CHAPTER TWO - THE EMPEROR'S SON
He was happy. There was a golden sun rolling across the sky amid splashes of white clouds and the air was warm and carried a faint scent of flowers from a nearby meadow.
He was sat on the grass clumsily playing with his toys with child hands, but it was difficult because two other pairs of hands were also trying to play with them. He didn’t mind though. It was nice to have people to play with and he was eager to share everything with them. They would do the same for him after all.
Suddenly it was growing cold and someone plucked him from the ground. He squealed and stretched his hands out for the other two but they were also being taken away. He gave a cry of fear and loneliness.
“Come on Brian, say goodbye to them,” a soft voice said. “You can’t stay with them.”
He didn’t want to listen to that voice. He was crying and screaming, ignoring the fat tears that dribbled down his red cheeks. “No!” he wailed.
Now he was separated form them and he was with two strangers. They kept trying to be kind to them but he was confused. These weren’t the people he knew. He wanted those two other children his own age who he had played with on the war, sunny grass.
Suddenly the ground was shaking and then the sky turned dark with fire. Another pair of arms were now cruelly seizing him and pulling him away. He screamed in pain and fright. He was being taken away…
CRASH!
Brian’s eyes snapped open as the dreadful splintering noise cut him from the strange dream. He often dreamed of similar events but he had no idea where they were coming from. He shivered from the terrible fear and loneliness that had washed over his soul and tried to remember the faces of the children he had played with, but as always their faces remained fuzzy and unrecognisable.
The crashing noise of something breaking was quickly followed by a frustrated roar from the room beside his own.
“Why haven’t you found them yet? Why am I still waiting?”
It seemed evident that his father was angry again…
Instinctively he pulled the covers about him, desperate to hide form his father’s wrath. His heart had begun to hum loudly in his ears as he waited fearfully.
‘Please don’t call for me. Please don’t let him call for me…’ he begged silently. ‘Please.’
“Brian!” a thunderous voice yelled suddenly. “Brian, come here!”
He cringed and for a moment he screwed his eyes tightly closed as if he could somehow shut his father’s bellow from his sleepy mind. He always called for him when he was angry. Every time he was in a black mood he would feel the need to take it out on his son.
Reluctantly he clambered out of bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He took a brief moment to try and clam his trembles before rushing towards the door at the far end of the room which would lead to his father’s office. He had always insisted that Brian stay close to him so that he could arrive immediately whenever he was called.
Sleepily Brian stumbled into the office still dressed in his blue pyjamas. “You called father?” he asked weakly as he stared uncomfortable at the ground which was now littered with fragments of broken glass.
The emperor Zenok raised his head to stare at his son. He was a tall, imposing man with a high forehead and black hair that suited his frequent dark moods. His small eyes were also dark and always seemed to be filled with the light of greed and anger. “I need you help,” he said icily.
Brian nodded but remained silent. He had learnt from past experience and past bruises that it was always best to stay silent when Zenok was caught in the rage of a temper.
Zenok delicately picked up a small, glass box from his table and then beckoned for Brian to come closer. Inwardly Brian groaned and cringed. He knew what was coming. He knew what was in the box. It had been sat on Zenok’s desk for as long as he could remember. It was a ring. A simple, beautiful ring of silver with a blue jewel delicately embedded within it. Zenok treated it like some lost treasure and more and more frequently now he was calling Brian to his office because of it.
Zenok pulled the ring from its box and held it out to Brian. “Use it,” he commanded.
Brian gulped slightly and stared at Zenok’s outstretched hand. This always happened. Zenok seemed to think that Brian and the ring were connected somehow but Brian knew nothing about it nor how to ‘use’ it. “I don’t know what you mean,” he whispered trying to keep his voice from trembling.
Zenok growled and then suddenly seized hold of Brian’s collar to bring him closer to him. “Use the power boy!” he snapped. “I command you as your father that you use it!” He released him and Brian staggered back a few paces dazed.
