THE RETURN OF GENERAL KAI

Chapter 9

The strange man called out to him, his cigarette falling from his hand. “It is you!” The heavily tattooed man fell to his knees, bowing his head. Kai rushed to him, “get up! Have you lost your mind?” He asked as he held him by his shoulders and pulled him up.

Kai looked around frantically, hoping no one saw what just happened from their floor to ceiling windows, “I’m sorry, my Lord. I don’t know what came over me.”

“I am not your Lord nor do I know who you are. Please remove yourself from my presence. The courier office does not open till ten and my manager will talk my ears off.” Kai said as he went pack to pick up the packages he abruptly dropped.

The strange man was Maverick Slade, Kai’s captain and one of his closest aides. He held the position that was the lowest of the General’s officers but that was simply because he was low-born. His family had served the Rylans for centuries before they became the ruling house. 

The two men grew up together but Kai had no idea who the heavily tattooed man was but there was an odd sense of familiarity. Though he was certain that his dreams were memories, these characters typically had no face and he liked it that way. Kai was not ready to face anyone that knew him from his past.

Maverick watched the man he feared the most in the world pile up package after package on his arm. “Move.” Kai said as he dropped the packages in the bigger box.

“Forgive my questions, my Lord but what happened to you? Is it really you?” Kai ignored him.

“Astrophel told everyone you were in a special asylum in the capital and that you lost your mind. You look in perfect health to me.” Maverick said again.

“I don’t know who you are or who Astrophel is. Please leave, we aren’t open yet.” Was all Kai said in response. A part of him wanted to pull this stranger aside and ask him all the questions he had. For one, who this Astrophel was that told everyone he was locked up in the capital. Was it the same man that dropped him off at the bus stop? The same man he had been looking for all these months?

Kai shut out the thoughts. It was too close to home and it was not the time or the place. For all he knew, he could truly be a schizophrenic and was imagining it all. Maybe the capital truly was at peace, maybe it was all in his head. “It’s not.” The voice answered and Kai groaned internally. He wanted a break from his mind.

There was only one thing on his mind, memories or a fiction of his imagination; his wife was pregnant and he had only a couple of months to provide a stable home to welcome his child.

Unfortunately for Kai, he did not realize that his manager, Karen, arrived at the office and as soon as she sighted Maverick, she yelled for Kai.

“What is going on here, Kai?!” She yelled at the top of her voice, “what part of the office opens by ten do you not understand? Are you deaf or slow?” She questioned him.

“My apologies, Karen. I was just asking him to leave.” Kai answered with his head low. He fought every urge within himself to stick his hand in her chest and rip out her heart.

She scoffed, “I keep telling the owner not to hire good for nothings! No one ever listens to me.” She dropped her purse.

“Well? Don’t just stand there! Get off to your morning delivery and grab me my usual coffee order!”

Maverick watched as his Lord was ridiculed and remained silent with his head down like a wounded puppy. The General he knew would not leave her head on her body for much longer. 

His thoughts traveled to the moment word reached him of what had happened that day, three years ago. Maverick was on a personal assignment, ordered by Kai himself when Kymani used mind-messaging to ask him to return to Nexarath immediately. Their general’s family was killed in a strange fire and she had just wiped away his memory.

“You did what?!” Maverick yelled at Kymani.

“Look around you, Captain! The general did that. He would have killed us all!” Kymani cried out.

“We would gladly die by his hands.” Maverick said through gritted teeth, “how dare you take such an executive decision alone? Where the hell were Zalek and Morticia?!”

“Where the hell were you?!” Kymani asked in response, “you were in charge of guiding the Rylan mansion! Your men! Why the fuck were there no guards?!” Kymani pushed his chest.

“What was I to do?” She fell to her knees, “our Lord is in some asylum in the capital. What do we do, Captain?” 

The only reason Nexarath had not yet fallen was because The Vorgarth remained loyal to their Lord, despite being absent for nearly three years. Astrophel and his bastard son, Axel were weakening the borders by the day. It damn near drove Morticia, Kai’s Lieutenant, mad.

Maverick snapped back to the present and with a snap of his finger he took away the yelling manager’s voice. Her eyes turned wide as she screamed and screamed with no voice coming out of her throat. Maverick wore a slimy grin on his face until he felt ice through his blood vessels.

One look from Kai and Maverick undid his spell, returning her voice. Karen ran out of the office, screaming, “a wizard! No, a sorcerer! Someone help!” 

Maverick chuckled but Kai’s voice snapped him out of his little victory celebration, “come.”

It looked like he could no longer ignore his past. As the two men walked down the street, Maverick said, “my car is parked out front, my Lord. Please wait here while I go get it.”

“Kai.” Kai corrected him. “What, sir?”

“Call me Kai, Maverick.” Kai said to his captain which caused him to smile widely, “I’m sorry, my Lord but if I ever called you by your first name, I would lose my tongue. You said so yourself, 20 years ago.” Maverick said as he jogged down the street.

Kai leaned on the lamppost, adjusting his undersized uniform. A huge car pulled up in front of him, attracting the looks from all who walked past.

“Still flashy, I see.” Kai said as he stepped into the passenger’s seat.

“I was about to come down and get the door for you, my Lord.” Kai internally rolled his eyes. He knew it was normal to Maverick but to him, it sounded absolutely ridiculous. He was wearing an undersized uniform and a man wearing the most fashionable clothing and driving a car with a ridiculous price tag was calling him Lord. This was exactly why he wanted to keep it all from Sarah; it was a different world.

“Please let me treat you to an early brunch.” Maverick broke the near awkward silence in the car.

“I’m alright.” Kai paused, “thanks to your showing up, it’s safe to say that I’ve lost my job.” Kai added, sighing.

“No offense, my Lord but why do you work? Matter of fact, why are you in the city living like every normal person?”

“I have business here.” Was all Kai told his Captain. 

Maverick pulled up at a restaurant. As the two men sat and waited for their food, “what happened, my liege? I mean, why did you leave?” Maverick asked, being careful not to mention the fire or the massacre of his men. “I don’t remember.” Kai started, “well, I didn’t remember.” He clarified.

“I only just recently came to the realization that my nightmares aren't nightmares but memories.”

“Kymani.” Maverick said through gritted teeth.

“Kymani? I’ve heard that name before.” Kai said. It was from one of his dreams…one of his memories.

Maverick sighed, “that crazy woman hypnotized you. She’s the only one that could cast a hypnosis that strong.” He explained to Kai.

“This Kymani woman, is she a good person?” Kai asked and Maverick chuckled,”I suppose not all of your memories have returned.”

“She’s one of your officers, though she refuses to take an active position in battle and rather spends her time doing charity work, treating the wounded for free.”

“She’s your commanding officer in charge of healing, Kymani Everard. You two also grew up together. She would not even harm a fly if the fly was after her life.” He added the last bit and then Kai’s memory made sense. 

“And who is Elyria?” As soon as the question left Kai’s lips, Maverick froze, unsure of how to respond. Kai read Maverick’s body language and he remembered the fire, the smoke, and then eventually darkness. His mouth grew sour.

“Don’t answer that. I know who she is.” He said out loud, more to himself than to Maverick. An odd feeling welled up inside him and he felt hot.

“I am so sorry, my Lord.” Kai ignored him or rather, Maverick’s voice was suddenly coming from a distance as though Kai was in another dimension.

The sound of loud heels approaching their table managed to pull Kai back into reality, “Kai? Is that you?”