by Adair Hart
Rakar smiled. “A recommendation from you is about as high as it gets. I take it you have an information profile on him?”
“I will get that to you. He is over four hundred years old and served as an enforcer for Lord Noskov, an ancient vampire. Blake is powerful, smart, and cunning. He can get into places most cannot, from what I have read, and knows how to fight.”
“Sounds like a super soldier,” said Rakar.
“Now imagine that with advanced technology.”
“Point taken,” said Rakar. “Where is he now?”
“I suspect the slave ship that took him will be overpowered, if it has not been already, and he will end up here. He may be here now.”
Andia looked at Rakar. “He could be in one of the Earthborn refugee cities.”
“I’ll make an effort to find him,” said Rakar. “We could use someone with those particular skills. What if we can’t find him?”
Evaran looked off in the distance for a moment. “You will find him. Of that, I am sure. I have a unique device that will help you detect those with exotic energy a bit easier. I know you are already aware of Daedroulds and Outsiders, but this device is more sensitive and can detect other exotic energies. It will help in locating him. Although I typically do not offer technology, this is a special case. You may also have need of it … in the future.”
“Okay … I’ll get started on it here shortly,” said Rakar. “I’m guessing … you can’t say why we might need it in the future?”
“I cannot say,” said Evaran with a sparkle in his ancient eyes. “Nonetheless, I can help you search for Blake as long as I am here.”
“For a whole week!” said Emily, smiling at Andia.
“Do you need my immediate assistance with either task, Rakar?” asked Andia.
Rakar smiled. “Go. Enjoy your time with Emily. I have this.”
Emily’s heart fluttered as she stood with Andia.
“We will meet everyone for dinner,” said Andia.
Emily hustled to keep up with Andia as they exited the room.
Dr. Snowden grimaced as he realized he was back in the crystal fort courtyard from his dream. He understood he was dreaming again and that he could not wake himself up. Going through several deaths seemed to be a requirement before he could. Caltorus and the assorted Wildborn, Druuz, and Raskarians were in their usual spots, along with the posts. A new addition was three more posts that had Ardorin, Lee, and Zed.
“You’re back!” said Caltorus in a gleeful tone.
Dr. Snowden stared at Caltorus. “Yep, I sure am.”
Caltorus narrowed his eyes. “There’s something different about you.”
“I know my purpose in life.”
“Apparently not, because you’re here.”
Dr. Snowden took a step forward.
“That’s not … How … What did you do?” asked Caltorus as he stood.
“I’m not afraid of death anymore, or you for that matter.”
Levaran appeared next to Dr. Snowden.
“Levaran! I was hoping I would get to see you.”
“And I you,” said Levaran. She eyed Dr. Snowden. “You no longer fear death.”
“Well, I don’t want to die, but I’ve accepted that it is a part of life. What you do with your life is important. Having a purpose helps, and I know what mine is. It’s to help you, well, Evaran. You know what I mean.”
Levaran nodded as her eyes glowed. “I do.”
“What is this nonsense?” asked Caltorus as he grew in size.
Levaran glanced at Caltorus, then back at Dr. Snowden. “You know what you must do.”
A surge of power shot through Dr. Snowden. His body began to glow. When he looked down, he was a being of pure light.
Caltorus’s hand began to dissolve when it wrapped around Dr. Snowden. “What’s going on!”
“I’m what’s going on,” said Dr. Snowden. He smiled at Levaran, then burst around the environment, eliminating all threats. When they were gone, he stood in front of the posts with Levaran.
The overlord appeared and sneaked up behind Levaran.
Dr. Snowden stepped forward and ran a hand through the overlord, dissipating him. “You won’t be doing that again!”
Levaran smiled. “Thank you.”
He nodded at her and then faced the posts. A frown formed on his face as he looked at the dead bodies.
“Accept what you are, and change things.”
