Max Baker: Guardian of the Ninth Sector (22 page)

The three of them ascended the winding staircase, Max leading the way.  He was nervous.  In the short time that he had known Donovan, he had considered him loyal to the Council and to Max.  His heart beat wildly in his chest.

“Are your hands supposed to be doing that?” Noah asked.

Max looked down at his hands. They were pulsating brightly.  He went faster up the stairs. 

They reached a closed wooden door; on the other side, they heard voices.  Max placed his ear against the oak door, but they remained muffled and inaudible.

“What are they saying?” Kennedy asked.

“I can’t make out anything,” Max whispered, pressing his ear closer to the door.  He could hear two men arguing back and forth, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying.

“Why don’t you just use your superpowers?” Noah asked.

“We haven’t covered espionage tactics yet,” Max said to him.  “And Donovan forgot to leave the instruction manual, so unless your suggestions come with directions, keep them to yourself.

“Do you think that Donovan will teach you stuff like that?  Because that would be pretty awesome,” Noah said above a whisper.  Both Kennedy and Max shushed him immediately.

Max placed his hand to the door and closed his eyes, concentrating on the voices behind the door.

“What are you doing?” Noah asked.

“Trying to use my superpowers,” Max whispered back to him.  Suddenly the world around him seemed to fade away, and he could hear the voices in the other room perfectly.

“Why are you doing this?” Donovan said. His voice sounded tired and broken.

“I told you,” a voice said, “that you picked the wrong side, Donovan.”

“
I
picked the wrong side?  You are choosing to side against the prophecy of the Guardian.  You are choosing to side with the dark forces.  You choose to side against your home.  Where is your loyalty, brother?”  His voice was angry and venomous. 

Max heard the bone chilling sound of someone getting punched hard.  “My loyalty?” the voice asked.  “You are a stupid little man.  My loyalty has always been to the kingdom.  My loyalty is to a peaceful world…a peaceful universe.  Emperor Ausiris will bring peace and balance back to the Ninth Sector.”

“Ausiris? Bringing peace?  You are mad my old friend.  Have you forgotten what the old man has done, or are you just choosing to ignore it?  He waged war on his own people when they refused to elect him into the Council.  His armies slaughtered half the population of Arressnia, and he enslaved the ones fortunate enough to survive.  Do you think that same man will now bring peace?”

“That was the past, comrade,” the man said.  “Arressnia now prospers under his control.”

“You are a fool for believing such lies, Lukas,” Donovan said.  “Why do you think Ausiris wants the crystals?  He will use them to bring war until he has the entire Ninth Sector under his control.  The planets that will not immediately fall to their knees, he will destroy.”

“Sometimes, my friend, you must destroy a planet to get everyone’s attention.”

“He is using you, Lukas,” Donovan pleaded with him.  “When he has the crystals, he will make you bow down to him, just like everyone else,” Donovan said.  “He will take the crystals from here and burn this planet to ashes.”

“Rubbish.  I will be rewarded,” Lukas said proudly.  “And as far as this cesspool you refer to as a planet…well…sometimes sacrifices must be made.  Sometimes you need to set an example for the greater good of the kingdom.  And you know as well as I do, no one will miss this place.

You of all people should know better.   You stood beside me in the trenches of Triferria.  The assassinations that the Council had us carry out.  The black op missions, the secret wars, they were all initiated by the Elders.  Do you think what we were doing was right?  Do you think what we were doing was just?  The blood is on your hands just as much as it is on mine.”

Max could feel the lump in his throat growing larger as he listened to the two men go back and forth.  He wanted to trust that Donovan and the Council of Twelve were good.  He wanted to know that he was fighting for the right team.  As he listened to them, his conscience grew uneasy. 

“What are they saying?” Kennedy whispered.

Max shushed her.

“I bet you it’s just Donovan babbling on and on, isn’t it?” Noah asked.

“Please, shut up.”

