THE VROL TRILOGY (21 page)

Krynos gave Draagh an interested gaze
and asked, "So, tell me about this world from which they come. I
assume, as they are lycan, that they are also quite human. Both are
handsome, and the female would birth many strong and beautiful
pups. The boy, I am sure, would make a fine sire, but his size is
not that of our smallest warriors, which could be a concern. As you
say he shall play a part in defending his world, how shall he
accomplish this, being of such small stature?"

Draagh smiled, his blue eyes twinkling
in the candlelight. "Their world is called Azul, a planet quite
distant from here. His ancestors made a long and arduous journey of
over 300 years to arrive there, but once they set foot on the
planet's surface they went about creating quite a beautiful and
peaceful society."

"Bah!" said Krynos. "Peaceful? That
sounds weak to me!"

"Oh my, no, my good friend, not weak.
Not weak at all. You see, their planet has a more powerful
gravitational field than this world, so their strength is naturally
more than that of someone their size here," added the wizard,
trying to redirect their conversation.

"Gravity? What is this gravity of which
you speak?" the lycan king demanded.

Draagh continued, "Gravity is a force
of nature. It is what keeps your boots on the ground, and keeps
you, and everything else, from flying off into space. Remember how
I showed you that this world is a giant globe that spins around and
circles the sun?"

Krynos looked thoughtful for a moment,
and then responded, "Yes, my friend, I do remember that much. So
what you are saying is that the magic that keeps us on the soft
earth is stronger where they come from, resulting in them having
greater strength than would appear?

Draagh's eyes lit up a bit and he
nodded his head, not wishing to confuse his friend any further. It
was obvious that the concept of gravity was rudimentarily
understood. He then arose from his chair and walked around the
room, thinking for a moment before addressing Krynos' rejection of
peace.

"My Lord, as you are well
aware, the Earth of the past depended on technology, of which, for
the most part, is unavailable here, except for certain special
locations which have been effectively guarded from the overreaching
effects of this world's magic, your sub-chambers being one of those
locations. Their world is soon to be besieged by an alien race -
the same vile creatures that decimated this planet so many
centuries ago. These two youths are to play a big role in their
planet's defense, which will call for not only the skills and
strength of lycans, but also magic
and
their planet's existing
technology. There are others on that world, those of the vampire
recessive genes, but they are mostly cowards and petty thieves and
thus cannot be trusted in the defense of an entire
planet."

Draagh then looked into Kryno's eyes
and asked, "How go the efforts to fortify the northern borders
against Vladros and his cohorts?"

Krynos stood up from behind his desk
and said, "At present they offer no difficulties. Come, old friend.
Let us enter my sub-chambers and look upon the equipment you so
kindly provided many years past."

The two exited Kryno's offices via a
hidden side entrance and navigated down a narrow, winding stair
path, encountering a door made of iron and mahogany. Krynos opened
the door and entered into a small, circular alcove, with Draagh
following him inside. From there, Krynos pressed a rather
modern-looking button on the wall, making sure that his thumbprint
was well-read by the device, causing the alcove to rotate 180
degrees, where another, more modern door opened on its own,
revealing a computer room.

"Ah, I see that everything is
functioning normally, as it should," said Draagh. "It was quite a
fun task, creating a sub-dimensional pocket in which to facilitate
this equipment. So, that being said, may I survey the vampire
population database?"

Krynos bowed slightly, opening his left
arm as an invitation for Draagh to approach the computer consoles.
"I do love these archaic devices," stated Draagh. "I still have a
fondness for what was known as the Internet, even though its free
and unfettered use instigated the downfall of liberty in Earth's
past."

Krynos had heard this before, in great
detail, when Draagh had set up this room and instructed him on the
usage of the various computing devices, but he still enjoyed
hearing things of worlds, especially ancient Earth.

"Yes, old friend, please recount what
happened there," Krynos inquired.

"Ahem, yes, indeed," Draagh cleared his
throat, as he then started, "Mankind had advanced technologically
and had created a wonderful network of communications. The entire
planet was abuzz with instantaneous information on anything and
everything that happened, on a minute-by-minute basis even. People
on opposite sides of the world could watch each other as they spoke
of their daily activities. Wondrous musical compositions played
on-demand, and there was an incredible amount of cute puppy vids
available."

"Ah, but were there also cats in these
vids of which you speak?" interjected Krynos.

"Why yes, there were - in substantial
numbers, and quite adorable," responded the mage.

"I do not much care for cats, but we
allow them in the castle to cull the rodents," added the lycan
king, while bearing a look of distaste.

Already knowing that
particular fact, Draagh continued. "Going on, unfortunately for the
people, those in power, the ones called politicians, did not take
so kindly to having their lives, crimes and corruptions posted onto
personal and informational news sites. So, while working in
cooperation with each other, they used that same media to
manipulate the perceptions of the populace, attaining more and more
control over the people. This was also done by providing them with
things, such as food, shelter, personal communications devices,
transportation and other assorted conveniences - things they, for
the most part, should have acquired on their own."



"But I provide these things for my
people! Food! Shelter! Clothing, and strong quadrinium for which to
slay our enemies! How could that have been a bad thing?" exclaimed
Krynos.

Draagh continued, slightly amused he
was telling this same story to Krynos for the seventh time, but
still enjoying it. "My liege, the main difference between your
lycans and those of Earth past is that each of your people perform
a function - some sort of duty. All are paid in gold, and gladly
contribute to the common good. Further, is it not possible that a
great warrior can obtain his own kingdom?"

