The Light, the Dark and the Ugly (3 page)

Razellia narrowed her eyes and drew the gun on the girl.

The girl put up her hands and backed away. "Hey. I don't know what you saw in his face. Trust me, he looks better when he has a chance to wash his hair."

Razellia's cheek twitched. "Who are you?" She approached the General with her gun still focused on the girl.

This time, the girl didn't budge. "Leave him alone!" Her glare was almost overpowering.

Razellia tried to ignore it. "Why are you with the General?"

The confused look on the girl's face surprised Razellia. "Ted isn't a General. He's – a human. Like me."

Razellia turned away for a moment and then looked back at the girl. She'd been telling the truth, or at least what the girl thought was the truth. Razellia had always had a keen sense when it came to falsehoods.

A few moments of silence went by before the girl broke them. "I'm Natalie. We came through a portal in the sky." She contorted her face into a strained grin. "I'm guessing from your weapon that this isn't Vegas?"

Razellia huffed and pointed the weapon back at Natalie. "Two humans fall from a portal in the sky." Razellia's breath grew quicker. "And he looks exactly like the all-powerful General for our Army." She aimed the weapon right between Natalie's eyes. "I need an explanation!"

Natalie shrugged. "Genetic coincidence?"

Razellia switched the weapon to a higher setting, causing the low hum of energy to get louder. "Nothing is coincidence."

Natalie crouched down and put her hands behind her head. She moved forward on her knees until she was right beside the General's doppleganger.

"You do what you want. Shoot us. Take us prisoner." Natalie grumbled. "But we're just kids, and we're not going to survive here on our own." She focused her stare right into Razellia's eyes. "So either kill us, leave us, or help us."

Razellia only let a second or two go by before she powered down her weapon.

Razellia was glad she'd brought enough rations for three, because Natalie seemed to be beyond starving. As the girl chomped on dried meat and fruit, Razellia caught herself staring at the boy. Unless Natalie was an adept liar, he wasn't really the General after all. But there had to be some kind of reason for his appearance.

"We were at a political rally when there was a big attack." Natalie swallowed with the help of the water Razellia had brought. "Draconfolk and Lychos were killing humans." Razellia had rarely seen these creatures herself, so to learn that they'd been on Earth was a massive surprise. Perhaps the worlds were bleeding together, but there was no way to tell what that meant for the cause. Could the war be drawing to a close?

Razellia put down her rations. "But how did you end up going through a portal?"

Natalie took a little too long to search her memory banks. "Ted was pushed through. I grabbed up some rope and tried to pull him back." She gestured toward her friend. "As you can see, I wasn't exactly successful."

Razellia could tell the girl was leaving something out, but she opted not to press too much. She actually liked Natalie. She was much more headstrong than most of the people in Razellia's village. If Razellia hadn't gone to the desert to find them, there was no way these kids could've survived.

"That portal was too high off the ground to survive the fall." Razellia scratched her head. "How'd you do it?"

Natalie looked at Ted for a split second. When she began speaking, Razellia didn't hear the words. Her heartbeat quickened and she stared into the boy's face. Razellia put on a fake smile and nodded toward Natalie.

There's only one way they could've made it. The boy isn't the General. He's the living soul.

A shiver went through her body.

Our greatest enemy.

Chapter 5

Ted wasn't sure how much time had passed when the light danced across his face and woke him up. The stream of sunshine was warm and it made his face twitch, causing a chain reaction that led him to stir. He touched at the spot where the light made contact. The skin there was tender. It might've been sunburn or the sandy wind that had pounded against him in the desert sky. Then again, it could've been Natalie's stone cold glare, which was the first thing Ted saw when his eyes opened.

Natalie was in full disapproval mode: her arms were crossed, her foot made as much of a sound tapping against the sand as it could, and her eyes were laser-focused. "Oh, now that the danger's gone, I guess it's time to wake up."

