One

Shawn and Jason , the two pivotal characters are introduced and a confrontation between the two takes place

My name is Shawn. My house was attacked some five years ago, my parents killed and my friends taken. I'd been trained for almost as long as I can remember to take over the group known as Atlas's crew.

There was a time when magical powers and abilities were as common as humans, but that all changed when Teslar came into view. Now, a very select few have powers, including myself, Max and Nascar and of course Teslar's 'group'.

I'm nineteen. I try not to dwell on the past but it's driven me to this day. I haven't seen Jason, Thalia or Lisa in five years and although we probably won't meet in the best of terms I still feel like I have to see them.

Nascar is a biologist. I don't know what exactly she does but she's an expert in anything that has to do with biology, you can even say she's an experiment.

Max is, according to her, her greatest creation. A living weapon. And then there's Sherry, our weapons expert.

That's about it for our core members. Teslar's attack whittled us down. Our parents( Thalia, Jason, Lisa and mine) were all eliminated. My mom, Eva was the leader of the crew at the time. I was forced to take over when this happened.

Fourteen doesn't seem cool but then, I'd been preparing literally my whole life so it wasn't too overwhelming.

How am I dealing with the fact that I lost almost everyone in a single night? Like I said the prospect of being able to see them again kind of makes up for that.

Atlas's crew is the only resistance to Teslar's seemingly all powerful kingdom.

Myself, Max, Nascar and Sherry were having a meeting when there was a knock on the door. A head peeked in. It was Oreus. He was such an annoying brat. When I was his age I had already mastered all kinds of weapons and was fairly capable in war strategy. Of course I had a head start but still, I've never met anyone so immature in my life.

"Oh, sorry. I thought this was the bathroom", he said. I slapped my face with my hands in frustration. He was probably using it as an excuse to try and barge in on us. Oreus was a kid who desperately wanted to be part of the core group. Although Max, Nascar and Sherry voted to give him a chance I voted against it.

Nascar only voted for him because she was amused at what the outcome might be. To her it was just like any of her experiments. Sherry just felt that if we let him into the group and he experience how trying it could be he would just give up and quit. Max ...well Max was a little harder to read.

Oreus was a gifted boy, it was just, he wasn't ready. When the time was right, no one, least of all me would stand in his way.

So apart from us and Oreus, who else was in our little band of rebellion? A few hunters, smiths, mercenaries and criminals. Teslar's laws were pretty harsh. We were a refuge for those who had nowhere to go.

At that moment we were planning of how to invade the castle where Teslar's forces were centred. We had been planning this for almost a month. The deadline was fast approaching. Our spies inside the castle were simply waiting for our signal.

Max and Nascar had both been partners with my mother in running the kingdom. They were my advisers and I could count on them even when I couldn't count on myself. Sherry was about my age. It was a little bit relieving to have someone my age as part of the group. Sherry was also the comedian.

Sherry always chastised me for being too high strung. "You've got to relax some", she always tells me. Max pretty much doesn't have a sense of humour. In fact I can't remember the last time he even laughed.

In the five years since the 'incident' we'd had three run ins with Teslar. Needless to say things didn't go according to plan.

The first was in neutral territory. We were both fighting for a very volatile item. We tried using the data we'd obtained to find suitable opponents for our competitors. And our competitors happened to be...Teslar top generals, my friends turned enemies, lucky us.

Jason was physically weak. He didn't have stamina so he couldn't keep up a fight for long. Thalia didn't have any particular ability, she was just physically enabled and good at using weapons. She was one of the best fighters we'd  ever had when she was still with us, going toe to toe and defeating most of our men. Lisa would be problematic. She was part elf, meaning she could use magic, so we had to fight her in conditions where her magic was unfavourable.

There were different three matches. In the first match the opposition got to pick the arena, in the second the referee picked an arena and in the third, we got to pick the arena.

The fight with Jason took place on a normal platform. There was one trick to the platform though. It was supported by a magnetic field in mid-air. And even though there was a path that led to the platform, it closed up once both contestants entered the arena. So there was also a chance of falling over, in which case the match would go to the opponent.

