A Soul Divided (The Blood Fire Trilogy Book 1) (13 page)

“Not good is an understatement.” Olivia chimed in. “You didn’t say anything nice to me.”

“Nobody asked you.” Drake said. “Alright, feel good time is over, we’re almost to the edge of the city, I’ll lower our speed and altitude, and we’ll jump out of here.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Olivia said. “We’re not really jumping out are we?”

“Come on Princess.” Drake said, “It’s not the scariest thing I’ve made you do since we met.”

“Yeah,” Olivia said. “In the day and half since I met you, jumping out of a flying ambulance isn’t the scariest thing you’ve made me do. That doesn’t say good things about our friendship.”

“At least you called it a friendship.” Drake said. “Get ready to jump when I tell you.”

Drake moved to the cockpit before Olivia could respond to his quip and lowered the speed and altitude until the hovercraft was just barely remaining airborne.

“Are you ready to jump?” Drake asked as he walked back to the open side door.

“I really don’t think this is a good idea.” Olivia said as she looked out the door.

“Try to roll when you hit the ground.” Drake said.

“What?” Olivia asked.

She screamed as Drake pushed her out the door.

“Ladies first.” Drake said as he looked over at Angela.

“I’ll just do it myself.” She said, moving toward the door.

She paused for only a moment before jumping out.

Drake watched her hit the ground and roll then jumped out himself.

Chapter 20: Drake

Drake found a suitable place to wait in the corner of an alleyway where a few homeless people sat around in a circle playing some kind of card game.

“We’ll just wait here.” Drake said as he sat down on the ground and leaned his back up against a wall. “Al should be here soon.”

“I recognize you.” A homeless man said as he looked over to Drake. “You’re Drake Ashbell.”

“Notice the posters did ya?” Drake said. Reward posters with Drake’s face on them were plastered on every wall in the slums. But people in the slums never turned in a criminal since most of them were criminals themselves.

“You don’t even remember me do you?” The man asked.

“Should I?” Drake said.

“Perhaps not.” The man said, “But we have a history together.”

“That’s pretty unlikely.” Drake said, “It’s only my second time on this planet. But refresh my memory.”

“My name is Rugo Kresh. I was once King Dathan’s most elite assassin.” The man replied. “Until he sent me on one final mission four years ago. A mission to kill you.”

“You’ll have to be more specific.” Drake said. “Dathan sent like ten guys after me the last time I was here.”

Drake needed to be ready to deal with this guy fast. If he had a vendetta he wanted to settle he could draw a lot of unwanted attention.

“Perhaps you remember giving me this?” Rugo said as he removed his hood to reveal a heavily scarred face and a missing right eye.

“Oh yeah.” Drake said as he moved his hand to his sword, “Well that narrows it down to three of the Kings assassins. Tell me, did I do that with a sword or a dead cat?”

“The sword.” Rugo said.

“Well great. Now we’ve got it down to two candidates. Too bad you weren’t the dead cat guy. That was actually pretty funny.”

“The king fired me and blacklisted me after you did this to me. I haven’t been able to get a job in three years. My face and my destitution are both your fault. I’ll make you to pay for them with your life.”

The man drew out a rusted sword from beneath his cloak and swung it fast toward Drake’s chest.

Drake drew out his sword,  just in time to block the man’s attack, and back up to take on a defensive position.

The other homeless men in the circle dropped their cards and ran from the alleyway.

“Too bad.” Drake said, “If you’re the assassin I’m thinking of then you were the easiest one to beat so this should be quick. That’s good, I don’t want to be causing a bigger scene than we already have.”

“But I do.” Rugo said as he lifted his free hand revealing a bright red ring around his middle finger.

There was a flash of light from a red jewel embedded in the ring in the ring.

Hemoignisium.

Some of the dirt that made up the floor of the alleyway rose into the air in front of the man’s outstretched hand and compressed itself together, forming eight small spikes.

Rugo smiled before sending one of them flying fast toward Drake.

