Fearlings Three (The Fearlings Series Book 3)

by Michael Edward

  What To Expect

  Our goal is to create entertaining stories that allow people to escape reality for a bit. We mean no disrespect to writers or to readers who think they’re getting a professionally edited book. Battling epilepsy and raising six kids creates multiple distractions and we do our best to overcome them. We hope you enjoy our stories and let us know what you think.

  Michael Edward

  Fearlings Three

  A story by

  Michael Edward

  Copyright © 2012 Michael Edward

  All rights reserved

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form without prior written permission from the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  Written in U.S.A.

  PROLOGUE

  They are Kynar and Ekabar. There is no physical form, only blackness where the two beings speak. One of them protects Rob and the other wishes to take him from his world.

  “You will not be able to stop us,” Ekabar says.

  “I will try,” Kynar declares.

  “Only delay,” Ekabar says, “You know this.”

  “Yes.”

  “They search for ways to travel to our world,” Kynar advises, “They will seek you out and they will attempt to rescue those you have taken from them.”

  “I will not allow them,” Ekabar says.

  “You should leave their world,” Kynar warns.

  “I travel to their world so I can increase my power,” Ekabar reasons, “I increase my power the same as you. All that I do is so I can protect the here and now, of where we are. Our brothers and sisters are falling. Power is what we need.”

  “You should leave the Human Vauns to live their lives,” Kynar demands, “They have suffered great loss. We can gain our experience from other worlds.”

  “Our routes differ, but the reason, and the end, will be the same. Our survival is what dictates our actions.” Ekabar concludes.

  “Our end should not bleed into other worlds,” Kynar says.

  “We battle for our survival,” Ekabar says. “Only the strong survive. It is this way for the Human Vauns as well.”

  There is a triangle of light that forms in the blackness and the shadowy image of Kynar steps forward. “I will protect him.” He steps forward and fades into the light.

  “No,” Ekabar declares, “you will not.”

  Only minutes later at the gathering, the Vauns within the school are under attack. In the hall outside the cafeteria, the Fearling Ekabar is dragging Rob around the corner as his son James yells for him, “Dad!”

  Instantly Rob’s vision of the dark school hallway fades and there is nothing but blackness. A second later, he finds he is lying on his stomach on a smooth black surface. The air is dark and he can barely breathe. He raises his head and sees two large cloaked Beings standing in front of him. He tries to speak but he is weak and collapses back to the black floor.

  Ekabar and Kynar stare down at the fallen Human as they speak with calm, focus and aware tones.

  “Release him,” Kynar commands.

  “He is now yours,” Ekabar says, “He has no more value to me.” The dark cloaked outline of Ekabar turns and fades from vision just as Rob rolls over onto his back. He sits up. He is slowly regaining focus as his breathing becomes normal. He stares at the cloaked outline of Kynar in front of him. Kynar’s face is hidden within the cloak and the being is much larger than he was, but Rob is not afraid.

  “Stand,” Kynar says.

  “What?” Rob begins asking in panic. “Where, where is James? Is he Ok?”

  “Your boy is not here,” Kynar says. He turns away from the human. “He was not taken.”

  “Where are we?”

  “Ciren,” Kynar says.

  “Your world?” Rob asks.

  “No.” Kynar states. He has his back to Rob as the human stands. “Ciren is the world where I was banished.”

  “Where’s Ekabar?”

  “He is no longer with us,” Kynar says. “We are alone and we do not have time for this conversation. Not here.”

  Rob steps forward to stand beside Kynar. His eyes widen as they adjust to the darkness, which is lightened by an odd red glow. The ceiling is thirty feet high and has small red crystals scattered throughout. They seem to project the light that allows them some vision. The outer walls are forty yards away from them as they stand in the center of a large circular room.

  A loud high-pitch, screaming roar erupts from all around and startles Rob. His tone reflects his fear of the unknown. He scans everywhere ending his gaze on the large cloaked Kynar beside him. “What was that?”

  “Screamers,” Kynar says. He doesn’t look at the human. He starts walking across the smooth black surface of the floor. “We have to move.”

  “Wait,” Rob says. Kynar shows no sign of listening as Rob follows behind him, “Wait.”

  “We cannot.”

  Rob stops. He is not going anywhere until Kynar answers some questions. “Wait!” He watches Kynar stop then turn to him. He still cannot see Kynar’s face but he doesn’t care about that right now. He wants to know what is happening. “What are Screamers? And where are we exactly?”

  Screamers are six feet in height and completely hairless. Their skin is a leathery dirty gray and their frame is muscular. They have solid gray eyes with no pupils and their mouth is humanlike with no teeth.

