I

t was late in the morning when the group decided to set off. Since it was going to take several weeks to reach Duraskull, Rathos prepared some rucksacks for them. The sacks were filled

Darek lay lazily in bed, still drowsy. Shifting in and out of consciousness, he dug his face into the pillow, engrossed in every last second of rest. Too lazy to look at the clock, he wondered about the time. He had lost the concept of time when he first came to the planet. Even if he did look at the clock, he wouldn’t be able to really understand what time it was. The days, months and years were different for each planet.

To make things easier for space travelers, the Federation standardized the time to correspond with their home planet of Teraskai. Other planets within the Federation would keep their own days and years but would have to use a formula to convert their time to Federation time when dealing with traveling merchants and other intergalactic affairs.

At the moment, he had a feeling similar to jetlag, but more disorienting. Darek was energetic and tired at all the wrong times. It would take a few days to adjust to the abnormal day and night cycle, but until then he’d have to suffer with this annoyance. And the fact that the Sun bugs lit the cavern at night rather than day only further complicated things.

There was a brisk knock on the door.
“Darek, are you awake?”
Darek sluggishly went to open the door
Rathos was standing there, bowing. “Sorry to disturb, but the

Darek nodded and, with a sense of urgency, grabbed his things and left. Everyone was already waiting for him at the gates. The group consisted of Thedes, Rathos, Sorren, Azura, Darek, Reza, Drey and a few other wolves that would assist them. Darek was surprised to see that while Rathos preferred his human form, Thedes preferred to stay as a wolf. Darek had not seen Thedes’s human form yet and wondered why he preferred being a wolf. If Darek had that ability, he’d much rather stay human. The thought of walking naked in the forest and being swamped by bugs was disturbing. Clothes offered him a feeling of protection from the wild.

