The Purification: Book 3 of the Evaran Chronicles

by Adair Hart

  On the last day of the week, the blaring horn sound that had announced her arrival earlier rang out. She was sitting by the rocks near the river at the time and almost jumped out of her skin. After putting on her clothes in record time, she hustled to the stepped pyramid, only to see a young man being devoured by the shelled creatures she had run into when she first arrived. Although she could not help the man, it was a brief light of hope that maybe she would not have to be alone if she could help the next one. When that would be, though, she did not know.

  Although she did not want to go back to the stepped pyramid, she did over the previous weeks. The creatures she had run into earlier were in large mounds around a tree not too far away. It seemed the blaring horn brought them in, like a dinner bell. They did not bother her during her trips, as she was careful to be as quiet as possible. If they had, she knew she could outrun them if given a head start.

  She spent her time there studying the podium. The blue dot on the map intrigued her. It was like a beacon. When she touched it, it showed a picture of a humanoid race with dinner-plate-shaped heads and black eyes on the underside, smiling, eating, and drinking. Whatever the place was, it had to be better than the cliffs. The green dots between the yellow dot, representing the stepped pyramid, and the blue dot appeared to be facilities of some type. The function of them was not obvious to her.

  She had taken a picture of the map with her PSD and was able to calculate distances by establishing how far away her enclosure was. How accurate the numbers were was another question to solve, but even if they gave a rough approximation, she had an idea of how far away the blue dot was. It was approximately 150 miles away. The nearest green dot was ten miles north of her enclosure.

  After another week, the decision to head to the green dot had become her focus. Sleeping was an issue for her. The loneliness that assaulted her increased to the point that it physically made her sick. She needed to do something to jolt her out of the state of despair she was circling into. The thought that maybe the blue dot would have some answers on where she was enticed her. Maybe there would be a way out as well.

  After a morning dip, she rinsed her clothes in the running water and relaxed as they dried. She stayed on the banks a bit longer than she normally did, and when her clothes were dry, she headed back toward the enclosure.

  Looking up at the place that she had called her safe spot for almost a month, she debated leaving again. Leaving felt like she was giving up hope on a rescue, and that thought clung to her mind. She shook her head and took off.

  After several hours of traversing, the cliffs ended at a large body of water. She scaled the cliff, ripping her pants and shirt. The cliff top was not large, and after thirty minutes, she reached the northern edge.

  Looking down, she could see a massive, flat forest. Far off in the distance, the forest appeared to get hilly before running into a mountain. She imagined the green dots popping up with signs pointing her toward the blue dot.

  With a grimace, she scaled down the cliff and headed toward the forest edge. She ran her hand along the fractured dirt on the ground, noting that it had an unusual smell that reminded her of vinegar. It could have been the sporadic clumps of grass nearby producing it, but she was not sure.

  With determination in her eyes, she set off. When she was several hundred feet from the forest, she heard the sound of something thudding her way. When she turned toward the sound, she froze.

  A massive, overmuscled humanoid charged toward her. It had mottled brown skin, a ram-horned head, digitigrade legs, and sharp claws on its hands and feet.

  She took off running but could hear it gaining on her. The cliffs were not too far away. She hoped it could not climb. When she got to the cliff, she began to scramble her way up it. She paused to look down when she was twenty or so feet off the ground. Her eyes widened as the creature launched into the air toward her.

  “No!” said Emily.

  She hung with one arm as she tried to aim her PSD at the incoming creature. The impact of the creature washed over her like a tidal wave, causing her to drop her PSD. On the periphery of her vision, time slowed down as she saw the cliff wall approach her face. She struggled to breathe. The foul smell of something she could not identify engulfed her. A tingling sensation shot through her face as it hit the rocks.

  Her eyes closed.

  Dr. Snowden followed Evaran and the others back to the Torvatta after leaving Joktan’s office. He scowled as his hopes evaporated in that maybe the Helians would step in and help. They acted like they did not care. If anything was going to be done, it was up to him, Evaran, V, and Lord Vygon. He sighed and shook his head.

