The Masters: RE: The New Cast (The Crisis in Time Series Book 1)

by Matthew Weldon

  “So, what are your names?” Kaido asked.

  I replied, “My name is Tana, short for Katana. This is my best friend, Vlayru.”

  “Your name is Mabel, right?” Vlayru asked.

  He looked at Vlayru with a serious look, “It’s Kaido. I hate the name, Mabel.”

  Kaido pulled out a pack of cigarettes. I immediately smacked it out of his hands.

  “No smoking, if you are going to join us,” I said in a serious tone.

  I didn’t take kindly to smokers. I thought it was an extremely bad and stupid habit to get into.

  “Alright, fine. Jeez,” Kaido acknowledged, in an angry tone.

  Vlayru asked him, “You smoke?”

  “Yeah, I have a troubled past, and the smoking helps me forget them, amongst other things,” He explained, “So, you mind telling me what this quest is all about.”

  “Yeah, sure,” I answered.

  We made our way back to the road and continued down it. I filled Kaido in on everything that has happened and what we have been told so far. We finally made it to the Scorchis Kingdom border after a couple days of traveling.

  Chapter 6 – Kingdom of Fire

  On the way to the Scorchis Kingdom capital, Inferus City, we crossed through the Sigmis Desert. we ran into more Shadow Beings that appeared around us.

  “So, these are the Shadow Dwellers you spoke of?” Kaido asked with a worried look on his face.

  We readied our weapons for a fight.

  “What were you expecting?” Vlayru asked.

  Kaido answered, “I’m not sure, but definitely not this though.”

  I smirk and we started to fight. We defeated them with ease, as they dissipated into darkness since it was a small group of them.

  “That was a workout,” Vlayru said, stretching his arms.

  “So, did we kill them?” Kaido asked, curiously.

  “Unfortunately, no. When they dissipate like that, they return to the Shadow Realm. They are made from the essence of the Shadow Realm. At least that is what we were told,” Vlayru explained.

  Kaido scrounged his eyebrows, and after a moment he asked, “Then, how do we defeat them? There is got to be a way to make them not appear ever again.”

  Vlayru and I looked at each other, and we both got a look of sudden realization.

  “Oh wow, I never thought of asking that,” I said, putting my face in my hand.

  Vlayru began to rub his forehead, “Same here.”

  I looked at the road and then back to them, “Well, we can figure that out later. Let’s continue on.”

  I then realized that Vlaryu was still wearing his blind fold. Ever since he got Master Ice’s orb. He hasn’t been using his light powers.

  “Hey, Vlayru, why do you still have your blindfold on if you aren’t going to use your light powers?” I questioned him.

  He was quiet for a moment. Seemed like he was searching for the words.

  “I just feel like I should keep it on. Can we keep going, please?” He shot down.

  The Scorchis City was a two-day travel from where we were fighting. On the way, we ran into more shadow dwellers. When we arrived at the city looked around for a place to stay. The city was mostly tall buildings with a few skyscrapers. There was a lot of foliage, like grass and trees. It seemed strange to me for a city that was placed in a desert.

  I looked at Kaido and asked, “Hey, how did you get that sword? It’s pretty cool.”

  “I made it myself. It took me two months to get it perfect,” Kaido answered.

  “Wow, impressive,” I complimented Kaido.

  “Yeah, metal work is kind of in my blood, I guess. I found out I was good at welding at a young age,” He explained.

  Just then, a girl that looked about my age, approached and stopped us. She was in a fancy dress. Kind of stood out amongst the rest of the crowd of people around us.

  “Are you the Cast?” the girl asked.

  I hesitated for a moment. Should tell her I am the new Cast?

  “What is your business with us?” Vlayru asked her.

  “Pardon me. I am Queen Aida’s servant, Grace. She has asked for your audience if you would like to accompany me to the castle,” She asked.

  I thought for a second, then answered, “Yeah sure, we’ll go with you.”

