The Joining: The Saga of the Shards Book One (The Cycle of the Shards 1)

by Chris Stephenson

  “Sorry, Mrs. Mcallister, I need to use the bathroom.”

  There was a smattering of giggles. “Now? Right now? We’ve only been in here for five minutes!”

  “I know…but…” There was obvious discomfort on the boy’s face that could have been an act, but as it was just the start of the class, Mrs. Mcallister didn’t want the small chance that he was telling the truth to cast a wet pallor on the rest of the day.

  “Go on, hurry.” She waved him off, and he quickly stood without a word and ran quickly out of the room.

  Brian Boyd was outside the school, as the orders from the Principal made quite clear he was supposed to be. But he wouldn’t remain that way for long. He always thought he’d be kicked out one day, and that was fine with him, he had no interest in remaining in that mediocre little school, or even in this small town. He had a car, he had his similarly expelled friends, and they were all going to leave town tonight. Travis had a friend who said they had a place to stay out in California, and as long as they could make it there, it was theirs. He knew he’d be able to get whatever else he wanted. Wimps out there had to be as easy as wimps out here, right?

  But he couldn’t let it go, it just wasn’t right for him to be publicly humiliated in front of everyone. Especially by him. He got lucky. That’s all it was. One lucky day. Well, his luck was over now. The three of them would find him, and when they did, it was all over for him. What could anyone do to them now? They’ve already been expelled, the worst was over. It was time for Kyle to pay by any means necessary.

  Jim sat straight up as the teacher slapped his desk. Just a few minutes into class and already the boy was asleep? What was wrong with the student? Could it be the way that the lesson was being taught? The material was a little dry…No. No, it was the kids that were wrong. “JIM!”

  “Yessir.” He mumbled, his mouth dry, a small string of drool hanging from his lip.

  “We’re not going to be having this, son. You know the rules.” Mr. Fardue pointed towards the door. “To the hallway. Five minutes.”

  Jim barely constrained a rolling of his eyes. The classroom was the last place he wanted to be, anyway. Especially right now. He stood up slowly, and with every eye in the classroom on him with barely concealed laughter on every lip, he moved towards the door and exited into the empty hallways where he sat, his back against the lockers. Sighing, he put his head back against the hard metal. It was boring out here, but it beat being in there and learning about why x doesn’t go into y when it’s traveling at the speed of sixty miles an hour or something like that. Maybe he’d just leave. What could they do to him?

  His daydreams of abandoning the hallway completely to be free came to a surprising end as he saw Shanna Ewing walking quickly through the halls. Was she crying? Was she talking to herself? What was going on with her? He didn’t move, but just watched as she moved past him like she didn’t even see him. She did look like someone on a mission and he certainly didn’t want to get in her way. But his own curiosity won out as she approached the turn in the hall, and he slowly stood up, and started walking away from the class, and towards wherever she was heading. It wasn’t like he had anything else to do.

  Shanna was indeed on a mission, and nothing Tom could say or do would persuade her otherwise. After hiding out behind cars in the parking lot for a few minutes while the day moved on and the next class began, she realized that Critock wasn’t coming back, that both he and Kyle were out of the picture and now she, along with her comet friend, were the only ones on the entire planet that knew exactly what was going on, and of course it followed that it was then their responsibility to do something about it. Tom had disappeared to do a final check on Critock, but she had already started her march to her destination by the time he reappeared, floating in front of her face as she walked back into the school.

  “Shanna, you can’t! You have no idea how powerful he is. Even without the Shards, he’s just as strong as Critock is!” He had been trying to reason with her the entire way from the door to where they were now striding, having taken a turn and were now almost to where they were headed.

  She didn’t break her stride, knowing Tom wouldn’t stop her. She knew that he was just as driven to get rid of the enemy as she was. “We can do it together. There’s nobody else left. You just said Critock isn’t going to help clean up his mess, so we’ll just have to take him down ourselves.”

