The Royal Pursuit (27 page)

He gasped when he saw three Augurs
standing above him.

“
May we help you up?” Gaius
asked, offering his hand.

The man took it and stood up. He
glanced at them. “I haven’t seen one of your kind since Atlantis
fell into the ocean.”

“
We are not the Augurs who
lived on Atlantis. We refused to take immortality upon ourselves.
We do, however, have careful recordkeeping of everything in our
past,” Gaius said. “We came here to thank you for deciding to
protect the Queen of Raz.”

“
I couldn’t hurt her, even
if it meant giving her up,” he softly said.

“
We speak not of Ann but of
Amanda.”

The man raised his eyebrow
quizzically.

“
To answer your question,
your decision to spare Amanda’s life has changed the course of the
future. We know you love Atlantis. Your choice has come at a great
cost to you. We have set for it to fall back into the ocean in one
hour.”

He sighed. “I feared that would
happen.”

“
Atlantis will rise again,
but when it does, you will help Amanda destroy it.”

He blinked in surprise. “Why would I
do such a thing?”

“
We do not know. But our
children will be there to assist you and Amanda at that time. That
is what we came here to tell you. Our job is done here. We must
leave.”

The man watched them walk out of the
room. He didn’t understand why he would destroy this wonderful
city, his home. With a heavy heart, he walked to the library and
looked out the window at the spectacular view. He would check the
mirror, to see if the Augurs were right, but he knew they couldn’t
lie. It would be pointless to check such things. Instead, he
decided to help Queen Ann defeat William Nichols.

The second stage of William’s plan was
to wake up the clones that Zeus had made long ago. The thirty
clones, like the buildings, would still be in perfect shape,
untouched by time or the water that had been Atlantis’ home for
centuries. These clones would soon wake up to do battle with the
queen and her allies. All they were waiting for was their secret
chamber to be opened. William would head there as soon as he saw to
Hathor’s death.

He ran out of the room and down to the
chamber, hoping he wasn’t too late.

***

William entered Zeus’ old office and
touched the bottom left corner of Zeus’ picture. The wall behind
the picture slid open. William walked into the elevator and pressed
the down button. He was glad the man in white had told him about
this place. He was going to need an army to defeat the prisoners in
the cube. He couldn’t let a bunch of aliens run loose in the city.
Once they figured a way to escape, they would come after
him.

The elevator stopped at a large ivory
room filled with thirty objects that resembled glass coffins, and
these coffins were in an upright position. The clones were
preserved in them, fully equipped for war. They looked just like
Ares, strong and tough. Their armor was made out of a silver metal
William didn’t recognize. The guns and knives on the walls hung on
hooks, waiting for the clones to take them.

William recalled what the man in white
had said. “Zeus, fearing someone might try to usurp his authority
as the head leader, created the clones to defend him. These clones
are hard to defeat. The simplest way to eliminate them is to press
the small black button located in both eyes of Zeus’ picture in his
office. Though they were meant to defend him, he knew he might have
to destroy them if they malfunctioned and turned against
him.”

William quickly programmed the clones
to attack the Palers, Nicals and Razians, which the man in white
had already shown him to do. Soon, they would no longer pose a
threat to him.

The lids to the clones’ containers
slid open, and the clones wasted no time in waking up. One by one,
they grabbed a weapon of their choice. The first one in their
single file line punched in a password in the number pad on the
wall. The wall split in half and revealed a tunnel, which they
entered.

William followed them, wondering where
they were going. They led him to the basement, which was under the
lobby of the arc. He growled when he realized the large cube that
had held his prisoners was empty. How did they escape? Where did
they go?

“
Search and destroy
everyone you find except for anyone from planet Earth,” William
ordered the clones.

They nodded and split up.

He watched them as they climbed the
steps to the lobby. He grunted as he stormed back through the
tunnel then took the elevator back to Zeus’ office. He needed to
find out where everyone was, and in order to do that, he needed to
go to the future machine.

***

Athen ran with the two Palers and five
Nicals through the lobby of the arc. Leader Paff and nine of his
expert military fighters waited for them at the entrance on the
male side of the arc, guns in hand in case someone attacked
them.

“
Is everyone alright?” Paff
asked.

“
Yes. We’re fine,” Jaz
said. “We haven’t seen or heard anything since we were trapped.
Athen found a crack in our prison wall, and we chipped at it until
we had an opening big enough to slip through.”

“
Great thinking, Athen,”
Paff replied.

“
He’s been very helpful to
us,” Optima added.

Athen blushed at her
compliment.

“
Do you know where Queen
Ann or Hathor are?” Jaz asked Paff.

Paff shook his head. “We just arrived
here. Our spaceship is outside.”

Athen was pleased at their concern
over the queen and king. He had heard the Palers were good allies,
and seeing their loyalty now, he was convinced of it. “I am sure
they will be looking for the Book of Spells. Someone took it from
us when we were captured,” Athen said. “Has anyone seen a man
wearing all white?”

“
No, we haven’t,” Paff
replied.

“
I have to find them. I
can’t return to Raz if the queen and king are missing.”

“
We fully intend to
help.”

Before they could form a plan,
twenty-five of Ares’ clones marched into the room and began their
attack. Startled, they rushed to hide behind some
furniture.

Paff handed Jaz and Falon their guns.
“Does Athen have a weapon?”

“
No, and neither do any of
the Nicals. They are ill prepared for an attack,” Falon
replied.

