Fallen kingdom

Ch 8

Draken stepped in front of the big compound. The air had a little rusty smell to it and a little hint of cut wood. He looked at the big warehouse where the kid was captured. He went in front of the rusted door. It was locked so he kicked it hard which made it went flying back. He went inside to see huge logs cut in straight lines and put on top of each other. Some even got molded due to staying there for too long. He looked around for the captive and he found him in a chair tied by roped

“found you” draken said

He proceeded to untie him but he was frantically moving around trying to say something.

“what is it” he said while moving the cloth on his mouth.

“it’s a trap” he shouted

“oh s**t” suddenly a pointy needle like bullet hit the back of his neck. He pulled it out to see it was a sleeper dart.

Jackal came out of the shadows out with a sniper on his back slowly making way to Draken.

“ha, if you think I’ll be done by some measly dart then your wro-”. Before draken could finish his sentence he collapsed down.

When he woke up he found himself to be grounded down by metal chains. Both of these chains were tied to his hands. He was sitting down. He tried to get up but suddenly realized there were shackles that tied him down. He looked up to see the kidnaper in front of him sharpening his knife.

“hi there” draken said hesitantly

He didn’t reply but kept on sharpening his knife.

“really, your saying hi” Chris asked in a blunt tone

“what iam just trying to make small talk” draken replied

“you’re an elite aren’t you” Chris asked.

Draken suddenly went rigid. It felt as if those words punched him in the stomach. His expression suddenly went serious.

“oye, how do you know about that” he asked straightforwardly.

“well I know because iam one”.

“you took a part in the war right?” he asked

“draken or should I say, the rampaging demon”

Draken looked at him with a death stare.

“the man who took an army of soldiers by himself”

“rampaging demon?” Chris was confused. He could see darken was cooled down and was now more stable.

“I guess you’re working for Susan huh” draken said

“huh, I guess you’re not as stupid as you look” jackal replied

“ha, that’s rude” draken said

Suddenly a call came on his device. A device used for communication which was on his ear. He went out in the distance and started to talk to somebody.

“well, have any bright ideas hero” Chris said sarcastically

“as a matter of fact I do” draken replied

“1,2,3 and bam” suddenly one of the chains broke and then the other. In the distance there was a man with a sniper. It was Zane. The sniper was silenced so it didn’t make any noise. He quickly went to Chris to untie him.

“stay here” draken said.

He went to where the jackal had gone but he didn’t see him. for a second there he got confused but then he suddenly sensed a kick from behind before it could hit him he grabbed his leg and throwed him to the wall. He hit the wall hard enough to make cracks in it. The dust on the ground mixed in with the air to create temporary dust clouds. Draken raced in their only to find nothing. Suddenly some knives came behind them but he deflected them. He looked up at the ledges to find any sign of him.

“you said you were an elite, but I’ve never seen any elites do that before” draken said as his voice echoed a little

“that’s because iam a second generation elite”

Draken looked around trying to figure out his location.

“second generation?” draken asked.

“yes, the project is led by Dr Seth”

“oye oye, you don’t know what type of power with you are tackling over here” he said a little concerned.

He didn’t hear him for a while and started to wonder if he had just ran away. Then he came in front of him and a small boy with a knife placed om his throat. He held him tightly.

“well that’s just cheating isn’t it” draken replied

“put your hands up” the jackal said.

“hey easy there ive got no weapons” he replied

“I guess even the great demon isn’t very powerful on his own” the jackal said

“who said I was on my own” he smirked.

Jackal had totally forgotten about the sniper. The bullet came straight to his hand and blew away the knife. He ran away as the sniper kept on shooting but he kept dogging them. He got on top of a thick chain that was holding onto a bunch of logs. Zane shot the chain which let the logs fall down. Beneath those logs was a kid who looked up and was paralyzed by the sight above him.

“iam gonna die” he thought. The whole world around him. then he looked in front of him. a man with a wild face coming towards him running. He pushed him back and tried to get out of the logs. Unfortunately, his foot got stuck in it. Chris looked at him in shock. Why did this he hated so much try to save him. he couldn’t understand.

“why did you do that” he asked confused and scared at the same time.

