(no subject)
For all that are interested, i'll post the first two chapters of the sequel i've been writing to my first book. It may not be understandable to those who haven't read my book but I tried to put things in there that would help ease the newbs in.
So far the temporary name is
Circles Last Forever: Blades of the Heart
Blades of the Heart
Chapter 1
Welcome Home
The wind was cold as it breathed past his feet. The high mountain top stood above the city and overlooked all around him. Boss stood there and gazed at what he was responsible for bringing. This was humanities answer to his chance at living life once again without the threat of an attack from the claws and teeth of vicious creatures.
What stood before him high and erect from the ground was a set of silver plated buildings with turrets mounted on their roofs. Story high walls encased it and all the people that dwelled within. It was almost like they feared an attack from someone or something but what could they be afraid of? The beasts that threatened the land had been vanquished by him two years ago to this very day. This was the first time that he had returned to the clutches of the human race since he had saved it from the drakes.
It was finally time for him to return to living amongst the people. Maybe it had been long enough for him now to blend in and live a somewhat normal life. His facial and body structure had changed a lot since then. It seemed it would be relatively simple to assimilate into the culture as long as he kept to himself for the most part.
He began his decent down the hill towards the city with hopes for the best. The slope was slippery with the loose rock and he lost his footing once or twice. As the city loomed closer to him he began to wonder if this plan of his would actually work. It was all about whether or not he played his cards right. He had no real idea of what the city was like even. Being sneaky wasn’t exactly his specialty. Like his dad had always said though, ‘you never know until you try’.
As soon as he reached the bottom of the mountain he hurried to hide behind a boulder that stood at the front of the main entrance gate into the city. He shimmied as close to the edge of it as he could to peer over and see if there were any guards standing out front.
“Only a few.. this shouldn’t be too incredibly hard”
He muddled up his hair and tried to make himself look as unpresentable as possible before making himself visible to the men. He ripped the bottom of his shirt off and put it around his head to create a headband effect. It was finally time to return. Quickly he threw himself out in front of the men.
“Hey you!” the guards shouted at him.
“Hello there,” he replied casually.
“What are you doing out here? You know the rules; the city limits are strictly forbidden to citizens. I don’t know how you got out here but you’ll be seeing the inside of a jail cell unless you have a good explanation for being out here.”
Boss waited to say anything as he tried to think of a good enough explanation.
The gates opened slightly because of the ruckus and a few more guards appeared as back up for the others. “What’s going on here?”
On the other side of the gates a passerby saw what was happening. She was a tall slender girl with a few freckles littered on her face.
Boss spied her over the other people and she knew at once that he was in deep over his head and could use a hand.
“Ford!” she yelled out to him.
Was she really trying to help him? He didn’t recognize the girl and was almost completely sure that she didn’t know him. Or did she find out who he was already? Had his cover been blown?
He turned around seeming to reply to the name that she had yelled to him, “yes?”
“Just where have you been?”
Boss stumbled over his speech for a second trying to think of a good alibi for what he had been up to. Well, he meaning whoever Ford may be, “I was just out for a walk. I was really interested on what was going on outside the walls as of late”
“You know that’s forbidden since the law of restricted access was put in place. You really need to remember the way of things. I swear it’s like I need to take care of you twenty four hours a day”
The guards walked to meet the woman approaching, closing inspecting her to see if she was legit, “-and just who might you be?”
“Claire; just another citizen to be taken advantage of”
“Excuse me?” the guard stuttered.
Claire giggled a little, “Oh it’s nothing. Anyways, if I could just take my roommate here and be on my way that’d be greatly appreciated”
“Your roommate? Is that what he is or are you trying to yank my chain?”
“I’m serious! Tell them Ford!” she emphasized to Boss.
He just nodded in agreement not wanting to say anything that may incriminate her and reveal her under her white lie.
“See!”
“Alright, alright, alright just be on your way before I change my mind. And don’t let me catch you outside these walls again you hear me?”
“Yes sir, sorry sir” and he ran off into the city with Claire.
Once completely inside the walls Boss took a clear look around. The city was pretty developed with billboards and sighs all over the place. Signs that read, ‘curfew law still under enforcement; be a citizen, report any violators!’ It was almost like the city was a combination of a big town business sector and a concentration camp.
“How long has the city been like this?” Boss asked Claire in a short whisper.
She shushed him quickly, “be quiet, don’t say anything until we can get into my apartment unless you want them to pull you in for questioning.”
Boss nodded in approval and continued following her going by her lead. They passed shops that were worn down with very unfortunate people in front and he couldn’t help but feel sorry for them. Has this city that he left for the people become such a bad place?
Claire gripped his hand tightly and they rounded a corner and then slipped into the entrance to a tall building. “We’re almost there, don’t worry it won’t be much longer” she pushed him into the closest elevator and pressed the button for floor seventeen. The doors of the elevator closed and they were finally alone.
“Is it alright to talk now?”
“I suppose so” she ablidged simply and exteneded her hand to him, “the name’s Claire, and you are?”
Boss flinched not having thought up an alias for him to go by while here on his stay, “I-uh-well-the name’s Dean” he thought this would be easiest for him seeing as how it was his real first name; the name he hadn’t gone by in years. It would be simple to utilize the name because he would still respond to it and also his nickname ‘Boss’.
“-and may I ask just why in the world you were outside the walls snooping around when our strict laws are in effect?” she leaned in closer to him examining him. “Have I seen you somewhere before? You look terribly familiar”
He shook his head, “no, I don’t think so. I am pretty well unknown to this whole city. I’m only visiting from my home which by my further statement you can gather is not inside this peticular city.”
“Alright then, well where do you live then?”
“I live inside the remains of a space ship about twenty miles or so from here. I’ve been living there since the dragons were vanquished. You see, I’m an ex-soldier. I didn’t much feel like coming back to live in this city so I disabled my comunications and have been dead to this place ever since. I just felt that it was time I come back and take a look at the city that I sa- I mean that Boss saved”
She stared closer at him still trying to rack her memory for any little detail she might have missed in the initial inspection, “ex-soldier eh? It seems like you could be telling the truth. You’re quite built in the shoulders and that’s no easy task.” She laughed and then cut it off quickly, “are you lying to me ‘Dean’?”
