The room went silent and Markel's eyes widened with shock as he grabbed the collar of the man and pulled him closer to his face.
"What do you mean 'your god of time?" Markel questioned.
The man smiled sinisterly "He's returning. He's out there. He's coming back. We need more bodies, more towns, more blood."
Markel wrinkled his upper lip showing his teeth; both canines were now sharpened to a point. "What the hell are you talking about? God of time? What do you know?"
"I know everything. I am a loyal follower, who collected bodies for his revenge and when he comes back, war will commence once more." The man laughed evilly. His laughter filling the halls with fear.
Markel threw the man back down on the floor and stood up. "I want him contained. Make sure he can't utter any more nonsense from his mouth."
Security nodded and waited until everyone in the sector had left before they closed the door and proceeded with their orders. Hedix and Frost looked at Markel as he walked past them. The boys had gotten a glimpse of his teeth and that raised their curiosity. Frost smiled and ran after Markel.
"Dude you ok?" Frost asked.
Markel stayed quiet.
"Dude?"
Markel suddenly stopped in his tracks. He stood there in silence while Frost was reluctantly waiting for him to answer, then, within seconds, Frost was grabbed by the collar of his shirt, lifted off his feet and pinned against the wall. "I am not dude to you. I am not your buddy. You will not call me dude and you will not concern yourself with me any further than you are now. Do you understand Sir Frost? Warrior wolf of Northern Ice." Markel stared into Frost eyes as the glow of purple saw through his very existence.
"Hey Markel, let him go. He won't do anything anymore ok." Hedix rushed to Frosts aid, trying to deescalate the situation.
"No back up. I want to know why he suddenly has a stick in his ass?" Frost pushed at Markel's buttons. Trying to get a reaction out of him.
"Frost he told you to knock your shit off. I think you should." Hedix forced his heeding advice, trying to put forth what Tanto had told him previously.
Frost ignored Hedix's warning and looked back at Markel "So. Why the large branch in your ass?"
Markel rolled his eyes and let go of Frost's shirt. "Listen to me carefully. If what the man said was true, this whole planet will be in deep shit."
"What did he mean by 'his god of time?" Hedix asked cautiously, trying not to push any more of Markel's buttons.
"You two will not give up, will you?" Markel snapped and placed his fingers on the bridge of his nose.
"Well, we are detectives. That's our job, to ask a billion questions and get down to the bottom of whatever is going on." Frost smiled in a smart assed way.
"Alright I'll make you a deal. You get perfectly healthy, and with no traces of injury from that substance that was in your body, then I will tell you everything you need to know. Deal?" Markel looked sternly.
"Deal." Frost agreed. The commotion had gone down, the doctors and scientists had gone back to their normal routine. Back in the hospital wing, Howler waited for the boys to come back to Frosts room. She waited by the window and gazed upon the lake. The boys then entered through the door and noticed Howler. Howler's eyes began to water as she ran up to the boys and embraced them both.
"I'm so happy you two are ok!" Howler cried, tears already running down her cheeks.
"Yeah why wouldn't we be?" Hedix asked.
"Because that man has been here for the longest time and he says crazy stuff like that to everyone. The look in his eyes scares me the most, so I try and stay away from his cell, but he never seems to let me go unnoticed."
"That's weird." Hedix said and sat down on the bench under the window but as soon as he sat down, a knock at the door sounded.
"Who is it?" Frost called out.
"It's Ely. Can I come in."
"Yeah."
Ely had walked in holding a clip board. "I have your results from the CT scan."
Frost faced Ely and listened intently.
"So, the substance that we removed didn't get into anything serious, but you do have some minor nerve damage, but the good news is that none of your organs were affected in any major way. We set up some medicine you must take every morning and every night before you go to sleep to get things back to the way they use to be before all of this." Ely said as his green hazel eyes looked up from the clip board.
"When do I start?"
"Today, if you want?"
"'Yeah, I'll start today." Frost smiled and looked back at Hedix.
"Will he be able to go back to the office while he undergoes this recovery process?" Hedix asked.
"He can if that's what he wants to do. We usually keep people here until they are healed completely, but in Frost's case, he's not fatally injured and can still move around quite well." Ely looked at Frost and then back at the clipboard.
Hedix looked at Frost for his opinion. "Well, did you want to return to work or stay here?"
Frost looked at Howler who was looking at him as if she would never see him again. "Um, I can go back to work, but would it be ok if I came back and visited every once in a while?"
Ely smiled and nodded. "Of course. We'll even give you a key to car garage."
"Alright, well, when can I leave?" Frost questioned.
