Lives of Future-Past (The Chronicles of Max Gunnarsson Book 1) (22 page)

     The four searched all over the castle, but could find neither Siegfried, nor Vladros. They had both fled, as evil is generally masked cowardice. Many of the lycans returned to the outside of the castle via their hastily made tunnel, but Max made sure that Jennie was out first and then had a good time 3D slipping four of them, running back through the tunnel after each slip to get another. As he had done this without the use of Draagh’s staff, his timeout meter was depleted and slowly creeping back up, keeping him from using any more magic for at least a minute.
     Maintaining defensive positions, as the sun had already set, they waited until the team had completely arrived, along with Alea as their prisoner. There were no losses, although one lycan soldier had suffered a hellcat bite that, unfortunately, was painfully poisonous.
     “I didn’t even get to use my sword,” complained Jennie, with Max giving her a look of complete disbelief.
     “Jennie, you were kidnapped and beaten. Can’t we just go home?”

     “Home,” she said softly, “I like the sound of that.”
 

     The castle’s great hall was filled with all of the lycans from the Rhönen Dominion, every single one standing at attention, as Krynos, king of all he surveyed, addressed the crowd. Directly in front of him was Alea, the traitorous woman who assisted in Jennie’s kidnapping.
     The lycan leader gave her gaze of detest, and then looked out at the crowd, saying, “As we are a nation of laws and nobility, we must always adhere to the written rules upon which we live our daily lives. We have suffered at the hands of betrayal, and with great sadness we turn our backs on Alea, who was a valued member of our family. In most cases, these circumstances would result in the instant execution of the bearer of ill-will, but as Alea did serve the Dominion well for many years, and also due to the fact that she was betrayed by her cohorts, believing that her husband, the greatly-missed Morgus, was alive and held captive by Vladros, I have determined a modified punishment for our former sister. Alea, you are herewith banished from the Rhönen Dominion for the rest of your life, to wander the wilderness and perhaps come to grips with the crimes of which you have been convicted. This is the will of your former king.”
     Krynos looked at the honor guard that surrounded Alea, and nodded for them to escort the woman out of the castle. As she turned to leave, she gave Draagh a look of anguish, knowing that she had indeed ruined what was a good life, and had almost ruined the life of another. Draagh simply glanced at her and then looked away. He had many lovers during his long life, and this was not the first time he had been betrayed by the fairer sex.
     Max and Jennie stood in the crowd and quietly watched the procession lead the woman out, with Jennie giving her a glare of contempt.
     “You really never liked her, did you?” asked Max.
     Jennie looked at him and plainly stated, “No, I always thought she was a bitch.”
     Max hid a grin, turning away slightly, glad that Jennie was safe, but pleased that she appeared to have admitted a bit of jealousy.
     As all departed the great hall, Draagh approached Max and Jennie, saying, “My friends, today is indeed a sad day, and we must never take delight in the downfall of a brother or sister.”
     “Stuff it, Gramps. She was a bitch,” said Jennie, who then stormed off to her chambers.
     Max looked at his grandfather and asked, “What the Hell? She really thought she would get her husband back?”
     Draagh gave his grandson a pensive look, and then said, “Yes, my son. We all pine for the love of our life, and are susceptible to weaknesses of the heart.”
     Max looked out to where Jennie had departed.
    
    
Yeah, don’t I know it…
     There was no great celebration that night, as many in the castle had loved Alea, and her betrayal had left an atmosphere of pain, loss and regret. Draagh, Jennie and Max sat at a table, quietly eating their evening meal, when Draagh spoke to them, apparently having recovered from his former lover’s deception.
     “So, my children. Tomorrow we shall enter into the final phase of your
initial
training. Within the week you shall both experience your first phase 3, or death form transformation, which I have heard is quite…enlightening.”
     The two students gave him curious expressions as he continued, “Jennie, now that you have a new toy with which to play, I expect that you shall be practicing with the utmost intensity in order to master your skills,.” Jennie nodded as she messily chewed on a hunk of meat. Then looking at Max, Draagh said, “Max, you shall learn things of which even the highest of earthly mages never have knowledge. I suggest we get a good night’s rest, so that we may continue in the morning.”
    