  She nodded her head and gestured her hand, pointing in the direction behind her.

  “This way, please,” she said to us.

  We followed her to a castle that stood on the opposite side of the city. We walked through guarded gates and into the castle. We walked through the halls that had red carpet covering the middle of the floor. We were led to the audience chamber. It was a large room with pillars on the side. At the end of the room sat the queen and her advisors on either side. There were also servants waiting to serve. We stopped some ways in front of the queen and bowed.

  As we stood back up from our bow, the girl spoke, “Your majesty, this is the cast that you had requested to be summoned here and her party.”

  “Thank you, Grace,” Queen Aida said to the girl.

  Grace bowed again walk to the queen’s side.

  The queen then continued, “So, you are the new cast? I’ve never thought that the cast would be a girl. The last three were men.”

  I replied, “Yes, your majesty, my name is Katana, Tana for short. These are my friends Vlayru and Kaido.”

  “Please to meet you three. I am Queen Aida Aldridge,” She said in a very royal tone.

  “If I may, your majesty, ask how you have come about knowing who I am?” I asked, still bowed.

  “Well, there have been rumors going around of your quest for the Master Orbs. I actually want to aid you in your quest,” She told.

  “Really, your majesty?” Vlayru asked.

  “Yes. This information has come from the rebellion that has started. They released a message to everyone about their existence and are wanting revenge on you,” The queen explained.

  Kaido, Vlayru, and I looked at each with concerned looks.

  “Aren’t you and the other leaders meeting about this?” Vlayru asked the queen.

  The queen answered, “Your parents did request another gathering of the leaders. We are waiting for the right time to gather again to avoid sneak attacks on us.”

  “The real reason I have requested for your audience is that I wanted to meet you in person. Now that I know, I want to help you. First thing is first, I’m sure you are looking for a place to stay, correct?” she asked.

  “Yes, we are,” Kaido responded.

  “Well, we have room here for all of you. If you would like to stay here that is,” She offered us.

  “That would be great. Thank you so much!” I told her, smiling big.

  ‘This is amazing! A stay in a castle. This will be paradise,’ I thought, happily.

  The queen turned to Grace and asked, “Grace, will you take them to their rooms, please?”

  “Yes, your majesty,” she said, bowing,

  Grace made her way past us. We turned to followed her, as she led us back to the hallways, and to our rooms. We turned down another hallway which was full of different paintings and rare objects hanging on the walls. We then Turned the next corner, down to another hallway. We stopped in the middle of the hallway, Grace then turned to us.

  “These will be your rooms for the night. Boys, you may take these rooms here.” She instructed.

  Grace pointed to the two doors to our left.

  She continued, “Tana, you may have this room over here.”

  She made her way over to the door on the right. She opened the door and entered. I followed her into the room as well. I looked around to examined the room. It was very large and fancy. It also looked a bit dated though. It was still a major step up from my own room.

  “Please get comfortable. The Queen also would want you and your companions to join her for dinner. And if you need anything else, just let me know,” She told me while standing by the door.

  “Thank so
much, Grace. You’re a saint,” I complimented her.

  “Oh, thank you,” She smiled, “I’ll see you down at dinner. There is also plenty of clothes you can change into that is in the closet,” she said smiling, as she exited the room and closed the door.

  I got out of my clothes and put them on a chair that was in the corner. I then changed into a very expensive, but very beautiful blue dress that I picked out from the choices I had. I put my hair up and put on some makeup. I then met up with Vlayru and Kaido in the hallway. They both were also wearing fancy outfits.

  “You look amazing. Especially for a woman who can open a can of serious ass,” Kaido said with a smirk.

  I laughed and felt my face blush. It was true, but only to point. Even though my skills with elemental powers are good, it’s my sword skills needs some major improvement. In a fight, I try to use my sword, but I end up relying on using water and lightning attacks.

