He really hadn’t done anything bad to her since they met. In fact, all he had done was help her. He might be a lowlife pirate, but he had proven to be trustworthy enough up until now, and it was nice of him to give her his jacket; or whoever’s jacket it was before he stole it. The least she could do was try to stop insulting him so much.

  “Fundus Six?” Drake said. “There’s nothing there but farms and the hicks that run them. Why would the Mystic armies bother conquering that planet? You’re really from there?”

  “Better a hick than a worthless pirate.” She replied, suddenly feeling fine about insulting him.

  “I’m not making a good impression on you, am I?” Drake asked.

  “You think?” she replied, the sarcasm in her voice was obvious.

  “I’m sorry,” Drake said, as they turned down yet another poorly lit alleyway, his voice switching from sarcasm to a calm, sincere tone. “You probably get hit on all the time, and I doubt that a worthless criminal is the coolest guy to ever think that you’re beautiful. I’m sure all the other boys told commented on your looks in a much more tactful way. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings or anything. Once I get you back to Human space you won’t ever have to see me again.”

  Was he serious? Or was he just trying to make Angela feel guilty? Whether he was trying to inspire guilt or not, it was what he accomplished.

  Angela opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off by a deep voice coming from the nearby shadows.

  “I do lament interrupting such an enthralling conversation.” It said. “But I have much more pressing matters to discuss.”

  A man stepped into view. Drake’s hand flew to the sword at his waist, drawing it out and pointing the blade at the man in one fluid motion. Although Drake seemed to recognize this man; Angela had no idea who he was. With his silvery hair, pale skin, and eerie blood red eyes, he was a very strange looking man. But considering that a lot of the Mystics Angela had seen so far looked more similar to walking animals than to people, this guy wasn’t all that strange.

  “You’re name is Drake Ashbell is it not?” The man continued, completely ignoring Angela’s presence and focusing solely on Drake.

  “Are you after the bounty?” Drake said, tightening his grip on the hilt of his sword, and stepping in front of Angela protectively.

  Who was this guy? Drake didn’t seem afraid of him, but pirates dealt with some pretty unsavory people, maybe drawing a sword and pointing it at strangers was a common thing for Drake.

  “Hardly,” The strange man continued. “You are the son of the late Tiberius Ashbell am I correct?”

  “Where did you hear that?” Drake asked, his eyes narrowing as he continued to observe the stranger.

  “My source of knowledge is irrelevant.” The man replied. “Please allow me to introduce myself, and then I shall tell you my purpose in speaking with you tonight.”

  “I already know who you are.” Drake said. “You’re the Anti-Luck who kidnapped the human princess a few days ago.”

  An Anti-Luck? Angela had never heard of one of those. Were they dangerous? They must be since this one was apparently able to kidnap the princess. Was this conversation really happening?

  “I see that my reputation precedes me.” The Anti-Luck replied. “My name is 169. A horrid name I know, but you can blame my creators for giving it to me. You see Drake, not to be too blunt about it, but the humans are monsters. They created my race for the sole purpose of destroying yours, and after the battle that they forced us into you and I are the sole survivors of our races, all because of human greed. Should such an action be without punishment?”

  “How are you even still alive?” Drake asked, completely ignoring what 169 had been saying. “I didn’t realize that even one of you had survived.”

  “Your question is, once again, irrelevant to the current conversation.” 169 replied. “I can assume you are educated enough to know of the three taboos of Vhy’ Rai?” Drake’s eyes narrowed even further, almost into anger.

  “An Anti-Luck can’t use the power of the god’s.” Drake said. “You’re a creation of man. You wouldn’t be able to perform any of the taboos no matter how badly you’d like to.”

  “I can if I use soul stone.” 169 said as he raised his right arm to reveal a mechanical device attached to it. “I plan to make use of the second taboo to remove the Humans that plague our existence. However, such a complicated process requires that I use the blood of the rightful heirs from two royal lines. There are only two royal lines still in existence. As you know, I already have the Princess of the Human Empire. Now I only require the blood of the rightful heir to the throne of the Mystics, which, if I’m not mistaken, is you.”

