The Evaran Chronicles: The Arrival | The Awakening | The Fredorian Destiny | The Purification | The Time Refugee | The Evaran Origin | The Shadow Connection | The Human Factor | The Cosmic Parallel | The Unification | The Portal Effect | The Time Cube | The Evaran Impact | The Cosmic Artifact | The Cult Of Evaran | The Final Evolution | The Evaran Chronicles Box Set: Books 1-3 | The Evaran Chronicles Box Set: Books 4-6 | The Evaran Chronicles Box Set: Books 7-9 | The Evaran Chronicles Box Set: Books 10-12 | The Evaran Chronicles Box Set: Books 13-15

Dr. Snowden looked forward to meeting Lord Vygon, an ancient vampire lord, for lunch. He had called earlier and said he would bring the food. Dr. Snowden was not one to pass up a chance for the special burgers Lord Vygon would pick up from across town. It was 1:00 p.m., August 4, 2013, and Dr. Snowden had just finished a college faculty meeting. Now he had the rest of the day off.

He grinned as he walked to the table out on the quad. The last time he had seen Lord Vygon was at a cookout at the base of Lord Noskov, another ancient vampire lord. The event had been for Dr. Snowden’s good friend, Inspector Dalton Kingston, Earth Ward, and the formation of his new team. Dr. Snowden loved being able to interact with so many interesting people.

It had been about seven months since he had traveled across space and time with the cosmic being Evaran, and V, Evaran’s trusty mobile artificial intelligence. Emily, Dr. Snowden’s niece, was also a constant traveling companion, and the group was collectively known as Evaran and the gang.

Spending time in Columbus, Ohio, between adventuring worked well for Dr. Snowden. He even got to spend time with Kess, his evolved human girlfriend that existed half a million years in the future but could pop back via a portal system.

His mind focused on the upcoming lunch. It was somewhat strange that Lord Vygon wanted to meet, but Dr. Snowden always cleared his schedule for his friends. He also knew how rare it was for Lord Vygon to visit Columbus, much less Dr. Snowden’s college. Either way, a good lunch remained in his future.

When he arrived at the table, he realized he must have been early. He thought he had timed it so that he would arrive on the dot. His stomach grumbled. Perhaps he was hungrier than he had figured. He smiled when he saw Lord Vygon in his black armor walking in the distance. The two bags he carried signified that a delicious lunch awaited them.

Dr. Snowden took his seat and reflected on the interactions he had had with Lord Vygon. Their first meeting had been in 2610 BC, and Lord Vygon had even traveled with the gang. Ever since that event, he had been a staple at Lord Noskov’s base and the many cookouts held there. Dr. Snowden viewed Lord Vygon as a brother, one who would drop anything to help if asked. With the recent arrival of Dalton Kingston, Dr. Snowden appreciated having a strong circle of friends.

Lord Vygon arrived and set the bags on the table.

They shook hands and Dr. Snowden pulled Lord Vygon in for a slap on the back. They then took their seats.

“The infamous Dr. Snowden shake-and-half-hug greeting,” said Lord Vygon, laughing. He gestured at the bags. “Burger House special with seasoned fries. The drinks are in there too.”

“Don’t need to tell me twice!” said Dr. Snowden. He opened the bag and pulled out his lunch and, a moment later, began inhaling his food.

“Careful. You still need to breathe.” Lord Vygon grabbed his lunch and munched on some fries.

Dr. Snowden swallowed his bite. “Yeah, I know. I don’t normally get Burger House burgers, so I’m living it up while I can.” He shook a fry at Lord Vygon. “I am curious as to why you wanted to do lunch, though. While I enjoy thinking this is a social visit, I suspect there’s more.”

“You know me too well,” said Lord Vygon. “You’re right, of course. The ancient vampires are having a cookout tonight at 8:00 p.m., and you’re invited.”

Dr. Snowden laid a hand on his chest. “You bought me lunch to invite me to a cookout? No…there’s something else.”

Lord Vygon reached into a side pocket and pulled out a rectangular stone. He laid it in front of Dr. Snowden. “You’re more observant when you have a burger in you, it seems.”

“Yeah, I am. Now what’s that?”

Lord Vygon nodded. “It’s the right half of a Daedrould stone, something we used in the past. The idea is that ancient vampire lords would give a full one to their close friends. If the ancient vampire died, their essence could be absorbed by the stone, and then the lord could be resurrected.”

“May I?” asked Dr. Snowden, gesturing at the stone.

“Of course. Although it’s only half of one, I wanted you to have it.”

Dr. Snowden fidgeted with the stone. Lord Vygon signaled that he trusted Dr. Snowden with his life. It appeared to be a great honor, and Dr. Snowden was not sure why he was being given it now as opposed to another time. However, he appreciated the sentiment.

