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THE GATEKEEPER Chapter 31
“Move,” Vinzgar hissed, glaring at Poseidon. Poseidon returned the glare and remained silent as he refused to budge from the spot.“Vinzgar,” Bastian started, “I can understand what you are trying to do here. However, you know as well as I do that we need to let this match continue for the time being. If we interrupt it, we’ll never be able to see how Drake handles himself if his emotions flare up after winning the games and starts investigating things on his own down below on the surface. This is the perfect test to see whether or not we can trust him to act properly on his own out in the world.”Vinzgar growled dangerously but didn’t respond; he couldn’t refute what his king had just said. After glaring with Poseidon for a few more moments, he humped and turned back around, sitting back down on his throne as he resumed watching the match.Brock was back on his feet, cautiously observing Drake as he remained standing on the spot motionlessly, still glaring at Brock. Brock finally spo
THE GATEKEEPER Chapter 32
The gate in front of Drake’ waiting room was lifted, allowing Draco to walk out and join Bastian in the middle of the arena. His eyes darted down to Drake before returning his gaze to Bastian and uttering a short snort. “It appears we won’t find ourselves with a moment’s respite while Drake is around.”“Indeed,” Bastian agreed. He focused his eyes on Draco. “Can I trust you to carry the lad to the infirmary? Judging by the performance we just witnessed, he will require some rest before he can muster the energy to fight again.”Draco silently dipped his head towards the Dragon King before bending over and gently scooping Drake up in one hand. “You know that we cannot leave him like this. If we don’t make an effort to teach him to control his magic, then--.”“I am aware of what must be done,” Bastian interrupted Draco quietly, his flat tone causing his advisor to fall silent. His tail slapped the ground a few times. “Needless to say, I will be making the necessary preparations for Drake
THE GATEKEEPER Chapter 33
The gate in front of Drake’ waiting room was lifted, allowing Draco to walk out and join Bastian in the middle of the arena. His eyes darted down to Drake before returning his gaze to Bastian and uttering a short snort. “It appears we won’t find ourselves with a moment’s respite while Drake is around.”“Indeed,” Bastian agreed. He focused his eyes on Draco. “Can I trust you to carry the lad to the infirmary? Judging by the performance we just witnessed, he will require some rest before he can muster the energy to fight again.”Draco silently dipped his head towards the Dragon King before bending over and gently scooping Drake up in one hand. “You know that we cannot leave him like this. If we don’t make an effort to teach him to control his magic, then--.”“I am aware of what must be done,” Bastian interrupted Draco quietly, his flat tone causing his advisor to fall silent. His tail slapped the ground a few times. “Needless to say, I will be making the necessary preparations for Drake
THE GATEKEEPER Chapter 1
Atlantis City A young man groaned as he leaned against a pole beneath a clock in the middle of a bustling city square. "She’s late," he said.While looking for the girl he was waiting for, the man kept an eye on the crowds that were going by.He had fair skin, looked about seventeen or eighteen years old, and even though it was midsummer, he was wearing a plain white t-shirt and a black leather jacket.A brown belt with a silver buckle supported his blue jeans, and brown boots with no lace covered his feet.His head was covered in spiky black hair, and a pair of sunglasses covered his eyes.Drake was his name, despite its oddity.Atlantis City, a floating city built on the ocean floor about 100 miles off the coast of the south-eastern United States, was the square in which Drake was standing.The ruins that are believed to be the real Atlantis were discovered about a decade ago on the ocean floor beneath the current city, so this location was chosen.The Atlantis City Construction Project
THE GATEKEEPER Chapter 2
Drake crossed the road out of curiosity and joined the other people gathered around the girl.The wind carried her clear as a bell voice further down the street.A sizable crowd had gathered to listen to her before she closed her mouth and stopped playing the guitar, spilling onto the road and causing traffic issues.People began depositing cash into the open guitar case that was lying on the ground next to the girl after there was a brief moment of silence and loud applause.Drake stayed to try to speak with the girl as the crowd began to disperse.She had already put the tips in her purse and was carrying her guitar case over her shoulder when he got close to her.When he began to clap once more, she stopped and turned to face Drake.That was actually pretty good," he said.Despite the fact that most people in this city are American, you heard them singing a Japanese song.That simply goes to show you don't need to comprehend the language to like the melody."The young lady smiled and said a
THE GATEKEEPER Chapter 3
Alice exhaled.I already told you;Until I left, my father was all over me.I ended up running out the door on him because he wouldn't give me a single minute to myself.When he gets home this evening, he won't be happy with me.Drake made a comment, "He sounds more and more like a stick in the mud every time you talk about your father."Is he unfamiliar with the idea of having fun?They had arrived at a sky rail station at this point and entered it.Atlantis City was only a few square miles in size, so someone came up with the idea of connecting the entire city with sky rails—basically sky trolleys—that would let people quickly get to the main area where they wanted to go and walk the rest of the way.The idea that was put forth was adopted unanimously due to the fact that there were few roads for cars and the sky rails occupied very little ground space.Since Atlantis City only had sixteen stations, there were stations all over the city and trolleys that led to other stations at each statio
