Dead Time Series

by Jason Wilcox

  “I think we should turn around,” Tagen spoke softly and tugged at Caden’s shirt. “This place reeks of bad things. Domblin surely wouldn’t be here.”

  “This is the third time you’ve sensed something and won’t tell me. What do you smell?” Caden grew tired of Tagen constantly arguing with him, it caused his agitation to worsen.

  “Dark souls, and lots of them,” Tagen’s words were cut off as a metal canister shot up from the sand.

  Caden’s instincts took over and he dove on top of Tagen. As his hands hit the oily skin, the canister exploded, sending a wave of fire smashing into them, sending them flying. A close by house stopped them as they crashed into the wall. The world seemed fuzzy as Caden tried to get his bearings and focus on what happened. Small fires crackled on the porch.

  Through the dust, Caden could see Tagen lying close by. His body was wrapped around the pole that held up the porch. Ringing filled Caden’s ears, causing his head to feel as if it was going to burst. He tried to move and felt a few broken bones. The explosion seemed to stop his irritability; the dark matter in his veins didn’t seem to pulse as strongly.

  The dark shape began to move. “Why can’t you listen…?” Tagen spoke with a soft, gruff voice. He pushed away from the pole and began picking himself up. Once he was on his feet, he stepped closer to Caden. The dust was settling and he could tell Tagen had both arms broken in many places, but the gaping wounds were quickly healing. His white scars hadn’t changed, still unhealed.

  “You better heal those wounds before you bleed too much,” Tagen’s voice was soft. He turned and squatted, sniffing and looking out in the distance through the settling dust. “We need to get moving.”

  For the first time, Caden looked down at himself. Black blood oozed in a number of places along his abdomen, arms, and legs. He tried to focus energy on healing, but it wasn’t working well. He wasn’t sure what he needed to do to get his body to heal. It was much slower than Tagen’s healing.

  The spots on his arms were healing, the skin a darker shade than before. His veins were blacker than ever, but the rest of his body wasn’t responding, and the wounds kept bleeding.

  “I think this is a military base,” Caden spoke, but found it difficult from his lungs hurting and his head throbbing. “If they don’t come out soon, let’s find a way in.”

  “And what if they’re the ones who cleared the streets?”

  “We won’t know until we try.” Caden pushed himself up, but lost his balance and fell back.

  “You need to heal those wounds before you move.” Tagen pointed a claw at him, just like a mother to a child.

  Caden looked around. As far as he could see, there was no one responding to the explosion. He figured it must be common for people or creatures to set them off. He looked down over his gapping wounds. Black blood pooled around him, soaking into the dirt. “How do I control my healing?”

  “You need to take it easy, but we don’t want to be caught here.”

  “You go,” Caden spoke softly while putting pressure on the largest wound.

  “What?” Tagen stammered.

  Narrowing his eyes, Caden looked at Tagen. “You can go through that wall and be invisible. Go see what’s over there, then come back and let me know.”

  “You want me to go? To leave you?”

  “I trust you. Just come back after you find out what’s there.”

  “I can’t leave you.” Tagen looked up at the wall. “Besides, you don’t know what’s in there. There might be something that could see me.”

  “There’s nothing that’s going to see you,” Caden began. “Go on, and hurry back. It shouldn’t take long. I’ve seen how fast you can move.” As Caden spoke, Tagen eyed the sword. “If something happens and you get stuck, scream. I’ll hear that, and I’ll come with my sword drawn to get you out of any mess.”

  A smile grew on Tagen’s face. “You would do that?”

  “Of course. We’re a team.”

  “And you trust me?”

  “Yes, so hurry.”

  Tagen didn’t say another word. He turned and with a strange prance, he was gone, flicking off like a light bulb. Caden could see his dust trail as he headed for the wall in shadow form. Part of Caden wanted Tagen’s companionship, causing him to worry he wouldn’t come back, but there was another part of him that didn’t care.

  Nothing was the same any more. Everything he knew seemed to be destroyed, including Bridget. He was beginning to worry that they weren’t going to find Domblin, and there was no revenge, there was nothing.