“Thank you. I’ll guard it with my life. Who has the other half?” asked Dr. Snowden.

“I plan to give the other one to Emily.”

“Wow, she’ll love that,” said Dr. Snowden. He eyed Lord Vygon. “So you just what? Put the stones together, place it on the body, and it does magic stuff?”

Lord Vygon laughed. “A full stone, sure. Two halves? I don’t know. However, with a full stone, once the essence is absorbed, it takes a large amount of external energy to combine with the stone to do a resurrection.”

Dr. Snowden raised a finger. “Ahh…so the stone captures what it can, then when it has more energy, it transforms everything it needs for a resurrection. Got it.”

“That’s right,” said Lord Vygon. “Obviously, you don’t need to worry about that here as it’s mainly symbolic now.”

Dr. Snowden nodded. He wondered why Evaran had not gotten one. That seemed like the logical choice, but Dr. Snowden was not going to question Lord Vygon about who he gave the stones to.

“I appreciate it,” said Dr. Snowden. “I’m glad you feel comfortable enough to give this to us.”

“We’ve been through a lot, haven’t we?” asked Lord Vygon. He looked out over the quad. “It’s a beautiful day out. I’m just glad we can experience things like this.”

“Same here,” said Dr. Snowden, downing some fries as he followed Lord Vygon’s gaze. “I love it here before the fall. It’s quiet and peaceful.”

“I bet it is,” said Lord Vygon.

Dr. Snowden reflected on how good it felt to have Lord Vygon pay a visit. The Daedrould stone half seemed unusual, but then again, Dr. Snowden lived in a world where having ancient vampire lords visit for lunch was possible. The cookout later that night would also be a nice change of pace. He had expected to go over some course material for his classes, but he was not about to say no to some grilled burgers.

He was not sure what Evaran’s reaction would be. He would not be jealous, and would probably commend Dr. Snowden on reaching a trust level that allowed Lord Vygon to part with the two halves of his Daedrould stone. Hopefully it was not being given prior to some event. One thing Dr. Snowden had come to understand was that coincidences oftentimes were planned to some degree. He might be overanalyzing things again, though.

After an hour of light chat, he sat back and rubbed his stomach. “Ugh, I’m so full.”

Lord Vygon stood. “As you should be. I’m off to visit Emily. Her volleyball game should be about over now.”

“Well, I’m glad you stopped by, and I do appreciate the Daedrould stone.”

Lord Vygon nodded slowly, then took off.

Dr. Snowden suspected Emily would be overjoyed to see him. They had a good relationship, and he sometimes showed up for training with her on the Torvatta. Even Dalton joined her on those. Dr. Snowden had tried to join several times, but her training pace was relentless. He grimaced. The thought of hard exercise after a great lunch was displeasing.

He studied the Daedrould stone. How it could hold Daedrould energy was a mystery, although once he was back on the Torvatta, he would check it out. For now, he had a date with a nap in a comfortable recliner at home.

Emily watched Jennifer leave. One of the great things about the sandlot where Emily played volleyball was that Jennifer was a server at the nearby bar. Getting a quick peck between matches always lightened Emily’s day. Although she had an intense relationship with Jelton Stallryn, a Rift Guardian in a dimension in another timeline, she usually only saw him once a week. She did get to see Jennifer several times a week, though.

As Emily packed her belongings into her bag for the walk home, her mind briefly focused on Andia Kiggs. She was an older woman that Emily had had a relationship with in the past, and Emily missed her passion. Unfortunately, due to her being on Fredoria, a planet of ex-human slaves, and the way the timeline worked, visits were rare. However, Emily knew that when they did visit, they made the most of the time they had together.

Her relationships were scattered across time and space. It seemed normal to have several going on at once due to that. She did feel guilty about Jennifer not knowing about Andia or Jelton, and someday, she would have to say something, but that could wait.

Emily slung her backpack over her shoulder and left. It was 2:30 p.m., and she had the rest of the day to relax. She paused when she arrived at the park she usually passed through. Several months ago, Ziekah, a junction dimension being, had zapped Emily to the past on the same trail she normally walked on. Although that was history now, it still made the hairs on her neck rise every time she entered the area.

As a sign of defiance, she often traveled the same path. If something wanted to get her, they could try. She gripped her PSD in her pocket. Dr. Snowden said she was always ready to fight. There was a good reason for that. She had already spent nine months alone on a prison planet, and she had not been prepared. Never again. When Ziekah had zapped Emily, she had been prepared and had survived the event.

