The Fiercest Craving

by Max Jager

  "Yet you never suspected that even one of them could have been collaborating with Serann himself? How else could you have been suddenly arrested out of the blue?" Lem demanded.

  Hathren sat still, unable to think of an answer.

  Lem pounded his palms into the table. "If the occurrence of the surgeries is brought to light, the entire empire could potentially enter a period of black scare. Every life that Hathren saved would suddenly be at risk for capture and execution!"

  "Hathren, have you any idea where this child could possibly be?" asked Zal Kriften.

  Hathren sighed, massaging his temples. "Only one: the hospital dissection lab. They're likely studying my stitching and technique in hopes of finding ways to identify my other subjects."

  "That would seem like a logical course of action," Brent chimed in.

  Lem looked back to Sil. "Think you can carry out another search and rescue?"

  Sil grinned. "I'll try my best. Just out of curiosity, what is the name of the one I am about to save?"

  "I believe he was to be christened Jaren Sikel," Hathren said after several moments of pause.

  Book 3: Prologue

  Sorry again for taking a while. Enjoy! ^^

  Book III - Justice

  Prologue - Nano Era, Year 25 - Arden Dynasty

  1:32 a.m.

  Jaren shook his head, his thoughts racing to make sense of all Hathren had told him. At the same time, countless burning questions seemed to pop into his head all at once.

  "You're saying you performed this surgery on about a thousand half-orcs to make them appear human?"

  Hathren nodded his head. "That's correct."

  "So, what's next then?" Jaren asked uneasily. "I owe you one for getting me off the flagship but what do we do now?"

  "We do what the Council for the Advancement of Orcs has been striving to do for twenty-five years."

  "Which is?"

  "The liberation of the orc-kind of course!" Hathren stated as though the answer was obvious. He cleared his throat.

  "Now, I believe it's time my own façade was lifted, as I no longer have any need for it."

  Gingerly pinching the skin around the left side of his neck, Hathren found a catch and pulled it, causing the peach-white skin on his face to peel off. The peeled areas revealed rougher skin of a slightly darker hue, and within a minute, Hathren's true identity as a half-orc was revealed.

  Jaren smirked. "Well, well, Koren."

  Hathren smiled back. "I still go by Hathren."

  Jaren rubbed his forehead, still getting the feel of his rougher skin. "How exactly will we go about with the liberation of the orc-kind? It's quite clear that Arden's empire is the most powerful entity in the known universe."

  "The keyword being 'known,'" Hathren said.

  "I don't quite follow."

  "We are about to approach the Celtanean Solar System, a heavenly body whose existence many have forgotten. It's not a part of the Arden Sovereignty."

  "Wait, isn't that where Iltenaan is located?" Jaren questioned.

  "Very perceptive, my boy," Hathren lauded. "Well, yes. To be more precise, that's exactly where we're going."

  "But didn't the IFG wipe it out?" Jaren asked uncomfortably, thinking that reminding Hathren of the tragedy would upset him.

  "That's where the CAO have their base. And it turns out not all of our kind was wiped out. Their simple and tribal lifestyle lives on," Hathren said in a perfectly calm manner.

  "I see," Jaren said, relieved that Hathren hadn't been incensed. "How far away are we now?"

  "Distance to destination, Corsair?" Hathren inquired.

  The red light affixed to the near wall flashed. "We are now about 3.3 aurons from our destination. While maintaining the cloak, we'll have sufficient power to make it there in five hours."

  "Very well," Hathren said blandly. "We have much of a ways to go. Do you have any further questions Jaren?"

  Jaren was now feeling his hair, which seemed similar to how he had last remembered it.

  "Hmm, now that you mention it, Brent Knox was part of the CAO wasn't he?"

  "He is currently a member if my knowledge serves me," Hathren replied.

  "Then why was he the prosecutor of my trial?" Jaren demanded.

  Hathren looked stunned. "Good heavens! He of all people was chosen?"

  Jaren crossed his arms and looked away from the other half-orc. "Yeah. Would there be any explanation for this inconsistency?"

  Hathren turned his gaze to the ceiling. "We've had him act as a spy in the imperial government and legal system."

  Jaren scoffed. "We'll he sounded damn convincing that he wanted my head on a platter."

  Hathren stood still for a moment, rubbing his chin. "What exactly did he say?"

  "Something about some sort of law passed to make two lower level crimes the equivalent of a crime of a level higher. Said with that I could be convicted at the fifth level," Jaren recalled.

  Hathren began to chuckle uncontrollably.

  Jaren abruptly stood up and banged his foot on the floor. "What in the hell about this do you find so damn funny?"

  Hathren's laughter ceased. "We had agreed with Brad that on the off chance he would be picked to prosecute your case, he would do whatever would be necessary to lose the case. I never thought he would go so far as to pull an easily readable bluff like that."