  Closing his eyes and laying on the ground, Caden let his hand fall off the wounds. I can’t go any farther. If I die, I could join Bridget and leave everything behind. The thought brought almost a sense of peace. His body relaxed and he drifted in and out of consciousness, no longer struggling to stay alert.

  Specks of dirt fell on his skin. He could feel it building up, but it didn’t matter any longer. The world seemed peaceful as he let out a breath and felt his consciousness fade.

  A strange feeling came over his body, a palpable darkness. He was quickly aware of his body and began to wake up. Something breathed on him, and he opened his eyes.

  Blazing red eyes were in his face.

  Screaming, the creature grabbed Caden’s chest and smashed him to the ground. Caden grew more conscious and saw it was a dark soul, but not Tagen. His skin had strange-checkered lines in it.

  The dark soul screamed in his face again and this time Caden felt something rip into his chest. With a powerful force, Caden was again slammed into the ground, which knocked him out.

  When Caden came around, he was chained to a metal loop on a rock floor. Grime and dirt filled the crevices beneath him. The chain was rusted and old. Some of the rings were worn down from other prisoners trying to get loose. He looked up to see bars. A prison cell?

  Putting his hands on the rock, he pushed to his knees. He felt for the sword, but it was gone. A panicky feeling ran through him. Turning as best he could with the chains, he looked around the cell. There was no sword, only clumps of blackened straw. His heart sank and he felt sick.

  He had no idea how much time he had been out. The only light came from a flickering bulb that hung by a wire from the ceiling. Using the light he tried to look over his wounds. He used his fingers to feel the ones he could see. All of them had healed. Strangely, the scar tissue made his skin black, and web like black veins ran out from the scars. He heard footsteps coming his way and stopped checking the wounds.

  He looked at the light which flickered as the footsteps approached. Caden moved as close as he could to the bars, trying to see who was coming but wasn’t able to get close enough with the chains.

  As the footsteps grew closer, he could tell it was a group of people. When the patting feet were close enough, he decided to call out, hoping to get answers and feeling he had nothing to lose.

  “Hey, who’s there? Where am I?” The footsteps paused as his yells echoed. Clanking chains from other prisoners could be heard through the tunnels.

  The footsteps continued, and he got his first glimpse of who was there. Two humans appeared on the other side of the bars. They had on bizarre, dirty outfits with hats that came down over their eyes and a set of goggles in them. The glass in the goggles was a strange blue. Next to the humans was a dark soul but different than the dark souls Caden had seen. This one had lines that ran all over his body. The creature hissed, glaring at Caden.

  One of the guards kicked the bars. “Shut up, or we’ll feed you to the dark soul.” As the man finished, the other guy laughed and spat at Caden, but Caden had retreated to the back of the cell. Without further confrontation, they went on their way.

  Stuck in a cell again. He looked to see if there might be a way out, but the structure looked sound. He plopped on the floor and closed his eyes.

  “Hey,” a voice whispered from the hallway. At first, Caden thought it was his imagination, but it came again. “Hey.” Psst. “Hey, you,” t
he voice was familiar, but at this point Caden desired any friendly human contact, which made him worry that his mind was playing tricks. He decided to answer to see if the voice was real.

  “What?” he spoke in a regular tone not caring if the guards heard him.

  “Quiet,” the voice whispered. “Are you Caden?” the voice was labored and weak.

  Caden’s eyes widened. “Yes.” He moved as close as he could to the bars.

  “I thought so,” the person coughed as he spoke.

  That voice, he knew that voice. “Matt? Is that you?”

  “Yes.” Chains clanked as Matt moved in his cell.

  “What are you doing here? What happened?”

  “Justin. He turned on me…” More coughs followed. “He wants to dominate everything, he completely lost his mind,” his voice began to wheeze and grow quieter.

  “Are you okay?”

  “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

  “Where’s James? How long have you been here?” Caden had a thousand questions, but knew he needed to ask ones that were more important first, in case Matt lost his voice.

