The Lesser One Book 3 Chapter 1

 

Chapter 1

I look up. The rain pounds against the awning above me, dripping down onto the concrete below with a pattering sound. The sounds of New York echo around me. My hands are in my pockets and I’m waiting outside Niol’s bakery for a meetup with Dres.

After about ten minutes of waiting Dres appears, his hands in his pockets and his hoodie over his head.

“Hey.” He slaps me on the back. “I heard you had a hard time over in London after you got left behind.”

“I wasn’t left behind. I stayed behind for a reason.”

“I know, I know. Let’s go in.” Dres passes me and enters the bakery.

We sit down at one of the empty tables. The bakery is mostly empty at the moment, just a few college students from the U of N sitting around doing things on their computers. There’s a real calm vibe coming from the establishment.

Dres frowns. “So do tell me what happened over there in London. I feel as if you aren’t telling me everything.”

“I told you everything I could.” I shake my head. “There’s nothing else that you would understand.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the flash of a knife. I leap out of my chair and kick over the table. A conjured knife appears in my hands.

The barista—who had just taken a knife out to slice some ham—staggers backwards and knocks over a pot of coffee. Black liquid spills everywhere.

I blink a few times. The knife in my hand disappears. I take a step back and breathe deeply for a few seconds.

Dres puts his arm on me. “You’ve got the jumps.”

The other patrons are all staring at me. I put my hands in my pockets and head towards the door. “I don’t like this place. Let’s go somewhere else.”

Dres follows me out the door, and then turns to me. He pushes me against the wall. “Something happened, Markus. I can tell. I know the symptoms of the shakes well.”

“No. It’s nothing. It’s nothing.” I grimace. Sage? What’s wrong with me?

You have something called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. You’ve been in too many life-threatening situations. Your brain is not functioning properly.

So what should I do about it?

Dres backs away. “I’m serious, Markus. You need to tell someone about what happened in London.”

I shake my head. Sage. What’s the solution? Is there a chemical I can conjure?

No. You’re going to have to deal with this yourself.

Dres turns around. “Most people with the shakes don’t want to talk. If you ever feel like bringing what happened to light, then I’ll be there to listen.” He puts his hands in his pockets.

I see, peeking out of the building behind Dres, Robin, who is waving at me. I step back. “Hey, Dres, get back to class without me. I have some things to take care of.”

Dres shakes his head. “Then you do that. I’ll refrain from telling anybody about what you did at that café.”

“Okay.” I nod once and jog over to where Robin is standing. She is a skinny, tall woman with blonde hair. She’s wearing a cardigan and carrying an umbrella. She smiles at me and hugs me.

“Markus.” She tugs my hand as we walk into the building. We go up several flights of stairs. “I was about to go to Ixtham and find you, when you just happened to pass by. I saw you through the window. Who was that, a friend?”

“Yeah. One of my friends.” I pause. “Robin, do you ever feel as if you’re never going to be the same after what you’ve seen?”

“Markus, all of us who have joined our organization have experienced things like that. What you do with those experiences under your belt is what defines you as a member.”

We climb to the second floor. Robin approaches a door and knocks.

“Come in.” It’s a man’s voice.

Robin opens the door and ushers me in. I take a step back and conjure an assault rifle. “Who the hell?” I point it at Ronald, who is sitting on a recliner, grinning at me.

“Hello, redboy.” Ronald shoots a finger gun at me.

Mandrake puts his hand on my arm. “Not now, Markus. Right now, he’s our ally.”

“But he’s evil!”

Mandrake shakes his head. “This is part of being a member of our organization. We work with who we have, no matter who they are. This is something you are going to have to learn.”

I toss the rifle to the side. “Fine. I’ll play by your rules.”

Ronald gets up and walks to the window. “This will be your first mission as a Silverbones, boy.”

“Mission?” I frown. “What does this organization do, anyways?”

“Now is the proper time to tell you. Have you watched the movie Dr. Strange?” Mandrake sits in the chair Ronald left behind and lights a cigar. “We’re sort of like him. We’re the organization that represents this planet to the intragalactic government.” He puffs the cigar. “And the damn Trips have us in their sight.”

“Trips?”

Mandrake points to Ari, who is sitting at a table, seeming to have lost a large amount of weight recently. She’s actually quite attractive in this state. She points her finger at the wall and a projection comes up.

On it is a cow. Or, at first glance, what looks like a cow. Instead of four legs, though, it’s got three legs on each side. The cow sticks out its tongue as it rotates in a circle on the screen. The tongue is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It’s got hooks, appendages, and a three-dimensional appearance to it.

“That, Markus, is what is called a Triptefelexian. We call them “The Cow.”” Mandrake points a pencil at the cow. “These boys rule the universe, and their word is law.” He grimaces. “And they’ve set their sights on Planet Earth.”

“So, um, what does that mean? Is that what aliens look like?”

“It’s a two-six on the alienography scale.” Ari snaps her fingers again and the projection ends. “We’ll teach you that later.”

Mandrake folds his arms. “You, Ari, Robin, and Ronald have a meeting with the CIA director in …” Mandrake looks at his watch— “Twenty-five minutes.”

