Haven- Agent 51 Read online

  Nao nodded to her guards. “Please, give us a moment, will you?”

  The guards bowed in unison, turned, and walked out into the hallway, positioning themselves on either side of the doorway.

  Nao turned and looked back at Rylan and, once again, she feigned a smile. “I’m talking about the location of the hidden base, of course. Thanks to you, we were able to eliminate the threat in its entirety.”

  With a smile still on her face, Nao leaned down and offered him the large glass. “We could not have done it without you.”

  Rylan’s face fell. What was she talking about? The last thing he remembered was being stabbed. He shook his head. “No … no! That’s not possible. I told you nothing!”

  Nao’s smile had become so wide that Rylan could see her teeth. They were long, white, and fanged. “Oh, on the contrary, Agent 51,” she said, placing the glass on the floor, “you told me a great deal!”

  Rylan began to sweat, and suddenly his mouth felt very dry again. He looked down at his thigh. His wounds were clean, and he had been bathed. His mind was racing now¬—he had no recollection of the Waterchild healing his wounds or changing his clothes. Rylan felt his stomach roll with anxiety; if he couldn’t remember that, then had he betrayed the Majesty?

  “Please, 51, drink.” Nao pushed the glass forward. “I’m sure you’re parched. Besides, you will need your strength, if you are to leave.”

  Rylan's mouth fell open and he looked up at Nao. “What did you say?” he gasped. “Leave?”

  “Well, yes, you have done your part,” she said. “That was our deal, and I plan to keep my word.” Nao stood and took a step back, motioning to the doorway.

  “You’re free to go, Agent 51.”

  Rylan looked at the open corridor and then back at Nao. He shook his head slightly. “No, this can’t be right,” he said, his voice trailing off. “I … I can leave?”

  Nao smiled warmly. “Yes, I will have my guards take you to the mainland.”

  Rylan looked to the guards and then back down to the ground, rubbing a hand across his neck. Was this really happening? Had he really betrayed the Majesty, and now was he really being set free? He glanced up at Nao. “What about Cyrus Kan?” he asked.

  She looked surprised. “What about him?”

  “He won’t let me go.”

  Nao began to laugh. “Let you go? Agent 51, you are quite humorous. I am the ruler of this domain. Cyrus is but a pawn in a much larger game. If I say that you are to go free, then you will go free. I assure you, no one will dispute this, nor will any harm come to you. Come,” she pointed to the glass of water, “drink.”

  There were so many things going through Rylan’s mind he didn’t know where to begin. He couldn't have betrayed the Majesty, he couldn’t have! But then again, he couldn’t remember. Rylan ran his hand through his hair and shook his head again.

  “When can I leave?” he asked.

  Nao tilted her head to the side and looked at Rylan as if he was being foolish. “Now, if you like,” she said with a shrug and waved her hand to the door.

  Again, Rylan looked past the doorway and down the dimly lit corridor. For the first time, he noticed how much bigger the hallway was than he’d originally thought. But the world looked very different when you weren’t viewing it through a keyhole. He had spent countless hours seeing the same hall as a prisoner. Now he would be able to walk it is a free man. But at what cost? What had he done, and how many lives had paid for his freedom?

  Nao turned and walked out of the cell. She stood in the center of the corridor with her back to Rylan. “Come, Keeper,” she said softly, “it’s time you return home to your people.”

  Rylan slowly got to his feet and began to walk, placing one foot in front of the other as if he was doing it for the first time. Moving slowly, he stopped at the doorway and stood in its threshold. He turned to look down at the lock on the door and stared at the keyhole.

  It was strange that something so trivial could hold so much meaning. This minute opening had served him in so many ways, ways he never thought imaginable. On the surface, it was nothing more than a lock, the gatekeeper between him and his freedom. But for Rylan it was a symbol of hope, a constant reminder that a world existed beyond these walls. A world where he had once been a free man, free from Nao and her torturous ways. As long as he could see the keyhole, he could believe that one day he would be free again. Yet, in the end, it had simply been a lock. A lock for which he’d apparently always possessed the key, and the key had been his betrayal.