“Possibly in some aspects of my previous statement but I’d rather not go into detail if you don’t mind”
They just looked at eachother taking in oneanother’s characteristics wanting to ask quite a few questions but just then the bell rang signifying that they had reached their floor.
Claire led the way out of the elevator and put her finger to her mouth to tell him that they couldn’t talk anymore. The hallway was dark and had an ominous feeling to it. Lights were dim, doors seemed to look as if nobody lived in any of the rooms and there was nobody else in the hallway except themselves.
Dean and Claire rounded a corner and bounded down another hallway and then stopped at a room. Claire pressed her hand on the reader on the door and it opened to permit them access. “Hurry and get in and make sure to remove your shoes.”
He nodded and removed his shoes as Claire shut the door behind them. “Alright, I can talk now right?”
“Yes, you may”
“I’ve given you my background and I think it’s time you give me yours. You saved me and all back there but that doesn’t mean that I can’t be suspicious.”
Dean saw now in the better lighting that she really did have quite a few freckles. For some reason he found them cute on her. She also had long wavy red hair, perhaps it may look better if it were curled.
“Well, like I’ve told you my name is Claire and I could tell you a lot about my life but I fear you would be bored seeing as how you seem to like danger. That of which I have none of in my life.”
It seemed as though getting information out of this girl in a clear outright answer was going to be damn near impossible. She liked to evade the questions but perhaps it was just because she had just met him.
Claires hair flopped over in front of her face but she pulled it back, “well at least I warned you before I ramble about myself. I’m a writer and in my free time I like to discuss psychology. I’m also a huge fan girl for old writings and movies. I just think that the philosophies of our early forfathers were much better in romance then our current situation.”
Dean laughed, “you know you didn’t have to stall with a background like that. I’m not going to judge you rough depending on what you do. I owe you for saving me from a lot of trouble back there. Don’t be mistaken when I say that it doesn’t affect how I see you. I’m just trying to keep in mind that you are someone that I have just met and that I can trust you only as far as I can throw you.”
Her eye brows raised, “and just how far can you throw me Dean?”
“Farther and farther every minute that I’m with you. You’ve so far proven that you can be trusted. I just hope that holds to be true for as long as I know you.”
Claire motioned to a chair nearby, “why don’t you take a seat. I’m going to go take care of a few things in my room. There’s food and drinks in the refrigerator if you so desire.”
Dean plopped down on the chair and leaned his head back as she departed to her room. She had asked him a pretty good question though. Just how far could he trust her? It was hard for him not to trust her with a lot since she had prevented him from having to use his powers to get out of that sticky situation. He looked around the room and saw nothing that was terribly concerning. There were just posters of models everywhere. Obviously she had left out a hobbie of hers.
Dean rested his eyes and stretched out his legs across the floor. She seemed normal enough to him. In fact it was very calming that she led such a lifestyle. There were no extra variables to look at or to understand. Not to mention the fact that she was incredibly friendly for just having met him.
In a few minutes she had returned and found him fast asleep on her chair. She had changed into a long red sun dress that fit perfectly into the hot days they were having lately in the city. It was just that
“Dean rolled over in his chair muttering something incomprehensible that sounded like he had said, ‘sapphi-ear’ but then scratched the back of his head and silenced. Claire started to question why she had done what she had done at the gates of the city. It just felt like something she had to do. There weren’t enough people in the world that would have done the same for her so she thought that it was somewhat her duty.
The weirdest part about it was that she felt that she had known him; that she had seen him somewhere and sometime before in her life. He just felt so very familiar to her. In the meantime she felt that it was somewhat her job to protect him because he seemed so ignorant of what was going on around him.
Claire walked over to him and gently knudged him awake, “wake up sleepy head.”
Dean struggled to wake himself up. He hadn’t had a good days sleep in what seemed like months. It was ever since she left him. The thought of her in his head sent a shiver down his spine and the sick feeling in his stomach returned.
Claire noticed his solem looked and promptly asked him, “are you okay?”
“Yeah”
“Are you sure?”
He looked at her silently begging her not to continue on, “yeah, I just had a really bad dream.”
“Alright then, well I just thought I’d ask you if you wanted to get something to eat. You look starved to death.”
A smile crossed his face.
Claire grinned, “I thought so and while we’re at it we can grab you a new set of clothing to replace those rags you call a fashion sense.”
“That could raise a problem.”
“And what problem would this be? If it’s paying for things just consider this a gift from me to you welcoming you home.”
Dean seemed taken aback. How in the world did she know that he was going to say that he had almost no money at all. He had only a few dollars from two years ago and a credit card that was supplied by the federation that they would surely pick up on if he used it. She’s a smart one, that’s for sure.
“Now let’s get going before it gets any later. It should be alright for us to talk when we’re out of the house now since we know a little bit of background on eachother. That way if we get questioned we should be fine.”
She really had thought it all through, “alright, I’m all set whenever you are.”
He picked himself up off of the chair and headed towards the door and headed out into the hallway. She was right at his heels as they headed out.
The streets were packed with people once they got into the busy downtown business sector. There were people outside their buildings advertising new things to buy; some even had people that were dressed up in costumes to promote better. One in peticular was dressed up as a dragon with a fake beam sword through it’s stomach.
Dean looked up at the store that loomed over the man in the dragon costume and saw that it was an antique store that stocked weapons that had been used in the great war. The costume made sense to him now.
It was only after he had taken a good look around at the people around him when he saw just how horribly he was dressed. He stood out like a sore thumb in his ripped shirt and old pair of pants that had worn down too much to fluff out anymore.
“The store is just up here” Claire told him as she grabbed his hand and tugged him forward so that he wouldn’t look so much at the sights that surrounded him without slowing down.
When they reached the big clothing store Claire ran up to the woman at the desk and started talking to her as Dean looked around and saw the incredible amount of different clothing they stocked. There was clothing of every type and color, age, and ethnicity. It was really quite amazing to see them all in one place. On the space port they had only had peticulars.
