THE VROL TRILOGY (18 page)

Max plodded along, sweeping the rear,
while looking around and back to make sure that Johnson hadn't
flanked them. Max knew that Johnson was a military man - a soldier,
and one highly educated in the art of war, while he himself was a
scientist with minimal military training, despite his rank of
commander. He had never possessed a command outside the laboratory,
but he was adept at leading and organizing, as he had led a team of
scientists throughout the SSCC research and development that later
facilitated his trip to Earth.

"So Draagh," Max asked, "Technology
doesn't work in this world, right?"

Draagh nodded while walking a few
meters ahead, using his staff as a large walking stick.

"That is correct, my son, and that is
why Lt. Johnson's ship failed to get further than it did. It simply
stopped working, and of course, crashed where we found
it."

"And which world is this?" asked
Jennie.

"We are in the Black Forest of Bavaria,
the year being 4267 Christian era. We have slipped to Earth's
future, by 1,450 years, give or take a few. Oh the marvel of it
all! And the best part is that here, yes here the two of you will
be able to avail yourselves of all the wonders of your
heritage."

The two military officers had
astonished looks on their faces. They could hardly understand
traveling from one location to another with a large stick, but the
addition of time travel made it all the more confusing.

"…and Max, you will have quite a bit
more to learn than young Jennie here."

Jennie gave Max a rather
smug
oh, don't I know it
type of look, but her face changed to that of
astonishment when the old man continued.

"Max, I must tutor you in the ways of
magic, as you are not only a lycan, but also a mage."

They both burst out laughing as Draagh
watched them fall into hysterics.

"Magic? Magic?" exclaimed Max. "Magic
is mythical. There is… hey, so what you do is magic? It looked more
technical than that, with you using your staff and whipping out a
holographic console… that's magic?"

Jennie jumped in and said, "I thought
it was technical too."

"My children," continued Draagh, "magic
permeates everything here. It is all around us, and while it is
true that it was not available to you on the Earth we just left, it
did exist in Earth's past. Do you not remember me recounting the
history of Earth, and how there was a form of energy?" Both nodded
as he continued. "And then how we modified Man's genetic code in
order for him to advance on its own? Well, that energy was magic -
is magic. Yes, magic indeed. This world is full of it. We restored
man's ability to harness magic on this world."

"But Draagh," asked Max, "if I can
perform magic, why can't Jennie? Is there something wrong with her?
Is she broken or something?"

Jennie shot Max a hateful glare, but
Draagh waved his hand in dismissal as he laughed
lightly.

"Oh my dear boy, No, Jennie
is not broken. In fact she is quite a fine specimen," to which
Jennie immediately thought,
Huh? Specimen?
Pervert!
 Then Draagh looked at her
kindly and said, "My dear young lady. You are lycan, and a fine one
too, but Max here is of mixed heritage. You see, the only beings
that can perform magic in this, or any other world, are
called
mages
. Of
course, there are magical objects that enable normals and enhanced
non-mages to perform certain functions, but for the most part, only
mages are able to take advantage of the full spectrum of the
wonders that we call
magic
!"

Draagh said that last word with a boom
in his voice, causing dozens of birds fly away in a startled panic.
Both Max and Jennie could hear the individual flapping of every
wing in the sky, and once the birds had made sufficient distance
between themselves and the newcomers, the three listened in
silence.

"Johnson's gone," said
Jennie.

"Yeah, he's no longer on my lidar,
either," added Max, half-jesting, as he didn't have laser-radar,
per se, but did have amazing, enhanced senses that dictated Johnson
was out of their range.

Draagh let out a small sigh, then
casually took his pipe out from the pocket in his coat. Filling it
from his satchel, he lit the bowl with a small flame that emanated
from the tip of his finger, which surprised Jennie, but not Max, as
he had seen Draagh do that before. After a couple of relaxing
puffs, Jennie cried out, "Oh. My. God! Are you smoking…
 pot?"

Draagh gave her a sheepish grin and
said, "I prefer to call it by its proper scientific name on Earth,
which is cannabis sativa, and I must insist that it is quite a
noble herb." He looked up and away, as if shooing off all
criticism.

"Um, so…. you're smoking pot," she
retorted.

Max chuckled with a goofy
grin. "Yup. Pops is a toaster," with
toaster
being the term used on Azul
to describe someone who smoked the plant.

"Well, let us continue on our little
journey. I could easily slip us over to our destination, but I feel
it would be best if you used the walk to become accustomed to your
new abilities," said Draagh.

They continued on, but at a slight
angle of north by northwest. As they moved forward, smelling and
listening, they noticed that even their exposed skin took in
environmental information.

"Hey, Gunnarsson," asked Jennie, "Did
you ever even have any military training?"

Max briefly looked at her
as they rambled through the forest, and responded by saying, "Oh, I
had a bit, and the physical part was easy. I blew right through it,
but I was much more interested in the tactical aspects. I was
assigned to the scientific division for the SSCC project, so I
wasn't given that much time in the field. Oh, and could you call
me
Max
? No need
to be so formal."

"No. Gunnarsson," she said flatly, but
added, "I could call you dick-head, if you like."

Max winced. This girl didn't like him
at all. Or at least she was acting that way. Jennie turned her head
slightly away and cracked a small smile. She didn't respect him a
whole lot on a military level, but she found him kind of amusing.
She liked humor, even though it didn't show much through her tough,
yet dega-beautiful exterior.

The three continued ahead, and came
upon a clearing. In the distance, five kilometers from their
location, was a massive castle, similar to those in Earth's ancient
past.

