Keeping With Destiny Read online

  What does any survivor of a planetary holocaust want— but to keep surviving.

  Written by Stephan Knox

  This book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, is entirely coincidental.

  This book both in its entirety and in portions is the sole property of and published by

  Stephan Knox & TPS Publishing

  Copyright © May 2014 Talon P.S. / TPS Publishing

  ~~ 2018 AMAZON KINDLE EDITION ~~

  ASIN ~

  Print ~ ISBN: 9781728993478 Imprint: TPS Publishing - Independently published

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to an online book retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without permission from the author, Stephan Knox, or the publisher, TPS Publishing. Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights and livelihood is appreciated.

  Editing: Alison Greene, Nick Hasse, and Tarian P.S.

  Cover Art: Cover Creations by TPS Publishing

  This book was previously published under the title ‘Keeping His Destiny’ under a different author penname. During its revision, which were to allow a trilogy to develop, the title was changed to better fit its premises. Electronic -ASIN: B00KY8RZJC Print: ISBN-13: 978-0692224632 (Talon ps) ~ ISBN-10: 0692224637

  WARNINGS

  This book is listed in the genre of Post-Apocalyptic-Dystopian Sci-fi and Dark Fantasy. However, please be advised, the story contains adult language and adult situations that some readers may find offensive. Adult sexual content is intermittent and secondary but detailed explicitly which requires it to be listed as for readers 18years or older.

  Violence, as well as despairing situations while in the search for hope, are also very detailed and graphic in nature. This book is intended for a mature audience, so please take heed when choosing to read this that you are aware of its content and are old enough.

  “Because, sometimes you have to pass through hell and all that would make you call it such, in order to find serenity on the other side.”

  ~~ Stephan ~~

  Post-Apocalyptic - Dystopia / Dark Fantasy / Graphic Content / 18+

  Among the ruins of a world which had long since turned on its axis and over thrown by the Blood Lords, hope for change may seem unreal, but one man is destined to change all that. A man the seers call the Titan.

  However, in order for him to fulfill his destiny, he will need the gift from a symbiote woman and the journey it will take to convince her to agree will not come easy—

  —for either of them.

  Some one hundred years ago their planet Terra’s surface slipped on its axis while many survived, it is about all they have done. For not long after, the generals of Martial Law, who were meant to protect, instead, declare themselves Lords. Their gains carved out with a trail of blood, generating a fear that plays a price in surviving and over the passages came to be called the Blood Lords. And tyranny got a new meaning.

  That’s when the Keepers of Destiny came up with a plan—

  The Symbiotai: an ethereal symbiotic being more liquid light than body, brought knowledge and heightened skills to its host to help the survivor colonies to, not just survive, but rebuild. However, what was meant to be hope was met with fear. For things meant for good, can also be manipulated to become even worse weapons. And it was for this reason, the call for their execution was made.

  While the Keepers saw the Symbiote bonds created— the following generations saw to it they were exterminated. Now, only a few remain and Aari may very well be the last Breeder of their kind. So, in order to protect her, They hid her— right under everyone’s noses— within the very military detail designed to hunt her kind down.

  A shift in power is coming, so say the prophecies. However, it is not Aari who will bring down the Blood Lords. That destiny belongs to one man from the Northern Tribes. A sword wielding man the seers call the Titan. But even the Titan will need Aari’s gift, and perhaps something else he wasn’t counting on in order to succeed.

  To my Twin, because every day is a holocaust without you.

  To my best friends, you know who you are, for just accepting that I am demented, and stranger than your average prideful mad man— and being okay with that.

