Cursed Stone - Indigo Stone

Chapter 2

2

Ciaran looked at Brandon in the eye. “Why? I saved your life.”

“Well, you should have asked me if I wanted that. You think you know it all, Ciaran? You, the Host, and those stupid humans are trying to obtain what doesn’t belong to you.”

“The key of Psuche? What does it have to do with you?”

“I could take the time explain to you why you must die today, but I’m not feeling compassionate at the moment. So goodbye, Ciaran LeBlanc, king of Eudaiz. You will die on the battlefield like a common soldier.”

Brandon raised his crossbow, aiming at Ciaran’s head, but Ciaran swung his leg and kicked the weapon away. His second kick landed on Brandon’s abdomen, sending him staggering back and falling to the ground. Still groggy, Ciaran struggled to his feet and was then assaulted by Brandon’s two-leg kick. He skidded backwards and fell back to the ground. As Brandon stood up and ran to recover his weapon, two streams of laser beams blasted at his chest. His clothes became engulfed in flame, but he pulled a lever and the fire died out instantly. Brandon released a black smokeball and fled the scene.

Lorcan hurried into the dome of dust and black smoke to drag Ciaran out.

“I’ve got this! Let go!” Ciaran shrugged off Lorcan’s support and walked out of the dust on his own. He inhaled some clean air and coughed out the dust that coated this throat and lungs, recovering swiftly. Then Ciaran turned around, looking at Lorcan. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.” Lorcan grinned.

“Did you know the best way to kill a creature in space is to aim at the head? You’re using two laser beamers, and all you did was set Brandon’s clothes on fire!” Ciaran exclaimed.

“I’ve never used these before, so that’s good enough, isn’t it? I didn’t miss totally!”

“Brandon ran away—again,” Ciaran mumbled, clutching his bleeding shoulder. He glanced around, taking stock of the situation. “And he killed seven of my best soldiers.”

“Shouldn’t you be relieved he didn’t kill you, too?”

Ciaran said nothing and headed back to his spaceship. Lorcan followed, and Ciaran asked, “How can you walk like that now? A short while ago, you were dying.”

“I knew that would be the first thing you’d ask when you saw me! I wasn’t dying. I have the ability to heal myself, heal my injuries very quickly, but I have to shut my system down first.”

They were inside the spaceship now. “You can heal yourself?”

Lorcan nodded. “Yes, as long as I haven’t died, I can heal myself from injuries. To what extent, I don’t know. It’s all new to me, too.”

“Right.” Ciaran rolled his eyes.

“Ciaran, I know it’s hard for you to accept anything you can’t explain scientifically. It was hard for me, too. But when your life partner, the person you’ve spent your entire life with, tells you she’s a sorceress, you kinda learn to accept things that seem a little beyond reality.”

Ciaran nodded. “Are there any more special abilities you and your group have that I should know about?”

“Apart from what you already know—Roy and Mori are werefoxes, and Orla is a sorceress—nothing else. Anyway, why are you here? I thought you were taking Roy to Eudaiz.”

Ciaran shook his head. “I got a message on way to Eudaiz with Roy. I came back for you, and the girls said you’d gone. What happened?”

“I was on my way to the Daimon Gate to get the guest pass for Mori. Brandon ambushed me exactly the way he did you just now. He thought I had the key with me, and when he couldn’t find it, he left me buried in the ruins and went after Orla. We have to get to her.”

Ciaran shook his head. “I’ve sent for her. They’ll be here soon.” He glanced at his wrist unit. “My officers just confirmed. They’re safe and sound.”

The sound of an incoming holocast interrupted, and a beam of light flashed inside the spaceship, inside of which stood the life-sized hologram image of the Host of the Daimon Gate.

“You’re injured, Ciaran?” the Host asked.

Lorcan nodded, acknowledging the Host. The Host responded in turn.

Ciaran winced and walked toward the medical compartment. He pulled out a square medical patch and cleaned his wound. “I don’t have the ability to heal myself quickly, but this will help clean things up. It should look better by the time my wife sees it.” Ciaran flashed Lorcan a brief smile and then addressed the Host. “I called for you because one of the missions you sent people to complete on Earth might have caused collateral effects that I don’t think you’ll be happy about. I placed our intelligence system on Earth to keep an eye on things, and the system has just reported that a sea creature is gathering a massive amount of energy under the seabeds of all continents on Earth. That amount of energy could create a series of tsunamis.”

