《The Chronicles of Tyfoon, The Chosen One》


 Prologue

    Ever since the first person breathed life, evil has existed in the universe. Many people like to believe that there is some good in everyone, but the reality is there are some people who are hell bent on destroying all that is good and have nothing but selfishness, greed, and hate in their heart. Evilness is like a plague, a cancer that infects others around it. It¡¯s contagious. Persons with evil intentions that are left unchecked will spread evil and hate to others, and be so destructive that eventually all that is good and pure will be gone, and darkness will cover everything.


    It is for this reason that government was created. With all the evil in the universe, there needed to be a governing authority that could set in place and maintain order amidst the chaos that continually reared its ugly head. Rules were set in place to keep people on a path of light, and discipline people on the path of darkness. Those who were good were rewarded and able to live a productive life and be active in society. Those who sought evil and destruction were dealt with harshly in hopes of deterring themselves and others from continuing a dark path. And so it has been ever since.


    As time passed, those with extraordinary abilities began to surface. These gifted individuals were able to focus their ki, or energy, in ways that allowed them to do things that a normal person would never be able to be achieved. It took years of training to be able to use their ki for extraordinary purposes, and even with training, most people were unable to do so. Those that were able to control their ki found ways to tap into hidden ki that resides in every person, but normally lies dormant. Their bodies, strengthened by their ki, were able to withstand things that would normally kill a normal person. They were able to manipulate their ki into weapons and projectiles. They were able to achieve superhuman strength. The possibilities of what they could accomplish by manipulating their ki was endless, and after thousands of years, the limit of what one could achieve by mastering their ki had not been reached.


    With power comes greed, and with greed comes destruction. The surface of these abilities was like a drug to those hungry for power and control. Many people who followed the path of darkness began to learn the art of using their ki, and their power and numbers grew immensely. It was not long before normal government became useless to control these gifted individuals, and chaos began to take many parts of the universe. Different galaxies began to seek ways to control these people.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    One such galaxy created a council to manage these efforts, and to take an active role in monitoring and managing the most sensitive matters in the galaxy. They were known simply as ¡°The Council¡±, and were made up of representatives from different sectors across the galaxy. They were in charge of ensuring ¡°Peacekeepers¡± were placed in positions of authority in different sectors across the galaxy whose primary task was to monitor those with control of their ki and ensure they lived according to the laws in the lands in which they resided. When a powerful person would rise up to try and overthrow authority, cause destruction, destroy others, or anything else malicious and destructive, these peacemakers would detain them, using force when necessary, and ensure the threat was neutralized, most often by imprisoning them in a facility designed to hold powerful beings who were a threat to the galaxy.


    Over time, The Council grew in influence and authority, and eventually became the most authoritative group in the entire galaxy. They allowed local governments to operate almost entirely without their interference, but when a matter came about that The Council needed to make a decision on, they had complete authority to make the decision. This power was something The Council had never abused, even in the thousands of years since it had formed. It was because of this fact that the governments across the galaxy were so willing to give the power and authority to The Council. The Council was a symbol of security and order among the people of the Galaxy.


    After many years of The Council managing the affairs of the galaxy and keeping order, they saw a need for a single person to take a role in overseeing the Peacekeepers and to be the face for The Council to represent them in political affairs and interact with leaders across the galaxy. This person would also be responsible for being directly involved in matters that were severe enough to threaten the entire galaxy. Such matters were rare, but were too difficult for just the Peacekeepers to manage and required someone of even greater skill to tend to. This leader needed to be highly skilled in using their ki and had to be the strongest among all the Peacekeepers as to ensure their position could not be challenged or overthrown. The Council referred to this leader as ¡°The Chosen One¡±.

 Chapter 1

    I woke up and squinted at the light bleeding through the curtains in my room. It was Saturday and I was allowed to sleep in, otherwise I¡¯d be up before the sun was and training already. I yawned and let out a soft moan, wrinkling my nose at the smell of my own breath.


    I rolled out of bed and walked down the hallway to the kitchen and started preparing some breakfast. Outside the birds could be heard chirping through an open window and I could smell the scent of flowers on the morning air. Outside it looked beautiful; the sun was shining, the flowers were in full bloom, some deer were grazing across a field, and a warm breeze was blowing through the house. Big beautiful trees stretched their limbs high toward the heavens and swayed this way and that by the wind. I mist could be seen in the distance from the waterfall that was rolling over the hills from the river nearby. It was as much of a paradise as someone could possibly imagine. And it was SO boring. Most people would be refreshed with such a place, and count it a wonderful privilege to be able to live in such a place. Most worlds have different cycles and seasons. The flowers bloom, then they die, and then they bloom again. The trees shed their leaves and spend a few months naked before dressing themselves again in beauty with fresh leaves. Warm breezes give way to cooler ones. Snow falls, color fades, and then, in due time, it all comes full circle. Seasons come and go, rinse and repeat. But not this place. The weather never changed. The temperature didn¡¯t vary. Everything was always perfect¡­seems like a good problem to have right? Well, too much of anything I suppose can be bad. I was grateful to live there, but, oh, how I longed to leave that place and move on to things of grandeur and change.


    You see, the world I lived in, well, it wasn¡¯t really a world at all. It was a small place the size of most cities. It was, in fact, a place that existed completely out of space with the normal world. It was in an entirely different dimension. A dimension that was created entirely for me and my trainer by the members of The Council. It was a special place that was enchanted when it was created in such a way that the only people that have free access to come and go from it are myself, and my trainer, Tyfoonica. Making a private world, so to speak, was very unorthodox, especially when done so by The Council, who rarely did anything of the sort. They normally observed from a distance; getting their hands into something so directly was very unusual. But in my case, they made an exception.


    When I was still in my mother¡¯s womb, my father and mother were serving the galaxy under the direct leadership of The Council. My father, Paragus Tyfoon, was The Chosen One, a special leader in charge of leading the Peacekeepers in the galaxy and maintaining order, especially in regards to those people who know how to use their ki. Those who knew who to use their ki were known as masters of ki, or MAKI. At the time during my mother¡¯s pregnancy, a war was going on between the Peacekeepers and a group of MAKI who were trying to overthrow the Peacekeepers and The Council. There had been many groups of people who had tried to do this in the past, but they had never been powerful enough to come close to succeeding. This time was different. The identity of their leader was never discovered, but he was extremely powerful and was very skilled in battle and tactics. He knew how and where to attack and where the Peacekeepers were most vulnerable. This rebel group referred to themselves as the Doomaki, because they claimed they would bring doomsday among the leaders of the galaxy. It appeared as though the Doomaki would be successful, as they were growing stronger and stronger while the Peacekeepers were shrinking in numbers as they were slowly killed off.


    During one battle, on the eve of my birth, it looked as though the Doomaki were going to defeat the last of the Peacekeepers along with my father. They had located the central base of operations for the Peacekeepers and brought the battle to them. After a long and bloody battle, victory for the Doomaki was imminent and the few remaining Peacekeepers were forced to flee the battle. My father tried to get my mother to safety off the planet they were on, but was unable to before they were besieged by the Doomaki. My mother was mortally wounded by the Doomaki, and my father disappeared, either taken captive or killed by the Doomaki.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    After the Doomaki had left, my mother was found, barely alive, in the wreckage left by the Doomaki. She was barely conscious and so badly wounded she was not able to communicate at all, save for one thing she was able to barely get out before losing consciousness: ¡°Give this¡­to my¡­s¡­son¡­.¡± It was a family heirloom that she wanted me to have, a small crystal necklace. She was rushed to medical services where they tried to save her life, but they were not able to. They had to do immediate surgery to delivery me when she died. I would have been delivered naturally any day had she lived. I was born healthy, unaware of the massacre I had just been born into. I lived, with nothing but a crystal necklace to remember by parents by.


    This was the galaxies darkest hour, and there were only a few peacekeepers that stood between the Doomaki and total victory. But for some reason, and no one knows why, after that night, when everyone was bracing themselves for the worst, they just disappeared. All the members of the Doomaki disappeared and haven¡¯t been heard of since. It didn¡¯t make sense; nearly all the Peacekeepers were killed in the war, and my father had been neutralized. I held on to the hope that maybe, just maybe, my father had been captured, not killed, and was somehow still alive after all these years, awaiting rescue somewhere. Or perhaps, he was captured and somehow managed to kill off all of the Doomaki and that¡¯s why no one has seen them since. I knew the latter was just a young man¡¯s wishful thinking; that would have been impossible. Still, I found myself thinking and hoping of that from time to time.


    The aftermath of the war left the galaxy with almost no peacekeepers and also no Chosen One to watch over the galaxy, which left the galaxy extremely vulnerable in case another revolt broke out. It was for this reason that The Council created an enchanted dimension for me to be raised in. It was separate from the normal dimension in which the rest of the galaxy existed. It exists in the same time and space as the normal galaxy, but in a dimension that makes it invisible and inaccessible. The Council did this to protect me and ensure I was able to be raised and trained until adulthood. The Chosen One was someone who The Council personally selected based on a number of things. It had to be someone who possesses exception fighting, leadership, and diplomatic skills, as well as being extraordinary at using and controlling their ki. Anyone in the galaxy that meets these, and other, criteria has a chance at being selected as The Chosen One, but for generations that honor had been held by my ancestors. The Council obviously thought I would be a likely candidate as well one day, and wanted me to have a safe place, protected from any and all evildoers, in which to be trained up. They especially wanted me to be protected in case the Doomaki showed up again to finish what they started.


    Ever since I can remember, my life has been dedicated to learning and training in my dimension. My trainer, Tyfoonica, has been like a father to me. He has been a trainer for my family for 3 generations. He watched my grandfather, my father, and then me grow up. His family has been intertwined with mine for many generations; so dedicated is his family to supporting mine that he was named after my family name. He is an extremely strong and wise person, respected among all the top leaders across the galaxy.


    Tyfoonica was actually the one who found my mother after she was attacked. He stayed by her side all the way until she died. He has told me about that night on a couple of occasions, but it is a memory that he keeps at a distance¡­I can tell it causes him great pain to think of it. Even though my mother was unconscious at the time, and likely couldn¡¯t hear him, he vowed that night that he would always watch over me and would raise me like his own son. Because my mother died before I was born, I did not yet have a name.  Tyfoonica didn¡¯t feel right to name me since I wasn¡¯t his biological son, and instead decided to simply name me in honor of my family. I have no first name, I am only known by my family¡¯s name: Tyfoon.

 Chapter 2

    ¡°Feel any different?¡± I heard the voice come from behind me as I was still eating my breakfast.


    ¡°Different?¡± I replied. Tyfoonica came in the kitchen from the hallway and went around me on the other side of the breakfast bar I was sitting at.


    ¡°Yeah, do you feel any different?¡± He repeated, leaning in a little and raising his eyebrows in anticipation as he awaited my response.


    ¡°Umm¡­should I?¡± I was genuinely puzzled. I yawned and rubbed my eyes a little, still trying to wake up.


    ¡°It¡¯s your first day as an adult! How does it feel?¡± I had completely forgotten that it was my 18th birthday. I usually didn¡¯t get very excited for birthdays. What was the point? There wasn¡¯t a bunch of kids that came to a party for me, or a big birthday celebration with lots of toys. Just¡­another year of my life passed. Although, Tyfoonica was right. This was a special occasion, because it marked my milestone of adulthood. It meant that my adolescent training with Tyfoonica was very nearly to a conclusion. That also meant that I would soon be free to leave the dimension, even permanently, if I chose to. It¡¯s not like I had never been out of it before. I had left the dimension, with Tyfoonica, of course, on several occasions. But never alone, and almost always with a serious political agenda that Tyfoonica had to tend to. Still, there had been times I was able to see friends and just have a good time. These instances were few and far between, however.  The vast majority of my time was spent in the dimension, learning and training, learning and training. I didn¡¯t mind that life though. It¡¯s all I knew. But, the idea of going out into the big great galaxy and doing anything I wanted¡­I can¡¯t lie, that sounded pretty awesome.


    ¡°Oh yeah, I forgot. Well, I feel¡­pretty much the same.¡± I chuckled, as did Tyfoonica. He put his hand on my head and rustled my hair a little.


    ¡°You are the only boy I know that consistently forgets his birthdays. Even despite several reminders that it was coming up!¡± We both laughed. ¡°I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t need to remind you that your adolescent training is almost complete.¡±


    ¡°You definitely don¡¯t! I may have forgotten about my birthday, but I¡¯ve been counting the days down for this. Having freedom to leave and do what I want is going to be liberating!¡± I donned a half crooked smile and leaned back in the stool I was sitting in and wondered at the idea.


    ¡°You make it sound like you are prisoner! I haven¡¯t been keeping you here for no reason, you know?¡± Tyfoonica sounded a little hurt in his tone of voice.


    ¡°Of course, I know. Believe me, you¡¯ve told me plenty of times the importance of staying here until my training is complete and you feel confident I can be safe on my own.¡± I said it with a gentle tone. Tyfoonica was as tough a person as they come. But when it came to topics that reminded him of the death of my parents and the war, it didn¡¯t take much to sadden him. I smiled at him, reassuredly.  ¡°I¡¯m grateful for all you¡¯ve done. I¡¯m just excited to experience life outside of this place.¡±


    ¡°I know¡­and I¡¯m excited for you.¡± Tyfoonica¡¯s eyes brightened some, and he smiled. ¡°Finish up your breakfast and get yourself ready for the day. Troy and Drake are coming by in a little bit to wish you a happy birthday.¡± My eyes lit up at that. Troy and Drake were like family to me. Troy was one of the last Peacekeepers in the galaxy, and strong beyond belief. Drake was his son, and a good friend.


    I finished my breakfast and got myself washed and dressed. I went outside and breathed in the morning air. It was about 8:30am, and plenty late compared to most mornings. On training days, I would get up about 1 hour before sunrise for morning training. Tyfoonica trained me in several hand to hand fighting disciplines, and I spent a considerable amount of time focusing and controlling my ki in different ways. On Saturdays, though, it was more relaxed. I still trained, but as I got older Tyfoonica gave me space to do my training alone on Saturdays. I looked around at the animals grazing in the fields. It was boring, and a lot of the same¡­but it was still nice, and it was home.


