Chapter 17

Mendell could feel the disappointed stares aimed in his direction as he walked across the lobby. He ignored them, even though a part of him wanted to lash out at the indignity.

He knew why they were angry and disappointed, he was angry himself, but there was nothing he could do about it. The Association had made their ruling and it was final. As the face of the Association, he had to enforce their ruling. It was easier said than done.

At the elevator doors, Mendell chose to go up to his office. To the public it was where he worked, but his true work station was deep underground. He only came to this office for official business, like meeting with his Guardians.

It was precisely why he went to the office this time. He knew the Guardians had questions, and he would have to answer them here. It was no surprise that the first Guardian to walk through his door was John, his son.

“Father, may I speak with you?” He asked as he stood at the doorway.

Mendell gestured to the seat across from him, which John took. John made the pretense of adjusting himself but what he was really doing was stalling, trying to figure out how to phrase what he was going to say next.

As Mendell waited for his son to speak his mind, he noticed there were other Guardians nearby. “Why don’t you all come in then.” Mendell said addressing those eavesdropping.

The guilty party looked ashamed but took up his invitation and entered the room. John had grown more confident with others in the room and decided to speak his mind. “Why did you give the order to stand down when we were winning the war against those monsters?”

“The mages intervened. They’ve asked us to stop and that’s what we’re going to do.” Mendell responded quickly as if he had rehearsed his answer beforehand.

“But, Sir, we do not answer to the mages!” A guardian said, with other Guardians voicing their agreement.

Mendell sighed in frustration as the room began to fill up with useless chatter. “Enough!” He shouted getting them to quiet down.

“I say the mages ‘asked’ but really it was an order. So, what would you suggest we do? Go to war against the mages and the monsters?!” Mendell looked each one of them in the eye with an intense stare. The Guardians all looked away from him, none daring to meet his eyes.

“You will do no such thing.” The voice came out of nowhere, then suddenly a short paunchy old man appeared out of thin air. One minute the spot was empty, and the next it was being occupied by this person.

The Guardians reacted instantly as they tried to subdue the intruder, but all their efforts were wasted as their attacks went through the man. Mendell raised an eyebrow as he witnessed the spectacle.

“Don’t bother, he’s not really there.” Mendell finally said when the Guardians effort to subdue the man became too embarrassing to watch.

The paunchy short man smiled. “How perceptive of you, you must be the one they call Mendell.”

“I am, and who might you be? It’s only proper to introduce yourself when stepping into someone else’s home.”

“Of course, how rude of me.” The old fat man straightened himself proudly. “I am Master Andrea, a mage on the magician’s council.”

“And why’re you here?”

Master Andrea didn’t answer immediately. Instead he looked around at all the other Guardians with a speculative eye. “How fascinating. You must be very intelligent to mix science and spirit energy to create such remarkable creatures. It’s a shame, if I had more time I would like to inspect your creations in more detail.”

The Guardians stiffened at that, they still regarded themselves as humans yet the man spoke as if they were less than that. Master Andrea noticed their expression and grinned. He turned back to Mendell. “You’re not the first to come up with such an idea of course. It’s just such a shame we mages have been restricted… no matter. That’s not why I am here today. I am here to invite you to a special event taking place two weeks from now.”

Mendell said nothing. He simply studied the mage. The man disregarded him and his Guardians as a threat, the way he spoke to them with such confidence bordering on arrogance was truly grating on his nerves.

“In two weeks’ time Qiyamah will be weakened at these coordinates.” Master Andrea spouted out a latitude and longitude which John entered into his cell than showed the phone to Mendell.

Mendell frowned. “This is an abandoned village.”

“So?”

Mendell didn’t like taking orders, but he hated not having answers. He had to do his best to get the answers needed to make good decisions. “What is Qiyamah, and why do you want us to go there? Why now?”

“Qiyamah is simply the barrier that separates this world from the NetherRealm. No doubt you’ve heard of the NetherRealm by now? Good.” Master Andrea began speaking as if he was an instructor educating his students.

“Long ago a very powerful mage created a world within a world. A place where humans could thrive without being preyed upon by other races. The powerful mage gave up his life to create this seal, a seal which remains intact today.

The seal is not perfect. Occasionally there are weak points in the barrier that allow for the monsters of the NetherRealm to bleed into our world. For thousands of years we mages have protected the rest of mankind from that threat, and we still do to this day.”

Master Andrea paused as if contemplating something, then continued. “That powerful mage left behind a sort of spirit, an animus if you will. We call it the Gatekeeper. Normally we handle things on our own but there are rare occasions when this Gatekeeper intervenes.”

A sinking feeling spread throughout Mendell’s stomach as he recalled the spirit that appeared two weeks ago when he fought Amarosa. He glanced at Master Andrea who seemed to know what he was thinking, the mage nodded confirming his suspicions.

“Yes, that was the spirit you met that day.” He answered. “He’s given us orders to include the Dark Kin, the Lycans, and you humans into our world. There are many who question why he’s decided to include you all now, but that’s beside the point.