It whizzed right past his head and exploded into sand as it hit the wall behind him.

Rugo continued to shoot the spikes, one after another, as Drake ran down the alleyway toward him, swinging his sword to knock down the flying rocks as he went. Rugo fell backwards onto the ground as Drake’s fist smashed into his already marred face.

Drake didn’t wait to see if the man had been knocked out or not.

“Run away!” Drake said looking at Angela and Olivia. “Soldiers will be here any second!”

Drake turned to run out of the alleyway, but stopped short as a group of seven soldiers being led by some of the homeless people arrived.

“That’s him!” A homeless man yelled pointing to Drake. “We get the reward, right?”

“We’ll talk about it after we catch him.” A soldier said as he drew out his sword and walked toward Drake.

So much for lying low. At least nobody had recognized Olivia. That would have created a commotion that not even Drake could escape.

“I’ve changed my mind girls.” Drake said. “We’re running the other way.”

Drake’s stopped short again as Rugo rose to his feet to block the other side of the alleyway.

He should’ve taken the time to make sure that Rugo stayed down. Now he would have to do some real fighting.

“Never mind again.” Drake said. “It looks like you girls are in for a show.”

Rugo’s ring flashed again as he pulled up more rock spikes and sent them flying toward Drake’s chest.

Drake dropped to the ground and laughed out loud as the rock spikes smashed on the armor of the oncoming soldiers, knocking most of them to the ground.

“I like your sand trick.” Drake said as he jumped back to his feet. “Why don’t I show you one of my tricks.”

Drake pointed his revolver at Rugo’s chest and pulled the trigger.

A small ball of blue light flew toward the former assassin, growing into a huge icicle as it raced through the air.

Rugo’s ring flashed again.

Sand shot up from the ground, coming together and hardening almost instantly, as it intercepted the icicle in mid-flight.

Ice and sand exploded in the air, leaving a cloud in the alleyway.

Drake sprinted straight through the cloud with his shoulder lowered in front of him.

He slammed hard into Rugo’s chest, sending him reeling backwards yet again.

“Let’s go girls!” Drake yelled to Angela and Olivia. “Follow me!”

Drake kept running through the dust cloud and out the back of the alleyway only to be cut off once again by a man wearing a black hood.

“I can’t catch a break today.” Drake said as he moved his sword into a fighting stance. “What happened to my luck?”

The figure lowered his hood, showing his face.

“That explains it.” Drake said as he recognized 169’s striking features.

“I won’t allow you to escape this time Drake.” 169 said.

“You’re still mad about the last few times we met aren’t you?” Drake said. “I’m impressed that you cracked my password encryption I put on your Tachyon drive before it overloaded.”

“From what I’ve deveined of your character thus far.” 169 said, “youwillneverguessthispassword wasn’t overly unpredictable.”

“I’ll admit it wasn’t my best work.” Drake said. “But despite how you feel about me right now, we’ve already been in two fights this week. Do you really want to have a third one? Don’t you ever get sick of fighting me?”

“I consider myself a patient man.” 169 said. “But your impudence has pushed the limits of my patience. Against you, Drake Ashbell, three fights in one week is not too many.”

“I’m not gonna lie to you 169.” Drake said. “I don’t know what impudence means, so I don’t have a comeback for that last thing you said. So let’s just skip the battle of wits and get to the part where I beat you again.”

Drake moved to draw out his revolver, but 169 moved faster, lifting the machine on his arm and sending a vibration through the air moving fast toward Drake.

Drake dove to the side, avoiding the attack.

The wall of the building behind him exploded, sending bricks and mortar flying.

Drake rolled out of his dive and stood back up to face 169.

“Dude,” Drake said. “You know people live in these buildings. You just put a hole in somebody’s house. That’s not cool.”

“I win this round.” 169 said.

“What?” Drake said. “You haven’t won, we’re still in the middle of the fight.”

A sudden pain shot through Drake’s skull as one of Rugo’s flying rocks came whizzing in from behind and hit Drake in the back of the head.

