The Wolves Ch. 007

Gabriel paused when he was done talking and the door opened. A person rolled a cart into the room loaded with food. Everyone was so engrossed in what he was saying that we didn't even realize thirty minutes had gone by.

"Good timing, Michelle," Alexandra said. She helped Michelle hand each person what they ordered, and then Michelle wheeled the cart over to the corner of the room. We all thanked her and then she left the room, and we started digging in. I got a large medium-rare steak with mashed potatoes covered in gravy, along with a variety of vegetables. While we ate, Gabriel gave us the opportunity to ask some questions.

"Why didn't the King attack with all of your military ships before they even got close?" Mason asked.

"We didn't have enough ships. It's as simple as that. We hadn't built up a large military at that point in time because it wasn't necessary. In our searches of our galaxy, we hadn't found any other races with ships that could reach our worlds. We did have a few hundred ships that could have fought, and they would have, if not for the weapons that the aliens used. If our shields were effective, then our entire fleet could have taken part in the guerilla tactics and slowly whittled the fleet down. Also, for every military vessel lost, that would have been thousands of people we had to leave behind."

Ben was up next with a question, "How many of those crystals remained when they departed the Sagittarius galaxy and arrived in the Milky Way? You said they found a lot of them, and only six were used. Are there any left?"

"I only know of one. More may have been brought over, but in all our history since arriving in the Milky Way, there has only been one that has been present. It has been handed down from previous kings to their sons if they should pass."

"Does that mean that the King had children that escaped to the Milky Way? You said only Egegal's line had managed to bond with a crystal. Did that change upon arriving here?" asked Sonja.

"The Queen and their seven month old son were evacuated in the ship that used to be the flagship before discovering the crystals. A crystal was set aside for the boy when he came of age and was ready to lead his people. His mother, Queen Ateru, ruled our people in the interim. They both remained in stasis until they arrived in the Milky Way."

"What about the million or so people that had been brought over in the crystalline ships? Did the Queen and all the other refugees meet up with them?"

Gabriel nodded. "They did, though there were a lot more than one million when they finally arrived after thirty-eight hundred years. Over one hundred billion people welcomed them when they finally arrived. A few mainframes were deposited on one of the planets when they were dropped off by the crystalline ships. Every ship had the schematics of the ships they were waiting for, so they were very excited when a fleet of them appeared one day."

We continued asking questions while we continued to eat until we were finished. We placed our empty dishes on the cart and then sat back down so he could continue.

"The year they finally arrived was 5956. Now, as I said, when the fleet arrived in the Milky Way, they were greeted by over one hundred billion people. Not all of those were happy to see them, but the vast majority were. Leadership was passed on to Queen Regent Ateru, while the council that had lead their people for almost four thousand years stayed on to council her. She ruled for twenty years until her son, Enoch Kidravia, came of age."

"Under his rule, the Scyftan military grew and grew. He wasn't going to allow an invading fleet to push them out of their homes again. Thousands of ships were commissioned, and Scyftan planets were surrounded by layers of planetary defense platforms. He also got our scientists working on improving our shields to the point where they would be able to block the odd weapons the aliens fired. They were confident that they improved them, but there is no way to know without facing those aliens again."

"Those aliens back in the Sagittarius galaxy were not the most pressing thing to worry about, however. There were many different space faring species that call the Milky Way home. Some of them were friendly, while others, such as The Confederation, have remained enemies to this day. King Enoch thought it was beneficial for the Scyftan people to have enemies they could test their mettle against. That being said, he didn't go out and purposefully make enemies."

"Not much happened in the galactic sense for the next thirty-seven hundred years. There was the occasional war between The Confederation and us, as well as our allies. That all changed one day when Enoch, his mother Ateru, and his wife, Erydah were murdered in an explosion while at a dinner welcoming the first of our allies to join our kingdom. Enoch was sufficiently powerful enough that he probably could have survived anything else, but he didn't have the time to put up shields to absorb the blast. Thankfully, their young son, Derech was asleep at home or it might have been the end of the Kidravia bloodline."

"Remember I said that not everyone was happy to see the fleet arrive? It took them nearly four millennia, but they finally made their move that day. They didn't want to be under the rule of a king, and they didn't want other species to join our kingdom. They attempted to attack the royal palace, but that failed thanks to the people guarding it. Many of the ones responsible for the attack were found and hung for their actions, but we definitely didn't get them all."