  "Bluff? So that's why Arden caught on right away," Jaren conceded. "Well, if what you're saying is true, he can't be a spy anymore. His attorney license has been revoked I think."

  "Better than him convicting you," Hathren said gravely. "He was a damn good lawyer. I've heard a lot about him from Erand."

  "Wait a minute!" Jaren said abruptly. "Erand was my lawyer. He said his last name was Drel. Are you two by any chance related?"

  Hathren looked in the direction of the threshold to the main chamber of the cruiser. "Let the man tell you himself."

  Erand strode into the room, no longer wearing his robes but rather more casual attire consisting of a gray fleece shirt and stonewashed jeans. He took a seat on Jaren's bed.

  "Jaren," he began. "My story will be the final piece in this puzzle, and after hearing it, you will understand everything."

  Jaren nodded.

  "I'll begin by telling you that you weren't born on Iltenaan. You were born on Aezar, during the prime of Serann's reign."

  "But how?" Jaren inquired. "There couldn't possibly have been any orc-kind on Aezar. Serann ordered each and every one of them dead."

  "Not quite," Erand countered. "You do recall from Hathren's story that some of them were sold into slavery, namely the women and children who didn't put up resistance."

  "So I was born among the slaves?"

  "I regret to inform you of this, Jaren," Erand started softly.

  Jaren's eyes widened, his heart beginning to race.

  "You were born a bastard child," Erand finished in a whisper.

  The blood drained from Jaren's face. "B-but how do you know that?"

  "Because I was the prosecutor for the very case that involved your mother's rape."

  As you might guess, the next book is going to be about Erand and his experience prosecuting the rape case of Jaren's mom. Hope you're as excited as I am! :D

  B3 Chapter 1

  I - Nano Era, Year 4 - Serann Dynasty

  4:51 p.m.

  Screams of utter agony suffused the hospital room as the mere teenage girl fought to deliver her demon to the world.

  "Must we really continue this?" an alarmed doctor demanded. "Her heart rate is going off the charts! If this continues-"

  "I know, Aidan, but her wishes were that she deliver the child."

  "Screw that!" Aidan retorted, visibly irritated. "It's a fucking bastard child. Why didn't she just get an abortion for shit's sake?"

  "But still, we must obey her. After all, she's a-"

  "Who gives two shits that she's a princess? Between a princess and a bastard child, what the hell would you choose, Melody
?"

  Melody sighed. "Get it together dammit!" With a quick wave of her arm, she slapped the other doctor across the face. "Now's not the time for your useless ranting!"

  Aidan put his hand to the stinging sensation on his cheek then let out a deep breath. "You're right, Mel, I'm sorry. Can we call Hathren over here? Not a soul has died under his capable hands."

  Melody shook her head. "We can't, he's away on business remember?"

  Aidan mouthed another foul curse under his breath.

  "The delivery was successful. You can begin operating on the patient now!" came a call from the delivery room.

  Aidan and Melody rushed to the bedside of the quivering girl.

  "It's alright, Lady Cerina, you're in good hands," Melody said in a soothing voice.

  The princess turned her face to the doctors. Her raven black hair caught the light of a nearby window, appearing to assume a dark shade of violet. She twisted the corners of her mouth into a smirk and clung to a fold of her bed sheet with her sweaty palm.

  "It's too late now," she began in a hoarse whisper. "Tell Arden and Papa that I love them dearly."

  She spouted a violent cough, wheezing for several seconds afterward.

  "My Lady, you musn't talk! We can still save you!" Aidan begged.

  Princess Cerina seemed not to notice the entreaty. "Tell everyone at Royale, that I shall miss them, and all my friends and relatives that I have enjoyed being in their company."

  "Lady Cerina, please!" Melody cried. The princess's heart rate and blood pressure had steadily begun to fall below critical numbers.

  "And finally, tell Jaren that I'll always be there for him, and that I'm sorry I couldn't provide for him as a real mother should for her child."

  Her grip on the bed sheet loosened and the expansion of her diaphragm slowly began to fade.

  "Dammit, what in the hell happened?" Aidan demanded.

  "I don't know. We need the defilibrator stat!" Melody yelled over to some nurses in waiting. They brought in a pair of pads connected by wires seconds later.

  "Set voltage to initial!" Melody ordered, placing the pads on Lady Cerina's chest. "Clear!"

  Her chest rose and fell with the sudden jolt of electricity, but no signs of her heart beating surfaced.

  "Level one!" Melody commanded. "Clear!"

  The jolt of electricity siphoned from the defilibrator to the princess, producing the same result.

  "Dammit!" Aiden cursed. "Don't die!"

  "Level two. Clear! Level three. Clear! Level four. Clear! Level five. Clear!"

  Melody removed the pads from the chest of the dying princess, tears now streaming down her cheeks.

  "I... couldn't," she sobbed in disbelief.

  Aidan embraced her with one arm. "We did all that we could. It just wasn't enough."

