The carrier vessel floated in the vast dark expanse that was space. Space adorned itself with the diamonds of thousand moons and stars, a subtle light amidst the darkness. The rectangular shaped ship had two side wings and a powerful engine on its back. It had enough space - and quarters - for a small squadron of troopers. Inside were John, Constantine, Sara, Nicole, Alexander and six troopers, all of them elite Alliance commandos with rough training and extensive battle experience. On the ship’s cockpit were Xar, the pilot, and Darren, in command of the whole operation. They all were dressed with Helian uniforms, bought in the black market. It would allow them to sneak into the facility without getting caught or recognized by the authorities there.

While the others were chatting, John was silent the whole time, lost in his thoughts. He had come a long way from the farmboy in Bremman. He had faced danger before in trying to escape his home planet, but this was something new; he was a soldier, in a military formation, fighting a war. In a weird way, he missed being in Bremman. He always wanted to leave that place yet now that he had left it behind, he reminisced fondly of serene peace and leisure he enjoyed.

“We are reaching K-L556 in about five minutes,” Xar said. “You are sure that the code is right? Because if it is not we shall be vaporized in no moment by the laser cannons…”

“Don’t worry,” Darren replied. “The spy who handed me over that code is a trusted one and rarely gets things wrong. I trust him with my life.”

“We shall see any action there?” Constantine wondered.

“Hopefully not,” Alexander replied. “This is a covert operation. If we do see, it will mean that we will have been doing something wrong. And I really hope we do not do anything wrong…”

John’s heart was beating fast. He was nervous. When he was in danger, he could compose himself. He had proved that when he escaped Bremman. But now he was waiting to enter into a zone of danger. It was this waiting before the action that troubled him, disturbed him, made him breathe faster and faster. His head was filled with questions: ‘will the mission succeed?’, ‘will we be spotted?’, ‘how long will it take?’. He closed his eyes.

As he allowed himself to mentally leave behind this place, he found himself surrounded by darkness. He was alone, floating in space. Only some stars provided a flickering light. He ‘walked’ in space. ‘This is a dream, a figment of my imagination’, he thought. ‘Yet why does it feel so… real?’

As he walked in the dark pool that was space, he suddenly saw before him his parents, Jonathan and Martha. Their faces were deathly pale and their eyes dripping with blood. They were accusingly pointing their fingers at him. John stood silent, unable to say or think anything. Here he was now, confronted by his worst demons.

“Mother! Father!” he finally shouted. His disbelief turned into excitement, his sadness into happiness, his fear into a bright smile. Here were his parents. He finally saw them again. He wanted to hug them, kiss them, tell them how much he missed them. His eyes were watery with tears, tears of joy.

He ran towards them. As he was approaching them, he suddenly froze. He stopped moving. No, it wasn’t someone else that stopped him. What stopped him were the faces of his parents, their icy gaze, their accusatory fingers. His joy turned into sheer horror, his smile into a frown, his tears of joy into tears of sadness, sadness like which he had not felt before. His heart raced, his breathe became rugged.

“I…” he stuttered, trying to find the right words. “I know why you hate me. I failed you. You died because of me. If they weren’t after me, you would still be alive. I am the one who caused your death. I killed you.”

He let out a scream, a scream that shook the universe. The countless of stars surrounding him suddenly exploded, as if his scream caused them to implode, their implosions sending sudden rays of light at John’s direction. The sound of the explosions was deafening. He put his hands at his ears, trying to shut out the sound. His parents were still pointing at him, unaffected by the sudden destruction.

“I can feel you.” A melodic male voice, more serene that the chirping of birds and more mesmerizing that the best singers of the entire planetary system, spoke. His voice echoed in space. The explosions were gone, so were the stars and John’s parents. John was all alone, amidst darkness, that voice being his only company.

“I can sense your presence. You… who are you?” the voice asked. “I only see a blinding light, an all encompassing white space.”

“Light,” John repeated. “Light and darkness. I only see darkness. You only see light.”

