Max Baker: Guardian of the Ninth Sector (11 page)

An explosion of blue light narrowly flew past the creature, causing it to regain focus on Donovan.  Through the doorway, they watched as the beast looked past the man, another ball of energy forming in his palms, and spotted their group standing outside of the building. The beast roared angrily and sprinted past Donovan.

“Shut the door, Max!” Kennedy squealed. 

But it was too late. 

The creature was merely feet away from the door before she had finished her sentence.  Max stood there frozen and braced himself for impact.

Right before the creature reached the door, Max saw another burst of blue light detonate from behind it.  The black slits that had been focused so intently on Max and his friends grew wide and then went dead. 

The creature’s momentum carried it through the frame of the door, causing an explosion of brick and mortar.  It erupted out of the narrow doorway, slammed into the pavement, and came to a sliding stop only inches away from where Max stood.

It lay there motionless behind the library, smoke rising from its body.  Donovan exited the building, his hands quickly turning from blue back to their normal hue of pinkish flesh.

“The crazy guy is a wizard,” Noah said to Max.

“I am not a wizard,” Donovan said as he approached the lifeless beast.

“You just made magic light come out of your hands,” Noah said.  “Don’t tell me you’re not a wizard.”

“It was not magic light,” Donovan said, placing his hand in front of the creature’s snout.  He held it there for a moment, “I harnessed my lifeforce.”

“Magic, lifeforce, whatever you want to call it…sounds like sorcery to me, man.”

Donovan removed a strange looking dagger from the waistband of his pants.  The elongated blade curved back and forth, ending in a sharp point.  The handle was wrapped by the tail of a creature that resembled a dragon; it was the same creature that Max had seen on the doorway of the castle.  Max thought the dagger itself looked like something one would buy at a renaissance festival, but much older.

“Dude,” Noah said, looking wide eyed at the blade, “have you been carrying that around in your pants the whole time?  Weren’t you afraid you’d cut your…you know?”

“Grow up, Noah,” Kennedy said, her face twisted in disgust.

“What is that thing?” Max asked.

Donovan did not answer immediately as he continued looking the creature up and down.  He rolled the beast onto its back; the beast’s razor sharp claws hung lifelessly in the air.  After a moment, he lifted the blade over his head and brought it down swiftly into the chest of the creature.  A weak groan escaped from the creature’s open snout.

Kennedy screamed.

“This is a scout demon,” Donovan said, removing the blade from the creature’s chest cavity; it was covered in black ooze.  Donovan made a face of repulsion as he pulled a handkerchief from his coat and wiped it off.  He left the cloth napkin on the ground beside the creature and stood up facing the group.

“Can someone please tell me what is going on now?” Kennedy asked, her face turning a slight shade of green.

“Unfortunately, Miss Coleman, we are completely out of time,” Donovan said to them. He stood back and sheathed his blade.  “There will be more of these coming once this one doesn’t return, and I can’t risk fighting them off with Max not being ready to assist me.”

“Me?” Max asked.

Donovan stared deeply into Max’s eyes.  It made Max feel uncomfortable.  Donovan cocked his head to the side as if he were uncertain if Max really was this guardian character, or if he was just a normal, 16 year old boy.

“My car is around front,” Donovan said, finally breaking his stare down with Max.  He turned to head back into the library.  “Use the alleyway and I will meet you out front.”

“Whoa,” Kennedy said.  Donavan stopped in his tracks and turned to face her.  “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Miss Coleman, there will be more of these creatures coming once this one doesn’t return,” Donovan spoke quickly and with purpose.  “I must insist that you three accompany me to the Council so we can receive further instructions.  If you want to live, you’ll stop wasting what precious time we have and get in the car.”  He spun around, quickly heading towards the gaping hole where the door used to be.

“Where are you going?” Max asked.

“More than a handful of humans just saw a scout demon in the flesh.  I have to assess any collateral damage for my report.”  The man entered into the building and disappeared into the rubble.  The group lingered in silence for a moment.