“Dean!” Claire yelled at him from across the room, “come over here and look at this! I’m going to be chosing your outfit since I’m paying for it. What are your favorite colors?”
He thought about it for a second and then replied, “I’d really like a dark green and white outift if you don’t mind.”
She nodded and took off down one of the aisles.
Dean started to turn the other way before Claire threw her arm up in the air and motioned for him to follow her. He sighed and followed her slowly.
Within just minutes Claire had chosen out a few articles of clothing and thrust them into his arms, “well go try them on!”
“Yes my lady,” he joked and bowed to her before heading towards the huge sign that read ‘dressing rooms’.
“-and make sure that you come out here after you’ve tried them on so I can see how it looks. I’m excited, I don’t get to dress men that often.”
Dean yelled back at her before he entered the room, “just pray that it looks good because otherwise this could be your last!”
He quickly slipped all the clothes she had picked out for him on and looked in the mirror. She had lucked out; the outfit actually looked incredibly good on him. It consisted of a few pieces: a pair of black pants that resembled jeans, a white long sleeve shirt that clung to him, a dark green and black vest, and to complete the look she had added in a pair of white slipper like shoes. It looked like the outfit would be hot as a sauna but it actually breathed very well.
Dean walked out of the dressing room with the clothes on and Claire smiled big at her masterpiece, “oh it looks absolutely amazing!”
She ran up to him and put around his neck a necklace that had a charm on the front of it, “I hope you like it. I saw it and had to get it.”
He inspected in a little further and saw that it was a glass charm that had a green mushroom shaped object inside of it, “well, it’s interesting looking I’ll give it that.”
“Good because I’ve already paid for all of it. I just have a sense about these kinds of things. They always just seem to work out for me.”
“What about my other clothes that are in the dressing room?”
“Oh I already asked the man in charge to dispose of them. That is alright isn’t it? It gave us a discount on your new clothes.”
Dean didn’t put up a fight about it. After all, she had paid for his new set of clothing that definitely helped him fit into the scene a lot better then his last pair.
Claire looked at him closer, “you know, without that headband on you look a lot like-“ she let her voice trail off. She gasped as it all hit her at once about who Dean was.
Dean’s eyes widened a bit and he feared his secret was out. He rushed up to Claire and whispered into her ear, “I’ll tell you everything once we get back to the house. Please, just give me a chance to explain everything.”
Claire just looked at him and silently agreed to the terms. They made haste and got out of the store. Once outside Dean felt a lot more in danger then ever. It seemed like he was in danger of being discovered by everyone now that she alone had found out. The people around him appeared to all be looking at him and inspecting him even though they weren’t really.
Chapter 2
The Grand Return of the Rightful King
They entered the apartment together and Dean walked her over to the chair. She tok her seat and he could tell she had many questions to ask him. He wasn’t really in the mood for a huge questioning session but he figured that he pretty much owed her that for what she had already done for him.
She hadn’t ratted him out on the spot or even made any move to try before he whispered his caution to her. It was clear that she had quite a good head on her shoulders.
He paced about in front of her and then finally settled on starting the conversation, “alright, so who do you think I am?”
“You’re him; the king of kings, the lord of all lords, the breaker, the boss, the only Boss”
Dean backed up a little having confirmed that she did infact think he was who he knew she thought he was. So it was out then, his secret was out and about with just a tiny mistake of removing a headband for a clothing fiting. What were the odds of that.
“Alright then, you’ve guessed correctly” he admitted. There was really no point in trying to make her believe that he was someone he wasn’t. It would come out sooner or later if he continued to live here for the time that he knew he wanted to. “I am Boss, true name Dean Jenks. I was the one who destroyed the drakes two years ago and now I’m back. I want to see what has become of the city that I left to run itself. My only problem is that while I’m here I can’t be discovered. As you can see, that has becoming frighteningly hard to do seeing as how I’m quite well known. I thought that I had changed enough that I wouldn’t be noticed unless I made a scene but I guess not.”
Claire stood up and lunged forward at him. Dean took a step back but she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.
Dean just stood there surprised at the act, “I just thought-“ she started talking into his shoulder, “that you might have needed this.”
They stood in the middle of the room locked together.
Dean was fighting himself. Half of his mind wanted to back away and leave her here; he wanted to abort and dissapear. The other half however knew that he needed it. He had become tense and was hurting a lot since Sapphire had left him. He guessed now that it had shown quite a bit since Claire was able to sense it.
Claire backed up off of him and whispered, “welcome home.”
“Thank you.”
With the absense of her body against his he felt somewhat alone and empty. It was like she had given him the one thing he wanted and had once again taken it away. He remember the way Sapphire had laid upon him. The pain in his stomach had returned to him. In the last few months it had become a part of him that he rather hated. Everytime that he had thought about her it hurt more then he could put into words.
Deans eyes glazed over as his thoughts ran from one another. He thought he understood a lot of the reason she had left him but it was all really just bundled up into one big ball of painful memories. He loved the time he had spent with her but also hated It because it plagued him like a great disease. She had been able to return to the city and had found someone else to be with that she could spend more time with then she had been able to with him.
“Dean?” Claire asked, pulling him out of his daze.
“Oh, yes, what is it?”
“With you being back here does that mean that you’re ready to take over?”
Dean looked puzzeled, “what do you mean, ‘take over’?”
Claire laughed, “after you defeated the drakes and left the city in it’s condition the people voted that if you were to return then you would become the rightful king.”
“King? But I don’t want to be king. I’m perfectly fine just being Dean and nobody knowing that I even survived after the war. It’s the best for me. That’s what I decided afterwards. This city doesn’t need a man like me running it. The only thing it does need is someone better then whoever is running it now because as I’ve seen it’s definitely not in the best condition.”
“But all the people who knew you personally before the war ended even agreed that you’d be perfect to lead this city!” she protested.
“Well that was before-“ he stopped mid sentence, “-the point is that I’m no longer fit for that position so I’d rather someone better run this city.”
“That may require your assistence then. This city is in the clutches of a man that has robbed the people of their wealth, security, hopes and dreams. He inforces it by brute force with the help of his loyal followers that have been bribed with the only riches there are and the assurance of power. The system has been corrupted and I think it was fate that brought you here now to solve it.”