  “I’m a soul, Shanna, I can’t stand up to him! And you’re a human! He’ll tear you apart before you can blink!” Neither Shanna or Tom noticed that they passed by Phelps’ classroom, where Shanna was supposed to be right then. He had noticed her unusual absence at the beginning of the class, though, and could not miss the telltale red hair that had passed by the arm-length window of his door.

  A few paces later, they had reached their destination. “What are we supposed to do, Tom? Just hide and hope he takes his damn Shards and goes away?”

  Tom nodded his front up and down. “Yes! Yes that’s exactly what we should do!”

  Shanna shook her head. “No, Tom. We stop him here, your planet is safe. Everywhere is safe. Maybe then you’ll give Earth people some respect.” She turned to the locker, and assessed the combination lock. “What’s his combination.”

  “What?”

  “We both know what’s in here, and we’re going to need a weapon if we’re going to fight him. Combination!”

  If a wisp had the ability to look incredulous, Tom would have had that look. “Shanna, it’s the Sword of Kon. It’s a weapon of The Five! Made before this universe existed! Most people aren’t even worth enough to look at it! There’s only one person in the entire universe that it ever revealed itself to, and he’s locked himself in the nurse’s office! All you’re going to get is a useless hilt!”

  “Then there’s no harm in me trying it out, is there? WHAT’S THE COMBINATION!” She yelled the last, and both of them turned quickly to see if anyone had heard them. The halls were deserted, thankfully, and both let out a breath.

  Tom looked at her and saw the desperation in her eyes as she began crying heavily. “Tom, please. Maybe he’ll change his mind and he’ll need this. Maybe I’ll feel more comfortable with it cause it’s his. It doesn’t hurt anything to have it!”

  He sighed. “Fine. Fine! 34-56-22. Be careful with it.” She bent and hurriedly spun the dials, opening the locker easily and grabbing the red and black backpack containing the Sword.

  “What is going on, Ms. Ewing?” Both Shanna and Tom spun around to see Mr. Phelps, his hands on his hips, staring at her. “The whole school is looking for you, you miss my class…” He shook his head as he started walking toward her. “There’s so much going on, they tell me that Kyle is expelled because he destroyed the Principal’s office, and you were there…”

  “Mr. Phelps…”

  “Shanna, I need to know what’s happening. I’m not stupid, I know something very strange has been happening the last couple of days. With both Kyle and now you. I don’t know if it’s drugs, if there’s some kind of mental condition that we weren’t aware of, if he’s talked you into something that you don’t want to do, I can help you.”

  She shook her head as Tom floated nearby, unsure what to do. “You can’t help with this.”

  He folded his arms. “You don’t know that.”

  She lifted her head to stare him in the eyes, showing him her running makeup, and the tears still streaming down her face as her voice was breaking. “You wouldn’t believe it. You can’t believe it. If you knew something that was so huge that nobody could believe it, what would you do?”

  He sighed. “I’d get help, Shanna, please, you have to trust me. No matter what it is, I’ll listen to you. I’ll believe you.”

  Shanna turned her head to Tom, who shrugged. At this point what harm could it do? To Tom, every moment she wasn’t going to war against an alien being more powerful than anything she could imagine, one that they still had no idea the identity of, was keeping her alive. He then shi
mmered, and revealed himself to the teacher, who’s eyes widened immediately as he took an involuntary step back.

  Shanna turned back to Phelps, and started from the beginning. Everything she had learned over the last day. Everything that had happened. What had happened to his house, and what was contained in the backpack she now clutched to her as though her life depended on it. She was not silent about it, and she continued crying throughout. If there was anyone else in that particular hallway, they would have heard the entire story.

  Unbeknownst to them, there was. Jim McClane stood, his back behind a long rectangular pole that extended from ceiling to floor, and listened as she told her whole story. He couldn’t see Tom, but he did see Phelps’ reaction, and heard a voice that didn’t match anyone else in the hall explaining how a being the basic shape of a comet was floating and speaking. There was no doubting the sincerity of her words, and no way of questioning whether it was true or not. The more they spoke, the more terrified he became.

