked him until he stumbled back.

  It was then that Lee and Ben intervened. Lee wrapped his legs around my waist and held onto my sword arm for dear life, whilst Ben took my legs.

  “We won’t let you do this,” Ben cried, squeezing tight.

  “Get off me!” I struggled against Lee’s half nelson. Normally the three of them would have been no match for me, but I was still weak from using my energy to defeat Lokus.

  Trosian then tackled me and brought us all crashing down. The ground was soaked with rain and it was cold. It numbed the cuts and blows I had barely begun to notice. The three of them scrambled to their feet and stood as a blockade between Lokus and I. I stood up slowly.

  “Vitae Lord or not, I will stop you,” Trosian roared against the weather. They looked ready to give their lives. To have my friends look at me in that way was hard to bear.

  “Don’t let your monster control you, Augrais.” Ben looked at me with such sad and disappointing eyes. “You’re better than that”

  I felt ready to slay them where they stood, but something in Ben’s eyes stopped me. I commanded my demon to return to whence it came. The transformation of becoming a Vitae Lord, fighting Lokus, and now my friends—it was too much. I allowed exhaustion to wash over me and fell onto my knees, defeated. I knelt there in silence, unable to move or say anything. I merely stared at our former teacher, watching his b
loody chest struggle to rise and fall.

  Chapter 16

  I struggled to remain conscious as Lee and Ben threw me into the back of the van. The effects of the battle had begun to take hold and pull me into a dark slumber. The battle already felt like a distant memory, or a dream, almost as if I didn’t believe that it had happened.

  “Stay awake, Augrais,” came Trosian’s voice as he roughly bandaged a deep laceration on my upper arm.

  “I killed him, didn’t I?” I asked, fighting to remain conscious as the van raced down the driveway and away from Lokus’s estate.

  He didn’t respond, but instead set to his task more viciously, causing pain in my arm that at least helped me to resist the insistent pull of sleep.

  “Where to, gentlemen?” Ben asked, trying to maintain vibrancy in his voice.

  “Take the highway east. Don’t stop at the next city but the one beyond that. I’ll give you further instructions when we get there.” Trosian spoke mechanically not looking at anyone.

  “Can do,” Ben replied solemnly then attempted humour one last time. “So, anybody want to try any celebratory drinking games with me when we get there?”

  No one answered. The van began to slow as Ben glanced in the rearview mirror. Lee and Trosian turned around and looked behind us. What were they looking at? In the front yard stood Lokus, clutching his wounded chest tightly and watching as his former students drove down the driveway and out of his life.

  Ben watched as Lokus disappeared from sight in his rear-view mirror. “Good bye, Lokus,” he whispered.

  It was silent from then on. Each of us privately contemplating Lokus and what our futures held now that we were free of his protection.

  We arrived in the city at dusk on the following day. The empty highway first gave way to intensely lit billboards, and then larger and larger concrete buildings began to rise from the ground. I had never been in a city before. It was full of people, walking, moving together like ants in a giant anthill. I craned my neck in awe as the buildings rose into the sky like mountains as far as the eye could see. But where was nature? I didn’t see anything other than this jungle of concrete. As we navigated, Lee told us about each of the important buildings, mentioning the Paladin Tower as we drove past it in the centre of the giant city. It was a shimmering spire of glass and silver on top of a great plateau, and the only place in the city that had any sort of nature as man-made rivers flowed through it, with flowers and small plants lining any travel route towards it. It was easily the largest thing I had ever seen as I watched the helicopters and planes fly into and out of the small holes at the top of the building.

  “What is this building for?” Ben who, like me, had never been in a city, asked.

  “You don’t know the Paladins?” Lee asked with a little bit of sneer. “They’re the top of the enforcers, basically the hub of law and order in the entire continent.”

  “If I give ‘em five bucks, think they’ll help us take down Laucian?” Ben asked.

  Lee laughed. “They let people chill on the grounds as long as they like but getting in, well, that’s impossible without an invitation, especially under their new leadership.”

  It was another hour before we finally came to Trosian’s uncle’s house. It was a large, two-story place made up of mostly windows that overlooked the river and the glowing city beyond. It was lavishly decorated with colourful plush rugs and mahogany furniture on gleaming white marble floors. Family photos lined the entrance hall, with the largest—an ornate gold-framed photo—right next to the front door. The well-groomed man pictured within it wore a charming grin and, with his short black hair and hawkish nose, looked similar to Trosian.

  “Who’s this douchenozzle?” Ben asked, at the photo as his fingers stroked his chin.

  “That’s my uncle,” Trosian replied, glaring coldly at the photo.

  “Where is he now?” Ben pressed.

  Trosian shrugged. “Not here.”

  “Uncle Dan is usually on business,” Lee explained, as Trosian was clearly becoming more and more uncomfortable talking about his uncle.