The voices came back in tune.  “We did what we were instructed to do to keep peace throughout the sector,” Donovan answered.  “It was not our place to question the Council’s reasoning or judgment.  But at the end of the day, we knew that we were doing those things to protect the citizens of the Ninth Sector.  We knew that we were preventing an intergalactic war.  We were fighting the good fight, Lukas.”

“And I continue to fight that good fight, brother,” Lukas said.  “I continue to fight for peace.  I fight for the protection of the citizens.  Ausiris has made a promise of peace.  He will unite the nations and rule over them with an authoritative power that the Elders could never dream of.  We will live in a utopia.  It will be like the stories we read of the Armeddia during the Golden Ages.  It will be glorious brother.”

“It will be anarchy, Lukas,” Donovan said.  “You speak of peace, but your actions, Ausiris’s actions, will bring war and chaos.  It will bring destruction.  He has aligned himself with Harowadur, for God’s sake.  Do you think that an army of demons longs after peace?  They would love nothing more than to rip the hearts out of anything that moves.”

“You cannot be this daft, Donovan,” Lukas said.  “Harowadur is nothing more than a pawn.  They will man the frontline of offense so that true soldiers like you and I no longer have to risk our necks in battle anymore.  We can serve as commanders on the battlefield, fighting for the kingdom.”

“Do not include me in your twisted little fantasy, Lukas,” Donovan said.  “I will never pledge allegiance to that monster.”

“Surely you know that
your
guardian will lose, Donovan.  You have heard the prophecies-”

“I am very familiar with
the
prophecy, Lukas!” Donovan interrupted.

“You have heard both of them,” Lukas said.  “You know that Max Baker is not the true Guardian.  You know that the Dark Bringer changed everything that night.  Baker will fall to the hands of Ausiris.”

“And you know that what you are saying is nothing more than heresy that has been spread by the power monger who will place the Ninth Sector in a strangle hold the moment he possesses those crystals.”

“We shall see, Donovan,” Lukas said.  Max heard what sounded like a gun cocking, and he knew that he could not wait any longer.  He twisted the handle to the door, but it was locked.

“I need you two to get back,” Max said, lifting his other hand to the door.

“Finally,” Noah said as he and Kennedy moved a few steps down the staircase.  Max’s hands began to glow brightly.  Heat radiated off of them, and Max had to turn his face to shield it from the warmth.  He channeled all of his energy into the palms of his hands.  The entire hallway was bathed in the blue light.

“This is new,” Max heard Noah say behind him.

Max pressed firmly on the door and released the enrgy.  There was a loud bang as the door splintered into a million pieces.

The first thing Max was able to see through the dust and debris was that Lukas’s gun was not pointed at Donovan, but rather at him. Max lifted up his hand to attack, but it was too late.  He felt the bullet pierce through his chest a split second after he heard the gun fire.  Max’s ears were ringing and everything seemed far away.  The room began to turn an odd, pale shade as Max looked down to see that his white t-shirt was slowly turning scarlet.

Max fell to his knees.  He could hear screaming.  He looked back to Lukas, who still had the gun pointed at him.  Max held his hand up to shield himself from being hit by another bullet.  He knew that this couldn’t be the end.  He knew that the world was depending on him not to die right now, not to be bested by a common thug like Lukas.  He saw Lukas turn his gun toward Donovan. 

Max mustered the last remaining energy that he had and closed his eyes.  He imagined himself standing behind Lukas.  He could barely focus as every heartbeat echoed with pain.  He pushed the discomfort out of his brain and concentrated.  He pushed the faraway screaming out of his head as well.“Looks like you put stock in the wrong prophecy,” he heard Lukas say just inches away.  He opened his eyes to see that he was standing less than a foot from Lukas.  Max wrapped his arms around Lukas. 

He felt his knees begin to buckle as he held on for dear life; the giant bucked with all his might to get free.  He heard his pulse racing loudly in his ears.  He felt his grasp loosen as the big brute tried to jerk away from him.