     Outside the borders of the Rhönen Dominion, and further to the north of Vladros’ now-partially destroyed home, the fugitive vampire king approached a dilapidated structure which was apparently a castle at one time, while being escorted by his remaining security team, with Siegfried and Ryder Johnson following closely behind. There to greet them at the barely-functional gate was Korlis, a minor vampire leader, who looked upon his liege sneeringly.
     “Ah, it appears that you come with your proverbial tail tucked between your legs. Bit off a bit more than you were able to chew, my king? Also, may I ask why the majority of your forces are camped out in the tunnels on my land?”
     Vladros look at his subordinate and hissed, saying, “Take care with your tone, Korlis, and I shall allow you yet more land on which to hunt, for I have a plan that shall rid us of the lycan menace once and for all.”
     “Which plan might that be?” inquired the smaller, yet equally hideous-looking vampire.
     “We assemble the nation and attack the Rhönen on the full moon, of course,” responded Vladros, who broke out into a great, sinister laugh, his ugly visage accentuated by the waxing moon that brilliantly lit the night sky.
     The following morning Max woke up, and after changing into his training clothes bounded down to eat his breakfast, fully expecting to find Draagh and Jennie waiting for him. Looking around the mess hall, he saw no sight of his friends, so he grabbed his morning meal and dutifully ate away, replenishing his reserves in preparation for a day of training. He wondered anxiously what it was that he was going to learn. Draagh had given a vague reference to special things, and Max was excited, to say the least.
     Finishing his breakfast, he jumped up and decided to go by the training pitch to see if Jennie was using her newly-enhanced katana to blast things to pieces. Thinking back on everything that had happened since he had left his home planet, he had no regrets. He had made new friends, met the grandfather he never knew even existed, and was developing a good, albeit complex, relationship with a beautiful and noble woman - a woman who could hold her own in virtually any situation, although she could use some lessons in table etiquette.
     Entering the pitch area, he was surprised to see Jennie, not jumping over obstacles and dealing mass destruction on anything in her path, but seated on the grass with a small girl as the two chatted away. It looked like Jennie was enjoying her conversation with the cute young lycan, who appeared to be about 10 years in age and look surprisingly similar to Jennie, albeit with lighter skin.
     Walking up to the two, Max greeted his counterpart with a typical, “Good morning, Jennie.”
     “Hey Gunnarsson. This is Liliana. Isn’t she precious?”
     The little girl appeared to blush and instantly rose to her feet, curtseying politely.
     “Master Gunnarsson, it is a pleasure to meet you. Jennie was telling me of your adventures. They sound so… cool.”
     Max’s eyes grew a bit in surprise, having heard the young girl use a term that was not part of the common vernacular of that world.
     “Liliana, it’s nice to meet you too. I haven’t ever seen you before. Are your parents close by?”
     The child’s face suddenly turned to perplexed sadness, as Jennie whispered, “Hey, she’s an orphan, just like I was.”
     Max got an awkward look on his face, but recouped by saying, “Well then Liliana, you have a great family here, and we are proud to be part of it, so please call me Max,” causing the girl’s eyes to light up a bit. “So, what are you two lovely ladies up to?”
     Jennie ruffled the girl’s hair a bit and said, “Oh, just girl-talk. Liliana said she is going to watch me train and then join me for lunch.”
     Max looked at both the girls while saying, “Well, that sounds pretty neat to me! I gotta go. I’m sure Draagh is waiting for me in the training hall. See ya!”
     That having been said, he simply disappeared via a 3D slip to the training hall, leaving the two girls alone. Liliana stared off into space with an astounded expression on her little face.
     “He is so cool!” she said breathlessly.
     “Yeah, I guess he is,” said Jennie, agreeing with her little friend, feeling a bit of a tickling sensation in her tummy.
    
