A Soul Divided (The Blood Fire Trilogy Book 1) (20 page)

“Unlike you.” He said. “I have no regret in killing. You’re my brother, but I never loved you.”

Dathan turned and walked out the door without a second glance.

The screen blurred as if the camera had been sprayed with water.

Al realized the water was the young Drake’s tears filling the eyes that the rest of them were seeing through.

“Dad!” The young Drake yelled out as he wrestled to open the cabinet doors and leapt out to be by the side of his dying father.

“Drake.” Tiberius said, writing ancient runes inside a circle with his own blood. “I’m putting a Vhy’ Rai seal around this library to protect you. Ezra is upstairs, he’ll take care of you. I’ve sent Vahn to get help. He’ll save you.”

“Dad, you’ll be ok.” Drake said. “Don’t leave me here!”

“You’re my son.” Tiberius said. “I’ll always be a part of you. You’ll survive this. Use the gift of life I’m giving you now to save others. I know you’ll make me proud.”

“Dad! No! I need you...” The screen faded to black as Angela jumped out of the memory before the young Drake could finish his sentence.

Al glanced over to see tears building up in Vahn’s eyes.

Vahn wiped them away, but the pain in his heart was obvious through his expression.

Despite the negative things Drake always said about Vahn. The man they‘d all seen die was Vahn’s father as much as he was Drake’s.

Light filled the screen again as Angela entered another memory.

Drake was still inside the same library although it looked to be in much worse repair than the previous memory. Some of the shelves and tables lay in pieces, and the carpet was worn.

“Ezra!” Drake’s voice came through the speakers. “When is Vahn coming to save us? Three years is long enough to find some help isn’t it?”

“I don’t know.” A voice said.

The screen changed as Drake moved his head to show a middle aged man in an old tattered robe. Al presumed this man was Ezra.

Drake’s gaze moved to look out the window. “I’m just so sick of having to hide from those things.”

In the street outside, Al could see several of the monsters Drake had always referred to as Nightmares.

He couldn’t think of a more appropriate name for them.

Their eyes were as black as midnight. They had long, bony spikes protruding from all over their bodies. Their freakishly long arms dragged along the ground as they walked through the streets, unhinging their oversized jaws to let out ear-splitting screams.

“Come away from the window.” Ezra’s voice said. “It’s time to continue your studies. A prince must be educated.”

“Are we going to sword fight more today?” Drake said excitedly.

“Yes.” Ezra said, “A prince must  know how to defend himself as well. I worry you may enjoy fighting a little too much though.”

“Is it possible to enjoy something too much?” Drake asked as the screen faded to black again and Angela jumped forward to the next memory.

The screen lit back up once again showing the front room of the library.

“Don’t do this!” Drake’s voice came through the speakers, as the screen showed Ezra walking toward the front door.

“There’s not much choice,” Ezra said. “We’ll be out of food in six months. But if I leave now, you can last for another year while you wait for me to come back for you.”

“Vahn is coming to save us!” Drake yelled out. “Dad promised!”

“Vahn isn’t coming, Drake.” Ezra said. “We’ve already waited for eight and a half years. Vahn has forgotten about us. Don’t worry, I can make it to the tower and get away. I won’t let the Nightmares stop me from saving you. It’s your destiny to take the throne and end this war.”

“Don’t leave me here alone!” Drake yelled as Ezra ran out the front door.

Drake ran up to the window and watched as Ezra ran through the streets of the city being chased by the Nightmares.

He stretched out his hand as he ran, sending out Vhy’ Rai attacks of fire, ice, and lightning. As the Nightmares drew closer, he cut their heads free from their necks with his sword and continued to run. But more and more Nightmares poured out from the buildings, overpowering him and ripping the limbs from his body.

Water filled the screen again as the younger version of Drake cried and screamed at the loss of his friend and mentor.

The screen faded to black as Angela moved forward to yet another memory.

Al glanced around the room. Despite his attempts to wipe them away, tears were coming from Vahn’s eyes, and Olivia wasn’t even attempting to cover her sobbing.

The screen lit up again.

This time the memory was in an upper room of the library. Drake was using a knife to slice a gash in the palm of his hand.