"Well, stay here for tonight so we can work on your discharge paperwork and get the right amount of medication, and then tomorrow morning you can leave." Ely informed. "Let me get out of here and get things set up for tomorrow. Call us if you need anything." Ely turned around and made his leave.
Frost sat on his bed and looked around his room. Covered in ice, just the way he liked it. He was also surprised Hedix wasn't complaining on how cold it was. As the afternoon sun soon became the evening sun set, Frost and Hedix had past the time with card games and bullshit conversations that if anyone would've heard, they would put them both in mental sector of this facility. Hedix placed down the last card that he had in his hand and leaned back in the chair he changed to from sitting on the window bench.
"Frost I got a question for you?" Hedix asked out of the blue.
Frost looked up from the deck of cards he was shuffling. "Shoot."
"I've known you for years now, and yet I don't know a thing about you."
"What's the question man?" Frost asked trying to get straight to the point.
"Where do you come from? What was your childhood like? All I know is that you turn into a wolf." Hedix leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees.
Frost stopped shuffling the cards and looked at Hedix, who was serious. Hesitant to answer Hedix's questions, Frost let out a big breath and sat up completely on his bed. "My childhood was rocky. I was born into a clan by the name of Northern Ice. My mother was a single mom who did her best to raise me. My father wasn't in the picture, he actually passed away before I was even born. When I was five years old, my mother passed away as well, so it was just me. I was taken in by my clan's orphan mother who fostered all the children who had parents pass away. Within a few short days, I found a friend who went by the name Wolf."
"Wolf?" Hedix interrupted surprised at the lack of individuality of that name.
"Yeah that's what I said when I was introduced to him. Like really, his parents couldn't do any better than Wolf. Me and him became great friends, we did everything together. We even joined the guard school for our clan's princess."
"So, you guys had someone like Howler?" Hedix asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. Every clan did. Me and Wolf were put through hell in that school. The training was terrible. It was like the stuff they made us do would suck the soul out of us and then return it beaten half to death. But when times had gotten tough, we were assigned to be a part of the top guards for the princess, since we were at the top of our class. We were both only eleven when we were made part of the guard, so our days were filled with business, training, meetings and whatever the princess had going on at the time. We never had a so-called childhood, but we made it fun when we could."
"You still have contact with Wolf?" Hedix asked.
Frost's expression went from calm to displeased. "No, I don't." Frost looked down.
"Sorry. Did I hit a land mine?" Hedix asked shyly.
"Yeah, kind of. But it's ok. When the war between races suddenly started, Wolf tried to deescalate a situation to protect our clan. The people he confronted were an entirely different race than us and we had no idea their power was so strong; we didn't stand a chance."
"Damn so this war went on forever uh?" Hedix commented and leaned back in the chair.
"Yeah, from what I was told, but the fight that my clan went through, ended the same day it started." Frost went silent.
"Why don't you have contact with Wolf anymore?" Hedix asked. He knew it wasn't a good question, but he had to know more.
Frost looked at him. "Well, he was killed. Right in front of me."
Hedix was lost for words. He didn't know how to correctly respond to that answer, but he managed to get a response out. "Why?"
"Well, I don't really know the whole story but, I guess a wolf of my clan or of another clan had made the attempt to take what everyone had been fighting for previously and got dangerously close. The people who arrived, claimed that they had orders to seize everyone there. Our Princess tried to take control of the situation, but the group of people didn't comply, so Wolf stepped up and then right before my eyes and even before Wolf could defend himself; He was slaughtered, and so was the rest of my clan. I was the only one that survived." Frost's demeanor had changed drastically. "I wish I could've died instead of Wolf." Frost clenched his teeth together.
Hedix stood by the bed and placed his hand on Frost's shoulder. "When did this happen? Do you remember what those people looked like?"
Frost shook his head. "The slaughter happened a year later, when we were both twelve and no, they hid their faces, but the only thing that was very distinct about them, were their eyes. Bright as hell eyes, each one of them had a different color. Too this day, I still have no idea what those people were or where they came from, but I would sure as hell like to know."
"What was this war about?" Hedix asked.
Before Frost could say anything, Howler came into the room. "Time." She spoke.
"Time?" Hedix questioned.
"To be able to manipulate time. That's what the war was about." Howler smiled.
"How would someone control time?" Hedix asked.
"With a magic clock. I still, too this day, have no idea how one would obtain it, but it's bound to turn up again and if it does, hell will break loose."
"Why?"
