The Guardian (Coranite Chronicles) (23 page)

“Wait,” shouted Azura, “I still have more questions—” The vortex sucked them up in an instant, leaving no trace of them.

“Now, as for you, Elize,” said the Caretaker, “where would you like to go?”

“Can you send me to Slade and Darek?”

“That…I will not do.”

“Why not?”

The Caretaker told her, “They have arrived…in a very dangerous place. Your friends are now lost within the spirit realm.”

“The spirit realm?” Elize gasped. “How did they get there?”

“Some may call it a freak accident, and others, a twist of fate. That is for you to decide. It is what it is.”

“Then can you send me to the other Judges?”

“I’m afraid…I can’t do that either.”

Elize crossed her arms. “What’s the problem this time?”

The Caretaker lowered his gaze. “There are no other Judges left…”

Elize furrowed her brow. “I don’t understand.”

“The other six Judges…are dead.”

“You’re lying,” Elize snapped, her lips curled. “There’s no way! It’s only been a few days since we lost contact!”

The Caretaker sighed. “It is understandable you would feel confused. But please trust me at my word. I have no reason to lie to you.”

“I can’t believe this.” Elize brushed her hair back, looking distressed. “I don’t believe this.” She shook her head. “You’re lying. You have to be.”

He said, “If you need proof, I can show you visions of their death.”

“No…” Elize swallowed. “That’s—I don’t want that. I don’t think I’d—I…” In a state of shock, Elize fell silent and just stared at the Caretaker and Sorren. Her lips trembled as though she was trying to speak but couldn’t quite find the words to say.

“If you have no requests, I shall send you to a place of rest.”

The Caretaker waved his hand. Another powerful vortex appeared, and in seconds, Elize was gone.

“The Judges are really dead?” asked Sorren.

The Caretaker nodded.

“Who did it? Who killed them?”

The Caretaker turned to him. “Why do you ask? You already know. You do not need confirmation.”

Sorren bit his lip. “I just…never thought he’d actually do it. I didn’t think he had it in him. He was—”

“He has changed,” said the Caretaker. “Time has changed him. A friend, he may have been once, long ago. But he has lost his heart. Now, Sorren, where would you like to go?”

“Send me where I am needed.”

The Caretaker beamed. “Then I will send you. You will understand your mission when you arrive. Great destruction lies ahead and you must do what you can to prevent it. Be wary of whom you speak to and whom you trust. There are many liars and some do not even know they are liars…” The Caretaker broke off and stared at Sorren in silence.

“What?”

“You have seen Darek. What do you think of him?”

Sorren said, “I have tested him. When I tried to kill him, I saw fear in him. But he was still growing. When I met him again, he did not want to take revenge. He has passed my test. I know he is firm in his beliefs. He will not use his powers for evil.”

“Yes,” said the Caretaker, looking pleased. “I too believe that he will not misuse the power. But a time will still come when everyone will hate him. Everyone will seek his life, not only among the humans…but the Coranites as well. That is why you must help him.”

“I will.”

“That is what I like to hear.” The Caretaker raised his hand again to form another vortex near Sorren. “Go and continue your mission. The dark ones will move soon and the galaxy will be plunged into chaos. Even the Anarchists will be bolder when they see the Federation weaken. There will be much bloodshed. But in the end…justice will prevail.”

“Yes, justice will prevail.” Sorren grinned. “As it always does.”

Rose stood silently by the window of the nurse’s building. A phone on her desk began beeping.

Rose picked up the phone and switched on the screen. When she saw who it was on the screen, she growled, “Sorren, where have you been? You haven’t returned my calls!”

Sorren replied, “What’s the point? You always just ask for money.”

“It’s tough working here,” said Rose. “I barely make enough for...” She paused. “By the way, I got to see Darek, the boy you were talking about. He stopped by my place. Is he really that big of a deal? Doesn’t look special to me.”

“You still see with your eyes,” said Sorren stoically.

“So why’d you call?”

“I’ve got a job for you,” said Sorren. “I need a ship. Come pick me up. I’m uploading the coordinates now.”

Rose asked, “How much?”

Sorren grimaced. He had been through this several times before and knew what to expect. But he played dumb anyway. “How much what?”

“How much are you paying me for the job?”

“Thirty thousand,” he replied curtly.

Rose pursed her lips. “Make that three hundred thousand or forget it.”

Sorren scowled. “Three hundred thousand? Just for a single ride? How could you possibly need that much on top of what you already earn? I’ve seen how much they pay you—”

Rose shrugged. “Do we have a deal or not?”

“That’s extortion,” Sorren said. “You know I don’t earn much. Why do you always do this to me?”

“That’s because I love you,” she said.

Sorren said dryly, “Whatever, I’ll pay. Just come quickly—or I’ll be dead and you won’t get your credits.”

Rose feigned a pained expression. “You really think this is about the money?”

“Say hello to your dad for me. Bring him along if he’s around. How is he anyway?”

“Terrible, thanks to you. He doesn’t blame you though.”

Sorren sounded concerned. “Why? What happened?”

“Lost the
Avenger
and the whole crew in his last job. Barely escaped and ended up in the hospital for a month. He’s devastated. Every night he goes to the bar and gets drunk while crying like a baby.”

Sorren said, “I doubt that. Jim would never fall that low.”

“It’s true! He even said you were dead. He was planning to go back to the planet where he left you but found the planet was gone. After that, he’s had some serious issues.”

“Like?”

Rose grinned. “You’ll just have to see for yourself.”

