The Guardian (Coranite Chronicles) (36 page)

“You’re giving me too much credit,” said Sorren, dodging a ball of fire. “These guys are weak. If Strakken or Zethu were here—no, I don’t even want to think about it.” He smiled to himself. “I wonder if this is luck or fate that none of the troublesome ones are here.”

A Coranite shouted, “WHAT ARE YOU IDIOTS DOING? Get the boy! Use him as a hostage! Aim for the boy! Sorren won’t do anything if we can get the boy!”

Slade grinned. “Looks like my luck has run out.” Slade held up his fists. Gauntlets formed over his hands.

Sorren tried to stop the Coranites from attacking Slade, but he couldn’t stop them all. One of the Coranites managed to run past him.

The Coranite stretched out his hand and unleashed a bolt of lightning. Slade jumped quickly out of the way and closed in on him. Before the Coranite could draw his sword, Slade threw a fierce punch and sent the Coranite flying into the wall. The wall crumbled on top of the Coranite.

“Wow.” Slade stared at his own fist, dumbfounded. Then he looked at Darek. “Did you see that?”

Darek said, “Yeah, nice one.”

“I guess our journey in the spirit realm wasn’t a total waste of time.”

“Watch out! More on the way!”

Slade looked back. This time a strange Coranite was dashing toward him on all fours. The Coranite had a small head and body, but its arms and legs were long and muscular. It leaped up. Slade tumbled out of the way. Then, as it came back around, Slade blocked its tackle, keeping his body tightly together. The Coranite collapsed. Slade slammed down hard on its back with both his fists and smashed the Coranite through the floor.

Slade shouted, “Hah! Two down!”

Darek warned him, “Slade! Behind you!”

Slade saw it coming. A beam of light was fired at his back. He sidestepped but didn’t dodge it completely. The light managed to burn the skin under his arm.

“ARGH!” Slade clenched his teeth at the pain.

The Coranite aimed his hands at Slade and fired more beams of scorching light.

Slade deflected the attacks with his gauntlets. But he was under such heavy fire that he couldn’t move from that spot.

“Slade! Hang on! I’ll be right there!” Darek struggled to get his hands free from the giant sphere. “Come on, come on, you stupid eye! Let me go already!” Darek leaned back all the way, pushing his feet against the ground. He fell on his back. Darek sat up and looked at his hands. He was free.

Darek knelt down and placed his hands on the ground. When he did so, a wall of stones rose out of the floor and shielded Slade from the beams of light. Then the wall moved swiftly across the floor and pushed the Coranite out a window.

“Thanks,” said Slade.

“No sweat,” said Darek, smiling.

Sorren joined up with them while keeping his eyes on the Coranites.

“Took you long enough,” said Sorren. “Now it’s time we get out of here!”

“How are we going to do that?” asked Darek. He looked up at the hole in the sky. “The other realm looks so far away! And the hole looks like it’s starting to close! There’s no way we’ll be able to get up there in time!”

A flying dragon caught Sorren’s eye. “We’ll have to hitch a ride.”

The Coranites slowly stepped toward them.

Sorren spread out his arms and hands. His fingers turned into feathers. His arms became wings. A beak grew over his face. When his transformation was complete, Darek and Slade were staring at the back of a giant raven. Sorren snatched up Darek and Slade with his feet and took flight. Sorren soared high into the air and fled the tower.

The Coranites shouted, “Don’t let them get away! We need that boy!” Auras emanated from their bodies as they screamed in rage. They rocketed into the sky, leaving trails of light, and chased after them.

“W-we did it!” Darek exclaimed, throwing his fist in the air and laughing. “We’re getting out of here!”

“Save your celebration for when we make it through,” said Sorren, flapping his wings. “This won’t be a leisurely trip back.” Sorren dove toward the nearest dragon. “Hang on,” he told them. “I’m dropping you on its back.”

Sorren released the two of them. They fell on the bumps of its back and grabbed hold of whatever they could.

Sorren kept up with the dragon’s speed. Hovering over them, Sorren said, “You should be safe as long as the dragon doesn’t notice you.”

