Gift of the Gods - Chapter 3

 

" Come on, snap out of it man." Hawthorn pleaded with his catatonic friend. David had been like this for the last three days, unable to speak. Either through choice or by the pure shock of what he had experienced.

" Why had I done it." Marcus questioned himself silently. In truth, he really didn't know. It was a reaction, pure and simple. One moment, the assassin had been standing right in front of him, pleading to be heard. The next, the lay on the floor, a smoking hole in his chest. A reaction, pure and simple.

" What did Mathers do to me ?" Marcus thought to himself. Honestly, he had no idea of what had happened to him, ofhis entire conversation with the man.

All he did remember was that when he had gotten onboard his shuttle, he had been agitated.He had yelled at Enigma, but, then again he had always done that.

But, the main change in him had been the fact that he now was afraid. Afraid of Mathers, afraid of what that evil man might now hurt his only friend, David. But, then again, hadn't I already hurt him, Hawthorn thought.
" I have already hurt him, emotionally if not physically." Marcus again thought to himself." My God, what did he do to me." Hawthorn muttered to himself.

Getting up from off his Hawthorn turned away from his friend and started walking toward his desk.
" Why did you do it ?" David finally spoke, for the first time in three days.

 

Standing up, " Why did you do it ?" the older man repeated his question.

" I had to. The man was an assassin ,a born killer."Marcus whispered back hoarsely.

" But why ? You weren't his judge, his jury.Who are you to judge him?" David asked his friend.

His dark brown hair falling across his face, Marcus stood where he was, hands on his desk. Staring down at it's darkly stained surface." I had to. Can't you see, he was a murderer, pure and simple.What he was proposing was wrong, morally or otherwise..." pausing for a moment, " I admitit, I've done a great many wrong things in my life.But, I'vechanged, I'm not the same man I was then..." pausing again,"...some of the things that I've done, I'll have to live withfor the rest of my life. But, what he was proposing was wrong, I can feel it in my bones, it was wrong." Staring down at the hard wood floor, David spoke softly" Marc, we've been friends for a long time.But,what you did was wrong. No matter how hard you try to justify it, it was wrong. If you ever do that again, in my company or otherwise. If you ever do that again, our friendship will be over. Do you understand me, Marc ?"


" Yes, I understand. I'm sorry." Marcus spoke softly ashe gently pushed a lock of hair out of his face. Completelyashamed of himself, of how he had hurt his friend.

Quietly, David turned away from his friend, opened the office door, and left the room. Leaving Marcus Hawthorn alone with his thoughts. Alone with his conscience.

 

---

 

Two days later, after a great deal of thinking, Marcus finally came to a decision. He had to get David out of the city, somewhere Mathers couldn't touch him.

With the decision made, Hawthorn made his way to his friend's townhouse.The house was located in the west end of the city, two blocks away from Hawthorn's own home.

After about ten minutes of walking, Marcus came upon David's home.His townhouse was a two story, red brick dwelling with a small carriage house located behind it.

From what Marcus knew of David's family, the Southerland's were what you could call aristocrats of a sort. David wasn't exactly on the best terms with his family. First of all,they had been totally against him going into business with Marcus. Second, David was an unmarried man, which would leavehim with no heirs when he died. His share of the business would in all likelihood go to Marcus should he die.And, last of all, the Southerland's just didn't like Hawthorn, no real reason, they just didn't like him.

" I have no choice, I have to go through with this." Marcus thought to himself as he stood in front of the house's main doorway, hesitant to knock. Finally he raise his hand and knocked on the door.

For several moments, there was no answer.But, at thelast moment before Marcus was about to knock again, the large oaken door opened and an elderly gentleman appeared inthe doorway." Master Hawthorn, David is waiting for you in the study."

Without a moments delay, Marcus strode through the doorway, past Robert , David's butler, down a long hallway and finally into the study.

David was sitting in a red velvet arm chair, dressed in a red silk shirt, a pair of grey woolen trousers, and a pair of high black leather boots which came up to his knees, when his friend entered the room, a troubled expression upon his count-enance. Hawthorn was dressed in a white linen shirt, a pair of dark brown trousers, and a pair black leather boots. He had only a dark grey cloak about his shoulders to protect himfrom the chill autumn weather.

