(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!
After four long hours, the new Mars guardian is tired, hungry, and lost. SEAS had led the young boy down one bright hallway after another with no luck. At one point, the guardian was brought to a connecting building that is shaped like an ice cream cone and holds an indoor park filled with alien plants and animals. Fate doesn’t even remember how to get back to his personal quarters. He finally stops at one of the dimmed windows and starts to think of a way to fool SEAS into sending him in the right direction. After a couple of minutes of intense thought, he figures out how to trick the sentient computer.
“I am positive that this is the right way,” says SEAS.
“You said that two hours ago. I’m going to find the room on my own.”
“Find it on your own? I seriously doubt that you could accomplish such a task without my help. I have been on the sun base for countless millenium while you have been on it for two days. All of your attempts will be done in vain.”
“We’ll just have to see about that,” whispers Fate as a cunning smile begins to cross his tired face.
Fate tries to concentrate on using his luck powers as a compass instead of just letting them work on their own. He reaches out with his birthright powers and he blindly directs it toward his unknown destination. A narrow beam of golden energy slowly moves from Fate’s glowing eyes down the silent hallway. The ancient computer sees what he is trying to do and instinctively explains the problem that it notices.
“You are sending your power the wrong way.”
“What did you just say, SEAS?” asks Fate. The golden energy dissipates into the air and his eyes return to their normal blue color.
“The data storage area is at the other end of this hallway and . . . I should not have said any of that. Solix is going to be very angry with the two of us for this intrusion. He will be angry with me most of all.”
“I seriously doubt that. I’ll take all responsibility for this investigation. But thanks for the help, SEAS. Tell Solix that I’ll be seeing him very soon.”
“Hold on a second. So what if you know where the room is. You still do not know Solix’s private password to the computer files. I will not be able to help you with that. He has hidden it from me.”
“As you can see, I don’t need your help. Besides, I have my methods. Some of them actually work every now and then.”
When Fate opens a large red door, the light of fifty computer screens temporarily blinds him. As soon as he can see clearly again, he beholds pictures of every single planet, moon, and nebula in the galaxy. Hanging on the back wall of the room is a huge screen that Fate is sure contains the information he wants.
“What is the password?” asks a static-filled computer voice as Fate sits in front of the big screen. A weird object that resembles a laser pointer comes out of the console and quickly levels itself at Fate’s head. He calmly stares at the strange object while he concentrates on finding the needed password.
Using his powers to find the answer, Fate’s mind suddenly goes back to his time in the armory. He remembers the empty rack with the strange names and that one of the glass cases was shaped like Solix’s medallion. The name on the case is blurry in his memory, so he takes his best guess at what it says.
“I repeat. What is the required password?”
“The password . . . is . . . Uh . . . let me think. I got it. The password is Solstar. What the hell is a Solstar?” answers Fate with cold sweat trickling down his face.
“Your password is correct. The Solstar medallion is the magical sun weapon that Solix always has with him. It is possibly the most powerful weapon in the whole universe. What else would you like to know, sir?”
“Good answer. What do you know about the empty weapon rack?”
“I do not understand the question. Please be more specific.”
“Fair enough. There is an empty weapon rack in the armory found on the southern section of this base. On the rack are ten strange names. I would like to know what is supposed to be on that rack and why the ten objects aren’t there anymore.”
“Now I know what you are referring to. That is the weapon rack that used to hold the magic weapons of the guardians. All of the ten weapons were made in a hidden forge that was buried deep beneath the surface of one of the nine planets. The planet guardians took rare materials from their planets and gave them to the Alicoran armorer in order to receive the guardians’ powerful weapons. Of course there were some restrictions or side effects for each weapon, but that is something I have no existing files on. When the weapons left the base, Solix decided to purge most of the information of their abilities. The only remaining guardian weapon on the sun base is the Solstar medallion, which belongs to Solix.”
“What happened to the other nine weapons? They didn’t just disappear into thin air or get up and walk away. Well, for I know they could have walked away. Did the original guardians take their magic weapons with them when they left?”
“No. I do not know where the other nine planet weapons are currently located. Only Solix knows where they are being kept. And he is very secretive.”
“Tell me something I don’t know. I’ll ask him when I meet with him later. Do you have any files on the Solstar’s power? What can that fancy piece of jewelry do?”
“Those files are still in my database. Each one of the colored stones on the medallion has a specific power. The center stone, called the sunstone, is the focusing lens for the smaller stones’ different powers. The stone of a planet can only be used if that planet guardian is still in this solar system. The only stones’ that work at this present time are those of Venus, Mars, Earth, Neptune, and Jupiter. Their powers are that of air, ground, and water control as well as limited healing capabilities and lightning blasts.”
“Hold it! Back up! Why in the world would the Jupiter stone be working? There is no Jupiter guardian on this team. That has to be a mistake. Check your files again and make sure it’s a mess up.”
“I do not have enough information in my database in order to fully determine if the information is a mistake. SEAS is the one who is monitoring that particular energy signature. Is there anything else you would like to know or can I shut down my voice system?” asks the computer system.
“Don’t leave just yet. I need you with me for a few more minutes. I want you to show me the entire list of the original guardians, minus Solix, and where they are right now. They might know something that can help answer my remaining questions. Or they might just confuse me even more. Either way, I’ll get to have some fun and get off this base,” Fate replies as he stands up and rubs his stiffening neck.
The screen turns a putrid green and a list of nine names, in an alien language, appear in bright, blue letters. Fate sees absolutely nothing wrong when the names first appear, but when a big word in English suddenly flashes across the screen; the new Mars guardian discovers Solix’s biggest secret.
The word is still flashing long after Fate kicks down the door and charges down the bright hallway. He now knows that he will have to either find out the entire truth from the sun guardian or he will leave this brand new life of adventure behind. As SEAS repairs the broken door, the bold-faced word stops flashing and appears on every single computer screen in the room. The only light remaining in the data storage room is the word ‘Deceased’ in bold, red letters.
Legends of Windemere 