Matthias, our most gifted fighter entered the ring to fight Jason. Jason simply stared back at him in a condescending way. Then he ignored him and turned to look at me. "I don't want to fight someone like you", he said referring to Matthias. "I want to fight him”.

The referee looked confused and stared back at us. I shook my head vigorously. "Very well", Jason said. "I will crush you, slowly".

Matthias didn't give Jason any more time. He jumped at him. Jason moved out of the way. Matthias's hand met with rock.

I looked over to where Thalia and Lisa where. "A worthy opponent", I saw her say. It was too far for me to hear but I could lip read. Lisa didn't respond. Her face was turned away from me so I couldn't see her face, just the golden blonde hair.

Jason stared at Matthias. Matthias came at him again. This time he spun around and swung his leg. Jason dodged again. Matthias's leg kicked air.

All Matthias's attacks met air. Jason just kept dodging. I realised that Jason was conserving his energy. Of course, he would. But if we didn't find a way to make him use his strength, Matthias would be the one out of breath.

"It's not working!" I yelled out to Matthias. "We've got to try something different!" Matthias caught on. He turned to Jason. "Quite moving around like a gnat. Fight like a man! You're dead when I grab you!"

Jason simply stared back at him. "I mean it. Literally. Do you know how many I've killed! I don't even know. And you're going to be screaming the same way they were when I crushed them with my bare hands".

My eyes widened when I realised what he was trying to do. "You idiot! Stop! Stop right now!"

Jason bowed his head so that his hair covered his eyes. "Are you...trying to provoke me?" he said slowly. Matthias looked at him. Then he advanced to attack Jason.  Jason rushed at him as well.

Jason's punch connected with Matthias's gut whilst Matthias fist was only halfway towards Jason's face. Matthias was thrown out of the ring and slammed into a wall.

"Well I guess it worked", Jason said. He was breathing, short rasp, breaths. His eyes looked like they were on fire.

Then he turned to look at me. "Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty. So that everything else can be clean. I'm going to clean up this world. Even if I have to get a little blood on my hands", he said.

The long bridge extended and Jason walked on it to his end where Lisa and Thalia, lay waiting.

"This could be problematic", Nascar said. "I know", I said.

Nascar shook her head. "No, I mean look up".

I looked up. The next person standing on the platform wasn't Thalia or Lisa. It was a kid. He looked like he was barely nine.

"Are they crazy? Letting a kid fight?"

"Apparently not", Max said. "It's a trap. They think we will lower our guard or refuse to fight a kid."

"Of course we won't fight a kid! Right?" I turned to the two of them. Nascar's eyes shone mischievously. "Let me have a crack at him", she said. Max shrugged. "I don't see why we should go easy on him just because he's a kid. For all we know he's their ace in the hole".

'Absolutely not! We're not fighting a kid!"

Sherry wasn't here. I thought of what Sherry would say. "Don't be naive Shawn. That kid is definitely not normal. Those three wouldn't bring a kid to the battlefield hoping you'd forfeit. They have some major plan for him". That answer chilled me to the bone. What would happen if any of us fought him?

I looked at Matthias who had been pulled off the wall and was being carried away on a stretcher. He wasn't moving. It was impossible to tell if he was just unconscious or...

I shook my head. No matter how dangerous a punch was it couldn't kill a person, right?

"Anything is possible Shawn", Nascar replied as if reading my thoughts. "He could very well be dead".

I admit I hadn't expected a dilemma like this. We had no intel saying they had a kid on their team. Maybe it was just a bluff. Maybe not. I couldn't take the risk.

"We forfeit", I said.

"Two out of three wins. The winning team is Teslar!" the referee exclaimed.

Of course Max and Nascar weren't happy. When we got back to camp Max and Nascar narrated the incident in gruelling detail to Sherry, of how we lost to Jason and the others.