A grin cross his face, “fate you say?”
“Okay maybe not fate but extreme luck. You could go talk to the people and set things right. Tell them what you think of what has happened. If anyone can start an uprising it’s you. I know that I don’t need to tell you this, you already know!”
Dean looked at her and didn’t really know what else he wanted to say. He really just wanted to left alone. It just felt right to him to be in hiding and have the world just leave him alone. In the last two years it had been just he and Sapphire.
“I don’t understand what the problem is” Claire questioned him.
“I don’t even know. I’m having a hard time in my life right now. I don’t seem to know what side is up and what is down anymore. Things have just been crazy lately.”
Claire started twirling her hair trying to keep some of her emotions locked up. She was obviously having a hard time understanding how he could just sit there and not do anything when he had the complete ability to fix almost everything.
“The powers that I was given was given to me for a specific reason. That reason has been fulfilled so they should now be unused and set to rest. I lost a good friend to receive this gift.”
“Aurora you mean?” Claire asked him.
“How do you know that?”
“I read the book that your sister wrote about your experience before and during the war. She probably wants to see you ‘Boss’” she emphasised his nickname.
“How is she now? Is she alright? And do you know about the others? Calix? Scarlett? Parker? Ada?” he hurried through now excited about the topic of conversation.
Claire straightened up and looked him straight in the eye, “why don’t you ask them yourself?”
“Just- alright, I’ll try to explain this whole thing to you. If my sister wrote a book about me she must have mentioned a girl by the name of Sapphire.”
She nodded, “yeah, she said you had probably married her afterwards if you were still alive.”
Dean looked down getting more depressed by the second, “well, we didn’t. Things didn’t work out between us. One main cause of it was because I couldn’t be around a lot. It drove her and I crazy not being able to see eachother as much as we’d both like. The big reason that we couldn’t be together was because after we had disapeared I had found a map. This map was what I believed to be the answer to the final solution to the drakes.”
“-but you already solved that problem. You destroyed them all-“
“No, I destoryed all of the drakes in current existance. Not the ones that would exist in the future. You see, the map I found was inside a tooth that came from what was left after I used the devine sword to extinquish the drakes. It was the map to the blood egg.”
Claire begged him to continue, “-and the blood egg was?”
“The blood egg is an egg that was brought into existance the moment I destoryed all of the drakes. By killing them all I triggered a lone egg to start it’s incubation period. This egg wasn’t a dragon; no, it was an egg that when hatched would grant the bearer the power to conquer nations. I’m guessing that it will grant them powers similar to mine.”
“So you went to find it so that you could harness it?”
Dean sat down on the floor cross legged and then moved so that the bottoms of his feet connected. “No, I wanted to find it and destory it. Only pain can be felt from such a power as that. I believe that it would give too much responsibility to anyone who would come to possess it.”
Claire knew she must be missing something. The pieces just didn’t fit together, “wait, so if it was a map to the egg wouldn’t you be able to just find it and destroy it quickly?”
“No, the map gives subtle clues. It gave me a starting direction and I’ve found a few more clues along the way but haven’t landed the egg yet. Because of the constant search for the egg and the danger that I could be discovered alive I had to leave Sapphire behind while I looked for it. I only saw her about twice a week for only a few hours. You can understand how that would be hell on a relationship. In the end, she left me and slowly integrated into this city to finally settle down with another man under another name.”
“Then that leaves me with one question for you”
Dean looked at her waiting, “and that would be?”
“Why are you here in the city? Have you given up on your quest to find the blood egg or is one of the clues here?”
He didn’t know if he should tell her the truth. She had been honest with him up to this point so it should become of him to give her the same treatment.
“There may be a clue here. I’ve traced a trail all the way back to this city. Each one of the clues has shown itself to me whenever I use some of my energy around it. They’ve all had defense mechanisms that have tried to ward me off. A test or a fight for my life has awaited me each time. Each is crazier then the last. I’m just hoping that I can find the clue here without much interference. The last clue I found had a painting of a city on it so I’m assuming this is where the next one is.”
“I don’t understand you at all Dean Jenks” she laughed at him, “you just don’t make sense sometimes.”
“What do you mean?” he questioned her not catching what she was getting at.
“You would be perfect to lead the people of this city. You seem to highly underestimate yourself for what you really are but on a different note, do you know how or why the egg was created?”
Dean shook his head, “that’s the thing. I really don’t know much more then I’ve told you. I have no idea who created it or how or even when. I’m in the dark just as much as you are. I’ve picked up what I’ve told you while on the trail to find the stupid thing.”
They both sat in the middle of the room, Claire in her chair and Dean on the floor in his weird looking position. The sun outside seemed to be setting and that looked the cue for Dean.
“We can move out tonight to try and look for the clue. That is, if you’ll allow me to come along with you. I’m very good with these sort of things though so it may better you to permit me to accompany you” Claire reasoned with him.
Dean smirked, “I think, it may just be time for the team to reassemble.”
“You may not need to bring them with you though. We should just try to take this on ourselves as it is but first I think we should do something about your look. You’re too easily recognized as you are right now.”
“And just what might you want to do about this problem?”
Claires face turned as red as her hair, “oh, I have a few ideas.”
In only a few short minutes Claire had shoved Dean into her bathroom and begun to work her magic on his hair. She dyed it with extremely light blonde highlights and then cut it so that it could be spiked to the front. After that it was just a trick of putting on a hat that fit just right over the back of his hair.
Once finished she took a step back and admired her work, “it looks perfect. I can’t believe that this makes you look that much different.”
Dean looked in the mirror and was surprised at how right she was. He really couldn’t be recognized as long as he kept the hat on. One thing that was really working on his side was that not a lot of people knew what he actually looked like when he wasn’t in his breaker form; his combat form.
She looked at him through his reflection in the mirror, “so when do we get started on finding the clue?”
“Well I’d much prefer if we got this done as soon as possible so I can move on to the next one. I can’t risk someone else getting to it before me by the means of finding one of the clues or by accidentally stumbling upon the real thing.”
