"Are you okay, Mike?" he asked, his enthusiasms now quickly replaced with worry.
"What's happening to me?" I asked him.
"Michael, what you have done today against Lyca is something no ordinary Alpha has done before. You possess an object of untold power if that person was born with it," he said.
"What are you talking about?"
"You possess the Badge of Alpha, one of 24 of the Asamarun Talismans. With it, it grants you to have any power limited by the imagination of the color which is blue, meaning the stronger your soul, the stronger your badge."
I was speechless.
"Michael, I have something to ask, have you ever heard of the Sky-Titans?" He suddenly asked.
"My mom used to tell me stories about them. It's a fairy tale, why?"
Pappy chuckled, "Fairy Tales your mother says."
"What the hell does that suppose to mean?" I snapped not noticing the badge I was holding was shining brightly than it was before. Pappy was unfazed.
"The Sky Titans is not a fairy tale, they are very real," he said confusing me, "Just think of the Sky-Titans as a legion of God's army looking after the world, protecting the planet from the threats no man can handle. It's the world's largest organization of Badgettes who wanted to make a difference in the world. Who wants to change the way mankind lives, so that way we can all live in peace and tranquility. Or at least it was until he came," Pappy told, "Michael, the world needs someone like you. It's..."
"Pappy, slow down," I began to say, "All of this information is too... well good. But, I have my responsibilities to take care of here," I said.
"Michael."
"No, Pappy," I said, "My parents entered the war and had lost their lives because of it. I'm honoring them by not sacrificing myself to a cause that has nothing to do with me, besides, the war is already over. I know that you want me on this team, but I love my sister too much to chase after these dreams."
"It's not a dream it's reality. You have no idea what you are capable of! You think that you are safe, you and your sister are safe in the middle of nowhere? You are caught in a crossfire, Mike. You have been exposed. They will keep coming until the day your head is wrapped around their hands. Michael, consider being part of the team of superhumans much more like you and your sister will be safe. I promise."
"No," he said, "As much as I will like that, I won't risk it. The value of her life is too much to risk. Thanks Pappy for everything. But I think you need to go," I said.
"Sure, fine," he said finally giving up, "But before I go, I have something to say. Both things really."
"And that will be what?"
"Being a hermit is the worst death a man can bare; and your friend, Thames, watch him. Watch him closely," he said as he left.
The door closed shut leaving off a piece of wood hanging from above to doorway to fall. I followed after him wondering what he meant about Thames. I opens the door and he... He was gone. It was as if he was never there.
"Dear god."
FIFTEEN
“I SAT ON the piles of glass and broken tools looking back at the schoolhouse yonder. So privileged but so primitive. The children thought that I was some sort of freak. Now they think I am a monster. Am I human for taking a life because of my own misfortunes or was it something else? How can I fix this grim err if the misfortune is too great? I have done a dastardly deed killing him. My purpose was to detain the bastard child not to kill. That was not my intention. It never was my intention.
"My face. My face it is true; the face of my innocence was never there. The peeling scales and the fiery eyes are those of a monster. When I killed him, just after I through that bastard child through the school...I liked it. I was hungry for more. I wanted to make the others pay for their insolence. Their cruelty. Suddenly before I had that chance something inside me pulled me back. I really wanted to do it, bit as stated before I just...I just could not. Does killing solve problems? Does it make the situation any better...or worse - was it just a part of me.
"I felt like a monster...no...I was a monster. Just before I ran to this discarded hill, I heard voices, a melancholy rainbow of voices pouring into my head like a raging waterfall. There were people calling me a freak, an abomination. For what purpose do I exist: to give or take away? I was not sure.
"The pouring voices got louder and louder until my head began to burst with fear. So here I was sitting on this glassy hill of broken men looking at the horizon as the sun sits on its pedestal. Just below the ground was the small town yonder divided in two by the western railroad. The clear, thin smog fogged the town from visage. I can still see it but not by much unless you stick around in the night.