Sherry said nothing about the incident until we were totally alone. " I know the others are a bit harsh and they might not get it. But I do. You made the right choice. Rather than sacrifice one of your team mates or kill an innocent child you chose to avoid that. "

"But I did sacrifice my team mate", I said. I was referring to Matthias. After the match we realised that Matthias had suffered internal bleeding from Jason's punch and we were forced to leave him behind as a parting gift for the merchant who owned the neutral zone.

The neutral zone was like a market place, where people bid or competed in various ways for things of value to them. The winner got to walk away with the artefact whilst the loser was forced to pay.

We'd been searching for the last remaining dose of the serum used to purge the earth. The serum responsible for the disappearance of almost all trace of magical powers and abilities.

Nascar had invented it with extraordinarily rare ingredients. They were so rare it took almost a decade to find all the ingredients the first time. We didn't have a decade.

 

Oreus walked up to us. "But since I'm here. Could I stay awhile?" Oreus asked. "No", I said sharply. "Go away. We don't have time for your silly jokes now".

Sherry held my hand. "No, wait Shawn. This may be exactly what we need. We've been keeping Oreus hidden up till now. Remember what happened in the neutral zone? What if we hit them with our own version of Schrödinger's cat?" she said.

I had to admit I liked her idea. Besides that we'd finally have a real use for Oreus.

"But that means he's going to have to go through a lot of training. Otherwise he would certainly die", Max said. Oreus laughed nervously. "Max doesn't joke", I said. Oreus stopped laughing.

"Yes. Well, since you guys were so eager to have him on board"-"You're going to help train him too", Sherry said cutting me off.

I frowned. "Besides he has to start somewhere. If Nascar and Max start training him first he'd die before he got to the battlefield."

Sherry had a point. Max and Nascar had had their powers for so long, they'd forgotten what it felt like to be a normal human or to be weak. They wouldn't know how to go easy on someone like Oreus.

"Fine", I said. "Really? Is this happening?" Oreus said. "Don't look too happy", I said. "I'm going to drive you to the wall", I said.

Oreus shuddered.

 

 

In the castle, very far away from where Shawn's group had set up camp, Thalia, Jason and Lisa were having their own discussion.

Jason reclined in a sofa. "Why don't you sit on that?" Thalia said directing her eyes towards the throne carved out of rock. "Are you kidding?" Jason said. "Kings who sat in thrones were always easy targets. Besides, thrones are outmoded. "

"Whatever", Lisa said. "And what about you?" Jason asked. "Are you eager to see your boyfriend again?"

Lisa's face went red. "Tch. I don't recall ever calling him that", she said. She looked up from the board game she and Thalia had been so engrossed in. "What about you? He used to be your best friend. Are you sure him opposing you won't give you second thoughts?"

Jason's face twisted in fury. "Of course not. Who do you think I am? I'm going to let trivial emotions get in my way".

"I'm glad to hear that", Thalia said. "Your 'stunt' at the neutral zone worried me. I was concerned".

"As was I", said another voice. The three all turned to look at the new entrant.

It was the young boy who'd forced Shawn to forfeit the second round. "Oh it's you Jerry", Jason said . "Why? Were you expecting someone else? You sound a bit disappointed".

"You could say that. There's someone interesting I met awhile back. I'm eager to see what that person will do".

Thalia looked at Jason , narrowing her eyes. It wasn't Shawn he was talking about. So who was it? And what was he playing at?

"Teslar wishes to see us", Jerry said.

Jason shook his head. "It's about our battle strategy. Our informant tells us that Shawn will be attacking soon".

"So?" Jason said. "It's not as if he can get through our security by himself. He'd have to spread himself real thin. And that means sacrifice. Shawn won't do it. He hates to sacrifice and he hates to lose."

"Still"-"When we were younger, we used to play chess a lot. He almost never beat me unless I let him win. He refuses to see that some humans are pawns to be sacrificed without which progress cannot be made".

Jason jumped out of the sofa. "Let's go meet Teslar", he said.

Oreus and I were in the field sharpening our swords. "So what was it like? I don't ever hear you talk about it? Do you ever think about the past?" he asked.

I knew exactly what he was talking about. My back was to him. "I don't like to talk about it because I think about it. Almost every day. Pathetic, don't you think? Five years have passed and I still can't get over what happened in a single night. I'm weak".