“Yes. We are in the same… predicament. You and me. Together. Somewhere. Lost. In a space. A dream? An illusion? I do not know. It feels so real yet so… dream-like. I feel dizzy. Losing my senses. I…”

“I feel the same!” John screamed. “I am scared. I’ve never felt anything like this!” He let out rugged breaths, he trembled uncontrollably. “I… I… I…”

“You are the light and I am the darkness. I surround you and you surround me. Our destinies are linked. Our fate is… linked. We are one and yet… we are opposed. Two sides of the same coin. So… same and yet so… different.”

“What… What are you talking about?”

“I’ve read about this. In ancient texts, scrolls from Elf Elders from times immemorial. We are experiencing a vision, sorcerer, a vision of magic.”

“I’ve never heard anything like this!” John protested. “And how do you know what I am?”

“I can feel the Qi in you. And so can you,” the man laughed uncontrollably. His laughter was maniacal yet serene at the same time. It both scared you and mesmerized you.

“Yes. I can feel it. You are…?”

“My name doesn’t matter. What matters is that that we are both sorcerers, both members of a caste hunted down. This is the first time I communicate with someone like me.”

“Well, I know other sorcerers.”

“Really? You are far luckier than me then.”

John allowed himself to relax a bit. He let out a sigh of relief. He stopped trembling. This voice wasn’t so scary anymore. “What do you mean that we are opposed? That we are two sides of the same coin?”

“Elder Filvendor Yinkrana, Book II of the ‘Legend of the Twelve Sorcerers’, paragraph forty-five: ‘And then, He walked into the Court of A Thousand Fountains and closed His eyes. He stood before the Fountain of Knowledge and a hundred spirits emerged, surrounding Him. Vaalyun Ilihice stood defiant before them. Darkness surrounded Him. He had transported himself to another universe entirely, a mental one, a vision of space. ‘Lord Argerang,’ He roared, His holy voice being heard by the entire universe. ‘I see you,’ the Dark Lord replied, ‘You are the light to my darkness’. Light and Darkness, forever together, forever opposed. Two sides of the Universe, always battling for the Soul of Everything’. Now that I recited this paragraph, do you understand?”

“I am the Light and you are the Darkness.”

“Yes. We are forever together yet forever opposed. You and I are in a battle. You are the Holy Warrior and I am the Dark Lord. Only one of us can survive.”

“Wake up sleepyhead!” Sara barked. “We are in a mission, not a trip.”

John shook himself. He opened his eyes and saw that he was inside the vessel, next to the fellow sorcerers and the troopers. He let out a sigh of relief.

“I was… dreaming?” he wondered. “This was just a dream?”

“What an idiot!” Sara exclaimed.

K-L556, one of the twelve moons of El Salvar, was essentially one gigantic dusty ball of rock. On its surface a metallic space base was built; it was one of the more infamous prisons of the Helian system. It was walled, the prison being surrounded by an enormous wall stretching more than 250 miles and being forty foot high. On top of the wall and the building blocks inside there were tens of large laser turrets, ready to shot down any incoming vessels. An invincible energy shield surrounded the entire facility, protecting it from any space bombardment and keeping oxygen inside the area.

Xar gaped in amazement seeing from the cockpit of his vessel the enormousness of the prison. “My… my…”

Darren was silent. There was neither amazement nor fear in his face. Only dead, cold silence. It brought back memories he was repressing. From years ago, before he had joined the Alliance, when he was a young boy in the streets of Frazzar on El Salvar. His parents had died when he was still a child and he had grown up in the slums of the city. In order to survive, he had to gang up with other children and together rob. Finally he was caught by the authorities and here was he sent. He still remembered the pain inflicted on him by the guards before he managed to escape. He reminded himself of how they choked him with a towel and poured water into his mouth to suffocate him. For no reason at all, just to show their prowess and ‘who is the boss here’ as one of them said.

Beep!

The ship intercepted a transmission from the base.

“State your business before approaching,” an officer’s voice was heard. “If you approach any further, you shall be shot down. You’ve been warned.”