“
We will have to separate
the clones,” Paff said. He ordered four of his men to follow Jaz
and Falon while the rest would follow him. “We’ll meet at the
spaceship.”

Jaz, Falon, and four Palers quickly
headed to the other couch. They shot at the clones on their way to
the couch, and fortunately, they made it to their
destination.

Athen was glad to get the gun they
handed him.

The Nicals shook their heads as the
Palers tried to give them guns.

“
I’m sorry, but we are not
familiar with weapons,” Ruler Dour replied.

“
I forgot,” Jaz said. “You
and the other Nicals will have to stay in our spaceship until we’re
safe.” She turned to the other Palers. “We will have to form a
circle around the Nicals to protect them.”

The Palers formed a circle around the
Nicals, and Athen joined the Palers.

“
I will provide a
diversion,” Falon offered.

Falon stood up and rushed towards the
clones. Paff and his men followed his lead, giving him the backup
support he needed.

“
Keep shooting at anyone
who notices us,” Jaz said. “Ready? Go!”

Athen and his group got up and rushed
to the spaceship. One of the clones turned to them and shot at
them. Athen fired his gun, but it didn’t seem to make a dent in the
armor. What kind of material were they wearing that was so
indestructible? Choosing another option, he found an unprotected
spot in the clone’s helmet, so he shot it between the
eyes.

The clone fell lifelessly to the
floor.

“
Shoot between their eyes!”
Athen yelled above the heavy firing.

The Palers started doing as he
suggested.

Once they reached the spaceship, the
Nicals rushed inside, out of harm’s way.

“
Good luck, Athen,” Optima
hurriedly wished. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before she
followed her companions into the ship.

He didn’t have time to enjoy her kiss.
Instead, he followed the Palers back into the building so they
could fight their enemies and find Ann and Hathor.

Chapter
Twenty-Two

Hathor pounded the wall angrily when he
found that the room at the top of the arc was empty. He was sure
William would be there. He tightened his grip on the sword and
turned to leave the room. He had to find William before William
killed Ann, and he didn’t have much time.

When he made it down the stairs to the
next level, he saw five clones surrounding Ann, Kent, and Stacey.
The clones’ backs were towards him, so keeping quiet, he rushed to
them. He thrust the sword into one of their backs, but the sword
crumbled like sand when it made contact with the armor. He stared
at the handle of the sword in shock. Razian swords were made to go
through just about everything.

“
They’re not attacking us,”
Ann told him. “They’re just staring at us, and they look like
Ares.”

As soon as the clones turned to him,
they growled. Hathor backed up. They might not be attacking Ann,
Kent, or Stacey, but they look as if they planned to attack
him.

Ann used her magic to transport him to
the lobby, not realizing, of course, the lobby held more of them.
He gasped at the sight of twenty-three clones shooting at the
Palers and Athen.

He hurried to hide behind a
desk.

Athen came up to him and handed him a
gun. “Where’s Queen Ann?”

“
Upstairs. These Ares
look-a-likes weren’t attacking her or Stacey or Kent.” When he saw
his friend’s confusion, he said, “It’s a long story. Ann sent me
down here with her magic. Ares’ clones were going to shoot
me.”

“
Their armor is impossible
to destroy. You have to shoot them between the eyes. It seems to be
their only weak spot.”

“
William is around here
somewhere. I have to find him!”

“
I haven’t seen anyone but
the Palers and Nicals. He must be upstairs.”

Hathor groaned. “I was afraid of that.
I’m going to have to go back up there.”

“
I’ll go with you,” Athen
said.

They crawled along the floor, careful
not to catch the clones’ attention. They reached the stairs
unharmed and quickly began their ascent.

***

Ann breathed a sigh of relief. She
didn’t want the clones to harm Hathor. Sending him to the lobby was
the first thing she’d thought of. Since the clones weren’t
attacking her or her friends, she didn’t sense any immediate
danger.

“
Let’s try to go
downstairs,” she whispered.

Stacey and Kent joined her as she took
a step forward. The clones didn’t stop them. Well, that was a
hopeful sign. The three continued walking, and the clones just
remained standing there, watching them with mild
interest.

“
Let’s go,” Ann told them
then turned and ran down the stairs, aware they were following her.
Unfortunately, she bumped into William as he was leaving Zeus’
office.

“
Where is Captain Reed?” he
demanded, narrowing his eyes at them.

Ignoring him, Ann urged Stacey and
Kent to go back up the stairs with her.

“
Captain Reed is dead,” one
of the clones told William.

Ann’s eyes widened in surprise. She
didn’t know they could talk.

William frowned as he looked at Ann.
“So I take it you didn’t have the abortion after all.”

Kent pushed past the clone, who easily
moved aside to accommodate his wishes. Without another word, Ann
and Stacey followed Kent.

William chased them up the
steps.

They made it to the hallway and broke
into a run.

“
Get Ann, the Queen of Raz!
Bring her to me!” William ordered the clones, who were patiently
waiting for his instructions.

The clones moved into action and
pursued her. One of them caught up to her and wrapped his arms
around her. Kent came up behind him and pushed him away from her.
Stacey ran to help him, but two clones held her back. The clone
turned around and punched Kent in the stomach. Kent knelt down,
clutching the wounded area.

The man in white suddenly appeared
from a doorway and used his cane to whack the clone on the head.
Unconscious, the clone fell to the floor.

William hurried towards
Ann.

“
I’ll hold him off,” the
man in white told her. “Go to the room at the top of this building.
I’ll catch up with you there and take you to Hathor.”