"I could feel that punctured hole in my soul widen as I feel every pain I inflicted on this boy. He was a scoundrel but he did not deserve to die. I didn't belong here...I had to go.
"'Thames?' I heard crackles of glass cracking from behind me. I turned around to see Nya trying her hardest not to get brutally scraped from the glass hill. I was in horror when I saw a large cut on her arm. She was bleeding rather fast but she seemed to ignore it. I valor her efforts, but coming up here was too dangerous. I approached her, carefully being mindful of the glass.
"'Thames?'
"Without warning, Nya slipped on loose glass. I caught her just before her body got impaled. Her breathing quickened after looking down to see rows of glass below standing upright reflecting the light from the sun.
"I pulled her up and gently sat her next to me on the flat surface of the glassy hill. She looked at me with those deep brown eyes in admiration and thankfulness.
"'Thanks,' she said recalibrating her breathing, 'Why are you doing all the way up here?'
"'You can't be up here Nya,' I said, 'It's dangerous here.'
"'So it is for you,' she said.
"'Why are you here?' I asked, 'Aren't you afraid of me?'
"'Any person who sticks up for me is not worth being afraid of. You are my friend and I will always have your back whenever things get big,' she said with a smile.
"'So you don't think that I'm some sort of monster...do you?' I asked.
"'No. I never thought that you were a monster, and if the people down at the school think that then they should look at the mirror! And I know you don't mean what you did to that boy,' she said.
"'But I did,' I suddenly snapped scaring her, fans sprouted from both of my cheeks for a little while until I calmed down, 'And you know what, the feeling was great! It was spontaneous. And every time I think about it, I feel as light as rain just as much if I impale every goddamn human on this fucking planet!' I screamed scaring her more to the point of her crawling to the edge of the cliff of the glassy hill.
"Just as she got to the edge I finally snapped out of that daze on only for me to hear small molecules of the glass beginning to crack from beneath her. It was strange, but alarming all the same. The molecules moved further and further away from each other much quickly than anticipated the more further Nya moved. Suddenly those small squeaks suddenly became the cracking bones of the frail glass cliff. Just before things got worse, my eyes dilated when my vision rapidly dipped to see what was below her. Sharp corners of course, but halfway down to the glassy abyss was a tall glass pike waiting. Finally coming in grips with reality the cracks were getting wider and wider until finally...
"SNAP!
"'Thames' Nya said, fear dominating her voice. Her eyes locked into mine until gravity pulled on her. The glass snapped off from the cliff hurling Nya to fall to the glassy abyss.
"'Nya!' Reacting quickly I jumped off the cliff, my right arm stretched out to her hand. I grabbed her and wrapped her around my body hugging her tightly. As we plunged to the abyss, I looked at Nya one last time before...
"'GAHH!'
I felt the pike's sharpened point pierce through my back, slide through my organs like a knife sliding through melting butter out through my chest missing only a hair on Nya. Thank god she was okay. And that was the only thing I car
ed about.
"'Thames!' Nya was on my chest; my body slowly slid down from the pike. I held on to her as much as I could, but suddenly I couldn't.
"'I'm sorry,' I said. Nya was crying and confused. The terror in her eyes was visible; tears leaked from her sockets. I felt her hands caress my cheeks, wiping her tears from my face.
"'I'm sorry,' I said barely audible I took one last breath.
"I died...or so I thought. Just as I faces the inevitable, I could still feel the pain but only slightly. I was not breathing, my heart was not beating, and my brain...I was still conscious. I could still see but in an omnipresent view without using my eyes. I was not a ghost, I was fully aware that my soul was still in me. Nya was in danger and I was in no shape to help her! Once my body ripped through the pike Nya and my lifeless corpse fell until we saw a giant, green glowing, bald eagle with a white "I" on its belly swooped in and snatched Nya just in time. My body crashed to the ocean of broken glass.
"I did not feel anything which was...strange. With my newfound vision I saw Nya fly away with that green eagle. She fought against it at first until I heard her say, 'Relax child, I will not hurt you. Everything is alright now.' And with a flap of a green, glowing feather, energy flowed from the creature's body to her nose knocking her out. After all of that was set and done, my vision became a blur until all I saw was blackness.