Azura crossed her arms in disapproval. “What took you so long?”
Bags under his eyes and hair disheveled, Darek looked like a mess. He staggered, trying to maintain his balance. “You have no idea what I went through last night. I’m really tired. I’m only human for crying out loud.” He slapped himself on the cheeks to liven up. “You sure we can’t stay a little longer? I want to wake up first.”
“Let’s go,” said Sorren irritably. “We’ve wasted enough time.”
“How about we go over the details one more time?” Rathos suggested. “Darek missed out on what we talked about last night. It might be best to brief him on the plan.”
Sorren agreed. “We might as well…even though that was his own fault.”
Rathos said, “The continent is not that big. Even with the fastest rides available, it’d take one to two weeks to reach the capital. However, the fastest rides would be too noticeable. I want to avoid being seen together by other immortals if possible. We must arrive at Duraskull separately to avoid suspicion.” Rathos pulled out the map from his bag and unfolded it. Then Rathos rubbed a finger along the path they planned to take.
“We’ll take the most direct path across the forest. It should take two weeks to clear it. After that, we’ll reach the southern edge of the largest desert. We’ll be heading east toward a mountain range that cuts through the side of the desert. There should be a railroad tunnel that runs through the mountains. I’m not sure if the train or the tunnel is usable. If we can get the train running, we may save a great deal of time. If not, we can expect more weeks of traveling.”
“Weeks and more weeks? I’m not liking this at all,” groaned Darek. He glanced at the faces around him and realized something. “Where’s Merdon? Isn’t he coming too?”
“Merdon is getting ready to leave, but he won’t be coming with us,” Rathos replied. “He’ll go ahead of us and wait for us at the capital. The immortals have their own personal ride in order to travel around the continent at great speeds.”
“What kind of ride would that be?”
Before Rathos could answer, a bright light flashed and a loud thunder clapped behind the mansion. The cavern was so bright it nearly blinded them. A chilly breeze and strong air current flooded across the white forest, sending dust in their faces; it was so strong that Darek struggled to stay standing. Crouching, Darek flung his head back and saw the bright light zoom past, spiraling around. Then it disappeared as a white streak across the ceiling.
His eyes wide, Darek steadily rose. “That was crazy. What was that?”
“That would be the ride,” Rathos explained. “Merdon has a thunderbird, which is very rare. Night or day makes no difference because the lightning it emits allows them to see for miles at a time. The lightning also makes it dangerous to ride, so it’s roped to a fully insulated chariot. At its maximum speed, Merdon will reach the capital city within a matter of days.”
“What?” Darek exclaimed. “Then why didn’t we ride with Merdon?”
Rathos said, “As I’ve said before, we don’t want to be seen together. A thunderbird is easily seen. And if you haven’t noticed, we have certain social standards. When the mutation had taken place, we were not all the same. Most people only gained superhuman strength. They are still significantly stronger than your average human, but with no true special abilities to speak of, they became the lowest class and are forced to perform the labor as necessary. They construct buildings, farm and hunt, and even serve as butlers and shopkeepers.
“The class above that includes us, the ones able to transform into different animals. We are the warrior class, used as bodyguards or soldiers. We can transfigure ourselves into any animal we wish, but the wolf’s form is the most practical and easiest to learn. It takes years of practice in order to attain other forms such as the bear or the lion.
“And the class above us would be the noble class, which is the class that Merdon is a part of. When he became immortal, he gained strange and powerful supernatural abilities that set him apart from most other immortals. As Darek has seen before, one of his abilities is to create an illusionary barrier to hide what we need to keep secret.
“The last and highest class in the social ranking would be the elders. I do not know much about them. They have kept their abilities and their ages a secret. Only nobles are allowed to associate with them, and even then, the elders usually isolate themselves.
“So with that explained, you should understand that based on social ranking we are not to be seen riding around with Merdon. Under no circumstances are we allowed to act as equals. Also, due to the social ranking, as Merdon is on his way, it is possible other nobles will want to speak with him. Merdon must reach the capital alone so that no one will suspect a thing.”
“Time is of the essence,” Sorren said impatiently, “Let us be off.”
Rathos nodded, leading the group with a torch. “Come. We need to follow the river out.”
Darek interlocked his hands and rested them on the back of his head, humming as they walked along.
“You’re in a good mood today,” said Azura. “Did something happen?”
Darek shook his head. “Nothing in particular. I’m just glad. We got some good meals, some decent rest and a few new companions.”
When they reached the outside, Rathos transformed back to his wolf form. “Before we continue, everyone should find a wolf to ride. Four feet are better than two, and we have the stamina to handle long distances.”
Everyone looked for a partner to ride on. There were just enough wolves for everyone to ride. While Darek enjoyed the idea of riding wolves—it did sound pretty cool—there was only one problem for Darek.
“Something is terribly wrong about this arrangement,” Darek complained. “Why do I have to be with him?” He pointed at Thedes, who chuckled sinisterly.
“You don’t want to be with Thedes?” asked Rathos. “I thought this would be a good time for you two to reconcile any past issues. After all, Thedes was the one who requested for you.”
Darek glared at Thedes. He knew something funny was going on.
“If you’re that much against it, I can’t force you,” said Rathos. “But I can’t force anyone to trade with you either.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem.” Darek was pleased with the suggestion. “Does anyone want to trade partners?”
However, his question did not garner the responses that he was expecting. Everyone sat cozily on the wolves and stared blankly at Darek.
“Oh come on,” whined Darek. “No one wants to make an exception?” He turned to Reza and Drey and said, “Hey, didn’t you guys say you were going to serve under me? I demand that one of you trade places with me.”
After she cleared her throat, Reza said, “Should I or should he?”
“Well I guess I don’t want to be mean to the girl.” Darek pointed at Drey. “You should trade places with me.”
Drey shook his head.
“Hey! You can’t refuse! That’s against the rules!” grumbled Darek. “Now come on and help me out here.”
Drey said, “I can’t…I have a bad back.”
“What? And what difference would that make—”
“Just shut up and get on,” snapped Sorren, his voice icy. “All you’re doing is wasting my time. I don’t feel like staying on this planet any longer than I have to. If you aren’t going to cooperate, then you’re better off staying than coming with us.”
Darek bit his lip. He wanted to say something back but the words wouldn’t come out. It was true he wanted to stay. That was the real reason why he slept in. Lack of sleep was just an excuse to delay things. Though he told them he would go with them, he really didn’t feel that compelled to go. Somewhere in his heart, he was still afraid to begin the journey.
In the deserted city, he could barely defend himself. He wasn’t like the others. He wasn’t an immortal, a Hero, or an assassin. He wasn’t strong. He wanted to help…but he wasn’t sure if he truly could.
“Hey,” Azura said to Sorren. “Can’t you tell he’s troubled? He’s got a lot on his mind.”
Sorren replied, “Is that a proper excuse for him to waste our time? No. I don’t care if he is a Judge.” He sneered, “For a Judge to finally get caught after all these years, their standards sure have fallen. It looks like they’re all just a bunch of snotty brats now.”
“Age has nothing to do with anything!” snapped Azura. “Just because you’re a little older, it doesn’t mean you’re better than him!”
“It’s all right, Azura,” interrupted Darek. “I understand what he’s saying.”
Without any more hesitation or grumbling, Darek took his place on Thedes. It wasn’t as uncomfortable as he expected. The saddle they strapped on was built to absorb shock. In a hurry, they dashed off, cruising down a long slope that went into a forest at the bottom of the mountain.
Darek held on tightly; he wrapped his arms around Thedes neck to avoid slipping off. The wolves zipped through the trees, dodging tree trunks with ease.
Thedes thought that this was the perfect time to get his revenge for the scar on his eye. Darek would now feel the full force of his insurmountable wrath. As Thedes zoomed toward the trees, his keen eyesight picked up on lower branches that would be just the right height so that he would be able to barely run under it without getting harmed. He darted at those low tree branches with utter anticipation.
Thwack.
“Ouch!” yelled Darek. His nose was bruised with a sharp slap in the face by a tree branch. “Watch where you’re going!”
Thwack.
“Gah!”
Thwack.
“HEY, THAT HURTS!” Outlines of tree branches were marked across Darek’s face. “Now you’re pushing it! I know you’re doing it on purpose!” Darek screamed. “Let’s see how you like this!” Darek started to pull clumps of hair off Thedes’s back. The wolf howled in pain.
Thedes retaliated by slamming Darek into the thickest tree branch he could find. Darek was knocked out cold, falling unconscious on Thedes’s back. Thedes grinned with satisfaction on his lips.
“No hard feelings,” Thedes growled. “Just an eye for an eye.”
Azura had seen the whole thing from behind, and while she felt a bit sorry for Darek, she had to stifle a laugh. “This is going to be one long journey.”
CHAPTER 14 Paths to Power