by Nathan Howe
"We're screwed," Broken said. "Have faith." Pixie shot her final arrow. "Chilling and Mortal can take him."
Broken swung his blade. "I hope you're right."
The three of them continued the fight. Pixie used her bow as a weapon, with her size she avoided the zombies and other creatures with ease.
Broken let the nanobots control his movements and heal him. The other two showed no signs of letting up so he wouldn't either.
After the skirmish with never ending horde of Netherworld creatures a shift in the battle occurred. Broken wasn't sure what was happening. But they didn't seem as fierce or endless. They moved slower. That is when he saw Spector falling to the ground.
With Chilling firing more ice at him, encasing him, Spector fired Netherworld matter at the ice, doing his best to terminate the dive.
Mortal flew behind Chilling using her powers against him as well. Broken didn't want to think about the pain she was going through if she attacked his mind. He hoped they were trying to make him plunge to his death.
The ground thundered around them. As Spector slammed into the ground the zombie's dissipated into nothingness.
Invincible leaped onto the motionless body. Spector grunted. Invincible bent down to rip the Stone of Azuria from Spector.
"No!" Spector fired a blast at Invincible. Broken dashed up next to Spector and ripped the necklace that contained the stone off.
Spector screamed in agony. Then passed out. Broken scanned the sky for Chilling to give him the stone.
"Here." Broken held the stone up to him.
Chilling flew away hissing. "No. Do not tempt me."
Pixie flew up next to him. "I'll take it back inside. We have a new vault to hold it. One that not even Super can breach."
Speaking of Super, Broken scanned the ground around him. Both Super and One Rush had vanished.
"Where are Super and One Rush?" Mortal asked.
Broken shrugged. "Must have fled during the fight."
"Not good."
"We'll deal with them later," Invincible said. "Let's make sure this one doesn't slink away. Get the proper restraints."
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Petrice
The train rattled as they transported Spector to Remnant Heights which was the most secure prison in the country. Years ago the Hero Coalition with the government worked together to construct the prison. The Hero Coalition created a place that neutralized all Ardents. That made it the only prison that was capable of holding Spector.
Chilling rode in the caboose with Petrice. James rode in the front of the train with Invincible. Dozens of Ardents filled the train between them. Spector was in the middle of the train. He had nowhere to go. Yet Chilling didn't seem happy.
"Your acting like we didn't win," Petrice said. Chilling stared out the window at the changing landscape. Going from the urban area, that is Cynosure into the center of the country. Soon the landscape gave way to barrenness, Remnant Heights was in the middle of nowhere.
Chilling turned to her. "While we caught Spector, he caused a lot of damage to our home. It will be years before we completely recover."
Petrice flew over the city several times since the Spector's undertaking. She was sure thousands had been killed. And the buildings took in the millions if not billions of damage.
"But he can't do it again."
"Can't he? How many times over the years has the Hero Coalition imprisoned someone and they escape?"
"I've never heard of anyone escaping."
Chilling leaned away to stare outside again. "You'd be wrong. Too many times."
"It won't happen this time. The coalition is making sure of it."
"I hope so Mortal. But I'm not sure we'll be able to beat him again if he slips out and acquires the stone. Or if he does something worse."
Petrice tried to come up with something worse than him with the stone and couldn't find anything worse than that. "He'll never figure out where the stone is. It's been hidden and only Invincible knows."
What could be worse than the Stone of Azuria? The power the stone gave people with access to the Netherworld was unmatched, so Petrice thought.
"That means nothing in a world with people Ardents similar to you Mortal."
True. Even with how strong Invincible was a strong mentalist could slip into his mind and steal the information. Nothing was ever truly hidden. But it had been that way for a long time now. It hadn't been that big of an issue.
"It will be okay Chilling."
"Mortal I'm old enough to not believe that. Just because we have Spector doesn't mean a new threat won't arise. Ever since the event, it's been that way. Part of me wishes God never gave us these powers. Ardents have done as much harm as good."
"Didn't we need these powers to survive?"
Chilling shrugged. "That's what we've been told. I'm unsure if it's true. It all might be a big lie. Repeated to make us feel better about having these powers."
Chapter Thirty
Spector
The moon shone through the small window providing the only light. Spector's cell specially designed to block him from accessing the Netherworld.
And it worked. Spector tried and tried. But nothing. Infuriating. He was no longer whole.
At least he was alone. Being forced to share with a common Ardent would have been too much. But they don't generally capture Netherworld users alive. Two of Spector's minions from Djinn Park were here, the rest that private detective killed. They'd have cells close to his. This wing of the prison not only denied access to the Netherworld, but it also blocked psychics, too.
The key to Spector's freedom would be to figure out how they did it. Then he'd be free.
Standing to stare out the window, Spector pined for it. It's only been one night, but it felt like an eternity. How he failed, he wasn't sure. It shouldn't have happened. He planned for everything.
Mortal shouldn't have even been alive at the end. How she lived still confused him. Chilling had to have something to do with that. He must be more powerful than people realize. He must have the ability to cleanse the darkness out. That is the only answer. No tech in the world would have saved her. Not even what the Hero Coalition had.
