Meridias Read online

  Meridias

  Part two of the Ex Nihilo Saga

  By Ryan Hodgson

  Acknowledgments

  My Grandparents for taking the time to read through my first draft,

  &

  My friend for whom one of the characters is written in his likeness.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Epilogue

  Compendium

  Chapter 1

  Beginning of The End

  The sun was high in the sky and there were a few clouds lazily drifting about below it. Further below the clouds, down on the ground, lay the town called Gresham. The cars that drove through the streets looked like bugs scurrying about on tiny channels that networked throughout the city. Those people were oblivious to the events that were now in motion. Events that would change their very perception of the world. Today was the day where those plans were set into motion. It was the day where my fate was sealed.

  Looking back I knew this day would come. Never did I imagine that it would be so soon. If I knew in the past what I know now, I don’t know if I would’ve been able to do what I did. I don’t think my heart could’ve borne knowing such a fate was in store for me… is what a normal person might say. I don’t consider myself normal nor would I break down from simply knowing there was a fate I couldn’t avoid. I would shatter that fate! I don’t regret what happened in the end. Because I followed what I believed in to save those I cared about. I’ve seen everything that’s happened now. Where it begins is somewhere beyond this town. Between here and there lie sprawling green fields, and lush forests that hug the base of a snow-capped mountain. Past the mountain the forests give way to a dry wilderness with few trees and small towns. In this desert highlands there is a secret military base that stands miles from the nearest town with nothing but a small dirt road leading up to it and a small airstrip outside of the base.

  The base is surrounded by solid concrete walls that are nearly 20 feet tall and lined with barbed wire. There are several structures on the base that consists of living quarters, a prison section, an underground section where secret projects are being worked on, a training ground, and a command building and several vehicle bays. The entire facility is state of the art and highly secret compared to other military bases in the country. The work that went on here was known only to those in the base itself. This is where everything went into play, and in the command building there were two men whose actions would shape the events to come.

  He sat in the office waiting for his superior officer to arrive. Though to him his superior seemed more like a ‘jailer.’ He had been out cold for nearly 3 days after stumbling through the portal that had appeared in the desert. He’d never expected to return to Earth or to this base but here he was. The man heard a door open behind him and the sound of boots against the tiled floor as someone came in and said, “Well, well, I didn’t think I’d see you again Michael.” The man called Michael raged silently. He had no power and no authority here. He had no freedom and would never see his family again so long as General Titus Leviticus was in charge. He decided to test the general. “It’s Ashblade now,” he said coldly.

  General Titus considered the name for a moment. “All right, Ashblade it is,” he finally said. Ashblade felt a small sense of satisfaction at his victory. He had some power while he could choose what he was called. General Titus sat down in his chair and took a closer look at ‘Ashblade.’ His features had changed quite a bit in the past five years. He looked older, more mature, and still in excellent shape after all these years. Actually, General Titus believed he was in even better shape than when he’d first met him. The shape of his toned muscles could be seen under the shirt he was wearing. His brown hair was still shaved to the scalp. The thing that The General noticed the most though was Ashblade’s eyes.

  His eyes were calm, calculated, and angry but at the same time there was something lurking in the depths. General Titus recognized the look. Something had shaken Ashblade. Only time would tell if he was a broken man and useless to him. “Tell me,” General Titus folded his fingers together. “Why did you destroy the portal?” Ashblade stared at The General blankly then suddenly burst out laughing. “After five years and you really don’t know?” He continued to laugh and The General waited for Ashblade to speak again. “Why would we destroy the portal? So that we could be trapped on some god-forsaken planet somewhere beyond our Sun? Hah!” Ashblade’s tone was mocking and General Titus narrowed his eyes.

  He kept himself calm as he spoke. “We have no idea what happened Ashblade. All recordings from the security cameras were destroyed, even the hidden ones, and so were the blueprints for the portal machine. You can’t expect me to believe that all of you didn’t plan this?” he asked. Ashblade gazed at The General calmly. He decided to make a play in exchange for his information. “I’ll tell you who was behind that if you give me information about my family. Everything that’s happened in my absence.” He crossed his arms and he and The General stared at each other for a time. Eventually General Titus stood up and hit a button on his phone. “Newitz compile all the information about Michael Terria’s immediate family that’s happened in the past five years,” he said into the speaker. The man called Newitz confirmed the order and The General turned off the speaker. “There, now tell me.”

  Ashblade wasn’t sure that he could trust the other man completely. After all General Titus would do whatever it took to gain enough power to overthrow the governments rule. Of course Ashblade didn’t have to tell him everything that had happened. Only what The General wanted to know. “It was Jeremy Elden and Scott Howard,” he said. General Titus swore and slammed his fist against the table. “Are you telling me that two of my own researchers turned against me? How long did it take you to find out?” he asked angrily. Ashblade considered the question and said, “Jeremy Elden was found destroying the portal on our end and fled to the elves for protection. We didn’t have any concrete evidence that Scott Howard was involved until he was discovered with elves in disguise. They managed to flee with their magic.”

