The Guardian (Coranite Chronicles) (29 page)

“Can you feel that, Darek?” asked Slade, his lips trembling. “Enormous power…”

“I’ve never felt anything like it,” said Darek, looking rather pale. “Stronger than any Guardian…. No, it’s not just stronger.”
 
Darek swallowed. “It’s…terrifying.”

The man grinned. “I hear those compliments all the time, and it never gets old.”

“It must be a Coranite,” said Slade, walking backwards.

The Coranite flicked his hand. The tunnel’s mouth closed right up. They were trapped.

“Please,” said the Coranite, “there’s no need to be frightened.”

His words didn’t bring them any relief. Darek slowly reached for his dagger.

“Don’t,” said Slade, grabbed Darek by the shoulder. “We mustn’t provoke it.”

“Ah, a wise boy,” said the Coranite. “Yes, you most certainly do not want to get on my bad side.” He paused. “What are your names, ghasts?”

“I’m Slade,” said Slade. “And this is Darek.”

“Good, very obedient,” he said in a low voice. “Very fitting…to be our slaves.”

“What?” Darek snapped. “We’ll never be your slaves!”

“Then you prefer death?” asked the Coranite.

Darek curled his lips in anger.

“It’s only natural,” he said. “You ate our fruit. You are now in our debt or must accept punishment. Or do you not have a code of honor? Are you just a bunch of mindless scavengers that take without asking and flee?”

Slade bit his lip. “I understand…if it is the only way to pay this debt…”

“We can’t,” Darek protested. “This is a Coranite! Think of how terrible it’ll be!”

“You must have the wrong idea about us,” said the Coranite. “Terrible? Surely the rumors of us must be greatly exaggerated.”

“But you hate humans!”

“So? There are no humans here in the spirit realm. You are not human.”

“We’re…not?” Darek sounded unsure. He glanced at Slade. Slade shrugged.

“Wait, you actually think you’re…human?” The Coranite roared in laughter. “Humans in the spirit realm? That’s impossible! Humans would not survive in the spirit realm. Perhaps you think you are human, but you are merely a ghast—a wandering spirit with memories of a human past. You hunger but can never be filled. You rest but will never be rested. You seek human comforts, but such things will never comfort you…because you are no longer human.”

“We’re ghasts?” Darek still wasn’t sure what a ghast was, but he did wonder if this was true. Thinking back on it, Darek remembered that Guardians could instantly tell if one was human by their scent. The Coranites couldn’t possibly make this mistake. But this only made Darek even more confused. He started to wonder if they had somehow become ghasts by staying in the spirit realm for too long. Or maybe…he was a ghast all along…and never realized it.

“Yes,” said the Coranite with confidence. “You are ghasts. And you will be our slaves. For all ghasts serve the Coranites.”

CHAPTER 23

Human

Darek was still in a daze after they had left the tunnels. He still couldn’t believe it. They were now riding on the back of a giant dragon headed for some great tower of the Coranites. The dragon was bigger than he could’ve ever imagined. There were thousands of spirits riding on its back with space for thousands more. Even its wingspan had to be at least a mile wide! But the dragon was the least of his concerns. The scariest thought was that they were now slaves to the Coranites.

Darek looked at the faces of the spirits around them. There were spirits of all shapes and sizes. Some of them did look human. Others, however, looked like floating orbs, black shadows, and colorful blobs. A few even had the familiar appearances of animals like foxes and birds, except they were pale and ghoulish.

Darek and Slade stood by the massive tail and peered down. They watched as the landscape passed by them in a blur. Gusts of wind from the flapping of the wings caused huge sandstorms below.

“Are we really going through with this?” Darek gulped. “It’s a long way down.”

“No,” said Slade. “I just wanted to take a look.”

“And?”

“It might as well be suicide.”

They both sat down and let out deep sighs.

“Who knows? Maybe we’ll learn to like it here,” said Slade, sounding unsure.

