The Endless Knight: The Seekers Trilogy (The Watchers Series Book 6)

by T. C. Edge

  He marches towards me, and after a moment’s hesitation, and another booming order from the Baron, begins to send his fists at the vulnerable parts of my body. I see the attacks coming, and send my own back, and we enter into a rhythmic dance as we attack and defend, block and weave.

  I focus hard, and enter into a narrow state of consciousness, seeing and hearing and feeling only him. The rest of the room begins to blur, the fate of my mother and grandfather unknown as they battle the other Seeker. And in that state, I spar evenly with the clone I’ve spent so much time with in my mind, the boy I’m yet to truly call my foe.

  I can sense him holding back, his own mind still torn. I notice his eyes glancing beyond our fight, outside of the bubble I’m focusing on. I know he’s looking to my mother, their connection perhaps as strong as his is with the other Seekers. And here, now, so close to each other, his mind is being ripped apart, drawn in two conflicting directions.

  The Baron calls out again, his voice now louder than ever with no gunfire filling the air. Each time his words rumble through my body, I see AK1’s eyes flinch and blink, a snarl rising up on his lips as he turns his full attention back to me.

  His creator’s words bring a fresh ferocity to him, his supressed rage beginning to bubble up once more. His hands begin to surge and dart quicker, his body looming closer as I try to avoid a sudden and devastating barrage.

  “GOOD,” I hear the Baron call. “BRING THEM TO ME…”

  His raging fists force me onto the back foot. I stumble and begin to retreat, loosening my focus just a touch to gauge my surroundings. I know I need to lure him from this room, get him away from the booming tones of the Baron, this voice that seems to hypnotise him.

  My eyes search the nearest wall, and I see a door marked ‘Storage’. I turn my eyes back on AK1 as his mind begins to set on the task, the side dominated by Knight fighting to the fore. I focus again as he attacks, just starting to bring his full force to bear.

  Suddenly, as I near the door, I turn and rush towards it, as if trying to escape. I hear him clattering after me, his footsteps beating down like a drum from behind. I reach the handle and twist, and the door opens inwards just as AK1’s body hits my back, driving me to the floor and into a room filled with shelving.

  The door swings shut on metallic hinges as we hit the shelves, sending dozens of beakers and tubes and flasks down on top of us. Many are made of glass, shattering as they reach the floor, splintering into a thousands pieces as the ground becomes littered with little shards and fragments.

  I dart deeper, and watch AK1’s eyes blink again as the Baron’s voice fades away, hidden behind the door and the sound of breaking glass. As I rush into the darkness, I bump into more shelves, sending down more utensils, the room growing louder as AK1 continues to pursue me.

  With the Baron’s hold on him fading, I turn and see his eyes soften a little, that conflict once more growing as the two sides of him do battle. He slows his step as I reach the back wall, trapped and cornered, a sudden silence dawning between us.

  “Do you know what that machine is doing?” I ask him, panting hard as he looms towards me.

  He stops, his own chest heaving, his eyes staring wildly at me.

  For a second, he hesitates, as if doubting his words, before saying: “It’s making us stronger…it’s releasing our full potential. We’ll be the most powerful Watchers ever!”

  “Yes, you’re right,” I say. “You’ll be the most powerful…but it won’t be you.”

  His eyes smoulder, his own scepticism growing.

  “What does that mean?!” he shouts. “It WILL be me!”

  “No, it won’t,” I say calmly, breathlessly. I watch as his fists clench again, that rage inside him boiling up. “The Baron isn’t trying to release your power…he’s trying to replace you…”

  He steps forwards, prowling at me like an enraged beast. Just as he did before, when we met alone in that abandoned town, his hands grip at my collar, and he pushes me hard against the wall.

  “What do you know!” he shouts. “You know nothing about this!”

