Short Story Team Savant: Tiger Tale {Chapter 2 of 4}

A shy stutterer became friends with a narcoleptic girl, a telepath that looks surprisingly like the Roswell alien, a guy with three eyes, a water breathing princess with blue skin and a girl who can split herself into three people. From that day forward, he became Savant, the boy with a saber tooth tiger in his head. He along with his friends are Team Savant, the greatest cadet action team in the known universe. To catch up, read the arc of Team Savant Story click Here for the two previous chapter of the Short Story Egg-napped! 


You can read the origin story of Team Savant {Ultimate Savant: Origins} @ Go Savant!

A bright light emanated from the bottom of the stair well. Otherwise, Angela and Nate were surrounded by darkness. A small human part of her wanted Jon to be there. Jon made her feel safe even if he lacked any combat abilities worth bragging about.

It was true that Nathaniel was an excellent hand to hand combatant, and a genius strategist. But as much as she hated Deragon, Nathaniel was more powerful with access to the tiger’s power. Angela tripped mid-thought and fell into the arms of Nathaniel—as if he knew she would fall.

“Hey, you okay?” he whispered.

“Yeah.” She straightened, thankful that it was dark. Why was she blushing like a little school girl? She was a warrior and Nathaniel was only her friend.

Only her friend.

They stepped to the bottom of the stairs. In a corner, trapped in some type of energy jail, Deragon was pounded by red lightning attacks. Every once in a while, Nathaniel flinched suggesting he was still experiencing the pain.

“What took you so long?” Deragon mouthed.

The Bullyons noticed Deragon’s distraction and turned toward Nathaniel and Angela. Unlike the Cutations, they were as tall as nine feet, with super small hands and feet. They ran toward the duo—no doubt to attack.

Nathaniel threw the rocks in their path. The first two tumbled over one another. Nathaniel ran to them, twirling the staff in one hand. “Get to the egg!”

Angela watched as he used moves that Bruce Leroy would have been proud of to take out the Bullyons that converged on him. She quickly turned and located the egg in the center of the room. She admittedly took the direct route and charged like a fullback toward her goal. One Bullyon got in her way and she used the cricket bat to slap him out of the way. Another attempted to intercept, but she slid under him, taking out his knee in the process. Had she not rolled in time, the behemoth would have landed on her. She flew forward, nearly reaching the egg, when laser fire caught her in the shoulder.

Several Bullyons elected to shoot at her with ancient laser guns. They were the kind that would leave a considerable amount of damage. Angela however healed moments after the attack. Nathaniel however…

Angela found Nathaniel, moving, somersaulting, dodging the laser fire. He ran directly to one of the Bullyons, snatched the weapon from him and shot a laser blast next to his head. The big guy grabbed his head and ran for safety. Nathaniel didn’t bother shooting him, turned and shot more warning shots at the Bullyons. He then cleared the way for Angela, who jumped over the table and grabbed the egg as she passed.

Angela tucked the egg like a football and ran for dear life.

“Over here—“ Nate pressed the trigger on the gun and nothing happened. He dropped it and ran toward Deragon’s tank. “On second thought, follow me!”

It was clear that he was going to free Deragon. Not the move Angela would have made. She would have taken the egg and escaped but he was her leader. With a series of Olympic level moves she made it to the tank in front of Deragon. “Now what?”

“Get me out of here!” Deragon said.

“They don’t want him free, so they are less likely to shoot.”

“Well, shouldn’t we be behind his tank?”

“Maybe.” He took his heel and pushed it flush against the energy field and reached into his pocket.

Two of the Bullyons moved closer and took careful aim. “I don’t think they got the memo.”

Nathaniel whipped out his phone, grabbed Angel and held his phone up as if he was taking a selfie with a friend.

“What are you doing?”

He activated an app, moments before the two Bullyons fired. The laser blasts bounced off an invisible energy field.

Angela turned toward Nathaniel. “You have a force field app on your phone?”

“Don’t you?”

The Bullyons continued firing.

“If your phone can do all that, why are we fighting like cave dwellers?”