“We are to carry orc prisoners to the mines of Al-Kwad,” Xar replied.

“Your code?” the officer asked.

“K2-776-9890,” The orc pilot was anxiously tapping his feet. He was shaking and feeling cold sweat on his face.

“Let me check it out…. Screen loading… Wait a bit…”

Seconds seemed like centuries to Xar, as he was trying to keep his calm. “Should I turn around?” he whispered. “Your codes do not seem to have worked.”

Darren shushed him. “We are not going anywhere. Trust me, we will make it.”

“Hopefully in one piece…”

“Apologies for the wait,” the officer said. “The codes match. You are right to go!”

Xar let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you. We shall get going.”

An opening in the energy shield allowed their ship to enter into the facility and land onto one of the many round metallic landing platforms.

“Everyone!” Darren shouted to get the crew’s attention. “Due to the low gravity of the moon, walking here will be slower than normal and to walk faster would require greater effort on your part. The changed ratio of inertial forces to gravitational forces means that without a bit of practice, you will end up with exaggerated leaning and weaving during walking or running. You may be better off hopping at first, instead of running.”

As soon as the ship touched the metallic ground of the platform, it had been surrounded by a squad of about twenty Helian troopers. Commanding them was a short, lean mustached officer who did not make much of an impression. If anything, he looked a bit comical and did not inspire much confidence. Nevertheless, he was the boss here and the troops were under his orders.

The ship’s hatch opened. Darren came out, followed by Xar while the rest remained inside the ship.

“Captain Alek Malik,” Darren lied, “it’s a pleasure to meet you. We are here to take twenty-three orc prisoners from sections C, D and F to the mines of Al-Kwad.”

The twenty-three orcs that were to be transferred had been planted by the Alliance. They had deliberately engaged in criminal activities in order to be brought in this prison facility. All of them were well trained and disciplined and would greatly help in the operation to liberate real orc prisoners in the mines of Al-Kwad.

The officer had a smile on his face, more due to courtesy than any real happiness. “Greetings, Captain. You may proceed but only three persons may come to each section, for security purposes.”

“Of course, I know the protocol. It isn’t my first time moving prisoners.”

With the officer's approval, Darren used his comlink to call his crew to come out of the ship. John was careful in his movement, as if he was walking for the first time in his life. He slowly performed a pendulum-like motion, bringing one leg from behind him to front of him. Having done so, John tried to walk a bit faster. With a faint smile on his face, he moved his feet forward, faster than his last motion but still slower compared to his movements in Bremman or Thellasia.

"You will get used to the gravity," Darren laughed.

"Hope so..." John replied with a smile on his face.

Darren, Xar and a trooper would head to section C, Nicole, Alexander and a trooper to section D and Constantine, Sara and John to section F. The remaining four Alliance troopers would remain in the ship, just in case anything were to happen.

John, Constantine and Sara were inside the facility of section F, walking down a narrow corridor, heading for the cells, when suddenly the lights went out. A loud clang! sound was heard, followed by an eerie silence. The three young sorcerers carefully walked forward, as they could barely see where they were going.

“What happened?” John wondered.

“The power seems to be out,” Constantine replied.

“You are quite the detective Constantine,” Sara mocked. “Let’s get going forward. The guard’s office is straight ahead. We can ask him to aid us.”

Constantine and John simply sighed and followed behind. Their footsteps echoed throughout the empty corridor. Flickering lights, automatically activated in cases just like this, illuminated the corridor just enough to see by. The atmosphere was very close and oppressive, as if the air itself were tightening around them like a great fist. The lights became weaker as they walked forward, and the three sorcerers tried to feel their way along the cold, metallic wall.

“This really isn’t what I was expecting…” Constantine said.

Neither Sara nor John were in the mood to reply or chat. They all felt spooked. Although six of the prisoners in the facility were orc spies planted by the Alliance, the other prisoners, both orc and human, were hardcore criminals. Many of them were sentenced for gang violence and multiple murders. This was most certainly not a safe place to walk around.