"That is our destination," stated
Draagh, "The stronghold of Krynos, leader of a powerful and
well-organized lycan clan. It is there that you two will learn of
your newfound abilities and hone your skills, as you will soon need
to put them to good use."

"So we will train there?" asked
Jennie?

"Yes, that is quite correct, my dear,"
Draagh responded.

"So who are we going to train with?"
Max questioned.

Draagh grinned softly and said, "Why,
the young and the newly-turned, most likely."

As lycans, vampires and cannibals all
had specific viruses coursing through their systems, they were able
to convert normals to their kinds via infection. And while vampires
turned normals due to the fact that they had short lifespans and
dropped off like flies, lycans did so out of love and respect. If a
lycan clan leader encountered a normal whom he felt would be an
excellent addition to the family, and if that normal agreed to the
change, an addition was made to the already ample numbers in the
clan. This was done during an ancient and detailed ceremony by the
lycans, while vampires simply bit their target, exchanged blood,
and then buried the unwitting fool in the ground (which wasn't even
necessary), waiting for him/her to emerge from the dirt the
following evening, terrified and horribly changed. Cannibals bit
anyone in range as they usually rambled about in a state of rage
and hunger. The major difference in infection (besides particular
abilities) between the cannibals and the lycans and vampires was
that cannibals were rendered sterile upon infection, and thereby
unable to reproduce, while lycans and vampires could create
families and further their own bloodlines.

Max started to make a mental in-depth
analysis of everything he had been told. He was a lycan and a mage.
Not only that, they were in the distant future, in order to learn
to use their abilities, which activated upon their
arrival.

"Draagh," Max asked, "you brought us
here to train, and I can understand that part. We should learn from
those who are like us. That much is logical. I mean, if I needed to
learn how to be a hard-ass bitch I would want to train under
Jennie," earning him a glare of pure, unadulterated contempt from
the beautiful woman. Max continued, being quite pleased with
himself, as he felt he had thrown a valid insult at her.

"But wouldn't it have been
easier to bring someone to
us
for training? Why are we training in the first
place? You have only mentioned that we need to train for something
that will happen in the future - our future, which is now in the
past, and as the Vrol are headed toward Azul, I can only assume
that this is what you mean. Also, as you said that magic doesn't
work for us on Azul, thereby negating our ability to access our
enhanced skills, how will this help?"

Draagh continued walking
down a worn path toward the castle they had entered only moments
before and said, "Those were nice, compound questions, my boy. Max,
perhaps I should have been a bit more descriptive with you in what
we need to accomplish. Yes, it is true that the Vrol are on their
way to Azul. So yes, your training shall help you to defeat them,
but the beings of this world live in a society quite different from
that of your world. It is much more logical to bring you to
their
environment,
rather than ripping them from everything they have ever known, and
then expect them to implement a training regimen. Plus, it would
require the process of changing someone's genetics, in order to be
able to attune them to a world's energy frequency. I will do this
to you both before we return to your world. Oh, and time does not
work that way. The Vrol are still on their way to Azul."

Max looked thoughtful for a moment, and
then asked, "Then why not just change the energy frequency on Azul,
like you did here, making it in tune with our genetics?"

Draagh gave Max a surprised
look and exclaimed, "My dear boy! Could you imagine tens of
thousands of newly-activated lycans and vampires running around,
without a clue as to what was happening to them? Utter chaos! The
streets would be stained with blood, and Azul would be ripe and
helpless for the Vrol invasion. No, my son. What I intend to do is
to modify the genetics of only you two, sync'ing you both with
Azul's frequency after we have left this beautiful world. Added to
that, I shall implement a process where part of the magical energy
on Azul shall be reactivated. This will result result in people not
turning into bloodthirsty beasts, although some may experience
substantial regenerative capabilities. Those unfortunate enough to
carry the recessive vampire gene will suddenly experience very bad
cases of bodily odor, which, by the way, could present you with an
excellent business opportunity with the creation of
vamp-away body spray
, or
something similar to that. Anyway, I digress - your abilities will
be key in defeating the Vrol, so I feel I have chosen the best plan
for all involved."

Jennie, who had been silent during this
portion of the conversation, suddenly blurted out, "Well, I have a
question. If Earthers had almost defeated the Vrol with their
inferior technology, why can't we on Azul? I mean, we are much
further advanced than Earth ever became."

Draagh paused and pondered her question
for a moment, knowing the answer all along.

"Why Jennie, you indeed have quite a
sharp mind, but do you remember how, when Earth had nearly defeated
the Vrol, an amoebic infection was set upon the planet?"

Both Max and Jennie nodded
their heads as Draagh continued. "If mankind had been allowed to
continue with the use of magic, the Vrol invasion would have been
much quicker. Militarily, the Vrol would have decimated the planet
in a number of days - hours, even. You see, if we had allowed magic
to continue on Earth, then humans would have never had the need,
nor desire, to create their own technological wonders. So, the
amoebic infection would not have been possible, nor even necessary.
Mankind would have perished due to a lack of the weapons of war,
while magic would have fought off any sort of biological attack. In
order to save Azul, we will need both magic
and
technology."

Chapter 12 - Meet Krynos, your King

With Draagh in the lead, the trio
approached the castle on a broad path that ended at a massive moat
that surrounded the property (and happened to be much larger than
most lakes that Max had seen in his life). Numerous soldiers,
dressed in Viking-like garb, similar to Draagh, were posted at the
top of the south-facing castle wall and had trained their crossbows
on the new arrivals, with one barking out a command.