He stared at the ring again and then Zenok grabbed his hand and thrust the ring into it. He took a step back and watched him carefully.
Brian examined the ring, loving the way the light flowed across the surface, almost like the way sunlight danced over a cascading waterfall. He had always thought it very pretty and had often begged to be able to play with it when he was much younger, but most times he had been cuffed about the head for even daring to ask such a question. Now it was different. For the past few months now Zenok had been forcing him to hold the ring and then grown angry when nothing happened. What was supposed to happen?
He shook his head. “I don’t understand.”
Zenok sighed and Brian could see that he was trying hard to repress his deep anger. He took the ring from Brian’s hand and held it delicately in his own open palm. It was the only thing he ever treated with care and concern. Even a piece of cold metal received more attention than Brian ever had…
“This ring is one of three and it contains an awesome amount of power. Thousands of years ago someone used these three rings to separate our universe,” Zenok explained, his teeth gritting on every word and it wad clear that he hated Brian for not understanding. It wasn’t his fault though. His father had never told nor taught him anything. He had never told him about the ring before either. Every time Brian had asked why it was so important he had merely received a grunt in reply.
“Separate our universe?” he asked curiously.
Zenok nodded as he held the ring up to the light overhead. “There are three realms. One of the humans, one of the demons and one of the gods. Once they were all combined but then someone separated them using the rings. Ever since then at the dawn of each new millennium the power inside the rings can be awakened.” He glanced down at Brian and then smiled. “I think you will be able to use the power of the ring.”
Brian nodded, trying to pretend that he understood. He knew that if he tried to ask too many questions that Zenok would strike him for his ignorance. But there was one question that he could not possibly prevent himself from asking. “Why me?”
“Because,” Zenok said simply as he handed the ring back to Brian.
“But why not you? You’re my father after all?”
A dark, impenetrable look passed over Zenok’s face and he turned away from Brian. “I know that only you can use the power of the ring. If you can, then you can find the remaining two rings for me and their bearers. It’s not a lot to ask is it? All I need is for you to find the two people who possess the rings.” He turned back to Brian and a smile crept across his face, but it was not a joyful expression. Zenok’s smiles always looked cruel and heartless. “You do want to help me don’t you, Brian? You want to help your father get the power that he desires don’t you? It would make me very pleased.”
Brian stared into his father’s drake eyes and then looked away. Sometimes he hated Zenok. Sometimes he loathed him so much that he wanted to kill himself for being related to him. He had seen Zenok kill and torture innocent people. He had often made Brian sit in on torture sessions of prisoners in a vain attempt to ‘harden’ him up. Zenok hated him for being so soft and compassionate and for being nothing like the emperor himself.
But beneath all of that shame and hatred he knew that Zenok was still his father and that counted for something. He wanted his father to be proud of him. He wanted Zenok to be proud of him when he sang instead of closing his eyes in shame at this ‘weak’ and ‘feminine’ trait that he showed.
“Help me, Brian,” Zenok pressed. “Use the power of the ring.”
Brian gently ran a finger over the smooth surface of the ring and then smiled weakly at Zenok. Gently he slipped the ring onto his finger and tried to concentrate. He felt no different. He felt none of the power that Zenok said existed within the ring.
“Well?” Zenok asked eagerly, his eyes shining with greed. “Do you feel anything?”
Brian slowly shook his head and stared at the floor. He had disappointed his father once again.
“Nothing?” Zenok asked, the smile fading from his pale face and being slowly replaced with an angry frown. “Nothing at all?” his voice began to rise in volume to a shout.
Brian lowered his head even more, his shoulders hunching as if he could somehow make himself impervious to Zenok’s rage.
“Damn it, Brian! What the hell do I have to do to make you!” Zenok roared. With one stride he had crossed the distance between himself and his son and a fierce hand had grabbed hold of Brian’s strawberry blonde curls. He gave a yelp as pain as he was suddenly thrown to the floor and he instinctively backed away to the wall and curled up into a foetal position.
