Age of Darkness Read online

  Age of Darkness

  by

  Brandon Chen

  Copyright 2014 by Brandon Chen

  Kindle Edition

  Copyright 2014 by Brandon Chen

  Researched and written by Brandon Chen

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under the copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission.

  For permission requests, please contact: [email protected]

  Printed in the United States

  License Notes

  While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and legitimacy of the references, referrals, and links (collectively “Links”) presented in this e-book, Brandon Chen is not responsible or liable for broken Links or missing or fallacious information at the Links. Any Links in this e-book to a specific product, process, web site, or service do not constitute or imply an endorsement by Brandon Chen of same, or its producer or provider. The views and opinions contained at any Links do not necessarily express or reflect those of Brandon Chen.

  Table of Contents

  The Boy

  Third Musketeer

  Truth

  A Wish

  True Despair

  The Promise

  Reborn

  No Plan

  The Fierce Wolf

  Two Heroes

  A New Reason to Fight

  The Prototype

  Old Rivalries

  The Grand Entrance

  Outsider

  Undercover

  The Prince

  Operation Destruction

  An Age of Darkness

  The Darkest Days

  The Boy

  The boy was dazed. The world seemed to spin, turning his peripheral vision into a hazy white mess as he hit the tiled school floor. A fresh red bruise, the result of a powerful punch, bloomed on his cheek, and the young boy grunted, his breath heavy. Long, spiky black hair fell over his face, shadowing his dark brown eyes. He was only fourteen, yet this harsh treatment was normal for him. Salty blood gathered in his mouth, and he realized that he had bitten his tongue when he had fallen.

  His name was Keimaro, and he abhorred every part of his dull, abusive life. Each day was the same, dragging on and on with his tormentors and the townsfolk always putting him down for no particular reason, as if he were some kind of monster.

  Even his own father—of whom he wasn’t exactly fond—ignored him. In fact, whenever he came home with a bloodied nose, a split lip, or a bruised cheek, his so-called father pretended not to see anything. It was as if his injuries didn’t matter at all.

  Nevertheless, Keimaro was forced to face the cruelty of his harassers, and their punishment was brutal. He would’ve run away from this terrible village, but something stood between him and his freedom. Surrounding the village was a massive force field—a giant invisible bubble encasing the entire village of Bakaara. It allowed nothing to come in and nothing to leave. He had heard rumors that it had been placed there a couple of weeks before Keimaro was born and that it was originally meant to contain him. Though, he knew that those were merely lies. The village elders had set up the force field as a giant ward to prevent beasts from invading and killing the inhabitants of the village.

  Outside of the village was the Forbidden Forest, where dangerous beasts dwelled in silence, waiting for night. Then, they would slither out from the shadows and hunt, eager to break through the wards. Few had ever seen these beasts before, but there were rumors of shadow beasts that fed on the flesh of human children. Again, those were only rumors. The forests’ enormous trees, that stretched to the very clouds, dwelled in the distance, creaking and groaning at night. Sometimes it seemed as if the forest itself were alive, trying to reach for the village. However, the force field had been up for fourteen years. There was no reason for it to come down.

  The force field was comparable to a jail cell—at least, for Keimaro, it was. He felt confined, like a caged animal, incapable of seeing the world. What was the point in educating himself if he wasn’t even allowed to leave? Besides, staying in the village seemed like suicide. Everyone hated him. He didn’t even know why, and he found no valid reason for the disrespect that he received from those around him. He had learned to adjust to this, but he simply felt segregated as an individual. Isolated. Hated.

  Keimaro pushed himself up from the dusty ground, brushing grit from his cheek with the back of his hand as he sniffed back tears. He was grasping his diaphragm, which had taken several blows from the boys at his school, trying to refill his lungs with air. He glanced at the teacher, who had simply watched the spectacle without stirring to stop the bullies from attacking him. Instead, the teacher gazed at the scene before her with profound interest, her arms folded as if she were actually enjoying the display.

  Burning hatred coursed through Keimaro’s heat-filled veins, and his heart pounded with a burst of adrenaline that sent energy channeling through him. Keimaro’s lip was bleeding, and he exhaled audibly, his ribs aching. The pain dragged out, and his injuries pulsated, creating a sort of mismatched rhythm of pain. He didn’t know why they hated him or why they always beat him up. All he knew was that they did it every single day.

  He turned around and glared at the main bully with a look of pure hatred in his eyes. His name was Buu, and he had curly brown hair and glistening blue eyes that resembled the color of the morning sky. The ladies loved him, though Keimaro didn’t understand why. He was the one who led the assault on Keimaro each day. Oh, how he detested this boy. He couldn’t even count the number of times that he’d imagined driving his fist solidly into Buu’s gorgeous face. But, would that solve anything? His anger, his hatred all boiled down to the fact that Buu existed. Having such strong negative feelings was sometimes disconcerting, but it was unavoidable. These feelings had built up over many years of abuse. He was sick of it!