  MAP

  FOREWORD

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER I – HE’S COMING

  CHAPTER II – WHY ARE YOU HERE

  CHAPTER III – A SOLITARY CONFINEMENT

  CHAPTER IV – RUDE WAKE UP CALL

  CHAPTER V – SEVERAL WOOLS OF BETRAYAL

  CHAPTER VI – YOU’RE AWAKE NOW

  CHAPTER VII – TOUR OF RUINS

  CHAPTER VIII – TRUTHS SLIPPING

  CHAPTER IX – WHAT TO DO WITH HER

  CHAPTER X – TO HAVE WHAT HE WANTED

  CHAPTER XI – NO SMELL TO TRACK

  CHAPTER XII – CHECKMATE AND FEAR

  CHAPTER XIII – NO RESPECTS FOR THE ENEMY

  CHAPTER XIV – SHAME FROM ONLY ONE

  CHAPTER XV – THE ARRIVAL OF GHOSTS

  CHAPTER XVI – HOW DID YOU HAPPEN

  CHAPTER XVII – FROM A TOUCH, IT HAS STARTED

  CHAPTER XVIII – GROWING PAINS

  CHAPTER XIX – FORGOTTEN DWELLERS OF AMOOZ MEANT PARKS

  CHAPTER XX – SOME FAVORS GO TOO FAR IN DESIRE

  CHAPTER XXI – GUILTY INTENTIONS ALONE

  CHAPTER XXII – FINDING AARI’S PAST

  CHAPTER XXIII – A SECRET FLED AND GONE

  CHAPTER XXIV – THE PRICE OF A CHOICE

  CHAPTER XXV – INTO THE BELLY OF THE BEAST

  CHAPTER XXVI – A CHANGE OF HEART TOO LATE

  CHAPTER XXVII – THE PAIN ON THE OTHERSIDE OF DEATH

  CHAPTER XXVIII – DO YOU HEAR THE CODE TALKER

  CHAPTER XXIX – NO SEER TO LEAD ME

  CHAPTER XXX – NO OTHER DESTINY WILL DO

  CHAPTER XXXI – A GIFT SO MUCH MORE

  EPILOGUE – ONE DESTINY FOR ANOTHER

  GLOSSARY

  BONUS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  I shall not cloud this telling with dates, for time is of no consequence in the cogs of destiny, only life.

  It has been only a moment ago since Terra turned her worldly surface on top of its self. Tossing rock and earth from her sides, fire from her breath, and the waters of her womb spilled out— cleansed and reshaped the face of the world. When the turmoil settled, her survivors stumble about in a world of broken technological wonders of their former life. Now, they have only themselves and the fading knowledge that keeps them going.

  The smart ones, the Engineers,
who had the knowledge to revive the skeletons of machines saw the same fate as those with less knowledge. What Terra did not take, the war of survival did and many became imprisoned to horde their skills for themselves. Pestilence had a take in it as well. And let us not forget to mourn those who were claimed by martyrdom, refusing to give what they knew to those who’d use it to lean on the surviving colonies for the gain of more power over them. For, at the worst of times, the best of men shines through, but so does the evil— and in greater numbers. For in a time of need, even a desperate man will choose the path of least resistance in order to survive.

  The Generals of the old-world, the ones who once served to protect, now served themselves. In a hostile takeover in bloodshed, they were given new titles —Blood Lords— along with the dark corners of the world to rule over.

  In an attempt to intervene, to pitch the imbalance from darker days, We— the Keepers of Destiny— sent forth priests to serve a special sentient being, capable of extraordinary knowledge and abilities, however, they also required a human host. So, the Symbiote beings were introduced to select survivors; this union not only gave extended life, they also provided their host with enhanced abilities and knowledge. It was intended their carriers would help restore and, at all costs, protect humanity in the worst of times. Though, instead of a gift of aid, they were received with superstition, and regarded as parasites. In the hands of the Blood Lords, the Symbiote were used as weapons.

  The Skaddary, a surviving military sect, unwilling to allow the Blood Lords to have the advantage, devised a special task force called the Guillotine Hunters. Their job? Exterminate all Symbiote. Their moto: “Better to kill it, then let it get used against us.”

  The Guild followed orders well, as they hunted the Symbiote down and killed them and all those who harbored them. Now, only a few remain and those who do, remain hidden.

  At the brink of despair, Destiny watches over one man— the Titan— and perhaps the last hope who can restore balance for humanity. However, first, he must receive a gift from one of the created— Aari. She is our last, so giving her up does not come easily. Nor will she.

  I am one of many, known together as the Keepers of Destiny. Our purpose is to watch, in much the same way a mother watches her children stumble about until they grow up true and strong. It is not in our purpose to force one’s hand, yet we have placed the Edify Mother amongst them, whose gift is to influence—

  And she has a plan.

  “Ironic isn’t it? Finding you hiding right along with the ones trained to hunt your kind down,” he spoke when he felt her awaken— despite her impressive effort to appear otherwise— right down to her soft, deep breathing. She even made a stifling attempt not to react to his open comment, but he’d caught the slight shift in her breath, the flinch in her shoulders and that fluctuating change in her scent as fear developed within her developing awareness, nonetheless.

  Still coming to terms with his ability to sense her more acutely than any others around him ever before, he dropped his eyes to the whetstone as he made steady brush strokes down the edge of the long sword blade. He’d been keen on her the moment he came into close proximity, before he ever laid on eyes on her. She came with an unusual scent. Earthy like a field in the warming seasons. A reminiscent honeysuckle-like scent that was her very essence which drifted inside him and snared him instantly. It was enough to make his focus on his objective waver even more.

  He played it all over in his head, recounting how everything had fallen into place. It still overwhelmed him to the point of near mad laughter.

  A quiet chuckle escaped him.

  It could never have turned out this easy to find her, even if he’d planned it.

  “No need pretending to sleep, you’ve been awake for some time now,” he told her to be sure she understood his awareness of her.

  He detected a distant sound farther out in the flats, just outside the large enclosure he’d brought her to and made camp. He glanced over his shoulder, scanning out beyond the walls of the ruin of a crumbling wall from a former time, and out into the dark of the moonless night. He made out a small black silhouette moving some thirty meters away, a deep inhale through his nose confirmed it was nothing more than a varmint species, so he turned his attention back on the sword he’d thought he’d lost— while his senses returned to her.

