The Judge

CHAPTER 23

  The Elder

  The elder returned to the control room and found Darek with his hand on the exit, looking like he was about to leave. He had returned so soon that Darek didn’t have time to escape. Darek shrank away from the door, pretending to be stretching his arms and legs. Ignoring Darek, Liam sat down and began typing away commands on the keyboard.

  “Is it all right if I leave now?” asked Darek.

  Liam’s eyes were glued to the computer screen. “Sure thing.”

  Darek hurried to open the door. It wouldn’t open.

  Liam turned in his chair to face him. “Did you really think you could take me for a fool?”

  “I had nothing to do with the package,” said Darek nervously. “If it’s the wrong stuff, it’s not my fault.”

  “The package was fine. Your presence here is not.”

  “What do you mean?” Darek averted his eyes.

  “Just who are you?” Liam demanded, “Where did you come from? Speak!”

  “Just transferred here,” Darek lied. “I’m Darek. I was initiated through the ceremony.”

  Liam snickered. “Oh, is that so? Even if you were new, you have no excuse to come into this room. No one except the greatest of scientists can enter this room without permission! And now that you’ve outlived your usefulness—it’d be proper to dispose of the trash.”

  This guy is crazy! Desperate to escape, Darek grabbed the doorknob, shaking and jostling it, hoping that it was only a little stuck. However, no matter how hard he pushed and pulled, it wouldn’t budge.

  “It’s no use.” The elder had a smug look on his face. “The door is sealed.”

  “That’s what you think!” Darek whipped out a dagger and smashed it against the hinges of the door, weakening and breaking them. He then tried to kick down the door with all his might. To his embarrassment, he didn’t even dent it.

  Darek remembered Merdon saying something along the lines of how elders were not opponents they could face. It wasn’t like he had much of a choice. He twirled the dagger between his fingers and moved forward to attack. He slashed fast and hard. But the elder parried his attacks with ease. There was no way for him to win. His only thought was to try to act aggressive and divert the elder’s attention away from his true aim.

  “Wait,” said Darek, stopping his attack, “You don’t have to kill me. You said I outlived my usefulness, but isn’t that just a nearsighted approach to things? Anything can be useful.”

  Liam scoffed, “Are you proposing that you’re willing to be my slave—that you will aid me in any way conceivably possible?”

  “I don’t really like to be called a slave…but something like that, yes.”

  The elder took a moment to think about it. “I do have need for a paperweight, but you are too big for that. Either way, you’d be better off dead. I’m not going to bother feeding a paperweight.”

  “I didn’t mean it that way,” said Darek. “Let’s say I am a spy. I may have accomplices.”

  “So what are you proposing?”

  “I’ll help you locate them and stop them. In return, let me go and I won’t ever return.”

  “That does sound like a pretty good proposal.”

  “Doesn’t it?” Darek cracked an unconvincing smile.

  “Not really, no. I was only kidding. You shall die now. To tell you the truth, I hate proposals and I hate compromises—too much of a hassle. Killing you is much, much easier.”

  Darek shuddered. “You won’t know what my friends are doing! I guarantee you they’re up to no good! Terrible things will happen if you don’t stop them!”

  Liam cackled, “A pity, but it no longer matters, for the operation is already complete. Everything is meaningless. Now that we have injected the final solution into the core, it’ll only be a matter of hours before we witness an amazing event.”

  Curious, Darek asked, “What amazing event?”

  Ecstatic, Liam closed his eyes and raised his hands high, as though he were reaching for something. “The destruction of the world and the birth of a new era! Once the solution has spread itself within the core, this planet will explode and flood nearby planets with massive amounts of the special radiation, creating a universe of immortality!”

  Shocked at the plan, Darek shrieked, “You want to mess up more planets?”

  “No,” snapped Liam firmly. “Perhaps you misunderstood something or did not hear me correctly. I want to perfect more planets.”

  “What will happen to everyone on this planet?” Darek protested, “Everyone will die! Are you really willing to kill your friends to achieve this? This is wrong and you know it!”