  “Prince!?” Angela exclaimed, covering her mouth as she realized she had spoken out loud.

  Angela hadn’t understood much of their conversation. She had heard of the power of the Mystics being called Auctoritas before, but Vhy’ Rai, Hemoignisium, and taboos were all new to her. The one thing she understood is that Drake, the worthless pirate, was actually a prince. He most definitely did not act the way Angela imagined a prince should act.

  “You don’t understand the cost that comes along with those taboos.” Drake replied, “In your quest to destroy the Humans, you’ll only destroy yourself. You should walk away from this while you still can.”

  “You and I both know that walking away is not an option for either of us.” 169 said. “You and I are the same. Our lives were forever changed sixteen years ago by the genocide of our people. Their blood cries from the ground of your home-world begging us to take revenge against the Humans. The horror of that day haunts our every waking moment. It shapes who we are. You can no more walk away from that than I can.”

  “I walked away from it a long time ago.” Drake said. “Dathan sits on the throne now. Why don’t you go steal his blood?”

  “No matter what you may have done in the past that has kept you from taking your place on the throne,” 169 said, “Auctoritas does not recognize it. As far as the gods of the Mystics are concerned, you are the king. And as king, you have a duty to end this war for your people.”

  “Knune may think that I’m king.” Drake said, “But the people don’t. They’ve hunted me and reviled me. I don’t owe them anything.”

  “Then don’t do it for the people.”169 said quickly. “The humans killed your father when you were just a child. Surely you desire revenge.”

  “The humans didn’t kill my father.” Drake said, “Dathan killed my father. And since you’re asking, I guess I do want revenge for that. But since your goal is to kill the Humans, I’m assuming you’re working for Dathan. So helping you isn’t exactly going to get me any closer to that goal, is it?” Drake’s voice had elevated to the point where he was almost screaming.

  “So you’re rejecting my offer?” 169 replied calmly.

  “Asking for blood from a complete stranger in an alleyway is about the creepiest thing you could ever do.” Drake replied, “That alone would’ve been enough for me to turn you down. But then you pretended to care about my father when you’re working for the man who murdered him; and that’s enough to really piss me off.”

  Drake wasn’t playful like he was when he fought the slavers to save Angela. He was really going to try to fight against 169. But could Drake actually win? 169 had been able to best the V.A.L.O.R. soldiers and take the princess. Drake seemed to be a good enough fighter, but there was no way he could be that good.

  “Very well then,” 169 said as he drew out his sword. “I am more than ready to take your blood by force.”

  169 swung his sword over his head with astounding speed, bringing it fast toward the top of Drake’s left shoulder. Drake was ready, bringing his sword up to block the sudden attack while simultaneously bringing up his foot into the surprised Anti-Luck’s chest. 169 stumbled backwards, trying to catch his breath.

  “You should hide.” Drake said to Angela as he drew out his revolver and pointed it at the Anti-Luck who was still trying to recover from being kicked in the chest.

  There was too much new information spinning through her head to even realize what Drake had just asked her to do. What had she gotten herself caught up in?

  She looked over to see Drake pull the trigger on his revolver. To Angela’s surprise, the revolver didn’t fire a bullet as she had expected. Instead, a small glowing red ball flew out, growing larger and turning into a massive ball of fire as it flew through the air into the surprised Anti-Luck’s chest, knocking him onto the flat of his back.

  Drake could use Auctoritas. Angela knew he was a pirate, but she hadn’t even realized he was a Mystic until 169 had said he should be their king. Just how much about Drake did she know nothing about?

  Angela gasped as she looked over to 169 lying on the ground and her mind returned to the fight happening right in front of her eyes.