“I’m sorry!” he sobbed, not even realising that he was crying until he tried to speak. “I want to help, I do! I don’t know how!”
Zenok raised his hand and seemed to be about to strike him, but then he lowered his hand and gave a frustrated growl before smashing his fist into the glass box which the ring had once inhabited.
Brian covered his face with one of his hands while the other held the ring. He willed something to come to him. He willed himself to unlock the power which Zenok insisted was there, but there was nothing. He gave a sob of frightened frustration and tightened his grasp about the ring.
Zenok leaned one hand upon his desk and passed the other over his brow. “Brian, get out of here. You are pathetically weak. Just… go.”
Brian raised his tearful face, the room hazed over with a shield of tears. “But father - ” he begged. He did not want to be treated like an unworthy animal. Zenok was his father. Was this how a father was supposed to treat his son?
“Brian, get out of here now!” Zenok roared his mouth gaping open like some terrifying predator. “I don’t want to see you, now get out!”
Brian stumbled to his feet and then made a mad dash for the door to his room, sobbing and crying as deep breaths shook his chest.
“For God’s sake, stop crying! I’ve told you before that I don’t want you being weak and crying and if you do it again I will personally throw you out of this palace!” Zenok yelled after him, his voice dripping with hatred.
Brian gave a spluttered choke as he tripped into his own room and then he slammed his hand down upon a door panel to initiate the lock. He stood with his back to it and trembled, still hearing the shouts echoing in his head. He shouldn’t be treated like this. He was Zenok’s son. It wasn’t his fault he didn’t understand the power Zenok kept rambling about. He stared down at his hands and then suddenly noticed that he still had the ring with him. For a brief second the faceted jewel reflected his tearful eyes before he hurled it across the room. Without that ring he might actually feel a little more worthy of himself.
He gasped for a moment and then ran to his wardrobe and pulled out a bag before hastily beginning to shove it full of clothes, his hands trembling whenever they touched anything. He’d never seen Zenok that angry. It was getting worse everyday and it was all because Brian was unable to use the powers of the ring. Zenok seemed to become more desperate everyday and Brian knew that matters would be made worse.
He stared down at his arm and suddenly realised that there was a deep purple bruises welling up upon his elbow. He pressed a finger against it and winced. He must have banged his arm when Zenok pushed him over. He closed his eyes, trying to ignore the countless other times he had been hurt because of Zenok’s anger. He still had a scar on his head from when Zenok had thrown a glass at him in a blind fury. He told himself that it wasn’t Zenok’s fault. He only did it because he was angry and Brian had to cope with that…
He slipped a coat on over his pyjamas and then squeezed his feet into his shoes before zipping up the bag. He did not know where he was going yet, but he couldn’t stay here.
He could get a shuttle off the planet and leave. He would be far away from his father’s rage then… or maybe he could try and make Zenok happy… What if he found the remaining two rings and delivered them to him? These people Zenok was searching for who possessed the rings… They were the ones who made Zenok so angry. They were the ones who caused Zenok to hurt Brian…
Slowly Brian’s eyes turned to the silver ring which still lie upon the carpet of his room where he had thrown it. Tentatively he leant down and cupped it in his hands, watching the gem sparkle and smile at him.
“You’re supposed to be powerful,” he whispered. “Well maybe you’ll bring me some luck.”
He crossed to a drawer and pulled a length of string from within before slipping the ring onto it and securely tying it about his neck. He tucked it out of sight and then carefully crept out into the corridor.