  Aari’s eyes had barely opened when a man on the other side of the fire spoke. Yet, his follow up made it abundantly clear she wasn’t fooling him. She snapped her head around sending a hot glare his way. He wasn’t even looking. Deflating her intentions entirely.

  Rather he was focused on the weapon in his hands— cleaning it.

  She tried to move, only to discover her hands bound tightly together in front of her. She jerked as if doing so would just as easily free her from her bonds, but in the act, she only discovered her legs tied in the same manner.

  “You didn’t think I’d leave it to chance that you might come willingly, now did you?” the sardonic tone mocked her.

  She ignored him. Instead, calming the small panic to make a quick summary of her condition. It was dark now. Which meant she had to have been out for several hours. The ropes about her limbs were firm, but they were the least of her worries. She could perhaps make a run for it. Run and hide away in a fissure or gulch and he’d never find her. She reached with bound hands to touch at the tender spot on her temple while letting her eyes roam about, taking in her surroundings— what was left of it anyways. Just a half shell of an old concrete structure of some sort. She kept keen on her captor’s seemingly lazy disposition. It would be his undoing underestimating her self-preservation. She stretched her arms, feigning to just stretch stiff muscles, moving her hands up over her head, then nonchalantly, reached behind her neck.

  Her fingers felt around for the small incision pocket within the skin just a few vertebras past the base of her neck, but her fingertips didn’t find what she was looking for.

  “Looking for this?”

  Her eyes darted over to the object he held up in his fingers in a deliberate finders-keepers mocking display. A small crescent-shaped blade of volcanic glass. A secret possession she’d kept hidden under the skin where her Symbiote passage had been inserted so many solar cycles ago. She slumped— yes, the very item.

  “Interesting hiding spot. I doubt there are many that would think to use it like that. Your Symbiotai must be old.”

  Aari said nothing as she watched the man drop the small blade into the pocket of his tunic. At least he let her know where it was being kept.

  She could see the smug expression on his face, confident he had what he’d come for. She was the fool. She should have known he had come for her. Why else did They want her to help him?

  He was waiting for her to show her fear. Maybe her weakness was his reward for a job well done. She wasn’t going to play along. Nor would she speak and give him grounds to torment her fears or anger. She could do those on her own for being so gullible.

  With a huff as her only response, she rolled to her side, putting her back to him. She was able to do that much at least, and her captor seemed to be willing to oblige her silence.

  A coyote yapped in the distance and crickets chirped with disregard that she was a kidnapped victim. Her head still felt like lead, clouded over with the pain from getting hit. It was easy to drift back to sleep; only this time her dreams took her to the beginning. When the cog wheels of Destiny that brought her to this point first started to turn—

  HE’S COMING

  THIRTEEN DAYS AGO

  Aari moved silently along the perimeter of the old-world military base that still housed and operated as one to this day. Now known as the Skaddary Militia Base-Southern Alpha 5, 9th District.

  It was quiet, had been for some time for these parts, so her patrolling efforts weren’t nearly as alert as her captain had trained her to be. Certainly not for the one presence lurking in the night nearby. It created a familiarity in
her, one she knew was not a threat to her, nor did she have any intentions of threatening him.

  There was a light northeasterly breeze tonight, and aside from the usually arid smell of dust and the surrounding barren lands coming from both to the north and east, she could almost pick up the slight saltiness of the sea just south of them.

  She paused near a large tree, glancing about to assure herself she was indeed alone with the exception of the unseen tag-along, and then began scratching her back against the tree’s rough surface. The gentle friction against her spine felt far better than a typical back scratch should ever feel. Chills raced through her body, laced with a warm arousal, and she quickly shook it from her to stave the feelings off before the wave of pleasure reached other parts of her body.

  It was all she could do, letting out an anguished, growling sigh to chastise herself for giving in to her Symbiotai's need for stimulation. Bad enough she had to be the occasional audience to others fucking— behind trees— in storage closest in the base— sometimes in the back of the gunners when out on a route, if they had a willing partner. They did it all the time when she could not. Making it all the worse, her Symbiotai had been overly restless the past few solar cycles. Masturbating with a quick back scratch had seemed the only way to appease its baser needs— if only temporarily. Even if doing so affected everything else inside her. Regardless, anymore of this arousing nonsense and life amongst the hunters was going to get dicey.

  “Child,” the darkness overhead whispered compassionately to her.

  Aari froze. Shit, she knew he was close, but to be hanging in the tree above? It was just a little embarrassing. She dropped back against the tree trunk and hiked up one boot and rested her gun on her knee playing it off that her movements had been nothing more than the intention to scratch her back before leaning back to relax at her post. Not nearly as confident she could possibly fool Them, but she lied to herself anyway. “You risk me by coming here so close to the base,” she muttered, not bothering to look up. There was no point; there would be nothing for her to see if she did. She never saw Them. Instead her eyes skittered across the buffer-field, then out towards the fortress walls, just to be sure she had not missed noticing anyone approaching that could take notice.