  They had walked most of the way back to the landing pad when Evaran tilted his head.

  “I hear it too,” said Lord Vygon, narrowing his eyes.

  Dr. Snowden crooked his head and heard clanging sounds and men shouting in the distance.

  Evaran flashed two fingers forward. “V, go.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  Evaran pulled off a remote viewing orb from his belt and tossed it in front of him.

  The orb shot up a projection of the city as V flew over it. When he got to the landing pads, it showed a battle between a swarm of sentinels and Helians taking place. The bubble shield was gone, and several landing pads had been captured by sentinels.

  “You’ve gotta be kidding me … ,” said Dr. Snowden. He noticed that the sentinels were teleporting in on top of a circular pattern at the end of the landing pads. There were multiple patterns established, and the sentinels were coming in fast.

  Evaran studied the projection. “This attack appears to be well coordinated. Notice their movement. They must be able to communicate somehow without speaking. I suspect the crystals are involved.”

  Lord Vygon shook his arms forward, causing his forearm blades to pop out.

  Evaran ushered Dr. Snowden to a nearby office. “You need to wait here.”

  “Why? I can help.”

  Evaran stared at Dr. Snowden.

  Fine … ,” said Dr. Snowden with a sigh. “You think I might lose control and do something crazy.”

  “I just want you to be safe,” said Evaran.

  Dr. Snowden drooped his head as he stepped into the office.

  Evaran waved at the office door. The remote viewing orb floated into the office with Dr. Snowden. Evaran tapped at his ARI, causing the hologram projection to change to the view from Evaran’s chest.

  It reminded Dr. Snowden of when they were escaping the docking bay on the Krotovore ship when they first met Evaran. It allowed him and Emily to see what was going on without being in harm’s way. He took a seat in a nearby chair and threw an arm into the air. “Go.”

  Evaran placed his UIC on the office door console and locked the door.

  Dr. Snowden watched the hologram projection as it showed Evaran and Lord Vygon head off toward the landing pad. Sentinels were everywhere. The Helians responded with a mass of guards. Laser fire erupted from the Helians, and the sentinels unleashed a barrage of bolts. The sentinels were also using their daggers in melee range and swords he had not seen on them before. It seemed they did not want to teleport, they were here to kill.

  He admired the way Evaran and Lord Vygon seemed to work together intuitively in combat. Evaran would lead and provide cover while Lord Vygon cleaned up behind him. They fought as a team, and it was effective. Dr. Snowden did not see V anywhere. Maybe he was flying above stealthed. Dr. Snowden wondered why V was not in robot mode out fighting.

  Lord Vygon intrigued Dr. Snowden in that he never verified Emily’s presence in the future, but he suspected she was there. He recalled how Lord Vygon jerked his head back when they first met, as if in surprise that Emily had smiled. Dr. Snowden’s heart sank. What would make Emily stop smiling? He could not bear the thought of her being unhappy. Lord Vygon probably had answers, but they were not available to Dr. Snowden. Still, the thought that Lord Vygon might know of a future Emily comforted him.

 
Over the course of the next few hours, sentinel after sentinel continued to drop, but more appeared to replace them. With support from Evaran and Lord Vygon, the Helian guard made headway, but for every small victory, there was tremendous loss. A thought occurred to Dr. Snowden that if Evaran were not here, this fight would have been over much quicker, and not in the Helians’ favor. The Helians were not going to win this fight, even with Evaran and the technological advantage.

  His attention was drawn to the medium-sized transparent window. Outside it stood a sentinel that stared in.

  Dr. Snowden’s face turned red as his eyebrows angled down. He raised his head a bit and stared down the sentinel. When the sentinel moved, Dr. Snowden stood up and pulled out his PSD. He set the repulsion blast as his first button and focused on the door.

  The sentinel disappeared from view for a moment. Muffled sounds emerged from the door as the sentinel tried to get in.

  Thump!

  Then there was silence.