  Liam slammed his fist against the counter in fury, bending it. He picked up a desk full of heavy equipment with one hand and tossed it across the room. The electrical equipment heated up and exploded all around them. His blood boiled and his eyes were full of scorn. “You understand nothing! It hurts to do this, but it must be done! I cannot expect you to understand what it truly means to be immortal in a mortal universe. You are only a baby; you have only been birthed recently. Even most of the other immortals, aside from the elders, cannot understand the way we lived before this perfect world came to fruition.

  “As you live for eternity, your family and friends grow old and pass away, while you still remain the same. Everyone you know will die, yet you still live and meaninglessly so! In the distant past, when humans found out about the powers I possessed, people labeled me a filthy monster and hunted me down. They destroyed my homes and creations! They came after me with pitchforks and torches, calling out for my death to come quickly!

  “Why do you think it was so hard to see an immortal in those days? It’s because we had to live in fear and in the shadows. We were killed without mercy from people who called themselves saviors of the world. We six elders were the only ones to survive.

  “But though we have an immortal body, we are still human at heart. We are hated, therefore we hate! This curse—the pain, the sadness, the loneliness—all of it is just too much to bear and it eats away at your soul. Hundreds of years we have lived in secrecy, preparing for the day of glory when we could be considered the dominant race! And it came! No longer were we discriminated against; no longer were we hiding in fear. We were the heroes, not the villains. We were the people to help, lead and judge the society—we were the ones to bring happiness.

  “If you understand what I speak of, then and only then, you would realize the small price to pay for what we will accomplish! Our perfect eternal universe will finally be born. We will no longer be alone. We will live together for eternity, in peace and harmony. There will be no mourning and no death. Can you still not understand how wonderful this concept is?”

  “Wow, you sure had a lot to say,” said Darek. “But you know what I think? I think you paid the price for your own mistake. And now you want everyone to suffer as you did. What’s the logic in hurting everyone because you’ve been hurt? Shouldn’t you want to help them so that they’ll never experience your pain?”

  “As I expected,” replied Liam, “you cannot possibly understand.”

  While Liam had been talking for so long, Darek moved into position for his escape. He slammed the button behind him and it opened the doors that led outside. Darek snapped on his goggles and jumped into the shaft. Then it whisked him to the outside, onto the outer platform. He tried to lock the exit of the shaft to keep the elder from following him but it was useless. The window above, where the control room overlooked the platform, shattered. The elder jumped out of the tower and landed on the platform.

  Liam said, “Let me see the extent of your abilities, child. I’ll apologize first. I have not used my powers in such long a time. I may be rusty.”

  Darek wasn’t sure why, but now that he was finally face to face with this powerful elder, he didn’t feel as scared as he thought he would be. Facing Sorren in his dreams was much more terrifying, even if it wasn’t real. Perhaps it was because he had accepted the fact that h
e would stand no chance against this elder.

  With daggers in hand, Darek confronted the elder with all of his courage. Darek lunged into Liam and pierced his side. A look of horror was etched upon Liam’s face as he staggered back, bleeding.

  Clutching his wound, Liam gasped, “You wounded me…?”

  “I didn’t expect it,” said Darek, shaken. “I’ve never actually landed a clean hit before.”

  “Just kidding,” chuckled Liam, straightening. “You can’t hurt me like that.”

  Liam drilled his fist into Darek’s chest. From that one punch Darek could feel his entire body being launched off the ground. Darek tumbled into several crates, but rebounded. Crouching on one knee to rest, Darek thought his body would waste away into nothing. He dropped his daggers and coughed up blood.

  “What’s this?” said Liam. “I barely touched you. Are you really an immortal?”

  Gulping air, Darek said, “Can’t we talk this over? If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have gotten the package!”

  Liam grinned. “Did you think you were the only one?”

  Darek cocked his head. “What do you mean by that?”

  Liam replied, “There are many packages. In order to ensure that we will eventually receive the package, you were not the only one. There were others sent before you, and others would have been sent after you if you had failed.”

  Sent from where? Sent by whom? Darek couldn’t help but think that what was going on here was only a small fraction of a bigger picture. But that was not his main concern. He could speculate, but unless he escaped from this elder, he may very well be dead within minutes.