“You’ve never heard tales of the Coranites like I have,” said Darek lowly. “Chrovel told me that they like to eat humans alive…for fun.” Darek shuddered. “I get chills just thinking about it.” He paused. “But don’t you think it’s strange? They didn’t seem to realize…” Darek broke off as soon as he saw someone staring at him. “Well, you know what I’m talking about. The Guardians knew right off the bat. Why didn’t the Coranites? They seem to think we’re ghasts—whatever that is.”

Slade shrugged. “Perhaps it’s a side effect of living in this realm for so long. Maybe we are slowly becoming something else.”

Darek frowned. “I don’t want to become…something else. I don’t want to become a ghast or anything else. Where are the Guardians when you need them? It just feels like the Guardians don’t bother with the Coranites. These Coranites just go about freely, doing whatever they want.” Darek said bitterly, “We’re going to be stuck with these Coranites. And if they find out we’re human—”

“Shhhh.” Slade made a gesture for him to be quiet. “Someone’s been staring at us for a while now.”

“I’ve noticed,” Darek said, looking over his shoulder. “You think he can hear us?”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to take any chances.”

A young man walked over to them and sat down next to them.

“Hi!” he said with a cheerful smile. “Are you guys new? Rotten luck, huh?”

Darek hesitated to say anything. Slade nodded in reply.

The young man held out his hand, grinning at Darek. Darek raised a brow.

“What’s wrong? Never seen a handshake before? Humans do it all the time.”

“Er…I wouldn’t know,” Darek lied uneasily. “I’m just your average ghast.” Then he gave a half-hearted smile. “Nothing human about me.”

“Really?” The young man scooted closer, grabbed Darek’s hand and shook it. “You don’t have to be afraid of me, you know. I’m one of you.” He winked.

“One of us…ghasts?” Darek asked uncertainly.

“No!” The young man whispered, covering the side of his mouth, “I’m human too.”

“What?” Darek examined the man for a moment. “I mean—we’re not human.”

“Oh, you don’t have to hide it from me,” said the man. “The name’s Freddie. I got stuck here…oh, about five years ago. Been trying to get away ever since. But don’t worry. If you stay on their good side, you won’t have to suffer—much.” He grinned.

“Hmm.” Darek didn’t trust him, but he was interested in what Freddie had to say. “Where are you from? What planet?”

“Oh, I’m not from a planet,” said Freddie. “Back in the other realm, I used to live on one of the wandering colonies of the Nomadic Combine.”

“And how did you wind up here?” Darek asked skeptically.

“I’m not too sure, to be honest. During a class trip to the engine room of our colony, I saw a rift open up. Was curious. And ended up paying for it. Worst and stupidest thing I bet anyone’s ever done.”

Darek chuckled. “It does happen a lot in movies.”

“I know!” Freddie laughed. “I should’ve seen it coming. Weird looking portal opens up and I flock to it like a moth to a light. I guess it’s just in my nature to be curious when something totally impossible happens.”

“Ha. I do that too.”

Darek felt more relaxed now that he had spoken a little with Freddie.

“So how come you know we’re…different?” asked Darek.

“It’s easy. Takes one to know one, you know? I’ve been stuck here for a while and I’ve discovered that spirits, even if they look human, just aren’t quite the same. Some of them even seem pretty brain dead if you ask me.”

Darek asked him, “But…how come the Coranites never found out?”

“That I’m—one of you?”

Darek nodded.

“It’s the food they serve here,” said Freddie. “It changes you. Strengthens your spirit. In the physical realm, you need food that will sustain your body, but your spirit might be weak. This place is the exact opposite. You don’t really need the strength of your body. The body is useless in this realm. Your spirit is what counts. And, as long as you’re eating right, your spirit gets stronger over time and hides your physical presence.”

“Ah,” said Darek. “So that fruit we ate—that’s what changed us!”

“Y-you ate fruit?” Freddie looked astonished, his jaw dropping. “Fruit is the best source of life here! Only Coranites are allowed to taste it. How was it? Did it taste good?”

Darek smirked. “I wouldn’t say it’s the best. Definitely better than anything I’ve had in a while though.”

