by Jason Wilcox
“I’m surprised Triaad left it open,” Tagen said as he tilted his head in bewilderment. Seeing the gate gave Caden hope that he could stop Triaad from coming back.
“Let’s go.” Caden pulled on the chain, but Tagen didn’t budge. “I’m not joking around, last chance before I slice you in half.” Reluctantly Tagen followed behind. Caden could tell he was looking for a way to get loose by the way he kept looking around.
A light breeze pulled at him once they reached the twenty-foot tall gate. The swirling of the black liquid created a slight vibration in the floor. Holding the sword tightly, Caden didn’t waste any more time. He swung hard, running the blade through one side of the arch of the gate. A loud crack rang out through the room and Caden could feel a strong pull as the sword sliced at the liquid in the portal, trying to suck the sword in. With a quick jerk, he pulled the sword out.
“What are you doing? You’re going to get us killed.”
Caden didn’t listen; he pulled hard on Tagen, dragging him to the other side of the gate. Tagen screamed and clawed at the ground with his feet.
Caden sliced through the other side of the arch with the sword. An explosion blew them backwards. Bolts of blue lightening flashed through the room as the gate fell backward, crashing against the rock wall. Loud thunder shook the ground. The liquid in the middle of the portal was shrinking, swirling into a hole that grew smaller and smaller. Caden quickly sheathed his sword to have both hands free.
“What have you done,” Tagen screamed and pulled at the end of the chain. The sheer strength of the creature almost pulled Caden over. He strained his muscles, gripping the cold chain, trying to keep control of the situation.
The broken gate crackled and bolts of lightning spewed out around them. One last large bolt flashed, striking Tagen and Caden. A plume of smoke wafted from where they stood. They were gone.
BOOK TWO
REDEMPTION
To
My Amazing Kids
Braedon
Bailey
And Sadie
Who keep my imagination alive.
Special Thanks to
Deb Kirley and Angela Abderhalden
For all their help and support.
PROLOGUE
The fence made no sound as Justin climbed the metal links. He moved with stealth up and over, dodging the razor wire at the top. As he jumped off, he landed with ease between two guards who stood frozen in place, looking lifeless. Moving around in stopped time made everything easier.
Across a small patch of grass only twelve feet away, was a tall concrete building. Justin moved quickly. This better be an in and out job! I can’t believe Matt sent me on this pointless risky mission. He sighed. Matt should’ve been happy that I took the initiative to try and kill Caden. The man could’ve hindered our whole operation. Who cares that Caden’s wife and mother-in-law were killed in my attempts? Matt doesn’t need to keep sending me on these absurd missions. Ever since he removed me from second in command, I swear he’s been trying to get me killed.
At the back of the building, Justin grabbed a tree branch and pulled himself up. With a leap, he floated over a wraparound balcony railing, gently landing on the concrete platform. He had picked that location because he noticed a man had stepped out, leaving a door wide open. The man was leaning on the railing, smoke from his cigarette frozen in place.
Moving through the door, he quickly made it into the building, finding himself in a long hallway. Having the facility map memorized, he moved to the right. The door he needed to get through was three down on the left. First, he needed to take care of the camera in the hall.
Pushing a small white thumbtack into the ceiling next to the camera would do the trick. It contained high tech electronics to disrupt electrical gear. The paint on the tack helped conceal it in the pale ceiling tiles.
He moved back to the door, quickly picking the lock. It was time to come out of Dead Time.
All sounds and movements of objects inside Dead Time were magnified in real time. If a door was opened, it would slam into walls. If a window was moved, it would come down hard, often breaking the glass. Because of this, they had to be careful making noise or moving anything.
With a quick push of a button on his wrist, time started, and he quickly went through the door, stopping time as soon as he got inside. The room was large with fancy oil paintings covering the walls. A bookcase stretched across the right wall, filled with all types of books and trinkets. A computer desk, with a scatter of papers across it, sat in front of a big window.