According to the Book of Samuel, only the first user of the Netherworld would be able to do that. If that was true. No. It wasn't. Couldn't be. If it was, that meant Chilling could be one of the first Ardents. One of the immortals that Spector thought to be a legend. No. Spector let that thought go. It must be the advancement of technology. Yes. That has to be it.
If Mortal weren't alive Spector would be free, controlling Cynosure. Giving Ashes a run for as the most powerful Ardent in the world.
Instead, he rotted here trying to figure a way out. The world wasn't right. Wasn't fair.
This won't last, Spector vowed. He'd be free. He'd cause the mayhem he was born to. To raise up and be the most powerful Ardent ever born.
Epilogue
Invincible
Invincible sat in his office fatigued from the whole Spector Saga. If he ever spotted another Netherworld user again, it would be too soon. The paperwork piled on his desk. It was a battle that never ended. The worst part of the job. He missed the days of being out on the street patrolling with his partner Pixie. The paper dealing with Spector could wait. He had piles of reports from outside of Cynosure. The most disturbing of them coming from Lenience City.
Reports of a Robot killing one of his people. He'd have gone to deal with it himself if the whole Netherworld hadn't sprung up on them so quickly.
His office intercom buzzed. His securities voice blurted through. "Lider has arrived."
Invincible pressed his side of the system, "Send him in."
A short brute of a man walked into the room. He carried himself with confidence. His hair buzzed short to disguise the effects of age, thinning hair and hints of gray. Invincible stood and walked around the desk to greet him, a handshake that transitioned into a hug. "It's been too long, old friend."
&
nbsp; Lider nodded. "It has. Lenience City keeps me busy. As I'm sure, the rest of the Hero Coalition and Cynosure does for you."
"I'm sorry about Rowin's family. I would have visited him. But it got crazy here."
"He understands." Invincible tried to be there for all his Ardents working for the Hero Coalition. It burned him that he hadn't been able to attend the funeral for a family of one so devoted as Rowin. Invincible gestured to the chairs in front of the window. It was a breathtaking view. The city skyline, down past Djinn Park, which from here appeared to be a nice place to live.
"I've been reading the reports," Invincible said sitting down next to Lider.
"They aren't good."
"No. Ardents going missing. How many is it now? Eight?"
"Ten as of this morning. None of them working for the Coalition. Hell a few of them were downright evil people. But they shouldn't have just disappeared the way they did."
"Not good. You have any ideas."
Lider shifted in his seat and leaned forward. "I'm certain it's related to the robot that took out Rowin's family. Rumors of a pair of doctors working together to take out Ardents."
"Are you sure?"
"Just rumors at this point. Silver Hand is investigating it as well as Solar. But it feels right to me. These Ardents have vanished without a trace. And there have been spotting's of different robots and sightings of what people say are monsters."
"You want me to transfer more?"
Lider nodded his head. "More eyes the better. Just make sure they are capable of protecting themselves."
Invincible sat silent for a moment. He had thousands of members of the Hero Coalition that he could reroute to the city. "How many do you want?"
"Not too many. With Ardents being taken it would be best not to flood the city with more."
"Agreed. One moment."
He left the office. "Janice contact Broken and Mortal for me. Have them get her as soon as possible."
Invincible spun around and walked back to his office. "I have two coming over now. We'll start with just two. If they don't provide enough support, I'll send more or show up myself."
"Roger that."
A short time later Janice buzzed him. "Let them in."
The door opened, and Mortal and Broken walked in. Both confused at being summoned to his office out of the blue. When they spotted Lider they glanced at each other, both shrugged. "This is Lider. He's the head of the Hero Coalition in Lenience City."
Mortal nodded. "I've read the reports. I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Lider said.
"Ours?" Broken asked.
"For now," Invincible said. "Go there do whatever Lider says. He has many capable heroes under him. Assist them."
"Will do," Broken said.
Notes from the Authors
Thank you for reading The Stone of Azuria. You can read our short stories that occur before this in The Ardent Saga Volume One.
If you enjoy Young Adult science fiction, you can read our debut novel Aiden, the first book in the Cretun Chronicles.
Please leave a review for this story on Amazon or GoodReads, especially if you enjoyed it.
Visit my website NathanRHowe.com to be kept up to date on my upcoming stories.
You can sign up for my newsletter. In the future, I plan to give away an exclusive short story and the second novel in the Cretun Chronicles.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Nathan is an avid reader and writer. He enjoys running and working out. He also watches too much Netflix and plays videos games on his PS4.
Derek enjoys comic books and watching TV. Along with reading and writing.
Both brothers served in the military and currently live in metro Detroit.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to thank first our family and friends. Without their support, this book would have never been written.
We'd like to thank Annetta for her help in editing and giving us feedback. Her encouragement means a lot. We'd also like to thank Jessica and Joey.
Alex did an incredible job with the artwork on the cover. He not only helped guide us but exceeded our expectations.
The video game City of Heroes inspired us a lot. I played it for many years, and you can see the influences of that in this story and the world we created. To the many people whom we met along the way. The friends we made in the game. Thank you.
Lastly, I’d like to thank you the reader. Thank you or taking the time to read our book. I hope you enjoyed it.