“You’ve gone too far, Angela.” Al yelled out. “Go back!”

But Angela was immersed in the memory. She couldn’t hear what was being said to her. They all just had to hope she would remember Drake’s instructions.

She didn’t.

The memory continued on the screen.

Drake used the blood from his hand to draw circles similar to the one Tiberius had drawn. One around himself, and one around a revolver. The screen went black for a moment.

Thank Knune.
Al thought.
She left the memory.

Light came back to the screen and to Al’s horror, the memory hadn’t changed.

Angela hadn’t jumped, Drake had just closed his eyes in the memory.

The screen turned a bright shade of red, and Angela let out a blood curdling scream from her seat next to the machine.

“Unplug her!” Al yelled out.

“If we do.” Celestia said. “She’ll never be able to interface with the machine again.”

“If we don’t.” Al said moving toward the machine. “She’ll die.”

Al ripped the helmet from Angela’s head, and the screen went black.

Drake sprang out from his chair as he awoke from his induced sleep.

He ran over to Angela immediately.

“Is she ok?” He asked.

She hadn’t awoken.

“Her vitals are fine.” Al said. “We need to hook her up to life support until she wakes up. If it’s anything like when I went into that memory, it’ll take a few days.”

“We’re going.” Drake said as he lifted Angela from the chair and walked back to where the Basileus had docked.

“Drake.” Ryker said. “We need the information in that book.”

“Nobody else here can use that machine anyway.” Drake said, not even bothering to turn and face the king. “We’ll find another way.”

“Thank you for your help, Celestia.” Al said as he turned to follow Drake. “I hope we see you again, under better circumstances, of course.”

“As do I.” Celestia said.

Without another word, Al turned and followed Drake.

Chapter 29: Drake
 

The infirmary door slid open.

Drake stirred, awoken by the sudden flood of light.

He’d fallen asleep sitting by Angela’s bed.

Angela still didn’t move.

One of Ryker’s messengers entered the room.

“King Ryker requests your presence.” The messenger said.

“Come back later.” Drake said.

“He says it’s urgent.” The messenger said.

“It’d better be.” Drake said as he stood and walked out the door, looking back at Angela’s motionless body before making the walk to the command bridge.

“Drake.” Ryker said as Drake entered. “I understand you don’t want to use the memory machine again. But we need your help or more people will die.”

“What do you want me to do?” Drake barked.

“We need to get the book out of the library.” Ryker said.

“If you send somebody there,” Drake said. “They’ll die. There’s no way to get past the Nightmares for long enough to locate the book. And even if you found it, they won’t be able to get off the planet.”

“I want you to see something.” Ryker said. “We received this transmission from 169.”

Ryker nodded to one of his men. The man pushed a button on his computer and 169 appeared on the screen.

“King Ryker.” He said. “As you know, I am the one responsible for the destruction of New Earth. I have the power to destroy as many of your planets as I choose. I will obliterate one per week, starting two days from now, until you surrender to the Mystics. You’ve lost this war King Ryker; how many more of your people die before you realize that is up to you.”

“You’re right.” Drake said as the message shut off. “We have to kill him. I can get into that library, find the answer and use Vhy’ Rai to get off.”

“I have a better idea.” Ryker said. “This ship is equipped for extraction from a quarantined planet. We’ll send you down in a small ship. It can fly high enough into the atmosphere before the engines shut off that we’ll be able to retrieve it. We should be able to do the same thing with a small bomber. It’ll drop bombs on the other side of the city as a distraction. You’ll be able search the library undisturbed.”

“You’ve obviously thought this through.” Drake replied.

“When can you be ready?” Ryker asked.

“Right now.” Drake said. “Set a course for Rabbit’s Foot.”

“I’m going with you when you go down.” Vahn said, stepping out of the corner of the room.

“No, you’re not.” Drake said.

“You need an experienced fighter to keep watch for you while you search for the book.” Vahn said. “I’m the best man for the job, and you know it.”

“Fine.” Drake growled. “But if you fall behind, you’re getting left behind.”

“Fine with me.” Vahn said. “I won’t let you down again.”
 

************************************

Vahn double-checked the frequency on his radio then stepped slowly into the small ship the King had given for him and Drake to use.