Max knew that he had only a second or two before Lukas would break free…and only a couple minutes after that before he bled to death.  It was time for one last hoorah.  Max began directing all of his energy into his chest and arms.  He felt it coursing through his body.  Miles away, he could still hear people screaming.  He could see Donovan yelling at him from the chair below.  Max let the energy explode out of him.

He heard Lukas scream loudly and then there was only silence.  He watched the ceiling of the room move further and further away as he fell back.  The room began to fade away and turn white.  He closed his eyes as he slammed into the ground. He couldn’t feel the impact; everything had gone numb.  He could hear a commotion around him.  He opened his eyes to see the two dead eyes of Lukas staring back at him.

Max closed his eyes again.  He heard Donovan screaming at Noah and Kennedy to untie him.  He heard Kennedy crying loudly as she entered through the door.  He felt Noah grab his hand.  Max heard him say that everything would be okay…and then everything disappeared.

Max opened his eyes to find himself lying in the center of a large room.  His head felt fuzzy, and he tried to remember how he had ended up here, but couldn’t.  Something about a gun.  Something about crystals.  Everything was distorted.

Max stood up and surveyed the empty dark room.  He was alone.  Suddenly he had a flashback to the moment that a car had collided into him; he heard the engine revving, echoing throughout the room.  He remembered being hit by the car and then falling into the street.  He wondered if it had killed him.  But there were other memories swirling around his head.  Everything was fragmented.  Why couldn’t he remember?

In his peripherals, he saw movement from the corner of the room.  He wasn’t alone.  In the shadows, sitting on a large golden throne, a man sat looking back at him.  Max felt his heart jump into his throat.

The man wore a dark cloak, and his face was hidden by an oversized hood.  Two hands extended from the black robes that shrouded him and rested on the arms of the throne; they were old and decrepit.  His long fingernails were a putrid shade of yellow.  Liver spots pocked his brittle skin on the top of his wrinkled hand.  The old man looked familiar to Max, but he couldn’t remember why.

“Hello?”

“I’m glad to see that you are finally awake,” the old man’s voice sounded frail and nasally. 

“Who are you?”  Max asked.

“Are you going to waste my time and ask me questions you already know the answers to, boy?” the old man hissed at him.  “My name is the one they whisper about…hoping that I am some nightmare that will soon disappear.  Mr. Baker, I am the bringer of the darkness; the ruler of worlds.  I am the one that sparks fear in the hearts of the citizens of the Ninth Sector.  I am the one that sparks fear in
your
heart, boy.”

“Ausiris,” Max whispered. All of his memories came flooding back to him.  The library, Sidus Refugium, Romania, the bullet hitting him in the chest…he remembered everything.

“That is Emperor Ausiris to you!” his voice boomed and echoed throughout the room.  He rose from his chair and advanced quickly on Max’s position.  Max was caught off guard by how fast the old man moved and nearly tripped as he back peddled. 

Ausiris threw back his hood to reveal his disfigured face.  He continued advancing until Max couldn’t back up any further.  Max flattened himself against the wall, and Ausiris came within a foot of him.

“Why am I here?” Max said feebly.

“Why
are
you here?” Ausiris answered with a question of his own.  “I have been wondering the same thing ever since you appeared on the middle of my floor.  For you know as well as I do that you do not belong here, boy.”

“Stop calling me that,” Max said through his clinched teeth.  A fleeting thought crossed his mind; he should try and catch the old man off guard with an attack.  Surely Max could handle this old bag of bones.

Ausiris’s old hand flew from under his cloak and wrapped around Max’s neck the moment the thought entered into his mind.  His hand was cold as it constricted around Max’s throat. Sharp fingernails dug into Max’s skin.  He struggled to break free but couldn’t. The old man easily lifted him off the ground.  Max felt the increased pressure on his windpipe and tried to kick at the old man.