    I walked further into the field next to the river bank. I walked down the bank until I got close enough to the waterfall to feel the mist on my face. I closed my eyes and concentrated. I brought my hand to my chest and pulled out a small crystal from under my shirt attached to a chain around my neck. It was the necklace my mother had said she wanted me to have before she died. It gave me comfort anytime I held it, and it always helped me to have peace and control my ki. I channeled my ki and moved my hands around as though I was rubbing an invisible ball. As I concentrated, I formed a small ki ball, about two feet in diameter. I had been able to make ki balls like this since I was a small child. You can use them for a variety of things. You can use them as a light or heat source, you can use them as a blunt object in a fight, or you can make them explode for a more devastating effect on an enemy. I was working on manipulating the ki in more unconventional ways. The uses of your ki are nearly unlimited. I was training myself to use my ki in ways no one had seen or thought of before. Anything at all that would give me the edge in a fight.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    After I had the ball formed, I flattened it out by concentrating my mind and visualizing the object. As I visualized it changing, I pushed out from my core and tried to ¡°will¡± it to flatten. The ball flattened just as I wanted it to. I experimented with some other shapes, including a start shape. This was much more difficult to do given the many sides of that shape. This would have been used similarly to a throwing star, but one that could be controlled and moved however I wanted, instead of just being thrown in a straight line like a traditional throwing star. I formed the ki back into a ball, and with a big throwing motion, I hurled the ball out into the air. Using my mind, I moved the ball this way and that, maneuvering it around obstacles like rocks and trees, trying to get it as close to them without touching as possible. The branches on the trees swayed as the ball flew past them. I then aimed the ball at myself and concentrated hard as I transferred more of my ki to the ball while it was in midair. The ball grew to twice its original size and sped at me even faster. I braced for impact just before it hit me.


    BOOM!!


    The ki collided with my like a freight train and exploded. Shockwaves blasted out from me and shook the nearby trees. Various animals ran away, startled by the explosion. I channeled my ki when it collided to contain the blast from expanded past a couple of feet from me, kind of like a force field. I bent over and coughed, waving my hands back and forth, trying to clear the smoke. I had been trying, for some time, to reabsorb the ki back into my body. To the best of my knowledge, no one had every accomplished it. It was easy enough, with enough training, to get the ki out of your body and form it into something. But getting it back in your body had never been done. It isn¡¯t really known why this is, or even if it is possible to do it. Despite the fact people have been manipulating their ki for thousands of years, there is still a lot about how it works that isn¡¯t known for sure. But as long as I could get it out of my body, I was convinced I could get it back in my body to reabsorb it and regain the ki I expended to make it.


    ¡°I bet you felt that.¡± Came the voice of Drake from behind me.


    ¡°Yeah¡­a little.¡± I coughed again, still trying to dissipate the smoke from the explosion.


    ¡°You know, normally a person would dodge that kind of attack. If you get into a real fight, I wouldn¡¯t suggest that tactic. It¡¯s likely to get you killed.¡± Drake smiled and shook his head. He took his hands and formed a ball, then he shot his hands out made an explosion sound with his mouth. We both laughed.


    ¡°Apart from the kaboom at the end,¡± Troy chimed in from next to Drake, ¡°That was pretty remarkable. You have gotten very adept at moving your ki around obstacles. And your ability to increase the energy in the ki ball while it¡¯s moving around...¡± He seemed at a loss for words.  ¡°It¡¯s astounding. I¡¯ve never seen it done with the ki so far away from the origin. Your ability to manipulate your ki incredible for your age.¡± Troy patted me on the shoulder in approval.


    ¡°Thanks. Now if I could just fix the explosion from happening at the end, I¡¯d be in good shape.¡± I rubbed my chest where the blast had hit me. I was going to have a sizeable bruise from the impact.


    ¡°You are still convinced you can reabsorb it, huh? You¡¯ve always been ambitious. No one can say otherwise, that¡¯s for sure.¡± Tyfoonica said as he flew and landed beside us.


    ¡°Well,¡± I began. ¡°The theory is sound. If it comes out, it must be able to go back in¡­¡± I trailed off in thought.


    ¡°That big black mark on your chest begs to differ.¡± Tyfoonica said with a laugh, pointing at the char marks on my chest from the explosion. ¡°Glad you two could make it down to our humble abode.¡± Tyfoonica said, shifting his focus to Troy and Drake. Tyfoonica had left the enchantment open temporarily so they were able to come. That was the only way to allow access to our dimension from outsiders.


    ¡°We wouldn¡¯t miss it! It¡¯s a big day, we get to celebrate Tyfoon becoming a big boy! No more training wheels for you.¡± Troy said with a chuckle.


    ¡°Almost, his training is not quite finished.¡± Tyfoonica corrected.


    ¡°You know, you have been very vague in regards to the remainder of my training. I think you¡¯ve been avoiding telling me what the actual requirements of ¡®graduation¡¯ are.¡± I replied. Tyfoonica had been mentioning for months that my training was nearly complete, and he had told me for years that my training would conclude once I was 18. He had been careful not to give away any details, though, of what that conclusion would look like. Our training never really had an end, or even a goal. It wasn¡¯t like any of the things I learned were a means to an end. There really wasn¡¯t an end. I may take a few years learning how to fly, but once I learned how to, I wasn¡¯t done. We never moved on from a lesson, once I learned a technique, I continued practicing it to get better and better, stronger and faster. So the idea of ¡°completing¡± my training seemed like an abstract idea to me. I suppose it would have meant there weren¡¯t any other techniques to learn, but then that couldn¡¯t be it either. It was impossible to learn all battle techniques in 18 lifetimes, let alone 18 years.


    ¡°Yes, and that has been intentional.¡± Tyfoonica smirked. ¡°You¡¯ll know soon enough. Don¡¯t worry.¡± He patted my roughly on the back. ¡°You¡¯ll know soon enough.¡± He turned to go back to the house, and the rest of us followed. I was eager to know what in the world he was hiding. It sounded like it was going to be a lot more than just a normal graduation to training, it almost seemed there might be some kind of a grand finale to conclude my training. As it would turn out, I was exactly right.

 Chapter 3

    We spent the morning and afternoon all hanging out and just having a good time. Troy and Drake were very good friends, having them there was a breath of fresh air. It added some extra spark to the never changing place that was my home. We normally only got visitors a half dozen times a year, and usually the same handful of people. Most of Tyfoonica¡¯s friends and family had died during the war with the Doomaki.


    ¡°Any new and exciting discussions over at The Council lately?¡± Tyfoonica asked Troy. In the absence of an elected Chosen One, Troy had been taking an interim leadership role among the peacekeepers. As such, he dealt directly with The Council and was very knowledgeable about all the goings-on with them. This suited Tyfoonica very well, as he was very interested in the political status of the galaxy as a whole. He was mildly involved in politics as well, although not nearly as much as we wanted to be. Training and raising a pupil full time didn¡¯t allow him very much free time to be doing that. But he stayed up to date with most everything by getting all the juicy details from Troy whenever they saw each other.


    ¡°Well,¡± Troy started. ¡°Nothing crazy, but there has been some exciting things going on that the Peacekeepers are pretty excited about.¡± Tyfoonica leaned forward, clearly interested. ¡°You know they have been looking for potential recruits to the Peacekeepers for years, and haven¡¯t had much luck in finding anyone good.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I can¡¯t believe it has taken them so long to find people. To have only found three new Peacekeepers in 18 years¡­surely there must be more qualified people that in all the galaxy!¡± Tyfoonica said, shaking his head.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the problem is lack of qualified people. I think there are plenty of people that are strong enough and possess the moral qualities we are seeking to be proficient as a Peacekeeper. We are certain the problem is fear. Almost all the peacekeepers died in the war 18 years ago, as you well know. Even among Peacekeepers and potential Peacekeepers, that is extremely intimidating. Especially given the fact that the Doomaki are still believed to be at large somewhere. The fact they haven¡¯t popped up and attempted to take the rest of us out already is extremely fortunate.¡± Troy paused and lifted a finger. ¡°But,¡± he said, raising his eyebrows, ¡°there is good news on that note.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got some potential Peacekeeper recruits?¡± Tyfoonica asked excitedly.


    ¡°Yes! Three actually.¡± Tyfoonica threw his fist into the air.


    ¡°That¡¯s incredible! And very needed. What are your thoughts on them?¡± Tyfoonica asked.


    ¡°Well,¡± Troy began. ¡°We¡¯ve been keeping an eye on them for several years. All three of them are friends and have grown up together. They have been going from planet to planet for years, meeting with the planetary leaders and forming alliances between the planets. And what¡¯s great is that they are completely unaware of our interest in them, so it¡¯s not like they are trying to put on a show to look appealing. This is something they decided to do completely based on their own convictions.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve been forming alliances? On behalf of who, where is their home planet?¡± I chimed in, curious about this mysterious trio.


    ¡°That¡¯s the neat part, it¡¯s not on behalf of anyone. They come from galaxy sector 8509 in the ZZE province. Their home planet is called Zepora.¡± Normally these numbers and letters would have just been noise to me, but I vaguely remember them from one of the political conferences Tyfoonica had taken me to a year or two ago.


    ¡°That¡¯s the area that has had all of those zealots popping up claiming to be the new Doomaki.¡± Tyfoonica said in surprise.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. That area has been a huge pain in all the Peacekeepers¡¯ back side. They aren¡¯t a big threat, but they have been causing havoc on several planets in that area for the last few years. All of us Peacekeepers are stretched thin as it is, so having to deal with this has been a strain. That is, until recently. These three guys had been monitoring all the zealots popping up and causing trouble and decided to do something about it. So they started making their way to several planets in the areas most affected by these zealots. You know how I said they weren¡¯t doing it on behalf of anyone?¡± We all nodded. ¡°The interesting thing is Zepora has been without a formal government for centuries. The planet is very small and the population is very sparse. Those on the planet generally keep to themselves and consist mostly of farmers and scavengers. These three guys took it upon themselves to go to the surrounding planets without any political authority behind them. Normally someone requesting an audience with a world leader would be denied if they came independently. But their diplomatic abilities were strong enough that they were able to meet with, and convince, several world leaders to join their alliance. After the first couple planets teamed up with them, others quickly followed suit. Presently, they have over 15 planets all working together to control these so-called ¡®New Doomaki¡¯ by sharing warriors, resources, advice, et cetera.¡± Tyfoonica leaned back in his chair and raised his eyebrows in astonishment.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Wow ...that''s incredible. There are very few alliances in the galaxy that are that big. It¡¯s very impressive that they were able to do that on their own.¡± Tyfoonica said, nodding in approval. Drake and I nodded as well. It was impressive indeed. Most planets throughout the galaxy are more concerned with self-preservation than forming alliances. Ironically enough, most often alliances aid in self-preservation, only indirectly. But many leaders have a hard time realizing that. By sharing resources with other planets, it seems counterproductive, so most world leaders opt to focus solely on themselves.


    Troy got up from his chair and paced around the room, clearly excited. ¡°Ever since they started the alliance and got the first couple planets involved, the issue of the zealots has become almost nonexistent.¡± Troy turned to face us. ¡°It is also worth noting that they are very skilled fighters, and very strong. They have excellent control of their ki; they¡¯ve been honing their skills over the last 20 or so years. Each of them are right around 30 years old. Assuming they are up to the task, there is a very good chance that all three of them will be joining the Peacekeepers in the near future.¡± Troy sat back down with the rest of us before continuing. ¡°That will put the number of Peacekeepers up to nine total. It¡¯s far from where we¡¯d like to be, but it will be a great help having the new additions.¡±


    Nine would be an improvement for sure, but it was still a far cry from where they needed to be. Before the bloody conclusion of the war with the Doomaki, there were over 100 Peacekeepers. After everything was said and done, that number had dropped drastically to just 6. Ever since then, for 18 years, they had been managing the galactic threats by themselves, a task that took over 100 people before. They were worn out and overworked constantly, without a proper break to recover. A couple of them were getting old now, and should already have been retired by now.


    ¡°In other news,¡± Troy continued, ¡°The Council is proposing new sanctions that will limit the waste that can be emitted into space, and restrict trade for planets that refuse to abide with the proposed changes. There have been a lot of concerned planets that are having waste from large neighboring planets penetrate their atmospheres. Most waste burns up upon entering the atmosphere, but large deposits of metal waste, some of which being toxic, has been getting through¡­¡± Troy continued talking, but Drake and I decided to make our exodus as the conversation changed to the less interesting politics.


    Drake and I walked outside and went out into a field nearby. ¡°Man, I bet your dad is excited about the prospect of getting some help soon.¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh, man. He is ELATED. He has done nothing but work it seems like ever since I was born!¡± Drake was two years older than I and had very little time with his dad growing up do to the responsibilities and demands of his job. Drake respected his dad, but had long since been bitter about the lack of time he had growing up with his dad. ¡°Speaking of new Peacekeepers, and the like¡­how long you think until you will join, or should I say, ¡®head-up¡¯ that group?¡± Drake frowned and raised his eyebrows, at the same time shrugging as if to say ¡°what do you think?¡±


    I let out a big sigh. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Reaching adulthood is a great milestone, but I¡¯m still very young to be a Peacekeeper. And very young to be The Chosen One. Even if they are considering me, the youngest person to ever be elected as The Chosen One was 34 to my knowledge. I¡¯m barely half that age.¡±


    Drake laughed out loud. ¡°C¡¯mon, there is no ¡®if¡¯. They are considering you. They didn¡¯t give you your own dimension to live and train in just to be nice.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Besides, I happen to know someone on the inside, and I happen to know that you are the topic of many a conversation in The Council.¡± Drake was referring to his dad. ¡°They keep pretty close tabs on you, and they are pretty impressed with your progress thus far.¡±


    ¡°Maybe so, but I am by far not the strongest for my age.¡± I replied, trying to speak some sense into Drake.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Drake started, as if he was about to lay some knowledge down on me. ¡°For one, you are dang strong -¡± Drake began.