  Rylan shuffled through the doorway and stopped when he reached Nao’s side. She stood with her hand resting on her spear, then turned and looked over her shoulder. “There is just one thing before you go.”

  Rylan looked into her blood red eyes. “What’s that?” he asked.

  Nao’s soft gaze transformed into a menacing glare. “I would like you to admit that you are a traitor.”

  Rylan took a step back. “What?”

  Nao advanced quickly toward him. “It’s a simple request, one that will grant you freedom. Say it,” she said firmly.

  Rylan shook his head. “No, no!”

  “I’m afraid I must insist, Agent 51,” Nao said, pursing her lips. It’s important to acknowledge your betrayal. Many people died because of you.”

  Rylan’s brain scrambled for answers. He was feeling more confused the longer she spoke. He wanted her to stop talking. He couldn’t think. He needed to think.

  “No, no,” he said again and continued to back his way into the cell. “I didn’t betray them! You’re lying!”

  Nao’s head twitched a bit but she held her chin high. “Careful, 51,” she cautioned. “Watch your tone.”

  She leaped forward, past the threshold of the chamber and into the cell with Rylan.

  Rylan put his hands to his head. He could not remember anything.

  “Dear God, what have I done? I didn’t, I couldn’t have!” he muttered.

  “You did,” she said, her voice rising. “You betrayed your people, and you will admit it or you will rot here for the rest of your miserable life.”

  Rylan stumbled across the stone floor and he fell to the ground.

  “I am a traitor!” Nao shouted. “SAY IT!”

  Rylan shook his head and tried to scurry to the back of the room, but Nao cut him off. She spun her spear in her hand and held it firmly to Rylan’s throat. “Four simple words and you are free. Say it, 51, say it, and you can see your people again.”

  “No!” Rylan screamed belligerently. He squeezed his eyes shut. “I am not a traitor!”

  “Yes you are!” Nao yelled and pulled the spear back to strike.

  Rylan shook his head and held himself in a tight embrace. “I am Agent 51,” he muttered, “I am Agent 51.” He began to rock back and forth. “I am Agent 51. I am Agent 51.”

  Nao’s eyebrows squeezed together in fury as she watched him, but the grip on her spear loosened, and she slowly lowered her weapon. Rylan sat trembling, withdrawn, far removed from his surroundings. Nao watched, intrigued by his odd behavior until her guard came forward.

  “He is weak, my Queen, broken. Kill him and let’s be done with it,” the guard said.

  Nao said nothing. She simply stood, engrossed with the human and his behavior.

  “My Queen,” the guard said again.

  Nao narrowed her eyes. “I have beaten this man like I have beaten no man before,” she said. “I have brought him to the brink of death, only to give him life so I can slowly drain it from him again.” She tilted her head to one side. “Yet, he will not betray them. He will not bend to my will.”

  “There is nothing left of this pitiful human, my Queen,” the guard said. “Let me kill him for you. There are more important matters at hand.”

  Nao stared at Rylan and slowly shook her head. “And now, so close to the end, he goes where I cannot follow.”

  Nao took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. She then turned and walked back into the corridor. �
��He is not to be harmed,” she said firmly.

  “But, my Queen!” the guard protested.

  Nao turned and glared over her shoulder at the guard. “No harm will come to him.”

  Chapter 9

  When Rylan woke up he was lying in the back corner of his cell. He was groggy, but awake enough to hear voices on the other side of the door. Rylan rolled onto his stomach with a groan and began to crawl, slowly inching himself closer to the door. His body was weak. It had been days since his last meal, but he pushed forward, determined to see who was there.

  The voices turned to murmurs as they moved farther away from his cell. Finally Rylan reached the door and peered through the keyhole. He saw two of Nao’s soldiers carrying a limp body by its arms down the hallway. A streak of what looked like sparkling silver blood trailed behind it. Rylan pressed himself against the keyhole to get a better look, but his vision was blurry, and he quickly pulled away, wiping the sweat from his eyes before looking again. Just as they turned the corner, he caught a glimpse of the body they were dragging and its long silver tail—the Waterchild.