“Perhaps Savant likes to see you sweat,” Deragon said.

“Deragon, be useful and tell us who did this to you,” Nathaniel said.

“STOP FIRING YOU IDIOTS!” The tall, painfully human figure walked out of the shadows. “Can’t you see that it is useless?”

“No way,” Angela said. It was rare for a human being to be part of Union or the Academy. In many ways she looked up to the man who she admired at a distance.”

The Bullyons moved backward and the man came forward, clapping his hand slowly. “As impressive as always.”

Nathaniel’s eyes narrowed. “Dr. Green.”

“I am surprised that you would need to ask this abomination who was behind his capture,” Green said.

“You are our instructor,” Angela said. “Why are you trying to kill us?”

He frowned as if the answer was obvious. “Why? For your own good.”

The End

You can buy my adult scifi novel Hearteless: A Journey to Second Earth @amazon or here.

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Short Story Team Savant: Tiger Tale {Chapter 1 of 4}

A shy stutterer became friends with a narcoleptic girl, a telepath that looks surprisingly like the Roswell alien, a guy with three eyes, a water breathing princess with blue skin and a girl who can split herself into three people. From that day forward, he became Savant, the boy with a saber tooth tiger in his head. He along with his friends are Team Savant, the greatest cadet action team in the known universe. To catch up, read the two previous chapters of the Team Savant Story click Here for the two previous chapter of the Short Story Egg-napped! 


You can read the origin story of Team Savant {Ultimate Savant: Origins} @ Go Savant!

 

Nathaniel heard an echo in the psychic regions of his mind. He tested it again with similar results. It was true that his connection to Deragon was wire thin. However, his connection was still there and in an instant, the connection had become muffled as if Deragon was underwater.

Angela sat with the mayor, reassuring him that the terrorist group that held his child was no match for Team Savant, but of course, this was of little assurance to him. That was his child. Naturally, he was worried.  In Nathaniel’s mind, it was still a necessity. One best left to Angela who had greater skill in the area.

He stared out the window at the metal dome. Beyond the dome were the red dunes of mars. By his calculations, Deragon should have found the egg by now. The mayor walked back and forth, barely the size of Nathaniel’s three-year old niece. His bare feet almost as long as Nathaniel.

Nathaniel could no longer watch him suffer. He stood up to join the mayor and his number one. A sharp pain struck from the empty space and sent him to his knees. Angela was by his side before the second wave hit.

“Nate! What’s wrong?”

He ran one-thousand scenarios in his head. How long did it take him? His mind was fast but this was dizzying. He gathered himself. “Something is wrong with Deragon.”

“Is he dead?”

“What about my egg?”

Nathaniel straightened. “I think when I find Deragon; I will find your egg.”

“So he is still alive?”

“Yes,” he said detecting a hint of regret in Angela’s body language. It was understandable. The same individual who tried to end her and everyone she cared about was literally a figment of Nathaniel’s imagination come to life.

The mayor dropped to his hands and knees. “Savant, please just tell me where he is and I will send our militia.”

“No. Not yet. I am going to search for Deragon—“

“You are not going alone.”

“I am not going to be alone. I need your astral form as back—“

“No.”

“I am given you an order.” He grabbed his head.

“And I am completely ignoring your orders based on the fact that you are not fit for duty.”

“I—I am managing the pain.”

“Forget it, Nathaniel. We don’t have time to fight. You want to save Deragon, right? Either you stay and argue with me or you save the big cat.”

He was lucid enough to argue but realized that more important than saving Deragon was—

“Plus there is an egg that is scared right now. We have a better chance of saving it together.”

Nathaniel nodded and commanded his mind to manage the pain. “You are right.” He turned to the mayor. “We need transportation.”

“We have hovercrafts but they could be on the other side of the planet.”

“They are not on the other side of the planet. The distance isn’t far from here at all. The pain serves to help me pinpoint the location. We just need a ride.”