John’s heart was racing but his mind felt slow. He could barely sting thoughts together, but he had the feeling that there was an incredible menace somewhere in the facility, in the uncanny darkness. This was the first time since he had escaped Bremman that he felt genuinely spooked.

“Ah!” a loud scream was heard. It was a scream of agony. A few second of silence followed. The scream came again, desperate, terrified. It had a raw quality, of a person consumed by a pain that knew no end or limit.

“The noise is coming from our right!” Sara shouted.

The three sorcerers sprinted forward before taking a turn to the right, where a metallic door separated the main corridor from the hall leading to the cells. The door was supposed to be closed and would open only by entering a code on a digital device to the right of the door, but due to the black out it was now wide open.

They walked into the hall leading to the cells, peering through the darkness, but found no one, making their stomach knot. Some kind of liquid dripped somewhere, creating a hollow pinking noise. As they slowly moved forward, John stumbled on something; to his shock, it was a mutilated corpse. The man was naked save for his underwear. His eyes were gouged out, his left ear cut off, his chest cut open with a knife and his leg horribly bitten. A pool of blood on the floor made John almost trip to the ground. He let out a scream and felt sick in his stomach, as if he was about to throw up, but quickly regained his composure.

“I guess that’s the guard?” Constantine asked.

John simply nodded. “There are supposed to be other two guards. Where are they?”

As they carefully walked forward, they found out the answer. Before them were two more mutilated corpses.

“I say we get out,” Constantine said. “It is too dangerous here.”

“We have six of our people in the cells!” Sara protested. “We cannot let them here, especially if a killer is loose.”

“It is too risky!”

“Sara is right,” John said. “We cannot let them here. We do need to be cautious though.”

Constantine sighed and accepted that they had to go into the cells. They walked towards a dark, narrow pathway leading to the cells. The pathway led to a spacious room. On the other end of the room were several doors, all of them wide open, leading to different sections of cells.

Due to the darkness, they had a very hard time recognizing which section they had to go in. The sound of footsteps suddenly interrupted the eerie silence of the room.

“Something tells me that the cell doors are open too…” Constantine said.

“Which, I guess, means we will have to deal with more than a couple of criminals trying to escape,” John replied. “Nice…”

Darren and Xar were on the landing platform. They were transferring the supposed orc criminals onto the ship. Nicole and Alexander arrived in the scene too, also transferring the orc prisoners onto the ship. The mustached Helian officer and his men were silently observing the transfer of prisoners, most of them bored and wishing that the task would be over soon.

“Where are the other three guards?” the Helian officer asked, referring to Sara, John and Constantine. “They should have brought the orcs here by now.”

Beep! Beep! The officer took hold of his radio device. “Black out at Facility F! Alert! Alert!” was heard from the device. “This smells trouble… You! Go and check out what is happening while I gather a squad of guards for the worst case scenario of prisoners escaping.”

“We are going there at once!” Darren replied. “Hurry!” he barked at Xar, Alexander and Nicole.

"My brother is there!" Nicole exclaimed.

"Calm down," Alexander said. "They will be alright. Your brother is not weakling, and neither are John or Sara."

“Ah!”

The silence gave way to roars and shouting as criminals who had escaped from their cells charged at the three sorcerers preventing their breakaway. This was the first real test John faced since beginning his training in Thellasia. It was the first time he would really get to use his magic in real battle.

John was surrounded by five criminals, three of them orcs and two humans. One of them, a human, lurched at him. He lifted his leg and drove it into his side. He then kicked him in his chest and sent him rolling across the floor. Before he could even take a breath, the three orcs at once charged at him. John leaped backward.

He closed his eyes. When he was in Thellasia, he could comfortably take his time to concentrate. Now he had to act under the utmost of pressure. He tried to forget everything happening around. He breathed the way Iris had instructed him. He could feel the energy in his hand. He waved it, sending out an invincible energy wave that pummeled the three orcs. It sent them flying, slamming them into the wall.