“Ready to go?” Drake’s voice came from inside of the ship.

“Yeah,” Vahn said, walking into the small cockpit area where Drake was already sitting. “Let’s do this.”

“Good.” Drake said, pushing the button on the console to shut the door, and then pulling up a microphone to his mouth. “Euismod is ready for take off. Request permission to begin operation.”

“Permission granted.” A voice responded over the ship’s radio.

Drake released the docking clamps and flew out of the landing hangar onboard the Basileus, and out toward Rabbit’s Foot.

“Are you really ready for this?” Vahn said turning toward Drake. “You don’t seem like yourself.”

“Being myself.” Drake replied, “Is what made me leave 169 alive to kill all of those people, and it’s what got Angela hurt. I’m not the person we need for this mission, so right now I have to be someone else.”

“That might not be the best attitude to have, Drake. Indecisiveness will get you killed in a dangerous situation. You don’t have to be exactly who you were, but you’d better figure out who you are now, or we’re both going to be in danger.”

“Thanks for the lecture.” Drake said. “Just watch my back and let me know when the Nightmares come back and we’ll be fine.”

Vahn didn’t push anymore. After seeing the memories from Drake’s childhood, he realized the fact that Drake didn’t have a major psychological disorder was a miracle. He could deal with these mood swings for now.

“The bombing has commenced.” A voice spoke through the radio.

“Good.” Drake replied through his microphone. “We’re going in for a landing.”

The Euismod touched down on the top of one of the library’s towers.

Drake and Vahn lept out of it and headed down the stairs toward the main library.

“Watch my back while I search these shelves.” Drake said as he ran down the aisle looking over book covers as he went.

Vahn could hear the bombs exploding in the streets just a few miles away, followed by the continuous screams of the angry Nightmares.

It appeared, at least for now; none of them had stayed behind in the library.

“It’s not in this aisle.” Drake said. “I’m moving to the next one.”

Vahn shifted over to watch over the next aisle of bookshelves, but once again found it free of Nightmares.

Vahn’s radio crackled to life.

“They didn’t all take the bait.” said a voice from the other end of the radio. “You’ve got about fifteen of them headed your way.”

“Did you hear that, Drake?” Vahn yelled.

“Yeah.” Drake replied. “I’ve only ever seen them try to come in the front door. Go watch that. When you see them getting close we’ll run back to the ship.”

“I’m on it.” Vahn said as he ran toward the main entrance.

The Nightmares were nowhere in sight.

“Mayday!” A voice crackled through Vahn’s radio. “We’re going down!”

Vahn looked up to see the huge bomber ship spiraling out of control, falling toward the library.

“Time to go!” Vahn yelled.

But it was too late.

Stained glass and ancient bricks came raining down as the bomber smashed through the wall.

Vahn dove under a nearby table hoping it would offer him some kind of shelter although he doubted it would help much if the roof came down.

Luckily, it held.

But it wouldn’t stay up for long. The crash had left a massive hole in the wall, and lit several of the books on the shelves on fire.

Vahn looked at the wreckage of the ship, there were people coming out of it.

Vahn moved forward instinctively ready to help the survivors escape the flaming wreckage.

Drake grabbed Vahn’s arm, stopping him before he could get too close.

“Those aren’t people.” Drake said.

Vahn stared at the men climbing from the wreckage.

He could see the spikes protruding from them.

“Nightmares.” He said under his breath.

“Follow me.” Drake said, kicking aside a nearby table, opening a hatch in the floor, and sliding down the ladder.

Vahn followed behind him, closing the hatch behind him before climbing down the ladder.

At the bottom of the ladder was a large steel box. The walls must have been at least three feet thick.

It had a slit in the door to look outside and a ventilation shaft coming out the top.

There was nothing inside except for two beds and several shelves with canned food and water on them.

“Get in.” Drake said. Vahn ran in without question and Drake shut the door behind him.

“How are we getting out of here?” Vahn asked.

“I don’t know.” Drake said. “Our best shot is to wait this out. Once the library burns away the Nightmares should leave. If our ship is still intact we’ll get out of here the same way we planned before.”

“And what if the Nightmares realize we’re down here?” Vahn asked.