  “I hate being in this suit,” Vlayru said, fidgeting in the suite.

  “Just be patient, we can get out of them after dinner,” I told him.

  Grace came around the corner, wearing something a little nicer than earlier

  “You guys look great,” She complimented, then asked, “Are you ready for dinner?”

  “I’m starving,” Kaido answer back.

  “Good, if you would please follow me,” She told us.

  We followed her down to the dining hall. There sat the Queen, her advisors, and some other people that looked like they were rich. Some even looked like they were from different parts of the world. As we walked over to our seats, I was getting a strange vibe coming to the old man sitting at the table near the queen. He seemed really familiar. We stopped at the empty chairs near the Queen.

  “Your majesty,” I said to Queen Aida.

  We all bowed.

  “You may be seated,” She said to us.

  We sat down and joined the conversation as the servants brought out the food to us.

  Aida looked over to me and told me, “I don’t know why, but I feel that when I speak to you, it is like I am speaking to one of other casts.”

  “It does? That’s really strange. I mean, I’m certainly not as powerful as they were, for one. I probably never will anyway,” I told her.

  “Well, I’m sure you will one day, my dear,” The older gentlemen said.

  He was sitting across me and was very well dressed.

  “Tana, this is an old family friend. His name is Eagle,” The queen told me.

  Eagle stood up, bowed, and spoke, “It’s a pleasure to meet, you.”

  “Same with you, sir,” I said back.

  “I actually must take my leave. Tana, I expect great things from you,” Eagle said, with a smile.

  I smiled back and nodded.

  Eagle turned back to the queen and said, “Before I go, your majesty, I heard that the rebellion caused some sort of riot in Central City yesterday. Was that true?”

  “Wait, what?!” I said in shock.

  The queen nodded and explained, “Yes, it’s true. Luckily though, your parents helped the police force take care of it. There are some in the hospital and there is some collateral damage.”

  “So, our parents are in Central City right now?” I asked.

  The queen, replied, “Yes, they are. I’m sure they are aiding with the clean-up of the city.”

  “Well, that is good. I’m sure it ended a lot quicker with them involved,” Vlayru added.

  Eagle stood up said, “I must be going. Thank you for having me, your majesty. And it was good to meet you, Tana.”

  He bowed, made his way to the other end of the room, said his goodbyes to everyone else, and exited the room.

  Kaido then leaned near me and whisper, “Hey, queen. Who is the rest of these people?”

  I looked at him with a serious face and thought to myself, ‘Why is he being so informal?’

  I saw Grace with the same judgmental look.

  “Oh, they are just people who are in town looking to do business either with me or with each other under my approval, Kaido. For instance, that man down close to the other end of the table is from Prism City located in Otrus. He owns a company that manufactures explosives there. He’s looking to sell some of his explosives to us.” Queen Aida explained.

  She continued, “Also, the gentleman in the middle there who is quietly eating, is from Ananias, which is a holy city located in Yovan. Right now, his people are being repressed by their neighboring country and were forced to take refuge in an abandoned town in some mountains nearby. We are looking into sending help, though we probably couldn’t send more than a few people over there.”

  “I wish we could help them,” Vlayru said with empathy.

  Kaido said, “Well, we do have problems of our own right now though.”

  The queen nodded and agreed, “You’re right about that.”

  She then asked “Tana, you said you felt you weren’t ever going to be as powerful as they were. Why do you say that?”

  “Well my swordsmanship is nothing like theirs, I’m sure. I mean, I can use a sword, it’s just I’m not as good with wielding it,” I explained.

  “Well, that’s perfect. We have a guest with us tonight who is the best swordsman master of our time. Please, sir, stand up and introduce yourself to Katana,” She asked the old man, who I was getting strange vibes from.

  “Hello Katana, I’m Master Zen, pleased to meet your acquaintance,” The old man said, introducing himself to me.

  he gave a different kind of bow. I stood up and gave a bow back.