They both walked out of the bathroom and look out of the apartment windows that overlooked the city. There seemed to be only a few hours of day light left.
“At night fall, me move out.”
So far the temporary name is
Circles Last Forever: Blades of the Heart
Blades of the Heart
Chapter 1
Welcome Home
The wind was cold as it breathed past his feet. The high mountain top stood above the city and overlooked all around him. Boss stood there and gazed at what he was responsible for bringing. This was humanities answer to his chance at living life once again without the threat of an attack from the claws and teeth of vicious creatures.
What stood before him high and erect from the ground was a set of silver plated buildings with turrets mounted on their roofs. Story high walls encased it and all the people that dwelled within. It was almost like they feared an attack from someone or something but what could they be afraid of? The beasts that threatened the land had been vanquished by him two years ago to this very day. This was the first time that he had returned to the clutches of the human race since he had saved it from the drakes.
It was finally time for him to return to living amongst the people. Maybe it had been long enough for him now to blend in and live a somewhat normal life. His facial and body structure had changed a lot since then. It seemed it would be relatively simple to assimilate into the culture as long as he kept to himself for the most part.
He began his decent down the hill towards the city with hopes for the best. The slope was slippery with the loose rock and he lost his footing once or twice. As the city loomed closer to him he began to wonder if this plan of his would actually work. It was all about whether or not he played his cards right. He had no real idea of what the city was like even. Being sneaky wasn’t exactly his specialty. Like his dad had always said though, ‘you never know until you try’.
As soon as he reached the bottom of the mountain he hurried to hide behind a boulder that stood at the front of the main entrance gate into the city. He shimmied as close to the edge of it as he could to peer over and see if there were any guards standing out front.
“Only a few.. this shouldn’t be too incredibly hard”
He muddled up his hair and tried to make himself look as unpresentable as possible before making himself visible to the men. He ripped the bottom of his shirt off and put it around his head to create a headband effect. It was finally time to return. Quickly he threw himself out in front of the men.
“Hey you!” the guards shouted at him.
“Hello there,” he replied casually.
“What are you doing out here? You know the rules; the city limits are strictly forbidden to citizens. I don’t know how you got out here but you’ll be seeing the inside of a jail cell unless you have a good explanation for being out here.”
Boss waited to say anything as he tried to think of a good enough explanation.
The gates opened slightly because of the ruckus and a few more guards appeared as back up for the others. “What’s going on here?”
On the other side of the gates a passerby saw what was happening. She was a tall slender girl with a few freckles littered on her face.
Boss spied her over the other people and she knew at once that he was in deep over his head and could use a hand.
“Ford!” she yelled out to him.
Was she really trying to help him? He didn’t recognize the girl and was almost completely sure that she didn’t know him. Or did she find out who he was already? Had his cover been blown?
He turned around seeming to reply to the name that she had yelled to him, “yes?”
“Just where have you been?”
Boss stumbled over his speech for a second trying to think of a good alibi for what he had been up to. Well, he meaning whoever Ford may be, “I was just out for a walk. I was really interested on what was going on outside the walls as of late”
“You know that’s forbidden since the law of restricted access was put in place. You really need to remember the way of things. I swear it’s like I need to take care of you twenty four hours a day”
The guards walked to meet the woman approaching, closing inspecting her to see if she was legit, “-and just who might you be?”
“Claire; just another citizen to be taken advantage of”
“Excuse me?” the guard stuttered.
Claire giggled a little, “Oh it’s nothing. Anyways, if I could just take my roommate here and be on my way that’d be greatly appreciated”
“Your roommate? Is that what he is or are you trying to yank my chain?”
“I’m serious! Tell them Ford!” she emphasized to Boss.
He just nodded in agreement not wanting to say anything that may incriminate her and reveal her under her white lie.
“See!”
“Alright, alright, alright just be on your way before I change my mind. And don’t let me catch you outside these walls again you hear me?”
“Yes sir, sorry sir” and he ran off into the city with Claire.
Once completely inside the walls Boss took a clear look around. The city was pretty developed with billboards and sighs all over the place. Signs that read, ‘curfew law still under enforcement; be a citizen, report any violators!’ It was almost like the city was a combination of a big town business sector and a concentration camp.
“How long has the city been like this?” Boss asked Claire in a short whisper.
She shushed him quickly, “be quiet, don’t say anything until we can get into my apartment unless you want them to pull you in for questioning.”
Boss nodded in approval and continued following her going by her lead. They passed shops that were worn down with very unfortunate people in front and he couldn’t help but feel sorry for them. Has this city that he left for the people become such a bad place?
Claire gripped his hand tightly and they rounded a corner and then slipped into the entrance to a tall building. “We’re almost there, don’t worry it won’t be much longer” she pushed him into the closest elevator and pressed the button for floor seventeen. The doors of the elevator closed and they were finally alone.
“Is it alright to talk now?”
“I suppose so” she ablidged simply and exteneded her hand to him, “the name’s Claire, and you are?”
Boss flinched not having thought up an alias for him to go by while here on his stay, “I-uh-well-the name’s Dean” he thought this would be easiest for him seeing as how it was his real first name; the name he hadn’t gone by in years. It would be simple to utilize the name because he would still respond to it and also his nickname ‘Boss’.
“-and may I ask just why in the world you were outside the walls snooping around when our strict laws are in effect?” she leaned in closer to him examining him. “Have I seen you somewhere before? You look terribly familiar”
He shook his head, “no, I don’t think so. I am pretty well unknown to this whole city. I’m only visiting from my home which by my further statement you can gather is not inside this peticular city.”
“Alright then, well where do you live then?”
“I live inside the remains of a space ship about twenty miles or so from here. I’ve been living there since the dragons were vanquished. You see, I’m an ex-soldier. I didn’t much feel like coming back to live in this city so I disabled my comunications and have been dead to this place ever since. I just felt that it was time I come back and take a look at the city that I sa- I mean that Boss saved”
She stared closer at him still trying to rack her memory for any little detail she might have missed in the initial inspection, “ex-soldier eh? It seems like you could be telling the truth. You’re quite built in the shoulders and that’s no easy task.” She laughed and then cut it off quickly, “are you lying to me ‘Dean’?”