“Please let me—“

Nathaniel placed his hand on the Mayor’s shoulder. “Place a tracer on vehicle. Let us find the place first. I don’t think that this was ever about your child, and that increases the odds of your child being just fine.”

“If you say so.”

***

The two adventures placed on their harnesses and sped west of the city. More pain came in crashing waves.

“You said that this wasn’t about the Mayor’s kid,” Angela said. “Is this a trap?”

“Yes.”

“For whom? Us or Deragon?”

“That I don’t know.” Another sharp pain. He grabbed his head with his left and pointed with his right. “That way.”

She turned sharply. “So, we are going into this trap without a weapon. I take it that you have an amazing plan?”

“Not enough information to go on—stop!”

She slammed the air brakes and the two of them jerked forward.

Nathaniel released his harness and surveyed the area. “There is supposed to be a settlement here.” He continued walking.

“Cloaking device?”

“Yes.” He reached his hand in the air and it rippled like water. “Come on.” He stepped through. Before them was an abandoned town.”

“Security kind of lax around here,” Angela said.

“This is bad,” Nathaniel said. “They are expecting us.”

“So, we are the target?”

“Yep.”

“Why haven’t they jumped out and captured us.”

“Probably assessing our weaponry.”

She laughed. “That will be one short assessment.”

“Don’t forget your IMA training. Our bodies and our environment are weapons.” They walked down the center of the town. Quietly taking in the situation, Nathaniel found what could pass for a bamboo staff, six feet in length. He found pebbles of varying size and stuck them in his pocket. “You want the rocks are the staff?”

“Neither.” She grabbed an aluminum object shaped like a cricket bat. “This will do sooo much damage.”

He stepped into an opened building. A library of sorts. In the center was a winding staircase that descended into darkness. “He is down there.”

“You think that this is enough?” She held up her bat.  

 “Yeah, this and my U-phone.”

The End

You can buy my adult scifi novel Hearteless: A Journey to Second Earth @amazon or here.

For email updates, please click HERE and feel free to leave a message.

Also, feel free to comment below and follow me on Google and Twitter @ Frank_D_Rogers

Short Story One Shot: The Magic of Knowledge

Team Savant is on hiatus for a few weeks. Here is an adventure of a young adventure submerged in the world of magic. To read the previous Team Savant story click Team Savant Short Story Egg-napped. If you want to read the origins of Team Savant click Here for Ultimate Savant: Origins 
Here is the link to the video. Click Here for the Book Trailer


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When Nagazi, the headmaster of the Nubian school of Wizardry, told him that he had zero talent for magic and he would never amount to anything, something broke inside of Scion. An invisible energy forced his head upward; his eyes squarely on the visage of the elder man, Scion silently spoke, “You are wrong. I will surpass you.”

The old man obviously sensed the arrogance behind Scion’s eyes and sent the boy flying with a flick of his finger. Scion was bruised and broken that day, but he held on to his solemn vow.

It was true. He lacked any real magical talent. A shame, but Scion would not live shamefully. Unfortunately, he had no reason to believe he could keep his vow until he heard non-magical children speak of a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly…something they saw while in a faraway land. There was no magical energy involved, yet magic took place. He decided that he would learn about this magic.

He spent the next twenty years traveling the world, strengthening his body and his mind—learning from others, reading parchment both old and new.

Eventually, Scion returned to his village, with only his cloak on his back and pouch on his side. He registered for the Wizardry skills challenge. The competition had grown boring as of late, but people still respected the winners. The skills challenge carried so much respect that even the famed Druids attended.

The contest had three parts; healing, destruction and wonderment. He had no desire to place in all three, but he knew the healing and wonderment were both obtainable. At the contest, he obscured his features with a hood. He would reveal himself when the time was right.

Many of the magicians that came before him failed the first tier of the competition. An elderly man on a small bed was the subject of the healing skill. He moaned and pulled his knees to his chest… Spell after spell, he continued to groan.

The problem lay in the fact that no one diagnosed the problem. They simply went to their clans default healing spell. When Scion’s turn came, he asked questions of the elderly man. Questions about his habits, both good and bad. Scion rubbed the man’s stomach. This drew murmurs from the crowd.