Seeing that the room was safe, he once again started time. “I’m in the room and it’s empty,” Justin spoke into a mic, as he pulled out a small, black, rectangular device. “I’m starting the scan now.”
“Make sure you look around for useful documents,” Matt came over the mic. “You never know what the General might leave out.”
“Matt?” Justin gasped. Matt never came over the mic. “What are you doing?”
“I want to make sure you don’t screw this up. We need all that we can get on him. He’s hiding James, the last one standing in the way of our mission.”
“You know we’re not going to find anything here. This is his weekend office. All our sources show that he keeps everything at his main base.” He tightened his jaw and held back words, keeping his anger under control. Being told to sift through meaningless papers while on a meaningless mission was a tipping point for him.
“Find the source in the General’s walls, and sift through the papers,” Rod, one of the other men, came over the mic.
Justin huffed and flicked the switch off, almost breaking it. Matt didn’t even listen to me! He shoved the scanner back into his pocket and hit the Dead Time switch. If he was going to spend time going through papers, he might as well be safe and do it in stopped time, where he wouldn’t have to worry about risk.
Stepping to the desk, he began moving papers around. Each of them had the same green heading and layout.
“Supply order…supply order…supply order.” He tossed each one to the side. They floated in the air, stuck in place.
Something changed in the room, causing Justin to look up. Nothing was there. He looked around a second and third time. Is someone watching me? Shaking his head and feeling silly, he went back to the papers.
For the first time ever, Justin heard a noise while in Dead Time. It was faint but still easily heard with the absence of any other sound. He paused. This time, he looked around the room, spinning in place.
“Someone there?” He turned one more time, looking to see what might be around him. Something caught his attention out the window, and he looked closer. A strange looking, horned, demon-like creature stood in the yard, looking up at him.
At first, Justin thought it was some strange statue. He did a double take. The creature just stood there staring at him. Justin stared back. It was so realistic looking. A smile stretched across the creature’s face. Shocked, Justin reached over to start time again, but before he could touch the button, the creature instantly came through the wall and grabbed his hand.
Justin swung his free hand to hit the horned creature. His fist went right through the demon, and his momentum unbalanced him. The creature’s grip was the only thing that kept him from tumbling.
Grabbing his other hand, the demon lifted Justin off the ground. His body was translucent and ghost like. Justin could make out the window and sunlight behind the creature. The scene was unreal.
The demon smiled and began to fade away. Without any warning, he smashed into Justin.
Blackness ensued, and Justin felt as if he were being ripped out of his body. It felt as if his muscles and organs were being pulled apart and torn away from him.
What’s happening?Why is it echoing?
“I can hear and understand you. Strange,” another voice also echoed. They weren’t necessarily words but more like thoughts in his mind, but definitely not his. “I can see things in your life. Your language, it’s strange,
but makes sense,” it was the demon’s voice.
Images and words ran through Justin’s mind; he could see into the creature’s memories. The demon’s name was Hermue. He saw wars, brutal wars, even for him. He understood the demon’s language. He felt as though his body began to unravel and disintegrate. The searing pain stopped. In fact, he began to feel amazing, energized, refreshed. There was no pain, no physical aches, nothing at all.
“Wait. Come back. I want to know more,” Hermue called out and Justin could almost feel something pulling at him to keep him there, but the efforts were futile.
It was the last thing that went through his mind before he found himself out of his body, looking at himself. What the…? His body suddenly smiled at him, then pushed the Dead Time switch on his real arm. His physical body became frozen like everything else in the room. Justin looked down at his hands. They were semi-translucent, like the demon had been.
Panicked, he dove at his physical body but just flowed through. No impact. His frozen body just stood there. The realization hit him like being stabbed with a cold blade in battle. He was stuck in Dead Time!
CHAPTER 1
A thunderous clap shook the ground and jolted Tagen. He sat up. His eyes burned as he opened them, and his mind felt groggy. Through his painful and blurry vision, he could make out the portal to other planets. It’s still standing!? It was only moments ago he was zapped by lightening as the gate collapsed. Mauldrin had destroyed it.
