Chapter 5

He and Chris sat in a circle with the leaders of the East-Southern on their left and West-Southern on their right side. Karl had to admit that he was surprised that either one had agreed to this meeting; neither side seemed willing to end their territorial war. But now, here they are with both sides willing to hear the other out with an open mind.

“There are DK’s all around and some you can’t tell apart from humans,” Chris began and Karl noticed that both parties had nodded in agreement. “So, why are you fighting each other when there’s a common enemy ready to tear this place apart?”

“We were here in the beginning and They came, giving orders – expecting us to roll over,” said the older bearded leader from the East-Southern Barren.

“We were not giving orders,” the young female leader of the West-Southern Barren stood up and shouted.

Karl rose to his feet almost as quickly as she had and drew a scabbard from his side and pointed it at her. It wasn’t a very clean or sharp blade; it was a little rusted with dried blood caked on it.

“Sit down, please,” he said while keeping a fixed gaze on her hands – making sure she wasn’t going to draw a weapon on him in return.

She shook her head and sat back down on the ground.

Karl waited another moment and then sheathed his blade and then sighed. “Look,” he began. “It doesn’t matter who was here when. What matters is what we do in the now. If you keep fighting amongst yourselves, Orion will win.”

The two leaders looked down at their feet for a moment and then up into the others’ faces.

“I will agree if we both decide to step down from leadership and let our peoples vote for one leader,” replied West-Southern as she looked into the others’ faces for any sign of protest.

“I…I accept the union,” he said and then they stood up and shook hands.

“There they are!”

Everyone turned in the sound of the voice screaming and Karl and Chris stood up and drew their blades.

No more than ten seconds later, over a hundred Dream-killers came running down the hillside, hideous arms out for the kill.

The battle began, Karl knowing it would be short-lived, as humans and the creatures of damnation collided. Blood sprayed the battlefield and Death claimed its victims.

Chris and Karl took down a couple dozen; he scraped by with just a slash across his face. He knew it would become a scar, but that was the least of his concerns at the moment. He looked over and saw that Chris was in better shape than he was. She didn’t look tired or worn out.

All he could do was stare at her as she swung her body this way and that. An alien feeling overcame him as he watched her and he found himself smiling.

And then the outline of someone standing up on the top of the hill caught Karl’s attention. It was a normal human; he could tell that by the fact that he wasn’t fighting. This stranger was carrying a tall staff with an eye of a Dreamkiller fastened at the top.

It was the mark of a Western Nomad.

What the hell is he doing, Karl wondered and then saw that the Nomad had pointed down at Karl and Chris.

Karl sprinted over to Chris and grabbed her arm just as she was about to sever a monster’s head.

She turned around and was about to punch him but the panicked look on his face changed her mind. She followed his gaze and saw the Nomad and also saw that he was pointing down at them.

“We have to go,” Karl said. He didn’t like leaving the West and East-Southern Barrens alone to fight this losing battle, but there was nothing else he could do; he was Mykella’s Watcher and must live to fight another day.

“What does he want from us,” Chris asked and he shook his head as they disappeared in the nearby caves.

Chris woke up later that morning with tears in her eyes. She looked over and saw Karl making himself a glass of water. She wiped her eyes and stared at him.

* * *

The castle was everything Orion had wanted it to be – and why shouldn’t it be? He created it. Even King Darvon, his father, couldn’t have built a more perfect place to rule his kingdom.

Ah, King Darvon. My Father. I damn myself for even thinking of your name.

Orion sat in his chambers in an oversized chair looking out a tall window overlooking his grounds. Nothing existed except marble statues, stone walkways, and a large open field for the sole purpose of training his Dreamkillers and for those already in his army.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

When he created this kingdom, he didn’t waste time with trees or flowers or bushes. None of that mattered to him. Perhaps when he gets bored with his rule, he’ll make something else. But he was far from being bored.

He turned his head toward the door just before the knock occurred. “Enter, Klaus,” he called and immediately the door opened.

The tall human looking Dreamkiller entered the candle-lit chamber and stopped a few feet into it.

“The human from the Northern Barrens requests a conference, Sir,” announced Klaus.

Orion nodded. “I trust he has been fed?”

“Adequately, Sir.”

“Then, by all means, bring him before his God.”

“At once, Sir.” Klaus turned his blond head and left the chamber.

Orion turned back to the window with a grin. The man from the Northern Barrens, Sebastian, was true to his word. He brought down the Western and Eastern Barrens. He wanted Freedom, of course, in exchange.

“Stupid fool,” he whispered. He almost laughed at the thought of seeing Sebastian’s face when he crushed his skull.