  Trosian then gave us the grand tour of the house, doing it mechanically as if reading from a script explaining each of the paintings and statues. We stopped in a large open living room with so many connecting doors that at first I wondered if we had stepped into a labyrinth. An enormous entertainment centre filled with a huge flat panel television and an array of shiny electronics quickly became the focus for the junior Mystics.

  “This TV actually has channels!” Ben said, laughing with glee as he dove headfirst into the couch.

  I sat near them in a big leather chair as Trosian took his place in the corner, looking out of a large window with an amazing view of the river. It was strange to see him silent. He was always a strong force in any debate, always stating his opinion whether you wanted to hear it or not. I respected that about him. But here, in his uncle’s home, he seemed to retreat back into his shell. What happened to him in this house, I wondered.

  The soft cushions began to envelop me as I realized just how tired I really was. It wasn’t long before the voices from the overexcited Ben and Lee and the blaring TV faded away and I fell asleep.

  I woke expecting to hear the TV and excited chatter from Lee and Ben echoing the halls, but everything was silent now, save the ticking of a nearby ancient grandfather clock. I strained to remember the layout of the house as I stood and glanced about the room.

  “Ben? Lee?” I called out, hoping to get some sort of response.

  No one called back to me as I began to walk towards the hall. If it hadn’t been for a second glance, I would have missed the dim light escaping from the closed door to one of the adjacent rooms.

  “Guys?” I whispered audibly as I crossed the room and slowly opened the creaking wooden door.

  I saw immediately that the glow in the room emanated from two candles on a shelf against the far wall. The room itself was tiny, and could have originally been intended to be a walk-in closet. Between the two candles on the shelf was a picture of a smiling man and woman holding a small child. In the flickering firelight, the picture seemed to glow as if the happiness from the moment captured was lighting the room with a golden warmth.

  “They’re upstairs, Augrais,” said a voice that nearly made me jump out of my skin. I didn’t even notice that Trosian was kneeling in front of the photo, and had now turned to stare at me with accusing eyes.

  Instead of just leaving, I decided to ask the first thing that came to mind, “Who are they?” I nodded towards the photo.

  “None of your business.” Trosian turned away.

  Normally, I would have dismissed the ever-raging Mystic and continued on my journey to find a proper bed and the rest of my friends, but there was something different about him tonight. I lingered there in silence as Trosian meditated for a few more moments before he said “Augrais?”

  “Yes?”

  “Get out.”

  I didn’t respond, stubbornly letting out a short sigh and leaning against the wall. A few more minutes passed, the ancient grandfather clock in the hallway ticking away our lives one second at a time.

  “They’re my parents,” Trosian said finally. “Happy now?”

  “Where are they?”

  “Dead.” Trosian shot back.

  There was a silence.

  “I’m sorry,” I said then added stiffly. “I know how that is.”

  “You done?” Trosian was now bristling with rage.

  “What is your problem?” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

  Trosian quickly stood and stepped right up to me. “You,” he said, that one word alight with the fire of his anger.

  “Don’t forget—”

  Trosian’s smashed his fist into the wall next to me. “Save it.”

  I slowly nodded and turned away, the door slamming behind me.

  “Well, that worked out well,” I said to myself as I entered the hall.

  “He gets like that sometimes,”
came a familiar voice.

  “Yeah, he is pretty touchy these days,” I said, smiling at Lee, who sat on the staircase.

  “Well, you should know,” Lee said, slapping his hands onto his knees before standing, “his parents were murdered here.”

  I suppressed a small pang of guilt. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

  “I know,” said Lee as he turned to head up the stairs, “just don’t forget you’re not the only one who has lost something in this war.”

  We had been at Trosian’s home for a week already and I still woke up each morning feeling as if I were in a strange bed. I would panic at first, not knowing where I was, glancing around the small closet of a room. Then I remembered. We were on our own. It had finally hit me. We were free, but now what? What direction should we take? Where do we start? I knew my friends were waiting for me to decide since I was so ready to give my life for this freedom but, in truth, I had no clue. Trosian had left us the morning after our confrontation saying, in a handwritten note, only that he would be back. Lee was content on just sitting around all day watching martial arts flicks and playing video games while Ben didn’t even speak to me at all, as if I were some stray dog living amongst them. That’s where I was going now: to speak to him.

  When I arrived at his bedroom he had just finished getting dressed.

  “Hey,” I said. “How’re you?”

  “Hey,” Ben replied, tossing a dirty shirt into a hamper.

  We stood in awkward silence as I looked into his eyes. I wanted to come right out and ask him “Are you OK with what happened between Lokus and I?” but couldn’t bring myself to say it.

  “Cat got your tongue?” Ben asked, now leaning against the wall. I could swear sometimes Ben had some sort of Earth in him. He was a master at sensing others’ emotions.