“Possibly in some aspects of my previous statement but I’d rather not go into detail if you don’t mind”
They just looked at eachother taking in oneanother’s characteristics wanting to ask quite a few questions but just then the bell rang signifying that they had reached their floor.
Claire led the way out of the elevator and put her finger to her mouth to tell him that they couldn’t talk anymore. The hallway was dark and had an ominous feeling to it. Lights were dim, doors seemed to look as if nobody lived in any of the rooms and there was nobody else in the hallway except themselves.
Dean and Claire rounded a corner and bounded down another hallway and then stopped at a room. Claire pressed her hand on the reader on the door and it opened to permit them access. “Hurry and get in and make sure to remove your shoes.”
He nodded and removed his shoes as Claire shut the door behind them. “Alright, I can talk now right?”
“Yes, you may”
“I’ve given you my background and I think it’s time you give me yours. You saved me and all back there but that doesn’t mean that I can’t be suspicious.”
Dean saw now in the better lighting that she really did have quite a few freckles. For some reason he found them cute on her. She also had long wavy red hair, perhaps it may look better if it were curled.
“Well, like I’ve told you my name is Claire and I could tell you a lot about my life but I fear you would be bored seeing as how you seem to like danger. That of which I have none of in my life.”
It seemed as though getting information out of this girl in a clear outright answer was going to be damn near impossible. She liked to evade the questions but perhaps it was just because she had just met him.
Claires hair flopped over in front of her face but she pulled it back, “well at least I warned you before I ramble about myself. I’m a writer and in my free time I like to discuss psychology. I’m also a huge fan girl for old writings and movies. I just think that the philosophies of our early forfathers were much better in romance then our current situation.”
Dean laughed, “you know you didn’t have to stall with a background like that. I’m not going to judge you rough depending on what you do. I owe you for saving me from a lot of trouble back there. Don’t be mistaken when I say that it doesn’t affect how I see you. I’m just trying to keep in mind that you are someone that I have just met and that I can trust you only as far as I can throw you.”
Her eye brows raised, “and just how far can you throw me Dean?”
“Farther and farther every minute that I’m with you. You’ve so far proven that you can be trusted. I just hope that holds to be true for as long as I know you.”
Claire motioned to a chair nearby, “why don’t you take a seat. I’m going to go take care of a few things in my room. There’s food and drinks in the refrigerator if you so desire.”
Dean plopped down on the chair and leaned his head back as she departed to her room. She had asked him a pretty good question though. Just how far could he trust her? It was hard for him not to trust her with a lot since she had prevented him from having to use his powers to get out of that sticky situation. He looked around the room and saw nothing that was terribly concerning. There were just posters of models everywhere. Obviously she had left out a hobbie of hers.
Dean rested his eyes and stretched out his legs across the floor. She seemed normal enough to him. In fact it was very calming that she led such a lifestyle. There were no extra variables to look at or to understand. Not to mention the fact that she was incredibly friendly for just having met him.
In a few minutes she had returned and found him fast asleep on her chair. She had changed into a long red sun dress that fit perfectly into the hot days they were having lately in the city. It was just that
“Dean rolled over in his chair muttering something incomprehensible that sounded like he had said, ‘sapphi-ear’ but then scratched the back of his head and silenced. Claire started to question why she had done what she had done at the gates of the city. It just felt like something she had to do. There weren’t enough people in the world that would have done the same for her so she thought that it was somewhat her duty.
The weirdest part about it was that she felt that she had known him; that she had seen him somewhere and sometime before in her life. He just felt so very familiar to her. In the meantime she felt that it was somewhat her job to protect him because he seemed so ignorant of what was going on around him.
Claire walked over to him and gently knudged him awake, “wake up sleepy head.”
Dean struggled to wake himself up. He hadn’t had a good days sleep in what seemed like months. It was ever since she left him. The thought of her in his head sent a shiver down his spine and the sick feeling in his stomach returned.
Claire noticed his solem looked and promptly asked him, “are you okay?”
“Yeah”
“Are you sure?”
He looked at her silently begging her not to continue on, “yeah, I just had a really bad dream.”
“Alright then, well I just thought I’d ask you if you wanted to get something to eat. You look starved to death.”
A smile crossed his face.
Claire grinned, “I thought so and while we’re at it we can grab you a new set of clothing to replace those rags you call a fashion sense.”
“That could raise a problem.”
“And what problem would this be? If it’s paying for things just consider this a gift from me to you welcoming you home.”
Dean seemed taken aback. How in the world did she know that he was going to say that he had almost no money at all. He had only a few dollars from two years ago and a credit card that was supplied by the federation that they would surely pick up on if he used it. She’s a smart one, that’s for sure.
“Now let’s get going before it gets any later. It should be alright for us to talk when we’re out of the house now since we know a little bit of background on eachother. That way if we get questioned we should be fine.”
She really had thought it all through, “alright, I’m all set whenever you are.”
He picked himself up off of the chair and headed towards the door and headed out into the hallway. She was right at his heels as they headed out.
The streets were packed with people once they got into the busy downtown business sector. There were people outside their buildings advertising new things to buy; some even had people that were dressed up in costumes to promote better. One in peticular was dressed up as a dragon with a fake beam sword through it’s stomach.
Dean looked up at the store that loomed over the man in the dragon costume and saw that it was an antique store that stocked weapons that had been used in the great war. The costume made sense to him now.
It was only after he had taken a good look around at the people around him when he saw just how horribly he was dressed. He stood out like a sore thumb in his ripped shirt and old pair of pants that had worn down too much to fluff out anymore.
“The store is just up here” Claire told him as she grabbed his hand and tugged him forward so that he wouldn’t look so much at the sights that surrounded him without slowing down.
When they reached the big clothing store Claire ran up to the woman at the desk and started talking to her as Dean looked around and saw the incredible amount of different clothing they stocked. There was clothing of every type and color, age, and ethnicity. It was really quite amazing to see them all in one place. On the space port they had only had peticulars.
“Dean!” Claire yelled at him from across the room, “come over here and look at this! I’m going to be chosing your outfit since I’m paying for it. What are your favorite colors?”