  And together, they watched the heart monitor confirm Cerina's demise.

  2:39 a.m.

  "You have got to be kidding me!" Coroner Dell James exclaimed to the thin air, dropping his tools.

  "Severe lacerations in the heart muscle, fractured arteries between the heart and lungs, internal bleeding coming from the liver and kidneys," he recited quickly, taking notes in a black, leather-bound notebook.

  Most of these are as many as several months old! he thought with alarm. How long has she been sick?

  He took the notebook to his desk and began writing the autopsy report. "Victim: Lady Cerina Serann. Date of death: 4:56 p.m. on the fifteenth day of Winter. Age at death: Sixteen years and twenty-one days. Root cause: heart failure. Full diagnosis: The patient had likely signed her death sentence by proceeding with the delivery of the child rather than getting an abortion. Her baby likely siphoned a lot of blood from her system during incubation, explaining the gradual bleeding out of the internal organs. This also put additional stress on the heart over time and explains her terminal illness six months into pregnancy. The heart failure was undoubtedly a result of the sudden enormous stress on the body resulting from the delivery of said child."

  Dell scratched his head, looking back and forth between his notes and the report. Strange phenomenon indeed. Why the hell would the baby need to suck blood from the host?

  With a shrug, he turned the light above the autopsy table off and made his way out of the dreary room.

  9:37 a.m.

  Normally a placid man, Emperor Winston Serann could not contain his fury. Anger erupted from him as lava from an active volcano.

  "She was pregnant? Don't give me bullshit! How in the hell am I last fucking man on Aezar to know she was pregnant?"

  "Sire, she wanted to keep the matter sec-"

  "Secrecy?" Serann spat. "Secrecy from her own father? That imbecile! How dare she keep a secret from me!"

  "I do not mean to insult Your Majesty, but perhaps she didn't-"

  "Trust me? I would have demanded an abortion to save her life! Now don't you give me rubbish that she actually wanted to die!"

  "I d-don't know what to say, sire," the clearly intimidated servant mumbled.

  Serann banged his fist on the armrest of his throne. "I demand that the baby responsible for Cerina's death be brought to this court, immediately!"

  "I'm af-fraid that cannot be done, Y-your Highness. We no longer know of its whereabouts."

  "Who the fuck are the incompetent fools I call my medical staff? How in hell could they have lost track of the very child that killed my daughter? They're pathetic fools, quacks, all of them! I demand they all be fired immediately!"

  "P-perhaps you should calm dow-"

  "Calm down? When a pregnancy outside my knowledge murdered my daughter? This is an outrage! I shall not rest until the man responsible for destroying Cerina's virginity and life is brought to justice! You're dismissed, Quent, and henceforth fired for talking back to me."

  "Y-yes, sire."

  Serann snapped his fingers, upon which another servant entered the court.

  "Fetch Erand for me," Serann ordered.

  "As you wish, sire," the servant replied meekly.

  Arden gazed at the body of his sister, which now resided in a glass coffin capable of preserving it by regulating the internal climate.

  "Cerina, why?" he sobbed as a tear dripped from his eye onto the glass. He watched the droplet run off the side of the glass and drip onto the ruby colored carpet floor below.

  You told us you were ill, he pondered. And the doctors corroborated your story, saying you had a stomach tumor that was growing over time and could not be surgically removed without killing you. But why just for a child? Didn't you love your friends, family and everyone that cared for you?

  Arden could feel the anger building up and creating tension inside his mind. He curled a fist into a ball and banged it as hard as he could on the delicate glass. It broke instantly and shards of glass cut deep into his hands. He seemed not to notice.

  "Then why, dammit!" he bellowed. "Why did you give everything up for a stupid baby?"

  A drop of blood from his bleeding hand fell squarely on one of Cerina's eyes exposed from the broken glass, running down her face and finally falling off near her ear. A female servant seemed to have noticed Arden's screams and entered the room.

  "Sir Arden, what happened? Why is your hand bleeding? Oh dear, Lady Cerina's coffin! Her viewing is only in a few hours. How can we have a new coffin ready in time?"

  "Silence!" Arden commanded. "My last minute adjustment suits the display perfectly. Cerina's mourners will view her for what she really was: a broken woman without a purpose. Now, if you'll tend to my injury."

  11:46 a.m.

  Wearing his white robes lined with silver, Erand entered the threshold into Serann's throne room and bowed deeply before the Emperor.

  "You summoned me, Your Highness?" he asked, keeping his waist bent and his gaze on the ornate rug below his feet.

  "I did," Serann uttered, his voice deceptively calm. "I request that your department open a new investigation."

  "Of which the goal would be?" Erand inquir
ed, his gaze now fixed on the other man's eyes.

  "To catch the bastard responsible for impregnating my daughter and hence leading her to her demise. I personally want to be responsible for his execution."