Core of Confliction Page 5

  Chardon came prepared for a fight but not like this. Jaron was keeping enforcers at bay on the opposite side of him and the other four team members were fighting for their lives. They had located Sara and Klein easy enough and were ready to move out when enforcers showed up. Sara was crouched on the ground with her hands covering her ears while Klein’s eyes darted about, possibly looking for a pathway into the middle where he and Jaron were.

  For the second time, Chardon realized he was near a rundown strip mall. How ironic, he grimaced. The fighting was going in their favor until he saw Rass coming at him from the mall's direction. Summoning his energy to form a barrier, he barely made it in time as Rass slammed into it, trying to break through. Chardon pushed the field forward and Rass flew backwards away from him, landing on his praying mantis like legs with hatred in his eyes.

  “Come to take your traitors back?” Rass yelled, blowing strands of black oily hair from his eyes.

  Chardon, Jaron and the rest of the team were able to quickly glance at each other as they continued fighting. He saw Klein wincing with his hands clasped together in prayer.

  “Oh, yessss,” Rass hissed, “didn’t you know it was them?” He launched himself back into the melee targeting Jaron this time, landing a blow. She was knocked into the side of a building, some of the bricks crumbling from the impact.

  “Is that what Halfar told you?” Chardon asked as he went to shield Jaron, only to be attacked from behind. He felt the talons of an enforcer slice through his back.

  “Of course, they have no memory of it since their cores are gone.” Rass laughed as Chardon saw two other team members get raked across their bodies by four enforcers, two on each side.

  “Then it’s his word against theirs?”

  “Halfar doesn’t lie.” Rass spat.

  Which was true and Chardon knew that. He may never speak what’s on his mind but if you asked him, he would tell you.

  “No matter, I am going to slice all of you to pieces and serve you to him on a platter!” He again launched himself towards them.

  A vortex opened and out of its gaping mouth sprung Modas meeting Rass midair to strike him down into the pavement, which caved in as they landed. Standing up, Modas spun around, grabbed Jaron and threw her into the vortex. In two steps he had Sara and Klein, doing the same. Nearing Chardon, he nodded to the team and they all leapt into the vortex. They were able to hear Rass screaming in angry dissatisfaction before it was silenced by the vortex as it closed.

  Halfar conjured up energy in the palm of his hand to create a viewing orb and watched the battle as it ensued. Out of ten enforcers, six were intact. He was glad but didn’t like that Chardon himself had come. If he had known, Halfar would have gone to retrieve him instead. Seeing Rass go into a fit of rage over defeat almost made him laugh.

  “How childish and uncouth,” Kur said as he entered without Halfar knowing yet again. He stood watching the scene as well. “He really has no flair for getting the most out of a battle.”

  “He has his own way of doing things. We can’t all be as pristine as you, Kur.”

  “You would think he had learned something from me by now.”

  Halfar dissolved the energy and the scene faded. Back in a lounging position on his throne, he watched, out of the corner of his eye, Kur trying to decipher what bothered him about his illustrious ruler. Halfar would tell him if asked but that took the fun out of it.

  “What will you do now that the remaining survivors have reunited to wage war against us?” Kur asked.

  “Nothing. Do you really think a small group of a nearly extinct race can win against an army such as ours?”

  “Stranger things have been known to happen.”

  “Not that.” Halfar slid off his throne and headed for the double doors leading to his chamber. “Please make sure to congratulate Rass on his magnificent defeat.”

  Kur grunted as he turned and left through the main door at the center. He would do just that by challenging him to a duel out of spite. It was going to be a productive evening for his generals.

  **~**

  Sara and Klein hit the ground hard as they landed from their toss through the vortex. It was apparent that Modas had such violent force when it came to battle. Klein hit his head on the stone console in front of him as he tried to get up. Sara was in tears from sustaining scrapes and cuts from her fall. Behind them, Ganna was tending to Jaron just as Modas, Chardon and the team stepped out of the vortex onto solid ground.

  A group of people in brown robes came rushing out to meet them, taking great care of Jaron and Chardon. Two of them came upon Sara but in her madness, she started screaming repeatedly, “Don’t touch me!” Klein frowned and turning, punched her so hard, she fell back to the ground unconscious. The two in brown robes stared at him in awe, eyes wide, then picked her up and carried her away.

  “That was a bit uncalled for, Klein.” Chardon seemed angry, but not necessarily at him.

  “Yeah, well, would you have done it better?” Klein shot back as he rocked onto his feet.

  “You do know I want the truth from both of you?”

  “I don’t see how, our cores were destroyed, right?” For the first time, he realized how different Chardon looked from before, and the extent of the man's battle wounds. “Right?”

  Chardon turned to Ganna. “Find their cores and return them to me.”

  “Of course.” She bowed low and headed for the garden.

  Klein sat back on his haunches in a daze. He wasn’t sure if it was a blessing or a curse but now he had a chance to make amends or be persecuted. He wondered what his original self was like and if Sara was just as irritating as she was now. Looking up at the sky into the weak sun he made his resolution.