" It's good to see you. How have you been ?" the older man asked his troubled friend.
" You have to get out of the city, David. It's not safe for you here." Hawthorn replied, not even answering his friend's question. With of puzzled look on his face, David motioned for his friend to have a seat in a identical chair to the one he was sitting in.

" You have to leave the city..." Marcus began again, but he was cut off before he could continue.

" What are you talking about.Me leave the city, why ?" David asked his friend in a questioning tone.

" Trust me, please..." Marcus started to begin again but, just as before, David cut him off in mid-sentence.

" What are you talking about.Why do I have to leave the city. If I am to do this, I would at least like to know why ?"
" I can't tell you.It's better if you don't know." Marcus replied to his friend's question.

With a questioning look, the older man asked " What have you gotten yourself into, and how am I involved ?"

" Do you remember what I told you when we first met..."Hawthorn paused for moment to push a stray strand of hair out of his face, " ...I told you that there might come a day when I would have to face a ghost of two from my past. Well,...that day is upon me."

" Surely I can help, can't I ?" David questioned his friend.

" No, it would be too dangerous." Marcus said to hisfriend. A worried expression etched deeply onto his face.
" Marc, we're friends, aren't we ?" David asked.

" Yes, but it's just too dangerous."

" Marc, I've lived through nearly sixty winters. Let me tell you exactly what or what isn't too dangerous for me to do." David replied to his friend in a grandfatherly tone.

Sighing to himself in resignation, Marcus slouched back into his chair. In the hearth to his right, a fire burned warmly, flooding the entire room with it's welcome heat.

" Now what are we to do ? " the grey haired asked his friend.

For a moment, Hawthorn wasn't sure how he should begin. Then, he began his tale." When I first met you, I told you I was from a far away land. Well..., that wasn't exactly the whole truth." pausing for moment, " My story begins on a ship, a ship such as the likes of which you've never seen. A ship that sailed upon a sea of stars..."

---

" All you had to do was follow him. Can't you even do athing as simple as that. " Mathers bellowed at Enigma." How could you be so incompetent."

" What's wrong ? I thought that you had him wrapped around your finger." the white haired man replied calmly.

Stomping off across the massive audience chamber, toward his throne, Mathers spun around and glared at the unusually dressed man." The weasel somehow broke my spell!" the dark haired man returned from between clenched teeth.

" How does this concern me ? Why is this suddenly my problem ?" Enigma asked his aging lord. Staring at the olderman with his cold blue eyes.

" It doesn't concern you now. But, it might affect you inthe near future." the aging lord spoke coldly.

" What are you talking about ?" the white haired man asked Mathers rather dispassionately.

The older man merely shrugged his shoulders. Grinning ghoulishly, " With all my resources focused on finding and eliminating Hawthorn. I'm afraid that I'll have too few resources to devote to your experiments."
Scowling, Enigma dropped his gaze to the stone floor." What do you want from me ?"

" All I want is,...Marcus Hawthorn, dead." Still smiling, " I'll leave the details up to you on how to carry it out. But,..." a wicked gleam coming into his eyes," ...feel free to be creative."

Still scowling, the unusually dressed man turned away from Mathers. In quick, even strides, Enigma left Mathers'throne room, his ocean blue cloak trailing behind him. A hateful look on his once impassive face.
Enigma followed the twisting passages of Firestorm castle until he came to private chambers. Stepping into an extreme cluttered room. The white haired man made his way to a table located in the center of the room. He now had an assassination to plan.

 

---

After Marcus had told David his tale, how he and twenty or so other like him had crash land onto David's world. How he had ejected an innocent man out into the cold depths of space, and of how he and the rest of the " Firestorm's" crew had helped the demented Captain Mathers conquer the western half of the island nation of Arcadia.

With it all out in the open, Marcus Hawthorn felt completely and thoroughly ashamed of himself. And, was now worried that his only friend on this strange new world he had been on for the past twenty years was going to turn his back on him. But, " at least the truth is finally out in the open,"Marcus thought to himself. At least someone other than himself knew the whole truth.

The older man was now leaning back in his chair, gazing into the smoldering remains of what had once, before the story had begun, a blazing inferno. It seemed like an eternity to Marcus, the waiting. And the silence of the room seemed almost oppressive to him.

Reaching toward the table, right beside him, the greyhaired man picked up a small ivory comb. Then he proceeded to run it through his whitish-grey hair.