  “I do, AK! I know everything! He isn’t releasing your power in that machine…not any of you. He’s just using your body as a vessel. If you sit down in that machine, you’ll never wake up. You’re going to be replaced by Augustus Knight’s consciousness! If you let him use you, then you’ll die. Everything you know will be gone…”

  He slams me against the wall once, twice, three times. Each time getting harder, more forceful.

  “YOU’RE LYING!” he bellows. “YOU’RE TRYING TO TRICK ME!”

  I take a grip of his hands, and grit my teeth, and summon all my strength to tear his fingers from my collar and neck. I push hard, and he stumbles backwards away from me as my own eyes begin to smoulder and light with a bright blaze.

  “I’M NOT LYING!” I shout, grimacing. I raise my finger and point it towards the door at the end of the room. “If you go back out there, if you let him put you in that machine…then your mind will be gone forever. Your body will remain, but nothing more. You’ve been lied to and deceived your entire life. Don’t be fooled by this.”

  He steps towards me again, brimming and bristling with a nervous, febrile energy.

  My voice once more calls out, halting him in his tracks.

  “Cyra is out there now,” I say. “Half of you has come from her, and you know that. You have a connection that you can’t deny…there’s a large part of you that doesn’t believe in any of this.”

  Breathing hard, he stands before me, stuck to the spot, not knowing what to do.

  “If you want to live, you only have one choice…you have to help us,” I continue, calming my voice and staring him right in the eye. “You’ve been manipulated your whole life, and I can’t imagine what you’ve been through. But today, all that can change. You can change it…”

  I step towards him, away from the wall, as his eyes dip down to look upon his hands. They’re scarred and calloused. The hands of a fighter. The hands of a warrior.

  The hands of a slave.

  I look upon my own, and see a similar story, both of our fates bringing us to this moment. I know, now, that my part in this was always to do with him, that our roles were entwined.

  Tentatively, I reach forward, and lay my hand on his shoulder. His eyes rise up to mine, softer now, calmer.

  “You’re my brother,” I say. “Help me. Help us. Don’t let yourself be killed by a lie.”

  He stares back for a moment, standing at the same height as me, the two of us similar in so many ways. Drawn from different places. Born for different purposes.

  But now here, together, determining the fates of millions.

  Slowly, without speaking, he starts to nod.

  And I see the blue in his eyes begin to brighten.

  28

  Reawakening

  My hands are bound behind my back. By body is bowed and beaten.

  I’m walked back through the door and into the vast room, my heart racing as I search for my mother and grandfather. I see them in the centre of the wide, open lab, both of them on their knees, their own wrists bound tight behind them.

  In front of them, their conqueror stands, the Seeker having disabled them both. Across his face I see signs that his victory didn’t come easy, several slashing cuts dribbling blood from his cheeks and neck. So close, but not close enough.

  There’s a dusty and smoky smell in the room, the walls and floor and ceiling pocketed with gunfire. It’s hard to make much out until we step a little closer, and my family’s eyes turn to me.

  I look to my mother, and see a mixture of relief and sadness. Relief that I haven’t been killed. Sadness that that’s the fate that now faces us all.

  I’m pushed towards them by AK1 and thrust harshly down by my mother’s side, Drake to her right and me to her left. None of us speak as we look forward through the clearing dust.

  Ahead, I see a third Seeker, his own face battered and bruised and spilling
blood from various points. Immediately, my mind turns to Velia, my heart racing once more.

  Then, through the dust, I see her, propped up against the side of the wall with Athena alongside. I try to stand, but feel AK1’s hand holding me down.

  “It’s OK,” whispers my mother. I turn to look at her as she offers a weak smile, still trying to comfort me, even in defeat. “Velia and Athena are OK. The Baron wanted them alive as well. They’re just unconscious.”

  “Are you sure…”

  She nods, but her eyes are hooded. She knows, now, that we’re all going to die anyway. What’s the point in living just a few more minutes?

  As we kneel there, the booming voice of the Baron once more rumbles around the room. This time, however, it’s not coming from the speakers, but directly from his mouth as he wanders towards us.