  General Titus looked intrigued. “Magic? Is that what happened to your armor?” he asked. Ashblade stared back blankly as he thought. Should he tell the General about the child or could he perhaps negotiate with him? His freedom was out of the question. General Titus would never allow him to return to the normal world. He would have listed him as M.I.A. when the portal was destroyed. Still, perhaps he could gain a bit of power around here... and eventually gather a loyal force to overthrow The General so that they could all be free.

  “Well, yes but that happened later.” Ashblade paused to let the General inquire further. “What do you mean?” General Titus asked. Ashblade nodded. “However, contrary to what you’d expect, it was not from one of the elves.” He let his words sink in. With satisfaction he watched as the gears in The Generals head worked. “Was it Elden? Howard?” he asked. Much to the Generals surprise Ashblade shook his head. He then leaned forward. “This information will cost you. I’ll expect to have my rank returned to me and raised,” Ashblade said. General Titus looked
displeased but nodded.

  “Fine, but only if I judge that it’s worth anything,” he said roughly. Ashblade grinned.

  “You will.” He looked off to the side for a moment as he recollected what happened. “He was a child. A human child.” Ashblade felt his pulse rise. Just the thought of that teenager struck fear in his heart. “A teenager... he engulfed us in flame. There were three, maybe four of us charging him. I made it out only by jumping through to the other side before it was too late. The others were swallowed by the flames.”

  General Titus could feel elation rising up inside of him. The fear that Ashblade had in his eyes was undeniable proof that his encounter was true. Three or four heavily armored men incinerated with a single act of magic! To think that this person was human and not an elf. That meant that there were either more humans in the other world or… “According to our scouts this teen and his friends came from our world. We believe that Jeremy Elden must’ve discovered a portal back to this world. Why he sought out a child and brought him to the other world we don’t know. I do know that he had only been there for about five days though.” Ashblade didn’t mention the boy’s friends. He would keep it from The General for the time being.

  General Titus was jubilant. A human child from this word that was capable of such feats in such a short time! He had to find this child. Then he could raise a powerful army and take control of the world! “Of course that is if he’s alive. I’m sure that Sergeant Major Jericho gave him a rough fight,” Ashblade said.

  “Alex Jericho? He was a fine officer. I was greatly saddened that I’d lost him.” Ashblade held back a snort. Jericho had been a naive man that followed General Titus because he believed that The General would only use whatever power or technology he discovered to end the war. “He still tried to pry the secrets of magic from the elves for all these years. I’m sure that if the child survived the fight then Jericho is probably dead,” he said harshly. General Titus sighed remorsefully.

  “Then I’ll have to hope that he is dead and the child survived. Though it pains me to wish death upon such a fine soldier,” The General said barely containing his excitement. He shook his head and leaned back in thought. After several moments he looked to Ashblade and said, “You haven’t explained how you got here. We found quite a bit sand in your armor when we took it off and sent you to the medical bay.” Ashblade looked down in shame. He struggled to find the right words for what happened.

  “I fled into the desert. Though if I hadn’t I guess we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” He’d left the others to die. There was no reason for him to deny it. Hopefully others had fled like him. General Titus got up from his desk and walked to the side, hands behind his back, and stared at an American flag hanging on the wall. Ashblade knew that desertion would mean severe punishment but it didn’t matter to him. Any soldier would’ve been shaken if they’d barely managed to escape a magically created inferno from some teenager who had just arrived there days ago.

  “Well Ashblade I have to say it is disappointing to hear that a boy frightened you off like that,” General Titus finally said with a stern voice. Ashblade felt his mouth go dry. “But the fact is that you were not trained to deal with a situation like this. Our job was to prepare you men for anything that you faced but we didn’t have the foresight nor the ability to prepare you for this.” Ashblade looked up. Was The General going to let this go? General Titus walked over to Ashblade and put a hand on his shoulder. “Since you’ve been so helpful I’ll overlook this transgression.” Ashblade felt his mind calm down. The General was right. They hadn’t been trained for this. That didn’t make him feel any less guilty but at least he wouldn’t be punished for it. Besides, The General probably would need him to find the teen.

  General Titus returned to his chair and sat down. He stroked his chin thoughtfully then said, “You were right. That information was well worth the cost. Very well then you can have your old rank back and I hereby promote you to Sergeant.” The General took some papers out of a nearby file cabinet and began to fill out some forms. “Now tell me Ashblade do you think that this boy is somewhere nearby?” he asked with a questioning gaze. Ashblade made sure to keep his feelings masked about his promotion as he spoke. “I would think that it would be a safe assumption that he’s somewhere in this northwestern region. We’d probably have to look for any strange disappearances or recent ‘kidnappings’ that have happened within the last ten days or so. If he survived Alex Jericho then there’s bound to be some story that he’s alive and well.”