He thought about it for a second and then replied, “I’d really like a dark green and white outift if you don’t mind.”
She nodded and took off down one of the aisles.
Dean started to turn the other way before Claire threw her arm up in the air and motioned for him to follow her. He sighed and followed her slowly.
Within just minutes Claire had chosen out a few articles of clothing and thrust them into his arms, “well go try them on!”
“Yes my lady,” he joked and bowed to her before heading towards the huge sign that read ‘dressing rooms’.
“-and make sure that you come out here after you’ve tried them on so I can see how it looks. I’m excited, I don’t get to dress men that often.”
Dean yelled back at her before he entered the room, “just pray that it looks good because otherwise this could be your last!”
He quickly slipped all the clothes she had picked out for him on and looked in the mirror. She had lucked out; the outfit actually looked incredibly good on him. It consisted of a few pieces: a pair of black pants that resembled jeans, a white long sleeve shirt that clung to him, a dark green and black vest, and to complete the look she had added in a pair of white slipper like shoes. It looked like the outfit would be hot as a sauna but it actually breathed very well.
Dean walked out of the dressing room with the clothes on and Claire smiled big at her masterpiece, “oh it looks absolutely amazing!”
She ran up to him and put around his neck a necklace that had a charm on the front of it, “I hope you like it. I saw it and had to get it.”
He inspected in a little further and saw that it was a glass charm that had a green mushroom shaped object inside of it, “well, it’s interesting looking I’ll give it that.”
“Good because I’ve already paid for all of it. I just have a sense about these kinds of things. They always just seem to work out for me.”
“What about my other clothes that are in the dressing room?”
“Oh I already asked the man in charge to dispose of them. That is alright isn’t it? It gave us a discount on your new clothes.”
Dean didn’t put up a fight about it. After all, she had paid for his new set of clothing that definitely helped him fit into the scene a lot better then his last pair.
Claire looked at him closer, “you know, without that headband on you look a lot like-“ she let her voice trail off. She gasped as it all hit her at once about who Dean was.
Dean’s eyes widened a bit and he feared his secret was out. He rushed up to Claire and whispered into her ear, “I’ll tell you everything once we get back to the house. Please, just give me a chance to explain everything.”
Claire just looked at him and silently agreed to the terms. They made haste and got out of the store. Once outside Dean felt a lot more in danger then ever. It seemed like he was in danger of being discovered by everyone now that she alone had found out. The people around him appeared to all be looking at him and inspecting him even though they weren’t really.
Chapter 2
The Grand Return of the Rightful King
They entered the apartment together and Dean walked her over to the chair. She tok her seat and he could tell she had many questions to ask him. He wasn’t really in the mood for a huge questioning session but he figured that he pretty much owed her that for what she had already done for him.
She hadn’t ratted him out on the spot or even made any move to try before he whispered his caution to her. It was clear that she had quite a good head on her shoulders.
He paced about in front of her and then finally settled on starting the conversation, “alright, so who do you think I am?”
“You’re him; the king of kings, the lord of all lords, the breaker, the boss, the only Boss”
Dean backed up a little having confirmed that she did infact think he was who he knew she thought he was. So it was out then, his secret was out and about with just a tiny mistake of removing a headband for a clothing fiting. What were the odds of that.
“Alright then, you’ve guessed correctly” he admitted. There was really no point in trying to make her believe that he was someone he wasn’t. It would come out sooner or later if he continued to live here for the time that he knew he wanted to. “I am Boss, true name Dean Jenks. I was the one who destroyed the drakes two years ago and now I’m back. I want to see what has become of the city that I left to run itself. My only problem is that while I’m here I can’t be discovered. As you can see, that has becoming frighteningly hard to do seeing as how I’m quite well known. I thought that I had changed enough that I wouldn’t be noticed unless I made a scene but I guess not.”
Claire stood up and lunged forward at him. Dean took a step back but she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.
Dean just stood there surprised at the act, “I just thought-“ she started talking into his shoulder, “that you might have needed this.”
They stood in the middle of the room locked together.
Dean was fighting himself. Half of his mind wanted to back away and leave her here; he wanted to abort and dissapear. The other half however knew that he needed it. He had become tense and was hurting a lot since Sapphire had left him. He guessed now that it had shown quite a bit since Claire was able to sense it.
Claire backed up off of him and whispered, “welcome home.”
“Thank you.”
With the absense of her body against his he felt somewhat alone and empty. It was like she had given him the one thing he wanted and had once again taken it away. He remember the way Sapphire had laid upon him. The pain in his stomach had returned to him. In the last few months it had become a part of him that he rather hated. Everytime that he had thought about her it hurt more then he could put into words.
Deans eyes glazed over as his thoughts ran from one another. He thought he understood a lot of the reason she had left him but it was all really just bundled up into one big ball of painful memories. He loved the time he had spent with her but also hated It because it plagued him like a great disease. She had been able to return to the city and had found someone else to be with that she could spend more time with then she had been able to with him.
“Dean?” Claire asked, pulling him out of his daze.
“Oh, yes, what is it?”
“With you being back here does that mean that you’re ready to take over?”
Dean looked puzzeled, “what do you mean, ‘take over’?”
Claire laughed, “after you defeated the drakes and left the city in it’s condition the people voted that if you were to return then you would become the rightful king.”
“King? But I don’t want to be king. I’m perfectly fine just being Dean and nobody knowing that I even survived after the war. It’s the best for me. That’s what I decided afterwards. This city doesn’t need a man like me running it. The only thing it does need is someone better then whoever is running it now because as I’ve seen it’s definitely not in the best condition.”
“But all the people who knew you personally before the war ended even agreed that you’d be perfect to lead this city!” she protested.
“Well that was before-“ he stopped mid sentence, “-the point is that I’m no longer fit for that position so I’d rather someone better run this city.”
“That may require your assistence then. This city is in the clutches of a man that has robbed the people of their wealth, security, hopes and dreams. He inforces it by brute force with the help of his loyal followers that have been bribed with the only riches there are and the assurance of power. The system has been corrupted and I think it was fate that brought you here now to solve it.”
A grin cross his face, “fate you say?”