  “Well, the timing of this couldn’t be more perfect,” he says, smiling as he emerges through the cloud of lingering smoke.

  As he comes, the room continues to clear, air conditioning units sucking out the mist. As it does so, the sight ahead appears again as it was before: the machine with the final Seeker inside it; the electric currents running up wires into his head; the scientists and members of the Cabal, gathered round. Now, though, the bulletproof barrier has been removed, opening the room up once more.

  Our eyes turn back on the Baron, standing before it all.

  “I hope you enjoy the show,” he says, smiling.

  Behind him, the Seeker in the chair moves for the first time. The sudden twitch draws a gasp from the crowd, Lord Kendrik and Count Lopez among them, the rest of the Cabal all in attendance. They peer in closer as one of the lead scientists calls out.

  “He’s coming out, Baron Reinhold! This is it…”

  The Baron’s smirk turns to one of pure joy, his eyes elated as he turns and storms back to the machine. Hovering by it’s side, he watches on intently along with all the others as the electric currents flying along the wires grow more wild, sparks starting to spit and bursts from the machine.

  For a few seconds, I pray that it’s going to explode, this crazy experiment failing before their eyes. Some of them appear to fear the same, stepping back a little, their eyes showing concern. But not the Baron’s. He merely gazes on in wonder, staring at the face of the young clone of Augustus Knight, as his old consciousness is fed into his body piece by piece.

  By my side, my mother stares without moving, her face blank and empty. Drake’s face is a deep scowl, his eyes growing smaller by the second.

  The room continues to buzz as the lights flicker harshly once again, the machine humming louder as the Seeker twitches harder. Then, as it builds to a crescendo, suddenly the lights fade, and the wires go cold, and the clone’s body falls still and silent once again, a little cloud of smoke drifting from the top of his helmet.

  All goes quiet for a moment, and the entire room falls to a temporary darkness. And then, gradually, the lights blaze to life again, and everyone blinks and shields their eyes from the sudden glare.

  I squint, and slowly open my eyes, allowing the harsh light to flow inside. And as the room ahead clears, I look upon the face of the Seeker again.

  And now, his eyes are open.

  No one breathes for a moment. The most profound silence I’ve ever witnessed descends upon the room. All eyes stare at the clone, his eyes slowly taking things in, moving around the room as if seeing it all for the first time.

  Because he is.

  Then, the Baron speaks, his voice strangely delicate and bristling with emotion.

  “Master…” he whispers.

  The Seeker’s eyes turn to his, and stare again for a few seconds. Then, I see a smile creep up his face, and hear a voice come from his throat, now imbued with a strange new tone, a strange new calm.

  “Reinhold,” he says, scanning the Baron’s face. “Oh, how you’ve aged…”

  The Baron’s face glows with a spreading smile, his eyes watering.

  “Augustus…it’s really you…it really worked…”

  The man in the chair nods. No longer a Seeker. No longer just a clone. A new body, young and strong, and now occupied by a new mind.

  Augustus Knight lives again.

  The rest of the Cabal look upon him in awe, dropping to their knees and bowing down. Knight slowly lifts up his hands and removes the helmet from his head, before standing up to his full height. He looks to his hands and clenches his fists, and I see his eyes lighting with a red fire.

  Then, as he stands there, I watch as his chin lifts and his eyes stare forward, locking straight onto my mother.

  They stare for a few seconds, and then a smile builds up on Knight’s lips. He steps forwards as the Baron hurries to his side, walking a pace or two behind him with a slight bow to his motion. The rest of the Cabal and the scientists stay back, hardly believing what they’re seeing.

  “It’s my gift for you, Augustus,” comes the Baron’s voice. “A gift to welcome you back. I give you…Cyra Drayton, and her father, Drake.”

  “And the boy?” says Knight, swinging his eyes at me. Then he shakes his head, and smiles again, and answers his own question. “Her son…” he whispers. “Three generations of the Draytons. A wonderful gift indeed, Reinhold.”