"It was not long until I could breathe again.
SIXTEEN
AFTER SUSIE TOLD me where she and Thames had gone, I knew right then and that something terrible was about to unfold. Who would think of going to the glassy hills yonder? I snuck to the back of the schoolhouse and pulled out my Iota Badge; as expected, the badge shone its natural green light. I closed my eyes and focused. Once I gathered all the energy I could fester my eyes shot open, shining bright green. The energy from the badge surged upwards towards my heart. I could feel the power filling inside. It felt... good! My lips slowly crawled upwards giving me that mischievous look. My lips hardened and stretched out, wings exploded from the blades of my back, my bones had become hollow, my arms became skinnier, exploding mountains of green feathers festering with energy, and my eyes squirmed to the side of my head. I was becoming a raptor... a raptor with a conscious.
"'ATOI!' I yelled. From behind the school the children turned around to see a bright green flash rise from behind the building, they awed at the green arch in the sky. I flew like a bullet fired from the barrel of a gun leaving off a trail of green light behind me.
"I flew higher and higher until I was at the top of the clouds. I slowed down and began to search for them. Like on cue I heard Nya. She was westward. From the peak of the clouds I saw her on top of a weakened cliff on the verge of breaking. My eyes dilated and decided to act quickly. I dove down at mach speeds until I was engulfed in a cone. I was going so fast that the air roared. And then...
"BOOM!
"A huge ring had exploded from behind me, what made it even less expected, my body began to break down into living atoms. It was as if I was traveling through space-time. I was not sure. I was so fast that I appeared to going slow. Like a God, through the eyes of Atoi, slowly the children fell off the glass cliff and were plundering down to a glass pike. Thames held her around his arms and broke her fall. The pike had pierced through his body, bloody and missing Nya by a hair. She tried to hang on but could not, she was slipping!
"I finally made it to them at lightning speeds! As my speed began to slow, the atoms around my body began to meld back forcing an explosion of green light, making me change into the appearance of the falcon I had summoned from my badge. I screeched, spreading my wings! I twirled in the air and caught her just in the nick of time. Thank goodness. Nya squirmed to get out of my grip, thinking that I was some monster.
"'Relax child. I will not hurt you, everything’s alright now,' I said in my sonorous tone in my voice, and with the flap of a feather, green energy entered her nostrils knocking her out.
"Once back at the schoolhouse, I gently placed Nya on an old bench away from the children. I closed my eyes and began to focus on returning back to normal. It was not easy to do, and it was a pain to get this right. One lost thought and you are stuck in your Final Form. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. A river of green energy was receding back to my chest. I was engulfed in a layer of emerald green light; and when the light died down, I was back to normal.
I picked her up from the old bench approached the back door only for me to freeze up, seeing Susie frozen in place.
"'Um hi?' I said with nervous tone in my voice. She dropped her juice box and fainted. Well, my badge was still on my chest so I still had enough strength to carry these two inside. I just hope she forgets what she saw and calls it a day.
...
"I sat Nya down on my desk after I forcibly cleared the supplies from it; I placed the fainted Susie on her desk and positioned her to lie her head down so that way when she wakes up she would think that me transforming back from an eagle to human form was all just a dream.
"Nya had a nasty gash raking over her face. Not too severe, but just enough to be critical. I advanced to the cabinets and discovered peroxide, alcohol bottles and some cotton balls. I took them all and sat them at the nearest desk.
"I poured the Hydrogen Peroxide and the Alcohol in two separate bowls. Jesus Christ, Nya was losing a lot of blood. Oh dear god. I dipped one or two cotton balls on the bowl with the peroxide and gently patted it down to slow down the bleeding just minutes after I wiped it down with a nice clean rag from the sink. Afterwards, I threw the two used cotton balls away and grabbed three more from the bag and dipped them on the bowl with the alcohol. I gently rubbed the alcohol on the gash; Nya jerked up and cried, squinting her eyes tightly from the unbearable pain. I gently pressed her back down on the desk as I caressed the cotton-filled alcohol on her wound to prevent infections. After that treatment. I threw the balls away in the garbage can nearest to me.