The last remaining opponent, a sturdy human, preferred to flee. Before he could do so, John somersaulted and landed before him. The man cursed. His face was red with anger and his fists were clenched. He roared and pushed his whole body against John. John was slammed on the ground. The prisoner tried to grab him but the young sorcerer quickly got up and escaped his grasp. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate but before he could use his magic, the prisoner rammed his knee into his abdomen. John collapsed on the floor. He felt dizzy and could barely breathe.

“Ah!” John shouted as he got up. He looked around. There were no prisoners, no Alexander or Sara, no facility. He was all alone in space, surrounded only by stars which provided a dim lighting.

“I’ve been here before,” John said, mostly to reassure himself. “Is this another vision, another dream?”

“Vision,” the sweet male voice stated. “It seems that we are back together. I am surrounded by an extraordinary light. If I see one more such vision, I believe I will go blind. This light is just too much.”

“The Dark Lord…”

The man laughed. “Yes, not a sweet sounding name, but that’s who I am apparently. You are in danger. I can feel your pain. I am in pain myself.”

“How can you feel this?”

“We are connected, somehow, it seems. It makes sense: Light and Darkness are connected. The scrolls stated this clearly. The stronger you become, the stronger I become. The weaker you become, the weaker I become. If you die, who knows what will become of me…”

“This works both ways?”

“Apparently so, if the scrolls are correct.”

“How can this bond be severed?”

“I am not really sure but it seems that the only way to sever the bond is if either one of us… kills the other.”

“Who are you?!” John barked. “Cut this crap about ‘Dark Lord’ or ‘Scrolls’. Who are you really?”

“You can call me William. You?”

“John. How do I get out of this vision? I need to help my friends!”

“You are in a weird situation right now… knocked out, severely bruised. To wake up, you need the mental will to overcome your physical pain. Do you have strong enough a will to do this?

“I can, I want, but for some reason I am stuck here!”

“Only mentally! Think! Think of something, someone to fight for, to live for.”

John closed his eyes.

“John,” a familiar female voice said. “Wake up.”

John opened his eyes. Before him stood Iris. She was glowing. Her bright smile mellowed John’s heart. He too smiled. He missed her. From the first time he had set his gaze upon her, he had been mesmerized by her beauty. But she was more than a beautiful woman to him; she was his mentor, the one who guided him in this new life; she was the one who comforted him after the death of his parents, led him in becoming a sorcerer, unlocked his potential. Without her, he couldn’t now how to handle all those changes. If there was one person for whom he had to live for, it was her.

“Iris!” he said.

“She is beautiful…” William said. “I can barely see her through the stunning light that surrounds me but from the glimpses I can see of her, she looks like an angel. No wonder she can give you the motivation to get up. I am really jealous of you.”

“Iris!” John repeated. “I will survive, to see you again!”

“I can feel… a surge of power. The light becomes even brighter. It… it almost blinds me. I close my eyes. Even with my eyes closed, the light does not seem to go away. It seems that this works. She gives you the strength to get up. And with you becoming stronger, so am I…”

John opened his eyes. He was still lying on the floor. The prisoner tried to kick John, but the young sorcerer roared and an invincible wave of energy pushed back the attacker. John got up and slowly walked towards his enemy. The prisoner, trembling in fear, attempted to slam his fist into his face. John quickly and with ease cached the fist with his right hand. He threw the fist aside and punched the prisoner in the face, knocking him out.

Constantine too was fighting, being surrounded by three orcs. He had already knocked out four opponents and he was getting tired. His breathing was becoming heavier and he was sweating uncontrollably. “I should have trained more back in Thellasia!” he remarked. Now he understood why his teacher, elder Aerran, had insisted so much on physical preparedness. Two of the orcs charged with the fury of a raging bull. Constantine was able to quickly concentrate and began slowly breathing, taking in the Qi of the natural world. As the orcs were only a few inches away from him, Constantine waved his hand. The energy wave that hit them slammed them up against a wall. One of the two was hit so hard that his head was bleeding while the other had lost his consciousness.