His vision faded to blackness as his body collapsed to the ground.

Chapter 21: Drake

Drake groaned as light filled his eyes.

He tried to bring his hands up to block out the blinding sunlight, but couldn’t move them.

As he glanced down, he saw that his arms were bound to the chair by thick leather straps.

He shifted his gaze up a little higher on his arm to find a needle stuck into it, drawing his blood into small, clear plastic bags hanging nearby.

“I see you’ve finally awoken.” Someone said off to Drake’s side. He turned his head to look and saw a face he’d hoped never to see again.

King Dathan stood before him with his blonde hair hanging down to his shoulders.

He was wearing his gaudy, expensive purple robes, with a massive jewel encrusted crown resting on his head.

“I see you’re still wearing that ugly crown.” Drake said. “I hate to be the one to tell you this, but not even that thing can draw attention away from your huge nose.”

“Really, Drake,” Dathan said. “After all these years without seeing your uncle you greet me with an insult? I suppose it makes sense. You’ve never been very good with controlling your tongue. That’s precisely what cost you the throne.”

“You and I both know that’s a lie.” Drake said.

“Is it?” Dathan said. “Because the last time I checked, I was sitting on the throne, and you were running away from the law. I’m not sure where I’ve made an error.”

“I know you’ve been searching for royal blood, and you’re drawing my blood right now. Is your blood just not quite royal enough? It looks like Knune still believes I’m the king. Your lies will never change that.”

“Oh Drake. Why do you have to say such terrible things to your dear old uncle? You’re the only family I have. You’ll break my heart.”

“You stopped being my family when you murdered my father.” Drake said.

“Such hostility Drake,” Dathan replied cooly. “I came here to see you personally because I want to make you an offer to better your life. Your harsh tones are not appreciated.”

“I’d rather die than do anything to help you.”

“Now, now. Let’s not be rash. You haven’t even heard my offer yet.”

“I don’t want to. Why don’t you just kill me? You had no problem killing the rest of my family.”

“You’re not thinking this through Drake. I went to all this trouble to get your blood because you’re the rightful heir to the throne. There’s no sense in denying it. At least not while we’re the only ones listening. If you’re dead, you can hardly the rightful heir anymore, now can you?”

Dathan sat down in a chair next to Drake.

“I’d have to waste more of my time tracking down one of our obscure relatives and stealing blood from them, it’s so much work Drake. I’m a very busy man. Now, since I’m not going to kill you, and you’re just sitting around anyway, why don’t you listen to my proposal?”

Dathan paused for a moment giving Drake room to answer, but he said nothing.

“No witty comeback?” Dathan said. “You’re not as fun as I remembered you Drake. But as long as you’re in a serious mood perhaps we can stop with our frivolity and have a serious discussion. I read the reports of what you did to my soldiers in the desert yesterday.”

“Not even the most impressive of fighters can’t kill three hundred trained soldiers by themselves. Especially not in less than an hour. Not naturally at least. So I thought, ‘How could my nephew have done such a thing?’ The answer is that it’s impossible. Unless, of course, you’ve committed a taboo.”

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

“We’re royalty, Drake.” Dathan said. “Lying does not become us.”

“You are aware of how hypocritical that statement is when it’s coming from you, aren’t you?” Drake said.

“Ah, the wit returns. I knew you wouldn’t be able to control your tongue. However, I will rise above your sarcasm and continue our conversation.” Dathan said. “Now, given the circumstances of your childhood, I can imagine the power of the third taboo would be the most obvious for you to choose. And it explains how quickly you were able to kill so many. Which brings me to my next question.”

Dathan moved over to a small table. On it was every item Drake had with him at the time of his capture. His sword, his revolver, his Line Transceiver, and a bushy fake mustache.

“Which of these items is your soul anchor?” Dathan asked. “Honestly, I hope it’s the mustache.”

“My what?” Drake asked. “I think you’re going a little senile Uncle Dathan.”