Dr. Snowden furrowed his eyebrows. “I’ve accepted that I’m here to help you.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
Dr. Snowden sighed. As he was about to ask Levaran a question, he felt a tug from the bodies. It was similar to the feeling he had when the nanobots wanted to go home. He extended a hand toward the bodies. A beam shot out to them, reviving each one to full health. The bindings dissipated, and everyone assembled around Dr. Snowden. He narrowed his eyes. “Okay … that’s new. I guess that has something to do with accepting what I am.” He wagged a finger at Levaran. “You mentioned death was only a phase. That helped me to overcome my fear, along with some advice from good friends.”
Levaran nodded. “You are now free to explore what you have become.”
Dr. Snowden rubbed his chin. “I’m guessing then that … the nanobots with cosmic energy have made Emily and me into something new. Something exotic, with abilities we don’t fully comprehend yet. Maybe that plays into the future event with the Hoxscarus.”
Levaran smiled. “Now you’re beginning to understand. As the Wildborn have wild energy in them that makes them unique, you have cosmic energy.”
A tear fell onto Dr. Snowden’s cheek. “I know this is a dream … but you died in the real world. You gave us this gift. I didn’t want you to die.” He grimaced as his throat constricted. “I wanted to save you, but I couldn’t… .” He shuddered as he looked down. He squinted as his tears became a river.
Levaran extended her arms out to him.
He hugged her tight while trembling.
“Even in death, know that I’m here. As long as you live, so do I.”
He sniffled as he enjoyed Levaran’s embrace.
Dr. Snowden gazed out at the stars as he sat on the Torvatta roof. The dream from the previous night was burned into his mind. A calmness washed over him. He had wanted to discuss the dream with Emily, but she was busy, and Evaran had gone out with Rakar but was back and had requested a meeting. It was three days into their Fredoria trip, and although they had visitor rooms, he preferred to sleep on the Torvatta. He had not seen much of Emily, but he understood that Emily needed a closeness that only Andia would be able to provide. She was on her way to the roof per Evaran’s request. He figured this was their post-analysis talk about events up to this point, and an opportunity to discuss the dream.
V hovered just a bit away.
“I didn’t get to talk with you much this time,” said Dr. Snowden.
“There was a lot going on,” said V.
“Yeah, there was. Still, we got to meet a lot of incredible people, visit exotic places, and in this instance, save the world.”
“And I am thankful you and Emily did not die.”
“Yeah, me too, and thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Query. Are you still having issues with the concept of death?”
Dr. Snowden shook his head. “Not anymore. I mean … I don’t want to die, but I don’t fear it.”
“If I can help, please let me know.”
“You got it,” said Dr. Snowden. His eyes focused on Emily and Evaran exiting the elevator onto the roof.
“I am glad we are all here,” said Evaran.
“I’m sorry about not being around much,” said Emily with a slightly red-shaded face.
“You’re spending time with Andia and enjoying yourself. Nothing wrong with that,” said Dr. Snowden.
Emily nodded.
Evaran raised a finger toward Emily. “I have double-checked the impact of you losing nanobots to Caltorus. It ap
pears to have had no effect.”
“Awesome,” said Emily. She tilted her head. “I’m going to guess that the unique exotic-energy-detecting device and Blake Brown are important to some future event. I know Andia picked up on that since she asked me about it, and Rakar probably did too.”
Evaran looked off into the stars. “You are correct. When we first decided to help the Fredorians achieve their destiny, it was based on the event having already occurred from what I knew. There is another event, in the near future, where Blake Brown and that detection device are involved.”
Dr. Snowden wagged a finger. “If we had done nothing, do you think it would have still happened?”
“I am not sure. However, the technology used in that event is far beyond what is available now, or will be by that time. I simply gave it a nudge since I am a part of the events. As for Blake Brown, he has a big role to fill. Please keep that to yourselves.”
Dr. Snowden glanced at Emily, and then back at Evaran. “Of course. On another note, you think the Earth Ward will stick around this time?”
“Until the Third World War, yes.”
Emily snorted. “Is it always that way?”