    ¡°Not as strong as you¡­¡± I interrupted.


    ¡°True, but that¡¯s because I¡¯m amazing.¡± We both laughed. ¡°Anyway, for one, you are dang strong. But two, pure strength isn¡¯t the only thing The Council looks at when determining the best candidate for The Chosen One. Not every Chosen One was the strongest person in the galaxy. In fact, most weren¡¯t. But they had many other qualities and skills that made them the clear choice.¡± I nodded. He had a good point. Often times strength was the most associated, and sometimes only, trait people thought of thinking of The Chosen One. But there were many things that were required to be a good Chosen One. ¡°Anyway, you shouldn¡¯t use me as the measuring bar for strength.¡± Drake turned and pointed in the direction of the house. ¡°Don¡¯t forget, my dad is Troy Demwar. Undeniably the strongest fighter in the entire galaxy. I¡¯ve got some pretty good genes on my side. I should be stronger than you! Plus I¡¯ve got a couple years on you.¡±


    ¡°All very good points.¡± I conceded. ¡°But I¡¯ll still be surprised if I even get called for an interview with The Council, let alone be considered to be appointed as The Chosen One.¡± I said skeptically.


    ¡°Tyfoon!¡± I heard Tyfoonica call from the house. ¡°Come here, I¡¯ve got some exciting news!¡±


    Drake and I looked at each other in puzzlement, wondering what that could be about. ¡°What do you suppose-¡± I started to ask.


    ¡°No idea.¡± Drake said before I could finish the question. We turned to the house and began making out way there to see what ¡°exciting news¡± Tyfoonica was talking about.

 Chapter 4

    Back at the house, Tyfoonica and Troy were waiting for us. ¡°What¡¯s the ¡®exciting news¡¯?¡± I asked in puzzlement.


    Tyfoonica smiled and grabbed me on the shoulder and said ¡°I¡¯ve been talking with Troy, and apparently he has a message for you from The Council.¡±


    ¡°Really? What message exactly?¡± Drake punched me in the shoulder and gave me a look as if to say ¡°See, I told you!¡±


    Troy stood up from his seat and began. ¡°Tyfoon, The Council and I have been in frequent communication with Tyfoonica over the years. We¡¯ve been monitoring your training, your attitude, your strength and skills, etc. They are impressed with how far you¡¯ve come along in 18 short years. You are strong, disciplined, and very proficient in your abilities to control you ki.¡± I looked down, blushing slightly. I wasn¡¯t use to having compliments thrown at me like this. Tyfoonica would encourage me when I would do well, but not in the manner Troy was speaking. Especially considering these were not just Troy¡¯s words; he was representing the whole of The Council in his assessment of me. ¡°And,¡± he said, noticing my embarrassment at the compliments, ¡°humble as well.¡± I looked up to meet his gaze. He was smiling approvingly. ¡°The Council would like to meet with you to discuss¡­your future.¡± My look of embarrassment turned to shock at this. They wanted to discuss me being elected as The Chosen One. He hadn¡¯t said it, but everyone in the room knew that was what he meant. That was the only reason The Council would have to discuss with me that topic. I couldn¡¯t believe it; I was still so young, and had no combat experience outside of training scenarios. And to think of being in a position of leadership over the other Peacekeepers, including Troy, made my stomach turn. I had no experience at leading, I¡¯d always operated under the leadership of Tyfoonica. I had no idea if I even possessed the skills necessary to effectively lead in that role.


    ¡°R¡­Really?¡± I said in disbelief.


    ¡°Don¡¯t act so surprised.¡± Troy replied. ¡°Surely you¡¯ve known this day would come, given your training and ancestry.¡±


    ¡°Well, sure I knew it was possible. But not this soon, my training isn¡¯t even complete yet.¡±


    ¡°I think you underestimate yourself Tyfoon. Your humility may be preventing you from seeing just how special you are.¡± I began to blush timidly at this. ¡°Anyway,¡± he continued, ¡°they are going to be meeting tomorrow with some officials from across the galaxy on the planet Xeria. You and Tyfoonica can go there and talk things over before their meeting begins.¡± Xeria was a very large planet, and was basically the political epicenter of the galaxy. Most political gatherings for galactic matters were held there. Tyfoonica and I had been there plenty of times; Tyfoonica tried to make most of the galactic conferences they had there so he could stay up to date with all the political goings on.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Okay,¡± I conceded. ¡°I¡¯ll be there. ¡°Troy smiled at me.


    ¡°Good,¡± He said. ¡°I look forward to it. You two can report to The Council any time before mid-day.¡±


    That night I was restless. I couldn¡¯t get my mind off what Troy told me. I wasn¡¯t sure exactly what The Council wanted to talk with me about. It was possible they just wanted to give their thoughts on my progress and training to this point. They could also want to probe me a bit with questions to try and determine if they thought I was ready, mentally and physically, to take on the task of The Chosen One. They could even be considering offering me the position of The Chosen One. Although, it was also possible they wanted to let me know they didn¡¯t feel I was right for the position. After all, my situation was quite unique. I had, to that point in my life, had more training than almost anyone my age, and as such I was stronger and more skilled at controlling my ki than most everyone my age in the galaxy. However, due to my special situation with my parents dying before I was born, I didn¡¯t have any training whatsoever from the previous Chosen One. This put me at a big disadvantage. All of the previous Chosen Ones in the Tyfoon family line had been trained by the former Chosen One. My father was the first Chosen One in my family to have died in the line of duty. Tyfoonica was an excellent teacher, but he didn¡¯t have the specific experience that The Chosen One¡¯s had because he had never been appointed as The Chosen One. Tyfoonica¡¯s specialty was combat training, not leadership. And though he was very interested in politics, there was a reason he wasn¡¯t a political leader. That wasn¡¯t his forte. So naturally, I had not been raised to be an effective politician, and I had never been in a position where I could have found out if I had a natural knack for it.


    I ran every possible scenario I could think of through my head, and thought of how I could respond best in each one. I didn¡¯t want to sound like an idiot in front of The Council. My stomach seemed to do somersaults inside me. It wasn¡¯t as if I had nothing to lose. My whole life had been for this; all the training, all the work I had done, it was all leading up to this: to be The Chosen One. Even though I never knew my father, I wanted to honor his legacy. He died to protect the galaxy from the Doomaki. It was the most honorable death I could imagine. I wanted so badly to continue that legacy and try to be just as great as he was. Even though I knew the moment was coming where I would be called before The Council, I thought I had many more years to prepare myself. I hoped The Council wouldn¡¯t find me not worthy of the position, because I felt certain that I would be ready for it given more time and training.


    I tried to ignore all the thoughts racing through my head. It was late, and if I wanted to make a good impression before The Council, I needed my rest. I wanted to be at me best when I went before them. I struggled to calm the storm of my thoughts, and tried to go to sleep. After what seemed like hours, finally, rest came.

 Chapter 5

    The following morning, Tyfoonica and I got up and prepared to go to Xeria. I felt like crap. I hadn¡¯t gotten much sleep the night before and had to get up early to leave. Tyfoonica and I were a few hours away from Xeria. We had a decent ship that we used when going to other planets. The dimension we lived in occupied the same space as another planet, but since it was in a different dimension, the two worlds we unseen to each other. The name of the planet was Fiora. It was the entrance and exit point to my dimension. Our ship was kept at a port there.


    We left our dimension early, around 6am, boarded our ship, and departed for Xeria. The flight was going to be about two-and-a-half hours, so I took the time to meditate and mentally prepare myself for my meeting with the Council. I wanted to be at peace when I met with them so I could present myself as a calm and collected warrior. If they decided to discuss the possibility of me being the Chosen One, I didn¡¯t want to seem like a nervous wreck. I tried to keep myself grounded. I didn¡¯t know for sure what they wanted to talk to me about, it was possible it wasn¡¯t even about being the Chosen One. I didn¡¯t want to get me hopes up. But the truth was, I wanted to be the Chosen One¡­I wanted it so much. It wasn¡¯t because of the power, or the authority, or the prestige that came with the title. None of that mattered to me. It was because¡­it was the best way I knew to honor my parents. They gave their lives to the cause of protecting the galaxy, and my entire life I¡¯d been trained to follow in their footsteps. I wanted to honor their legacy, and I wanted to make Tyfoonica proud, He had been like a father to me, and I didn¡¯t want his years of dedicated service to my training to be in vain. All that pressure started to unsettle my stomach. I reached in my shirt and took out my necklace and held on tightly to the crystal. I felt peace wash over my like a cool mist. I tried to just relax and ignore the pressure I was feeling.


    Hours passed like minutes and before I knew it, we had arrived at Xeria. After docking out ship at one of the holding stations, we made our way out flew over to the conference center where the galactic meeting was taking place.


    Tyfoonica looked toward me as we were flying to speak. ¡°They have already began the meeting with the galactic officials. We can meet with the Council after they recess. For now, we can sit in the back and catch the tail end of their meeting.¡±


    ¡°Ok,¡± I replied. ¡°Sounds good. I wonder what their meeting is about?¡±


    ¡°From what I understand, there is a lot of concern from several leaders over some whispers they¡¯ve been hearing¡­¡±


    ¡°Whispers?¡± I echoed. ¡°Whispers about what?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­some people believe the Doomaki are starting to recruit members¡­they believe the Doomaki may be preparing to resurface.¡± Tyfoonica said soberly.


    ¡°What?? But¡­no one has heard anything about them whatsoever for nearly 20 years!¡±


    ¡°True,¡± Tyfoonica said, ¡°but when they disappeared, they were far from defeated. In fact, they were the closest to gaining galactic control they had ever been. It was extremely odd that they seemed to vanish. We always knew there was a strong possibility they would eventually come back.¡± Tyfoonica cleared his throat. ¡°But it¡¯s important to note, we don¡¯t know anything for certain. These are just rumors at present.


    After a bit more flying, we arrived at the conference center. We landed and walked inside. We headed to the main arena and quietly walked in the back and sat down. It was packed with hundreds of people sitting throughout the arena. This wasn¡¯t a casual meeting; most of the galactic leaders were here representing tens of thousands of planets.


    ¡°I had no idea there would be this many leaders here!¡± I whispered to Tyfoonica.


    ¡°Nor I. From what Troy told me, this was a reactive meeting to address the concerns of the Doomaki returning. There are a lot of very worried people out there, and it is causing a fair amount of chaos on some planets.¡± It seemed strange that so many people would be so bothered by just rumors.


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked in bewilderment. ¡°They are just rumors¡­why get so upset about it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard for you to realize the gravity of even rumors regarding this since you grew up after the Doomaki had already vanished. But for those who lived during the time of the war against the Doomaki, there is a scar left on them that burns at even the mention of the Doomaki. The war wasn¡¯t just against the Peacekeepers. It was against the entire galaxy. Entire worlds were destroyed for sport by the Doomaki. And many other planets fortunate enough to not be a target by the Doomaki still had violence and anarchy from their own people from those betraying their people and claiming to fight in the name of the Doomaki. The Doomaki themselves weren¡¯t a large group. There were only about 20-30 of them¡­we don¡¯t know the exact number. But there were many people who cause problems in the name of the Doomaki. As a result, the shockwave of the Doomaki¡¯s destruction was felt throughout the entire galaxy. Imagine every day, for years, waking up and wondering if your entire planet would be destroyed. This is the life people had to live for many years.


    ¡°Now that there is talk of them returning, people are frightened. I don¡¯t blame them. And as if that weren¡¯t enough to cause people to fear, there is currently no one assigned to the role of the Chosen One, who has always brought a sense of security to the galaxy. And not only does the absence of the Chosen One cause worry for the galaxy, but the reason for the absence is even more unsettling. Don¡¯t forget, your father disappeared during the final battle with the Doomaki. The Chosen One has always seemed to be untouchable. What happened to your father was the first time a Chosen One had been¡­neutralized by an enemy.¡± Neutralized was an interesting way to put it. The truth was, ¡°neutralized¡± was probably the best way to describe it. We don¡¯t know if he was killed, abducted, or what.  Not only had the Doomaki caused a lot of damage throughout the galaxy, they had also overpowered and the strongest warrior in the galaxy, my father, the Chosen One. The thought of that made surges of emotions course through my body. On the one hand I felt sad, and angry, about the abduction of my father, who I had never met. And on the other hand, I felt a tiny glimmer of hope. If the Doomaki were to resurface, perhaps I would finally be able to find my father. No one knew if the Doomaki even captured him, but it would be an explanation as to why no one ever found him.