“So we’ll be doing this the hard way then.” Dathan said as he turned to the doorway. “169, bring her in.”

The door opened and a very ragged looking 169 came walking in, pushing Angela in front of him.

She looked up at Drake as she stumbled in, her hands bound and a gag placed in her mouth.

“Don’t worry Angela.” Drake said, “We’ll get out of this.”

169 pushed her down into a chair.

“You’re not looking so good 169.” Drake said.

“Said by the man tied to a chair.” 169 answered.

He was sweating profusely, and dark bags hung under his eyes.

“I need my payment.” He said, turning toward Dathan.

“You’ll be paid when the job is done.” Dathan replied.

“Pay me now, or the job won’t get done.” 169 replied.

“Very well.” Dathan said calmly, removing a small bottle of red liquid from one of the inside pockets of his robe and handing it to 169.

It was euphodine in the bottle. So that was how Dathan was controlling him. 169 was nothing more than a drug addict doing the bidding of his dealer.

But the Mystics didn’t have the means to make Euphodine, and Drake had taken what was left of the Human Empire’s stash. Even the bottle Dathan had given to 169 had Drake’s label on it.

Al’s buyer was working for Dathan, and that meant that Dathan was out of the drug.

This information could prove useful.

169 eagerly tore the lid off the bottle and drank its contents.

He stopped sweating, and his breath returned to normal almost immediately.

“Now that’s over with.” He said, standing up a little straighter. “I believe you were in the middle of questioning this pest.”

He pointed to Drake, making a disgusted face.

“Indeed, we were.” Dathan said. “So Drake, are you going to tell us which of these items is your soul anchor? Or should I throw them out the window until I get it right? I’m sure this lovely girl will delight in seeing what happens when you don’t have it.”

“If I had any idea what a soul anchor was, I might tell you.” Drake said. “But you’re just spouting gibberish to mess with me as far as I can tell.”

“Very well then.” Dathan replied as he picked up Drake’s sword and threw it out the window.

“Come on man.” Drake whined “There might be people down there, you can’t just go dropping swords.”

“So it wasn’t the sword.” Dathan said. “I’d be more cooperative if I were you. Given what your reaction will be when you lose your anchor, this poor girl will be ripped to shreds. It would be a shame to lose such a pretty girl to your stubbornness.”

“You’d be ripped to shreds before she would.” Drake said, “If you really believe I’ll become dangerous when you throw my ‘anchor’ out the window, maybe you should think twice about being in the room when that happens.”

“I’ll be fine.” Dathan said as he moved to the window with Drake’s revolver in his hand. “This one’s next.” He said as he moved to throw it out the window.

“Stop!” Drake said. “You found it. Now what do you want from me?”

“Finally an honest answer.” Dathan said. “Now I shall be honest in return. I want you to work for me. The Mystics are almost ready to win the war against the Humans. Having some measure of control over the third taboo is an impressive skill. You could help us end this war much faster.”

“I’d rather die.” Drake hissed.

“I’d be happy to oblige you on that request.” 169 said.

“No 169.” Dathan said. “We need him alive.”

“Fine.” 169 said, “But we can’t put him in a normal prison. If we leave him with his revolver, he’ll have no problem escaping any prison we put him into, but if we take it away he’ll level the whole prison and cause us even more trouble.”

“He doesn’t like being a party to the harming of innocents.” Dathan said. “Perhaps our best option would be one where nobody would question him keeping his revolver, but which is also surrounded by innocents. I suppose the only prison that fits would be a gladiatorial arena. It will be easy enough to fix the matches to keep him alive. And I’m sure the people will love to see the traitor prince in battle.”

He paused for a moment before turning back to face Drake.

“You’ve always loved being the center of attention Drake. Now you’ll get to entertain millions.”

Dathan picked up a syringe full of a pink colored liquid and jabbed it into Drake’s arm, emptying its contents into his blood.

The smug look on Dathan’s face was the last thing Drake saw before he drifted into a deep sleep.