“There now…
boy
,” Ausiris said, “let’s play nice.”  Max knew Ausiris had read his mind when he had thought of attacking him.  He needed to do something quickly and thought about spitting in the old man’s deformed face.  The moment the thought ran through his mind, Ausiris smiled widely.  He was still listening to his thoughts.

“Put me down,” Max managed to choke out.  He felt his windpipe collapsing under Ausiris’s tightened grip.  He felt his eyes begin to bulge out from their sockets.  He heard his heartbeat echoing between his ears and felt the organ racing in his chest.  And then he felt it begin to slow.  He felt the room begin to go dark.

Ausiris gave Max a curious look, grinned and then dropped him to the floor.  Max fell to his bottom and started gasping for air.  The oxygen burned as it filled his lungs.  He wheezed loudly, trying to suck in as much air as possible.  After a few moments, he could feel the blood returning to his head and felt his heart begin to beat normally again.

“Are you ready to stop playing this game, boy?” Ausiris asked as he took a step back from Max.  “Are you ready for me to end your miserable little existence right here and now?”  He paced to the center of the room and turned to face Max.  “Are you ready for me to end your poor, eternal suffering?”

The old man was mocking him.

“Are you ready for me to put a halt to all of your melodramatic nonsense?  Tell me, boy, how do you feel when you stare at those photos of your father late at night?”

“Shut up,” Max fumed.  He could feel his heart begin to pound as anger flooded his body.

“How does it make you feel when you sit and cry, longing for him to come home and save you from your poor, miserable excuse for a mother?  How would you like me to save you from ever feeling that way again?”

“Shut up!” Max yelled as he rose to his feet.  He didn’t have to look down to know that his hands were radiating with the blue light; the whole room was illuminated.

“I can end it all right here, Max.  I can make all of the pain just disappear.  You’ll never walk in on your mother passed out drunk again.  You’ll never be made fun of at school again.  You’ll never feel alone or sad, ever again.  Just say the word, and I’ll make it all stop.”

“Final warning,” Max said, extending both of his arms in Ausiris’s direction.  He could feel his lifeforce collecting in his outstretched palms.

“Say the word, boy, and you’ll never have to cry over your dead little brother.”

Max could no longer suppress his rage.  He shot a lightning bolt out of his hand toward Ausiris, who simply lifted his hand and deflected it away as if it were nothing.  Ausiris’s palm turned a bright shade of orange, and before Max could move, a beam of energy hit him square in the chest.  Max crashed hard into the wall behind him and collapsed onto the ground.

Max sat paralyzed as Ausiris advanced on his position once again.  Max struggled to lift his head to look up at the old man towering over him.

“You are a foolish boy,” Ausiris said.  “Why do you fight?”

“I fight to stop evil men like you,” Max said.  “I fight for the honor of the Elders.”

“The Elders?” Ausiris laughed.  “What do you know of the Elders?  A group of old men who mettle too much in the affairs of others.  Power hungry men, each serving their own agenda.  Max, you are playing for the wrong team.”

“Funny, that’s not the first time I’ve heard that today.”

“I would imagine not, dear boy,” Ausiris said.  “Maybe I’ve been wrong about you and your little friends.  Maybe the problem is that you haven’t been properly educated.”  Ausiris looked down at Max and smiled again.  It took everything in Max not to vomit.  The old man extended his hand, but Max refused to touch the pruned appendage.  After a moment, Ausiris retracted it.

“Let me give you the condensed version.  I’m sure your little mind can comprehend the truth if I break it down enough for you.  Surely you can digest it if I spoon feed it to you.”

“Can you get to the point please?” Max asked. 

“Max, the men that you
honor
…are corrupt and vile men.  They have sat idle as the Ninth Sector has crumbled from its former days of glory.  They say they fight for peace and justice, but they actually fight for profit and power.  They have pulled the proverbial wool over the eyes of their sheep.”

Max had no idea what the old man was babbling about; instead, he focused his attention on looking for an escape route.  He knew that he had to get back to Kennedy and Noah.