  Keimaro suddenly sprinted forward, his fist clenched tightly as he rotated his body, hatred throbbing in his heart. Buu turned around just as Keimaro’s fist shot forward, his knuckles smashing solidly into the bully’s cheek. A crack resounded as the boy’s body twisted. His legs left the ground, and his body went airborne, spinning wildly. He slapped hard against the tiled floor with an unnatural thud and was left motionless.

  Keimaro’s fist burned from the impact of his punch. He shook it animatedly, as if the rapid movement of air would cool it. His heart raced as the teacher stared at him in absolute shock. “I-I….”

  What was he supposed to say? That this boy deserved it? As if anyone would believe him. They were all against him. Every last one of them. He looked at the other boys that gathered around the body of Buu. He heard whispering amongst the girls.

  A bead of sweat formed on his brow, and he took a few steps backward toward the door, their words echoing loudly in his ears. Outsider, freak, monster! He spun around and broke into a sprint, racing out of the door. He could hear the boys scampering after him, but he wasn’t worried about being caught—he knew that he could easily outrun anyone in the village. He bit his lip, trying to keep from crying, but he could already feel the tears coming as he sprinted off.

  The young boy dashed along the dirt path that led to the marketplace, the more industrial part of Bakaara, leaving the rural area where the school was placed. The tall, dull wooden buildings towered off in the distance, but Keimaro wasn’t going in that direction. Instead, he broke off from the dirt path and plunged into the lush green plain that bordered it. The right side led to the farms, the left to the border. Keimaro took a left.

  The boys had stopped behind him and wer
e watching him from the edge of the dirt road. They leaned forward and placed their hands on their knees, gasping for air, either completely out of shape or simply exhausted from the long run. No one dared follow him away from the path of the village. The kids had been taught—at an extremely young age—that traveling outside of the village would result in someone’s death. The force field didn’t just prevent monsters from coming in; it also prevented humans from entering or leaving. Bakaara was a self-sufficient village and had all of its resources nearby within the magic walls. They had no need for outside resources and always had everything that they needed.

  Bakaara was an independent speck on the continent, surrounded by the empires of Sparta, Athens, and Faar. All three of these empires were massive and fought each other for domination over the entire continent. Each of the empires could send a simple squad to Bakaara and would probably still be able to wipe out the entire village without any problems at all. But the shield was what truly stood as the only reason Bakaara hadn’t already been conquered, dominated, and wiped out. Bakaara itself wasn’t an empire. It was far too small. It was a simple, neutral village that had not been dominated by any of the human empires. Yet.

  Something that Keimaro had always wondered was how it was that certain small critters were able to squeeze in and get through the force field. The other villagers thought that the animals were simply breeding on village grounds, so they never really questioned where the critters came from. Nevertheless, Keimaro was curious. In Bakaara, they never feasted on huge animals unless they were bred. Typically, there would be small animals like squirrels, wild boars, or prairie dogs that roamed about. One day when Keimaro was twelve, he saw a small, unrecognizable critter. It was an interesting orange squirrel with miniature antlers that poked from the top of its head. It scampered about, running in the direction of the force field. Intrigued by its exotic antlers, Keimaro stalked the foreign creature, making sure to keep his distance. However, as he tried to follow the small squirrel, he finally hit a wall. The force field. Upon striking the barrier, a surge of energy exploded into Keimaro’s body—not enough to harm him, but enough to deflect him backwards. The young boy had been absolutely confused, wondering how it was that the squirrel surpassed this barrier and was out there striding across the free fields outside Bakaara. After many attempts of trial and error, Keimaro finally poked his foot through an open hole in the force field. It took hours, but he finally found it, a place to fit through the barrier and escape. After attempting to escape through different parts of the force field, he realized that the squirrel had found the only crack in the barrier. And that was his only key out.

  The young boy, drenched in sweat, slowed to a jog as he reached the force field. Keimaro threw himself through the weak spot in the barrier and walked out of the village without a sound. He was outside of the perimeters and knew that he should’ve been scared. However, he wasn‘t. Not one bit. He wouldn’t have cared if a massive monster came and mauled him—or swallowed him up, for that matter. No one would miss him. No one. His mother and younger sister were the only exceptions. Definitely not his father, though.

  “Now, this is quite a surprise,” a voice said from behind Keimaro.

  Keimaro blinked as he slowed to a stop and turned to see another young boy standing there behind him. All that stood between the two of them was the invisible wall. The boy had flowing, dark-brown hair and blue eyes that were like sapphires. His hands were in the pockets of his baggy, ripped pants, and his brown shirt had some soot on it. His name was Yata, and he was the most intimidating boy in the entire village. He was known for picking fights with everyone, even the teachers. It took five guards to restrain him, and he was sent to jail on a daily basis—only to get bailed out by the leader of the village himself, who was forced to support Yata since he had been orphaned. No one really knew why he picked fights with everyone, including the bullies of the village, but he was similar to an untamable beast. No matter what the authority, he would fight for whatever he believed in or wanted.

