(Previously on Immortal Wars.)
(Again, we shall revel in my teenage originality. Everyone groan in unison.)
Disclaimer: Immortal Wars was the book I came up with and wrote in high school. I hadn’t even hit college by the time I wrote the first two books. That means I hadn’t developed my style yet, wasn’t good at self-editing, and the story was fairly basic. So, you’ve been warned that this is the ultimate author throwback segment for my blog and will show my author origins. FYI- I put the first book (The Summoning) through a Print-on-Demand publisher and the second one (Light, Blood, & Tears) never saw the light of day. Enjoy!
Eventually, Fate found himself standing in the doorway of his best friend’s room. Infinity let him in without a word and gave him some unknown drink. The room they are in has pictures covering most of the walls and the bed has a star pattern on it. A pair of vases sits in a corner and they show evidence of being glued back together. Fate quickly explains his talk with the old Mars guardian and what Solix had told him. He also apologizes for getting angry with everybody in the Game Room. Infinity listens carefully while pushing buttons on a data pad without looking at it. Fate finally finishes his explanation and waits for a response from his friend.
“We should all apologize for getting angry at each other. But was all the arguing really necessary, Fate. You should have known that there was a good reason for Solix’s actions. Miracle was never against you and neither was I. Hydrana on the other hand didn’t really care. Still, your argument did stir a little curiosity in us all. Miracle went off on a secret investigation with the computer system. Hydrana is actually becoming an engineer on the equipment. She really has a natural talent for fixing mechanical things. At least the stuff we play with up here,” explains Infinity. He lies down on the bed and stares at a series of pictures on the ceiling. Each one is a collage of colors that create a solar system when they are all put together.
“I know that now. So, what have you been looking up?” asks Fate. He removes his headband and looks at it in disgust. He tosses it into a can near the door and listens to the sound of a disintegrater. Still, he knows that the headband will be back in his uniform cylinder when he goes back to his room.
“At first I was looking at the different races that we can run into. A lot have been destroyed been immortals, each other, global disasters, or cosmic entities. Mars used to have several races that have been dead for centuries. The ones that survived have different levels of technology. Glebnoks are a peaceful race under the surface of Neptune and they have the most advanced technology. We’re talking cloning, robotics, AI, teleporters, and they created the original planet guardians. They only have one flaw.”
“What’s that?”
“They hate humans. Racial prejudice basically. Due to the evil immortals being from Earth and our all so colorful past of violence, they hate us. The reason nobody on Earth has ever contacted an alien race is that the Glebnoks won’t let them. That and we can’t. All other races work with communication devices that warp through a small dimensional void. Radio signals can’t get there and nothing from Earth can intercept these signals. We are not the most loved species in the cosmos.”
“That’s not surprising. You ever watch a news report that didn’t spend most of its time dealing with murder, rape, and crime? I haven’t. We probably scare the hell out of most of the other races,” says Fate. He finishes his drink and takes a look at the data pad that Infinity was working on. It has to most dangerous species in the solar system. Humans are number three on the list.
“At least we’re not number one. Well technically we are. Immortals are considered the most dangerous because they just are. That’s done on power levels and not naturally violent behavior. And number two are called Elementals and they are extinct. This little thing is bound to cause many problems,” mentions Infinity as he puts the data pad away.
“Especially since we are humans. We’re going to have a lot of explaining to do when we finally meet those aliens. But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, we have more important things to do. Like the fact that I haven’t slept in days. I’m gonna go slip into a coma, so don’t wake me up unless it’s important.”
“No problem, Eddie. By the way, it’s good that you aren’t leaving. Wouldn’t be the same up here without you. Miracle would be miserable. I would be bored. Hydrana wouldn’t have anybody to argue with. And there isn’t anybody else that the three of us would rather have on our side. Except for an entire army of immortals that can back us up because we still have no idea what the hell we’re doing. We all run on instinct.”
“We’ll work on it. Goodnight, Steve.” Fate walks across the hallway to his own room and finds that the lights are on and the windows are open. He stares out at the sun and pushes a small button on the window. One of them opens for him to get through and he leaps to a nearby solar flare gun. He keeps bouncing off the defensive equipment until he lands on one that is on the sun’s surface. From here he can see all the stars and planets around him. Earth is a shining dot in the distance and he sees the occasional comet shooting by.
“And we’re supposed to protect all this. Might as well just admit it to myself that I would have been miserable back home. This is where I belong and I don’t want to go anywhere else. I’ve always been a planet guardian and I’ll stay that way. Edward Slane can stay on Earth, but Fate can’t be kept out of the stars. This is the life I’ll stay with. Of course, I shouldn’t do too much with the poetry,” thinks Fate as he looks toward the outskirts of the universe.
Suddenly a whispering voice says, “You have no idea how right you are about this being your true life. It will be a long time before you understand me, but soon your life on Earth will never look the same. Your destiny and mine are connected in a way that nobody can ever understand. Nothing is aware of our connection, but soon you will know the truth. I guarantee it.”
Fate sits up and suddenly finds himself back in his room with the window open. He knew he went out the window and looked at the stars. But he doesn’t know how he got back or where the voice came from. It sounded too human to be SEAS and something about it seemed oddly familiar.
He tries to go back to sleep and find himself dreaming a group of people dragging a young woman away from a young boy and a young girl. Both of the children have golden hair while the woman has shiny, black hair. A dead man is impaled on what looks like a spaceship. The vision blows up in a combination of golden and green light. It ends with the silhouette of a woman carrying away the young girl. And the young boy is left lying face down on the ground with a glowing sword lying just out of reach of his little hands.
– IT TAKES GRACE TO HUNT WHEN IT’S DARKSOME
Legends of Windemere 