  Sara woke up flinging herself out of the bed she lay on, gasping for air. The left side of her head was in pain and she held fast to it rocking back and forth hoping to ease the burning sensation. In a flash, she remembered Klein had socked her there and with a rage not felt before she went into a fit, arms flailing about her, as she screamed at the top of her lungs. Abruptly, she stopped, realizing someone else was in the room with her.

  Modas sat across the room watching her with no emotion on his face. He stared into her eyes and she saw what real fury looked like. Not the passionate burning kind, but the cold unfeeling kind. He could murder me right now, she thought. He didn’t say a word but it was like he had heard her thoughts and his eyes concurred. Seeing him so close up, she noticed how large and formidable he was. Where is Klein? Now would be a good time for him to come to her rescue. She scanned the room, hopeful.

  “Klein is with Chardon.” Modas continued to stare at her, his eyes never wavering.

  She almost said, oh, but knowing how much that irritated Klein she knew it would probably do the same for Modas. Her lips were parched so she licked them with her nearly dry tongue. It hurt.

  “Will he be back soon?”

  “That depends on Chardon.”

  “You know, the boss may have been lying about us being traitors, you know? I mean, we don’t have any memories or anything because of our cores or whatever,” she rambled out.

  “Fascinating.” Modas rose from the chair in disgust.

  “What?” Sara felt like she had been slapped in the face and insulted at the same time.

  “Even without your core, you are still just as arrogant and selfish, as a woman.”

  Sara sat up straight and turned her nose up at him trying to appear unafraid. She was about to make a snide remark when it rung in her ear what he had said at the end. “Huh?” she hiccupped.

  Three medical sages tended to Chardon, bandaging his ribcage and treating the wounds on his back. From what Klein had heard, they would be healed by tomorrow but they were being cautious. The enforcers who injured him before were low level and did not cause much damage. In the last battle, they were henchmen of Rass and deadlier. Chardon winced as one of the medics pulled the bandage tight. Klein listened to him vow payback in the w
orst way for Rass and his band of enforcers. He was glad Halfar himself did not show up, or Kur for that matter.

  Klein sat on his knees silent as the murky dawn. Chardon seemed angry about the treachery but was more upset about the fact that Klein had taken Halfar’s word without argument.

  “So, despite not having any memories of who you really are, let alone traitors to your race, you believed every word Halfar told you?”

  Feeling ashamed, Klein nodded with his eyes squeezed shut. How stupid. It never crossed his mind that the boss might be lying, but, something inside him knew it was true.

  “Please, no matter what happens, I want to make amends. I really do.”

  “And how are you going to do that?” Chardon’s eyes went wide. “Our world is dead!”

  Klein flinched back and hung his head lower. He knew there was probably no redemption for him but doing nothing was not an option. He sucked in his chest, raised his head and said, “Give me back my core and I will prove myself to you. I will be able to tell you everything.”

  Chardon waved off the medics, standing over Klein as he rose. “I have an idea of what happened and yes you will tell me why. First we will go get your lover and head to the garden.”

  “My lover?” Klein was confused for a moment, then his face paled. “You don’t mean Sara?” He heard Chardon sigh. “What’s in the garden?”

  “Klein, get up.”

  Everyone headed for the door, Klein picking up the rear.

  At the garden, Sara was like a kid at a petting zoo. A lot of “Ooh’s” and “Ah’s” escaped her lips as she stood on the edge staring at the glowing buds. Klein was not so enamored because he understood what those things were. It pained him to see so many yet so little left of their race and he didn’t even have his core back yet. He turned to Sara.

  “Stop that!” He was seething with anger. “Do you even know what you're looking at?”

  “Why are you yelling at me? And why are you so angry?” She yelled back.

  “Tell her!” he directed Ganna.

  “Cores.” Was all she said, and that snapped Sara out of stupor.

  “All those?” She whispered and tears formed at the corners of her eyes.

  A worker came up to Klein with a core in his hands giving it to him. Klein cradled it in his arms like a newborn and let it sink into him, disappearing. The jolt to his body was so severe even Sara jumped back in fear. He fell to the ground face down convulsing. Tears poured out of him as both memories intertwined. He could do nothing but lie there and take the brunt of it all. Medics rushed to him and used light energy to ease his suffering before taking him away.

  Sara started shaking her head back and forth. “No, no, no. No!” Another worker was coming towards her and she knew it had to be her core. This is not what she wanted. She wanted to go back to Earth where it was relatively safe aside from the part where Halfar’s organization was taking over the whole damn United States. She tried to back up but Ganna was behind her and held her still while the worker touched her abdomen with the core.

  As it entered her, she understood what Modas meant. Memories of a young man laughing with Klein, talking with Klein, kissing Klein flooded in and her body began to shift into that man. It did not take long but the pain was excruciating as bone and muscle reconfigured.

  The body thrashed about in convulsions, gurgled shrieks emitting from the mouth. With the transformation complete, he sprung forward into a sitting position and let out a scream so loud the nearby trees vibrated, then passed out. Two more medics came for him.