  Darek stood but soon lost his balance and stumbled back. Losing his orientation and sense of control, he slipped on the cold metal floor. Before he knew it, Darek was already hanging on the edge of the platform. Darek clung on desperately with both hands. The grasp of his fingers was weakening. He looked up, only to see the condescending creep stare back down at him.

  “So you intended to kill yourself?” said Liam. “I congratulate you on your wise decision. As pity, I’ll give you a few minutes to live. Enjoy it.” Liam took a seat on a crate, waiting for Darek to fall.

  This is the end, Darek thought. It was at this point he wanted to cry, but the tears would not flow. I guess that’s all there is to it. Though the government pardoned me, there is nothing more I can do. I’m sorry, Jenson. To everyone who wanted to see me again, I’m sorry.

  Boy, do I feel stupid. Darek laughed, almost hysterical. I went through all this trouble just to die by falling off a tower. I came to this perilous planet, tread across the suffocating desert, stood face to face with terrifying monsters, and even trained day and night with Sorren until my hands bled and my body was torn apart. But in the end…the result is the same. Death.

  Darek’s fingers lost their grip. His descent had begun. To him, time had slowed down. Second by second, he could see his fingers get farther away from the platform. There was nothing below that could save him. The ground was inconceivably far away. This was it. In a few moments, he would make contact with the ground and it would not be pretty.

  Just when he thought it was all over for him, he stopped falling. Looking up, he saw he was only a few inches below the platform. Yet there was nothing to hold onto. His right hand was being held up by something. He wasn’t sure what was going on…until he heard a voice.

  “Darek, put some effort into it!” shouted Ios. She firmly held onto Darek’s fingers; fluttering her wings frantically, she fought hard against the gravity to keep them both aloft.

  “Ios…” Darek had forgotten all about her.

  Being so close to the energy of the core had rejuvenated her and now she was able to fly again. She tried so hard to pull Darek up that her face became as red as a cherry.

  “There’s no way you can lift me,” said Darek. “Just let me fall!”

  Ios cried, “No! I didn’t bring you here to die! I brought you here to help me! So help me by showing some effort!”

  “But what can I do?”

  “Flap!”

  “Excuse me?” said Darek, puzzled by the advice.

  “Flap your hands as if they were wings!”

  Darek looked at his free hand and shrugged. What did he have to lose? Then he beat his hand against the air. Ios’s power flowed into his fingers and across his body, making him almost as light as a feather. His continually beating of the air slowly gave him lift and he managed to hover his way back up a few inches, just close enough for him to reach the platform. He grabbed onto the platform with every last bit of strength he had.

  Ios was tired and started plummeting. Darek stretched out his hand to grab her, but missed. When she had fallen too far out of view, he gaped in sadness and horror. Staring down the side of the tower, he grimaced. She had sacrificed herself for him because she believed in him. How could he betray her by letting her down?

  Darek would not let her sacrifice go in vain. Seeing her try so hard had inspired him to try hard as well. It was then that he remembered how Officer Bellum had risked his life for him; he remembered how Rodney had lost his store because of him; he remembered how Jenson had risked everything to rescue him. And ever since he had walked on this planet, Azura, Sorren and Rathos helped him and saved him from danger. If everyone else risked their lives for him, the least he can do is risk his life with them!

  Darek wanted to change for the better—that’s what he really wanted. But he never truly did and this angered him greatly. He was not angry with Liam. The one Darek was most angry with was himself! Darek used all of his might to crawl back onto the platform.

  Liam was still on the crate, scratching his nose. When he found Darek standing before him, he was struck with astonishment…but also a hint of delight.

  Darek began, “Now listen here—”

  “RAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

  A harsh scream wailed and reverberated within and throughout the planet. It was so deafeningly loud that Darek immediately covered his ears and fell to the ground. It seemed to him as though everything was shaking, or at least his head was.

  When the screaming finally stopped, Darek looked up. “W-what was that?”

  “Once again, I do not find your antics amusing.” Liam had not heard anything at all.

  The scream began again and Darek felt that the limits of his sanity were being stretched and strained to the point of snapping. Darek turned to face the core.

  Trembling, Darek muttered, “What is that?”