“I still contend that he’s nuts,” Noah said.

“Yep,” Max and Kennedy said simultaneously.

The car entered onto I-20 in silence.  Kennedy sat in the backseat with Noah; both of them stared out of their respective windows.  Max sat up front and examined the picture of himself that he had found crudely taped to the glove compartment door.  It was his school yearbook photo from his freshmen year.  He looked much scrawnier than he did nowadays.

“Why do you have this?” Max asked, finally breaking the silence.  He held the photo in the air.

“I was not informed of what you would look like,” Donovan said.

The car’s engine revved. Max saw the speedometer reach 85.  In the side view mirror, Max could see Forest Valley fading into the background.  He felt queasy as he watched it disappear beyond the horizon.

“Where are we going?” Max asked.

“I have told you,” said Donovan, “we are going to see the Council.

“And where exactly is this council located?”

Donovan did not respond. He kept his eyes fixed straight ahead.

“Hey!” Kennedy exclaimed from the back seat.  “He asked you a very valid question.  My parents aren’t going to like me leaving the city limits with some weirdo.”

“The Council is located on Sidus Refugium,” Donovan said.

“Sidu…what?” Kennedy asked.

“The star of refuge,” Max said.

“You speak Latin?” Donovan asked.

“Only a little,” Max said. 

“That is very impressive,” Donovan said, staring at the boy.

“What does that mean: the star of refuge?”

“It is a neutral zone for the Council of Twelve.  When it was discovered, 325,000 years ago, it was void of all life and truly uninhabitable due to the lack of atmosphere.  After the formation of the Council, the kingdoms of the planets of the Ninth Sector built a sanctuary for them.  Since then, additions have been made, all of the gateways have been discovered and secured, and the planet will be able to serve as a safe haven for refugees in the event of another war.”

“Wait,” Noah said.  “We’re going to an uninhabitable planet, discovered hundreds of thousands of years ago, to see a bunch of old fogeys that control some place called the Ninth Sector?” 

“That is correct,” Donovan answered.

“And how exactly,” Noah continued, “do you explain that the name of this planet, which was founded hundreds of thousands of years ago, is in Latin?  Latin was invented on Earth 200 years ago.”

“More like 2,000 years ago, moron,” Kennedy corrected him.

“Whatever,” Noah said, rolling his eyes.  “Explain that.”

“Do you think that we just abandoned this place completely after the Great War?”  Donovan asked.  “All of your spoken and written languages originated from
travelers.
”

“Travelers?” Max asked.

“A person that travels from one planet to another,” Donovan said.  “After the Great War, once the Council had determined that Armeddia was safe to return to-”

“Armeddia?” Kennedy asked, interrupting him.  “I am so confused right now.”

“Earth used to be known as Armeddia,” Donovan said.  “But that is another story for another time.  After Earth was deemed inhabitable again, a survivalist group of travelers started a colony in what you know as North Africa.”

“This is crap,” Noah called from the back seat.  “What you’re saying disputes everything that modern science has discovered.”

“Your modern science,” Donovan continued, “is nothing more than boardrooms full of scientists and doctors using primitive technology to make their best guesses about how the world was created.  Look at your theory of evolution. The bones of homo habilis are nothing more than the bones of a Gorthic Demon, not a link in the chain of human evolution.”

“Gorthic?” Max asked.  “Is that any relation to Gorthon.”

Donovan jerked the wheel of the car as the name of the demon left Max’s lips.  A tractor-trailer in the neighboring lane blew its horn, and Donovan swerved the car back over.  His face turned stoic and lost all of its color.  He pulled the car over into the emergency lane of the freeway.

“How do you know that name?” Donovan asked.

“It was in a dream,” Max said.

“Gorthon is very, very real.”  Donovan’s voice was shaky, and Max shifted uncomfortably in his seat.  “And he is very, very dangerous.  Please tell me how you know of him.”