  The General nodded approvingly. “I assume you could easily recognize him when you see him. Considering his age it should be quite easy to figure out where he is once you’ve discovered his name.” Ashblade nodded. There was no way he could forget that boys face. It had haunted him in his sleep. “Very well then. This will be your assignment. Find the teen and any information about him that you can. Report to me only when you find him and everything about him that you can. Our intelligence officers will help you get acquainted with the computers. The world has changed in your absence.” Ashblade stood up and saluted. He made to leave the room but was stopped as the General said one last thing to him. “The report on your family will probably be at your quarters tonight,” he said. Ashblade nodded and left The General alone.

  General Titus sat for a moment then pressed a button on his phone. “Yes sir?” the man called Newitz responded. “You’re making sure that there are no pictures, correct?” General Titus asked. “Of course sir. I’ve also omitted living and work addresses as well as names of schools.” The General smiled satisfactorily. “Good work as always Newitz. Make sure to monitor Ashblades activities after one of you boys gets him up to speed with the equipment.” Newitz gave an affirmative and said, “I’ll make sure that everything is filtered through my workstation first before he sees it.” General Titus pressed a button and the connection was cut. He would give Ashblade enough of a rope to give him a sense of freedom while at the same time reminding him that he was under his authority. The child was the key to obtaining the power he needed to finally rise up and take control. When he was in charge anyone who committed an act of harm on their fellow man would be severely punished... with death.

  Ashblade was aware enough of the Generals personality that he knew he probably couldn’t expect too much out of the report on his family. It would be better than knowing nothing about what had happened after he’d disappeared. He looked about the familiar corridors and quickly navigated his way to where he remembered the intel room being. He wasn’t surprised to find that it was still in the same place after all this time. It still required proper clearance to get in so Ashblade was forced to knock. A few moments later he heard a click and the door was opened. “Ashblade I presume?” A pale man with square glasses asked. Ashblade nodded and the man waved him in. “I’m Jacob Newitz, head intelligence officer on this base. Jameson will bring you up to speed and if you need any help finding anything just ask.” Newitz returned to his station and a dark-skinned man took his place. “Right this way sir.” Ashblade nodded and followed Jameson. He glanced back at Newitz. His instinct told him that Newitz was not to be trusted. Ashblade would have to keep a close eye on him while he was here.

  Though some of the technology was new Ashblade found that most of the functions of the computers to be much the same as it had been five years ago. The main difference was the speed at which he could search for information and retrieve it from the databases that he searched. The ease at which he could search was also astounding. He could easily specify what to search for rather than having to sift through piles of irrelevant data. He began his search by looking for any kidnappings or disappearances that had happened within the past ten days in the states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho within about 300 miles of the base. It only took Ashblade about an hour to determine that the person he was looking for was not in Idaho. The people that had gone missing were far too old there.

  Ashblade began to sift through all the news a
nd cases in Oregon and Washington. He made sure to look for cases where the teen’s friends had also disappeared, presumably to find their missing friend. Nearly six hours later he’d found nothing. There was a very similar case where a male teenager had disappeared and his friends had gone looking for him and found him, but the time frame was far too short and the picture of the missing teen didn’t look anything like the one he’d encountered. Ashblade sighed and rubbed his weary eyes. He would have to resume work after he got some sleep. Ashblade made sure to save his progress on the news and cases that he’d already filtered through and retired to his quarters.

  When Ashblade arrived at his quarters he found a file on his desk. He picked up the file and sat down on his bed as he perused the contents of the file. As he expected it contained the barest amount of information possible. His father, Greg, was currently living with Alicia in Gresham, Oregon. They had moved to Gresham from Astoria about three months after Ashblade had disappeared. His father was working as an electrician somewhere in Gresham and Alicia was nearing the end of her second year of high school. There wasn’t much else in the report. Not even pictures of what his family looked like now. Judging by their financial information they were getting by just fine.

  Ashblade let out a sigh. He could hardly imagine what his sister looked like now. His father probably hadn’t changed much except maybe more grey hair and weight. He put down the report. Alicia would be 16 right now. Every time March 12th rolled around he would always think about his sister back home and dream of returning home and surprising her. His image of her was of an 11 year old girl that barely reached his chest and was always pulling him around. Even now he could vividly remember her beautiful orange hair. Whenever they had been down by the water he’d often joked that mermaids would come to take her away to which she would reply, “No they won’t!” and hit him while smiling.