“Okay maybe not fate but extreme luck. You could go talk to the people and set things right. Tell them what you think of what has happened. If anyone can start an uprising it’s you. I know that I don’t need to tell you this, you already know!”
Dean looked at her and didn’t really know what else he wanted to say. He really just wanted to left alone. It just felt right to him to be in hiding and have the world just leave him alone. In the last two years it had been just he and Sapphire.
“I don’t understand what the problem is” Claire questioned him.
“I don’t even know. I’m having a hard time in my life right now. I don’t seem to know what side is up and what is down anymore. Things have just been crazy lately.”
Claire started twirling her hair trying to keep some of her emotions locked up. She was obviously having a hard time understanding how he could just sit there and not do anything when he had the complete ability to fix almost everything.
“The powers that I was given was given to me for a specific reason. That reason has been fulfilled so they should now be unused and set to rest. I lost a good friend to receive this gift.”
“Aurora you mean?” Claire asked him.
“How do you know that?”
“I read the book that your sister wrote about your experience before and during the war. She probably wants to see you ‘Boss’” she emphasised his nickname.
“How is she now? Is she alright? And do you know about the others? Calix? Scarlett? Parker? Ada?” he hurried through now excited about the topic of conversation.
Claire straightened up and looked him straight in the eye, “why don’t you ask them yourself?”
“Just- alright, I’ll try to explain this whole thing to you. If my sister wrote a book about me she must have mentioned a girl by the name of Sapphire.”
She nodded, “yeah, she said you had probably married her afterwards if you were still alive.”
Dean looked down getting more depressed by the second, “well, we didn’t. Things didn’t work out between us. One main cause of it was because I couldn’t be around a lot. It drove her and I crazy not being able to see eachother as much as we’d both like. The big reason that we couldn’t be together was because after we had disapeared I had found a map. This map was what I believed to be the answer to the final solution to the drakes.”
“-but you already solved that problem. You destroyed them all-“
“No, I destoryed all of the drakes in current existance. Not the ones that would exist in the future. You see, the map I found was inside a tooth that came from what was left after I used the devine sword to extinquish the drakes. It was the map to the blood egg.”
Claire begged him to continue, “-and the blood egg was?”
“The blood egg is an egg that was brought into existance the moment I destoryed all of the drakes. By killing them all I triggered a lone egg to start it’s incubation period. This egg wasn’t a dragon; no, it was an egg that when hatched would grant the bearer the power to conquer nations. I’m guessing that it will grant them powers similar to mine.”
“So you went to find it so that you could harness it?”
Dean sat down on the floor cross legged and then moved so that the bottoms of his feet connected. “No, I wanted to find it and destory it. Only pain can be felt from such a power as that. I believe that it would give too much responsibility to anyone who would come to possess it.”
Claire knew she must be missing something. The pieces just didn’t fit together, “wait, so if it was a map to the egg wouldn’t you be able to just find it and destroy it quickly?”
“No, the map gives subtle clues. It gave me a starting direction and I’ve found a few more clues along the way but haven’t landed the egg yet. Because of the constant search for the egg and the danger that I could be discovered alive I had to leave Sapphire behind while I looked for it. I only saw her about twice a week for only a few hours. You can understand how that would be hell on a relationship. In the end, she left me and slowly integrated into this city to finally settle down with another man under another name.”
“Then that leaves me with one question for you”
Dean looked at her waiting, “and that would be?”
“Why are you here in the city? Have you given up on your quest to find the blood egg or is one of the clues here?”
He didn’t know if he should tell her the truth. She had been honest with him up to this point so it should become of him to give her the same treatment.
“There may be a clue here. I’ve traced a trail all the way back to this city. Each one of the clues has shown itself to me whenever I use some of my energy around it. They’ve all had defense mechanisms that have tried to ward me off. A test or a fight for my life has awaited me each time. Each is crazier then the last. I’m just hoping that I can find the clue here without much interference. The last clue I found had a painting of a city on it so I’m assuming this is where the next one is.”
“I don’t understand you at all Dean Jenks” she laughed at him, “you just don’t make sense sometimes.”
“What do you mean?” he questioned her not catching what she was getting at.
“You would be perfect to lead the people of this city. You seem to highly underestimate yourself for what you really are but on a different note, do you know how or why the egg was created?”
Dean shook his head, “that’s the thing. I really don’t know much more then I’ve told you. I have no idea who created it or how or even when. I’m in the dark just as much as you are. I’ve picked up what I’ve told you while on the trail to find the stupid thing.”
They both sat in the middle of the room, Claire in her chair and Dean on the floor in his weird looking position. The sun outside seemed to be setting and that looked the cue for Dean.
“We can move out tonight to try and look for the clue. That is, if you’ll allow me to come along with you. I’m very good with these sort of things though so it may better you to permit me to accompany you” Claire reasoned with him.
Dean smirked, “I think, it may just be time for the team to reassemble.”
“You may not need to bring them with you though. We should just try to take this on ourselves as it is but first I think we should do something about your look. You’re too easily recognized as you are right now.”
“And just what might you want to do about this problem?”
Claires face turned as red as her hair, “oh, I have a few ideas.”
In only a few short minutes Claire had shoved Dean into her bathroom and begun to work her magic on his hair. She dyed it with extremely light blonde highlights and then cut it so that it could be spiked to the front. After that it was just a trick of putting on a hat that fit just right over the back of his hair.
Once finished she took a step back and admired her work, “it looks perfect. I can’t believe that this makes you look that much different.”
Dean looked in the mirror and was surprised at how right she was. He really couldn’t be recognized as long as he kept the hat on. One thing that was really working on his side was that not a lot of people knew what he actually looked like when he wasn’t in his breaker form; his combat form.
She looked at him through his reflection in the mirror, “so when do we get started on finding the clue?”
“Well I’d much prefer if we got this done as soon as possible so I can move on to the next one. I can’t risk someone else getting to it before me by the means of finding one of the clues or by accidentally stumbling upon the real thing.”
They both walked out of the bathroom and look out of the apartment windows that overlooked the city. There seemed to be only a few hours of day light left.
“At night fall, me move out.”