"No, you're not. That's just being human", Oreus said.

Agnes came up to me. She wasn't a core member but she felt like one. She made sure our projects where always on point.

She wasn't a secretary. She was more like our taskmaster or  administrator. She supervised most things from supplies to weapons. Sometimes we were too busy planning strategy to remember how important those things were. What's a war without weapons?

"You have a meeting with Chief Hugo", she said.

Chief Hugo paid us from time to time for security. He was one of those vassal states Teslar didn't find useless and couldn't care less for it.

I looked at Oreus. "Sorry Oreus. It looks like we'll have to continue your training another time".

"It's okay. I think I've had enough broken swords for one day", he said looking at the broken blades beside him. I set off towards the camp without once looking back.

"Hey, how'd the lesson with greenhorn go?" Nascar asked. "It was fine", I said. "It doesn't look fine", she said. "Did something happen?" Ever since my mother died Nascar has been my mother figure. Sherry may be my closest thing to a friend, but Nascar is like my mother. She helped me deal with the psychological trauma and got me back on my feet. Max helped too, in his own way.

"Are you afraid?" Nascar asked putting her hand on my shoulder.

"Of what?" I asked.

"We're all afraid of something Shawn. Anyone who refuses to admit it is only in denial and is probably too scared to admit it. Do you understand me Shawn?"

"A little", I said. My shoulders sunk. "What if I fail? I haven't exactly been a budding success. And the last time I met him..." my voice trailed off.

"Those three are terrifying. Even by my standards. Whatever Teslar did to them, it made them monsters", Nascar said. These words coming from Nascar did nothing to ease my anxiety or pain. Nascar never exaggerated. She'd been through a lot. Besides Nascar was a monster by most people's standards. If she called Jason , Lisa and Thalia monsters, then they were.

I clenched my fists. "I'm just not sure I can pull this off". Nascar hugged me. "No great leader is Shawn. Those who usually are don't make it. Don't sell yourself too short. Your mother and father would have been proud. Heck I'm proud. When I was your age"-

Shawn knew a speech was coming. He pulled out of Nascar's grasp. "I think I'm better now", he said. "It's nice to know that you're proud of me. Thanks Nascar, that means a lot from someone like you", he said.

 

The young man walked through the woods alone, in the night, whistling a tune to himself as he strolled along. His feet noisily moving across the leaves. His golden eyes glancing around . This was one of the dangerous parts of town.

He heard the shuffling and rustling of more leaves. He looked down and realised he'd been surrounded by four men with knives. "What's a kid like you doing in the woods alone?" one of them asked. He appeared to be their leader. He had a scar under his left eye and a sneer on his face.

"I'm actually not much younger than you." He laughed. "A kid", he thought to himself.

"What you laughing at?" the scarred man asked. "You're going to need more than a few knives to fight someone like me", the 'kid' said.

"Who do you think you are?" one of the others asked. He was almost well built except for his protruding belly.

"Who do you think you are?" the man shot back. "You think you can ambush an attack a defenceless youngster? What gives you the right?"

"You think you can preach at me?" the scarred man said. "No, I'm done talking to people like you", the young man said rolling up his sleeves. "I'm going to teach you a lesson".

The scarred man threw his head back and roared with laughter. "You? What can you do?" he asked.

The young man grit his teeth. He clenched his fist and delivered a quick punch to the scarred man's belly. The man instantly dropped his blade. He stared at his assailant unable to move. "I paralysed you", the young man said. "You won't be able to move for awhile". His comrades screamed in outrage and ran at him.

There was the sound of a sword slashing clean through flesh and blood splashing. The three of them were done even before they realised what had happened.

"You're not the only ones with a weapon", he said.

The scarred man looked at his comrades and forced his muscles to move. He screamed as he moved towards him. "Ohh, you're pretty strong willed", the young man told him. His head fell for a second then rose again. "But", he said catching the scarred man's left hand and using his body weight to lift the man off his feet and slam him back on to the ground. "You're too slow. It would take light years for someone like you to lay a finger on me".