“Then we’ll sit here and while they break down the door and kill us.” Drake replied. “So let’s pray they don’t find us.”

Moments later, the loud metal clanging of the upstairs hatch being smashed in let them know that Drake’s plan wasn’t going to work. The Nightmares were coming.

Vahn did a quick assessment of their situation and realized Drake was right. They had no options. They were both going to die.

“Drake.” He said. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” Drake said. “It’s not like you could have predicted the Nightmares could actually bring down the bomber. Even I didn’t see that one coming.”

“Not about that.” Vahn said. “You lived here for years, just waiting for me to save you, and I never came.”

“You really think right now is the best time to talk about this?” Drake said.

“Drake,” Vahn replied. “This might be the only chance we ever get to talk about it.”

Metallic clangs rang through the room as the Nightmares pounded on the door to the panic room.

“Then you’d better talk fast.” Drake said. “It’ll only take them about ten minutes to get through the door.”

“Dad sent me into hiding with Uncle Asher.” Vahn said. “He told me if Rabbit’s Foot fell I would need to tell Asher you were here so he could come and save you. But Asher had no interest in saving you.  He wanted you dead so he could be king.

“There were probably better solutions, but I was only nine. I called the human government and told them where Asher was hiding. They captured him, and they granted me citizenship. But I couldn’t get around this planet’s quarantine. I tried, Drake. But there was no way for me to save you.”

Drake paused for a moment looking at Vahn.

“So you saved me.” He said slowly.

“I didn’t know what you were going through here. Can you ever forgive me?”

Drake paused again before answering.

“Do you think forgiveness really exists?” Drake asked.

“Of course it does.” Vahn said. “There’s nothing in this world that can’t be made right if you’re willing to do what it takes.”

“I’ve killed thousands of people, Vahn.” Drake said. “How do I make that right?”

The nightmare screaming outside the door grew louder.

“You’re risking your life right now to save billions. That’s got to count for something.” Vahn said.

“It’s not enough.” Drake said. “Just trying doesn’t do anything.”

“It’ll have to be enough. You said it yourself before we came here. There’s no way to kill the Nightmares. And I doubt they’ll spare us, the only thing they don’t tear apart is each other.”

Drake raised his head.

“That’s it, Vahn!” He exclaimed. “They don’t fight each other, I’ve always known that, but I never stopped to think about why.”

“Probably because they know they can’t kill each other.” Vahn said.

“Or it’s because they know they can.”

“That seems like a stretch Drake. Besides, even if that was true, how would we turn them against each other? It would take a miracle.”

“I’m really lucky.” Drake said. “Miracles are daily occurrences for me.”

Drake handed his revolver over to Vahn.

“Hold this.” He said. “I should be able to control it for about three minutes, so after that time, throw the revolver out the front slit in the door.”

“That doesn’t make any sense?” Vahn said, bewildered by Drake’s sudden attitude change.

“Just do it.” Drake said climbing into the air vent.

“This won’t work!” Vahn yelled out. “That vent lets out above the Nightmares. What do you think you’ll get from this?”

“It’ll only be a start.” Drake said as he finished his climb into the vent. “But hopefully, forgiveness.”

Vahn ran to the door and tried his best to see through the slit.

Vahn  gasped as Drake dropped into the middle of the twenty Nightmares swarming the door.

Drake moved like lightning, almost as fast as the Nightmares, and his attacks were coordinated and precise.

But no matter how fast he moved, the Nightmares healed instantly from their wounds.

Drake brought down his sword, severing the arm of a Nightmare.

The arm fell to the ground and started dissolving, returning to its original place attached to the Nightmare’s shoulder.

But before it could fully disintegrate, while simultaneously using his sword to block one of the clawed hands of an attacking Nightmare, Drake grabbed the severed arm from the floor and rammed the elbow spike through another Nightmare’s throat.

The wound didn’t heal.

The Nightmare fell to the ground and twitched for a moment before lying still.

“Nineteen to go!” Drake yelled out.

A powerful swing from a Nightmare knocked Drake’s sword from his hand.

Drake brought his hand up quickly to the Nightmare’s throat and, digging his fingernails into its skin, tore the creature’s windpipe free from its neck.