“In two weeks, there will be a field trip for our students, the first one of the year where they will get a chance to see what it is we do. We’ve decided this would be the best opportunity in which to include you people.”

“Will those monsters be there as well?” Mendell asked.

“Yes they will, and stop calling them monsters. I don’t particularly like them, but they’re harmless compared to the real monsters of the NetherRealm. We suggest you invite people who will keep their anger in check though, because if anyone starts anything, there will be consequences. Dire consequences.” Master Andrea said as he looked pointedly at the ring on Mendell’s finger. “Not even a ring of life will protect you.”

Mendell’s eyebrows rose in surprise. Master Andrea smirked. “Did you think we didn’t know about your allegiance with the Angel’s and the gifts they’ve given you?”

Master Andrea’s form began to fade. “You can surveil the area if you want, but be warned, anyone who antagonizes or creates conflict will be dealt with harshly.”

Once the man’s image was gone, the Guardians sighed in relief. There was silence in the room as the Guardians digested what they just heard. It was John who felt the need to speak up as he saw the look on his father’s face.

“Father, we can’t just accept this. Not after what those dam monsters did to Ellie!”

“Quiet!” Mendell barked. “What happened to your sister was unfortunate, but she brought calamity down on herself when she did what she did. If it wasn’t the monsters who killed her, it would’ve been someone from the Association for her betrayal. Leave it alone.”

John bit back an angry retort. Mendell looked into his son’s eyes and knew what he was holding back. He wanted to lambaste him for speaking so cold-heartedly about his own daughter. But Mendell had grieved for her years ago, now he was over it. All that remained was anger for her decision to run away from him. How could he be held responsible if she chose to make foolish decisions?

At least I still have you to carry on my legacy. Mendell thought as he looked at his son warmly. One is all I need.

…

Nate’s skin grew itchy as he reached the limits of absorbing world energy. He sat in his room on a portable diagram given to every mage student on their first day. Once the itching sensation grew to uncomfortable levels, he turned off the diagram.

He made a fist, reveling in the high that came with absorbing world energy. It was an addictive feeling. That high, coupled with the itchy skin made an euphoric combination that had beginners ignoring their limits and absorbing energy until their skin started to bleed.

He remembered the first time back at the Asylum when he made the same mistake, he wasn’t keen on repeating the same folly and always made sure to distance himself from that blissful feeling.

As soon as he opened his eyes, Nate’s good mood was ruined. Snog stood in front of him in nothing but his boxers. He was applying some cream to his bald head and rubbing it in while looking himself in the mirror.

“If you don’t like being bald why don’t you just use your shaman powers to regrow your hair?” Nate asked aloud.

“I’m not bald!” Snog said defensively as he turned on Nate. Nate raised his hands in an apology and mouthed sorry.

“Who am I kidding?” He sighed as he turned back to the mirror. “I’m so bald I look like a light bulb.”

Nate snorted.

“There are just some things magic just can’t fix, and my bald head is one of them. And this dam lotion my mother prescribed me isn’t working! It’s just making my head shinier!”

Nate burst out laughing.

“You’re not a bad looking dude.” Nate said once his laughter died down. “It’s not your hair that’s the problem. You just have to have more confidence.”

Snog raised an eyebrow as he appraised himself in the mirror. “You might be onto something.” He muttered as he squinted his eyes and tried out different facial features. “Once you get past the hair I am pretty handsome.”

“That’s the spirit!” Nate smiled. The slight burst of confidence was visible in the way Snog looked into the mirror. “Alright, hurry up and get dressed. We have to go soon.”

Nate stood from his cross-legged position and took a quick look in the mirror. He had looked like a corpse a month ago when he first entered the school but as he gained more weight his body began filling out. His face was slightly angular and chiseled. His hair, braided into locks by Ahri, was neat and tidy.

Not bad. He thought as he stared into his chocolate colored eyes the same color as his skin. There was darkness in his eyes that spoke of deeply felt pain. It was different from Snog’s innocent doe-eyed look.

Unwanted memories drifted to the surface, memories that began to stir the demon inside him. His pupils became elongated and his iris turned crimson red like a lake of fire. He closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, suppressing those emotions deep down inside.

“Not yet.” He uttered to his demon. “We must wait for our chance.”

Ten minutes later both students left their dorms and joined the line of first years all headed towards the auditorium where the teleportation circle was located.

There were two dozen people waiting for them inside the auditorium. Four of them were instructors and the rest were upper classmen. Nate recognized Ahri who stood separately from the rest of the upper classmen.

She was a mystery to Nate. On that first day, Ahri quickly befriended him and treated him like a brother. Ever since that day she would often eat with him during meal time and offer him any help when needed.

It was only when others looked at them strange he began to wonder what was up. After gathering some intel, he discovered she didn’t have any friends. She was nice to people but in a way someone would be nice to an acquaintance. Girls tried to befriend her, and guys tried to get close to her but she never let anyone except for Nate.

Their eyes met, and Ahri’s bored expression lit up like a Christmas tree. She smiled at him and Nate smiled back. He wasn’t under any illusions, he didn’t think she was attracted to him, but the way she treated him like a brother was somewhat unsettling.