Giving into the burning pain, he closed his eyes. His head felt like it was going to burst. He shook his head. What was going on? Why was it still standing if Mauldrin destroyed it? Feeling the warmth of the sun, he became aware of it shining. This doesn’t make sense, how can there be sunshine?
They had been deep in the cave, far from the sun, and now they had sunlight. Not only had they been in the pitch-black cave, it had been nighttime when they were zapped. Now there was sunlight?
There was a ringing in his ears which was beginning to fade.
Still sitting on the ground, Tagen ran a sore, stiff, arm across the rocky soil. The dark matter was gone, the very substance that turns humans into dark souls. Nothing made sense. He opened his eyes again. Everything was still a blur. A dark shape moved in the distance. Blinking a couple of times, he tried to clear his vision, worried about what might be there. The dark shape, possibly another dark soul, moved closer with each blink. He had to shut his eyes, let them rest.
Muscle fibers began to fire, his legs twitched and his toes ran through the dirt, still no oily dark matter. A strange high-pitched growl came from a few feet away. Whatever was there was no dark soul.
Opening his eyes, Tagen stumbled to his feet. A short, dark brown troll stood in front of him. Tagen let out a scream and extended his claws. The troll tilted his eyeless head and shifted backwards. A growl came from his foe, followed by a hiss that showed red teeth and black-speckled, white gums.
Sunlight poured around them. It had to be at least midday. The gate was upright and working. Sliver cracks ran across the arches of the gate, showing where someone had pieced it back together. The usual liquid swirled within, showing that it was active. The cave walls of his home were gone and large mounds of rocks stood on both sides.
A demon! And another one! There were at least five nearby, knocked out and strewn across the ground, like some force had hit them hard. That made everything complicated. If they woke up, he wouldn’t be able to take all of them on.
Tagen had no clue what was going on, but it wasn’t time to find out. He needed to get out without waking the demons, but the troll had to be dealt with first.
Stumbling, Tagen dove at him. The creature sensed the attack and dove at Tagen, causing them to collide in midair. Claws ripped across Tagen’s back and his pungent blood spilled out.
Dust billowed in the air as they hit the ground. Tagen ended up on top and quickly dug his claws into the troll’s skull. The troll slashed with tiny, sharp nails, slicing Tagen’s shoulders and arms. With a quick snap, Tagen bit off three of his enemy’s fingers. Digging his claws deeper, Tagen focused on the troll’s head.
The troll convulsed and let out a tiny scream, but it was too late. Tagen was in. Black ooze dripped out of the troll’s nose and mouth. His brown skin lightened and the beast went limp.
Knowing he needed to get out before the demons woke, Tagen turned to run, only to trip over his captor. The man, known as Caden by the humans, and Mauldrin by all others, lay dead or unconscious. With the disorientation wearing off, he remembered Mauldrin had dragged him into the cave by a chain before the gate collapsed. Where were the chains? His wrists were free. Looking around, he spotted the strange metal links on the ground where he had been laying.
He took a deep breath, time to leave. His life was on the line. He quickly paused as something caught his attention. “The gate!” A smile crossed his face. He could take Mauldrin to Triaad and he’d be a hero. But wait.
The smile disappeared and his shoulders slumped. He shuddered in fear and disgust as he thought of his previous evil master, Triaad. There is no way I can take Mauldrin to Triaad, not after what happened. Not after he set me up for failure and made it clear to Domblin that my kind are just pawns. His disdain towards dark souls was clear that day, the day he let Domblin, his mortal enemy, live. Even when I brought Snyp’s plans of treachery to Triaad’s attention, he left me with a small band of dark souls to deal with the most powerful king the universe had ever seen, Mauldrin. Triaad purposefully left us to die.