“do what” he spoke in pain.

“it’s what I do iam a resistance fighter” he replied

Chris felt those words pierce through his heart. He felt heavily ashamed. A man he tried to shun was risking his life for him. jackal saw all of this unfold in front of him

He thought this was his chance he went forward to strike him. but Chris came in front of him with his arms covering forward.

“I- if you want him you have to go through me” he said with all the courage he could.

“get out of the way this doesn’t concern you” he said bluntly. But Chris didn’t move. Before anything could happen a metal came in front of them. A part of it opened and emitted gas. When the gas cleared jackal saw nothing but a pile of logs in front of him.

“hmm, they got away” he looked up to see a hole in the glass ceiling.

He touched the communicator to relay a message.

“the mission failed” he said and went away turning invisible and blending into the darkness.

Draken woke up to find himself in bed. He looked around but couldn’t make sense of it since he had just woken up.

“were back in our base” Zane told him. he was sitting beside him

“what about the others, are they okay” he asked as he sat up on his bed.

Zane pointed a thumb to the side. On his was a girl with teary eyes ready to burst. Charolette pounced in Draken and hugged him hard.

“I thought you were gonna die” she said crying

“I was so worried”

“I’m sorry to worry you” draken said while patting her head.

A childish figure came in the door and stood in front of draken. Chris was standing there with one arm touching the other. He was a little embarrassed. He came up to him.

“what is it Chris” he asked in a polite tone.

“umm, I just wanted to say” he looked at him for a while

“thank you” he said in very low voice.

Suddenly darkens polite face turned into a big smug.

“oh what’s that I couldn’t hear you”

“uh, thank you” he said a little louder.

“oh that’s nice” draken said.

“why don’t you call me Mr. draken from now on”

“I said thank you, you piece of s**t” Chris shouted.

“ok ok im sorry” he started laughing. Everybody started laughing in the room.

“I know I asked this before, but I wanted to ask you again why did you save me?” he said a little gloomy.

Everybody went in the room went silent. Draken looked at him. he could see the frustration in his eyes. He put a hand on his head.

“you know there was a person I admired a lot” he suddenly said. Chris’s attention went to him. his hand still stroking his rough hair.

“she once told me something”

Draken remembered a memory, a memory in which he was sitting with a woman outside in the lawn. It was a bright day. The trees gave them shade where they were resting on their chairs. At that time draken was only a child. The person beside her asked him something.

“draken, what do you think about this world” she asked very softly.

“eh, what is this all about” draken said

“no reason” she said

“well up until now there were only two types of people for me” draken said

“people I had to kill and who I didn’t” he said in a bland tone

“hmm, what I think there are all sorts of people in this world” she replied.

“strong, weak, shy, serious”.

“but no matter what type they are; you should always help people in need”

He looked up at her.

“people are most venerable when they need help, so always help someone in need of helping” she said.

“ok” draken replied.

“so whenever I look at someone in need” he looked at Chris.

“I help them” he said.

He looked at drakens bright smile. The man who he hated a few moments ago was now someone he admired. He was like a ray of hope.

“I see” Chris replied.

“but there’s something else troubling you isn’t there” draken asked

He looked at Chris for an answer but he didn’t reply

“I mean its ok if you don’t wanna tell bu-”

“it’s been a year since it happened” Chris said.

Everyone turned their attention to him.

“My family runs a business of lumber furniture. Our business was quite successful. My father was quite skillful when it came to crafting stuff. He could really make anything out of wood. Everything was fine until she came in power. Like you my parents thought her way of ruling was terrible. Suddenly they started posing heavy taxes.” His voice cracked a little.

“my family was well off and they could pay but my parents were very honorable. They thought they would only give a fair amount of money then that day came” he came to sudden halt. His fists clenched tight.

“that day a man came to our house”. He stilled remembered that man’s face

A man came through the front door. He was short and wore a tuxedo. His hair went to the back of his bed and was rather very looking. Had a smooth brown skin with fat lips. Had a black dimple on his check and round eyes. With him were two bodyguards. He rang on the doorbell and Chris’s dad opened.

“why hello there” the man said.

“who might you be” Chris’s dad asked curiously

“I am with the finance department” he said with a smile.