  The pickup truck rumbled down the road, with Richard behind the wheel and a sullen Kyle looking out the window, taking in each sight as though it was the last time he would ever see it. He hadn’t looked at his father since he had gotten in the car, nor had he spoken a word to him. In turn, Richard hadn’t said anything to him, and so as they got farther and farther away from the school, the Shards, and Pt’ron, the two played a game of chicken with their silence.

  Finally, it was Richard that couldn’t take it any more. Even though he had his suspicions that Kyle had solely been responsible for the damage to the school, there had just been so much going on that it was impossible to be patient. He sighed, keeping his eyes on the road. “Damn it, Kyle, what the hell is going on.”

  Kyle was quiet still, refusing to turn his head. Richard tried a second time. “Kyle, please, you have to tell me something. I don’t think you did what they’re saying you did. I don’t think it’s possible.”

  Still nothing from the boy. Looking at the road, and making a quick decision, Richard realized he couldn’t deal with the silence and keep driving. Hitting the breaks and turning the wheel to the right, they quickly pulled off onto the side of the road. Hitting the hazard lights, he turned to Kyle, only to find his son already staring at him.

  “What’d you do that for! Are you trying to kill us!”

  At least he can talk. Richard thought to himself. “Kyle, for the love of Christ, what the hell is going on! You get into fights, you talk completely different, you act different, and now all of this! It’s like you’re a completely different person!”

  “You don’t know the half of it.” Kyle said, mostly under his breath, but not silent enough for Richard to not pick up on it.

  “So there is something! Kyle, c’mon, is it me? Did I do something? God I know I tried to raise you right and not…whatever the hell is causing this. Your mother gone., having to take two jobs just to keep the lights on, I’m sorry…”

  “It’s not you.” Kyle interrupted softly, more for his father’s dignity than anything else.

  “What?”

  “It’s not you, at all. You’ll know in a little while, anyway.”

  While he was relieved that, at least according to his son, he wasn’t the cause of whatever destruction was happening in his life, his response didn’t answer anything. “That’s good, but please, Kyle. I’m your father. Something happened to you, I need to know, I can help…”

  A battle began to rage within Kyle’s mind, but not within Critock and himself. No, Critock was still miles away if he was still listening at all. It was Kyle, and Kyle alone who was fighting with himself. Could he help? Could there still be a chance to save anything at all? What could he do? Why even try? But what if he didn’t try? What happened to Critock? What would happen to him? What would happen to the planet? What right did Kyle Edison have to keep himself involved in this? Critock was gone!

  The battle stopped as suddenly as it began. Critock was gone. Kyle was the only one left. Kyle knew that he couldn’t do it by himself. The student couldn’t fight a war. The soldier could. But there was only one way to get the soldier back.

  Kyle lifted his head. “If I tell you, will you listen to me?”

  Richard narrowed his eyes. “Of course! Why wouldn’t I?”

  Kyle shook his head back and forth. “I mean listen. Hear me out completely with whatever I say. And believe me.”

  Richard took a breath. “Just tell me, Kyle.”

  Kyle looked in his mind for the words he needed. “I’m not Kyle.”

  As the father looked upon his son with confusion, The boy began to tell the tale of the last few days, and even beyond that, it was the story of a soldier. How thousands of years before there had been a war over two very small ancient artifacts, and how the soldier had not only failed to recover the artifacts, but also failed to ensure that his former friend would never hurt anyone ever again.

  It was the tale of how just days before all parties had found their way to Earth, and had once again begin fighting what was both a public but also a very secret war that was even now threatening, at best, the destruction of not only their planet but a thousand others. It was the tale of a young cheerleader’s bravery, a damaged religious being’s redemption, and a bounty hunter who was finally ready to face the consequences of his past, no matter what those consequences may be. And it was the tale of two small red crystals, both easily fitting within a single hand, yet their power dwarfed suns.