The scarred man arched in pain. The young man took out his sword and plunged it into the  man's chest. "I hear you men have been worrying a certain Mister Hugo", he said looking calmly into the dying man's eyes.

The man coughed up blood. "Who...are you?" he asked.

"I guess I can tell you my name since you won't be able to tell anyone else. It's Jason."

He pulled his sword out of the man's chest. There was the sound of Christmas tunes just southwest from him. He looked at the bright shining lights and the people inside getting ready, it seemed, to eat dinner. He smiled to himself.

There was a knock on the door. The mother of five, Louise was just settling down to celebrate Christmas with her family. She wasn't expecting anyone at this time. She looked at her husband, Farleigh. He shrugged. She sighed and went to open the door.

She saw no one there. Then she looked down. And she screamed. Her husband swiftly moved to see what was wrong. The children, the oldest of which was barely in his teens, all rushed to see as well.

"No!" Louise yelled so fiercely that they all jumped back. "Only your father can come and see this", she said.

Fairly knew something was wrong. He came to the door and the sight he saw made him sick. Someone had dumped four bloody corpses on their doorstep and had written in blood instead of ink,  "How can you people celebrate in such times as these?"

"Look at all the blood", Louise said feeling like vomiting herself.

"Quick, we've got to dispose of the bodies before any of the kids see it", Farleigh said. "See what Daddy?" Peter, the oldest and most inquisitive asked.

The two parents looked at each other wondering how they were going to get out of this one.

Jason watched the dilemma of the two parents and smiled. Then he turned around and disappeared into the night.

 

I was barely up the following morning when Agnes rushed into my quarters. "Quick!" she said. "A gruesome thing has happened!"

Chief Hugo explained everything to me. The two parents who found the bodies were seated there as well. "Who could have done such a thing?" he asked me.

"Jason", I said.

"Jason?" he said, his face almost white with fear. Everyone knew the name. His name struck fear into the hearts of even some of the bravest I had known. I was no exception. I nodded. "Yes. He has a sick sense of humour. Especially towards families, since ..." I shook my head. "Never mind that", I said. I got up. "What puzzles me is what someone like him was doing in the area alone and how he found out about your problem". As soon as I said that I already knew the answer.

"He's been keeping tabs on you even when Teslar wasn't", I said.

"What will you do now?" I asked him. He shrugged. "I guess I will have to get the Elders together".

I shook my head. "No. If Jason was able to keep tabs on you, there is a good chance that your Elders, even your most trusted ones, may be spies for him. Decide on your own. And if you can't, you're done. An indecisive leader is even worse at times than no leader at all", I said getting up to leave.

"Let me know what your decision is when you make up your mind" .

 

Jason moved across the woods. In the silent darkness, there was peace and tranquillity. He'd received intel that another gang was giving the tribe trouble. He shook his head. The names changed but the streets stayed the same.

This gang weren't robbers or murderers. They just kidnapped inhabitants and kept them hostage, for ransom from the chief.

Teslar didn't care. But Jason wasn't Teslar puppet. Teslar had given them the opportunity to do whatever they wanted, as long as it didn't interfere with his plans. So on certain nights Jason just wandered around waiting for trouble to find him.

Of course he knew that Shawn was also protecting Chief Hugo. But Shawn failed to see one thing. The problem couldn't not be contained. It had to be dealt with. One of the characteristics of a weak and ineffective leader was an increase in crime. His eyes narrowed. Chief Hugo had to be taken care of.

He'd already spoken with his inside men. Once the Chief was taken care of, they would take charge.

Jason moved swiftly and silently over the rooftops. He slid down the wall of the Chief's building and knocked the guard near the building out. He covered his mouth while slapping his neck with the back of his hand.

After hiding the guard he moved into the Chief's bedroom. He took out a glow in the dark stick and flashed it around. Nothing. Then he turned on the light. Nothing. There was no one there. No. There was someone.

He dropped from the roof.

Shawn.

Author's Note

Any review is welcome, no matter how harsh

Reviews

[Nana]

That's ominous. Did not expect that.