“Aren’t you coming with us?” asked Darek, crouching by the dragon’s spine.

“No,” said Sorren. “I’m going to try and slow them down. I’m going to keep them from reaching the other realm.”

Darek blinked. “Huh? How are you going to do that?”

“How else? I’m going to attack them, of course.”

“That’s not what I’m asking,” Darek snapped. “How are you going to get out in time if you’re trying to stop them?”

Sorren sighed. “There you go again. I’m not answering your stupid question.”

Darek wondered if he was smiling with that beak. It was hard to tell.

“Why?” Darek frowned. “You can’t stay here! Just come with us!”

“I have to hold them back,” said Sorren. “I can’t protect you here. Even if I could kill them all, I wouldn’t be able to do it fast enough. They’d surround us and…” Sorren turned around and left the dragon’s side. “Argh. Wasted too much time. They’re already gaining on us! I’m going now!”

Darek stood up and shouted after him, “But you’ll be trapped here with all these Coranites! It’s too dangerous! You won’t be able to get out of here!”

“Since when do you have to worry about me?” Sorren shouted back. ”See you on the other side, Darek!”

CHAPTER 29

Darkest Hour

A painful expression appeared on Darek’s face when he looked up. He gazed at the hole in the sky. The stars in space were finally shining their light on them. Darek sunk down and heaved a sigh. All this time he had been longing for a little bit of hope, any hope at all, though it seemed impossible. And now, they were on their way home. But Darek didn’t feel happy or relieved. The reality was sinking in.

He turned his head and observed the little dots scattered in the sky. Darek and Slade weren’t the only ones headed for the other realm. Thousands of spirits were desperately fleeing upward, racing toward their freedom. He guessed that a lot of them were probably Coranites. Many giant dragons were also flying upward. Darek clenched his fist. Guilt pierced his heart.

Darek shook his head and raised his clenched fist. “How could I let this happen?”

“What’s done is done,” said Slade. “Blaming yourself won’t change that.”

Darek pressed his hand tightly against his forehead. “But still…you heard them. You heard what they said. I freed the Coranites from the core. And by doing so, I sent entire populations straight into Lacuna. And if that wasn’t enough, now…THIS!” Darek gestured angrily at the swarms of spirits in the distance. “I tore a hole through the realm! Everything is free to go! Coranites, dragons, and who knows what else! I’ve set loose thousands of blood-thirsty monsters upon the universe!”

“So what?” Slade said curtly.

“So
what?
” Darek raised a brow. “THIS IS A DISASTER! And it’s my fault—again!” Darek screwed up his face. “Chosen one? That’s nothing but crap. No wonder everyone calls me the key to destruction! It’s not because I destroy evil—but I destroy everything!” He scowled at his hands. “Why was I born with this power? I hate it! I wish I were never born! Everyone would be much better off! My existence has caused nothing but trouble! If only I had never been born—”

“Darek,” said Slade softly.

Darek continued, “—this would have never happened! And now…everyone’s going to die! They’ll be killed! I didn’t mean for this to happen—”

“Darek!” Slade said in a louder voice.

“What? What is it?”

“Listen to me for a second,” said Slade. “I’m not going to pretend I know what you’re going through. It may not compare, but I’ve done some stupid stuff that I regret. And from time to time, I think about it and wonder—why did I do it? Why couldn’t I turn back the hands of time and fix it so I wouldn’t feel ashamed or embarrassed or guilty for what I’ve done? But I’ll say it again—what’s done is done. You’re going to have to live the rest of your life knowing you’ve caused this catastrophe. But dwelling on it won’t change a thing. You’ll only feel worse.”

“I know, I know!” Darek nodded repeatedly. “But I just can’t ignore this! We’re talking about the fate of the galaxy here! Many lives are at stake. What am we supposed to do now? What can we do about this?”

“I don’t know,” said Slade flatly. “But I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”

“WATCH OUT!” Sorren shouted from afar.