Orion tried not to contemplate his life, especially the past twenty years. He wasn’t a death-bringer; if the humans had all been killed, then there would be no dreams. No dreams would mean no Dreamkillers.

Orion had segregated himself from human to that of a god. His knowledge of the universe had been such that he knew how humans were made – how God had created them. Having that knowledge itself was godlike and therefore he no longer remained human.

“Enter,” he called before the door was knocked upon and it opened revealing Klaus and Sebastian, who was shorter than Klaus by two feet but walked like he owned the world, not Orion, with his shoulders back and head held high.

Orion stood up off his chair and walked over to them. “My Child,” he greeted, but Sebastian merely grinned.

“You are neither my Father, nor King, nor God.”

Such foolishness, thought Orion and he looked at Klaus. “You may leave us.”

Klaus bowed his head and exited the room and shut the door behind him as he entered the hall.

“Let’s cut to the chase, shall we?” Orion turned around and went over to a large stone desk. He sat down in a chair and propped his legs up on the desk and folded his fingers. “Please, Sebastian, sit.”

Sebastian went to the chair on the opposite side and sat down.

“You say I am not your King, yet you came to me begging for Freedom.” Orion was trying not to laugh. “You say I am not your God, yet it is I who has been feeding you.”

“You have control, I can’t deny that. What I have done, I shall be punished by God.”

Orion noticed not one flicker of emotion on Sebastian’s face, which puzzled him. “You don’t want Freedom, then?”

Sebastian shook his head. “I only wanted one chance to meet you. What I want, begging for, is that you end your reign.”

“Ah,” Orion replied with a chuckle. “Then why did you rat out the whereabouts of the Others?”

“It was the only way to get to you.”

Orion studied the man and it became clear to him suddenly. “You’re a minister, aren’t you?”

Sebastian bowed his head. “Of sorts, yes.” He looked into Orion’s face for any change. When he saw that Orion wasn’t affected by this information, he continued. “I have sacrificed those men and women because they were dying a cruel and unforgivable death. They were starving and full of disease – of which you helped create.”

Now Orion shook his head. “This is not politics, Preacher. This is my world.” He looked into Sebastian’s eyes and lost himself in them.

Getting inside someone’s thoughts wasn’t that difficult a task. It was easier, in fact, when the person fought his mind probe; the fight usually opened up a new weakness somewhere else in the mind and he got in that way.

But Sebastian was totally different. There was no resistance at all. In fact, it was as if Sebastian was letting Orion into his mind.

Orion pulled out seconds later with a devilish grin on his face. “You truly believe that all those people were murdered? The Children, too?”

Sebastian stared into Orion’s eyes with a confused expression.

“They are no deader than you or I.”

“What do you mean?”

Orion stood up and went to the window. “Exactly what I mean.”

Sebastian stood up as well but did not approach Orion. “They are alive, then?”

Orion turned and looked at Sebastian. “You know we are Dreamkillers. What does that imply? Dreams.”

Sebastian nodded, but didn’t fully understand what Orion was trying to say. “You mean,” he was trying to comprehend the conversation as clearly as he could. “They’re not dead?”

“Let’s just say,” replied Orion, searching for words. “Let’s say they’re still playing an active role in society.” He pictured them in his mind and almost laughed.

“What have you done with them?” Sebastian glared at Orion; he didn’t realize his mistake before doing so.

Orion went back and reached for something under the desk. When he pulled his hands up, he saw the fear in Sebastian’s face, and he loved it – he hadn’t seen fear like this in a long time.

Sebastian stared at the long metal spike with its reddened tip. “Will you,” he tried, “let me be with them?”

Through the course of their brief conference, Orion had kept a pleasant appearance; he even smiled once or twice – to himself, of course. But now that time has passed and his look turned menacing as he clenched the spike.

“Your thoughts are treasonous, I think,” Orion began. “You may be too dangerous. No; I think I shall enjoy watching you rot in my garden.”

Sebastian did not get another chance to beg for Freedom, or anything else. Orion had hoisted the spike up to shoulder height and hurled it at Sebastian where it pierced through his chest, just above his heart.

Sebastian dropped to his knees and coughed out blood, yet he was not dead.

“Klaus,” called Orion and immediately the door opened. “See to it Mr. Sebastian has a good view in the garden.”

“It will be done, Sir,” replied Klaus and he walked over to Sebastian and grabbed him under both armpits and pulled him up to his feet. He dragged the bleeding body out the door and closed it once he and Sebastian were in the hall.

Orion smiled and looked down at the puddle of blood and then followed it out the door with his eyes. “There will be no treason, Mykella,” he whispered and waved a hand through the air and the blood vanished as if it had never been spilt.