  In the end it was a tale as true as a story could be, yet it was also a lie, because it wasn’t the bounty hunter telling his own life story, it was the teenage boy that had unwittingly stood in the wrong place at the wrong time, had fought bravely but futilely against the occupation of an alien being, and in the end had come to realize that though he was more than ever very small in the face of such a big universe, he was still a part of something much bigger than could possibly be imagined.

  At the end, Richard sat back in his seat, his mind swimming from the influx of information that he was having trouble comprehending. Kyle waited patiently despite the time-sensitive nature of what was happening. Finally he spoke. “Kyle…Cri..Wha…How can I possibly believe this?”

  Kyle shook his head. Already he could feel Critock’s consciousness returning to life, and could feel the surprise from him. Kyle looked his father in the eye. “You saw the ship, Richard. You said I was different, you said it yourself. If I’m lying, fine, you’ll find out soon. Throw me in my room, lock the door, throw away the key, and nothing bad happens. Ever. But if I’m right, if this is the reason I’m a different person like you said, and you keep me in there, this world will end. Hundreds of worlds will end. My name is Critock from Marconia. I am over two thousand years old. I’m here to save Earth and a thousand planets like it. And I need your help. You have the power to help me or stop me. What will you do?”

  32

  The red, slightly rusted pick-up truck pulled to the side on the street bordering the school, and idled, smoke slightly drifting out of the exhaust. Inside, Richard Edison watched as his son, or rather the alien that was inhabiting his son’s body, unbuckled his seatbelt. Making a decision in his head, Richard unbuckled his as well.

  Hearing the telltale ‘click’ of the belt detaching from the holder, Kyle looked at his father. “What're you doing?”

  “I’m not letting my son walk in to a place alone and fight some ungodly alien without help. I’m coming with you.”

  Kyle’s eyes widened, and he put a hand on Richard’s arm. “That’s not necessary. I’m not going to be alone. You’ve done enough already.”

  Richard blinked a few times. “Don’t you have children on your planet? Don’t you understand why I need to go? If you die, he dies.”

  Kyle sighed, tired of the charade but not willing to give Critock back complete control of his body until the last moment had come. “If I die, then the entire planet likely dies. It’s going to be hard enough to stealth around in there, I can’t have an entourage with m
e.” He shook his head. “We do have children, Richard. I do know how you feel.” Critock’s words came easily to his mouth, though Kyle still held on.

  Richard looked at his boy, still slightly unbelieving as he saw only his son’s face when he looked at him, not some alien monstrosity. “How long have you…been here?”

  “I’ve been with Kyle since just before mid-day yesterday.”

  Richard turned, and faced forward, ignoring the sounds of the traffic around them. “The night before…We had a fight. I’m not good at this. I’m trying, God knows I am. But I wasn’t ready for this.”

  Kyle blinked back the wetness that was coming unbidden to his eyes. “Get home, Richard. Get somewhere safe. With any luck, Kyle will be home soon and this’ll all be over.”

  “I just…” A single tear fell down his father’s cheek, the first time that Kyle could remember ever seeing his father cry since his mother had left. “I wanted him to know that I love him. I don’t know if he knows it and now it might be too late.”

  Kyle looked at his father, and squeezed his arm. “He knows. He loves you too.” With that, he reached over and pushed the door open, and moved out of the car, closing the door behind him. As Richard fought his continuing urge to follow, Kyle marched towards the west entrance of the school, knowing that at this time of day it was most likely to be empty. As he walked, he slowly released his grip on his consciousness, allowing Critock to seep in more and more. As he reached the door and placed a hand on the handle, looking in to see the expected deserted hallway, the transformation had completed. Kyle had disappeared into the back of his mind, with no hold or control on anything any more. Instead, there was only Critock.

  Claire hated the school when there was no one around. Truth be told, she wasn’t much more fond of having to be in it at any time, but something about the oppressive silence that was mixed with the slight fear of a door opening with a teacher behind it ready to scold her for being out of class at the wrong time was just tearing at her brain, and she hoped with everything she had that she’d be able to find out just what had happened to Daniel.