THE GATEKEEPER Chapter 4
“Mind telling me why you decided to run?” Drake panted, pulling Alice over to a nearby park bench and sitting them both down on it.Alice panted for a few moments before smiling at Drake. “Just because I felt like it,” she wheezed.“I swear, girls really are complicated,” Drake moaned as he leaned back on the bench. “I can never understand what’s going through that head of yours.”Alice pouted. “Well, at least I’m not socially awkward,” she retorted.“I’m not, though. I have my reasons for keeping to myself,” Drake reminded her, taking off his sunglasses. “Anyways, I thought we were going to the talent show venue. I hope you didn’t forget that in your sudden need to run around the city.”“Of course, I didn’t!” Alice shot back. “This park is actually a shortcut over to the venue; you can see the building from here, see?”Drake followed the direction Alice’ fingers were pointing in and did see the talent show venue on the other side of the park from them. Walking there from the station
THE GATEKEEPER Chapter 5
6:02 pm"Well now, I feel that went better compared to we might have envisioned," Drake remarked.Alice agreed, "Yeah."We probably wouldn't finish in second place in the competition.Drake and Alice were seated at the same outdoor cafe where they first met in section B of Atlantis City in the late afternoon.A small silver trophy was on the table between them.There was an engraved "2nd" surrounded by a laurel on the surface of a large clear crystal set in it.All of the other performances had finished a few hours earlier, and the judges were tallying the audience's votes while all of the performers went to a waiting room.They started calling for a few performers to return to the stage over the intercom system about an additional hour later.When Drake and Alice got the call, they didn't know a thing about what was going on until they got to the stage and saw the trophies on a table there.After the award ceremony, one of the judges, dressed in a full white suit and shaded glasses, approa
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- THE GATEKEEPER
Chapter 33
The gate in front of Drake’ waiting room was lifted, allowing Draco to walk out and join Bastian in the middle of the arena. His eyes darted down to Drake before returning his gaze to Bastian and uttering a short snort. “It appears we won’t find ourselves with a moment’s respite while Drake is around.”“Indeed,” Bastian agreed. He focused his eyes on Draco. “Can I trust you to carry the lad to the infirmary? Judging by the performance we just witnessed, he will require some rest before he can muster the energy to fight again.”Draco silently dipped his head towards the Dragon King before bending over and gently scooping Drake up in one hand. “You know that we cannot leave him like this. If we don’t make an effort to teach him to control his magic, then--.”“I am aware of what must be done,” Bastian interrupted Draco quietly, his flat tone causing his advisor to fall silent. His tail slapped the ground a few times. “Needless to say, I will be making the necessary preparations for Drake
- THE GATEKEEPER
Chapter 32
The gate in front of Drake’ waiting room was lifted, allowing Draco to walk out and join Bastian in the middle of the arena. His eyes darted down to Drake before returning his gaze to Bastian and uttering a short snort. “It appears we won’t find ourselves with a moment’s respite while Drake is around.”“Indeed,” Bastian agreed. He focused his eyes on Draco. “Can I trust you to carry the lad to the infirmary? Judging by the performance we just witnessed, he will require some rest before he can muster the energy to fight again.”Draco silently dipped his head towards the Dragon King before bending over and gently scooping Drake up in one hand. “You know that we cannot leave him like this. If we don’t make an effort to teach him to control his magic, then--.”“I am aware of what must be done,” Bastian interrupted Draco quietly, his flat tone causing his advisor to fall silent. His tail slapped the ground a few times. “Needless to say, I will be making the necessary preparations for Drake
- THE GATEKEEPER
Chapter 31
“Move,” Vinzgar hissed, glaring at Poseidon. Poseidon returned the glare and remained silent as he refused to budge from the spot.“Vinzgar,” Bastian started, “I can understand what you are trying to do here. However, you know as well as I do that we need to let this match continue for the time being. If we interrupt it, we’ll never be able to see how Drake handles himself if his emotions flare up after winning the games and starts investigating things on his own down below on the surface. This is the perfect test to see whether or not we can trust him to act properly on his own out in the world.”Vinzgar growled dangerously but didn’t respond; he couldn’t refute what his king had just said. After glaring with Poseidon for a few more moments, he humped and turned back around, sitting back down on his throne as he resumed watching the match.Brock was back on his feet, cautiously observing Drake as he remained standing on the spot motionlessly, still glaring at Brock. Brock finally spo
- THE GATEKEEPER
Chapter 30