  The Baron’s eyes threaten to spill with tears, his entire body shaking with an uncontained joy. How long he must have had this plan. How long he must have waited for this moment.

  They must have plotted this together, right from the beginning, right before Knight even died. A failsafe in case he ever perished, his consciousness kept safe with the Baron and ready to be uploaded to a new form as soon as they had the means.

  Knight continues to come forwards, staring once more at Cyra.

  “Well, Cyra, you’re not a girl anymore, are you?” he says.

  My mother’s eyes stare at him dispassionately. She doesn’t speak.

  “I can only assume that it was you who led to my death?” he asks.

  Again, she doesn’t answer. It takes the Baron to fill in the blanks.

  “It was her, yes,” he says. “She collaborated with Priscilla and Emerson Graves to poison you, master.”

  “Ah, of course, the Graves. I suspect the death of their son, Theo, forced them to turn against me. Strange that I didn’t see it all coming…”

  The mention of my namesake causes certain people to look at me. Theo Graves, the boy my mother was Paired with. The boy whose parents were Councillors, right at the side of Knight. Councillors who could no longer continue to support his ideology. In the end, they helped to take him down, defeat him before he could do any more damage.

  That, of course, was when his life ended, right there in the centre of Eden. I suppose his current consciousness has no memory of such a thing. He must have been uploading it regularly, the Baron keeping it safe. But once he’d died, any fresh memories he’d made were lost.

  Now, my mother speaks, her voice cutting out from her throat.

  “It’s a shame you don’t remember it, Augustus,” she says coldly. “You don’t remember the poison weakening you…the feel of cold steel as Priscilla and Emerson stabbed you in the chest…as I sent the blade right into your evil heart. Oh, it’s one of my favourite memories…” she says lustily.

  She glares at him hard, but his eyes only lighten with a touch of laughter.

  “Oh Cyra, just as charming as you always were. I’ve really missed our little chats.”

  “And how much do you remember?” growls Drake, his voice entering the room.

  Knight’s eyes sweep to his, and look upon him for a few moments.

  “The famous and heroic Drake Drayton,” he says loudly. “We never actually met, did we Drake?”

  Drake stares at him coldly, just like my mother

  “To answer your question, I remember everything up until the day I died,” continues Knight. “I was never willing to allow my life to end with the destruction of my body. My loyal scientists and subjects devised a machine to hold my
consciousness and memory. I merely needed to upload it each day, and wait for them to bring me back. And what a fine job they’ve done,” he says, raising his hands to clap.

  As he does so, the others join in, the members of the Cabal now having risen to their feet. The Baron looks up at his master sheepishly as Knight offers him a nod of respect, before doing the same to several of the scientists in the background. Then, he marches over to them, and sets about thanking them each individually, before moving across and greeting the members of the Cabal after his long hiatus.

  As he does so, I turn to look at AK1, watching proceedings with a strange look on his face. The other Seekers, too, stand by with a rare awkwardness, not quite knowing what’s going on. When Knight returns, he finally acknowledges their presence, standing like statues to the side of Drake.

  “Ah, and these must be my wonderful clones,” he says, moving towards them.

  They stare at him, seeing their brother, their doppelganger, moving towards them now, so different from before. I can see them trying to work it all through in their minds, unable to catch up on what’s going on.

  But they’ve been bred to do what they’re told, not to question. Bred for chaos and war, their minds simple mechanisms. And now, their final task has become clear, to give themselves up for another, to spread Knight’s mind far and wide across the world.

  For a moment, the new Knight looks upon them, before smiling and returning to stand in front of us.

  “For so long I’d go through that awful gene therapy to keep me looking young,” he says, laughing. “It doesn’t look like I’ll need to do that anymore.”

  All his subservient slaves laugh, their voices echoing as one around the room. Only when he stops do they do so as well, following his every move. He turns back to the Baron.

  “So, Reinhold, what have I missed? It looks like plenty of time has passed, going by your completion and that of our guests…”