  “Is he dead!?” She yelled out. To her surprise, 169 stood back up and threw off his black cloak that was now on fire. Without the long black sleeve of the cloak to cover his arm, Angela could see a machine that 169 wore on his arm. It had what appeared to be a gun barrel sticking out of the front of it, and some kind of large blade sticking out to its side.

  “I had hoped to accomplish this without violence,” 169 said calmly. “But it’s been so very long since I’ve met somebody who could actually fight back against me, that I had forgotten how very much I enjoy a good fight.”

  He leveled the barrel of his strange machine and pulled the trigger located near his fingers. Angela saw nothing come out except a slight distortion in the air as if the air was bending around some invisible force and moving straight toward Drake….who was standing right in front of Angela. Drake tackled Angela to the ground just before the disturbance in the air reached her.

  As she caught her breath lying in her new place on the ground, she saw the wall of the building behind them explode as the vibrations in the air reached it.

  “What was that!?” Angela yelled out in surprise as she watched the bricks that had once been a wall only moments ago flying through the air.

  “He’s using Vhy’ Rai to make the atoms in the air molecules vibrate at the opposite frequency of the first solid that they touch.” Drake replied.

  “What?” Angela said. “I have no idea what that means.”

  “He’s using that machine to blow things up.” Drake said as he stood up and leveled his revolver in 169’s direction. “Don’t worry, Vhy’ Rai can’t kill anything. But it can screw you up for life if he hits you with it, so you really should hide now.”

  Drake didn’t wait to see if Angela obeyed or not. He quickly shot another fireball at 169. This time the Anti-Luck was ready for the attack, he launched his same air vibration into Drake’s fireball sending it veering off and hitting a building far away from its intended target. But the Anti-Luck had been distracted enough with the fireball that he hadn’t noticed Drake pull a small knife from his boot and throw it skilfully in 169’s direction. The knife hit its intended target, digging deep into 169’s right thigh.

  Angela watched as Drake stood and sprinted in 169’s direction. As he ran Angela realized that Drake had dropped his sword when he had tackled her to the ground, and he was now running toward 169 without one. Drake moved fast, punching 169 hard in the stomach while the anti-luck was still reacting to the knife in his leg. As 169 doubled over from the hit to his stomach Drake used his other hand to grab the back of 169’s head and bring it down to meet his knee. Angela heard a loud cracking sound as the two made contact.

  The Anti-luck staggered backwards as Drake released his hold on his head. After a short moment, he composed himself, standing up straight again. Aside from the blood coming from his leg and out of his nose, he barely looked as if he’d been hit at all. But Angela could see it in his eyes. 169 was in pain. Drake might actually win this fight.

  169 suddenly pointed the barrel of his machine at the ground and fired the same vibrating disturbance that he had before. This time as it hit the ground beneath him, it sent him flying through the air, performing a picturesque flip as he sailed over Drake’s head, and through the alleyway, landing directly behind Angela.

  Angela tried to scream but her voice was muffled as the Anti-Luck’s cold hand covered her mouth and pulled her in tight against his body.

  “I will admit that you’re skill in fighting is superior to what I had been led to believe.” 169 said coldly. “It would appear that I must use an alternate method of persuasion.”

  With his free hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a hand-held Line Transceiver, throwing it on the ground in front of him.

  “My number is programmed in.” He said, “Call it when you’re ready to trade your blood for her life.”

  With a smirk on his pale face, he flicked a switch on his machine and pulled its trigger. A sudden burning pain ran through Angela’s body causing her to lose consciousness as her and 169 both vanished into the night.

  Chapter 9: Vahn

  Vahn took a deep breath as he stepped off of the Salus and out onto the landing platform of the palace. When it had picked them up, Vahn had thought the Salus was the most beautiful ship he had ever seen; but now it looked like a rusting pile of scrap metal sitting here docked next to the Basilius, the flagship of the Human Empire. Still, Vahn appreciated the rescue efforts of the little ship. How could he not? It had taken them away from the field of rotting corpses Drake had stranded them in.