When she reached the spot of her encounter with Ziekah, Emily’s cosmic senses told her of something nearby. Her nanobots tingled as she looked around. She relaxed when she saw Lord Vygon strolling over to her. Although she was glad to see him, his presence was unusual.

He waved at her.

She returned the wave and hugged him when they met. “I wasn’t expecting you to be out here.”

Lord Vygon gestured for them to continue walking. “Well, I visited with your uncle earlier, and I wanted to visit with you before I left town.”

“Works for me,” she said. “I’m always glad to see you.”

He nodded. “I appreciate that. How’s everything going with you?”

“It’s okay. Just getting in some volleyball time before classes start up.”

“This is your last year, right?”

She smiled. “Yep. I’m not sure what I’ll do after graduation, though.”

“You could always work with the Earth Ward as a history consultant. They’d love for you to verify things.”

She chuckled. “You mean they’d love for Evaran to verify things, and I would be the way in for something like that.”

They laughed.

She had often thought about what she would do once college was over. While she might teach, she had considered trying for her doctorate. As Lord Vygon pointed out, she had an advantage in that she could verify anything historical by traveling to the past, then determining where to find physical evidence in the present. One thing she would not need to worry about was a place to sleep. Food and drink were also not an issue with something like the Torvatta.

“I think I’ll stick with the current arrangement, although since I’ll apparently live for a long time, I’ll need to take that into consideration. I mean, can you imagine when I’m over two hundred and publishing papers?”

Lord Vygon grinned. “That would be a sight. You’d be like Kantris.”

She wrinkled her brow. “Who’s that?”

“I figured you would have known him. He’s an ancient Outsider. Keeps to himself, but he likes to study history. He’s even older than me, and he never gets involved in conflict. Being able to camouflage himself helps with that.”

“Huh. That would be useful.”

Lord Vygon nodded. “I don’t blame him for hiding away in the past. Humans wanted to dissect him, and scrupulous nonhumans wanted to use him. However, he does collaborate sometimes with human professors in regard to history. I suspect there are a decent number of papers where he was a major source. He works for the Earth Ward now at the Wild Haven Institute library and is under their protection.”

Emily fidgeted with her ponytail. There were so many unique and different nonhumans, it was hard to know who could do what and where they were. Thankfully, the Earth Ward kept everything under control. Otherwise, she suspected it would be a madhouse.

Lord Vygon handed her a rectangular stone. “I gave your uncle the right half of a Daedrould stone. I wanted to give you the other half.”

She accepted it. “A Daedrould stone? What’s it do?”

“It absorbs Daedrould energy when a body fails. Then, if enough power is given to the stone, it can resurrect a body. It requires a full stone, though.”

“Wow,” she said. “And you’re giving us the two halves?”

Lord Vygon looked off in the distance. “I am. It was a tradition ancient vampires practiced long ago on our home planet. We gave it to those we trusted with our lives.”

“Aww. Thank you!”

He gestured at the stone. “Obviously, there’s no need for it now, but I wanted you two to have it.”

“Evaran’s going to give you the stink eye if he doesn’t get one.”

He eyed her.

They laughed again.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so either,” said Emily.

“Nonetheless, Lord Noskov and I are having a cookout tonight at 8:00 p.m., and you and your uncle are of course invited.”

“I’ll be there,” said Emily.

She loved going to those events. There were sometimes new people, and usually while there, she was surrounded by powerful beings. She had gotten to meet Dalton Kingston’s new inspector team at the last cookout. They were close, and it made her happy to see he was doing well. He now had his own gang.

“Any special event being celebrated?” she asked.

“Oh yeah,” he said, smiling. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

She sighed. “Fine.”

Her senses flared as she identified a Daedrould rushing toward them. She relaxed when she realized it was a jogger, who apparently had sensed them. He had sprawled to the ground, hopped up, and ran the other way.

“We seem to have that effect on others,” said Lord Vygon.

“You, maybe.”

He shook his head. “They would have sensed me, yes, but they would have also detected the power of your cosmic energy and not known what it was.”

Emily shrugged. “I could see that.” She flung her arm in the air and snapped. “As Kess would say: what’s not to like?”

She enjoyed joking around with Lord Vygon. Although she could joke with Lord Noskov, he always seemed uptight. She sometimes forgot that, to nonhumans, she was scary. Her cosmic-enhanced nanobots would destroy anything that caused her to bleed, and most nonhumans did not know what cosmic energy was, other than that it was powerful.

A cookout sounded great, and on top of that, there was a mystery event being celebrated. It was at 8:00 p.m., so there was still plenty of time in the day before she had to leave. She was not sure what she would do, but maybe she would take a card from Dr. Snowden’s hand and enjoy a nap.