Ted reached for the wound on his side. Instead of skin or scabs, he felt a fresh bandage. The area was moist with a slippery ointment. As he rubbed the substance between two fingers, he tried his best to escape Natalie's stare. Ted was on top of a mat of some kind that kept him from making contact with the sand. Natalie was standing on top of hers, and there was a third to their side. Ted tried to use his powers to scan for a third person in the area, but he couldn't even read Natalie's mind at the moment. He figured that was probably a good thing.

Ted gestured to the wound. "Who did this?"

Natalie mumbled something to herself. "Do you remember anything from last night? Giant hungry worm? Me dragging you halfway across the damn desert?"

Ted's cheeks reddened. "I'm sure you got it all on video, right?"

Natalie kicked a mound of sand in his direction. He put up his arm just in time to protect his eyes.

He smiled. "At least it seems like we're safe."

An unfamiliar voice piped up. "I wouldn't count on that."

Ted internally scolded his ears for not hearing the woman approach. Over a year of training with Erica, and he still had yet to develop the keen hunter-like senses she'd hoped for. Ted turned toward the voice and saw a woman who looked at home in the rough terrain. Her skin was a beautiful bronze tone, though her eyes and face looked like they'd endured a lot of life in what couldn't be more than three and a half decades. The way she stood above him reminded Ted of his own mother.

He took a deep breath and attempted to stand without getting woozy. He was half successful. "Safer than we've been, at least. Hi, I'm Ted."

The woman gave his hand a look and placed her own on the handle of her weapon. "I'm Razellia. And I have a lot of questions for the both of you."

Ted watched her fingers curl around the trigger of the gun. "We're happy to answer. Though it'll be a lot easier without weapons getting involved."

Razellia's hand relaxed slightly, though she kept her wrist near her hip as if she still expected to shoot something. "How did you survive the fall?"

Ted looked to Natalie before answering. Her momentary look said to tread carefully. With Razellia staring deep into his eyes, he wasn't sure if she'd seen Natalie's warning.

Truth be told, aside from the last-second save his powers had given them, he wasn't sure that he was the one keeping them afloat to begin with.

He cleared his throat, something he found himself doing often in the arid environment. "We didn't slam into the ground at full-speed and live to tell about it, if that's what you're asking." Ted looked to see if there was any humor in Razellia's eyes. He sure didn't detect any. "We were falling to our deaths, and then we slowed down right before impact. There's something out here protecting us. I don't think there's another explanation for it."

The trio stood in silence.

Finally, Razellia let out a sigh. "I believed you up until then. I really did." She pulled out her gun and pointed directly at Ted's face. "Now I have to question everything you've told me."

Ted put up his hands and tried to fling the gun away with his powers. When nothing happened, his stomach squeezed. "Put the gun down!"

Natalie seethed. Ted couldn't tell if the ire was directed toward him or Razellia.

"Tell her the truth, Ted!"

Ted supposed that answered that question. He stammered. "I have su– superpowers. Not like X-Ray vision or anything, though I'm always hoping for an upgrade–"

Razellia took a step forward, her weapon still drawn. "You're the living soul. One of the great enemies of my people."

Natalie moved toward Razellia, which got the gun pointed in her direction. Ted's ex didn't seem to care. "Hey! Enough with the weapon. Why'd you save our lives if you wanted to kill us?"

Razellia ignored her. "It's the truth, isn't it? You're him."

Ted wondered how Erica would react to this situation, but he didn't even know if she was alive. Butterflies played pinball in his stomach. "Yes. The luckiest guy on Earth, I guess. But what do you mean we're enemies? Who are your people?"

Razellia breathed heavier as some of the color left her face. It was almost as if she expected her words to incite an attack. "We go by the name given to us by your army's commanders. The dark souls."

Ted's pulse began racing. No wonder he couldn't read her thoughts. Now the gun made sense, too. Every dark soul he'd ever met had tried to kill him.

No wonder Kable sent me here. As long as someone is looking at me, I'll be completely powerless.

Ted took a step back. "We don't mean you any harm. We're lost and we want to get home. That's all."

Razellia was unfazed. "Gather your things. We're going back to my village." Her eyes were laser-focused. "We'll let the tribunal decide what to do with you."