  “I don’t know…about James,” he paused for a moment. “I don’t know how long I’ve been here…maybe years…” his voice gave out as he started into a coughing fit.

  “Rest your voice,” Caden looked back at his cell as he spoke. “Besides, I’m sure we’ll have many chances to talk.”

  “You’re right,” Matt’s voice faded.

  Years? How long had he been gone? He had so many questions for Matt, but he had to be patient. Matt needed rest.

  CHAPTER 7

  Tagen walked through the dusty air. The area stunk of dark souls. They had to be close. Their strong odor grew, as he got closer to the wall.

  Leaving Mauldrin behind left Tagen with a strange conflicted feeling. Part of him felt freedom at last. There was no threat from Snyp, Triaad, or even Mauldrin and his sword. On the other hand, something was wrong; he was worried to leave Mauldrin in an area with dark souls.

  Dirt was settling as he stopped and looked back at Mauldrin. He was still lying on the porch near a small crater where the bomb had gone off. He was still in shock that Mauldrin had jumped on him to block the explosion. His new master did his best to protect him. Never had a master done such an act.

  “I trust you,” Mauldrin’s words ran through Tagen’s mind. He needed to keep moving, the wall wasn’t far. If he hurried, he could be back quickly before anyone could get to his new master.

  The wall towered above him as he arrived. His senses were going crazy. The dark soul odor permeated along the wall.

  Taking a deep breath, Tagen stepped through the wall. On the other side, he was in an empty back alley with rundown shacks all around. He made his way through the twisting maze of homes, looking for any signs of life. The dark soul odor was powerful. He knew they had to be close. Finally, as he crept up to an opening, he could see numerous dark souls. He saw what he needed to, it was time to go back and report.

  After he exited the wall, he stopped when he didn’t see Mauldrin where he had left him. Sprinting, he made his way back to where he had left his master defenseless.

  Each moment seemed long and pushed him to run faster. When he arrived, his fears were confirmed, Mauldrin was gone. A pool of Mauldrin’s black blood attracted bony rats, their fur matted and missing in places.

  Tagen hated rats. His memory went back to the wall that Triaad encased him in. He hung there for many years, listening and feeling the rats slowly gnaw his feet off. He came out of shadow form and hissed at the rats, making them scurry into the darkness.

  To the right he heard voices. Naturally, he changed into shadow form and slid behind a bush. After watching for a moment, a dark soul and human came around a building heading in Tagen’s direction. The human was dressed differently than he had ever seen a human dress, and the dark soul had strange markings. As far as Tagen could tell, the markings were crisscrossed all over the dark soul. The human had on a long black coat with a large number nineteen on the front. His left eye had a lens that hung over it.

  The situation made Tagen want to flee to live for tomorrow. Neither of them was reacting to each other, they seemed comfortable being together, making Tagen feel uneasy. He looked for an escape route, thinking he could disappear before either of them noticed him.

  “I trust you.” Tagen could hear Mauldrin’s words. He paused and let out a sigh, he couldn’t abandon his new master. Tightening his jaw, he stepped towards the two.

  The man noticed him first. “Did you find anything that way?” he asked Tagen.

  Tagen came to a jarring stop, shocked the man could see him in shadow form. Humans can’t see dark souls in shadow form. The lens, he looked at it closer, realizing it must be a device to allow him to see Tagen.

  The dark soul next to the human stopped the moment he saw Tagen. His red eyes shifted up and down analyzing Tagen.

  “What’s the problem?” the man asked while stopping and looking at the dark soul.

  “That’s not one of ours,” the dark soul hissed.

  The man turned in Tagen’s direction. “What do you mean he’s not one of us? I thought all you dark souls were with us.” The man stepped back towards his dark soul companion.

  “Who are you?” the dark soul asked. His black skin shimmered in the moon’s light, showing a crisscross pattern that scarred his entire body.

  “My name is Tagen. And you?”

  “Tagen?” The dark soul moved closer. “I thought you were dead, killed like the others.”