“Number eleven!” The headmaster stood up and gazed down upon Scion. “There is a time-limit!”

Scion nodded, reached into his bag and gave the man a small vial. “Drink this.”

“Is this a potion?” The man asked.

Scion shrugged. “It is a solution to your problem.”

The man drunk the potion, squinted one eye and rolled into a child-like position. Scion stepped back quickly. The man burped and then released an inhuman amount of gas out the other end. Scion held his breath as he slid out of range of the foul smelling results. The old man stood up, let another round out and smiled. “I feel better!”

The crowd cheered.

He had done it, the first person to win the healing challenge in five years. He had etched his family’s name in competition history.

For the wonderment skill, Scion simply dipped a judge’s cloak in a solution of water and alcohol, hung the cloak on a thin wire and set it on fire. When the fire died, he gave the cloak back to the judge for inspection. She seemed genuinely surprised that her cloak was still intact.

Scion didn’t bother to take part in the destruction. His magic was capable of such feats, but he was a man of peace.  The people still rewarded him for his healing ability with the first place prize and honorable mention in the wonderment. He stood on the platform of winners, seven other accomplished wizards stood beside him. Each gave thanks and acknowledged their tribe. Scion’s heart nearly burst as he removed his hood. “I am Scion of the Darazi clan and I thank you for the opportunity to display my magic.”

The crowds whisper became a loud rumble as his name brought recognition. The Darazi clan had no talent for magic—they were born magically blind. The Nubian headmaster stood up. “How dare you! You have no right to be in this competition.”

Scion cocked his head sideways. “This competition is a chance to display different styles of magic. I am displaying mine—a style I am willing to teach to anyone.”

“You are not a magician.” Nagazi flipped his wrist and a strong wind pushed Scion.

Scion stayed on his feet. “I am not a child anymore.”

Nagazi pointed his staff at Scion—a challenge. Scion stepped down and walked toward the wizard, just as others walked away—quickly. Nagazi fired blasts of fire from his staff, but Scion’s cloak was treated with a protectant of his own making.

Scion continued to walk forward. He reached into his pouch and pressed the special cap on a vial. He dodged more blasts and danced around, seemingly summoning some great power. Truth be told, the only power Scion was summoning was the power of misdirection. He spun and pulled a fan from the land of one people out of his sleeve. When he was certain that everyone focused on the fan, he rolled the vial near Nagazi’s feet. He stopped at a safe distance and pointed the fan at Nagazi. “Protect yourself.” The vial exploded, knocking Nagazi to the far wall.

It wasn’t until well after Scion was ruled the victor, that Nagazi came to. He looked up to Scion who stood over him, arms folded. “What happened?” Nagazi asked.

“I just surpassed you,” Scion said.

The End

NOTE:

You can buy my adult scifi novel Hearteless: A Journey to Second Earth @amazon or here.

For the Book Trailer for Heartless click  Here for the Heartless Book Trailer. For email updates, please click HERE and feel free to leave a message.

Also, feel free to comment below and follow me on Google and Twitter @ Frank_D_Rogers

Short Story One Shot: A Woman's Strength

Team Savant is on hiatus for a few weeks. Here is an adventure of a young explorer. To read the previous Team Savant story click Team Savant Short Story Egg-napped. 

The explosion happened suddenly; the panic less so. Her body moved to the escape pod before her mind comprehended the situation. Muriel closed the egg-shaped hatch and pressed the button. A display appeared in front of her as the pod detached from the ship. A three dimensional reputation of the environment formed moments before her ship exploded in the atmosphere.

Muriel took a deep breath and lifted her hand toward the display. Green blood, originating from the back of her hand rolled down violet skin. She changed the scenery to the planet below. The natives of the planet called themselves humans and the planet Earth. Her people called them water people. She had studied all that she needed to know about the planet just in case she crashed landed.

