The Guardian (Coranite Chronicles) (24 page)

Slade chuckled. “At least you’re not feeling down about the whole thing.”

“By the way—”

“Just go to sleep,” said Slade. “Save it for later. We might be stuck here a long time. You can tell me when we wake up.”

Darek said reluctantly, “Okay…”

The sound of the rushing wind whistled in Darek’s ears. He ran as fast as he could down the mountain. The sun had already set over Whardhime’s sky. It was dark. He wanted to go home, back to the orphanage. But there was something he needed to do. There was someone he had to look for.

Darek crossed the wooden bridge, his footsteps echoing. He stood still.
What am I doing here?
There was a faint voice coming from the forest.
Oh, yeah. This again.
He ran toward the voice, pushing the tree branches out of his way.

The voice sounded near. Darek slowly walked into the bushes and found a boy huddled by a rock. The boy was crying. It was a young Rex.

“Rex…”

Rex looked up at Darek, wiping away his tears.

Darek began, “Miss Kurt was looking for you…”

“I already know…everything,” said Rex.

“What?”

“I said I know everything!” Rex spat.

“I…don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You guys were always hiding it from me,” said Rex, staring at the ground. “But I know you’re leaving tonight. You’re Judges. You’re going to be taken away. And I’m…”

Darek became very serious. “When did you find out?”

“A long time ago,” said Rex. “Ever since Miss Kurt took me in.”

Darek sighed. “Look, Rex. I didn’t want to hide it—”

“It’s okay. I understand. After all, I’m just an outsider.”

“No, you’ve always been one of us…”

Rex shook his head. “I’ll never be one of you. You guys are strong. I’m weak. Even on our last day together…I couldn’t show Slade I was capable of anything. And now you guys are just going to go…and I’m going to be alone. Without you guys, I’m helpless.”

“No, you’re not!” Darek shouted. “Stop thinking that way!”

Taken aback, Rex stared at him.

Crossing his arms, Darek continued, “You’ve been like that ever since the day you came. Always thinking that you need our help. Always thinking that you need to prove something but can’t. Well, I see things differently. I think you’re a genius. I think you’re amazing. I think you can do anything you put your mind to.”

Rex said slowly, “But…I can’t—”

“Listen to me,” said Darek. “We are going to leave. I can’t do anything about that. That’s just the way it is. We’re going to be Judges. We’re going to fight the greatest evil in the galaxy. And when we finally defeat all the evil, when we finally make this galaxy safe…the Judges will be no more. Our mission will be accomplished. And we’ll come back home.”

Rex’s face brightened. “Really? Everyone will come back?” Then he suddenly looked very depressed. “But…can you really do that?”

“There you go again,” said Darek. “If you don’t believe it, how can you even give it all you’ve got? I’m going to do it! No matter what it takes! I’ll clean up this galaxy. People won’t have to live in fear. Nobody will ever get hurt by others again. We’ll make everything perfect. We’ll be back—so I want you to do your part.”

“My part?”

“We’ll be gone. But you’ll still be here with Miss Kurt. This is a dangerous place. Protect her for me. One day, we’ll be back. And things will be the same again.” Darek reached out his hand to Rex. “Can I count on you to do your part?”

Rex nodded, took his hand and hopped to his feet. “Sure. I’ll protect her until that day. I’ll become strong, strong enough to even protect you and Slade and Elize!”

Darek laughed. “Why would we need protection?”

Rex shrugged. “Well, the bad guys are people too, right? They still have family and friends. Maybe someone’s going to come after you for revenge. They might not be evil, so you won’t fight them. But I’ll help with that.”

“Oh…” Darek hadn’t thought of that. “Yeah, that could happen.” Darek gestured with his thumb to the village. “Come on, let’s go back to town.” Darek paused. “And…let’s keep this a secret between us. Okay?”

“Keep what a secret?”