The third orc struck with his fist and Constantine tied to block him with his elbow. The strike was too powerful and made Constantine lose his balance and tip onto the ground. As Constantine tried to get up, the orc swung his leg at him. Constantine slammed his elbow into the orc’s knee. The orc screamed in pain, giving Constantine enough time to get up. The young man performed a roundhouse kick, hitting the prisoner in the face and making him spin in the air before slamming hard on the floor.

“Not bad!” Sara remarked and she herself was knocking out a prisoner with a powerful back kick on his chest. As Sara smiled, content that she was handling the situation well, suddenly a loud noise came from behind her. Lurching from the shadows, a man grabbed Sara, tightening his arm around her neck. Sara let out a cry as she felt his hot breath on her neck. She tried to resist but the man’s hold was too strong. His arm pressed her neck and she felt as if she was about to suffocate. Her breathing became shallow, fast, and labored. Her heart raced. Sweat poured down her forehead like water streaming downwards. As she stopped resisting, the man relaxed his hold, allowing her to breathe.

John and Constantine tried to approach but the man tightened his grip on Sara’s neck. The man had messy hair, dark circles surrounding his crazed eyes and an unnerving smile. He was wearing the uniform of one of the guards he had killed. “You have no leverage over me,” he said. “One move and I strangle her. You wouldn’t want such a pretty face to die, would you?” He let out a deranged laughter that echoed across the room. “She smells nice too.” He sniffed her neck and kissed it. “Nice taste…”

“Let her go,” John warned. “You don’t know with whom you are messing up. We are not Helian guards.”

“Honestly, I couldn’t give a fuck what you are,” the man replied. “I had no desire to bother you but you got in my way. I caused the black out here with an electronic device brought to me by a guard I bribed. I escaped from my cell and killed the three guards. Too bad you suddenly barged inside the hall and I had to retreat back here, waiting for a chance to escape. Why am I saying all this to you? Because I am a deranged narcissist seeking constant attention who loves to admit his brilliant plans so everyone can know what a genius he is; or at least that’s what my therapist told me before I strangled her and mutilated her corpse. Judging from that incident, I can’t say that she did a good job with me, so take her diagnosis with a grain of salt.”

“I repeat: let her go!”

“Or what? You have no leverage to threaten me. Do not worry though. I just want you to shut up and allow me to leave the facility. When I reach one of the landing platforms and I am about to take off with a ship, I will let her leave. But not until then.”

John and Constantine were silent and unable to decide what to do. They couldn’t risk Sara getting killed by any rush actions on their part. As they seemed unable to decide what to do, the man slowly walked backwards, with Sara still held tightly by his arms, leaving the room behind and heading towards the main corridor.

“Go in the cells and make sure that our spies are alright,” John said. “I will follow this bastard.”

Constantine tried to protest but John shushed him and rushed towards the killer. He was hopping, making full use of the low gravity of the moon. He finally managed to catch up to him as he was about to exit the facility. “Wait!”

“You again?!” the criminal, still holding Sara tightly in his hands, barked. “Didn’t I tell you already that if you do not let me leave this girl here will suffer? Do you really want such a beautiful face to be strangulated to death?”

“I am just following you to make sure you keep your part of the deal when you reach the landing platform,” John replied. “Look, outside there are plenty of guards. It will look suspicious if it is just you and Nicole walking out there alone; do not think you can fool them by just wearing that uniform. If I am with you, however, we will look like a full squad and no one will question us.”

The man thought about it for a brief moment. “Not a bad idea actually… Fine. You can come with me… eh… your name?”

“John.”

“You can come with me John. Name is Javar.”

John gaped. His face betrayed his sheer terror. His heart skipped a beat. He had heard before of that name in the news; a psychopathic serial killer who would sadistically mutilate his victims. He had murdered more than a hundred people, including thirteen children, before being arrested by detective Lutherson Snow, one of the best investigators in the Helian system. The mere mention of the name Javar was enough to bring chill to the spine of most people.

John gulped and tried to hide his nervousness. “I will follow you.”