  “No, I’ve just been away.” Tagen knew he needed to be careful since he still didn’t recognize the dark soul. He could feel his heart racing, not knowing what to expect from the dark soul.

  Lowering his brow and opening his arms, the dark soul spoke again, “Tagen, it’s me, Laht.”

  Tagen felt his muscles relax and his breathing go back to normal. Laht had been starting to train in the field when Tagen last saw him. He had just begun to become more self-aware, growing out of the youngling phase.

  “You look different,” Tagen spoke cautiously still not believing his eyes or his ears. The dark soul spoke extremely well. Language was one of the hardest things for dark souls to develop.

  “Yes.” Laht looked down at himself. “We’re trying a new armor…” The human shot a dark look at Laht, which caused him to stop talking. Stepping closer, the human looked him over.

  “How do we know we can trust him?” the human spoke to Laht while moving to the backside of Tagen. Not trusting the man, Tagen kept looking over his shoulder at him.

  “Of course we can,” Laht paused. His head tilted. “Maybe you should meet our master, Hermue. You could join us.”

  Tagen turned so he could look at Laht and the human. “I’m guessing I don’t have much of a choice?”

  The human tensed after Tagen’s comment, turning to get in a better position to attack. Tagen ignored him. It was just a human, so he had nothing to worry about.

  With as much of a smile as a dark soul could muster, Laht stepped closer to Tagen. “No, it’s not like that. I thought you might want to meet him. He’s a good master.”

  Believing the dark soul was lying, Tagen thought he had better comply. He didn’t want to start a fight when he could smell dark souls in the shadows around them.

  “Let’s move.” Without another word, Laht began leading the way with the human following behind. Tagen hoped they would lead him to Mauldrin. They walked in silence towards the towering wall. Every now and again Tagen would notice dark souls or humans in the distance watching them, guarding an outer area of the wall.

  Before long, they were at a large gate built from an old wooden bridge. The gate was open. As they entered, Tagen stopped because of what he saw. Humans and dark souls were communicating and getting along. Never in his life had he seen such a thing. On Triaad’s world, dark souls kept to themselves, far away from the humans, which was what Triaad wanted. But here they walked and talke
d together.

  “Are all of them younglings?” Tagen asked Laht.

  The dark soul turned to Tagen. “The ones up here would’ve been classified as older younglings to Snyp, but no, the newborns are kept in a safer place where their instincts to kill others won’t get the best of them.” He took a few steps to lessen the distance between them. “Hermue found that if he allowed older younglings to mingle with humans, they developed speech, cognitions, and motor skills a hundred times faster.”

  “Amazing.” There was a chance Hermue might actually be a trustworthy leader. Maybe Mauldrin would be all right and they could live there. The thought of living somewhere without all the fighting sent strange and foreign feelings through Tagen. He felt as if he were in shock, the idea was so novel. He looked again at the many dark souls. “Where do they all come from? There weren’t this many here before the gate was smashed.”

  Laht rubbed his hands together nervously as the question was asked. He looked at the human then back to Tagen. “Hermue will be in his throne room.” Laht pointed to an old nuclear power plant.

  Even the mention of a throne room put Tagen at unease. Only creatures and people of the old worlds would use that term. If Hermue’s from ancient times, who is he? “Lead the way.” It was strange and yet nice to have another dark soul so civilized in conversation. Everything around him was fascinating. Old houses were run down and boarded up. An old shop with ‘BAR’ written on the outside had a couple humans hanging out in front talking.

  “This is the dark soul district. Hermue gave us these homes,” Laht explained as they made their way towards the nuclear plant.

  “Where do the humans stay?” Tagen asked.

  “On the southern side, but some like to hang out on this side of town. I guess because we’re more fun. Isn’t that right, Zack?” Laht looked back at the human, who was still following them and unwilling to take his eyes off Tagen.

  With a dirty look, Zack snapped at Laht. “We better hurry and get him to Hermue. We’ll let him decide if this dark soul is okay to share information with.” Once he finished talking, Laht gave a quiet growl but complied with Zack’s directions and picked up the pace, walking in front of Tagen again.