  Dr. Snowden clenched his jaw with his thumb hovering over the repulsion blast button on his PSD. Sweat rolled down the side of his face.

  The door unlocked, and Evaran stepped through.

  Dr. Snowden let out a deep breath.

  “Come. We must go. Now!” said Evaran, gesturing for Dr. Snowden to leave.

  Dr. Snowden hustled out the door. His eyes popped open at the swarming mass of sentinels not too far off in the distance. “So … uhh … what’s the plan?”

  Evaran directed Dr. Snowden toward the Torvatta, which sat in an open plaza. “We are leaving. The city is lost.”

  Dr. Snowden ran toward the Torvatta, where he saw Lord Vygon and V, in body mode, fighting off sentinels.

  Once everyone was on board, the Torvatta lifted off. They assembled in the command area.

  “V, take us up and stealth,” said Evaran.

  “Acknowledged.”

  Dr. Snowden wrinkled his eyebrows. “Is it that bad?”

  “Yes. V estimates there are over one thousand sentinels attacking the city, with more coming in. We do not have the means to defeat them all.”

  “You and Lord Vygon seemed to have no problem with them back at his base.”

  “That was just a handful. We need help, and fast,” said Lord Vygon.

  “So uhh … I thought there was like … one hundred and twelve or something.”

  “That’s what the sentinel we captured thought,” said Lord Vygon. “Apparently … he was wrong. Misinformation. Not a bad tactic.”

  “I thought they had to answer truthfully under your hypnotic gaze thing.”

  “He probably did. I meant he was fed misinformation on purpose. Maybe that is the Purifier way.”

  Dr. Snowden snorted. “Go figure. Are there any nonhumans that could help?”

  “No … sadly,” said Lord Vygon. He paused and extended a finger. “Actually …” He shook his head. “No … I thought maybe …”

  Dr. Snowden circled a hand in front of him.

  “Maybe another ancient vampire house and the Ollikrin, but convincing them to help would take some time. They like to take their time on big decisions, especially ones that might involve the death of their group members.”

  Dr. Snowden squared his shoulders. “We’re time travelers. Why can’t we go back in time, talk to them, let them take their time deciding, and then pick them up at this point?” He glanced at Evaran. “Like we did before with the lost Arkaron crystal. Get something we need from the past to use in the present.”

  Evaran narrowed his eyes as he studied Dr. Snowden. “An intriguing proposal. However, since they would know of the attack, they could change the timeline.”

  Lord Vygon shook his head. “Talking to just the leaders could minimize any timeline interference. I trust both of them.”

  Evaran eyed Lord Vygon. “You could run into your previous self, or have your previous self gain knowledge that might affect the current state of the timeline.”

  “Well … I wouldn’t run into myself if it was far back enough.”

  “Elaborate.”

  “I awoke two years ago. Five years of sleep prior to that. If we went back three years, I couldn’t run into myself because I would still be sleeping. My other self, that is.”

  “Do you think you can convince these groups to help?” asked Evaran. “We would need quite a few.”

  Lord Vygon nodded. “They each control a sizable group. It’s worth a shot. I won’t guarantee anything, though.”

  “It is decided then. V, take us back three years and keep us in low-Earth orbit.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  The Torvatta ascended to low-Earth orbit.

  Lord Vygon’s eyes lit up as he watched the outside disappear, then reappear. “I never get tired of that.”

  Evaran eyed Lord Vygon. “So you have time traveled in the Torvatta.”

  “Quite a few times.”

  “I see,” said Evaran. “We are now back three years in time. Where should we head first?”

  The Torvatta streaked over a forest in the northwestern part of North America. Dr. Snowden watched as vast forests rolled out under them. From space, it had only taken about a half hour to get there. He was more at ease now after rationalizing that Emily was not dead. Maybe she was and he had misinterpreted Lord Vygon’s initial reaction to seeing Emily, but his gut told him otherwise.

  “Whom are we seeking?” asked Evaran.