The palace Zenok owned on Mars was his base and it was his favourite planet which he possessed within his empire. The building was huge and complex but Brian knew how to get out without being caught. He’d get as far away as possible. He needed time on his own. He needed time to prove himself to Zenok…
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Zenok leaned back in his chair with a hand over his face. He could still dimly hear Brian sobbing in the next room. The kid was too emotional and too weak. Zenok had tried countless times to turn him into a true warrior who would help him in his battle for power, but the boy refused to do anything by hurting anybody. He had hoped for so much more in a son…
He was beginning to regret ever taking the brat in. It wasn’t like Brian was anything to do with him in the first place…
There was chime from the door which indicated that someone wanted to come in. He sighed again but finally called for the person to enter.
“S-sir?” the guard asked, staring about the room as he noticed the smashed glass that covered the floor.
“It’s all right Yenon come in,” Zenok said waving a hand to dismiss the glass. “I just had a run in with my…” he hesitated for a moment. “Son. He is still unable to unlock the powers of the ring and help me.”
“You should be kinder to him,” Yenon said slowly. “Maybe then he would… untense a little and be able to use his powers. Perhaps he’s still too young.”
“The boy is sixteen! He should be able to do something by now!” He gave another grunt of annoyance. “I sometimes wish I had killed him instead of sparing his life and raising him as my own…”
Brian had no idea that he was adopted. Zenok had spent years tracking down the three rings and their bearers and had been shocked to discover that all three of them were only infants of five years. Their protectors though weren’t completely incompetent and had separated the three bearers of the rings, the three triplets who had the power to use the rings, and hidden them from Zenok. He remembered finally catching one of them and holding him in his arms and laughing at the boy’s weakness as he had struggled and cried frantically.
He had intended to kill Brian until a nasty idea had sunk into his dark mind. What if the powers of the ring wouldn’t work if Brian was dead? Instead with a smirk he had realised that he could raise the boy as his own, dear and loving son. The boy would do anything for his ‘father’ and when the time came he would be able to use the ring to assist Zenok in his quest for power. Together they could rule all three realms.
That dream had been shattered as soon as Brian started to grow up. The boy wasn’t interested in galactic domination or hurting people to achieve power. No, instead the boy wanted to sit around and write music with his guitar. Zenok had firmly put a stop to that by smashing the instrument against the wall, but Brian had remained stubbornly soft and weak.
Worst of all, he seemed unable to harness the powers of the ring. Zenok had hoped that when the time came the boy would be able to use the power of the ring to locate the other two and their bearers who were in fact Brian’s siblings.
“I’m sure it will not be long now,” Yenon replied. “I do have some good news however, we think we have some information regarding the location of the other two triplets.”
Zenok’s head snapped up. “Excellent!” he cried. “Excellent indeed! What planet?”
“Earth. We were given a tip off and we’ve got the kid’s name as well: Nick.”
Zenok smiled, all rage evaporating as an euphoria at the news settles happily upon his stomach. “I always knew Brian’s siblings were alive and well, despite rumours that they were dead.” He smiled to himself. “Brian didn’t matter at the moment. There was still time before the millennium for the boy to use the powers to help Zenok achieve the power to rule over everything and it looked as if he might not just have the power of one ring…
“Send a team to earth and begin searching and look for any more information regarding this Nick. Now all we have to do is find the last one.”
“There is another problem though sir,” Yenon ventured nervously. “We still can’t find this AC-Free who’s been making life difficult in the empire for us.”
Zenok rolled his eyes. AC-Free was a rogue female who he had yet to bring under control. She had been flying about the galaxy fro some time now and causing trouble in his empire. He had not bothered about the little witch until she started trying to oppose his reign by helping his prisoners to escape and destroying slave camps that he had worked hard to set up.
“Ignore her for now. I’ve set some of my top assassins onto the task of finding her and killing her. That woman will soon learn that women should stay in their place. For now, I have more important things to do.” He grinned. “I have rings to find and power to gain and then I have a universe to conquer.” He began to bellow with laughter. He had not felt so liberated in a long time.
He was so completely caught up with making plans to pursue Nick that he momentarily forgot about his ‘son’… and the ring that Brian still possessed.