"I strutted back to the cabinet and took out a needle and string, and a bottle of anesthesia.
"I walked back to Nya who was beginning to wake up. I lied her head back down.
"'Nya, go back to sleep,' I said, 'It will be over soon.'
"I took out a pill from the bottle and slipped it inside of Nya. I gave her a glass of water to wash it down.
"Once Nya was completely knocked out, I could finally sew the wound together.
...
"It had been taking a few minutes but I finally managed to get it done. I sat Nya in her seat and covered her up in a thick warm blanket.
"After all of that I opened the back to check on the kids... until he showed. I turned around saw Mr. Gilliganson looking all beaten up! What the hell is going on here! My eyes bulged to see his critical injuries. He had a nasty gash wound raking across his chest and a few bruises here and there. Was he okay? How was he still walking?
"'Michael? Wha... how? Are you okay?' I asked.
"'Yeah, I'm quite alright. A little bruised from that, um... fracas. But nothing out of the ordinary, I reassure you,' said Michael.
"'Out of the ordinary? Right. You need to see a doctor for that,' she told me.
"'Trust me, I do not need to see a doctor,' I said, 'I am fine.'
"'That is what they...' suddenly out of something from mythology, I saw his wounds sewing themselves together in a dimly lit blue light. He was not bleeding, even when he first came in. Was he...was he a Badgette? No, no. He can't be. He just can't be.
"'I am here to pick up my sister,' he said looking at the front desk with her covered in a thick blanket. He furrowed, 'Was everything okay here?' he asked, then he took a look at the holes on both of the walls of the school. He was suspicious on what went on.
"'Come. There is something I need to tell you,' I said, 'It revolves around her.'
I led Michael to the front row of the class; he sat next to his sleeping sister who was now beginning to wake up. I told him the whole story and as expected Michael was not happy. He knew rig
ht then and the that the boy that teased her was nothing but trouble.
"'Wait, where's Thames?' I asked, 'He suppose to...'
"'Michael, Thames has been brutally killed,' I remorsefully interrupted.
Michael was shocked; this was striking news for his part and the amount of sadness festering inside him was bare.
"'I'm so sorry for your loss,' I said, 'If there is...'
"'No it's okay,' he said to me, 'It's quite alright. I better get Nya home. It's almost past her dinner and... well...'
"'Take your time,' I said, Michael got up and picked his forlorn sister up from her seat, 'It's nice to see you again, Mr. Gilliganson.'
"'Likewise,' he said with a weak smile as I followed him out of the establishment without him knowing.
"Once he got out of the school he took out his badge... his glowing blue badge. It exploded navy blue light and engulfed him. Suddenly like a bullet shot from the barrel of a gun he launched himself from the ground forcing the ground around him to explode, leaving fractures in the ground as well as a small crater. My jaw dropped at the moment he launched himself from the ground Leaving a trail of dark blue light in the sky.
"He was a Badgette! An Alpha Badgette!
"My body leaned to the building, I slid down and hugged my legs. Has the Annunaqui returned? Has the Sky-Titans reunified? If so why wasn't I informed? Have I would have never see another Badgette in this place? Out of all places in the prairie? The damn prairie?
"'My God.'
"I got up and awed at the fading dark blue light arching far north.
"'This has got to be some sort of joke,' I said getting up from the ground, wiping the grass from my legs looking back at the fading blue streaks.
"'I walked back to my desk to see that the back door was open, it was a high probability that Susie went back outside to play with the children before they could come back inside for snacks. I left the back door open and retrieved back to my desk to get things situated again. I picked up the apple, the papers, pens, and other office supplies I spilt during when I was treating Nya's injuries.
The Son of Alpha (The Legend of the Sky-Titans Book 1) Page 10