Muriel tested the holographic button on her suit. Her skin, hair and clothing changed to fit the humans. The suit flickered and the holographic imagery disappeared. Muriel cursed. She pressed the button again, but nothing happened. She changed the trajectory of the escape pod to a colder climate area. The number of humans would be minimal, and so would her chance of discovery.

When she landed, Muriel activated the beacon. “This is Muriel Destine. Micro-meteors destroyed my ship and I am currently trapped on the Water Planet.”Her heart dropped when she realized that the signal strength wasn’t strong enough. ”I give up,” she said. “I will die here and the water people will find me and dissect me.” Oil formed in the corner of her eyes and rolled down her face. If she had listened to her father… The signal strengthened for a moment and then disappeared.

She gathered herself and checked the planet gravitational field. In her area, the gravitational field was in flux, but if she moved to a ley line, she could get a signal off to her home planet. If she survived, perhaps her father would consider her as an equal.

Precious time flew by as Muriel removed the beacon. Once done, she checked for human life-forms. None... She did notice other creatures, larger than humans. Perhaps more dangerous. She studied the stats on the creatures. What were they called? Bears? Previous data showed that they only attacked when hungry or threatened. The danger was far from the area she needed to travel too, but she would not take any chances. She checked her phaser. Still intact, she placed the weapon away. She wrapped her hand and checked for any other injuries.

She found a layered cloak, placed it on and left the escape pod.

She trudged forward in the snow, taking measured steps. Periodically she took out her computer and checked the area. Near her destination, a red dot appeared on her radar. Muriel studied the radar as she moved forward. The red dot moved, closing the gap between them—faster than any human.

Her hearts pounded, threatening to place holes in her chest. Her father’s voice came to her ears. Female should stay at home and take care of the elderly and the children. You lack the aggression of a male. You lack the strength to survive in the real world.

He told her that the day of graduation. Her mother encouraged her, but her father’s word hung over her hearts. It was true she lacked her brothers’ aggression, but she had skills and worked hard.

Another blip appeared as she moved closer to her destination. This one stationary. She looked ahead, the snow cutting visibility. Her sight sharp enough to make out the figure…the creature seemed human-like with white fur. Muriel mentally searched through her knowledge of humans and their cousins. None fit the stature or the incredibly large feet.

The face, close to their ape-cousin, expressed confusion. The creature, at full height, came to Muriel’s waist. If needed, she could engage in hand-to-hand combat—

The alarm on the beacon sounded off.

The creature jerked backwards, but otherwise didn’t move another step. Muriel activated the beacon, while simultaneously pulling out her phaser. She held the weapon steady as the indicator on the beacon showed that the pre-recorded message was delivered successfully.

She thought all would be well until she heard a gut contorting roar. She swung her gun around and a much larger version of the creature stood a short distance away, seemingly poised to charge forward. This creature stood taller than any bear she had ever seen on video and Muriel was not sure if a phaser blast would stop the creature before it killed her.

The littlest creature mewed and the large creature reacted, making a careful step toward the smaller one.  Muriel looked back and forth between the two of them and understanding calmed her hearts…a little. She slowly stepped away as the creature moved toward the smaller creature.

Toward her child.

As Muriel moved farther away, the parent moved closer to the child, eventually making a full sprint for the child creature and embracing it.

In truth, Muriel wanted to sprint away as well, but against a creature that fast, she would no doubt lose the race. The parent turned to Muriel. The child’s head draped on its shoulder. The parent snorted and ran away. Muriel breathed a sigh of relief and recalled her mother’s words at graduation.  Never mind your father. He doesn’t understand the strength of a woman. Emotions, intuition, thoughtfulness, those are all strengths not weaknesses. You my dear are the strongest of us all.

Moments later, Muriel saw the energy signature of a warp-capable ship.

The End

NOTE:

You can buy my adult scifi novel Hearteless: A Journey to Second Earth @amazon or here.

Look for the origins of Team Savant in my newest Ebook, Ultimate Savant: Origins coming soon. For email updates, please click HERE and feel free to leave a message.

Also, feel free to comment below and follow me on Google and Twitter @ Frank_D_Rogers