The Guardian (Coranite Chronicles) (37 page)

Darek grunted, “C-Chrovel? Is that you? Are you finally awake?”

The voice, sounding a bit different, continued,
My power is yours. Use it. Take it. I want you to have it. All yours.

“Thank you, Chrovel!” Seething with anger, Darek growled. His whole arm turned black and his skin hardened. Black flames erupted from his fingers.

The Coranite raised a brow. “What’s this—AHHHHHHH!”

The black flames traveled up the Coranite’s arm and wound around his chest, searing across his skin. He released Darek and stumbled backward. He tried to put out the strange flames with his hands, but the fire would not be snuffed out. It persisted and even grew hotter.

Darek gawked at his own arm. He had never seen it turn black. It wasn’t his usual power. Even his hands changed, becoming more grotesque. His fingers look more like long, sharp claws. His elbow appeared to have a horn sticking out.

“What is this?” asked Darek. “Chrovel…since when could you do this? Black flames? Even Sorren’s powers never looked quite like this.” Thump. All of a sudden, a sharp pain stabbed his heart. Darek clutched at his chest and winced. “And this pain…what is this pain? I’ve never felt this before. It feels like my heart is being crushed.” His breathing intensified. Gulping air, he glared at the Coranite.

Darek ran to the giant. The Coranite tried to escape, but Darek was too fast. Darek grabbed the giant by the throat and pinned him down.

“What did you do to me?” Darek shouted, tightening his grip around the Coranite’s neck.

The Coranite gagged. “Let me go! I’ll kill you! I’ll destroy you!”

“Still acting high and mighty?” Darek grinned maliciously. “Scum like you…doesn’t even deserve death.” The black flames swirled around them. The Coranite howled in agony. “Yes,” Darek said, licking his lips, “suffer!” Darek tossed the giant off the dragon. He watched as the Coranite, enveloped in flames, kept squirming and writhing. Darek said darkly, “Suffer for all eternity…from the flames that will never be extinguished.”

Then Darek looked at his hand. It returned to normal after a few seconds.

Darek blinked. “I feel like I’m forgetting something important.” He turned around. His eyes widened when he noticed Slade was no longer moving. “Slade!” Darek rushed over to his side and knelt down. He held up his head and said to him, “Slade, are you okay? Answer me!”

Slade slowly opened his eyes and breathed, “I’m…okay.”

“Oh, thank God!” Darek brushed the sweat off his head. “You scared me. I thought you were a goner.”

Slade smiled and chuckled. “That might not be too far off.”

Darek wrinkled his brow. “Is that supposed to be a…joke?”

Slade looked past Darek. With great difficulty, he raised his arm and pointed at the sky.

Darek remained fixed on Slade.

Slade said softly, “Take a look…at that.”

Darek nodded and turned. The sky was a different color. Then Darek’s jaw dropped when he realized he wasn’t looking at the sky at all. He was staring at the belly of a massive dragon flying over them. This dragon was so large that it was bigger than all the dragons in the sky…combined. Darek stared at it for a long time. The dragon was big enough to be a planet—maybe even big enough to
eat
a planet. The humungous dragon soared into the hole in the sky, barely squeezing through, and then disappeared into outer space.

“That’s really…something,” Darek uttered.

“Sure is,” said Slade. “Never seen anything like it. I feel bad for anyone in its path. But just watching it fly is really awe-inspiring.” He paused. “Get ready…we’re almost there. Extend your spiritual aura.”

It didn’t take much effort for Darek to extend his aura. He had gotten so used to controlling it in the spirit realm that it became as natural as breathing. The glow from his aura radiated around them.

The dragon they were riding finally managed to reach the closing hole in the sky. And once they were back in their realm, Darek watched the hole close behind them. The spirit realm was gone. And they were now in space, far from any planet or star.

“Let’s get off here,” said Slade.

Darek asked, “Right here?”

Slade nodded.

“But there’s nothing here,” said Darek.

Slade explained, “We don’t know where this dragon is headed. He might be headed off to find his friends. They should be the greatest threat. Best to stay out of their way. This place should be safe for a while. None of the Coranites or dragons will bother coming back.”

Darek smiled halfheartedly. “So we’re just going to hang out here? Just the two of us?”

Slade tried to smile but winced from the pain. “Something like that.”

Holding onto Slade, Darek jumped off the dragon’s back. The two of them floated gently through the vast blackness of space.

“Darek?” Slade coughed up more blood.

“Yeah?”

“It’s okay to cry, you know.”

“I know.”

“We’re like brothers, right?”

Tears welling in his eyes, Darek gave a little chuckle. “You
are
my brother, Slade. The best brother I ever had. I just wish we could hang out more.”

Slade was breathing harder. “M-me too. Our…time was short-lived. But…I don’t want you to misunderstand.”

“About what?”

“Don’t shed tears for me,” said Slade. “Shed them for this.” He slowly lifted up his hand and gestured to outer space—to the specks of light around. “Never forget why we live and why we die. There’s suffering all over. Just look and see. We can’t let the wicked do whatever they want, be they Coranites or human. We can’t let them hurt innocent people…”

“I won’t let them,” said Darek firmly. “I’ll put a stop to them all.”

“Thank you. I feel better knowing that you’ll carry on…”

Slade slumped.

“Slade?” Darek sounded concerned. “Slade?”

“Send me…”

“What?”

“Toss me aside, Darek,” Slade breathed. “It’s time. Toss me aside. I’m finished. Let me leave this place…forever.”

Darek nodded slowly. “Goodbye, Slade.”

With his final breath, Slade whispered, “Goodbye…”

Darek pushed Slade’s body out from his aura. Slade’s body drifted away helplessly.