  “Tch,” Keimaro muttered, looking Yata directly in the eye. His hands were balled into fists at his side, and he raised his head high as he spoke to the boy. “And what do you want?”

  Yata raised an eyebrow at Keimaro’s attitude and whistled, “Oi. Aren’t you a bit aggressive? Didn’t seem that way only a moment ago. Think you can act so tough because you’re near the border of the village, huh? Just because you landed your first punch on a kid at school?” He cracked his knuckles and pulled back his fist with a smirk on his face. “Well, I’ll show you the difference between your punch and mine!”

  His fist rocketed forward and slammed solidly into the force field. The transparent wall seemed to absorb the punch. There was a ripple in the shield for a moment before a surge of invisible force smashed into Yata and sent the boy flying backward through the air. Time slowed for the boy as he felt his body thrown off of his feet, his eyes widening as he slammed heavily into the grass, the field cushioning his fall. The boy blinked a few times, looking at the blue sky in a daze, not sure what had just happened.

  After a few seconds, he pushed himself up slightly into a sitting position and gulped back his fury. “That….” His eyes went from the disappearing ripples to the boy and back to the force field. “You’re beyond the barrier?”

  Keimaro’s heart was pounding a bit from shock. However, a part of him just wanted to burst out laughing at the sight of Yata being knocked back like that. He smiled lightly, noticing that he had the upper hand against Yata. He knew, though, that he couldn’t piss off Yata too badly; otherwise, when he came back into the force field, his life would be over. But a part of him also wanted to share his knowledge. Even though this was the most intimidating boy in the entire village, Keimaro felt willing to share his discovery with someone. Anyone. As long as he wasn’t alone. “Eager to see how I got out of here?”

  Yata nodded his head curiously. “How did you do it?”

  Keimaro pointed to the weak spot in the force field in front of him and stuck his foot through with a chuckle. “It’s just a little hole in the wall. I don’t know if there’s any more, but this was the only one that I found. You wouldn’t understand how long it took for me to find this hole.”

  “You spent time looking for it?” Yata said with a laugh as he crawled underneath the force field and popped his head up on the open side of the world. Fresh air. It was brilliant. “Why would you do that?”

  “I’ll explain later,” Keimaro said simply and stuck out his hand toward the boy before him. “My name is Keimaro Hayashi. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Not really.

  “I’m Yata,” the other boy said and grasped his hand gently with a nod as he began to walk with his new acquaintance across the lush green plains that had yet to be touched by human feet. All of this freedom, it was all for them.

  ***

  About a mile from the village was a large apple tree that stood perched upon a hill. It was high and overlooked the village in the distance. The night had taken its place in the sky, and the stars were twinkling down upon the tree and the two young boys who were lying underneath it. Their arms were folded behind their heads, and their bodies were relaxed—more relaxed than they had ever been within the confines of the force field. Keimaro sucked in a deep breath of cold air, not caring about the cool temperature. This was really the first time that he had spent time with another boy his age—or another human his age at all. He looked over at Yata and knew that the two of them were much alike. Their seclusion from the rest of the kids their age was out of their control. They were both isolated from society, but it always seemed there was nothing they could do about it.

  “So, tell me, Kei,” Yata said gently, looking up at the gleaming stars that shone in the dark sky above them. “What has got you wanting to leave the barriers? I always saw you as the type of kid that paid attention to his studies. I didn’t think you were the adventurous type. You were always so quiet.”

  “Yeah,” Keimaro said with a
shrug. “I suppose you could say that there was no one really to talk to. People seem to judge me before they even say a word to me. I could waltz up to a complete stranger, and they would act as if they were completely disgusted with me. I don’t particularly know why, or what I’ve ever done to them. My father doesn’t really care about me either. The only people in this entire village that I’ve felt some type of affection from have been my mother and my little sister, Mai. Other than them, this village can go to hell. They want to keep us trapped inside of some tight barrier, thinking that we’ll accept that we are on this planet only to survive,” he muttered, beginning to pluck blades of grass from the ground. “There’s no way that I’ll accept that. I’m here on this planet so that I can experience things and live life to its fullest. Each human lives only once. So, why in the hell do we need to spend our lives sitting inside of a barrier, trapped like livestock? Why do we learn about the outside world in school when we will never be able to see it for ourselves?

  “I don’t want to be trapped in this village like a prisoner. I want to experience new things. I want to meet new people. I want to eat new foods, see new places, and do all kinds of new things! Staying in one place—where it is hell for me, anyway—is pointless. I’m not even sure what I would do if I hadn’t found the small gap in the barrier. To be brutally honest, I might actually be dead by now. The bullying only gets worse, and it’s only a matter of time before they beat me to death. When those idiots hit me, no one cares. The teachers let the kids off with a small warning. It’s as if I am an animal, another type of species. I see the way they look at me. They all treat me like an outsider. And I’m sick of it.”

  Yata remained silent during Keimaro’s long rant, and the silence stretched afterward, dragging out in the night. “I get you,” he said suddenly, and Keimaro turned to him with a look of surprise.

  “You do?”