CHAPTER 18

New Horizons

Darek sighed. Their situation looked bleak. There were stuck inside the spirit realm without any ideas on how to get out. Their only hope would be to find a Guardian who could direct them to the gateway.

As they ran their eyes across the desolate landscape, they noticed something peculiar. On one side, there was a great light. On the other side was utter darkness. And they were smack-dab in the middle. It seemed only logical for them to head for the light.

And so they traveled for miles, searching for the source of the light.

Everything about the land was foreign to them. Lacuna was a beautiful place, full of many wonderful sights that wouldn’t be out of place on an inhabitable world. But the spirit realm was dreary, dismal and treacherous. Plant life was sparse. The ground was slightly covered by small patches of white grass. There were some trees too, but they looked withered and dry. A dark gray fog constantly surrounded them. Darek wondered if the air was okay to breathe.

After a couple of hours, they stopped by a pond—or at least they thought it was a pond of some sort. But it was filled with a green bubbling liquid. They stared at it.

Darek said, “I said I was thirsty, but that looks downright nasty.”

“Can’t you just transform it?” Slade asked. “You have that kind of power.”

Darek shrugged. “I can try. I just hope it doesn’t burn my fingers off.”

Darek looked at his hands and used his spirit energy to form the black gloves. Then he dipped his finger in the green liquid. A shining glow flowed from his finger and entered the liquid. As the glow spread across the surface in ripples, the liquid became clearer.

“There. Looks…better,” said Darek, as he stared doubtfully at the murky water.

“Still looks nasty,” said Slade. “What’s that floating stuff?”

“I don’t know, but it should be okay to drink…I think.”

Slade and Darek both knelt down and scooped up water in their hands. They both grimaced as they examined the water. There were definitely some small particles inside. And the water even felt a bit slimy.

“Here goes nothing.” Darek closed his eyes as he took a sip. He opened his eyes excitedly when he discovered it tasted all right. “Not bad.”

Slade slurped a little as well. “Not bad at all. A little chewy though.”

“It’s a nice touch,” said Darek. “Reminds me of the drinks I used to have at the Guridoh Tavern. They used to put some yummy chewy stuff in there all the time.”

“This is chewy water.”

Darek nodded. “Not yummy.”

Slade grinned. “Just chewy.”

After they drank their fill of the chewy water, they decided to sit there and rest.

“You know,” said Darek, “I wonder if that’s even water.”

“What do you mean?” Slade asked.

“I mean, it’s green. Maybe it’s not water. Maybe it’s a really big puddle of monster—”

“Darek,” said Slade.

“What?”

“We just drank that stuff. I don’t want to think about it.”

Darek looked around. He found it interesting that there were craters on the ground. Some of the craters were small, but some were so incredibly huge that Darek couldn’t even see the entirety of it from where he sat. What could have caused craters in a place like this? Outer space didn’t exist, so there couldn’t possibly be meteorites or comets.

Slade said, “Is it just me, or are we not making much progress at all?”

“It’s not just you,” said Darek.

“It must be really far, much farther than it looks.” Slade turned to Darek. “This could take a while—if you know what I mean.”

Darek looked up at the sky. “I was worried you’d say that.”

“We should prepare for the worst,” said Slade.

“Do you really think we can survive here?” Darek sounded skeptical. “This might be a source of water. But what about food?”

Slade grabbed some white grass and ripped it out of the ground. “We’ll just have to experiment on whatever we can.”

Darek dubiously glanced across the field. “White grass and dead trees?”

Slade showed the grass to him. “Can you make this stuff edible?”

Darek narrowed his eyes. “What am I—a food synthesizer?”

“Can you or not? We need to eat somehow.”

Darek studied the grass, sighing. “I’ll try.”

Slade smiled. “Make something really good.”

“Huh?”

“Might as well shoot for something tasty.”

Darek scratched his chin. “Uh…okay. How about bread?”

“Bread?” Slade looked disappointed. “Fine. Start with bread.”

“Start with?” Darek placed his finger on the grass. It glowed and then changed color. Its shape, however, remained.

Slade picked up a yellow, crusty blade of grass and bit into it.

“Wow. How should I put this…?” Slade munched on the grass really loudly. “I’m not sure I can call this…food. What’s this flavor? It just tastes like…salt and sugar.”

“Hey,” said Darek. “I’m not a five-star restaurant. My powers are for fighting, not for making food. Be grateful it tastes like anything.”

Slade grunted and reluctantly stuffed some grass in his mouth. “Let’s sleep here.”

“Sleep already?”

“We need to stay in optimal condition.”

Darek looked around. “Do you think it’s safe to sleep here?”

Slade shook his head. “We haven’t encountered anything dangerous just yet. But we can’t let our guard down. Who knows what terrifying things live in the spirit realm? We’ll take turns sleeping. You can rest first.”

“No, I can be the lookout—”

Slade said firmly, “Go to sleep. You need your rest.”

Darek lay down on a patch of grass. He didn’t feel like sleeping just yet. But he never liked to argue with Slade.

“Slade.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad you’re here.”

He raised a brow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well…” Darek paused. “A while ago, when I was stranded on that planet of immortals, I didn’t know what to do. I was alone. Of course, I did find some help later on, but…up until that moment, I really thought that was it: I was just going to die there and no one would know. It was the scariest moment of my life. But this time it’s different. Even if we’re stuck here—”

Slade said darkly, “Forever?”

Darek grinned. “Yeah, exactly. Even if we’re stuck here forever—eating this crap every day, wandering the land—I’d be fine with that.”