  His stomach still churned at the memory of the gruesome sight. None of the battlefields he’d fought on prepared him for that kind of carnage. How could Drake have done such a thing? How could he have even been capable of it? When the Anti-Luck had attacked the only people who died were the ones who got in his way. And he had killed them with one quick stab to a vital organ. They were clean, respectable kills. The men Drake claimed to have killed had been massacred. If Drake was responsible for what happened in that prison, then he was more dangerous than the enemy they were trying to hire him to fight.

  “How’d the mission go?” A familiar voice snapped Vahn back to reality. Brooks stood there in his usual palace guard plate armor.

  “Not well at all.” Vahn said. “It couldn’t have gone worse actually.”

  “Try giving it a more positive spin when you report to the king.” Brooks said. “He wants to see you right now.”

  “Right now?” Vahn said, surprised. He had expected to go through a post mission medical examination and all the other standard procedures before reporting to the king. Even then he had only expected to submit a written report.

  “Yeah.” Brooks said, “But hey, at least if you get demoted because of this, I’ll be your superior officer and all will be right with the world again.”

  “That’s not comforting, Brooks.” Vahn said, trying to sound irritated but failing. Brooks always had a way of getting Vahn’s spirits back up.

  “You still have to call me Captain Fisher.” Brooks replied. “We’re still equal rank, and we’re in public.”

  “My apologies Captain Fisher.” Vahn replied.

  “It’s all good Vahn, now hurry and get demoted already.” Brooks said with a smirk on his face. “I’m sure the king has lots of other worthless failures to punish today, you shouldn’t keep him waiting.” With that Brooks turned and left.

  *****************

  Vahn entered the palace, and all but ran toward the king’s office, hardly even noticing the ornate decorations hung on the walls as he passed.

  The waiting room outside the office was packed with people as usual. There was never a shortage of people wanting to meet with the king. Maybe Vahn would have a little time to think about what to say in his report after all.

  “Captain Ashbell here to see the king.” He said to the secretary, a middle aged man who was sitting behind a desk.

  “He’ll see you now, Captain.” The secretary responded before Vahn had a chance to sit down in one of the few empty chairs of the waiting room.

  “Now?” Vahn asked. The king must be anxious to help his daughter. Vahn couldn’t blame him. He had lost his family when he was young, so he knew what the king must feel at the prospect of losing his only child. Too bad Vahn’s news wouldn’t help bring her back.

  “Yes,” He responded, “Please go in now. He has a very busy schedule today.”

  “Of Course.” Vahn replied as he walked through the door, and into the king’s office.

  “Captain Ashbell.” The king said. “Just the man I wanted to see. Why don’t you tell me all about your little expedition to Hades Prison?”

  “Well Sir.” Vahn began. “We made contact with Drake, and...”

  “He killed everybody inside the prison and made fools of an entire troop of V.A.L.O.R. soldiers?” Ryker cut him off before he could finish his sentence.

  “Yes sir.” Vahn replied. “That was a superb summation of events.”

  “A man that can do that is exactly who we need if we’re going to win against the Anti-Luck.” The king said. “Do whatever you feel is necessary to persuade him to join our side.”

  “To be honest...” Vahn began, but he stopped as the secretary’s voice blared through the room.

  “There’s a call being transferred from Captain Ashbell’s office.” He said. “They say they have new crucial information that Captain Ashbell needs to know before giving his report.”

  “Patch them through on the speaker.” The king ordered.

  “Right away sir.” The secretary said.

  “Hello, Captain Ashbell?” Erica’s voice came in over the speaker.

  “Yes, I’m here.” Vahn replied.

  “We have someone claiming to be Drake Ashbell on the line.” She said. “He says he wants to speak with you.”

  “Patch him through!” Vahn exclaimed; the surprise in his voice was obvious despite his attempt to remain calm in front of the king. If Drake was calling then he had changed his mind about taking the job. What other reason could it be?