“I can see that you are nervous,” a smiling Javar said. “No need to worry. The media are widely exaggerating my deeds. I did not kill more than a hundred people; I killed exactly a hundred. Unless you count the three bastard guards I killed here. Now… that makes me think that I killed a hundred and three people. Oh! I like round numbers better. Damn it! Oh well, I will have chances to fix this when I escape the facility!”

Darren was leading Xar, Nicole and Alexander into Facility F. They could barely see where they were heading to. He had his laser rifle in his hands, aiming forward and ready to fire at the slightest provocation. The other three also held tight their rifles, ready for action.

Clang!

Darren fired at once. The laser fire was deflected by an energy shield, a sign of sorcery. Darren relaxed; this was his team.

“Captain Malik!” Constantine said upon seeing Darren, keeping up the act.

Nicole rushed at him and hugged her brother tightly. "The Helians-" Constantine tried to remind her.

“We are alone; the Helian guards haven’t come in yet," Darren said. "But they will be here soon, so be quick.”

“Sara was abducted by a maniacal prisoner. Most other prisoners have been knocked out and our six orc spies are alright, waiting to be transferred.”

“Sara!” Nicole cried. “We need to help her.”

“Do you know where he could have taken her?” Darren asked calmly. His face betrayed no signs of worry. A veteran like him knew how to keep his nerve.

“He said he wanted to grab a ship and escape. John followed him.”

“He must be on one of the landing platforms. I assume he should be heading to the landing platform CND-43. It is the nearest dock here. It is lightly guarded since it holds merchant vessels with light guns.”

“How do you know this?” Alexander wondered.

Darren sighed. “I… I was here once before. As a prisoner.” Before anyone could ask more questions about his past, Darren preemptively shushed them. “We need to focus on the job at hand. Alexander and Nicole, transfer our spies onto our ship. Constantine, stay here and stall the officer and his guards when they arrive. They will be trouble rather than aid if they attempt to help us.”

“But-“ Nicole tried to protest. She wanted to go in the dock and aid Sara and John.

“Don’t worry,” Darren replied. “Just do your job. Me and Xar are more than enough to take down a prisoner.”

“Indeed!” Xar said. “I’ve taken down far worse enemies. I remember back when I was younger I hunted down Rossel Al Dan-“

“I would love to hear more about your old days when we catch the bastard!” Darren interrupted.

John was following closely Javar and Sara. He stood beside them, making it look as if he and Javar were escorting Sara somewhere rather than holding her hostage. John’s heart raced and in his mind he was creating tens of mental scenarios on how to save her. Yet he could not do much as long as Javar had Sara under his tight control.

As they reached the metallic landing platform, Javar laughed loudly. “At last!”. Before him was a merchant carrier ship. It wasn’t a large ship, being more of a large square with two side wings and frontal guns. Those guns were not strong enough to be much use in a space battle but could be lethal against opponents on ground.

“Now that you are here, will you let her go?” John asked.

Sara, still holding tightly Sara’s neck, chuckled. “Oh no! I’ve grown fond of this little lady.” With his spare hand, he fondled her breasts.

“Let me go, you sick freak!” Sara screamed, disgusted with his touch. She was visibly repulsed, shaking and sweating.

“You promised!” John protested.

Javar chuckled. “I promise lots of things. I am not really at fault if you are stupid enough to believe a psychopath killer, am I?”

“I warn you!”

“Or what? You have no leverage over me.”

“Stop right there!” a buzzing voice stated. It was a squad of five Helian soldiers, all aiming their laser rifles at Javar and Sara. “You must be the escaped prisoner we’ve heard of in the comn.”

“No. I am just a guard,” Javar smilingly replied.

“Nice act and we would have fallen for it but we’ve just heard what you said to that lad.”

“Alright. I am the killer. But it was worth the try to convince you otherwise… By the way, since you’ve heard me, I don’t need to repeat that I will kill the girl if you approach, do I?”

“We do not care about the life of one guard. Men, ready to fire!”

“No!” John shouted. “You mustn’t do this!”