  “Pleased to meet you. You can call me Tana,” I said to him.

  “Okay then, Tana. If you would like, I could train you in the art of sword combat,” He asked me, with a smile.

  “That’ll be the best!” I responded to him without hesitation and smiling big.

  The Queen then spoke, “Great, if you would like, you could use the training grounds back behind the castle.”

  “That would be great. You guys are so generous,” I told them.

  Queen Aida smiled and said, “Anything to help the cast. you bring us peace, so it’s only fair that we give any help with can give you.”

  “Thank you again. Well, it looks like we are all done with dinner,” I replied.

  We stood and bowed once more. As we walk toward the door and followed Grace, who led us to our rooms again. Master Zen stopped us.

  “Be sure to be up earlier tomorrow. Training starts then. Until then, sleep well and good night.” Zen told me.

  I nodded my head with a smirk, then continued to my room. Grace bid us good night, then went off. We all said good night to each other and carted ourselves to bed.

  “So, let me get everything straight.”Spex said to himself after stopping the playback, “Tana is not only facing off against the Dark Rebellion, but also the Shadow Dwellers? If I remember right the Shadow dwellers weren’t a much threat to Tana until later on. It was mostly just the rebellion that she was worried about. There were a few attacks but that’s it. How did that guy with the hat know where Tana and Vlayru were going to be? Was he tipped off? Then there is Mabel. He doesn’t like his name now, so he goes by a different one? What is up with that? So, many questions.”

  Just then, he felt a jolt a pain rush to his head.

  “Ahhh!” Spex yelled, dropping to his knees.

  He put his hands on his head and started to picture in his mind him as a young child running up and grabbing to a woman. She had a blonde hair but her face was blurry. The pain subsided slowly. Other blurry memories of this woman start coming to him.

  “Mom?” Spex said in shock.

  He slowly got up off the floor and looked around. Spex was puzzled. Just then, a man in a black cloak with the hood up appeared in the corner.

  “You know how hard it is to get here without you?” the man said.

  Spex greeted the man, “Hey, Father. What are you doing here?”

  “Well I felt something was off with the timeli
ne, so I came here to see what was going on. Our ancestors were the original keepers of time, you know,” The man explained.

  Spex looked at the man for a moment, then asked, “Is Sabre, okay?”

  The man replied, “Yeah, why wouldn’t he be?”

  “That’s good,” Spex replied then made his way over to a big book.

  The book was the entire timeline up, until this point in written form. It is a magical book that was created by their ancestors. It shows whatever point in time you wish to read.

  The man studied Spex, then asked, “What is going on, son? What’s wrong?”

  “Don’t worry about it, Father. I can handle it,” Spex insured his father, while continued to read the book.

  The man looked at the timeline hologram then back at Spex.

  He took a step forward, “Could you at least tell me what you are doing?”

  Spex sighed and replied, “I’m trying to figure some stuff out. I just need time. If I need your help, I’ll come and get you. In the meantime, just don’t worry about it, please.”

  The man looked away and sighed, “Alright then. I’ll go and check on Sabre. If something happens on my end, I’ll come get you.”

  He then turned and walked towards the corner of the room and disappeared.

  Spex said to himself, “I’m sorry, Father. I need to fix this myself. I am the Master of Time after all. To be honest, I feel like I failed somehow. If that is the case, then I’m the only one who should be fixing it.”

  Spex got tired of reading, so he went back to the hologram and continued on watching.

  Chapter 7 – Training Time

  I woke up and got out of bed, slowly. The sun was shining bright and was kind of blinding me. I made my way to the closet and saw some loose clothing suitable for training, consisting of a large t shirt and sweat pants. Luckily there was also sports bra and some running shoes. I turned and walked across the room into a bathroom attached to the room and took a shower. I got out, dressed in the clothes, and as I exited the bathroom back into the bedroom, Grace was there making the bed.