“That you know everything,” Darek answered. “You’re not supposed to know. If someone finds out, I don’t know what will happen. They might just take you away.”

Rex looked unsure. “Okay…I won’t tell anyone. I’ll keep it a secret. But where would they take me?”

Darek grinned. “Maybe some top-secret, high-security prison. A prison nobody knows about and nobody can escape from. Once you’re in there…nobody will ever know you exist, ever again.”

Rex gaped at him. “Is that real?”

Darek laughed. “Of course not!”

Then…the night came and went, and days passed like seconds. Next thing he knew, Darek was sitting in front of a grave. He heard the door slam. Rex walked out and stood beside him.

“Darek, it’s been days. You can’t just stay here.”

Darek did not say a word.

“Sitting here isn’t going to change anything.”

“Leave me alone,” said Darek.

“Let’s go,” said Rex. “I know how you feel but—”

“Shut up,” Darek growled. “You don’t know anything.”

Rex snapped, “What? Miss Kurt may have been your real mother. But she was a mother to all of us! From the day I was born…I’ve never known my real family. But I’ve never cared about that…”

Darek said, “I told you to shut up and leave me alone!”

Rex shook his head. “I can’t believe this. After all you’ve said…. You told me to be brave—to be strong! And now that you’re going through the same thing as me, you just sit around and mope? Slade and Elize were my friends too! Miss Kurt was a mother to me too! But I’m not just going to sit around and do nothing!”

“Then go,” said Darek. “What are you waiting for?”

“You’re…not coming?”

“Just leave me…”

“I can’t do that.”

“Leave! I don’t want to see your face ever again.”

“What…?”

“You heard me!” Darek snarled. “I hate you! This is all your fault! If you hadn’t gone out that night—”

Rex said, “You told me to protect her. I saw some suspicious people and I thought—”

“WELL YOU THOUGHT WRONG!” Darek said coldly. “You’re not my friend. You’re not my brother. Get out of here.”

Rex bit his lip. “Fine. I’m going…alone. I’m going to join the military. I’ll do my part. But not for your sake! I’ll do it for Elize and Slade…so they can come home soon.” Then he shouted, “And you can just stay here and die for all I care!”

“That’s right,” said Darek. “Let me die. Just like you let my mother and father die.”

His face twisted, Rex bit his lip so hard it bled. Then he left without saying goodbye.

More days passed. A storm arrived. The sky grew dark and thundered loudly. The torrential rain fell. The winds howled. Leaves and branches flew across.

Yet Darek remained in front of his mother’s grave. The pain in his heart would not cease. He had not slept. He had not eaten for days. His stomach was empty and crying out for food. He opened up his mouth and let the rain quench his thirst. He hoped it would comfort his stomach a little.

“I’m such an idiot…” he whispered. “Rex, I’m sorry. You left me.... I don’t blame you. Sorry. It looks like I’m really going to die…”

Darek tried to stand. His feet slipped on the wet grass. Darek fell onto his mother’s grave. Mud splattered all over his face.

“Look at me. What am I doing? I’m such a stupid idiot. The stupidest idiot ever.” Darek felt too weak to continue on. “This is it. Time to die.” His eyes slowly closed.

And then…he heard voices.

“That stupid brat. Can’t you do something?”

“Like what?”

“Make him forget everything…”

“Are you okay with that?”

“It’s for the best. He doesn't need to remember this.”

“Then we’d better take him somewhere else too.”

“Why?”

“You know the saying: Out of sight, out of mind. His memory might come back if he stays here.”

“Okay, let’s take him somewhere faraway. Give him a new life. And hope he never comes back…”

Then he heard Slade shout, “Darek, are you okay? Hey! Wake up!”

Darek blinked. “Huh?” Rubbing his eyes, he looked up at Slade. The dream was over and he was now in the spirit realm again.

“You were shaking in your sleep,” Slade told him.

Darek yawned. “I’m okay. Just had a dream about the past.”