“Their existence is. As I was pulled into events, the opportunity to create this new Earth council presented itself. Although they are the Earth Ward now, their name will change several times in the future. The other option is to let the power factions fight it out and then come back and fix things.”
“Oh,” said Emily. “Makes sense.”
“There are two other events that need taken care of. The first deals with reallocating the rift doors, with several initiatives needing to be set in motion. I was originally going to have both rift doors shut down, and possibly kept on the Torvatta. The one we took from Caltorus will remain on the Torvatta where I can study it. However … there is some work needing done with the ones on Earth. When the ancient vampires awake in a few months, we will meet with them and the new Earth council.”
“Be great to see Lord Vygon and Lord Noskov,” said Dr. Snowden.
“Indeed it would,” said Evaran.
Emily wagged a finger at Evaran. “I don’t recall hearing about the rift doors when we were in 3104. You think they’re still around then?”
“I do not know. However, it is something worth checking out. We do have data from that time period.”
“More research. I’m looking forward to that,” said Dr. Snowden.
“You think we’ll ever see Caltorus again?” asked Emily.
“It is possible, but I doubt we will. His only means of leaving his cathedral has been taken from him.”
Emily shook a finger. “Didn’t he communicate to all the worlds during our fight?”
“The Torvatta did not detect a signal. I am guessing he was planning on broadcasting it if he won,” said Evaran.
“Figures. Probably means he wasn’t certain he would win. That was a tough fight,” said Dr. Snowden. “I watched it from V’s view in the holo room yesterday with Rakar. He was blown away by what he saw, as was I.”
“Caltorus was very powerful. The fact that he had a Time Warden trophy and entries on the Purifiers indicates he has tangled with powerful entities, and prevailed.”
“Except this time,” said Emily with a smile.
“Yes. However … I skimmed through the data retrieved from Caltorus’s domain. He was given the coordinates to Earth’s rift door.”
“By who?”
“Unknown. It was given to one of the Druuz who then gave it to Caltorus. There is no data of which rift door the Druuz got it from.”
“Any ideas?”
Evaran shook his head. “I have … many enemies. It could be any of them. Nonetheless, I will be doing some enhancements to your PSDs and survival suits, as well as my own. This situation has shown me that what we possess is not adequate.”
“Learn, adapt, and evolve,” said Emily.
“The Snowden creed,” said Evaran with a slight tilt of his head.
Dr. Snowden furrowed his eyebrows. “You think if we’d had upgraded equipment, it would have helped?”
“I do.”
“Okay … well … does this have anything to do with Lee’s death.”
Evaran looked away for a moment. “Perhaps a bit. His death could have been avoided. I had been working on some schematics and should have completed them.”
“You can’t blame yourself for that. What happened, happened.”
“I know. However, I will dedicate some time to completing these enhancements.”
“Not to change the subject but … I had a new dream,” said Dr. Snowden.
“Different from the last one?” asked Emily.
Dr. Snowden nodded. “This was the same courtyard, except this time I didn’t fear death. It allowed me to move, and I could transform into a Hoxscarus. I wiped out all the threats, even the overlord, and then revived everyone on the posts by … extending my hand and shooting a light out.”
“Interesting,” said Evaran. “Was Levaran there?”
“She was, and said that because I don’t fear death, I was free to explore what Emily and I had become.”
“Become?” asked Emily.
“Yeah. She used the Wildborn as an example, as they have exotic energy that makes them what they are. We have nanobots with cosmic energy, which makes us … something unique.”
Emily tilted her head while pulling on her ponytail. “So we’re like … cosmicborn or Evaranborn or something.”
Evaran narrowed his eyes. “An interesting hypothesis. We shall explore your nanobots and potential abilities in more detail now that we are free to do so.”
“Does this make you my brother and sister?” asked V.
“I don’t know, but I’d be proud to say so if that’s the case,” said Dr. Snowden.