“Is there a problem, Damrabe?” the crimson-scaled dragon king questioned, an eyebrow raised. Something caught Bastian’s eyes, and he and everyone else in the room proceeded to stare at it in shock.One of the test tubes of blood in Damrabe’s sash glowed red-hot as it visibly vibrated in its slot. As everyone continued to observe the spectacle, the test tube shattered without warning, sending shards of glass and droplets of blood flying throughout the room. Wherever the blood splattered, be it on skin, scales, cloth, or stone, the surface splattered immediately sizzled and burned black. Several dragons hissed in pain as their skin and scales were burned.“What the hell just happened!?” Vinegar growled, shock evident in his voice. “Damrabe, what was that!?”“I...I don’t know!” Damrabe responded as he attempted to heal his right hand and torso, which had received the brunt of the blood exploding. “All I can tell you is that vial contained a sample of Drake’s blood that I took from him tw
- THE GATEKEEPER
Chapter 29
Back up in the top box where Bastian and the Dragon Council observed the battles, Reothand and Poseidon entered the room. Bastian turned around and looked at them, raising his eyebrow in a silent question.Poseidon shook his aged, golden head and stroked his beard. “We didn’t find anyone in the magical maintenance room, but we did find evidence that the lottery-system spell used to randomly determine matchups had been tampered with. All the crystal ball surveillance cameras had been smashed, as well.”Prismo groaned, covering his face with his left hand. “None of the guards openly admitted to seeing anything, either,” he added to Poseidon’s statement. “My hunch says someone with the Shadow Strikers may be involved in this.”Several sets of eyebrows shot up at the mention of the Shadow strikers. “The Shadow Strikers is that group of assassins-for-hire, correct?” Vinegar questioned. “Why would they be involved in this?”“Isn’t that obvious?” Bastian asked, looking down at the fight belo
- THE GATEKEEPER
Chapter 28
“This year, we have a slew of new and old participants in these bloody games! In addition to the two-time runner up dragon Balara, we also have a prisoner who’s convicted of stealing the Orb of the First King! Who’s excited to see what these two are capable of during the games? I know I am!”Drake slapped his forehead as the crowd cheered even louder when the announcer brought him up. What the hell is wrong with these people?“Now then, let’s get the ball rolling! We have one hundred and twenty-eight prisoners that passed the assessment exam and made it to the games this year! That means we’ll have seven rounds of one-on-one fights, so there will be plenty of time to watch the carnage in the arena! Let’s begin with deciding the first match for the day!There’s something wrong with that MC. Is he a frickin’ devil or something? Drake stood up from the cot and walked over the iron gate. The arena was set on the ground and was separated from the elevated stands by a large wall. Standing j
- THE GATEKEEPER
Chapter 27
Drake placed another neat stack of parchment on a shelf before replying. “I happen to think so. I can’t really do anything else right now to prepare myself, can I?”“Yes, you can,” Poseidon told him. “There’s more to the games than just a simple fighting tournament. Did anyone give you details on it?”“Ugh, no.”Poseidon leaned back in his chair and sighed, the wood creaking under his weight. “Very well, allow me to explain what the games entail.” He glanced at a sheet of parchment laying on his desk. “The Prisoners’ Games is a fighting event open for public viewing that’s set in a tournament bracket. This year, one hundred twenty-eight prisoners passed the assessment exam, so that means you’ll have to win seven matches to come out the winner. The first round will take up the first day or two, depending on how fast the matches come to an end. The tournament will speed up as we progress to the later rounds as prisoners are weeded out.”“Hold on, this event is open to the public? Why?”
- THE GATEKEEPER
Chapter 26
“Easy, easy, Vinzgar!” Bastian soothed, placing his hand on Vinzgar’s shoulder once more to calm him down. “None of us here believe that statement; for that matter, Zero, Boreta, and I know you far too well to even consider this a possibility from you.”Drake had his hand on his chin, deep in thought as Bastian calmed down Vinegar. He then looked up at Bastian.“There’s three possible answers that I can think of, Bastian,” he said. All the dragons turned to look at him. “One, Vinegar is lying. I can’t say much about him since I hardly know Vinzgar, but if you trust him, that’s a good enough reason to rule that possibility out.”Bastian and several others nodded at this.“Two, there’s the chance that Vinzgar was somehow controlled against his will when that order was placed and has no memory of it.”“That’s nearly impossible,” Boreta interjected, shaking her head. “Magic might not be the Killing family’s strong point, but Vinzgar has an exceptionally high amount for his family. And bra
- THE GATEKEEPER
Chapter 25
“Thanks for the info, Brock” Drake shouted as he was yanked into the air. Drake thought it might be best to avoid drawing unwanted attention to Draco, so he didn’t say anything to the dark gray dragon. Drake and his two guards exited the cavern and started flying in the direction of the rising sun. Blinded by the light, Drake was forced to keep his eyes closed for the next several minutes as his hair whipped in the wind. His hair had barely grown out over the past month, but his spiky bangs were now threatening to cover his eyes.Suddenly, the two guards changed course and shot straight up into the sky, increasing their speed dramatically. The wind force tore Drake’s eyelids apart, and he watched as they continued to rise higher and higher, bursting through the clouds. There was an incredibly bright flash of blue light that forced Drake to close his eyes, and he heard a loud sonic boom that surrounded him, deafening his ears. Then all was quiet, and Drake slowly opened his eyes.The b