    ¡°I understand your concerns. I, as much as anyone, remember well the last time we saw the Doomaki.¡± Troy was speaking in the center of the room, addressing everyone. Troy often times spoke on behalf of The Council, who were sitting behind him. Troy was very well respected and trusted throughout the galaxy. ¡°But,¡± he continued, ¡°As of now, all these concerns are from rumors. We have no actual evidence provided by any of you that there is any reason to be concerned.¡± A light over one of the galactic leaders lit up to indicate they had a question or comment. ¡°Yes leader Orismas,¡± he said, allowing the leader to speak.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°If these were nothing but rumors, how do you explain the fact that there have been reports that the Doomaki are recruiting from all over the galaxy? Many of these places are unable to communicate with the other planets who are also reporting this, so it is unlikely that this is a ruse to just gather attention and scare people. These are all unrelated accounts and should be taken seriously!¡± He said emphatically.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t agree more.¡± Troy said calmly. ¡°These reports should be taken seriously, and let me assure you, they are. It might be easy to think that the Peacekeepers have moved past the threat of the Doomaki and are no longer watchful for them, but this couldn¡¯t be farther from the truth. Ever since the Doomaki disappeared, myself and the other Peacekeepers have been trying to find their location. We have kept that as a priority among all our other duties for the past 18 years. Believe me when I say that we are working very hard to find them. And given the concerns presented here today, we will be even more fervently trying to find them.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t been able to find them for the past 18 years.¡± Orismas retorted. ¡°Not to be too blunt, but that doesn¡¯t give our people much hope that you¡¯ll find them now. What else can be done??¡±


    Troy smiled sympathetically. ¡°I understand your concern. I realize it is unsettling that we have not been able to find the Doomaki even after 18 years. However the galaxy is a large place. We aren¡¯t talking about finding a needle in a haystack. We are talking about trying to find a needle in the ocean. There are an infinite amount of places they could be hiding. And the Doomaki are as dedicated to their cause as they come. The only people who know anything about them are the ones in the actual organization. Take these rumors for example. There have been hundreds of reports from across the galaxy that the Doomaki are recruiting members for their organization, yet no one is able to identify the ones behind these supposed recruiters. That means one of two things. Either they are just rumors, or they are that good at concealing their identities, which only proves my point that it is a very difficult task indeed to track these people down.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll ask again, what else can be done??¡± Orismas repeated, clearly upset.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid right now there is nothing else that can be done. Since we have no hard evidence to point us to their return, and no leads about who they are or where they may be held up, we cannot do anything other than try to scrounge up anything that might lead us to their whereabouts. In the meantime, we Peacekeepers will do what we have always done: keep the galaxy safe.  If the Doomaki do resurface, I repeat if the Doomaki do resurface, we will gather our forces and our allies and do everything within our power to defend the galaxy and defeat the Doomaki. For now, please trust us and reassure your people that they have nothing to worry about at this time.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Troy, as well as leader Orismas and all others who spoke regarding your concerns.¡± Tinjur said, one of the members of The Council. ¡°I realize that many of you still have concerns that you wish to discuss regarding this, and I don¡¯t want anyone¡¯s concerns to go unaddressed. We are going to take a short recess to attend to some other matters, but we will be continuing this in one-and-a-half hours to address any remaining concerns you may have. Thank you, you are dismissed.¡± Hundreds of feet began to shuffle at once as people began to make their way to the doors. I turned to Tyfoonica.


    ¡°Did you know there were this many reports of the Doomaki possibly resurfacing?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No¡­¡± Tyfoonica said. He paused for a moment before continuing.  ¡°I knew there were reports, I had heard from Troy. But I didn¡¯t realize there were so many. Over a hundred reports from different parts of the Galaxy, that is not likely to be a false alarm. Troy is doing a good job at remaining calm, but I guarantee he and the other Peacekeepers are shaken a bit. If the Doomaki do resurface, it will put the Peacekeepers in a very difficult situation. They haven¡¯t had much luck over the years in finding suitable replacements for the Peacekeepers that died many years ago. However, the Doomaki didn¡¯t suffer as many casualties to begin with, and they have also had time to recruit new members in secret.¡±


    ¡°In secret?¡± I echoed.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tyfoonica must have seen the confusion in my face and knew what I was thinking. ¡°There is no doubt in my mind that the Doomaki have been recruiting new members throughout the last 18 years. I am sure the reason we are only just now hearing reports of the fact is because they want people to know. Their time of secrecy may well be coming to an end. They want to intimidate the people of the galaxy so they will be paralyzed with fear. Fear can be a more powerful weapon that the most powerful warrior.¡±


    ¡°Do you really think people will be that frightened over rumors?¡± I asked in disbelief.


    ¡°Look at the leaders gathered here today.¡± I looked around the room. Hundreds of bodies were making their way out of the center. They all had a look of dread and terror on their faces; some looked as if they were queasy. ¡°What do you think?¡± Tyfoonica was right. These were the leaders of the galaxy, those who were supposed to be a pillar for all the people throughout the galaxy to lean on. If they were this concerned, it was certain that their people would be too. As we followed the crowd out, I remembered why we were here to begin with.


    ¡°Tyfoonica? Do you think the Council will have time to meet with us in lieu of what¡¯s going on?


    ¡°Sure, they knew what this meeting was going to be about when they invited you to meet with them. There is always something crazy going on in the galaxy, but life goes on. Besides, given what I think the topic will be,¡± He said, nudging me on the shoulder suggestively, ¡°the timing seems to be very appropriate.¡± He was of course referring to the fact that with all the talk of the Doomaki, now more than ever the galaxy needed The Chosen One. Tyfoonica, Troy, and Drake all believed The Council wanted to meet with me to discuss just that. Great, I thought. Just what these people need. For The Chosen One to come along only to find out it¡¯s the son of The Chosen One that failed to defeat the Doomaki.


    When we made our way into the foyer of the conference center, we heard out names called out from a familiar voice. ¡°Tyfoonica, Tyfoon!¡± Came the voice of Troy from across the foyer. We made our way past the crowds of people to where Troy and Drake were both standing. ¡°Thanks for coming, it¡¯s good to see you.¡± He greeted the two of us.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Tyfoonica and I both said in unison. ¡°Quite the party you guys are having in there.¡± Tyfoonica said, motioning to the conference room.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s one word for it.¡± Troy said with his voice low, trying to keep himself from being heard from the people around him. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here, The Council are getting together in a private conference room to discuss what we¡¯ve been hearing all morning. They would like to talk with you, Tyfoon.¡± I swallowed hard. I felt like I had a lump in my throat and a pit in the bottom of my stomach. This is it, I thought. I had imagined meeting with The Council for this reason so many times. I had waited 18 years to have a chance at being The Chosen One¡­and now that it was here, I didn¡¯t feel I was ready. I subconsciously clasped my necklace through my shirt. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± I lied, and we made our way to the room The Council was in.

 Chapter 6

    I looked at the wooden door in front of me, took a deep breath, and knocked.


    ¡°Come on in,¡± Came a voice from inside the room. I looked beside me, where Drake was sitting in a chair against the wall. He smiled at me and gave me a thumbs up. I opened the door and walked in. Troy and Tyfoonica followed close behind me. The members of The Council


    ¡°Thanks for coming, Tyfoon.¡± Tinjur said, smiling. ¡°I appreciate you and Tyfoonica coming on such short notice. Myself and the other Council members have been very busy as of late, and when we had a small opening in our schedule, we wanted to take advantage and meet with you. We¡¯ve been wanting to discuss something with you for quite some time.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no problem at all.¡± I replied. ¡°Besides, I try to take advantage of any opportunity to get out of my dimension for a while.¡± I joked. Everyone in the room laughed.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have too much time before we must reconvene our meeting with the galactic leaders, so we¡¯ll jump right into it. As you know, all of The Council members have taken a special interest in your since you were born. Your ancestors have held the position of The Chosen One for many centuries. This isn¡¯t because of some special bias The Council has with your family, it is simply because with all criteria considered, your family has time and again shown that they are most suited to serve in the position of The Chosen One. This is something that¡¯s really quite astonishing if you think about it. Out of the billions of people all throughout the galaxy, your family has been chosen above them all. Not just because of their raw strength, which tends to the hereditary to some degree, but because of their self-control, their integrity, their character, their perseverance, and so many other qualities.¡± Tinjur paused for a moment to allow other members to chime in if they wanted to. The next to speak was a Council member named Zorukai.


    ¡°For many years,¡± he began, ¡°we¡¯ve been closely examining members of your family because of this fact. This is the reason we have paid close attention to you throughout your training with Tyfoonica. It may not seem like it since most of your time is spent training in your own dimension apart from the rest of the galaxy, but we have been watching you very attentively any opportunity we have had. We have kept constant communication with Tyfoonica and Troy about you. We have discussed in great detail everything from your strength and ki training to your personality and character. We are all together when I say we are very happy with what we have seen and heard.¡± Heads nodded in agreement around the room.


    ¡°Your situation is very unique in several ways.¡± Tinjur was speaking again now. ¡°For one, you are much younger than anyone that has been considered for The Chosen One before. However, due to the need the galaxy has of someone to take leadership as The Chosen One, this is something that, if you are found to be worthy of the position, we would be willing to overlook. However, the most obvious unique factor is that, unlike all other Chosen Ones from the Tyfoon family line, you were not raised by your parents. That makes who you are as a person very interesting. Tyfoonica has raised you very well, but in the end he isn¡¯t your father. And, just as importantly, he has never been The Chosen One. Sure, he has been involved with the affairs of The Chosen One across different generations, but he himself has never had to deal with the pressures and responsibilities that position has. Being raised by someone who is actually The Chosen One allows for you to learn from someone who has learned by experience all the things that one encounters in that position. They can also learn about the threats the galaxy has and how to handle them in the most effective way. The physical training is important too, as The Chosen One has always been among the most powerful fighters in the galaxy.


    All of these things, which are so important in the training of The Chosen One and no doubt one of the reasons so many of your ancestors were selected for that role, were absent in your upbringing. Despite that, your strength to this point in your life is remarkable and among the best in the galaxy for your age. Your maturity at all stages of your life has been much more developed than average for your age. Your ability to control your ki is very impressive, and perhaps most important you possess integrity and personal character reminiscent of so many of your ancestors before you.


    ¡°Your age and being raised by Tyfoonica isn¡¯t the only thing that made your case unique, however. We created your dimension as a place of refuge for you and Tyfoonica to live and train to ensure you would not be a target of the Doomaki or any other groups seeking to destroy the family line of Tyfoons. You are the last of your family. You have no siblings, and no direct relatives to carry on your name. Considering the role you family has had in the past in protecting the galaxy, we knew there would be those who would want to put an end to you. So we did everything we could to prevent this, and simultaneously we wanted to ensure you could grow up with the best training in the event you would grow into someone that could follow in your father¡¯s footsteps as The Chosen One.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°While this was necessary, it presented a problem for The Council. That is, it took out the real world element that most people have naturally in their lives. We weren¡¯t able to see how you interact with the world, how you handle confrontations, how you deal with trials and tribulations. There are so many things that people normally have to deal with that you¡¯ve been shielded from, even if unintentionally. There hasn¡¯t been any opportunities for you to exercise leadership, which is essential to being successful as The Chosen One. Your abilities and traits, while impressive, have only given us a partial idea of who you are as a person. You are on the path to becoming The Chosen One. But because of the weight of this decision, we must be beyond a shadow of a doubt that we have chosen the right person. That means these areas of your life that have essentially been unassessed due to lack of opportunity must be evaluated.¡± I was working hard to take all this in and try to figure out where they were going with this.


    ¡°How do you plan to do that?¡± I asked. It was Troy this time who spoke up.


    ¡°That is what The Council has brought you here for today. To present you with an opportunity.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Troy.¡± Zorukai said, nodding at Troy. ¡°The best way we can think of to determine if you are fit for the position of The Chosen One is to put you in the field, dealing with the things The Chosen One normally is responsible for handling. We want to pair you up with Troy so you can experience and be involved in the things that the Peacekeepers have to deal with on a daily basis. This will give you hands-on experience with serving in a capacity similar to what The Chosen One will be responsible for. It may also give us an opportunity to evaluate your combat skills in real world situations. In short, this will allow us to evaluate all the areas that we¡¯ve previously been unable to assess. Troy will give us periodic updates to let us know how you are doing, and that will help us determine if you are indeed going to be a good fit for the role of The Chosen One.¡± As Zorukai paused, Tinjur chuckled softly.


    ¡°Although we may be getting ahead of ourselves.¡± Tinjur said. ¡°This is all assuming that you are interested in potentially becoming The Chosen One.¡± He paused in anticipation, awaiting my response.


    ¡°Of course, there is no greater honor or service to the galaxy that I can think of than serving as The Chosen One. It is something I have thought about every day of my life since before I can remember. I have always longed to follow in my father¡¯s footsteps, and my ancestors before him.¡± I closed my eyes and looked down for a moment, taking in the moment before I continued. ¡°I would be very grateful to have the opportunity to work with the Peacekeepers to further my training and gain valuable experience.¡± The members of The Council all smiled and looked around at each other.


    ¡°You said something just now, that ¡®there is no greater honor or service to the galaxy¡¯. That sentence epitomizes the reasons we believe you possess the personal character we are looking for in the position of The Chosen One.¡± Troy said approvingly. ¡°Many people view The Chosen One as a person of power, authority, leadership, strength, all of which are true. But you view it as an honorable service to the galaxy, which is exactly what it is. Being The Chosen One is more than being a powerful leader. Dictators and tyrants can be powerful leaders. But The Chosen One is a protector of the galaxy, whose decisions and services are dictated based on the overall good of the galaxy, not a personal agenda or power trip. I look forward to working closely with you as you continue to develop into the leader I feel you are destined to be.¡± As Troy finished speaking, the members of The Council stood up and Tinjur spoke once again.


    ¡°Wonderful. That settles it. I¡¯ll have you and Troy work out the details, but you two can start working together as soon as you¡¯d like.¡± Several congratulations came to me from different council members around the room. I glanced over my shoulder at Tyfoonica, who was beaming. I smiled back at him. I turned toward him and started to make my way toward him, but before I got to him, I stopped and my smile faded. Tyfoonica¡¯s smile turned to a look of utter dread. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face, and he looked flushed. He slowly looked toward Troy, who was looking at Tyfoonica as well with the same ghastly expression. I was confused, just seconds earlier they had both been elated over the news of The Council¡¯s decision.


    ¡°Tyfoonica, what¡¯s wro-¡± but before I was able to finish my question, a flash of light followed by a huge explosion tore through the room, tearing the entire wall where the door had been into pieces.

 Chapter 7

    Everything was happening in slow motion. A million thoughts were racing through my head and I couldn¡¯t keep up with them. All of my senses were firing rapidly trying to take in what was happening. The door and wall that was behind Tyfoonica was no in thousands of pieces. I could see the particles of wood, glass, and drywall breaking apart, expanding, and coming straight at me and everyone else in the room followed by a giant ball of flame as the explosion came at me. I had no idea what caused the explosion, but I had been trained for this. I knew I wasn¡¯t fast enough to outrun the blast, but I did have enough time to create a barrier around myself with my ki to shield me from the blast and minimize the damage I would take from the explosion. I focused hard and felt my ki leave my body and cling to my arms, legs, and the rest of my body creating an invisible field of ki around me, a force field.