Finally, after seeming satisfied that his hair was in order, he set the comb back on the table.
But, again he remained silent, For almost half a minute, Marcus thought that his friend had given up on him, but, then David began to speak. " This man, Mathers, has had almost twenty years to solidify his power base. Correct ?"

Taken a bit off guard by the question, all Marcus could reply was an almost unintelligible " Yeah. "

" Well then, we're going to need help if we are to unthrone this tyrant." Again David paused, as if considering what next to say." We're going to need the help of the Watchers'.They're the only ones that I know of who have the man power and enough guts to help us unthrone this fool king you helped put into power."

" Watchers'", what did he mean when he said that we are going to need their help, Marcus thought silently to himself.
" Marc, are you listening to me ?" David asked his friend quizzically. Unsure that his friend was still paying attention to him.
" Who are the ' Watchers' ?" Marcus asked the older man suddenly.

Not surprised by his friend's question in the least bit, the older man replied " They are a secret society dedicated to preserving the peace and freedom of the many peoples of this continent we live on." pausing for a moment, " although getting their help maybe a little hard."

Gazing into the hearth, at the glowing embers of the remnants of a once great fire, Marcus asked " Why ?"
" Why, you say." David replied with an amused expressionon his face, he answered his friend's question." Why indeed. Their base of operations, their meeting place, is over a thousand miles from here."
In a burst of inspiration, Marcus returned " Not if we take my ship."

" But, then again, we have another problem. Before, you said that they can track your ship." the older man replied solemnly.

" Not if I can disengage it's tracking beacon." Hawthorn returned, still gazing into the hearth.

" Then, I guess we have work to do, don't we ?" David began. Getting up from out of his chair." Robert, could youplease come in here, " he called out to his butler. Turning to Marcus, " Where are you currently hiding that ship of yours. "

Smiling, " You remember that rather large warehouse we purchased several years back.You know, the one that we have yet to store anything in ? "

" Why you little devil." David was now beaming, " Come on, we haven't a moment to lose."
As Marcus began to rise from his chair, his friend's butler came striding into the room. After taking a moment to give Robert his instructions, David grabbed Marcus by the arm and said " We're off " while pulling the younger man down the hallway toward the front door. Stopping only a few scant seconds to grab his black cloak from off it's hook by the door.

Within the span of the blink of an eye, the two of them were hurrying down Fokner st., toward the warehouse district.

---

 

A beeping sound brought the white haired man out of his slumber. With blurry eyes, Enigma clicked on his ship's com-link." Who the hell is it, and what in God's good name doyou want?"

" That's not a nice thing to say to your employer, now is it ?" A callous sounding voice replied from the otherend of the com-link.

" Oh, it you.What do you want ?" Enigma returned, recognizing Mathers' voice on the other end.
" Now I would have a little more respect for your elders or betters if I were you." Mathers' said with a coarse laugh.

" What do you want ?" The white haired man questioned Mathers again. " Oh..., just a little errand for you, really..." The older man hinted.

" Alright, who do you want me to kill. And where is he located." Enigma asked his superior as he stepped into his shuttle's cockpit and keyed on his flight computer. " And what about Hawthorn, are you forgetting that I still am having trouble trying to locate him. He's not in Dri Tarbon anymore."

" I'm not forgetting anything. Just send a droid out after the person's name that I'm going to give you..." pausing for a moment, trying to stifle a yawn, " ...his name is Ronan Haverstrom. He lives in a city called..."

 

 

---

 

" Ronan, you can't do this.It's not right !" The dark haired woman pleaded her husband." He's too powerful. It's suicide..." now collapsing onto her knees, " Please don't leave me here alone."

" What he's doing isn't right. I have to stop him." the gray haired man said to his wife, pulling his black woolen cloak from off it's hook by their home's front door.

Turning back to gaze at his wife, " Please, you have to understand. He's been doing this for close to fifteen years, torturing these people, your people. " tears forming at the corners of his eyes, " I helped him become what he is, and now its time for me to destroy this bastard."

Opening the home's front door, Ronan Haverstrom stepped out of his home's portal, and into the night. Leaving his wife kneeling on the floor, crying. But, before he had gotten three steps away from his home, a white haired man in a ocean blue cloak stepped into his path." Not so fast, Boy !"

Not waiting a second, Ronan rushed back into his house,past his still kneeling wife. Pushing the front door closed with his right shoulder, he then slide the door's locking bolt into place.