"Hedix, every race on this planet and in different universes are still looking for the chance to get their hands on that clock. If it turns up again and people hear about it, that war that ended eons ago, will start again. This time, more lives will be taken."
Hedix again, couldn't respond. He was only human, and he couldn't believe that Howler and Frost had been through so much. They were both in a war that Hedix couldn't understand. "Wait, so when that man said, 'his god of time' was returning, what did that mean?"
"Well, it could mean a lot of things. Either he's bluffing and trying to get everyone scared or, he's telling the truth and 'his god' will show up and everything will go to hell." Howler said.
"Well, the way Markel acted when he said that it didn't seem like he was joking around." Hedix commented but was taken for surprise when Markel suddenly walked through the door.
"Why are you out of your room Howler?" Markel looked at her.
Howler smiled "I wanted to take a walk. Should I go back?"
Markel nodded. "I need to speak with these two alone."
Howler smiled and waved to the boys as she took her leave. Markel stayed and slowly closed the door behind him, making sure it securely latched. Frost and Hedix were on edge, after all, the way he closed the door was a little nerve racking.
"What is it?" Frost questioned, his nerves on end.
"Why were you guys talking about that kind of thing just now?"
"What kind of thing? The war?"
"Yes."
"I was just telling Hedix my past, that's all. What's it to you?" Frost asked raising his eyebrows.
Markel glared at him and cleared his throat. "Ok, this isn't what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to ask you two a favor."
Hedix leaned forward and Frost sat up in his bed. "What?" They both said together.
"Can you two become security for E.P. Labs?" Markel asked seriously.
Hedix and Frost looked at each other in shock. Hedix looked back at Markel. "Are you serious? Why?"
"Well, we're in need of extra security and you guys can get special training. Well, you Hedix can get special training. Frost you would just be doing something like the work you use to do." Markel said. "Listen, you guys can think about it and when Frost needs to get a refill on his meds, then you can give me an answer. Deal?"
Frost looked at Hedix. "Want to man?"
Hedix was hesitant. "Well, I'll think about it. I'm not sure."
"That's fine." Markel said and made his way for the door. "Just let me know soon ok." Markel took his leave and went back to work, leaving Frost and Hedix in the room, soaking in the shock of Markel's offer. The sun soon made its way behind the trees that surrounded the lab. Night took over and the stars made their appearance in the sky once again. Frost slept in his bed and Hedix made himself comfortable on the bench, where he had slept ever since Frost was put in the hospital.
****
Voices screaming, fire and trees. The color of gold shining through a darkened sky. White wings, swords clashing and someone in the middle of everything, fending off every single attack. Blood covered the ground and a body laid near him. Suddenly on the attack, he casted a blast, but wasn't quick enough. A voice came from behind him "Try a little harder next time." It said and sent him back, knocking the wind out of him.
****
Hedix jolted up from the bench he was sleeping on. Frantically looking around the room and grabbing at his chest, everything was the same. Frost slept peacefully and the beeping noises from the monitors echoed quietly throughout the room. Hedix wiped away the sweat on his forehead with his shirt and swung his legs over and put his feet on the floor. His dream felt so real, who said "Try harder", and why was he dreaming that sort of thing? Hedix stood up and made his way outside for some fresh air. He asked for directions, and a nurse guided him to double doors that lead out into a garden that the moon had lite up. He sat on a bench that had been placed next to a water fountain. Listening to the natural sound of the water relaxed him, plus the breeze was cooling him off. As soon as the sweat was gone, it soon came back with the chilling sound of the emergency alarm coming from the building and the red flashing lights that broke through darkness on the outer walls. "Section 12, room 22, breach." The alarm repeated multiple times throughout the building. Hedix stopped breathing when he realized that Frost's room was 22. He jumped up from the bench and ran up the stairs, making his way through the crowd of patients that were evacuating. Hedix soon met up with Markel and Ally who had made their way up from the lab part of the building.
"What the hell is going on?" Markel shouted.
Hedix didn't answer. He had a bad feeling and he acted on it. He bolted for the room and saw red smoke flowing from the seams of the glass door, but as soon as Hedix was about to break the glass, he was taken back by Markel's hand around his mouth and nose.
"Ally! Assassination unit!" Markel screamed. "Get everyone out of the building now!"
Ally nodded and began to scramble everyone up. Markel threw Hedix to the side and glared at him. "Don't come near this room, or you will die."
Hedix was about to question Markel when a sudden burst of air broke through the glass and sent Markel flying over the second-floor railing. "Markel!" Hedix screamed and rushed over to where Markel was thrown off but when he looked, Markel was no-where to be found. Hedix looked around, he knew he just saw him get thrown off the side of the railing.