    As I prepared for the impact of the explosion, I saw Tyfoonica¡¯s body being hurled toward me. I could feel his ki being dispersed around his body like mine, although the explosion had already made contact with his entire backside. Tyfoonica was a lot faster than I, even though he was much older than me, but he was so close to the explosion that he wasn¡¯t able to create a barrier to protect himself until after the explosion hit him. The barrier he was making with his ki would give him some protection, but damage had already been done before he had gotten it up. I tried to duck out of the way so his body wouldn¡¯t collide into mine. As I did this, my eyes made their way to the other side of the room where Troy and most of The Council members were. I could sense that Troy was also putting a barrier around himself, but I felt much more ki leaving him than Tyfoon and I. He was not only trying to protect himself, but the other council members as well. Most of The Council members were not skilled fighters. They were known for their diplomacy, not their fighting. If this explosion were to hit them without any protection, the chances are that several of them could die.


    It seemed as if time was standing still, milliseconds seemed like hours. I didn¡¯t even have time for my eyes to make their way back to Tyfoonica before I felt his body crashing into mine. I only had enough time to move slightly out of the way, but not enough to avoid a collision with Tyfoonica. His body barreled through my left side, knocking me off balance as he continued past me towards the wall behind me. I felt the force of the shockwave first, and immediately after the flames and debris from the explosion hit me full force. I flew backwards right behind Tyfoonica and crashed into the wall behind me, breaking through the wall like it was paper. The force of the blast pushed me back further like I was being hit by a train. On the other side of the wall was the main foyer for the conference center where hundreds of galactic leaders were still awaiting their meeting with The Council to reconvene. My eyes were tightly closed from the heat of the explosion, but I could feel the ki of all the people around me, and I knew that many of them were in the direct path of the explosion. There was no time for them to react; like most of The Council, they were mostly political diplomats, not warriors. They had no way to protect themselves from the explosion.


    Just as I tried to focus my ki and slow my body down from the force of the explosion, my body screamed in pain as I crashed, head first, into a giant concrete support column in the foyer. My body came to an abrupt stop and crumbled against the column, which held its own against the force of the explosion. The barrier of ki I had created around my body had shielded me against most of the damage from the explosion, but the impact of my body, and particularly my head, against the concrete column had caught me by surprise and left me feeling somewhat dazed as I struggled to get to my feet. I tried to ignore the throbbing in my head and instead focus on my surroundings. The explosion had been so sudden and unexpected that it left me somewhat disoriented, and the blow to the head I had suffered multiplied that tenfold.


    I looked around the foyer in horror. It was chaos. People were yelling and running in every direction. Their faces were clothed gray from the dust and debris that was thrown into the air by the explosion. They ran aimlessly, not knowing which way to go, tripping over the dozens of dead bodies that lay there, scattered across the floor.


    I blinked hard and tried to shake off the fog that seemed to be clouding my mind from the blow I took to the head. A loud ringing was all I could hear; it seemed like the rest of the world was on mute. As I started to become less disoriented, I became aware that there were ki blasts burning through the air. Everything had happened so suddenly, I hadn¡¯t had time to think about what may have caused the explosion. Just as I started to process that, I became distracted by something else: Tyfoonica. He had taken the brunt of the explosion to his back before he had gotten his ki field around his body. I looked around quickly. His body had collided with mine, so he must have been near me. About 20 feet away from me, I him, struggling to his feet. He was badly wounded. He was scraped and bloody from crashing through walls and sliding on the debris covered floors. His back was badly charred from the explosion, and his clothes were burnt and falling off him. If he had been expecting an explosion, even if he still wouldn¡¯t have been able to protect himself with a ki field, he would have at least been able to focus his ki to protect his body so the damage would have been minimized. But the surprise of the explosion left him defenseless. I ran over to him. My hearing was starting to come back, but the ringing in my ears was still there. Tyfoonica opened his mouth to speak through gritted teeth. I strained to listen.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­th..the Doomaki!¡± Tyfoonica said, every word clearly a strain for him. My eyes widened and I turned around to look at the room where I had been just moments earlier. I saw several hooded figures firing ki blasts. They were firing them at everyone; they wanted to kill as many people as they could. I was sure Tyfoonica was right. The fact that this attack happened the same day The Council was meeting about the Doomaki couldn¡¯t be a coincidence. I quickly scanned the room I had been. Troy looked like he had been successful, it looked as though all The Council members were alive, at least as far as I could see. Like Tyfoonica and I, some of them had been blasted through the wall, so I couldn¡¯t account for everyone.


    I could sense the Doomaki¡¯s ki now; I hadn¡¯t noticed it before the explosion. That must have been what Troy and Tyfoonica had felt moments before the explosion happened. They must have felt their ki and known something was about to happen.


    Troy was engaged in battle with several of the Doomaki. The ki of the Doomaki felt very dark and very strong. Even so, Troy was one of, if not the, strongest fighters in the galaxy, and it showed. He was holding his own against the Doomaki, even though he was very outnumbered. Some of the members of The Council had begun to fight as well. Most of The Council weren¡¯t strong fighters, but a few were. I shifted my attention from the fight to Tyfoonica.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go help, stay here.¡± I told him.


    ¡°Nonsense¡­¡±Tyfoonica said through gritted teeth. ¡°I ...am going too¡­¡± It sounded like it was a strain to get every word out. He was in no condition to fight, but I knew better than to argue with him. Tyfoonica was an extremely skilled fighter, and he wasn¡¯t going to miss an opportunity to get revenge on the Doomaki taking my father away. I wasn¡¯t about to waste time trying to convince him otherwise.


    ¡°Be careful, you are injured badly.¡± I cautioned him.


    ¡°Ha¡­¡± He forced. ¡°Even in this condition¡­I¡¯ll wipe the floor with them¡­¡± He chuckled and the both of us rushed into battle.


    I had been trained for battle my entire life, but this was the first actual battle, besides practice spars, I had ever been in. The reality of this dawned upon me and turned my stomach. Trying to ignore this feeling, I ran up to the first hooded figure I came across. I could feel the blood rush down my arms and legs as my adrenaline surged and prepared my body for battle. The Doomaki toward me as I rushed him, but before he could react I threw my fist into his chest with all my strength. He didn¡¯t fall over, but stayed upright and slid back a few feet from the momentum of my punch. I focused my ki and formed a ki ball in my hands and hurled it at the Doomaki fighter. He deflected it and returned a ki blast of his own. I charged him, side-stepping his ki ball and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with him. Punches and kicks were flying as each of us tried with all out might to strike the other down. His fighting ability was remarkable. It took everything I had in me to keep up with him. He was very strong, as well as fast. His hand-to-hand combat was just as good as mine. I jumped back to get some distance from the Doomaki fighter and also to assess the situation. There were at least 10-12 Doomaki fighters there, some of which were unleashing fury on those too weak to defend themselves. Troy was still fighting between three himself, and Tyfoonica was fighting against two. A few members of The Council, Tinjur and Zorukai being two of them, were also fighting some of the Doomaki. They were not doing as well as Troy, Tyfoonica, and I.


    The Doomaki I was fighting had leapt from where he was to where I was standing and kicked me in the chest while I was distracted. I flew back from the force of his kick into a brick wall. I gathered myself and rushed at him and began fighting hand-to-hand once again. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone else coming at me. I jumped back, putting some distance between the the Doomaki and I. Thinking quickly, I shot a ki blast out of my hand at the brick wall behind me. The force of the blast recoiled and propelled me forward at the Doomaki I was fighting. I locked my wrist into place and sunk it into the Doomaki¡¯s stomach before could dodge. He doubled over in pain and flew into a pile of rubble about 20 feet behind him. I then turned, just in time, to see the other figure that was quickly approaching me. It was another Doomaki, and he had some of his ki wrapped around his arm so that it formed a ki blade. I concentrated my ki and formed a force field around my arm and held up my arm just in time to block his before it cut me in half. I struggled to hold it up, but the barrier I had created around my arm was giving way and I could sense the Doomaki¡¯s ki blade getting closer to my skin. I could feel the heat from the ki blade as it slowly penetrated the force field around my arm. The smell of burnt flesh and hair filled the air as the ki blade made contact with my arm. I gritted my teeth in pain and struggled to keep my force field from completely breaking; it was the only thing keeping the Doomaki from cutting my arm off.  Just before my force field on my arm gave out completely, I saw a ki blast shoot past my face, barely missing me, and barrel into the Doomaki¡¯s chest, knocking him back hard against a wall. His body crumbled upon impact with the wall and he laid there, limp. I turned toward the source of the blast and saw Drake standing there, his fingertips smoking from where the ki blast had come from. He smiled at me and gave me a thumbs up and then rushed toward one of the other Doomaki. I was glad to see Drake. It didn¡¯t appear that he had been injured in the explosion.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    I turned from Drake and looked for the next Doomaki that I could attack. I went to the one I had punched earlier; he was getting to his feet from out of the rubble. I drilled my fist into his face before he was able to gather himself and he crashed back into the rubble, this time out cold. There was a huge explosion about 30 feet away from me and I heard a yell followed by a crash. I turned toward the explosion, and as the smoke cleared I saw Tyfoonica¡¯s body, half buried in a wall that he had crashed into. The two Doomaki he had been fighting had both fired a ki blast at him from opposite sides, and from the looks of it, he hadn¡¯t blocked either of them. Tyfoonica grunted and slowly struggled to get to his feet. He looked badly hurt; the injury he had suffered from the explosion earlier was taking its toll on him. He was at 50% of his normal fighting strength, at best. The Doomaki he was fighting weren¡¯t about to wait for him to get up. They both flew toward him with blazing speed. I took off and flew to intercept them. They both turned their heads as they sensed me approaching them and altered their flight to meet me instead. Furries of punches and kicks were thrown at me as I took them both on at once. Luckily I had been trained extensively in hand-to-hand combat against two to four people at once, so fighting the two of them wasn¡¯t overwhelming. However, these two fighters were much stronger than the ones I had fought against when I had trained. They were also much faster; I struggled to keep up as they tried desperately to hit me. I was confident they wouldn¡¯t be able to overpower me, but even so, I was struggling to gain the upper hand. I had to try something different.


    All at once, I held my fighting stance, but stopped moving. Seizing the opportunity, the two Doomaki didn¡¯t hesitate and both launched their fists at my body, One of them aimed for my face, while the other one had his fist zooming for my ribs. A loud BOOM sounded throughout the room as both of their punches made contact, however it was the Doomaki that recoiled in pain. In the few milliseconds it took them to punch me once I stopped fighting, I had quickly created a force field around my body. They weren¡¯t expecting it and their fists crashed into what must have felt like a brick wall. While they were both distracted and grimacing in pain, I powered up, focusing my ki to raise my strength and at the same time creating a surge of ki that burst out around me like a strong gust of wind. This knocked the Doomaki off balance and I took advantage. I took the legs out from under one of the Doomaki with a leg sweep, and turned around and launched a ki blast into the chest of the other Doomaki, sending him flying in the opposite direction. I spun around and faced the other Doomaki that I had tripped. As his body collided with the ground, I held both my hands over my head and channeled my ki into a large ki ball. I swung my arms down and hurled the ki ball into the body of the Doomaki. The ki exploded and pressed the Doomaki into the ground, causing the concrete beneath him to cave in. When the dust settled, the Doomaki had sunk about two feet into the floor from the force of the blast. The clothes on his upper body were burnt and shredded from the where the ki had made contact with his body. The air smelled of charred flesh and he didn¡¯t move; he might have been dead, but I didn¡¯t care at that moment and didn¡¯t have time to think about it.


    I scanned the area for Tyfoonica, to make sure he was okay. I found the area where he had been moments earlier, but all that remained there was the broken wall he had crashed into. I stopped using my eyes and focused on sensing his ki. I was just barely able to feel his ki. It felt as though he were unconscious. I was able to sense his location based on his ki and quickly spun around, my eyes darting to the location I had sensed he was at. I saw him draped over one of the hooded Doomaki¡¯s shoulders. What I sensed was right, he was definitely unconscious. He was about 100 feet away from me. I saw Drake and Troy nearby them, about half the distance from him that I was. They appeared to have just noticed Tyfoonica at the same time I did and both flew quickly in his direction. Drake and Troy were both intercepted by the Doomaki. Drake began fighting the Doomaki warrior that had met him. Troy, however, drew back his fist and with great power drove his fist into the Doomaki warrior, sending him soaring across the room, knocked unconscious by the powerful punch. In an instant Troy had arrived at the place Tyfoonica was. There were two Doomaki there, the one carrying Tyfoonica, and another one right beside him.  Troy surrounded his arm with his ki, reinforcing his arm to deal extra damage. The Doomaki carrying Tyfoonica ran away from Troy, while the other Doomaki side stepped so that he was directly in between Troy and Tyfoonica. Troy focused his attention on the Doomaki blocking his way to Tyfoonica. Troy swung his fist at the Doomaki with all his might with so much agility I could barely track his attack. I expected to hear the sound of bone giving way under the might of Troy¡¯s fist. Instead, to my surprise, all I heard was the sound of his arm cutting through the air as Doomaki warrior dodged, ducking under Troy¡¯s fist, and then returning a punch of his own, landing firmly in Troy¡¯s ribs. Troy winced in pain, and before he could react, the Doomaki spun his body around and thrust his foot into the air. His kick struck Troy under the chin and sent Troy flying up into the air. I stood there for a brief moment, in utter shock. Troy landed 20 feet away, clearly in immense pain. He struggled to his feet, but then stumbled and fell over, clearly disoriented from the kick to the chin. I had never seen someone best Troy in a fight, let alone in two blows.


    I looked back to the Doomaki who had struck Troy down. As he turned away from Troy, the light hit him, and from under his hood I was able to see the outline of his mouth and a set of eyes that almost seemed to glow. His eyes met mine and for a moment I froze. His eyes narrowed, and I saw the corners of his mouth curve upward to form a small, menacing smile. I shook my head from side to side and snapped myself out of my daze. I bent my knees, and jumped as hard as I could, propelling myself toward the Doomaki and Tyfoonica. With the Doomaki¡¯s gaze still fixed on me, and his grin still plastered to his face, I saw the Doomaki raise his hands toward the sky, and a small light orb formed. Just before I reached him, he slammed his hands down into the floor and the light orb exploded into a blinding blast of light. There was no damage from the explosion; it wasn¡¯t meant as an attack, it was meant as a diversion. I head grunts from all across the room as all those fighting the Doomaki were momentarily blinded from the explosion. As the light diminished, I opened my eyes slightly, squinting my eyes so they could start to adjust. As the room went from blurry to in focus, I realized the reason for the Doomaki¡¯s diversion. I looked frantically around the room. All the Doomaki had vanished. I tried to focus on Tyfoonica¡¯s energy, but because his ki was so low from being unconscious, I couldn¡¯t feel it. He was already too far away. It had only been a few seconds, but that was enough time for the Doomaki to make their getaway.