“Ignore him, men, and fire!”

As the Helian soldiers fired their laser rifles, John sprinted forward. He picked up speed quickly, striding forward with leaps and putting great force into the downward drive of the legs. In a few seconds, he was in front of Javar and Sara. He closed his eyes and waved his hands. An energy shield suddenly surrounded John, Sara and Javar. The shield deflected the laser fire just on time, sending it right back at the attackers, killing one of the troopers.

“Sorcerer…” one of the troopers stuttered. “My…”

Javar was maniacally laughing. “I would be clapping boy if, you know, I didn’t need to hold tightly the lady.”

Before the four remaining troopers could fire again, John somersaulted. He landed right before them and allowed himself to take a quick breath.

‘Let the Qi of the natural world flow inside you,’ John could hear the words Iris spoke to him in their lessons. ‘Use magic; do not let it use you. Control it. Feel the natural energy of the world. Immerse yourself with it and guide it where you want it.’

“You are the Holy Warrior,” John heard William say. It was a voice inside his head. “I can feel a surge of energy even greater than the one I felt before. I am growing more powerful because of you. Unleash that… power! Use it!”

John roared. His roar was so powerful that Javar and Sara cried out in pain; the four Helian soldiers too screamed. Despite their protective helmets, their ears bled. John’s eyes became red, fiery red. His face was red, it was as if he was fuming. He gritted his teeth. His hands were exuding hot steam and had a red color even more fiery than that of his eyes. He waved his hands and a huge fireball suddenly emerged from them; it was directed at the troopers. They were too stunned to react. The fireball engulfed them. The fire was unusually hot and powerful. The soldiers’ armor melted, evaporating like paper and slowly burning them alive. They screamed in pain, crying in agony. The pain was excruciating as they were incinerating. Their last moments, filled with terror, hopelessness and screams, left John breathing heavily and sweating in horror of what he had done. He could barely stand on his legs, falling on his knees and vomiting in disgust.

Sara too cried and was shaking uncontrollably. Only Javar was smiling. “Not cool friend,” he said. “Impressive but that vomiting was disgusting.”

Before John could say anything, Darren and Xar reached the scene.

“Surrender!” Darren shouted.

“Are you alright buddy?” Xar asked John. The orc pilot helped the young sorcerer stand up. John simply nodded in approval.

“Alright, you really pissed me off!” Javar screamed. “ I’ve had enough of you interrupting my escape! Now she will pay the price!

Darren pointed at Javar and winked at the orc. Xar let John behind and took his laser rifle on his hands. The orc pilot aimed carefully at Javar.

“Do it!” Darren shouted. “Kill her and you have no leverage to threaten us anymore. We take you down in less than a few seconds.”

“You think I won’t dare?” Javar laughed. “Do you think I ain’t crazy enough to do it?”

“Doesn’t matter what you do. It’s all over for you. I am more than willing to sacrifice a simple guard if it means preventing a psychopath like you escaping.”

“No!” John screamed.

“Boy!” Darren sternly but calmly stated. “Leave this to me.”

Sara’s heart raced. Javar could feel her terror. That guy was not joking. He hesitated for a moment. A single moment was enough for Xar. The orc was a master rifleman; one had to be to survive in space. He fired without second though. The laser beam hit dead center between the criminal’s eyes. Sara screamed as she was pulled to the ground still clutched in his grip.

Darren approached the dead body and pulled it aside. He helped Sara get up. She was looking at him with disbelief, her face ashen white. “You… I could have died!”

The Alliance commander simply smiled. “If you reach my years of experience, you will understand my decision. I knew that we could take him out.”

“How?”

He raised his hands. “You just know.”

Sara simply sighed and accepted his explanation. She was simply relieved to be alive. She turned to John and tried to ask him about that fireball but before she could even begin talking, John shushed her.

“Not now,” John said. “Please.”

“Come on kids!” Xar exclaimed. “We need to get to the ship. We’ve got a mission to complete, remember?”

“Yes,” John replied. “The mines of Al-Kwad…”