CHAPTER 30

End of an Era

A tall man in a white suit and tie strode down a long walkway with numerous doors. When he reached the door by the end of the walkway, he briefly checked the room’s number. He placed his hand on the door. The door slid down, revealing a small room with a stasis pod in the middle.

A person in a dark uniform was working by the computer screens on the wall, checking a small datapad. When he noticed the tall man, he turned around and saluted him.

“Warden!”

His hands behind his back, the Warden nodded. Then the prison officer went back to studying the data on the screen.

The Warden peered into the small round window of the stasis pod. A man was trapped inside in a deep sleep.

“Is he almost ready?” the Warden asked.

“No,” said the prison officer. “No sign of any changes. Should we continue?”

“It’s a pity,” said the Warden. “But we really can’t afford to waste any more time and resources on him. But he does seem quite useful. Ship him out.”

“Ship him out?” asked the prison officer. “Like this? He won’t obey us.”

“We don’t need him to obey. Give him a simple mission and administer the experimental drug. We can test the effectiveness of the drug at the same time.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Warden!” A hologram of another prison officer appeared in front of them. “We have a new arrival! Please come to the cellblock F-25 for initial inspection.”

“A new arrival?” the Warden asked. “You sound excited. A wonderful surprise, I assume?”

The prison officer smiled. “It’s a Judge. A living Judge…with his powers still functional.”

After a brief look of astonishment, a big grin split the Warden’s face. “Excellent.
Excellent
.” He couldn’t stop grinning. “I’ll be there right away.”

Huddled in the corner of a small, dark room, Darek trembled. The doorway out of the room was barred off with dangerous beams of light. The walls were reinforced with a powerful force field. He drew his knees closer together and closed his eyes. The voices would not be silent. Bickering. Screaming. Curses. That was all he heard. Even if he covered his ears, the voices would not be quieted down. They were in his head, talking amongst themselves…and even talking to him.

Boy…use my power…and we can be free.

Kill yourself…free yourself from this misery.

They are trapping you in here. They don’t want you to escape.

I hate you…human. I hate you.

Let me die. Let me die.

Please, free me! I want to live! SET ME FREE!

“Shut up…” Darek mumbled. “All of you—shut up.” Banging on his own head with his fist, Darek cried out, “SHUT UP ALREADY! Why won’t you just leave me alone? I don’t want to use your stupid powers…whoever you are. I hate your powers. You hate me? I hate you too! You couldn’t even save Slade. Useless…”

“And why would I need saving?” Darek heard someone say.

Darek looked up. Slade was leaning against the wall.

“You again,” Darek growled. “Stop with the illusions already. I know he’s dead.”

Slade laughed hysterically. “Am I? Am I really? I’m staring you right in the face. It’s me, Darek. I’m the real deal. I’m Slade. I’m your friend—no, you’re brother. I didn’t die. No, come on. Let’s get out of this place.”

“You’re dead,” said Darek. “You’re dead. I know this. I won’t be deceived. I made a promise to Slade. It’s a promise until the day I die. And your stupid illusions won’t make me forget that.”

“Yeah, that’s not real,” said another voice.

Darek looked to the other side. Sorren was smiling at him.

“Don’t listen to him,” said Sorren. “I’m your friend. You can listen to me.”

Darek groaned. “I’m sick of this. I’ve had enough! Enough with your illusions—with your lies.” He glanced around the room. More people appeared. Elize, Jenson, Rex, Azura, Rathos, Thedes, Merdon…and even some people he didn’t really remember much.

Darek snapped, “I know you’re not real. And you’re just making it more obvious like this! So stop it!”

Slade grinned wryly. “Oh, Darek. Stop trying to deny it. The more you resist, the more you will waste away. We are your friends. Nothing will change that.”

Darek ran to Slade and swung his fist at him. His fist went right through him. Darek ran around the room, swinging his arms as hard as he could. He kept punching and kicking. But he couldn’t touch them.

“GO AWAY!” Darek screamed, flailing his arms. “GO AWAY! GO AWAY!”

The Warden peered through the doorway. Darek saw him.

Darek barked at the Warden, “Another one? Another illusion? When will this end? Get out of here! Leave me alone!”

The Warden turned to the prison officer. “How long has he been like this?”

“Since we found him,” the officer replied.

The Warden looked disappointed. “This is a Judge? This is what we’ve been looking for?”

“This is the Judge that Commander—I mean, ex-Commander Dionus arrested.”

“Are you sure there isn’t some mistake?” asked the Warden, studying Darek for a moment. “Just an insane boy. How could this be a Judge?”

“We found him…in space,” said the officer.

The Warden raised his brow at him.

“Without a ship,” the officer continued.

The Warden didn’t lower his brow.

The officer sighed and then said firmly, “Without a spacesuit. No ship. No spacesuit. Just his body…floating in space. And he lives. Like one of those monsters, those Guardians…this boy, through some strange power, can survive in outer space. That has to be enough proof that we’re not dealing with just some crazy kid. This is the real thing. This is a Judge.”

The Warden narrowed his eyes at Darek. “Then perhaps…he is just out of his mind temporarily. Before we do anything, let’s wait and see if his condition improves.”

The prison officer saluted. “Yes, sir.”

Then they left. Darek watched them leave.

“You’re learning to listen to me?” Darek growled at the others around him. “Good. Then get out of here…all of you!”

“But Darek—” Slade began.

“Don’t make me use my power against you!” Darek spat, pointing angrily at him. “I will use it and I will crush you and I will destroy you and I will KILL YOU! So leave me alone!”

“As you wish,” said Slade sinisterly. One by one the people in the room disappeared.

Darek sat back down, feeling exhausted. He remained cautious for a while, his eyes darting across the room. Nothing else appeared. He took a deep breath of relief and leaned back. The voices were no longer whispering in his head.