  The screaming roar erupts again but this time Rob can tell that it comes from behind them. He stares across the room as he sees a portion of the far wall become even blacker. A twenty foot by twenty foot opening appears. Instantly ten screamers run from the opening and come charging toward Rob and Kynar.

  “That is more than I can defend against,” Kynar says as he points across the room. “We run, now!”

  “Go!” Rob yells as his survival instincts kick in. He starts running, “Go! Go! Go!”

  Kynar runs behind the human. He is faster than Rob is, but he stays several feet behind him. He will not allow the Screamers to hurt or capture his Vaun.

  Rob looks back as he runs. His eyes widen again as four of the chasing Screamers leap into the air. Large leathery white wings expand from their backs. They quickly close the distance between themselves and the ones they chase.

  Rob and Kynar near the wall and Rob doesn’t see anything that looks like a door or a way out. He doesn’t stop running as he yells, “Where?”

  “Straight!” Kynar commands. He does not look back. His power is greater than the human’s. He can sense the distance between them and the attacking Screamers. He knows that the exit will appear as they near. His thoughts are on getting there and preparing for the attack. “Do not slow!”

  As they near the wall, an exit begins to fade into vision. Kynar follows close behind Rob as they run through the opening. The four Screamers land several feet behind them.

  Kynar and Rob are in an arched hallway, which is twenty feet wide and has the same smooth black surface as the room they just left. The ceiling is ten feet high and has small red crystals projecting light. The hallway turns rounding into a straightaway that appears to go on without end. Rob looks over his shoulder as he runs and sees Kynar stop and turn to face the charging Screamers.

  Kynar knows that he needs to end these Four Screamers before the other six reach them. He reaches back and draws a weapon. It is a three-foot long cylinder rod with blades on each end. He moves fast as the lead Screamer charges.<
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  Rob stops running and turns around as Kynar stabs the weapon in and out of the first Screamer then spins around to engage the others. Kynar stabs the second Screamer in the chest as it grabs him. The weapon is in and out, as he knocks the Screamer to the side. He is too slow to avoid the third Screamer.

  “Kynar!” Rob yells as the Screamer slams the cloaked Kynar into the wall. He watches helplessly as the fourth Screamer runs straight at him.

  Kynar sees the Screamer charging the frozen Rob. He turns and throws his weapon through the air, slamming the blade into the middle of the Screamers back. The large being falls to the floor at Rob’s feet. Kynar has no time to protect himself as the remaining Screamer slams him back into the wall. He falls to the ground and the Screamer is on top of him quickly.

  Rob stares at the dead Screamer at his feet. He sees the weapon in the beings back and he hears a loud screaming roar erupt from down the hall. He knows that the other Screamers will be there soon. He steps forward, pulls the weapon out of the Screamer, and charges to help Kynar. He yells as he stabs the being in the back. Kynar feels the Screamer go limp as it dies from Rob’s attack. He pushes it to the side then stands and reaches out for the weapon. Rob hands it to Kynar then steps back. Another roar erupts. “What do we do?”

  Kynar raises his hand and the ceiling above them fades into a gray mist. He reaches out and grabs Rob by the hand. They rise straight up into the mist. When they are out of vision, the mist fades returning the ceiling to its original state. A second later, the six Screamers roar past and continue down the hall.

  Rob and Kynar stand in another hallway like the one they just left. Rob’s breathing is hard, fast and his thoughts are not under his control, “How?”

  Kynar looks both ways down the hall then turns to the human Vaun. “I will lead us somewhere safe.” He turns and starts walking. “We cannot stay here. It will not take them long. They will figure out what we did.”

  “Did?” Rob asks in a panicky tone. “What did we do? How did we do that?”

  “Soon, I will answer your questions,” Kynar says as he continues to walk. He does not turn to face Rob as the human follows behind him. “Right now we must keep moving.”

  Rob struggles to control his fear as they continue walking down the dark arched hallway.

  CHAPTER 1

  Two days have passed since the Vauns were attacked at the gathering in the school. In those two days, the eight-year-old James has been replaying the image of his dad being dragged around the corner and taken. It has also been two long days since he has seen his mother Ann. Both of his parents are gone. Since the attack, he has been staying with his nine-year-old friend Stewart and his mother. It has been decided that he would live with them for now.

  Stewart looks down the hall then shuts his door. He turns to James on the other side of the room. Stewart is scared about what they are going to do. He watches James light several candles on the dresser.

  James is scared and sad but he doesn’t want to cry. He wants to be strong. He remembers all the stories his dad told him about being strong, brave, and trying to handle situations. He is only eight but his dad always talked to him like an adult and even though James didn’t understand, he listened. Right now, he is trying to be brave.

