The Book of Time: A Guardians of Time Novel

Chapter Nine: Caged

Stenos hated The Keeper. He hated Sheena. He hated absolutely everything about the situation he was in and now, more than ever, he hated Ayden.

When consciousness returned to him, he had spread his limbs out, a couple of them protesting with pops and cracks. After the assault from the Keeper, he fell to a crumpled mess and blacked out. As he blinked, he realized that he was left alone. Ayden, The Keeper, Sheena, the guardsmen, everyone had left him in a bleeding heap. He spread out on the cold floor for a moment while the blood returned to his sleeping hands and feet. He was furious and after snapping a crooked finger back into place, he stomped off toward his quarters.

Quarters. He nastily thought to himself. More like a well lit cell.

Over the past few weeks, things had taken a turn for the worse. He was no longer working with The Keeper. In fact, he finally figured out that he never was. The Keeper had tricked him, and now he was part of the man's collection. Nothing more than a drudge who was punished severely if he did not do as he was told.

Of course, Stenos thought, it seemed a fitting life. If he had believed in irony, he would be able see the stink of it surrounding him now. He had treated millions with disregard, not caring for their lives or afflictions. Being a prisoner and getting a taste of his own ruthlessness, however, did not deter his wish to escape and claim the universe that he believed was rightfully his.

The thin mattress he sat on provided little comfort and the small room had nothing more than the bed and a small desk. The desk was empty, as The Keeper did not allow him to have anything. His Master even kept his sword until he saw fit to allow Stenos out of his cage, which wasn't often

I need to strike. He thought to himself.

He stood up and walked over to a very small mirror that hung on the wall next to the desk. The reflection he saw was not the evil king he used to be. This man who was held captive against his will, weak and fearful was not who Stenos had been. He was ruthless; evil and unwilling to back down from any force that opposed him, so how was it that The Keeper was any different?

In his centuries of tyrannical reign as the most feared being in the universes, he killed billions. He had destroyed planets and brought fear to those whose hearts were pure and innocent. So why was he so afraid of The Keeper? Why had a being, who claims to be ancient, wait until now to reveal himself? Until that day, when his Master had rescued him from Cal's hellish prison, Stenos had never heard of him.

His red eyes were dull as he looked at his face and touched his blue skin delicately. Under his fingers, it was rubber. His eyes were sunken into his head and he looked like he had missed hours of sleep. He looked like death.

Death. He thought.

That was it. The key. The one thing that Stenos, once the most powerful, evil being had feared; his own destruction. To have created the legacy he had and then lose it to something as meaningless as death, frightened him. He had found and destroyed galaxies, searching for ways to prolong his life. When he had come across the Waters of Atlantis, he had found his treasure.

And then there was his son, Brelick.

Finding him had brought a new hope, but it was snatched away by Maylo, his most trusted Crafter who had betrayed him. But the fear, the ever present pit in his stomach was always there. He had to remind himself that he would never die. Nothing had stopped him before and The Keeper was just another casualty. Or soon would be.

"Master." Stenos growled to himself as his eyes began to blaze. In a rage, he reached out and smashed the little mirror. "What a joke!"

He couldn't contain the anger that moved within his bowels like a snake, slithering around and squeezing his internal organs.