“You’re so lucky!” said Freddie. “If any slaves were to eat a bite of fruit, we’d be punished severely. You are very lucky to have escaped punishment.”

“Escaped? I’d say being a slave to Coranites is punishment enough,” said Darek darkly. “The worst is yet to come.”

“Not to worry,” said Freddie. “Do your job well. Stick with me. It won’t be so bad.”

It won’t be so bad
. These words swam through Darek’s mind. Though he hoped for the best, Freddie’s words didn’t give him a peace of mind. The stories that Chrovel had told him of the Coranites stuck with him—stories of torment, torture, bloodshed and wickedness. Any terrible thing he could imagine, the Coranites have done worse. If Guardians were the protectors of the natural order, Coranites were the destroyers. And these same Coranites, these destroyers, seemed to especially hate humans.

“Ah, look!” Freddie shouted, motioning for Darek to follow. “There’s the tower! You can see it from here!”

Darek stood up and followed Freddie to the neck of the dragon. Smoke from the dragon’s nostrils rose up and flew at him. Darek shielded his face from the smoke. They were still a good distance away, but even so, Darek could see it. The tower of the Coranites.

It was huge, much bigger than the dragon. Its walls were black and gray and covered with a fiery glow. At the top of the tower it almost looked like a lighthouse. A large blue beam of light was shooting out of its peak and into the sky. Below, a lake of rising fire and bubbling molten rock surrounded its base. Several dragons flew in circles around the tower.

Darek gaped.

“Amazing, huh?” Freddie said. “They say it’s located in the middle of the spirit realm, right at the heart of the universe.”

Darek shot Freddie a skeptical look.

“I know,” said Freddie, smirking. “It’s a pretty bold and impossible-to-prove statement. But that’s what they say. I like it. Sounds cooler that way. Regardless, it’s a display of power for the Coranites. Guardians have tried many times to take the tower, but have failed in every attempt. This is the only Coranite stronghold.”

“The Coranites built it?”

“Heh. Actually, there are rumors the tower existed from the beginning.”

“What? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Coranites say that they found this tower, just like that.”

“Then who built it? Guardians?”

“No, Guardians claim they never knew of this tower until the Coranites took it.”

“Then who?”

Freddie shrugged. “Nobody knows. The Coranites say it simply just existed from the beginning.” Then he whispered, “But never mind where it came from. The tower holds many secrets, some even most Coranites don’t know of. I’ll show you around sometime.” His face was split by a big grin. “Lots of fun times ahead.”

As the dragon drew near the castle, Darek crouched between the shoulder blades of the dragon’s back. While he hid there, he didn’t feel much of the heat because the dragon’s body was able to block it quite well. The dragon landed in an archway near the middle of the tower. Then it lowered its wings, using them to form long ramps.

“All right, everybody off!” Darek heard a Coranite shout.

He followed the crowd of spirits as they lined up to go down the wings. All the spirits were pushing and shoving as they scurried along, fueled by the angry shouts of impatient Coranites.

Afraid of being separated, Darek stuck close to Slade and Freddie. Freddie beckoned for them to follow. While the other spirits crowded around the main entrance, Freddie snuck around the side and located a secret entrance.

“Hey, you there!” One of the Coranites stepped in their way. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Darek glanced at Freddie, wondering if this was a bad idea.

“Excuse me, sir,” Freddie bowed his head. “We already have jobs. We don’t need to be sorted.”

“Really?” The Coranite looked doubtful. “I don’t recognize any of you.”

“It’s our first time as guides,” said Freddie. “But we usually work down in the lower dungeons.”

“Is that so? All right…” The Coranite grabbed Freddie by the neck and lifted him up.

“Guh!” Freddie choked.

“You haven’t been trained well,” the Coranite snarled. “Not only do you lie to my face. You also don’t show proper respect for your masters.” Freddie’s legs flailed as the Coranite tightened his grip. The Coranite snickered, “It’s time you learned to show some respect.”