Suddenly his body went rigid. He signaled Chris’s mom to take him to the other room.

“please come in” he came in and his two bodyguards with him. the dad looked at them.

“oh don’t mind them, they’re just for protection” he said

“oh sorry please come sit here” he sat on chair in front of a table. Dad sat opposite to him.

“I’m sorry we don’t have anything to serve at the moment, what did you wanna talk about.” He asked

“ah, that’s okay, as I told you and ive recently heard something quite troublesome” he said in a low voice.

He was suddenly alert. He held both of his hands tight together. But he still managed to remain calm.

“you haven’t been really paying your due taxes” he said in a low cool voice. His dad could feel the chilness in his voice from him.

“with all due respect I have paid my taxes, there must be some kind of error” he said

“oh, let me rephrase that you haven’t paid the full amount” he looked at him very grimly.

Although he was freaking out he remained calm and didn’t show any of his anger.

“is that so, I think ive given what this country deserves of me nothing more nothing less” he said this time with a little confidence.

“well, that’s a problem isn’t it” he said

“people like you shouldn’t think like that; this country needs your help give all the resources you have” he said

He looked at him for a while. he could see a lust for money and power in his eyes.

“if that’s all you have to say then I would ask you to please get out of here” he said a little aggressively.

“oh well I guess you won’t listen huh” he said

“yes I won’t” dad replied.

“well how about this” and with those words he signaled one of his guards. They took out a pistol and shot him. the bullet went straight between the eyes. Blood sprouted out everywhere. Some blood got on his face.

The guards gave him a napkin and he tried to rub the blood off.

“I didn’t wanna do that, REALLY all I asked was money. Really some people can be so greedy it disgusts me. It’s just a piece of paper what’s the problem in giving that” he said.

“search the house there might be others”.

Behind the wall in the other Chris’s mom was crying. She put her hand on her mouth. Chris was in a state of shock. He couldn’t believe what happened. The man who he admired so much, whom he though was everything to him was gone in an instant. His blood scattered across the wall. Chris’s mom put her hand away and got a hold of herself. They went to the backdoor which led to the backyard. She opened the door and looked at Chris. Her eyes still watery.

“listen Chris go through the fence and head down the street. You’ll find a church run by a nun go to her and shell take you in” his mom said.

“what about you, you’re coming too” Chris asked.

“I can’t come Chris; I have to stay here” she told him

“no I won’t go without you, well go together” he almost chocked on his words.

“Chris I love you so much and I don’t want anything happening to you, please go” she said

“no no no no no no”. Chris hugged his mom tightly. They heard somebody coming in. the doorknob was turning. She pushed Chris on the ground and told him to run away. She locked the door so he couldn’t come back in.

“mom” Chris said.

The guards pushed down the wall and came inside. The fat little man came wobbling towards her.

“ah you must be the wife” he said

“die in hell you rotten pig” she replied.

“is that so” he ordered his guards to shoot her as well.

They both took out their pistols and started shooting as well. They shot a full cartridge of their pistols. She was full of holes. In front of her body blood poured out and she fell down. Chris was looking at the window. He looked at her mom’s dying as she fell down. She looked at Chris.

“run” she said in her low dying voice.

Chris looked as she muttered something which he couldn’t hear. Then he looked at her mother as she closed her eyes forever. Her face pale which slowly became more pale.

“some people can be so rude sometimes, napkin” he ordered his bodyguards. One of them reached into his pockets and gave him one. As he was cleaning his face he looked out the window and saw a kid just looking silently at the dead body.

“oye there’s a kid outside get him” he screamed

As soon as he said that Chris started running. He went over the fence and started running down the start. He ran as fast as he could. He looked behind to see the guards were still chasing him. he looked behind him to see that the guards were chasing him. he bolted down the street. The guards now took out their pistols and started shooting. The shooting made his running a little shaky. He turned left into a narrow alley. In front of him was door. He tried to open it but it was locked. He could hear the guard footsteps coming closer. He quickly went to the other side where he saw a shops glass panel. He looked around and found a rock. He picked it up and there it at the glass. He went inside to find it was a meat shop. He went into the cold compartment and hid behind a long pantry compartment which extended from one room to the other. He found a fire extinguisher and took that. He could hear the guards coming in slowly and checking in the freezer room. They proceeded slowly.