  Chardon and Ganna glanced sideways at each other and she giggled.

  “How dramatic,” Ganna quipped. “Talas always made things more entertaining than necessary.”

  “Humph. I think it will be interesting to know how Talas felt about being a female Earthling.”

  “I find it interesting that they were not lovers on Earth as they were here.”

  “That is curious. Klein seemed to barely tolerate her instead of having any affection.”

  “Well, tomorrow we will get answers. Modas and Jaron should be kept at bay.”

  “No, they need to be there to hear what these two have to say. I will stop them if they try to kill them.”

  “Good to know.”

  Two:

  Homeward

  The throne was awash with black blood as Halfar entered. He cocked his head to one side to ask why as he made eye contact with Kur who stood covered in thick purple blood. It was mingling with his own green blood, turning it black, hence the mess in his throne room. Near the double doors on the left where Halfar had just come through lay Rass in a crouched position breathing heavily covered in his own blood along with Kur’s.

  “We were having a slight disagreement on strategy, my lord.” Kur bowed in jest.

  “I will not be made a mockery of!” Rass was ready to launch.

  With one swish of his arm, Halfar knocked Rass into the wall near the main entrance and headed towards Kur. He was not going to tolerate this in his throne room without approval.

  “I was just congratulating him on his defeat as you instructed.”

  Kur’s voice was cut short by Halfar’s claw clamping around his neck, lifting him off the floor. He knew the look in his eyes let Kur know that he had overstepped his boundaries.

  “My apologies,” Kur gasped and Halfar let him go.

  “Clean this mess before I get back.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Since I am unable to use my throne room, I will have to settle for a stroll into the city.”

  Kur and Rass’ eyes went wide with fear. That was never a good idea in any circumstance.

  “You can’t be serious!” They both exploded in unison.

  Halfar turned to them. “I need to blow off some steam, don’t you think?” With that, he left.

  Rass ordered some of his guards to clean the mess, as did Kur, and they both hurried after him in an attempt to stop him, leaving a bloody trail down the hall. The last time Halfar went into the city he ended up destroying a five block radius because a taco vendor mouthed off to him for not buying before eating. Trying to explain that to the authorities was not something to be desired. Yes, they were not of this planet and could annihilate it on a whim, but that was not on the agenda for a few years yet.

  “Please, my lord, we are deeply sorry. Come and relax for a moment.” Rass talked fast.

  “Where would that be?”

  “The garden is in full bloom, don’t you want to see how our native flowers are doing in this wretched planet’s soil?” Kur also talking as fast as he could.

  Halfar stopped walking. “They were planted?” They halted a few feet away from him.

  “Of course, my lord.”

  “When?”

  “Nearly three months ago,” Kur squinted as he thought, guessing.

  “Then let us go see how they are faring before I go out.”

  “This way, please.” Rass bowed deep and waited for Halfar to pass before following, shooting Kur a dirty look as they both closed in behind him. Halfar knew they were relieved that some mass destruction had been averted so far.

  **~**

  Kelin lay resting on a bed weary and deep in thought. It was funny that Halfar had given him the human name Klein, seeing the similarities. If it were not for the ruckus going on in the room nearby, would have rested for a few more hours. He could imagine who was having a fit and knew it was none other than Talas.

  Sitting up with the weight of his upper body supported by his elbows he let his head flop backwards. Every muscle in his body felt strained and he just wanted to stay in bed. That was now impossible with Talas thrashing about next door, so Kelin flung the covers off and marched over to Talas’ room.

  “For the love of Lassa, shut up!”

  There were at least seven people in the room, him included and he felt like an imbecile. Everyone stood in place staring at him. Talas, still shaking with fury, advanced on him.

 
“Talas,” he warned him. It was too late and Kelin fended him off by putting him in a choke hold before he could get any closer. They wrestled to the floor and as Kelin held him steady he said, “It’s alright. There’s no need to fight.” He felt Talas relax then start sobbing quietly.

  “I would ask if this was a good time for your confessions, but it seems that is not the case.”

  Chardon had entered the room followed by Jaron, Ganna, Modas and three other cabinet members. Jaron could hardly contain her rage. It poured out of her entire body.

  “There is no good time for it so now is better than never.” Talas lifted himself from Kelin, wiping away tears, to confront them head on. “I know what we did was unforgiveable and it cannot be fixed. All I can do is pledge my loyalty to my kind, never to waver under promises and false hopes. So, I beg you,” Talas went down on his knees and bowed low, his forehead nearly touching he floor, “please, forgive me.”

  Kelin, still down on the floor, sat in awe of Talas. Especially when Jaron stepped forward to look down on him and slammed her fist into Talas’ face as he look up at her. Everyone in the room flinched except for Talas and Jaron.

  “Do you feel better now?” Chardon asked Jaron.

  “No! Not in the least.” Jaron ran out of the room, Modas in tow.

  “Shall we begin?”

  Chardon motioned for everyone to take a seat within the chamber, instructing Talas with a finger to wipe the blood from his mouth. He looked toward Kelin and nodded.

  The Agenda