“Huh,” said Emily. “I guess we were already planar matter, and now with cosmic energy from our nanobots, we would be like V.”
Evaran nodded. “I am unclear how Levaran is able to appear in your dreams and offer advice and information. It is something I look forward to researching. Perhaps I can join you in your dreams sometime.”
“You can do that?” asked Dr. Snowden.
“Of course. Dreams are private, so I would only pursue this with your permission of course.”
“Sounds good to me. I’d suggest you not go into Emily’s dreams for the rest of the week.”
Emily shook her head.
“I’m just glad everything is as it should be. I never get tired of hearing that,” said Dr. Snowden.
Everyone shared a laugh.
Jake fidgeted as he stood on the landing pad at Lord Noskov’s base. It had been several months since the Caltorus incident, as it was being called, and the ancient vampires were awake. They had assembled and were meeting the Earth Ward representatives. The base had been busy that morning in preparation for so many important visitors. However, the one he wanted to see the most was Evaran.
“Don’t worry about Lord Noskov,” said a voice behind him.
Jake turned to see Lord Vygon in his black battle suit headed his way.
“He’s not upset at you,” said Lord Vygon. “He’s upset that Evaran chose not to wake us for such an important event.”
“I know,” said Jake. “The other ancient vampires seem okay with it. I’m sure when Evaran gets here along with the others, everything will be okay.”
“I agree. However, Lord Noskov is also upset that Evaran will not retrieve his disciple Blake Brown under these new circumstances,” said Lord Vygon.
“Yeah … I heard some ranting and raving earlier this week when Lord Noskov talked with Evaran. It seems unusual that Evaran wouldn’t help with such a simple request.”
“If Evaran won’t do it, he has a good reason. My guess is that he knows Blake Brown is tied to a future event and to bring him back would violate that.”
Jake’s eyes searched the ground for a moment. “Huh. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“Y
ou begin to think like that when you’re around Evaran. Nonetheless, I read your account of the events and am glad it is this form we are meeting.”
Jake wrinkled his eyebrows. “There’s others?”
Lord Vygon smiled.
“Right. Secret stuff us mortals aren’t meant to know.”
“If Evaran chooses to tell you, he will.”
“He’ll never do that.”
Lord Vygon raised an eyebrow. “The choice may not be his to make if he shows up with a different form.”
Jake shook his head. “I’ll just trust you on that.” He enjoyed talking with Lord Vygon. Of the four ancient vampire lords, Lord Vygon was the easiest to get along with. When Lord Vygon had found out about how Jake had come to Earth, Lord Vygon was initially upset that Evaran had not contacted him. Then Lord Vygon found out from Lord Noskov that it was Evaran’s first visit to Earth. That was Jake’s first introduction to out-of-sequence time-travel events. Apparently Lord Noskov knew Evaran already as well at that point. His attention focused on the ships landing.
The Imperium had sent Odin, Hermes, Thor, and Guan Yu. The Daedrould Council had sent Gozerul, Erik, and Lady Hassrik. The Ollikrin Nation had Mary and Tim representing them. For the ancient vampires, it was Lord Noskov, Lord Vygon, Lord Skar, and Lord Cyrus.
Lord Skar and Lord Cyrus were two that Jake had little interaction with. He smiled big when he saw the Torvatta land. “Evaran’s here!”
Lord Vygon laughed. “I’m excited as well, my friend.”
Jake watched as everyone disembarked from their ships and greeted each other. Evaran looked the same as always, and Emily and Dr. Snowden looked well rested. He had seen them off and on during the last few months, and they mainly came up on weekends. He had visited their house a few times, but got the sense they had other plans, especially Emily and Jennifer. Dr. Snowden had spent time with Dr. Bryson, and Evaran and V seemed to live in the Torvatta. Out of everyone, he spent the most time with V.
“Hey, Jake,” said Emily as she approached him.
“Hey.”
Dr. Snowden and Evaran shook Jake’s hand.
Lord Vygon nodded at Emily.
She returned the nod.