“Can you please focus for one minute, boy?”  Ausiris said.  “Do not worry about your friends…General Gorthon will take good care of them until we join them at the battlefield.”

“You realize I could give a crap less about what you are saying, right?” Max asked defiantly, causing Ausiris to grimace.

“Max… I plan on turning their little system on its head.  The Ninth Sector was not meant to sit flaccid and dormant.”  Ausiris moved closer to Max.  “The Ninth Sector is the epicenter of the universe, boy.  It is meant to rule over all other sectors.  It was meant to be ruled by a king, not a bunch of cowards.”

“Let me guess,” Max interrupted, “you’re wearing the crown and carrying the scepter in this twisted little scenario?”

“Someone has to,” Ausiris answered.  “Who better to do so?  You could join me, Max.  Together we could change the prophecies.  We could rule the Ninth Sector together, that is, until the Fallen One rises.  Can you imagine it, Max?”

Max was confused.  It was as if he had started reading a book halfway through and had no idea what had happened for the first 200 pages.  As far as Max knew, there was only one prophecy, and he had never heard anything about a Fallen One.

“Oh, this is rich,” Ausiris said, and Max knew that he had been reading his mind.  “You do know that there are two prophecies?  You would think that they would have at least told you your purpose in all of this.”

“I think they were getting around to that right before you decided to make a move on the crystals.”

“I’m sure they were,” Ausiris chuckled.  “There are two prophecies boy.  And
I
am the one that they were written about.  The emperor to rule all worlds.  The Dark Bringer.”  Ausiris stood up tall.

“You’re in there too.” Ausiris turned and began pacing again.  “Let me see if I can recount it.  The Guardian is born of a breed not of his world. Something something.  Twin stars that will be separated, one of which will rise to greatness, while the other will fade into darkness.  Blah blah blah.  The Guardian, accompanied by allies of his world and protected by the dagger of another will rise to face the Dark Bringer.  It’s quite poetic actually.”

“Yeah, you sound like a real Edgar Allen, but can you please skip to the part about me kicking your ancient butt,” Max said. “I’d really like to hear that part.”

“That’s the beauty…you lose.”

Max scoffed at the man.

Ausiris stopped dead in his tracks, “You don’t believe me?”  He turned and faced Max.  He knelt down so that he was eye level with him.  Max could smell the stink of the old man’s breath with each exhale.

“Well, you did put up such a compelling argument, and painted me such a vivid picture, but no.” Max struggled to get back to his feet.  He was weak, and there was a piercing pain coming from his chest.

“So would you like for me to skip over the part where it talks about me destroying you and your allies?  You’d like me to skip all of the juicy details and leave out the parts about the rise of the Fallen One?  You would just like me to bypass where the Dark Bringer and the Fallen One rule over the universe as one?  Because those are my favorite parts.”

“You are a liar,” Max said. He spit into Ausiris’s face.

“I may be a lot of things, Max Baker,” Ausiris said, wiping the spit from his face, “but I am not a liar.  I will kill all of your little friends as I force you to watch.  I will kill the Protector, and the Elders, and everyone else who puts their misguided faith into the prophecy of the Guardian.  I will kill your mother and your schoolmates.  And when I am finished, I will set your miserable excuse for a planet on fire.  And when you finally beg for mercy, I will end your worthless life. 

But do not fret, because your death will bring good to this universe.  I will use you as an example.  I will hang your lifeless body high above the streets of Arressnia for all of my people to see.  They will live in fear because of your sacrifice, Max Baker.”

Max could feel his heart racing, but it was pained, and a white, hot heat shot threw his chest with each beat that it took.  Ausiris seemed further away than he had before.

“And after you die, the Fallen One will rise up from the ashes and rule alongside me,” his voice grew louder and louder with each word.  There was a crazed look in the beady yellow eye.  “It is because of your death that all of this will happen.”   Ausiris’s hands were glowing with the orange mana.