“Really?” Slade sounded curious. “What kind of dream?”

“I guess you could say it was a bad dream,” said Darek. “I didn’t tell you this, but things weren’t exactly swell when you guys left to become Judges. I was really depressed. I lost my powers, my dreams, and my family. I said some really stupid things to Rex—things I regret. At that time, he was trying to help me out and cheer me up. And I…can’t believe what an idiot I was. I blamed him for everything. We went our separate ways…but it wasn’t pleasant.” Darek paused. “When I first saw him again after a few years, I thought it was all in the past. But now…” His voice trailed off.

“You think he’s holding a grudge?” asked Slade.

“Yeah.” Darek nodded. “He helped the Federation arrest me. And now, he’s helping that woman kill me.”

“I still don’t believe it,” Slade said. “Rex wouldn’t do such a thing.”

Darek said grimly, “That’s what I thought too, before he lied to me and arrested me.”

CHAPTER 19

Berserk

Kite glared at the police officer. The police officer was laughing so hard he almost fell off his chair. Kite sat in a wooden chair facing a steel table that was positioned between himself and the policeman. Behind the policeman, Kite saw the door to the room and a brown, old-fashioned phone beside it. He was trapped inside this drab-looking place with no hope of escape.

Kite’s view wandered back to the bald policeman who was dressed in a dark-blue uniform. If only Kite’s hands weren’t cuffed together, he’d wipe the smug look off that man’s face. The officer laughed for another minute before becoming inexplicably furious. His face burned red with anger.

The officer sputtered moistly, saliva flying everywhere, “You think this is some kind of joke, you good-for-nothing slime ball of a poacher? You may be a great comedian, but it doesn’t change anything. You still broke the law!” He slammed his fist against the table. “Stop jibber-jabbering and give me the truth! Tell me, who do you work for?”

“You’re the one that’s jibber-jabbering,” Kite shot back deliberately with a mouthful of saliva. “It’s not a joke. I’m really from outer space. You saw our escape pod! How can you possibly explain that?”

“Anyone with eyes could tell that ‘escape pod’ was a just crummy old boat.” The policeman leaned forward and poked Kite in the chest with his finger. “You’re a poacher! Now admit it!”

“I’m not admitting anything,” Kite snarled. “Listen to me, there’s an intergalactic war about to happen. If you don’t let me go—”

“Right, right,” the officer jeered. “Weird spirits from outer space that look like giant animals are going to be taking on fleets of starships and only you’ve got the solution that can save the galaxy. Like heck I’ll believe that!”

Kite growled, “Fine, you don’t have to believe me. That’s why I didn’t want to say it in the first place. But come on, we’ve been at this for hours! How much longer are you going to detain me for something I didn’t do?”

The bald officer chuckled. “Until you die of old age, if I have to.”

The phone rang. The officer looked like he was about to ignore it, but was fed up after hearing it ring ten times. Aggravated, the officer got up and walked to the phone.

He answered the call. “What is it?” His face darkened as he listened on. “Are you sure? Captain, nothing could be that—No, you’re right, I apologize. I understand. I’ll be there right away.”

The man stared coldly at Kite, pointing at him. “You wait right here. We’re not finished yet. I’ll be back to deal with you later.” After he said this, the policeman quickly opened the door and left, slamming it shut behind him.

Kite slouched and sighed. “What luck. Stuck here forever.”

“Don’t be so sure,” said a whisper.

Kite straightened up. “Who’s there?”

Sorren stepped out of the shadows of the room, seemingly appearing from thin air.

“Come with me, Federation soldier.”

Startled, Kite asked, “What the—Where’d you come from?”

“You don’t need to know.” Sorren drew his sword from the sheath on his back and severed the handcuffs with several swift slashes.

The handcuffs fell off Kite’s wrists. “Wow,” said Kite, massaging his wrists. “You’re really good with that sword. Ever consider joining the circus? You’d make a great attraction.”