James Somers - The rise of Lucin

"Come on, the gate is this way!" he shouted.

Wynn brought up the rear of the party, engaging the masses of Agonotti that came out of the cloud to pursue them. He thrust many Agonotti away with his mind and cut down any within striking distance. Still they pursued.

It was a short run to the gate. They had crashed just around the corner from its location. Grod blasted away at any Agonotti in his path. He reached the gate and ran through with Tiet. Kale and Emil tried their best to avoid the creatures as they got Juli through the gate with Wynn close behind them.

Chaos reigned in Sector city. Then the scene snapped out of existence as Wynn closed the gate before anything else could come through.

Mirah fell on her son's neck kissing him before he could even find a chair to set Juli in. But motherly smothering and affection quickly took second chair to her need to treat her patients. She saw that the young girl was more dazed than anything. She might have a concussion, but Tiet looked far worse.

Mirah went to him and helped Grod get him into the ships medical lab. Tiet faded in and out of consciousness.

"Wynn, bring the kids to the med lab. I want to get bio scans on everyone," Mirah instructed as she followed Grod through the doors.

Wynn looked at Kale. "Well, young man, it looks like you've had quite an adventure over the past few days-you get a vacation and turn a whole city upside down."

"There's more going on there than you know."

"Boy, that's the truth," Emil said.

"Well, let's get you guys checked out and see how your father is doing. You can tell me all about it tonight."

KALE watched through the transparent med-lab window as his mother, Wynn and Grod worked on stabilizing his father's vital signs. Intravenous drips ran into his arms-Kale wasn't sure what kind of drugs they were. On a computer screen behind them, medical data poured onto a display. Pictures of Tiet's chest and abdomen made it clear, even to the layman, that several of his ribs and his sternum were fractured.

This is my fault, Kale thought. He had been so weak, letting the creature inside his mind take control and do this to his father. Guilt descended with a mighty weight as Kale thought, he is fighting for his life in there all because he loved his son-the son that ran away.

"It's not your fault, you know?" Emil said, sitting in the chair in front of him.

"Then whose fault is it? I did this."

He brushed a stray tear as he tried to remain angry at himself rather than breaking down. "I ran away trying to avoid hurting any of you and what good did it do? Nothing! It happened anyway."

"Running wasn't the answer, but you didn't know that. You had good intentions," Emil said.

"Yeah, intentions," Kale said through clenched fists, still watching the drama unfolding in the next room.

"Your dad is strong, Kale," Merab said from the doorway. He came in and sat next to the young man.

"I think he'll come through this. I've seen him do great things, even before you were born."

The boys became very interested.

"You know that the general and your father were enemies at one time, but when it came time for peace, your father fought his way into Nagon-Toth and practically dared us all not to make treaty. He very nearly died that day, but he wasn't afraid. And now look at us. We're allies, the Horva and the Barudii. He's a great king. If being swallowed alive by a teragore couldn't do him in, then I don't think we should count him out yet."

Kale may have pretended that Merab's words weren't comforting, but he was very glad to hear them. He didn't know as much as he would have liked about his father's younger days, but that was going to change. He just hoped his father would be around to tell him personally.

In a few minutes the med-lab drama calmed down. Grod emerged looking exhausted. "Mirah thinks he's going to be alright. She has him stabilized and medicated for his pain. He may have some hard days ahead, but it looks like your father is going to pull through."

Kale heaved out a sigh of relief. "Can I see him?"

"Your mother would like to hold off on that for now, but she did say you could see him later, after we've all had some much needed rest."

Emil eyed his father, letting him know that Kale was feeling guilty about the whole affair.

Grod knelt down to Kale's level and placed his arm around the boy's shoulder, looking right into his eyes. "You are not to blame. Your father would be very hurt to know that you are blaming yourself for what has happened. We are all in a fight for our lives and that involves risks. He knows those risks and accepts them. Punishing yourself will only hurt him more."

Sobering words. Kale nodded in reluctant agreement. Grod would not have accepted anything else.

"Now, come and let's get you men some food," he said, taking both boys by the shoulders and prodding them out toward the galley.

"Father, what about those people left back on Draconis?" Emil asked.

Grod's enthusiastic smile faded as he walked. "I don't know. We've got a lot to deal with here right now. Anything else is going to have to wait."

"The kingdom of Elithias is at hand!" the Prophet said. The man held a wild look in his eye accentuated by his age and his white hair. He wore a chestnut colored robe with pants that dropped into view near the floor.

Everyone assembled in the Guniran Great Hall sat rigid as a board. No one dared to even breathe heavily. Aija the Prophet glared down from the raised cylindrical platform to punctuate his statement. It was, after all, of the utmost importance that they all understand what the Eternal One wanted them to know.

Tiet stirred a little, seated upon the floor with the others. His injuries still bothered him after three months. He had ended up with a minor concussion, several broken ribs and a collapsed lung, all at the hands of his son, under symbyte control. The wooden floor they were sitting on didn't help.

Kale sat cross-legged, his head propped up by his arm upon his knee. The large room had filled to capacity with every Guniran able to attend. They encircled the prophet who stood upon a slightly raised cylinder in the middle of the massive room. The Great Hall was itself, a large cylinder.

The Prophet had not come down out of his home in the mountains for nearly a decade. This was important. "It has been nearly three thousand years since Elithias appeared on Castai."

Aija began to walk around the pulpit now. "The first time, the Eternal One came to offer mankind a pardon for our rebellion. Soon, He will appear the second time in Judgment. The Day of Elithias is upon us!"

A hushed murmur swept across the room now. It had been a long time since Tiet had heard anything about the prophecies still to be fulfilled concerning the return of Elithias, the Eternal Son. He had appeared long ago to bring mercy, but it had been so long since that time that many had scoffed at the idea of a true return.

"Elithias has been patient with us, but the clans have not turned," Aija said. "The Baruk were destroyed as part of the coming judgment. They allied themselves with the fallen one, giving their selves over completely to him and they have been destroyed. Soon, others will face similar judgment."

Everyone focused now. Anticipation and anxiety preceded every word of the prophet as the people waited to hear if judgment would fall upon the Guniran clan also. But how could it, they had been the keepers and protectors of the prophecies after the war between the clans? They alone possessed the copies that could be saved as destruction and oppression swept from planet to planet. Surely they would be spared whatever was coming.

"As the prophecy tells us, your guardians will be taken from you, for you have not been thankful for the hedge I have kept around you. The Barudii were allowed to be taken from us so that this war could spread," Aija continued. "God intends to purge mankind before the coming of Elithias to establish his kingdom. Many atrocities have been committed against our brothers and it will not go unpunished."