    The realization of what had just happened because to set in. I let out an agonizing cry, and slammed my fist into the ground as hard as I could. Bits of concrete from the floor shut up from the floor from the force of my fist. With my fist firmly pressed against the floor, small puddles of crimson liquid formed from under my first. They had taken Tyfoonica. But why? Why would they want him? With all the galactic leaders in the room, why take the one person who had no political power? No direct influence over any world. The Doomaki were back, they had finally resurfaced...what did it mean? Thoughts were racing through my mind faster than I could keep up. I had to force my mind to shut down momentarily. I remember where I was: right in the middle of the galactic conference, which meant that there were dozens of injured people all around me. I snapped myself out of my contemplation, and began helping the injured around me. There were more dead than injured; dozens of limp, bloody bodies lay all across the room. Cries of pain and agony echoed across room, amplified by the openness of the room now that most of the walls have been blasted down. The floors and walls were stained with scorch marks and blood. As I helped those around me, my thoughts turned to Tyfoonica and my father. My father had been captured by the Doomaki before I was even born, and no one had ever found him. And now Tyfoonica, the closest thing I had ever had to a father, had also been taken by the Doomaki. A feeling of hopelessness washed over me like an ice cold river. I entered a sort of daze. My body continued to move as I helped the injured around me, but my mind was in another place. I felt as though I was outside my body, watching myself in horror as I walked around the room, tripping over dead bodies. The only thought I could focus on was that I had to get Tyfoonica back, no matter what.

 Chapter 8

    My body raced towards the ground as if an anvil was attached to it. I fell against a small cot that was set up on the floor. It was the first time I had stopped moving since the Doomaki had disappeared. Several other cots were set up all round my in one of the rooms in the conference center that hadn¡¯t been damaged in the attack. It was late, around two or three in the morning. I had spent the entire day assisting the wounded and clearing the bodies of the dead. Local medical teams were still bagging up bodies of those who died in the attack, but all the wounded had been taken to hospitals nearby.


    In the room with me was Troy, Drake, and a few of The Council members that hadn¡¯t been badly injured during the attack. Four of ten Council members had been killed. Of the remaining six, three of them were badly injured, and the other three were in the room with me. Zorukai and Tinjur were there, as well as a Council member named Askari. All three of them were skilled fighters. They were all pretty beaten up, but not badly injured. Troy was still shaken up, and his jaw was swollen from the kick he had taken to the chin, most likely fractured. Drake looked like he had taken the lightest beating. Drake was a very strong fighter, even stronger than I was.


    ¡°Troy¡­¡± I started. I was still at a loss for words, even though several hours had passed since the attack. My words seemed to cut through the silence in the room like a painful shriek. This had been the first opportunity we had since the attack to talk. ¡°What¡­.¡± I stopped short, not even sure what question to ask, but knowing I wanted some answers.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­¡± Troy replied slowly, clearly struggling to talk through his swollen jaw. He winced in pain as he pushed his words out. ¡°It was the Doomaki, there¡¯s no question about that.¡±


    ¡°There have been plenty of attacks by imposters that have claimed the name of the Doomaki,¡± said Tinjur, ¡°but these warriors were not imposters. The attack was too coordinated, and the warriors were far too strong; these were the real deal.¡±


    Troy stared solemnly at the floor. ¡°It has been 18 years since the last time I fought the Doomaki¡­¡± He said calmly. He paused a long time before continuing. He continued, with disgust dripping off every word that came from his mouth. ¡°But I still remember their ki, their fighting style, their ruthless killing¡­.the wretched odor of blood thirsty destruction and lust for power on their breath¡­¡± Troy gritted his teeth and forced his words out through clenched teeth. ¡°These weren¡¯t just Doomkai fighters. These were the same ones we fought 18 years ago!¡± Troy shouted. He thrust his fist forward and punched a hole in the wall in front of him. ¡°These weren¡¯t new recruits, these were the same fighters we fought before! I remember their ki! I remember their fighting style! These were the same people!¡± Troy cursed under his breath and withdrew his fist from the wall. Blood trickled down his hand and made a small puddle on the floor beneath him. ¡°I recognized every one of them...all except one fighter.¡± Even before he said who, I already knew who he was referring to. ¡°The fighter that defeated me, I had never fought against him. But he was by far the strongest Doomaki there.¡± Troy walked back toward the cots and slowly leaned over and sat on one and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.


    ¡°Still¡­¡± Zorukai said slowly. ¡°There was something familiar about his ki...I feel as though I¡¯ve felt it before¡­¡± Tinjur and Troy nodded their heads in agreement.


    ¡°Do you think he was a new recruit, someone that joined the Doomaki after they disappeared 18 years ago?¡± Drake asked.


    ¡°No...I don¡¯t think so.¡± Zorukai replied. ¡°It would be strange to have a new member with them in this attack considering all the others that attacked are original members. Not to mention that his ki was by far the strongest among them. In fact, he was much stronger than any of us¡­¡± Everyone in the room nodded. ¡°The Doomaki are strong, and they are known for their deception and secrecy; even so, I don¡¯t think The Council and the Peacekeepers would have missed the presence of such a powerful fighter in the galaxy. I¡¯m convinced we would have felt the presence of his ki long before he would have been at a level strong enough to gain the interest of the Doomaki. I think it¡¯s more likely that he is an original member of the Doomaki that has either greatly increased his strength since they last fought us, or he never engaged in a battle before.¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°If he is an original member, given his strength, why wouldn¡¯t he have been involved in their attacks 18 years ago?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Likely because he is a coward without honor.¡± Tinger replied flatly. I could tell by the expressions on the others¡¯ faces that they understood what he meant, but I didn¡¯t.


    ¡°You think he was too afraid to battle?¡± I guessed.


    ¡°No.¡± Tinger answered. ¡°A Doomaki of this strength doesn¡¯t take orders. He gives them.¡± At this I understood what he was saying.


    ¡°You think he¡¯s the leader?¡± I asked. Tinger nodded.


    ¡°A leader that was too concerned about himself to lead his followers into battle. Instead he sent them into battle while he stayed behind in safety. Perhaps not out of fear, but it is a disgraceful thing to do just the same. I¡¯ve seen it before. Leaders that prefer to throw their soldiers into battle as if they are worthless weapons, not caring whether they live or die.¡± Tinger shook his head in disgust, obviously convinced that his theory was the correct one.


    ¡°An honorable leader takes to the front lines, and leads his soldiers by example. They see the fearlessness and strength of their leader and it in turn gives them strength and courage. It shows that their lives have meaning and gives them hope for the cause because they see their leader is even willing to lay down his life for the cause.¡± Zorukai added.


    ¡°Why do you suppose he decided to show up now since he never did before?¡± I felt silly asking so many questions, but my head was racing with them.


    ¡°I imagine to make a statement.¡± It was Drake who spoke up this time. ¡°They want people to know their back, and that they are strong as ever. And they want us to know that they have someone in their ranks who is stronger than all of us.¡±


    ¡°I think you¡¯re right.¡± Troy said. I understood what they were saying, but there was still questions I had, ones I knew The Council probably didn¡¯t have answers to. But there was one question that rose in my head above the rest, the most important question, to me at least. I knew they didn¡¯t know, but I asked anyway.


    ¡°But...but why did they take Tyfoonica?¡± I fought back tears as the words quivered out of my mouth through trembling lips. I forced myself to remain composed. Tyfoonica was the closest thing I had to family; he was like a father to me. The thought of losing him made me physically sick.


    ¡°I wish I knew.¡± Troy said. ¡°I really wish I knew.¡±


    We sat in silence, all of us trying to wrap our heads around the situation. We were all exhausted and needed rest. Eventually, one by one, each person laid down on their respective cots and tried to get some rest. I was the last to lay down, but even with as tired as I was, I couldn¡¯t get to sleep right away. Tyfoonica was all I could think about. I couldn¡¯t stand the thought of losing him. The Doomaki were responsible for the loss of my father as well. I didn¡¯t know if he was dead or if the Doomaki still had him. The latter seemed highly improbable; it had been 18 years. I couldn¡¯t imagine any reason they would have to keep him imprisoned so long. Surely after that long they wouldn¡¯t have any use of him. That thought made me sick to my stomach. The likelihood that my father was already dead wasn¡¯t anything new to me; I had considered it countless times throughout my life. What made me sick was Tyfoonica was now in the same boat. The only reason I could fathom that they would want Tyfoonica was to get information out of him. He wasn¡¯t a politician, he wasn¡¯t a leader or ruler, he wasn¡¯t significant on a galactic level at all. Aside from the small influence he had on The Council due to their long history together, he didn¡¯t have any real power of influence. He was important to me, but all his time over the past 18 years had been devoted to my training and upbringing. This didn¡¯t allow any time to be involved with anything outside out training for the most part.


    I tried to figure out how any of that explained his kidnapping. He didn¡¯t have any political power or influence. However, since he had devoted himself to my training so exclusively, what information could they hope to get from him? I couldn¡¯t think of any other reason they would have taken him. Perhaps, I thought, it was for the same reason they took my father. Maybe they had tried to get some information out of my Father and failed, and are now instead seeking to get the information from Tyfoonica. If that was the case, they would be sure to fail. I didn¡¯t know my father, but I knew Tyfoonica, and he was the strongest willed person I had ever met. The fact he was willing to basically cut himself off from the rest of the galaxy to train and raise me for 18 years was testament to that. He believed so much in the importance of raising me that he gave up everything for me. Given his devotion to that, I was sure they would never be able to break him. But if they couldn¡¯t, his life wouldn¡¯t have any value to them...he would die. Even if they did somehow get the information they were seeking, given the ruthless reputation of the Doomaki, I feared he would be killed anyway.

 Chapter 9

    I woke up to the sun shining brightly into my face and birds chirping outside. I squinted my eyes as they adjusted to the light and looked up at the source of the light. The sun was peeking in from a hole in the ceiling of the lobby in the conference center that had been made during the fight the day before. I looked around the room to find most of the others already up and talking together. Only Drake was still laying down and appeared to be asleep. There was some fresh coffee brewing on a table nearby along with some containers containing what I assumed was breakfast someone had brought by.


    I stretched, rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, and got up to go get some food. I hadn¡¯t realized how hungry I was until just then. I had been so busy the day before handling the aftermath of the attack that I hadn¡¯t eaten anything since breakfast the day before. There were eggs, bacon, sausage, and a variety of other breakfast foods all laid out in to-go boxes from a restaurant. I loaded up an assortment of food and, sitting down on my cot, began to eat.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± Troy said. His jaw had was noticeably more swollen than it had been the day before.


    ¡°What time is it?¡± I asked with my mouth full of food, trying not to spit food out as I talked.


    ¡°Almost noon.¡± He replied.


    ¡°Have you been up long?¡±


    ¡°Just long enough to get some breakfast. I¡¯m glad you are up; we¡¯ve been discussing what to do in light of the attack from last night.¡± Troy said slowly, trying not to move his jaw too much as he talked.


    ¡°Good!¡± I said. ¡°I spent a lot of time thinking about the situation last night. I¡¯m certain they must think Tyfoonica knows some information they are trying to get.¡±


    ¡°We believe so as well.¡± Zorukai said. ¡°We took a huge blow last night, several of The Council members were injured or killed,¡± he continued, seemingly shifting the focus away from Tyfoonica, ¡°and the news of the attack has spread throughout the galaxy very quickly. There has been cries from many systems throughout the galaxy looking for answers and protection. There are a lot of --¡±


    ¡°What is the plan to get Tyfoonica back?¡± I interrupted.


    ¡°There are a lot of worried people.¡± Zorukai finished. ¡°Right now our primary focus has to be on the people throughout the galaxy. We cannot allow the galaxy to fall into disarray, that is what the Doomaki want. We need to get together with all the Peacekeepers and decide how we need to attack this situation. The Peacekeepers were already undermanned, and that problem is compounded with the fact that The Council is now in the same situation. There just aren¡¯t enough fighters in the galaxy strong enough to take people at the level the Doomaki are at. And among those few that are, most are either uninterested in being a Peacekeeper, or are otherwise unqualified to be one. This puts us at a huge disadvantage against the Doomaki.¡±


    ¡°I understand all of that,¡± I said firmly, ¡°But our number one focus has to be getting Tyfoonica back.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you do understand Tyfoon.¡± Zorukai said back with an annoyed tone. ¡°We can''t just blindly go into a rescue mission with the odds stacked against us the way they are and hope to succeed. We don¡¯t have any intel on the Doomaki besides what we gained last night, which is only that we know there are at least 13 Doomaki; that¡¯s how many attacked us. But there are sure to be even more back at their headquarters. Any rescue attempt at this point would end in a massacre. Tyfoonica would likely end up dead, as well as those trying to rescue him.¡±


    ¡°So what?¡± I asked, the tone in my voice teetering on the line of disrespect. ¡°We just leave him for dead??¡± Zorukai hesitated a moment before responding.