  “No!” he whispered.

  He turned and let his back slide down the length of the door as he stared vacantly at the dim light in the center of the room. His limbs felt heavy, and a painful lump had lodged itself in his throat.

  Rylan buried his face in his hands. He would never forget the Waterchild’s angelic face and the kindness she had bestowed upon him.

  “You did that,” Nao’s voice said from the other side of the door.

  Rylan lifted his head, and his face flushed with anger. He looked through the keyhole, but the corridor was empty; there was no sign of her.

  “What do you mean?” he yelled, his voice shaking in anger.

  There was no answer. Rylan glared through the keyhole, desperately searching for his nemesis.

  “Answer me!” He screamed. “What do you mean? What did you do?”

  “Not me, you, Agent 51.” Nao's voice sounded smug. “You forced me to make her an example, an example of the lengths to which I am willing to go.”

  “You’re mad!” Rylan yelled and struck the door with his fist. “You are sick, and twisted, and a coward!”

  Suddenly Nao’s black face appeared in his line of sight, her crimson eye dilated and crazed.

  Rylan jumped back from the door.

  “No, I’m persistent,” she hissed. “Admit you’re a traitor, 51, and this will all be over.”

  Rylan stared up at the cracked ceiling. What had he done? He couldn’t get the images out of his head. Zeek was dead, and the Waterchild had been killed because of his reluctance. He felt the sting of tears in his eyes. He didn’t know what to do anymore. Despite all his training, had he told Nao the location of the hidden base? Had hundreds of people lost their lives because of him?

  “Say it,” she whispered.

  He hadn’t meant to do it; he didn't want to say it. But maybe he was. Maybe he was a traitor.

  “Say it, 51!”

  His lips quivered. All those innocent lives …

  “51!”

  “I …” he said, tears streaming down his face.

  “Yes, that’s it!”

  “I …”

  Rylan heard more footsteps approaching rapidly, like someone was running.

  “Quickly, 51, they are coming for you. Admit that you are a traitor!”

  “I am …”

  The footstep stopped just outside the door.

  “My Queen,” a new voice said, “the rebels have arrived, their ships have landed. We must leave!”

  “SAY IT!!!” Nao shouted over the newcomer.

  Rylan swallowed, his body trembling. “I am …”

  Nao pressed her eye to the keyhole. “Continue, 51! Rid yourself of the guilt, the betrayal! Free yourself!”

  Rylan put his hands to his head in frustration. Voices rose from the depths of his mind. Screaming, they were all screaming. Nao, Zeek, the Waterchild, thousands of voices, all screaming. “I. Am. AGENT. 51!” he shouted.

  “NOOO!!!” Nao cried, and she pounded the door so hard that Rylan could feel the walls of the cell shake around him.

  “51!” he yelled again in vindication. He got to his knees and glared through the small opening at Nao. “I. AM. AGENT. 51. YOU. BITCH!”

  Nao struck the door again, hard. “Open this door now!” she screamed.

  “But, my queen, they are coming!” the guard said. Rylan could hear the panic in her voice.

  He watched in horror as a gray translucent hand reached through the door, clawing at him, but a second later it burst into flames. Even Nao could not penetrate the cell she had imprisoned him in.

  “Now, damn you! Open the—”

  A loud explosion rumbled the confines of the lower dungeon. Rylan was thrown flat on the floor as dust and debris cascaded from the ceiling.

  He scrambled back to the door and pressed his eye to the keyhole to see what was happening. The ground shook again, and he saw Nao fall to her knees. She looked up, scowling in Rylan’s direction. With her teeth bared, she got to her feet and marched frantically toward the door again, but her guards grabbed her by the arms and held her back.

  “NOOO!” she protested, her spear cutting through the air in desperation.

  “We must leave!” the guard yelled, pulling her back into a cloud of dust.

  Rylan watched them disappear around the corner and braced himself as a second, more powerful explosion shook the chamber, and the ground buckled beneath his feet. What the hell was happening? Was this the Majesty?

  In the distance Rylan thought he heard gunfire. He quickly sat up, but suddenly everything stopped. It was quiet. Rylan froze. His heart quickened, and he listen intently, but all he heard was a soft click.