Max proceeded to tell Donovan about Gorthon and the dark city.  He told him about the castle and about the man with the fedora and scarred face.  Max could feel everyone staring at him.

“You’re such a weirdo,” Kennedy said from the back seat after Max was finished.

“Shut up, you stupid snob,” Noah fired at her.

“Snob?” Kennedy retorted angrily.  “It was you two
snobs
that stopped talking to me in the eighth grade.  Not the other way around.”

“Can you two please be quiet?” Donovan snapped at them angrily, resembling a father midway through a long road trip. 

“It’s real, isn’t it?” Max asked softly.

“The place you are describing is Arressnia, the dark planet,” Donovan said.  “And the man that you speak of, the one with the fedora, his name is Ausiris, and he has every intention of one day ruling over the Ninth Sector.  He has already taken over Harowadur, Gorthon’s home planet.  The fact that you visited the castle changes things…” Donovan trailed off. 

“Changes what?” Max asked.

“There is so much to tell you and so little time,” Donovan said, pulling the car back onto the interstate.  “We will have to wait until we reach the Council.”

“You said that you would answer all of our questions,” Max said.

“And I intend on keeping that promise, but I need you to see the Elders first.  We have to confirm that you are who we think you are.”

“The Guardian?” Max asked.

Donovan didn’t answer this question, instead he exited off of the freeway.  There was an awkward silence that filled the car as Donovan navigated the city streets, making one turn and then another.  As Donovan took another turn, Atlanta came into view over the horizon.

Donovan stopped the car in front of a tall, abandoned building.  They were still a couple of miles from downtown, but the scenery here was far different than the suburban streets of Forest Valley.  Max could see Kennedy push down the door lock, a worried expression on her face.  Donovan put the car in park and pulled a cellphone from his coat. He began typing on the small keyboard of the phone.

“Why do I have the sinking suspicion that this Sidus Refugium place is really code for a creepy old building where you plan to murder and rape us?” Noah asked sarcastically.  Donovan ignored him, still typing.

“As much as it pains me,” Kennedy said, “I have to agree with Noah on this one.  Mr. Reese, can you just take us back home please?”  The only answer was the sound of Donovan’s fingers tapping the screen of the phone.

“Max,” Donovan said, “there is a high probability that you are the Guardian of the Ninth Sector.  If the Council deems you so, then the entirety of the sector will put its faith into you to protect us from Ausiris, Gorthon and whatever else might threaten the safety or security of the citizens.”  Donovan exited the vehicle and headed for the entrance way to the building.

“Wait, what?” Max asked.

Max, Noah and Kennedy exited the car and followed Donovan to the entrance way.  The street was empty, but Max felt as if they were being watched from afar.  The surrounding buildings also looked either abandoned or extremely run down. Most of them were covered in graffiti.  The only signs of life were coming from the liquor store across the street. 

“You can’t just say something like that and walk away,” Max said, calling after Donovan.

Donovan knocked three times on the decrepit steel door that seemed to be loosely hanging from its hinges.  It echoed with each rap of his knuckles.  The door slowly opened by itself, and Donovan entered into it. 

Kennedy looked at Max and silently shook her head. “I’m not going in there,” Kennedy said, still shaking her head.

“We have to,” Max said.

“
You
might have to,” Kennedy said, “but
I
don’t have
to do anything.”  She examined her cell phone, and Max could see that she had no signal.  “Of course,” she sighed.

“Look,” Max said, trying to comfort her, “if it gets weird, we’ll all leave together.”

“
If
it gets weird?” Kennedy asked rhetorically.  “We’re way past
if
, Max.”

“Weirder then,” Max said, and he motioned for her to enter.

“If you want,” Noah said, “you can stand out here and wait for us to get back.”  He gave a quick wink and entered into the building.

Kennedy looked into the dark building and then to the car.  Across the street, two large men walked out of the liquor store, carrying their booze in brown paper sacks. One of them nodded in their direction.  She sighed deeply, “Fine.”

The two followed Noah into the building.