Darek turned around. The Coranites were firing bolts of fire and lightning. Sorren tried to deflect the attacks with his powers of darkness. But he couldn’t stop them all. Some of the attacks were reaching the dragon.

“Get ready,” said Slade, running down the dragon’s back. “We can’t let anything hit the dragon—or the dragon might realize something’s odd.”

Darek stayed where he was. Spears of ice were flying right to him. He sent his hand forward and struck the ice with his palm. The ice shattered upon contact, bits of ice spraying across his face.

Slade held up his arms, shielding himself. A fireball slammed into the gauntlets on his hands. The impact knocked him off his feet, but the fire dispersed. He stood up again, prepared to block another blast of the Coranites’ power. Next up was a huge bolt of lightning. It was fast and its path was impossible to predict. He raised his hands and used them like lightning rods, drawing the lightning to himself. He winced.

“Nice one!” Darek shouted.

“Stay focused on your end!” Slade shouted back.

“Right!”

Darek watched for more attacks. A bright light fell from above. Darek lowered his stance. Then, when he saw its trajectory, he followed it up to the back of the neck, by one of the dragon’s horns. He stood right under the light and held his hands up. But it wasn’t an attack.

Darek’s eyes widened. “A Coranite!”

“
What?
” Slade swung his head around.

The Coranite had the appearance of a giant ugly ogre. Its skin was dark blue. Long horns protruded from its forehead and shoulders.

“I was wondering what all the commotion was about!” The Coranite laughed. “Humans!” He snickered. “And I sense great power within you. A perfect host.”

Darek staggered back.

“I’m coming, Darek!” Slade sprinted up the dragon’s spine.

The Coranite dove down. Darek didn’t know what to do. The mysterious aura around the Coranite was driving him insane. The power was too great for Darek to fathom. Only fear swam through his mind.

The Coranite snatched Darek’s head with one hand and held him up. The giant hissed to his face, “Weaker than I thought. Heh. All that power and you can’t even use it. Might as well just die if you’re going to be
that
weak.” The Coranite pressed Darek’s head against his. “Now…let me into your mind! No use struggling!”

“Get away from him!” Slade screamed. He beat his fists against the giant’s round belly. With fast and furious punches, Slade pounded the monster. He unleashed the attacks quickly at first, but soon became exhausted. Even though his fists slowed down, he didn’t stop. Hundreds of punches. Thousands of punches. Slade kept going. “Argh! Why won’t you die?”

“HAH!” The Coranite couldn’t restrain his boisterous laughter. “This is rich! What are you doing, human? Are you trying to tickle me to death? HAHAHA!”

Gulping air, Slade growled, “How dare you laugh at us? We just want to live!”

The Coranite hissed, “A worm like you wants to live. Disgusting.”

The giant thrust his other hand at Slade. Slade didn’t even try to block. Instead, he jumped up and punched the giant’s face at the same time. The exchange wasn’t worth it. Struck by the palm of the Coranite’s hand, Slade was knocked down. Immediately Slade threw up blood and screamed out in pain. He writhed on the dragon’s neck.

“Humans are so fragile,” said the Coranite, snickering. “I even tried not to hurt you. But it appears I’ve already broken ribs.” He stooped down and breathed in Slade’s grimacing face. “Are you dying yet? Have I punctured a lung? Are you bleeding on the inside? Or was it not enough?” He pressed his heavy foot against Slade’s chest. Slade screamed out again.

“Stop it,” Darek growled, glaring at the giant. He grabbed the giant’s wrist and wrestled with him, trying to break free. “Don’t hurt him!”

“Humans and their compassion.” The Coranite shook his head. “How ridiculous. Here you are, worried about your friend when you are closer to death’s door! Why get so upset? You’re both going to die anyway. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Darek thought
, Not again. Not again.
Darek boiled with rage.
Why is this happening? My friends are being hurt before my very eyes…and there’s nothing I can do about it? I can’t change the fact that I was born. It’s too late. But I have to do something about this! Why am I so weak? WHY?

A voice said in his head,
You want power? I have power.