     Draagh was seated at his table, various books and manuscripts laid about, when Max appeared next to him with a small popping sound.
     “Ah, my son, it seems you are mastering local slips quite well, quite well indeed, but have they an effect on your timeout meter of which we spoke?” Max concentrated for a moment.
     “The meter does deplete when I use a few in rapid succession, but this one barely moved the dial.”
     “Excellent! As you learn further, your skills shall improve and you will find that you are able to avail yourself more of these energies with less downtime.”
     “Sounds good to me,” stated Max, and continuing, said, “So, last night you mentioned something about knowledge that earthly mages don’t possess. I’m ready!”
     Draagh had a pleasant look on his face, the light from the flickering candles causing his great, blue eyes to sparkle.
     “My boy, there is so much more to the science of the universe than you know, and although you will learn much today, I can dare say that one could spend many lifetimes mastering it all. So, that being said - let us begin!”
     He pulled out a manuscript and showed it to Max, explaining that not only could a high-level mage navigate worlds and time via The Hub, but also enter into parallel versions of worlds, of which there were infinite numbers. This could be beneficial, but also dangerous, as there were many parallel worlds where magic did not exist at all, being completely devoid of magic particles, or nanobots, as Max called them. Further, there were worlds where magic did indeed exist, but only partially. In these worlds – those with only partially-functioning nanobots, and those without any at all, a mage was required to have his staff, which carried with it sufficient numbers of bots in which to perform cantuses, and even escape the worlds, getting back to the hub.
     Once done with the majority of his explanation, which included how one could not simply travel back in time and change something, creating a paradox, he took Max to a small number of the so-called
parallel worlds
, one being an Earth where man had concentrated less on the tools of war, and more on the development of electronic communications. In that particular world, the governments had managed to implement a pure democracy, where the will of the majority reigned supreme.
     As he gazed out at a landscape of death and utter desolation, Max had a look of confusion.
     “If a pure democracy was created here, why is the planet so trashed?”
     “My boy, a pure democracy simply lets those of the greatest numbers rule over all, with the wishes of the monitory never being taken into consideration. As there were numerous poor and uneducated, they simply voted to give themselves riches, without ever having to earn them. The end result was this society’s crumbling to dust.”
     Max looked around in all directions, seeing only decaying structures, with the random person climbing over piles of rubble.
     “Why wouldn’t they vote for what was right for their world? It’s hard to believe.”
     Draagh sighed and placed his hand on his grandson’s shoulder, saying, “My boy, there was a wise individual in Earth’s past, his name long-forgotten, who once said
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner
.”
     Max winced at the notion of wolves being the antagonists, but Draagh cut him off before the young man could say a word.
     “My boy, the person whom I am quoting did not carry the recessive lycan gene, thus his completely irrational choice of animals in which to make his analogy. I believe a more accurate selection of creatures would have been
two hyenas and a kitten
. Anyway, although he was a normal, he was quite a brilliant one. Yes, quite brilliant indeed. As we are on that subject, did you realize that most of the founding fathers of the former United States of America carried the recessive lycan gene? Yes, it is true, well, with the exception of Benjamin Franklin, who actually became quite an accomplished minor-mage – once he was taken to a place where he could craft his skills, while on sabbatical of course.”
     Max started laughing, knowing well the history of Earth’s past, but of course never having learned that particular factoid in school.
    
Ben Franklin traveled to a world where he learned magic… sounds about right
.
     They then slipped to a couple more parallel worlds - one where dolphins, and not man, had evolved as the dominant species, and another where quadrinium had never been discovered and the Vrol had never attacked, resulting in a still-existing, but barely stable society which teetered on the brink of annihilation – and of course, no Exodus to Azul. They then returned to their training hall and delved further into Max’s lessons.
     Out in the training grounds, Jennie sailed over obstacles while avoiding moving targets, decimating each one with her katana, taking care not to deplete her resources by using a methodical combination of skills and magic. Liliana sat on the grass off to the side and watched, clapping her hands with delight, as her new friend impressed everyone (mostly males) in attendance. Although the majority of lycans who fancied the beautiful young warrior had resigned themselves to the rank of mere spectator, there still remained those who had the courage to approach her and ask for her hand. Of course, they were immediately shot down, much to the laughter of their fellow soldiers – and Liliana, who quietly thought that Jennie should be with Max. Lycan children tended to be quite opinionated, and often had a wisdom that surpassed their few years of life.
     As lunch hour approached, Jennie took a towel and wiped her face and arms in an attempt to remove some of the disagreeable scent that had built up during her intense training. She then took Liliana’s hand and walked with the young girl to the mess hall, where they found both Max and Draagh seated.