“What the hell?” I blink a few times. “What about school?”

“What do you need school for when you’ve got your own personal tutor?”

Tia walks out of the bathroom after a toilet flush. “Am I late?” She looks around. “Where is Sebastian?”

“I told him to take the day off.”

“Great. He should be waiting for you at the CIA branch office here in New York.”

“Okay. Fine. Where are we going with this?” I cross my arms.

“The CIA will brief you.” Mandrake shrugs. “Get on your way. Ronald can drive.”

“Wait.” I hold up my hand. “Are you serious about the fact that Ronald will be joining us?”

“I am serious.” Mandrake shakes his head. “You’re running out of time and you don’t want to be late.”

Ronald grins. “Great.” He gets up and goes to the door. “What are you waiting for, redboy?”

I sigh. “Okay. Fine.”

We follow Ronald down the stairs and to the street, where a small Toyota sedan is waiting for us. Ronald gets in and starts the car. Robin gets in the side seat, and Ari and I sit at the back. We take off with a tremendous burst, the engine revving. Ronald steers us through New York traffic like a madman, dodging cars and swerving around pedestrians. We cross the recently constructed Jaxton Bridge and head for the suburbs.

About twenty minutes after leaving we pull in front of a small building that simply says “CIA New York.”

I step out, followed by my three colleagues. Sebastian is standing at the door, holding an umbrella and wearing a suit. As always, his mannerisms are impeccable.

The five of us enter the building. It is like any other small suburb office building. The greeting room contains several recliners and a beat-up old couch. Labeled rooms, partitioned by glass, surround the area. A tall man wearing a pristine suit approaches us. He extends his hand.

“Hello. My name is Kevin. Hi Ronald, Ari, Robin. Nice to see you again.”

The floor vibrates a bit. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen walks into the room, coming from the hallway. Her features are like the features of an angel, perfect in every way. She’s so perfect that I am totally convinced she’s fake.

Sage? Who is this?

Kevin will tell you.

Kevin motions to the woman. “This is Ada. She’s a steel dragon, currently polymorphed into human form.”

Ada bows. “It is nice to be acquainted with you.”

Ronald points at Ada and chuckles. “I don’t think we’re going to need powerless little girls like her in our group.”

Ada moves with impossible speed and attempts to deck Ronald with her fist. Ronald steps aside and pushes Ada’s arm up, where it slams into a glass partition and shatters it. Ronald tries to trip Ada with a sweep of his foot. Ada dodges it and pushes Ronald away.

Ronald faces Ada, breathing heavily. “I didn’t mean it that way, little lady.”

Ada motions with her fist and a sword appears in her hand. “Call me little lady again and I’ll stick you.”

Ronald laughs. “Well, I admit you’re quite the fighter.”

“Good.” Ada flicks her finger and the sword disappears from her hand. She looks at me. “You’re cute, boy.” She licks the air, showing a forked tongue. “Where are you from? You seem new to this. You certainly are powerful, though.”

I shake myself out of the mesmerized state I’m in. “Ah, yeah, um, yes.”

Robin nudges me with her elbow. “You do realize she’s a dragon.”

Ada turns away. “Good. We’ve got everyone here.”

Kevin leads us into what I assume is his office. He flicks on a projector.

“Sorry I couldn’t get you anything better than this, but the American military has its head stuck in the mud for this. Only the CIA knows what’s really going on out there in the universe.” Kevin pulls up an image of the same kind of cow that Mandrake had showed me. “These are Tripefelexians. They rule the universe right now. With an iron fist. Or should I say, tongue.” He flicks the remote. “This is our target right now.” A gigantic woman, about the height of a telephone pole, stares out at the camera, on the streets of a sci-fi looking city. “This is a racorphan named Rachel. She’s got the key to something incredible. A possible way to keep the Trips from consuming the entirety of the Earth and cleansing it.”

“Why do they want to do that to Planet Earth?” I frown. “And by god, how tall is she?”

Rachel is tall, very much so. She’s got incredibly beautiful eyes, and her pupils are figure-eight, like the infinity symbol. She’s only got one nostril. She’s dressed in a military uniform and carries a gigantic gun with her. She’s also just as beautiful as Ada, which is saying quite a bit. A regular human(?) is standing next to her, giving me a sense of her scale.

Kevin sighs. “We’re not allowed to be here. Humanity, at least.” He clicks the projector to the next slide. It’s a picture of a pear tree. “This is what planet Earth was designed to protect.” He shakes his head. “A pear. The simple pear is the reason why we’re all going to die.”

“What does that mean?” I shake my head, quite confused.

“It’s simple. We’ve got two options to save humanity and planet Earth. Number one is to defeat the Triptefelexians in combat and protect our world. The other is the completely destroy the Trips and their civilization before they destroy ours.” Kevin grimaces. “And there’s only one way to do that. This girl, Rachel, she’ll know more.” Kevin grins. “Tell your parents you’re going on a school trip. You’re headed for outer space.”

I blink a few times. Steel dragon? Outer space? Where am I going?

Somewhere crazy, responds Sage. Somewhere where your powers may save the universe.

 

 

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