  “The Ollikrin Nation. Mixed group of nonhumans. They’re led by Delia Everoak, an ancient tree shifter and one of the oldest nonhumans I know of. She’s not one to rush into anything, or someone you want to be on bad terms with,” said Lord Vygon.

  Dr. Snowden remembered Shandra Everoak mentioning Delia before as the first Everoak, and now he would get to meet her. He glanced at Evaran.

  Evaran narrowed his eyes. “Interesting. How will you convince her to help?”

  Lord Vygon shook his head. “I’ll be honest and explain the situation. I know you don’t like showing the future to others … but it would really help if you showed some visuals. Maybe of the sentinel, and from V’s scan of the city being attacked.”

  Evaran rubbed his chin for a moment. “In this case, that may be okay. We will need to talk to her privately. If we are successful, then from the point in time we left Atlantis, they would already have assembled somewhere and just need picked up.”

  Dr. Snowden wrinkled his eyebrows. “So why don’t we go forward in time and just pick them up?”

  Evaran shook his head. “The timeline needs to be updated. This part still needs to occur in order to set that up, and there is no guarantee they will help. If we went there now, there would be no one there since this part has not happened.”

  “I thought the future already existed, though.”

  “It does, but we must respect the sequence of events. This event is tied to them either being there or not. If this event does not occur, then the timeline will not update with them there if they decide to help.”

  Dr. Snowden shook his head with raised eyebrows.

  Lord Vygon laughed. “Ahh … the brain-twisting aspects of time travel. Can’t say I missed it.”

  “We are approaching the designated coordinates,” said V.

  “Excellent. Set us down and disengage stealth,” said Evaran.

  “Acknowledged.”

  Evaran faced Lord Vygon. “I assume you know how to get in contact with them.”

  Dr. Snowden watched Lord Vygon fidget in his seat. The small facial movements seemed to fight a grimace from appearing.

  “The Ollikrin will know we are there,” said Lord Vygon.

  “Very well.”

  The Torvatta landed in a grassy field next to a forest. They exited the Torvatta and stood outside the shield.

  After five minutes of waiting, Dr. Snowden put his hand on his neck. The smell of the forest was pleasant, but the unusual silence made his nerves tighten. The forest seemed larger than what he remembered from pictures. “So … are we supposed to
be looking for something?”

  Lord Vygon raised a finger. “Just wait.”

  After another ten minutes, two massive bearlike humanoids walked out of the forest. Their fur was brown, and they stood around ten feet tall. A light armor made of wood chunks covered parts of their bodies. Their hands and feet had large claws, and along with fearsome short snouts, they presented an image that made Dr. Snowden shudder. He remembered Evaran mentioning werebears before, and assuming that was what these were, he could see why any alien trying to abduct them would have had problems.

  Evaran motioned forward at V in orb mode. “V, scout mode.”

  “Acknowledged. Scout mode engaged,” said V as he shimmered, then flew off into the distance toward the werebears.

  “They’re just investigating,” said Lord Vygon. “As an ancient vampire, they would be able to detect me easily.”

  “I hope they’re friendly,” said Dr. Snowden with raised eyebrows.

  “The Ollikrin are not usually aggressive, but provoke them, and you will know their strength. They typically surround themselves with like-minded individuals, so it’s not uncommon to see a wide variety of nonhumans, and even humans, among their numbers.”

  “I see,” said Evaran as he perused his ARI. “V says there are others in the forest studying us. We should proceed forward.”

  After arriving in front of the werebears, Lord Vygon raised his head. “I am the ancient vampire Lord Vygon. I come seeking the counsel of Delia Everoak.”

  The first werebear walked up to Lord Vygon and sniffed around. In a deep growling voice, it said, “Who’re the others?”

  Lord Vygon gestured toward Evaran. “This is Evaran, a friend of mine, and to his left is Dr. Albert Snowden, another friend. They possess information that will be needed during counsel.”

  The first werebear glanced back at the other one standing near the forest. The second werebear walked up and sniffed around.

  The first werebear focused on Evaran. “What are you?”

  “I am a traveler,” said Evaran, pointing up.