The Traveler by James Picard

[Kheren]

I've been working on this one since early last school year, it took me a good amount of time to get to writing it down and getting it posted. I already posted several chapters on another site, but I thought I'd do it here too. Any ways, here it is!The Traveler



Long ago, there were men and women who had been graced with the power to travel beyond the farthest of stars, to places where no others could ever join them. But their days did not last. A sad, twisted warrior hunted them down and destroyed them, killing all until none were left. The Omniverse wept for the end of their existence, and its guardians cast down the warrior, and imprisoned him. But they could not hope to keep him contained forever. And so they waited, hoping that some day, a new Traveler would be born...

Prologue

Warren gazed at the world around him. It had been a long time since he had last been here, to the place he called home. It had been longer still since he had been in contact with his family, his friends. His life. He shook his head and brought his mind to the task before him. He was to go through the city, and see if he could find what should not exist. Could not exist. And yet the Guardians had sent him here anyways, on what was likely to be a wild goose chase. He did not understand their motives for this. But, he would obey them without question. And if they asked him to find the one thing in the entire Omniverse that was impossible to find, he would do so. He continued down the block, past several large skyscrapers. They failed to impress him now, he had seen things beyond the wildest dreams of their architects. This world held very little that could impress him anymore.

He took out his scanner, and began to look for any energy sources it picked up. He didn't find anything, so he continued walking. He received several incredulous stares from pedestrians, and promptly ignored them all. He had grown accustomed to on-lookers wondering what he was doing on his missions. He kept on his path, and did not waver, only stopping when the traffic lights forbade him to go further. The scans still failed to pick up anything, and he began to grow frustrated. The most patient person in the world, Warren was not. He wanted results as quickly as possible. He looked up to the sky, and silently asked why, of all people, was he chosen for such a mundane task as this.

Suddenly, the scanner beeped. It had found something abnormal. Warren checked it, did a double-take, and checked again. These readings were off the charts. Which could only mean one thing.

"This is Warren," he said as he pulled out his communicator, "I found him."
Chapter 1

A boy watched as the bus passed a person with a strange device, the likes of which he had never seen before. He briefly wondered what it was. Then he turned his attention back to his book. It was his favorite, Arthur and the Invisibles, by Luc Besson. He loved to be able to go on journeys through books, and often found himself thinking about what he would do were he really there. It was a mere fantasy, he knew, but it did him no harm to dream.

He looked up to see the bus finally reaching his stop, and got off. He walked about a quarter of a block until he reached his home, where he greeted his ever-faithful dog. It was a little annoying to be barked at every time he came home from school, but the boy would gladly go through it for a chance to enjoy the dog's company. He took the dog to the backyard to perform his duty, and went back inside. He grabbed some of the books he'd been keeping on the bookshelf, and headed out the door to walk to the library about three-quarters of a mile down.

It was a fairly long walk, but the boy enjoyed the chance to be out in the fresh air and getting exercise while on his way to return his old books and pick up a new one. Stories were precious to him, and he cherished every one, whether it was a written document, or televised. Any tale where things that could not happen in the real world happened thrilled him, and he was never able to wait for long before finding a new one and absorbing it. He reached the library, and saw a large crowd of people trying to get in the entrance.

Probably for some new book from a hit series like the one about the vampires or the boy-wizard, he thought. The crowd had just finished piling in when he reached the door. It was an automatic, moving once it sensed motion.

Oh great, the boy thought. Some woman’s dog peed on it. I better get in quickly, before they close it for maintenance. He began to run towards the door, just as it began closing. It was a close race, and the boy nearly didn't make it. He turned to his side to have more room, but it seemed too late. The door was almost certain to close on his arm. But just as it had seemed hopeless, he made it through.

That's odd, he thought, It felt like the door didstart closing on my arm, but then it was just out of the way. Shrugging it off, he returned his focus to his books. He returned his old ones in the drop box, and picked up his new ones, plus a DVD he'd managed to find. He left eventually, taking the side exit, and walked back home. The whole way, he couldn't help but feel like he was being watched, as if someone was following him.

"Hey, kid." a voice called. "I need to talk to you for a moment."

"Who's there?" the boy asked. "Who are you?"

"Relax, I'm not some creep or a kidnapper. I just want to talk really quick. I'm over here, by the bush to your left."

The boy did not know what to make of this. It could be he was lying, but the voice sounded more like a high-school student than an adult. He walked over to the other side of the bush, and saw a young man, about seventeen or eighteen, crouched down. He had short, black hair, and slightly, though not very, tanned skin.

"I need to talk to you. You're in danger here. We have to go some place safe." the man said.

"What do you mean?" the boy asked. "Is this some sort of prank?"

"No, not at all. But we're not safe around here. Anyone could be one of Darkondus' agents."

"What are you talking about?" the boy asked. "I'm not going anywhere with you if you don't tell me who you are."

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this," the other person said, "but you leave me no choice."

And then the man grabbed the boy, putting his hand over his mouth to keep him from making noise, and pressed a button on his watch. It was then that the boy realized this man was the same person with the strange device he had seen earlier. He wondered what he was going to do with him, when suddenly, a large, circular blue light appeared.

"Next stop, the Hall of Ancients." the man said, as he and the boy passed through the portal.