Ciaran looked straight into the Host’s eyes. “It’s going to drown the entire human population. This creature has something to do with the Daimon Gate. What can you tell us about the key and the mission you ordered?”

The Host arched an eyebrow and stared at Ciaran. Ciaran shrugged. “I can certainly find out myself, but it will take precious time that we might need in order to save the humans on Earth. I still have interests on Earth, so I’d like to protect the people there,” Ciaran explained.

The Host nodded. “There was a myth before my time that the key of Psuche can give the holder the ability to control the water level of any universe, given the correct lineup of all astronomical elements. For me, it’s simply a key to secure one of our Eastern gates.”

Ciaran nodded. “For creatures that live in an aquatic environment, water dictates their territories and is a prime motivation for invasion.”

“I killed the woman who was supposed to give the key to the creature. It looked quite pissed. I’m not sure if it was because of the woman’s death or because it couldn’t get the key. But whatever the reason, if we go back to Earth to kill that reptile, do you think it would solve the tsunami threat?” Lorcan asked.

Ciaran nodded. “It’s speculation, but it’s better than doing nothing.”

Lorcan pulled out a little pouch and put it on the floor. “Here is the key. I’ll leave it with you, and we’ll return to Earth for the creature.” He looked at the Host.

Ciaran arched an eyebrow. “I thought you said you didn’t have it with you?”

“I’d hidden it before Brandon attacked me. Just got it back now.”

“Brandon?” the Host asked.

Ciaran nodded. “He was trying to kill me, too. He’s taken residence in Xiilok, outside your jurisdiction. And now he—or the person who took him in—wants the key, too. Maybe the myth has some truth to it—perhaps the key of Psuche does have magical powers,” Ciaran mumbled sarcastically. The Host stepped forward, moving the light beam up to encircle the pouch on the ground. He then bent down to pick it up.

“Oh, no.” The Host shook his head.

Lorcan and Ciaran watched the Host as he pulled out the key and pointed to its top. “The stone is missing. There’s an Indigo Stone that’s supposed to be mounted right here.”

“So the key won’t work without the stone?” Lorcan asked.

The Host shook his head. “The stone carries the power, and the key unlocks the power. They won’t work separately. This is now simply a metal key, and the stone an expensive decoration.”

“But we took the key out of the patch lock at the temple. My guess is that it had to have the stone attached to it at the time— the Fire Fox clan wouldn’t have spent generations and sacrificed many lives to guard a useless key with no power. And the woman grabbed the key from me and ran to the beach. It wasn’t long before we caught up with her, and we killed her before she could give the key to the dragon. So what happened to the stone in between?” Lorcan exclaimed.

“Time is relative,” Ciaran contemplated.

“How does that explain any of this?” Lorcan raked his hands through his hair and paced in agitation.

“Did anything strange happen between the time the woman took the key and when you killed her?” Ciaran asked.

“Not really. She locked us in the temple and triggered a mechanism so the temple collapsed, and we were buried. We escaped via the drainage system beneath the temple. The only thing that was strange to me was the drainage. It was like a tunnel—long, dark, and confusing . . .” Lorcan trailed of as a thought came across his mind. “Dimensional hole . . . do you think that’s what it was, Ciaran?”

Ciaran smiled and nodded. “The woman was obviously going to give the dragon the key without the stone. There must be more to that woman than meets the eye.”

Lorcan rolled his eyes. “Yeah, she stripped naked on the beach.”

“I beg your pardon?” the Host asked.

Ciaran laughed. “Never mind,” Lorcan rumbled and continued, “So I guess we leave the key with you here and go back to Earth for the stone and the dragon?”

Ciaran nodded. “You might be able to kill two birds with one mission. Take these.” Ciaran removed handguns from the weapon compartment and programmed them. “These are specially designed for the transitional zone, so I think they’ll work on Earth. They’ll definitely be superior compared to the current technology there and won’t be detected by any detecting device.” Ciaran gave Lorcan the guns. While Lorcan assessed the weight and the feel of them, the Host shook his head.

Ciaran merely smiled at the Host and muttered, “I’m sorry your peace-keeping mission isn’t working out. But my friends are still on Earth. I’m not going to let them die because of this stupid reptile.”