  “Are you sure we should do this?” Stewart asks.

  “I want to talk to them,” James says. He walks to the window and closes the blinds then pulls the curtains.

  Stewart watches James reach over and turn off one of the two lamps that is on and the room darkens but there is still plenty of light to prevent the Fearlings from appearing.

  “We should get my mom and the others,” Stewart says. His tone reflects his hesitation and fear. “We should.”

  “It didn’t help when…” James starts. He takes a breath then finishes his thought. “They were all there when my dad was taken. It didn’t help.” He walks over to the remaining lamp on the nightstand and reaches out. He stops and looks to his friend standing in front of the closed door. “Do you want to leave?”

  “I…” Stewart stops. He remembers all the stories his mom and the others told him about his dad Tom. How his dad was always there with James’ dad and how they did everything together. He is scared but he wants to be like that. He wants to be brave too. He takes a breath and shakes his head no.

  “Stand by the dresser,” James nods to the lit candles across the room. “Stay in the light.” He watches his friend walk towards the dresser then he turns the lamp off. He walks quickly to the light next to his friend. They both stare at the darkness around the room. The shadowy images of the Fearlings Drawk and Hydron appear along the wall a few feet away. Then the large shadowy image of Ekabar fades into vision. Several seconds pass before the silence is broken.

  “You want what?” Ekabar whispers. He stares at the scared human children in front of him.

  James’ eyes tear as he talks, “My mom, and my dad.”

  “What?” Ekabar interrupts, “to join them?”

  “No,” Hydron says. He stares at Ekabar. “No.”

  “I want them back!” James yells. He steps forward but stays in the light. “I want them back!”

  “You,” Ekabar says. He steps forward to the edge of the darkness. He stares down at the brave human child. “I like your bravery little one.”

  “Are they ok?” James asks. His tone reflects his fear of the potential answer. “Are they?”

  “For now,” Ekabar says.

  “Can I help them?” James asks.

  “No,” Ekabar answers.

  Ekabar slowly raises his arm penetrating his smooth black hand into the candle’s light.

  “Are you going to take me?” James asks. He is scared but he doesn’t move. He stares at Ekabar and waits for the answer.

  “No!” Drawk demands as he and Hydron step closer to the edge of the darkness. “No!”

  Ekabar retracts his arm then steps back. He looks to James several feet in front of him. “You I like.”

  “My dad…?” Stewart asks. He steps forward to stand beside James. He has never met his father but he has always hoped that he would one day. “Is my dad ok?”

  Ekabar doesn’t answer Stewart’s question. He steps back to the wall. “I will rest...” He fades from vision into the darkness.

  “Wait!” James yells. He steps into the darkness not thinking. “Wait!”

  The door to the room opens and light from the hall shines in. Hydron and Drawk fade into the light as James and Stewart turn to see the Professor standing in the doorway.

  “No!” James yells. “Shut the door!”

  The Professor takes one second to scan the room and he instantly knows what the two boys were doing. “You did not think to get us when you decided to call them?”

  James isn’t listening. He wants to finish his talk with the Fearlings. That is all he is thinking about. “Shut the door! I wasn’t done! I want to talk to them!”

  “That was Ekabar?” Professor asks. He sees the intensity on the young boy’s face. He attempts to calm the boy by conversation. “What did he say?”

  “He said that my mom and dad are safe.”

  “Did he?” Professor asks. He is curious as to why Ekabar spoke to the children. “What else did he say?”

  “He said that he was going to rest,” James says.

  “Did he now?” Professor asks. “What about yours? What did Hydron and Drawk say?”

  “You interrupted them!”

  The Professor smiles as he steps into the room shutting the door behind him. “Ok. If that is what you wish, let’s talk to them.”

  The images of Hydron and Drawk appear in the shadows of the darkness along the far wall across the room.

  “Is it true that Ekabar is now resting?” Professor asks.

  “Yes,” Drawk’s whispery voice answers.

  “Then you two should rest,” Professor says.

  “No,” James yells. He just got his Fearlings three days ago. “They can’t leave me! No!”<
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  “When Ekabar returns in five years he will be too powerful for them to defend against,” Professor explains. “They have to.”

  “What about my parents?” James asks. He hesitates for a second. He fears the answer to his question. “Can we help my mom and dad?” That is all he wants to know. “Can we help them?”

  “Now,” Hydron answers, “No.”

  “When?” James asks. “How?”

  “Young James,” Professor says as he reaches for the light switch and turns the light on.