" Get up, Woman !" the gray haired man bellowed at the woman kneeling in front of him, his face flushed.


" What's wrong ?" his wife asked him, tears still in her eyes." What's the matter ?"

" That bastards out in front is the matter.Where's my pistol ?" Ronan whispered hoarsely back at his wife.
" It's in the top left hand drawer of your dresser."the dark haired woman answered him, choking back one last sob. Dashing up his home's spiral staircase, the gray haired man rushed into he and his wife's bedroom, heading straight for his dresser.

Literally ripping the drawer from out of the dresser, the pale faced man emptied it's contents out onto the floor at his feet. With a loud thud, his pistol clattered to the floor. Not hesitating a second, Ronan picked up his pistol and flew out of his bedroom. In desperation, the gray hairedman stumbled down his house's staircase and into the main hall.

" Late as usual." Enigma said to Ronan as he blindly stumbled into his home's living room.
The sight Ronan found in that room chilled him to the bone. The white haired man had a knife up against his wife's throat. A wicked grin on his countenance.

" You should have left well enough alone. Now, Mathers says I have to kill you." Enigma spoke softly to the already out of breath man, as he smiled down at Ronan's wife.

" Mara, don't make a single move." Ronan cautioned his wife, his eyes still on the white haired man.
"...But first I want the names of your contacts. " Enigma continued, taunting Ronan.

Slowly easing his hand toward his pistol, the gray haired man began formulating a bluff that could possibly get he and his wife out of the room alive , " ...What contacts ?" Ronan asked the white haired man, appearing bewildered by the man's question.

" You know damn well what contacts I'm speaking of. Tell me or I'll kill her. You know I will." Enigma countered, his voice remaining utterly calm. Eyes locked on her husband, " Ronan, do something !" Mara screamed at him. Backing slowly away from the scene in front of him, the gray haired man gently began to lift his pistol from out of it's holster.

" I'll kill her..." the white haired man bellowed back at Ronan, his cold blue eyes locked onto Ronan's right arm. Then, in one swift fluid motion, Ronan drew his pistol and fired on the white haired man. The force of the blast sent Enigma flying across the room, through the room's massive picture window, and out onto the hard cobblestone street in front of their home.

Shattered glass all around him, his right arm lying on the street not two feet away from him, Enigma began to rise. Without the use of his right arm, the unusually dressed man awkwardly climbed back to his feet. The right side of his ocean blue cloak hanging in useless tatters at his side. His shoulder still smoking from Ronan's laser blast.

After the white haired man had climbed back to his feet, he just stood there, staring at Ronan in disbelief. When a few moments had gone by, and Enigma had not yet moved from where he now stood. The gray haired man moved in closer to examine his foe.

From out of the white haired man's right shoulder, sparks were now beginning to shoot out. Lighting up the tattered remains of Enigma's cloak. On closer inspection, Ronan could see small wires dangling from the hole that used to be Enigma's shoulder.

Drawing in a deep breath, recognition finally settled in on Ronan. What he was now looking at was a android. One of Lord Mathers' homemade assassins. Stepping back a bit, Ronan turned around and gazed in through the broken picture window. Almost as if on cue, shaking violently, Mara collapsed onto the living room's wooden floor. Crying in broken sobs, Ronan's wife looked up at him with utter terror in her dark brown eyes. Her raven black hair in complete disarray, Mara just sat there on the cold floor boards staring up at her husband, not saying a single word.

" We have to get out of here, " Ronan thought to himself as he looked down at his still sobbing wife. After deciding upon a course of action, the gray haired man raced to his wife's side, his black cloak trailing behind him.

" We have to get out of here...Mara, do you understand me ? We have to get out of here." Ronan quickly relayed to his wife." There'll be more of those things coming after usreal soon. We have to leave now !"
Without waiting for her to answer him, Ronan picked Mara up by her waist, took hold of her right hand and led her out through their home's broken picture window.

The street outside their home was relatively quiet for early evening, but, all they were now concerned about was making it out of the city alive. The city's old wooden gates were just down the street from their home. Giving their former home one last glance, the two of them went dashing down Jazva ave. toward the city gates.
Stopping at the city's gates briefly, the couple gave the city that they had called home for over fifteen years a longing look. Then, Ronan and his wife, fear lending them courage, escaped out into the night.