THE RETURN OF GENERAL KAI

Chapter 13

Astrophel knocked loud and hard until his knuckles bruised. The door opened to reveal Orion, “what the hell are you doing here?” Orion asked Astrophel who pushed past him and made his way into the Pierce mansion.

“Astrophel! What if my daughter and her husband were home?! We agreed to meet at our designated spot. To what do I owe this visit?” He asked again. Astrophel was now pacing back and forth in the living area.

He stopped abruptly, “when were you going to tell me you threw him out?” 

“Kai? I had no way to reach you. You’re the one who insisted on being the one to contact me!”

“Wrong answer, Orion! Let me rephrase, why did you make such an executive decision by yourself?”

Orion scoffed, “this was not the deal, Astrophel and you know this. Kai is a ticking time bomb! Look at my dark eye circles and sunken eyes, I have not slept in the two years he has been living under my roof!”

“We made a deal.” Astrophel said through gritted teeth, “what if one of his officers sees him?”

“That is not my problem, Astrophel. My granddaughter is pregnant by that demon! Look around you, there are no living organisms on my property. Want to know why? His very presence causes the plants to wither! The air around him is suffocating, heavy, unbearable!” Orion yelled, “you did not tell me these things when you begged me to house your human weapon!

"Is he even human?”

“He was under hypnosis. What’s a few plants? Hold your breath or better still have him away from you. Easy.”

Orion scoffed, “send your granddaughter, I complied. Have her marry him, I complied.” He paused.

“I had his job fire him so he could be closer to me since you were so paranoid he would be found out.”

“You, Astrophel Blackwood, made me promise one year of my life and that of my precious granddaughter. You said you would take him far away from Voltaria, figure out a way to erase him permanently!” Orion drew a breath.

“It has been three years and my innocent Sarah is expecting a child with a demon and you have the nerve to ask me why I threw them both out? For all I know, what she carries is not human!”

“Cry me a river, Orion! I handled the difficult end of our deal and you know that. Do you have any idea how hard it is back at Nexarath?!”

“I don’t! I don’t wish to! I left that war torn city. I left to give my bloodline a better life and I am being punished! For all I know his memories have returned. He is going to kill all of us!”

“You should have consulted me.” Astrophel said again, “You sound like a broken record, Blackwood. I thought you were dead even! It’s been a year since you last contacted me. Where is the magic potion that was supposed to sedate him for a decade?”

Astrophel sighed, “a myth. Doesn’t exist.” He said with a defeated tone. 

“That is exactly what happens when you listen to lore from your foolish son, Axel! All our lives are in danger!” Orion announced, “my precious, Sarah.”

“Am I going to have to move? You need to get that child out of my granddaughter, Astrophel. This was not a part of our bargain. I have done my part and you know this.”

“Can you not see that there are more important matters than your family? If your granddaughter births a demon, you kill it before anything happens, easy.” He said in a cold tone, “we have to find him.”

“We? No way. We are done, through, Astrophel. The Pierce’s are no longer dipping their fingers in matters regarding the nobles or Nexarath. My great grandfather left a century ago so as to avoid this and I was a fool to trust you.”

Astrophel chuckled, “I’m afraid you have no choice, Orion. Do not forget that you’re a deserter. Your family ran away, there is a bounty on all your heads. I keep your secret and in exchange you work for me. It was never a fair trade.” He reminded Orion and all the blood drained from his face. He was as white as a ghost.

“You will do as I say. You’re dumb but you know that the Zhilak that resides in Kai Rylan is bigger than all of us, bigger than your precious granddaughter.”

“Kai must be contained. He is the end of the world.”

“But…”

“No but. I told you to contain him and you cooked up a plan to use Sarah. That was your idea, not mind.”

“I never planned for her to fall in love with him! Talk less of her getting pregnant!” He retorted.

“I made their life hell! I worried so much about how she stayed so close to him despite his suffocating energy and yet she got pregnant by him!”

“God, Orion, I do not care about your family problems! Are you so near-sighted to see what you’ve done?! You sent him away! Do you have any idea how many men have died to see Kai contained? And you let him go!”

“I’m sorry.” Orion cowered. Astrophel was right. Kai Rylan was a mystery, he was feared. He entered trances and killed people by only wishing it. 

The realization hit him, “he is strong, Astrophel. There is a reason he ended the war. I fear we may not survive the wrath that is to come. I am more afraid of Kai Rylan than all the enemy countries combined.” The confession sent a chill through Astrophel’s spine.

“I should have never gone along with your plan. We’re all going to die.”