  He immediately looked to the door.

  CLICK. CLICK.

  A key was turning in the lock.

  The cell door slowly creaked opened, and a plume of dust filled the room that made Rylan cough and cover his mouth. When he looked back up, he was met by two glowing red eyes. “No!” he gasped.

  Nao leaped from the doorway, landing on top of Rylan and pinned him to the ground. She crouched over him on all fours like a wild animal and held him by the throat, squeezing his esophagus until he could no longer breathe. Rylan gasped for air. He could feel the pressure building in his head. He frantically grabbed Nao’s wrists and pulled as hard as he could to try and free himself, but there was no use; she was too strong.

  “Did you think I would let you live?” she snarled as she stood up, lifting Rylan by the throat until his frail body dangled in the air. “You fool! I will break you!” And with that she slammed Rylan back to the ground.

  Rylan's vision went dark as he hit the stone floor, and when he came to a moment later he saw her standing over him. But he could breathe freely.

  “I will rid this world of human filth, and I will start with you,” she said as she unsheathed her dagger and straddled his body. Taking hold of his throat again, she raised her weapon high into the air. Rylan flinched, preparing himself for the inevitable when he heard more gunfire.

  CRACK!

  Green blood spattered into the air as a bullet tore through Nao's flesh, leaving her with a mangled shoulder.

  CRACK!

  Another bullet, a missed headshot, grazed the side of her right cheek.

  Nao hid a grimace, but Rylan saw the malice in her eyes, and then he felt her gold blade pierce his neck.

  His eyes grew wide as the cold metal sliced into his flesh. He couldn't move. All he could feel was the burn of the incision as Nao quickly removed her dagger. She leaned forward, green blood dripping from the side of her face. He could feel her hot breath as she whispered into his ear.

  “Traitor!”

  More shots were fired, and Rylan felt the weight of Nao’s body vanish as she dissolved into wisps of black smoke.

  He gripped his neck as tightly as he could and rolled onto his side. Blood flowed from his wound onto
his hand and across the floor. His body was numb. The pain was slowly ebbing away. He could taste blood in his mouth now, and in the distance he thought he heard voices.

  “Area clear,” one of them said. It sounded mechanical, as if it was coming through a headset.

  “Valkyrie, we have a man down.” This voice was different, but it still had the same mechanical tone.

  Rylan felt someone kneel down next to him.

  “Keeper, can you hear me?” the person asked.

  Rylan looked up to see a heavily armed soldier. He wore a grey helmet with a black visor that covered his eyes. Rylan recognized the symbol on his chest plate; it was the cross of freedom, the insignia of the Paladins, the Majesty's Kill Squad.

  “Vaysinger, get over here,” The warrior said.

  Another Paladin came into view and knelt down next to the first one. “Facial recognition is a match, this is our boy,” he said. “Hello, mate, we’ve been looking for you.”

  Considering the circumstances, Rylan thought the man sounded quite cheerful.

  Vaysinger moved Rylan onto his back, removed something from within his armor, and jabbed Rylan in the chest with it.

  “DNA is a match too,” he said.

  Rylan stared blankly up at Vaysinger. He could feel his limbs beginning to grow cold.

  “He has a cut to his carotid artery,” Vaysinger said. He took off the large med pack he was carrying on his back. “Hold on now, I’m going to stop the bleeding, so stay with me,” he said to Rylan.

  Rylan tried to nod, but he found that he couldn’t. His life was fading away, and there was nothing he could do about it.

  “Creed, we have incoming!” another soldier yelled from outside the door.

  “Six, I’ll set the charges at the end of the hallway. You and Dune cover me. No one gets through here until we get the Keeper stable.” A man Rylan assumed to be Creed came into his sight and turned to Vaysinger. “Get this boy on his feet. Things are about to get hot!” he said.

  “Roger that, boss,” Vaysinger replied.

  Vaysinger took out another small device and placed it on Rylan’s neck. “This is going to hurt a bit, but we're going to stop the bleeding and cauterize the wound. You hear me?”