"Hedix duck." Markel's voice rang through his head. His body did exactly that, when a flying knife came through the air and into the red haze. Hedix looked up and saw Markel come floating up from where he fell. His eyes were glowing an intense neon purple and his body illuminated the same glow. Sharp teeth poured through his lips. Hedix's eyes grew wide as Markel disappeared in a flash and when he did another body came flying out of Frosts room, over the railing and slammed into the wall that was on the other side. Markel appeared out of the red haze with Frost's lifeless body in his arms.
"Hedix, take Frost and find Ally." Markel instructed in a low and calm tone; his voice had a hint of robotic static. Almost the same sound as talking into a fan.
Hedix took Frost from Markel's hands. "What's going on?" Hedix questioned.
Markel didn't say a word. He handed over Frost and looked at Hedix. Hedix suddenly recognized something that Frost had mentioned. "Bright as hell eyes." Hedix's breath was caught in his throat. "Did you have something to do with the murdering of Frost's clan?!" Hedix shouted.
Markel narrowed his eyes. "I'll explain all of this later. Get…" Markel was cut off as he was slammed into the ground. A hand around his neck and a knife at his jugular.
"Markel. Nice to see you again. Do you remember me?" Yellow eyes shinned bright as sharp teeth smiled at him.
Markel smiled slightly. "Rainer." He whispered, managing to get loose from his grip and stand on his own two feet with Rainer right in front of him.
"Nice place you got here. Why are you wasting your time here when you could be killing what's right underneath your nose?" Rainer commented as he hurled his fist towards Markel. Markel managed to dodge it making Rainer's fist go straight threw the wall that was behind him. Markel grabbed ahold of Rainer's neck and lifted him up.
"Binding." Markel whispered.
Rainer was unable to move at that point and hung helplessly from Markel's hand. "Why are you here?" Markel growled.
"I'm finishing what His Excellency set us out to do in the first place." Rainer coughed as Markel's grip tightened around his neck.
"Why are you still acting on an order that was disbanded as soon as they found the actual criminal?"
Rainer smiled. "I have my reasons. If you knew any better, you should still be acting on that order to."
Markel smiled evilly, as he was tired of hearing Rainer talk. He began to drive his nails into Rainer's neck. Blood ran down his hand and Rainer's life began to flee from his eyes.
"There are more of us, more that are still acting on that order." Rainer whispered in agony.
"Then I will kill every last one of you." Markel said through his clenched teeth. As Markel's nails finished making their way through Rainer's neck and allowing Rainer to feel the last bit of pain he was administering, Markel's mouth move slightly and suddenly Rainer's body was set aflame and burned within a purple light. Rainer screamed bloody murder before his life finally ended. Within minutes, as Rainer was turned to ash, Markel's demeanor turned back to normal as if nothing had happened. Hedix witnessed everything and so did Ally and the rest of the remaining patients who were trying to evacuate. Markel walked calmly over to Hedix and looked down at Frost. Placing his hand over Frosts head and gently gliding his hand over Frosts body, the same purple light had glowed and suddenly disappeared. Hedix looked down at Frost as he began to open his eyes.
"Frost?" Hedix questioned.
"What happened?" Frost struggled to get words from his mouth.
"I don't know." Hedix commented and looked at everyone who was standing around them.
Frost looked around as well and managed to get a glimpse of Markel; his eyes still glowing, but before Frost could connect the dots. "I need to talk to you. Me and Ally." Markel voiced.
Frost nodded and was helped up by Hedix. "Ally come with us and Ely, get the poison unit to come clear Frost's room out."
Ely nodded and ran to get the poison unit and Ally followed Markel and the two boys to a private area of the hospital. The area had been blocked off with special guards that bowed to Markel as they opened the doors to a massive library. Bookshelves that towered over them were very over whelming, but the smell of new and old books, plus the cleaning products that were used to preserve the natural look of the wood bookshelves, were calming. Markel led the group up three flights of stairs before they reached a balcony that looked over the entire library and looked out and over another garden. Natural moon light had beamed in through stain glass windows that surrounded the balcony.
"Sir Markel. We have brought you some tea for you and your guests." A women's voice mentioned as she places a tray down and began to pour the tea into cups that she placed them in front of Frost and Hedix. "Madam Ally, an iced tea is being brought out to you now." The women said as a male servant placed the glass in front of Ally and then the two had made their leave after they were done serving the group.
"What is this place and why are we being served like this?" Frost asked kind of weirded out.