    ¡°No...but as much as I want to rescue Tyfoonica¡­we have to wait and form a plan. Right now the most pressing for us to focus on is keeping peace and security in the galaxy. If we allow the galaxy to become disarrayed, wars will break out and factions will develop between frantic planetary and system leaders. This will weaken the order we have fought to keep in the galaxy for so long and it will force us to send The Peacekeepers to the different systems to try and bring order back. This will take our strongest soldiers away from the fight with the Doomaki where they are most needed. If we lose order in the galaxy, countless lives will be lost to wars and government overthrows. That is what the Doomaki wants. Not only will they delight in the lives that will be lost, but it will give them countless areas where they can come and go as they like because planetary and system governments will be too disorganized to catch them, or even know they are among them.¡± Zorukai took a deep breath. ¡°I cannot stress enough how much damage can be done if we don¡¯t work hard right now to prevent this from happening. It may seem like a stretch, but believe me, this is what the Doomaki want and it is exactly what happened the last time we were at war with them. It has taken most of the past 18 years to restore peace and order in the galaxy because of the aftermath of that war.¡±


    I wanted to respond, but I just couldn¡¯t find any words to adequately express what I was feeling. These were Tyfoonica¡¯s friends; I grew up around them and they had known Tyfoonica many years before I was born. Yet they were going to let the Doomaki have their way with him. That wasn¡¯t what they were saying, but it was reality. By refusing to go to him immediately, they were signing his death certificate, I was sure of it. Sure, they had experience working with the Doomaki, and I didn¡¯t, but this knowledge didn¡¯t matter to me. What mattered to me is that both father figures in my life, my real father and the one who raised me, had been taken by the Doomaki and I wasn¡¯t about to assume that Tyfoonica would be okay while we took our time forming a plan to save him. There was a chance Zorukai was right, but there was a much larger chance he was wrong and Tyfoonica would be dead by the time we got around to finding him. The earlier a rescue attempt was made, the higher the probability he would still be alive by the time we found him.


    I knew that Zorukai and the others were looking at the bigger picture. I understood that they had a responsibility over the galaxy as their leaders and they had to put the peace and protection of the people before their commitment to their friend. But knowing that didn¡¯t take away the sting that they weren¡¯t making Tyfoonica their highest priority. It made me sick to my stomach, and it made me feel more helpless than I had ever felt before.


    The tension between Zorukai and I was palpable, and everyone was silent. Nothing else could be said. Zorukai spoke for everyone in the room and  it was obvious that they had come to this conclusion before I had woken up. I turned from them and walked out. I was so angry I couldn¡¯t stand to remain in their presence.


    I walked outside and leaned over a railing to overlook the city. I looked up towards the sky; the sun was shining bright through some clouds that were stretched across the sky. I was burning with frustration and anger. I reached for my necklace, and pulled it out from under my shirt. I rolled the crystal around in between my fingers. It reminded me of my mother. It was the only thing I had to remember her by. I thought of what she might think if she were there. I imagined that maybe she would tell me we should try to rescue Tyfoonica right away. But of course, I had no idea what she would say. Still, just thinking of her helped calm me down and some of the anger I felt subsided. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    The city was busy; tons of cars weaved around the buildings and skyscrapers. Life in the large city was going on as it had every other day, unaffected by the incident from the night before. I looked out at the faces of all the people walking on the sidewalks. It was around lunch time and there were scores of people making their way to and from the different restaurants. Some glanced up towards me and their lips moved quickly as they talked to those around them, discussing what might have happened to the conference center, which looked like part of it had been blown up. They were completely clueless to the grim danger that was on the horizon. The news of the attack had spread quickly to the planetary and system leaders, but they hadn¡¯t shared it with their people yet. Their agenda was the same as The Council¡¯s, they didn¡¯t want to throw the people into chaos. But they wouldn¡¯t be able to keep that a secret for long, and Zorukai was right. Once they found out, people would panic. And one thing Tyfoonica taught me is that when you get enough scared people together, terrible things happen.


    My mind went back to Tyfoonica. He was kidnapped for a reason. With as badly as he was injured from the initial explosion, they could have killed him, but instead, they took him. It still confused me though...he was so disconnected with the outside world. I went over it again and again in my head, but I couldn¡¯t come up with what he might know that would cause the Doomaki to come out of their hiding. It had to be something that he had known since before I was born, something to do with the first war perhaps. Maybe even why the first war had broken out. And, I was convinced, it had to be the same information they took my father to find out. It was never known for sure if my father had died or been captured, but I had always believed it was the latter. His body had never been found, a fact which  allowed me to cling to the hope that he might still be alive. Although, with Tyfoonica getting captured this hope was severely dwindled. If they were seeking to get information from someone other than my father, they had probably given up on him. In reality, this was likely the case anyway given it had been 18 years since he disappeared.


    All of this, however, was mere speculation. Nothing was known about my father¡¯s disappearance, nor about Tyfoonica¡¯s kidnapping. The only thing we knew for sure was that this time we knew Tyfoonica was captured, not killed. But that was better than nothing.


    ¡°Hey.¡± Came a voice from behind me. I turned to see Drake walking up to the railing I was at. He leaned over it as well, and looked out into the busy city. ¡°You okay?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Not really. I feel so helpless. I know The Council have a duty to the galaxy and keeping peace and order, as well as protecting the galaxy from the Doomaki. But I can¡¯t help but feel like they are making the wrong move by not making Tyfoonica¡¯s rescue a priority.¡± It then dawned on me that Drake had been lying in bed during that whole conversation. ¡°Oh, I forgot you were asleep.¡±


    ¡°I was...but I woke up when you and Zorukai started arguing.¡± He smiled and let out a chuckle. ¡°Couldn¡¯t sleep through that.¡± I laughed and continued.


    ¡°Well,¡± I began, ¡°I just can¡¯t help but feel like they are making a mistake.¡±


    ¡°Are  you sure you aren¡¯t just saying that because you are so close to him?¡±


    ¡°I know it might seem that way, but it really has nothing to do with it. I won¡¯t deny that I want him back  because he is like a father to me. But that isn¡¯t the reason I think The Council is wrong. Think about it. Tyfoonica obviously knows something that the Doomaki want to know really badly. After 18 years, they resurface, and it is clear that their objective was one thing: to capture Tyfoonica. They were stronger than us, they could have killed many more people. I suppose they might have wanted to make a statement, but I doubt that was their main purpose.¡±


    ¡°I agree. I think most everyone else is on board with that too, it¡¯s really the only reason they would take him that makes sense.¡± Drake turned to face me and I continued.


    ¡°If he knows something that important, imagine what would happen if the Doomaki was able to get the information out of him?¡± Drake raised his eyebrows, surprised.


    ¡°Do you think they would be able to break Tyfoonica?¡± He asked in disbelief.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Tyfoonica is one of the toughest people I¡¯ve ever met, but writing him off because I¡¯m sure he won¡¯t give them any information is foolish. We have to plan for the worst and act accordingly. If the Doomaki do find out what they are after, it could set the Peacekeepers at such a disadvantage that they might not stand a chance. If we have any hope of defeating the Doomaki and securing peace in the galaxy, we have no choice but to rescue Tyfoonica, no matter what the cost.¡±


    ¡°What you¡¯re saying makes sense¡­¡± Drake replied, ¡°but Zorukai and the others won¡¯t change their mind. They are stubborn, and they view protecting the galaxy in a more tangible way. They will only take what they know and act on that. They don¡¯t know for certain why Tyfoonica was taken, and they don¡¯t know, even if the Doomaki do probe him for information, they don¡¯t know that the Doomaki will get it. What they do know is that the different planets and systems in the galaxy are going to go crazy if The Council doesn¡¯t do something to reassure them and put some of their fears to rest.¡±


    ¡°Drake?¡± I turned toward Drake, a serious expression on my face.


    ¡°...Yeah?¡± Drake said with a little concern in his voice.


    ¡°If you knew the right thing to do, even if everyone was against you, wouldn¡¯t you feel an obligation to act? Even if you weren¡¯t sure what the outcome would be, if you knew something had to be done, the right thing to do is to take it upon yourself, wouldn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°You want to try to rescue Tyfoonica alone?¡± Drake said in surprise.


    ¡°If no one is willing to help me...yes.¡± I said emphatically. ¡°If something happens to me and I get killed or captured then...well, so be it. There¡¯s nothing useful the Doomaki can get from me. And if I get killed, it won¡¯t be a devastating loss for The Council or The Peacekeepers. But if there is a chance at success, I have to take it.¡± Drake walked away and began to pace, clearly unsettled by my conclusion.


    ¡°You speak as if you are some insignificant nobody. Need I remind you that you are the last living person in the Tyfoon bloodline. A family of people that has been so strong and so valiant that they have been chosen among trillions of people to be the chosen protector of the galaxy for several generations. You shouldn¡¯t think you are as expendable as you are suggesting.¡± Drake turned to me and I could see the passion in his eyes. His father had served under mine as The Chosen One¡¯s right hand man. It was clear Drake had gained a lot of the duty and respect for my family from Troy.


    ¡°I appreciate that Drake, but what good does being a descendant of a noble family line have, even if I possess the same strength and characteristics, if I see something that could bring about the destruction of the galaxy and I do nothing. Tell me, if The Chosen One had the concerns I had, would something be done about it?¡± Drake rolled his eyes.


    ¡°Of course. But you aren¡¯t The Chosen One...not yet anyway.¡± He replied somberly.


    ¡°Even so, I¡¯m sure this is the right thing to do. I¡¯m going to try and rescue Tyfoonica.¡±


    ¡°How? You don¡¯t even know where he is, you have no intel on the Doomaki, you have, well, nothing really.¡± I turned from Drake to face the city again. I grabbed the railing with both hands and leaned over it. Drake walked over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. ¡°Tyfoon, I know you mean well, but this isn¡¯t something you can do alone.¡± Drake said, a pleading tone in his voice.


    ¡°I have to try.¡± With that, I turned from him and walked away in the direction of my ship. I had walked about 20 feet away when Drake called for me.


    ¡°Tyfoon!¡± He called out. I stopped walking and paused for a moment. I turned around to see him running up to me.


    ¡°I told you, you can¡¯t do this alone.¡± Drake repeated.


    ¡°It doesn--¡± I started to say, but Drake cut me off.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m coming with you.¡± I started to object, but reconsidered and didn¡¯t say anything. I looked at Drake. His gaze met mine and I could tell by the fire in his eyes that he was serious. He nodded at me slowly as if to say ¡°yes, I¡¯m sure.¡± I smiled at him.


    ¡°Thank you, Drake.  You are a good friend.¡± Drake¡¯s serious expression broke slightly as he smiled.


    ¡°You had better not get me killed, Tyfoon.¡±

 Chapter 10

    The next few weeks seemed like an eternity. I was so disconnected from the outside world that I had really no idea where to begin to try and find the Doomaki. They had been off the radar from everyone for 18 years; they were good at staying hidden. A seasoned detective wouldn¡¯t have been able to find them, much less an 18 year old that had barely been out of his personal secluded dimension. If it hadn¡¯t been for Drake I would have been completely lost. Given the fact that Drake¡¯s father, Troy, was the leader of The Peacekeepers, he had travelled to a lot of places throughout the galaxy and developed many useful relationships with different people and leaders. Drake wasn¡¯t with his father near as much as he wanted, but he was still able to get plenty of exposure to the way the galaxy was run and was able to visit many planets. Once Drake turned 18 he was able to accompany Troy on a lot of his Peacekeeping ventures, so he had two solid years of exposure to many of the things The Peacekeepers saw and did.


    Even with that, the galaxy was a large place, and there was a lot of places to look. Drake had a handful of people to start with, so that meant a lot of downtime in our spaceship as we traveled and investigated. It was good having Drake with me to pass the time. We were using my ship; since Tyfoonica was gone, no one was going to miss it. We didn¡¯t bother saying goodbye to anyone because we knew The Council would have forbade us to go on this expedition. Even without us saying anything, though, they knew what we were doing. They had reached out to us several times and sent us several transmissions but we didn¡¯t answer any of them. We reviewed their messages regularly to ensure they hadn¡¯t found anything useful that would aid us in finding Tyfoonica, and also that they hadn¡¯t already found him. They were extremely upset with us and felt we were potentially throwing out lives away. Plus there was the occasional reminder that we could be subject to legal consequences since we were directly disobeying orders from The Council which was against the law. But none of that mattered to me. The only thing that mattered was finding Tyfoonica.


    We had already made half a dozen stops at various places, but so far, no one had heard anything useful about the Doomaki. The most we found were people terrified to learn that the rumors they had heard about the Doomaki¡¯s return were true.


    ¡°We should be arriving at sector 1178 in the XFQ province in a few hours.¡± Drake said. I groggily rubbed my eyes and looked over to him; I had been nodding off on the couch near the navigation panel where Drake was. Drake looked over to me. ¡°That¡¯s where planet Threschar is. Once we reach the XFQ province it won¡¯t take long to get there.¡± I nodded in acknowledgement.


    ¡°Awesome.¡± I said semi-enthusiastically through a yawn. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to get off this ship. I¡¯ve gotten spoiled living where Fiora is, it¡¯s pretty close to just about all the places Tyfoonica and I regularly go. Spending days at a time in a ship sucks.¡±


    ¡°Haha yeah, welcome to my world.¡± Drake said with a laugh.


    ¡°Who are we meeting with again?¡± I asked.


    ¡°A guy named Estrada. He isn¡¯t a political leader or anything, but he is a gossip king. Knows a lot about the goings on in the galaxy. He¡¯s also really strong, strong enough that the Doomaki may have tried to recruit him as some point.¡± At that last point, my nostrils flared and I felt my face get flushed.


    ¡°In that case, how do we know he isn¡¯t in league with the Doomaki?¡± I said, trying to control my voice as rage swelled up in me.


    ¡°Not this guy, he absolutely LOATHES authority. He can¡¯t stand having someone in charge of him, I¡¯d be floored if he decided to put himself under the thumb of the Doomaki. Besides, he¡¯s a good guy. He may hate authority, but he has a good moral compass. He just doesn¡¯t like to be told what to do.¡± Drake laughed it off. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. I was on edge, and anytime I thought about the Doomaki it made my blood boil. ¡°Better watch that temper.¡± Drake said, waving his finger back and forth. ¡°You don¡¯t want to let your emotions get the best of you if we actually run into some Doomaki.¡± I bit my lip.