  The core had a face of a man. The face was contorted in agony and cried out in pain, “It hurts! It hurts! It hurts so much I could just die!”

  Darek looked back at Liam and then to the core. He hoped the face was just a product of his imagination. Yet there it was again, and this time, it was staring back at him. If it was his imagination, it was frighteningly real and disturbingly persistent.

  “You…” said the core, his tongue still dipped in the fires of agony. “You can see me.”

  “Wh-who? Me?” Darek spun around, wondering if the core was talking to someone else.

  “Yes, you.”

  “No, no.” Shaking his head, Darek said, “It couldn’t be me.”

  “You, the young man in uniform, standing upon the platform, and looking straight back at me through those silly-looking goggles,” the face of the core said. “Yes, I’m talking to you.”

  “Oh,” said Darek. “He pointed me out pretty clearly there...”

  “You’re special,” said the core. “I can see it. You desire great power, do you not? The power to save and destroy! I can give you this power if only you’d help me. I know that you have the power to free me, for you are the key to destruction!”

  Darek’s hand started to glow brilliantly, and when Liam saw this phenomenon he could not help but stare at it. The light that enveloped Darek’s hand materialized into a thick red glove. “This feeling…I remember this feeling. But why?”

  Darek picked up his daggers and as he held onto the h
andles, the blades were forged anew in searing flames. The blades took on a new form with a symbol of fire embedded on a new red surface.

  “So you do have some power after all,” said Liam.

  “Sorry.” Darek flung his dagger at Liam and it fizzed through the air. The blade sunk into Liam’s chest. “Flames of Judgment...” As Darek said those words, Liam could feel an intense burning in his chest. His body burst into flames, charring his skin and bones in a raging inferno. The flames changed from orange to white and rose higher and higher. Liam yelled out as the fire continued blazing. Then in an instant it all disappeared in a wisp of smoke. Liam, having lost all strength in his body, collapsed backwards gracefully.

  “Now this wasn’t in my calculations,” Liam chuckled softly with his wavering breath, “That last attack was splendid, well beyond my comprehension.”

  Darek drew near to Liam’s weak and dying body. The pained expression on Darek’s face was not from his past injury but from a fresh feeling of regret.

  “Why the frown?” asked Liam. “You have survived. Enjoy whatever time you have before the end of the world. Every second is precious.”

  “Why’d you allow me to attack you?” Darek looked at him with sorrowful eyes. “I wouldn’t have been able to kill you, otherwise. If you’d tried, you would have killed me first.”

  “As I said before, you cannot fully comprehend what it means to be immortal in a mortal world. Our desires never cease even when we realize they were futile in the first place. The ideals we had have long grown cold.” He paused. “Tell me, do you know of entropy?”

  “I think I have heard someone speak of it before. It’s like from order to chaos, right? Like if you build a new house it will break down over time.”

  Liam stifled a painful laugh. “Not the best of analogies, but yes, that is what I’m talking about. My mind was the same. As the flow of time continued, so my mind became more and more twisted. Things that I never would have considered doing years before, I ended up doing later. Immortality is something long sought after, but such immortality is of no use in a mortal universe. Everything will change and there’s nothing you can do but watch it as if from a distance.” Liam gasped. His final moments seemed near. “But now that my mind is clear, I can see that everything I have done was a mistake. I have nothing but regret.”

  Darek knelt down, concerned. “Then is there a way to stop the core from exploding?”

  Liam shook his head. “We only researched how to stimulate the core to produce this reaction. Get out of here. There’s a spaceship in the castle basement. It belongs to me.”

  “But how do I get out? You sealed the exit of the control room.”

  Liam wheezed, “You have to enter a code into the panel...”

  Darek scratched the back of his neck and waited a few seconds. Then he impatiently blurted out, “Hey, don’t leave me in suspense! What’s the code?” But there was no response.

  “Such a shame.” Darek lowered his head. “Rest in peace.”

  “I’ll try,” said Liam.

  Darek blinked. “You’re not dead?”

  Liam remained very still and quiet, but his breathing and pulse started up again.

  Darek gazed upon Liam’s face and saw a glow running across his flesh.