Looking down, Tagen analyzed Mauldrin for a second. The man breathed, Mauldrin wasn’t dead. He smiled. But, Triaad’s plans didn’t work. I’m not dead. Instead, I’ll hold to my promise, and I’ll serve Mauldrin. Turning to look at the gate, Tagen thought about the possibilities. He bent down next to Mauldrin, hands shaking. If I rescue him from here, maybe he’ll become my new master. Maybe he’ll treat me like a top advisor since he doesn’t remember his past. He would be able to protect me with his power and would even be able to kill Triaad. It was a gamble, but it seemed like a better gamble than Triaad.
Gently putting his claws under Mauldrin, he picked him up, put him over his shoulder, and ran for it. He moved with incredible speed.
Everything was different. The cave was completely gone. Huge piles of rock and dirt were scattered across the area. Someone had removed half of the mountain, which made Tagen believe Mauldrin and he had been gone for a significant amount of time.
Reaching the forest’s edge, he sped into the safeness of the shadows. His red eyes constantly searched for demons, or worse, the Witch. Voices came from ahead. Worried, he ducked down into some bushes.
“Wretched demons,” Tagen spoke under his breath as two of them walked by, one dark green and the other mustard yellow. They were oblivious to their surroundings and weren’t on guard at all, even though they were outside the borders of their lands. Tagen was completely befuddled. He couldn’t wrap his mind around anything.
Once the demons passed, he heaved Mauldrin up to get him squarely on his shoulders. They had to get far away from here. If demons were coming out of the Witch’s territory, there wasn’t a safe place. He looked around, thinking about what to do, and then it hit him. It was time to get to a city. After Azgiel had been imprisoned in the cell of time, the demons kept clear of humans.
Each tree he passed was stressful, never knowing what was on the other side. Signs of humans began popping up with dirt roads and a campsite here and there. He was so caught up in trying to stay out of sight, he didn’t expect a blow from behind.
Mauldrin hit him hard in the back, knocking him to the ground. They tumbled through the dirt. Tagen came to an abrupt stop as he smashed into a large boulder. His left arm snapped under the pressure.
“What’s going on? What happened?” Mauldrin shot off from behind as twigs snapped under his weight.
Tagen let out a sigh while he focused on his arm healing, which made loud cracking noises as the bones came together. He began
to regret his choice. It had been foolish to think Mauldrin would take him under his wing and be grateful for the rescue.
With reluctance, Tagen sat down on the rock. He wondered if Mauldrin would kill him now. He knew he needed to say something, so he did, “I don’t know the answer to your questions.”
“How did we get here? You know the answer to that question, so you better answer, or I swear, I’ll kill you,” Mauldrin snapped as he took a couple steps towards Tagen, moving into combat-ready stance with one foot forward.
Tagen felt stupid; he wished he hadn’t saved him. “I told you I would serve you, and that’s what I did. I brought you here because you would’ve died back there.” He meant the words, but they felt strange. They came from somewhere inside of Tagen that was unfamiliar. As he spoke, pain shot into his hand, which he tried to ignore.
“Saved my life?” Mauldrin shifted his weight, his eyes narrowing.
“Yes. I saved your life. The creatures back there would’ve killed you while you were out on the ground. If it wasn’t for me, you’d be dead.” The pain in his hand grew worse, but he ignored it, knowing he needed to keep an eye on Mauldrin. If he tried to attack, Tagen would leave him for the demons.
“There were no creatures when we went into the cave.” Mauldrin glared at him with an eyebrow raised. “Or wait, did you lie to me when you told me I had killed all of them?”
“Look around you.” Tagen raised his hands into the air. “When we went into that cave it was night time, it’s midday now. When you broke the gate, something happened. My guess, we’re in the future. The gate has been repaired, which would take a lot of time and expertise, and even though you didn’t see it, someone excavated half the mountain.”
Mauldrin tilted his head staring blankly. Tagen rolled his eyes, and stood up, not knowing how his hope-to-be new master would respond. Seeing no immediate danger, he looked down at the incredible pain that was building in his hand. A strange tear split down the back of it and half way up his little finger. Inside the tear was a bright white color, like another skin, different from his black oily skin.