Ted and Natalie did as they were told, though they didn't have much to gather. They walked ahead as Razellia brought up the rear with her weapon drawn. After several minutes of silence, Ted looked at Natalie. She seemed like she was in no mood to negotiate, so Ted took it upon himself.

"You came for us. If we're mortal enemies, why didn't you leave us out there to die?"

Ted turned to walk backwards for a few paces. Razellia seemed to struggle with the answer.

"I didn't know I was saving a murderer."

Ted's eyes grew wide. "Is that what they've told you? I'm a killer? Do I look like I'm dangerous?"

Razellia stopped, so Natalie and Ted did as well. The woman with the gun shook her head. "Looks can be deceiving."

Natalie stared deep into Razellia's eyes. "This so-called killer would be in a worm's stomach if it wasn't for you. Does that seem like someone who should be on a wanted list?"

Razellia looked up to the sky as if she was saying a silent prayer. She withdrew her gun. "No." Razellia gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head. "There are a lot of lies here with truth mixed in. I don't know whether to trust you two or him."

Ted furrowed his brow. "Him?"

Razellia's attention was caught by something in the distance beyond Ted and Natalie. When he turned to see what it was, he couldn't help but be just as drawn. In the near distance, a pillar of smoke rose up into the air. Ted couldn't tell what the source was, but if he squinted his eyes enough, he could almost make out buildings.

"What's that?"

Razellia didn't speak, but Ted could tell she was holding her breath.

Natalie narrowed her eyes. "Razellia?"

She snapped out of it and began to run. "It's my village… Vella!"

As Ted watched her go, he thought he heard a scream in the direction of the smoke. He looked to Natalie for guidance.

She growled. "We should help."

Ted gave her a sidelong glance. "Are you sure?"

Natalie shook her head. "No." With that, she started running toward the source of the smoke. Ted followed suit.

As they got closer to the front gate, Ted spied just how thick the column of smoke actually was. Fire and ash spread through the air. The smell reminded him of the night the Go Home Alien movement bombed his house. Ted pushed down the images of his mother's burns and picked up his pace.

As they passed though the village's main archway, Ted noticed two guards slumped on the ground. They were motionless and lay in puddles of blood that seemed darker than the substance that coursed through his own veins. His efforts to catch up to Razellia and Natalie failed when his stab wound opened up again. He pressed his hand against the bandage and watched the others run out of sight.

The village slanted down from the point where he'd stopped, which gave him the perfect vantage to the carnage that was unfolding. He could see several men in the distance using a flamethrower of some kind to spread fire from house to house. At first, he thought they were riding horses, but a few blinks showed the truth.

"Lychos." His eyes grew wide. "They're riding Lychos."

Sure enough, he heard one of the creatures howl as his master whipped him in the side. The wolf-like beast ceased its rebellion and ran forward, slashing one of the villagers with its claws as it went. Ted shuddered. Without even meaning to do it, he felt his feet lift up off the ground. Ted looked around in every direction. He saw a broom standing up on the side of an untouched house. With a flick of his wrist, the handle toppled to the ground.

"None of them are looking at me." Ted clenched his fists. "Time to get to work."

He reached out with his powers to one of the fiery rooftops. Ted watched as three coconut-sized fireballs floated into the air. As he spread his fingers, the fiery projectiles slammed into three of the four raiders who were causing havoc. Their clothing caught on fire immediately, sending two out of three to the ground.

Ted smirked. "You're fired."

Free of their masters, the Lychos shook off their harnesses and dashed away. The third attacker and his noble steed were struck down by villagers who saw the tide beginning to turn. Surrounded by a pack of six farmers with sharp implements, the bandit didn't stand a chance. The remaining attacker galloped his Lychos at full speed toward the village's exit. As the man approached Ted's location, the living soul used his mind to lift the attacker about two stories into the air.

"I think it's high time you got outta here."

All of a sudden, Ted plummeted back to the ground. While his drop was only a few feet, the attacker and his beast fell straight down. The scream was higher-pitched than Ted had expected. The stone cracked beneath them, accompanied by the sound of bones shattering. Neither the attacker nor the Lychos survived the impact.