"This is my personal library and the people who had served us are my family's maid and butler." Markel smiled as he took a small sip of his tea.
Hedix looked around in awe, but Frost stared immensely at Markel. Markel looked up from his cup. "I know you have questions Frost. Ask them." Markel said.
"Who the fuck are you?" Frost asked with attitude behind his voice.
Markel placed his cup down and traced the rim of the cup with one finger. "I can't tell you that."
"Then what the fuck can you tell me? You've been hiding shit ever since we got here, and I want to know what the hell just happened back there and why the hell your eyes glow?"
Markel stood silent. "Brother, I don't think you can hide this anymore." Ally voiced.
"I know. But if I disclose who we are, then we will be killed." Markel looked at Ally.
"At least tell him what you know." Ally said and looked at Frost. "Frost we can only vaguely tell you who we are ok. If we reveal our blood line, then we risk our lives and countless others. Do you understand?"
Frost nodded. "Just please tell me something."
Markel glanced at Hedix and then at the stained-glass window that peered over them. "Frost. Me and my sister come from a different dimension, so to speak. We too have someone we serve, and we will serve them until our lives cease to exist. I heard the whole conversation you and Hedix were having about your past and the war…your friend. Those people who killed your clan and your friend, they to serve the person that me and my sister serve. The attack on your clan was planned from the moment that someone was killed in our race. Being in the middle of a big war already, a side war between my race and your race began when a trace of wolf hair had been found that the scene of the crime. My people were set out to kill every wolf that they had come across. It didn't matter if a wolf clan was a part of it or not, they were to be eliminated."
"You killed my clan?!" Frost's voice shook.
"No. I personally didn't, but I knew of the hit that was placed to kill your kind. The one who made the order was the second son of the royal family we served. A wolf killed someone precious to him and he wanted revenge."
Frost was lost for words as tears welled up in his eyes. He was trying so hard not to cry, not out of sadness but out of anger.
"Then who was that guy back there?" Hedix spoke up.
"That guy's name was Rainer, and he was a part of one of the many Assassination units that were connected to our race." Ally spoke in Markel's place.
"So, what did he want with me? Hasn't he had enough?" Frost choked on his words.
"He was coming to finish the job Frost. You were the only surviving member of that clan and when an assassin's job is unfinished, they must finish it before they are killed." Ally said.
"How would you know?" Frost looked at Ally.
Ally looked down and twiddled her fingers. "I was once a part of an assassination group, so I know all too well what our fate is if we fail to complete a mission when it was given."
"So, he would've died anyway, if Markel didn't kill him?" Hedix asked.
Ally nodded. "Yes. If Rainer had come back with the mission left incomplete someone would've killed him anyway."
"Who?" Frost looked at Markel.
"Rainer did say that there was more of them coming for you Frost. So, it looks like the war that was within the main war is still going on, and that's all because you survived." Markel said.
"Why didn't they do it before?" Hedix asked.
"They were probably waiting for a good time. The first time was when Frost was injured and came here."
"So, the son of a bitch who got me in my closet was that Rainer guy?"
"More than likely. That's probably why he came to get you here. Cause that would've been the second time he failed to kill you. So, he had to be the one to finish it." Markel said and took another sip of his tea.
Hedix then looked at Frost in concern and went to change the topic. "What happened with the guy in the psych ward?" Hedix asked.
Markel looked up from his teacup, placing it down on the table. "I had him taken care of."
"You killed him?" Frost jolted forward.
"No, I didn't kill him. I just put it so that he wouldn't be able to talk again." Markel informed.
"Speaking of that. What was he talking about?" Hedix asked.
Ally looked up from her cup. "Hedix, you know how people believe in someone that is of a higher power, for instance, God or the Devil."
"Yeah."
"Well, long ago there was this 'person' that gained the attention of a lot of people. These people began to think of him as someone of a higher power that they could worship. Thus this 'person' gained followers, willing to do anything and everything for him. I don't know much, but I believe that the guy in the ward is supposedly one of the followers that still believes in 'his god of time.'"
"Alright, with that being said." Markel chimed in. "What we really need to worry about is the fact that a war might start again."
"What will happen if a war breaks out?" Hedix asked.
"Well, if His Excellency that me and Ally once served, comes back from beyond the grave. Hell will reign down on this very planet."
"Why?"
Markel looked at Ally and then down at the table. Frost and Hedix waited for the answer to their question, but Markel stood silent for a good moment. Markel then let out a breath and looked up, taking his cup and putting it to his lips and from the rim of the cup he spoke.
"He and the 'god of time' are one in the same person."