"For the next fifteen years, our kingdom was ruled by a council. When Derech Kidravia took the throne, he continued what his father started. He beefed up defenses while continuing to allow other races to join our kingdom. During his over fourteen-hundred year rule, seventy-two different species joined our kingdom, which was eventually named the Scyftan Protectorate."

"As it always seems, someone else thought they should rule. In 11189, which was fourteen hundred twenty-one years ago, a man named Kaldrus Dhir staged a coup to take control of the Protectorate. Who knows how long he was preparing for, but even having inside help, he failed to complete his objectives. The king's young son, as well as three newborn daughters were spirited to safety. They undertook a three hundred year long journey which brought them, and us, to Earth."

"Upon seeing the state of Earth at the time, we dared not take the boy or his sisters out of stasis right away. We started the Adventurer's Guild to help put humans back on track. We've continued to run the Adventurer's Guild for the past eleven hundred years. That brings us to today, and to you, Jonathan," Gabriel said, looking at me.

"What do you mean 'brings us to me'?" I asked with a confused look. He stayed silent, letting me run it through my head. It was like someone flipped a switch in my head and I realized what he meant.

"No, no, no, no! You're not telling me I'm Derech Kidravia's heir!"

"That you are, my boy. Your real name is Jonuth Kidravia. You were born fourteen hundred twenty-five years ago on the Scyftan homeworld of Nedovis. Your parents were Derech and Zandra Kidravia."

"I don't want to be a King! I don't know the first thing about ruling!" I whined. I looked at my friends to see they all had a stunned look on their faces. They weren't expecting that revelation at all.

Something else just clicked for me, so I looked back to the people I thought were my parents. "Wait, you're saying you aren't my parents?"

Alexandra shook her head. "No, we are not. Gabriel and I were members of a unit your father put together to guard his children and other people who would be considered high-value targets. Gabriel and I, along with two other members of this unit were responsible for getting you off of Nedovis, and away from the man who was, and still is, trying to have you killed."

"What do you mean still is?"

"He has never stopped having people search for you. He is a sadistic tyrant and the people would rally behind you given the chance. Unfortunately the system we put in place on Earth also alerted him to your whereabouts. He is sending various resources at his disposal to eliminate you. Fortunately, he doesn't know about your sisters, yet, and we want to keep it that way."

"Are my sisters here? Can I meet them?" I asked.

"Certainly. Your sisters aren't the only people waiting to meet you, either. Follow us," Gabriel said.

They were both in their Scyftan forms, so they switched back to their human forms before opening the door and leaving the room. We all got up and he led us down another hall. Mason was walking beside me. He must have seen some sort of look on my face so he nudged my shoulder. "Why do you look so down, man? You were just told you're a king! You look like someone pissed in your cheerios."

Anja heard what she said and she punched him in the shoulder. "Leave him alone, Mace. They just dropped a huge bomb on him."

Gabriel led all of us into and elevator. When the doors closed, he sent a pulse of mana at a panel that opened up. We watched him go through some sort of security process and when he was done, the elevator started descending. It took a few minutes to reach the bottom. When the door opened, we were led into a small room with a man and a woman guarding it. They both wore armor and had some nasty looking assault rifles on quick release slings.

When we all exited the elevator, Alexandra introduced us. "Everyone, this is Yuki Morikawa and Omar Berrada. Both of them have been part of the team guarding Jonathan's sisters since we departed Nedovis. In fact, if not for Yuki having the same skill you learned today, Anja, Jonathan's sisters would not be here today. Yuki, Omar, this is Jonathan and his team."

"Really? You have Precognition as well?" Anja asked Yuki.

"Indeed I do," she replied with a nod. "I look forward to working with you so you can get the most out of it. After all, if you're going to be traveling with Jonathan a lot, it will probably end up saving your lives at one point or another."

I didn't even know my sisters at this point, but I was extremely thankful that both of them were able to keep them safe. I gave them each a big hug before Gabriel led us through the door that appeared when Omar pressed a button on the console next to him. I didn't know it was a portal at the time, but I would find out shortly after walking through.

Upon stepping through the 'door', I was immediately tackled to the floor by three young women with long blond hair. "Happy birthday, Jonathan! Nice to meet you!" they exclaimed.