    ¡°I know¡­¡± I replied. ¡°The last time I fought them, they got away. But the next time will be different, I¡¯m sure of it.¡± My ship had a training simulation room, it was heavily fortified and was able to simulate a variety of battle scenarios. It was limited as to how much ki blasts it could sustain, but it was great for training speed and reaction time. Speed and lightning fast reflexes is one of the biggest advantages you can have in a fight. Raw strength and power is all but useless if you can¡¯t catch your enemy. I had also been doing a lot of meditation on the ship. That was one of the best ways to increase the strength of your ki. Ki is virtually limitless, but you need the mental fortitude and concentration to harness it and convert it to a useable form. When I meditated, I would clear my mind of all things and focus intensely on the air, the moisture around me, even my own body. It¡¯s as if you have a radio with 1,000 stations and you have to dial in to each one, one at a time, until you find the one that the ki resides in. And even then, you have to go deeper, fine tuning it to get rid of all the static, until you are left with a pure, free flowing form of energy.


    I spent hours of meditation, both growing the power of my ki and focusing to find new and useful ways in which I could use it. I was still intent on finding a way to reabsorb ki into my body once it was expelled. Being able to do this would be useful in many ways. Ki was able to be stored in specially designed containment units and usually these were used as either a sort of battery, or for grenades in combat for those unable to harness ki themselves. But if I was able to reabsorb the ki, I would be able to use it to replenish my ki in a battle when I grew weary, like a health potion. I also wanted to learn how to absorb ki universally as well. Each person that expels ki, such as a ki ball for example, puts their own sort of ¡°fingerprint¡± on the ki. It makes that ki unique to that person. This would pose a new difficulty to reabsorbing ki. Even if I could learn to reabsorb my own, it would require adjustments for each and every other person if I wanted to absorb someone else¡¯s ki. I focused on many other things during my meditation as well, it was a good way to pass the time.


    The next few hours went by especially slow. I was very eager to get off the ship onto solid ground, so naturally it dragged by. Drake was busy doing something on the ship¡¯s computer, probably trying to figure out where we would go after we left Threschar. I decided to freshen up before we arrived. With all the training I had been doing in the training room, I pretty much stayed in a constant state of sweat and stink. I got undressed and hopped into the shower. I closed my eyes as I put my head under the running water and my mind wander off into thought. I had done a lot of contemplating about the Doomaki¡¯s motives over those past few weeks. I thought about the war between the Doomaki and The Peacekeepers from before I was born. It was the single greatest mystery of the century: why did the Doomaki fall off the map. They had won the war, what was left of the resistance against them wasn¡¯t enough to slow the Doomaki down even a little. Some people thought they had a coup, that once they got so close to overthrowing The Peacekeepers and The Council, they had a power struggle and broke apart. I didn¡¯t believe that though, it didn¡¯t really make sense. From what I heard, they were always extremely coordinated and efficient, all working together to achieve their goals. That was evident in the most recent attack; it was well coordinated and precise. They knew what they were doing and they executed it perfectly. Not to mention the fact that Troy was certain that the ki he felt from the Doomaki who took Tyfoonica was the same as the Doomaki he fought 18 years ago. And I was sure Tyfoonica had felt the same thing. It wasn¡¯t a coup that caused the Doomaki to disappear, it was something else.


    And there was something else that was nagging at me¡­the Doomaki that had nearly knocked Troy out. He was obviously much stronger than the other Doomaki. Troy was by far the strongest fighter among The Peacekeepers, and arguably the strongest fighter in the entire galaxy, yet that Doomaki made him look like a novice. And after he took out Troy, he was the one that blinded everyone so they could escape. It seemed to me that he was the one in charge of that group, he was calling their shots. It was even possible that he could be the leader of Doomaki. No one had ever seen the leader of the Doomaki or found his identity during the war. If this was, in fact, the leader of the Doomaki, it raised all kinds of new questions. The biggest question was the same as the one about the Doomaki reappearing period: why now? Why now did the Doomaki reappear? Why now did their leader finally show up among them? I played back the memory of seeing him in my mind. His cold eyes, his menacing smile toward me. He had made direct eye contact with me, and smiled. He didn¡¯t look toward anyone else, he looked directly at me, like he knew me or something. Of course, it could have been my mind playing tricks on me. Trying to get too far into the mind of a sociopath usually didn¡¯t yield anything but crazy.


    My attention shifted focus back to Tyfoonica. Of all the uncertainties I had, there was one thing I was certain of: Tyfoonica knew something the Doomaki wanted. The Doomaki wouldn¡¯t have come out of hiding otherwise. My concern wasn¡¯t as much about them breaking Tyfoonica and him telling the Doomaki. My concern was that they would kill him in the process. But what was it that Tyfoonica knew? He had been the trainer of my father, The Chosen One at that time. It wasn¡¯t unreasonable to think that he might have known something my father shared with him, a secret perhaps. Since my father disappeared, Tyfoonica would be the only person they could try to extract the information from. I had to accept the fact that no matter how much I thought and mediated about it, I wouldn¡¯t know what secret it could be until I rescued Tyfoonica and asked him. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    About two hours later we finally arrived in Threschar. It was a small, mostly green planet made up of mostly swamps and forests. A dense fog covered most areas making it difficult to navigate by sight. Luckily the ships autopilot didn¡¯t have an issue navigating right to where we needed to go. After passing through a large patch of fog, we could finally see through to the ground where there was a small landing area for our ship. It looked to be only big enough for five or six medium sized ships. It was obvious the planet, or at least this area, didn¡¯t see a lot of interplanetary visitors. Drake and I got off our ship and checked in at the ship port, a standard practice when visiting a planet. Anytime someone visited a planet besides their home planet they had to get registered for record keeping. This was a practice that was started by The Council so they could have a record of who was going where at any given time. But many places didn¡¯t do a very good job of enforcing that rule.


    We quickly finished checking in and started down the main street in the village. It went especially fast considering this wasn¡¯t Drake¡¯s first time visiting the planet. The air was humid and warm, causing me to break into a sweat almost immediately. There wasn¡¯t much civilization, just a few bigger buildings, probably the local market, and a collection of modest homes where the local inhabitants lived.


    ¡°Threschar is a pretty poor planet in the eyes of most surrounding planets.¡± Drake said. ¡°They gather most of what they need from the surrounding forests. There are a lot of hunters and gatherers, and for specialty items and needs they have a handful of stores in each village. Many people actually live in the forests in tree houses. That is pretty typical around the whole planet.¡± I looked around the forest surrounding the village. The trees were enormous; most were about 30 feet wide and a few hundred feet tall at least. ¡°Estrada actually lives in a tree house about 30 miles east of the village. Hopefully he¡¯s home; he spends a lot of time hunting. He has a pretty primitive way of living.¡±


    ¡°Primitive you say? I thought this guy was a gossip king?¡± I asked, surprised.


    ¡°Ha, don¡¯t let the primitive lifestyle fool you. The rest of the planet may be simple and disconnected from the outside world, but that¡¯s not the case with Estrada. Inside his little treehouse is a solar powered technological wonder. He has tons of receivers running with signals and news reports from across the galaxy. He doesn¡¯t have a traditional job; most of his money comes from selling the meat he gets from hunting. That leaves him with plenty of time to keep up with all the goings on in the galaxy. ¡°


    I chuckled. ¡°Sounds like a regular hermit.¡± I said with a laugh.


    ¡°He definitely is!¡± Drake answered back, smiling. ¡°He is a bit eccentric, for sure. But he has about as good a chance as anyone at knowing something about the Doomaki.¡± My look turned a bit more serious at the mention of the Doomaki. ¡°Let¡¯s keep our fingers crossed.¡±


    With that last note, we took flight and began flying in the direction of Estrada¡¯s treehouse. It all looked the same to me; just a vast collection of dense trees. But Drake seemed to know exactly where he was going. It was a short flight to our destination. Drake stopped abruptly and looked down.


    ¡°I think this is it.¡± Drake said. We could only see a vast collection of tree tops from where we were, like a giant green blanket covering the entire surface. We descended below the treetops and sure enough, just as we broke below the canopy we saw a large treehouse built in one of the bigger, older trees about 200 feet off the ground. It was an interesting sight; on the one hand it was a treehouse, so there was a primitive look to it. But on the other hand, it was obvious that Estrada was not as technologically underdeveloped as the rest of the planet appeared to be. Most of the tree houses we had passed on the way there were very simple and pretty small. For starters, Estrada¡¯s house was really big, and actually spanned between two or three trees that had intertwining branches. The supports traced back to the main body of the tree. In addition to the metal supports under his house, he had half a dozen or so tractor beams set up on the ground below that looked like they were installed with the polarity reversed, because instead of pulling the house to the ground, they were helping support it off the ground. This was likely a backup support in case one of the metal supports failed or the tree itself gave way. There was a ship port built into the tree with a one person ship parked on it. Dozens of high beam lights and cameras were set up all around the house. There were several motion detecting lasers setup around the house and tree. I couldn¡¯t see the lasers, but I was able to feel the energy radiating off them similar to the energy that would emanate from a ki blast.


    ¡°This guy is pretty serious about his security, isn¡¯t he?¡± I said, looking around the outside of the house.


    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s a bit paranoid. Come¡¯s with his distaste with authority I suppose. He doesn¡¯t trust many people.¡± Drake said with a shrug.


    ¡°But he trusts you?¡±


    ¡°He trusts my dad, so by extension he trusts me. Estrada used to be a part of the military here and he worked with my dad on occasion. He even accompanied dad on a few missions off the planet.¡± I looked at Drake in surprise.


    ¡°That¡¯s unusual. I didn¡¯t know your dad ever worked with people outside The Peacekeepers.¡±


    ¡°Usually he didn¡¯t.¡± Drake said. ¡°There were a handful of exceptions, though. Estrada is very loyal to his friends. He used to be very loyal to his country and planet as well. When he was in the military, he was an elite officer, and one of, if not the, strongest in the military. He would frequently be selected to go on secret missions as well as interplanetary reconnaissance. He would usually go as a spy and collect data and government secrets from other planets that posed a threat to his own. At least that¡¯s what he was told. He was under the impression that the information was being used as a security measure in case one of those governments decided to invade his country or planet. But it was a lie. The president and military generals were using the information to collapse the economies and governments of entire planets that were no threat at all. And then they would send aid, either in the form of financial consultants, or military help in the case of collapsed governments, and charge a hefty fee to regain government stability and fix the problems that they themselves caused. Once Estrada found out about it, he made the information public so everyone on this planet and other planets around the sector would know what was happening. That¡¯s why most of the planet is so poor. Nearly all the resources were taken by planets that had been swindled. After all that, Estrada completely cut off ties with the military and his government in general. Because of his strength and his smarts, none one from his government could do anything to retaliate against him. The planetary government pretty much collapsed after that, and only small local governments remain.¡± We flew down to the ship port and made our way to what looked like the front of the house.


    ¡°I can see why he has trust issues. I¡¯m glad he still trusts your dad.¡± I said as we approached the front door.


    ¡°Me too. During his many recon missions, he gained a lot of intel and intergalactic contacts that helps him stay in the know with everything going on around the galaxy.¡± Drake stopped at the front door and looked around cautiously.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯s home at the moment.¡± Drake replied, looking around with a somewhat concerned look on his face.


    ¡°How can you tell?¡± I asked. He hadn¡¯t knocked on the door or done anything else to indicate to Estrada that we were present.


    ¡°Because he hasn¡¯t come out to greet us yet. He¡¯s a bit of a security freak, if he was home, he would have already come out. He¡¯s got plenty of cameras and security equipment to let him know we¡¯re here. I¡¯m a little hesitant to knock on the door, I don¡¯t want to get a poison dart to the neck or something.¡± Drake said with a nervous laugh. I could tell he wasn¡¯t really joking.


    ¡°Gotcha¡¯. I guess we can just wait.¡± I replied. I sat on the edge of the landing we were on and let my feet hang off the edge. We were at least 200 feet above the ground below. It was a little kid¡¯s dream house, the best tree fort someone could imagine. Far below, on the ground, there was a pack of beasts glaring up at me, circling the tree we were in.¡±


    ¡°See those?¡± Drake said, pointing at the beasts below. They looked like a mix between a bear and a wolf. They were built like a bear, but had wolf-like head. Some walked around on all fours while others were walking on their hind legs. They were huge, easily 1200 pounds or more and probably standing close to ten feet tall. Even from 200 feet up they looked massive.


    ¡°Yeah, they don¡¯t look very friendly.¡± I replied.


    ¡°Animals like those are the reason there are so many tree houses. Those animals are fierce predators and extremely territorial. But most of them aren¡¯t adept at climbing trees. The general population is all but helpless against them.¡±


    ¡°What about Estrada?¡± As soon as the words left my mouth, a huge mass of fur and teeth landed right beside me, practically landing on my lap. I sprung up quickly and jumped back about ten feet, ready to defend myself. But the beast that was before me was limp and lifeless, a river of blood pouring from its neck.


    ¡°He eats them for breakfast.¡± Came a deep voice from above. I turned my eyes upward to see a tall man covered in animal skin standing on a thick branch about 20 feet over my head. He jumped off the branch and landed in between Drake and me. ¡°Drake, it¡¯s good to see you!¡± Estrada walked over to Drake and extended a hand to greet him.


    ¡°Good to see you too, my friend!¡± Drake answered back. Estrada turned to face me.


    ¡°And who do we have here?¡± Estrada asked.


    ¡°This is my good friend, Tyfoon.¡±


    ¡°Tyfoon! I have heard many good things about you! Troy speaks very highly of you.¡± Estrada walked over to me and greeted me with a very firm handshake. ¡°I hope I didn¡¯t startle you too much.¡± Estrada said, glancing at the lifeless beast a few feet away. I laughed.


    ¡°Not too much.¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s quite a catch.¡±


    ¡°Just a juvenile, but he will feed many mouths. But I assume you didn¡¯t come all the way here to enjoy the mundane flavors of the mascratti.¡± I assumed that was the name of the beast. Drake laughed and shook his head. Apparently the mascratti didn¡¯t taste very good.


    ¡°Definitely not. We have some important business we are here for.¡± Drake replied. Estrada smiled and nodded.


    ¡°Of course, of course.¡± Estrada walked over to his front door and waved his hand over the door. A digital keypad appeared and Estrada entered a password and the door unlocked and slid open. Estrada looked over his shoulder at us. ¡°Please come inside. I¡¯ve been expecting you.¡±