A broad smile grew on Krynos' handsome
face, and he said, "Why yes! Just three lunar cycles ago, one of my
finest warriors conquered lands from the lovers of death on the
northwestern borders. I even sent troops to assist in the
rebuilding of a castle on his behalf."

Draagh grinned and continued, "Well,
that is the difference between how you operate, and how these
so-called politicians functioned. You see, as they made the people
more and more dependent upon their free necessities and luxuries,
the politicians gained massive control over their daily lives, and
were able to easily convince the population that if they did not
allow them, the politicians, to make certain changes, such as the
regulation of public speech, that their free standard of living
would come to a halt. Of course, no longer knowing how to stand on
their own, the people willingly sacrificed their liberties to keep
things the same. News outlets parroted the words of the leadership;
people were required to get licenses in order to be able to spread
out information, with those licenses being revoked if one said
anything that was not approved by a censorship board within the
governments of Earth. The result being the politicians living
luxurious and splendid lives, while the people suffered and
starved, toiling to keep their leaders fat and happy."

"Did these politicians not demand
passage on the great ships that brought man to the new planet?"
asked Krynos, full-well knowing the answer.

"Yes they did!" continued the mage.
"Oh, the brash arrogance of it all. They were keen on continuing
their amoral lifestyles on the new world, all at the expense of the
people, but they were tossed out into the cold depths of space, in
a most celebratory fashion, I might add."

Krynos shot his arms into the air, and
in a booming voice said, "Ha! - And well done too! These
politicians remind me of the vampires! Crooked and evil to their
very cores they are!"

Draagh then added something he had
never told Krynos during their past discussions. "Interesting, as
many politicians carried the recessive vampire gene. Were you
aware? Anyway, let us now analyze your database, old friend. It
appears you have been doing a splendid job with its
upkeep."

Then, the two leaders, one a
nearly-immortal lycan and one nearly god-like, sat in chairs and
started going over data, noting substantial numbers of population
increases for both vampires and cannibals, while seeing
corresponding decreases in the numbers of normals.

###

By the afternoon, both Max and Jennie
had successfully navigated and conquered every physical test laid
before them, leaving the other trainees in the proverbial dust. In
fact, Max even beat the young lycan woman by a full half hour,
which made her desire to best him in the next training rotation,
which was to be weaponry. Although not scheduled until the
following day, and as the two had completed their initial training
so quickly, the lycan warriors in charge of their training received
great pleasure out of advancing the two youngsters. This was basic
training, and had nothing to do with the utilization of their lycan
skills, of which neither had much knowledge.

After learning proper
handling of the battle-axe, the mace, spears and clubs, they were
then brought to a room where they would pick out the sword of their
liking, of which there were many - all designs from ancient Earth's
past. Jennie picked out the medieval broadsword, but forged with
quadrinium, making it much lighter and easier to handle than those
made with ancient metals. Max went a different route, and picked a
Japanese katana, the blade preferred by the noble Samurai warrior
class of an island on ancient Earth. He always had a liking for the
near-extinct Japanese culture (but as Japanese corporations had
refused to partake in the planning and financing for the Exodus,
the number of Japanese emigrants was limited to their mathematical
percentage in consortium countries), and, while on Azul, he would
frequently eat cuisine called
sushi
.

Rushing around from one station to
another, they were instructed on the proper way to swing the blade,
where its sweet spot would be, and how to deal the most damage to
an enemy. As both swords were quite different, Jennie had an
instructor who specialized in her blade-type, while Max had an
instructor named Ohiro, who appeared to be of Japanese origin. He
was one of the smaller warriors, slightly larger than Max, but
maintained excellent proficiency in the use of the weapon as well
as other battle arts. Jennie felt that her double-edged broadsword
would enable her to defeat Max in a preliminary competition of
skills, to be held in three days. She looked over at Max's skinny,
single edged blade and giggled under her breath - but Jennie never
studied history as Max had, and he was well aware that the katana
was a superior weapon, especially when one combined its use with
feats of athleticism.

They trained for three more days with
their swords, mastering their skills with great proficiency, while
Draagh stayed out of sight, preferring to spend his time with
Krynos, as the two went over the database information so carefully
kept up to date by the lycan leader. No one besides Krynos and
Draagh even knew of the existence of the small room in the pocket
dimension, as access to that form of technology was something that
barely existed in the world of Future-Past.

On the third day of training there was
to be a competition between Max and Jennie, to determine if they
indeed were ready to continue on and learn to access and control
genetic skills particular to lycans. The training area was
restocked with various obstacles and targets, which they were to
navigate and destroy, ending with them fighting each other in a
mock battle to the death.

The session began with Jennie, who
easily conquered her course, decimating her targets through the
skillful use of brute strength. Max did the same, but was much more
elegant in defeating his targets, which were in the shapes of
vampires, horses and cannibals. Upon completing his course, Max was
not allowed any time to rest, and was immediately set against
Jennie in their mock battle. They both wore full, protective
quadrinium body armor, just like they would in a real battle, not
just for realism, but also to protect against an errant swing of
the blade by either party.

A bell rung out which denoted the start
of the battle, with the entire clan in attendance. Krynos and
Draagh sat up on a balcony overlooking the training area, with
Krynos paying great attention to competition between these bright,
young pupils. Jennie burst into a full frontal attack against Max,
which caused Krynos to break out into applause.