“where is he” one guard asked

“I don’t know, keep on looking he’s here somewhere”

Chris thought he could sneak outside without them knowing. He crouched forward slowly not to give away his position. But since he was in a freezer room he couldn’t handle the cold and let out a sneeze. The guards

Realized where he was. Chris stood up and saw the two guards in front of him. they took out their pistols in front him. but before they could shoot he fired the distinguisher in front of them and ran away. That move gave him a little bit of a head start but he knew they would catch up quickly. He frantically ran until he couldn’t. after a few more steps he fell on the ground and fainted out. Before he could close his eyes he saw a big building. An old building with a pointed end on top. A round glass made of multiple colors. In front of him he could see a nun. She was in her thirties and was extremely beautiful with blond hair. She was wearing the typical black nun outfit with a white scarf on her. She was smoking a cigarette while leaning beside the wall. She looked at the boy infront of her who just fell down.

“oye kid you okay” she asked

But he already fainted out. She tried to figure out who he was but never saw the boy before. Until then the guards came up to her and the finance minister also came.

“hello there nun” he said very politely.

“iam going to ask you to hand over the child”

“and who might you be” the nun asked in cold tone. She knew who the man was in fact and she knew his personality.

“that boy’s parents told me to get him back, he ran away from” he said.

That was an obvious lie. She could feel something fishy.

“that’s okay this is a church that keeps orphans, I’ll take him back to his parents”. She said

“you know you’re really getting on my nerves or else” the minister said a little aggressively.

“or what” she stared at them intensely.

“fire” he said.

But before they could even get their gun out the nun came infront of the first guard and punched him in the gut which sent him flying back into the wall. She quickly shifted to the other grabbed his head and threw it on the other guard. Before the first guard could fall down the second hit him. then she stood infront of the the minister. It all happened so fast that the minister didn’t understand what just happened. He looked back to see his men were unconscious lying on top of each other. Then he returned his gaze up to the women. Her expression all turned hard and serious. He felt that he was in the presence of a demon. He looked up at the woman with murderous look on her.

“iam gonna say this once so listen closely” she said

“get the hell out of here”

The minster without any hesitation ran away. She looked back at Chris who was still passed out. She picked him up like prince picks up a princess in her arms and went inside.

“after that I’ve been living as an orphan in a church” Chris said. Reliving the past made his heart ache. He was on the verge of tears. The room was silent, dead silent. Everybody didn’t know what to say to him.

“be proud Chris” Draken said.

“ proud ?” Chris asked

“yeah, be proud that your parents died with honor, be proud of your father who never gave into malice, be proud of your mother who risked her own life to protect her boy and most of all be proud of yourself, if your parents saw how you tried to protect me back then iam sure they would be proud of you too” draken said.

Draken looked up at the man who said all of this. All this time he thought it was his fault. He didn’t understand all this time he hated himself because of that but this told him to be proud. All types of emotions came to his mind. His eyes became watery he couldn’t hold it back. Slowly the tears came down his cheeks. He looked up to draken

“you really think they would be proud” he said sobbingly

“I don’t think; I know they would be proud of you” draken said as he hugged the boy tightly.

“it’s ok cry all you want iam here” draken said

“thank you” he said in a cracked voice.

Charollete looked at draken with an admirable face. She could see his sympathetic, his strong will to protect others. She felt really admired him. sometimes she wished she could be helpful as well to the team. She felt quite pathetic at these times. Suddenly they heard a big thud from the other side.

“what was that” charolette asked

“an earthquake” draken replied

“this is not lookin good we’ve been breached boyo” Zane replied.

They all ran outside. Draken got up and went to the main door.

“wait your injured” charolette said

“I’m fine” Draken said as he ran towards the door. They ran through the main living room and outside to the storage room.

“the enemies finally breached us, what do we do about this place” Zane asked.

“leave this place what else, gotta find another place more underground” Draken replied.

“and how are we going to find a place like that boyo” Zane said.

Before Draken could reply to Zane they saw the intruder. To their surprise it was a nun.