AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you so much for the reviews, Elle and Jazzypunker! I really appreciate it. Here's the new part. [Insert witty comment here] I'm too tired to babble now. Who was the bastard that reminded my teachers that they were supposed to give me homework?! *Screams, pulls out hair, then collapses* Onward through the pages…

CHAPTER FIVE

Khivar leaned back in his chair, an evil smirk plastered upon his face as he read over the reports from Antar. His plan was well underway and it was definitely working.

His smirk slowly stretched into a grin as he looked over the pictures. People lay in the streets, their eyes a blank white colour, a thin sheen of sweat covering their bodies. He almost could imagine them shuddering violently as the fatal seizures wracked their bones and the life slowly and painfully seeped out of them. If only he could be there to watch it in person.

"Dad," Lindsey said as he walked into the office. He unceremoniously flopped into the chair on the other side of Khivar's desk. "I was thinking. What could make this…file better?" he said, flicking at the folder in disdain. "Then it hit me. A movie!" He leaned over, swinging his chair around to face the door. "Boys!"

Two guards walked in pushing a cart with a sleek black box on it. They glanced at their leaders somewhat questioningly, wondering what it was. It looked like an overgrown version of a primitive computer screen. It wasn't like anything on Carnath.

Lindsey raised an eyebrow at them when they didn't leave. "You can go now," he said condescendingly, his piercing grey eyes boring into them as he waved his hand at them dismissively.

"Y-yes, my prince. I'm sorry, sir," one of them said as they both bowed and scurried out of the room.

Lindsey rolled his eyes at them before turning back to his father. He smirked, pulling out a videotape and waving it in front of him.

"Had this brought in from Earth. Ready to see some action?"  He pushed it into the VCR and flipped on the battery operated TV, since Carnath didn't have the same electrical sources as Earth.

The image of a dusty street appeared on the screen. People were walking slowly down the street, their feet dragging as they forced themselves to move in the unbearable heat. The camera panned to the left and caught the image of a man collapsing in the middle of the road, his body shaking in the throes of a fit. People were screaming, the new situation forcing them into action as they scrambled to get him to a hospital. "I was thinking of calling it 'Antar's Demise: The Fall of Zan.'"

Khivar chuckled. He stood up from his chair and walked over to Lindsey's side, clapping him on the back. His eyes glinted with mirth as he watched the screen. Yes, this was perfect.

"Prepare phase two."

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"What should we do?"

Max Evans stared blankly out of the window, not really seeing what was going on out there, and certainly not listening to the discussion in the room. His heart just wasn't in it anymore. Not since Liz died. He just didn't care anymore. He sighed, pulling the curtain, then silently left the room.

"Sire?" a scientist asked, puzzled. The only reply he got was the slamming of the door. The man's face contorted in confusion.  He just couldn't believe that their king just walked out on a meeting that could decide the fate of their entire race. And he didn't have an inkling of what to do now. Did the meeting continue? Or did they wait for him to return? He turned inquiring eyes to the King's second-in-commands.

Michael watched sadly as Max left the room, then turned back to the questioning faces and scratched his eyebrow.

"Uh…he thinks better alone," he lied, sharing a look with his brother. Rath nodded in agreement. They couldn't allow the people to lose faith in Max. They needed a leader they could trust. And Max was just that, their leader. Until he decided to wake up, stop moping and accept it, the rest of the Saviours would just have to cover for him.

"Uh…can you repeat that in English?" Ava asked, referring to the previous discussion. She turned to Serena, the only Saviour left that had any kind of scientific mind. They had just spent the past three hours in a meeting with Antar's top scientists and doctors, each one explaining their findings to the Saviours. Explanations that were completely over their heads. No matter how hard the scientists tried to dumb it down, there was no way that eight twenty-year-olds with barely a high school education from a planet far less advanced could ever understand. It was virtually impossible. It was just a known fact that intellectual types cannot make anything simple.

"Okay, you know about the ozone layer on Earth?" Serena asked. They all nodded and shrugged. "It protects the Earth from the radiation from the sun, only letting some of it in. Well, Antar has the same thing, only it's a bit thicker and lets even less of the radiation in. That's why it's so cold here. There's a cooler sun and a thicker ozone layer." She paused to make sure they understood. "Whatever happened yesterday, it caused a ripple through Antar's upper atmosphere. They think that a chemical was released that breaks down the ozone layer, making it thinner, which in turn lets in more radiation and therefore, makes it hotter. Antarians aren't built for that kind of heat."

"It's not that hot, though, not even close to how it can get on Earth," Kyle said.

"You're human, Kyle, so it wouldn't bother you, but the extra heat throws off the balance in Antarian bodies."

"Like what happened to Michael when he went into the sweat," Maria stated.

"Yes!" Serena said. Her grandfather had told her the effects the steam tent had on 'visitors'. "Water has to be at least 100 degrees Celsius to boil and become steam. 60 degrees is the maximum on Antar. Whatever Antarian DNA Michael has in his body couldn't cope with it. That's why he got sick." She pushed her hair back from her face and leaned forward on the desk. "Michael is half human, half Carnasian and…well, I'm not even sure he has any Antarian in him…"

"He does," Siare interrupted. "We weren't sure if he would gain the same powers as the others with just his original Carnasian DNA, so we added some Antarian."

"Right, so that makes him, what, quarter Antarian? And that's the reaction he had. Imagine a full Antarian. That's the same reaction four times as fast. Four times as many things that can go wrong in their bodies."

"So you're telling me that everyone on this planet is going to die and we don't know why?" Isabel asked.

"Actually," said one of the other scientists. She was a small redhead with dark eyes and a mean looking scowl. "Our satellites picked up a surge in the upper atmosphere and we got pictures of a series of bombs. They were all aimed at different parts of Antar at equal intervals."

"Who's bombing us? Wait, don't answer that," Kyle said. "Khivar."

"Yes. It's got special elements which are required for breaking down the stratosphere, so we could easily trace it back." She pulled out a computer and typed in a few codes, bringing up a holographic screen full of charts. "Through the readings the satellites managed to pick up, it seems that the bomb was heat activated." She hit a key and a simulation appeared on the screen, moving in slow motion. There was a red sector of a circle on the left corner with a blue missile heading towards it. When the blue missile hit the red circle, it changed colour, slowly turning orange, to show that it was heating up. A millisecond after it began heating up, the missile exploded, sending a clear ripple through the circle. "You see, the friction that was caused when it entered the upper atmosphere caused it to heat up and explode, releasing the chemicals within."

"And this is what changed the atmosphere?" Michael asked slowly, trying to understand. He knew he should have paid more attention in Chemistry.

"Precisely, my lord," she said, nodding.

"Chemical warfare," Rath said, shaking his head.

"So how do we fix it?" Alex asked.

Just then, there was a loud crash and boom. The ground shook violently as a large bomb exploded in the capital city, and every other city, of Antar. A large, grey cloud of smoke rose from within it, the chemical particles diffusing within the clean air of Antar, tainting it. Mingling with precious oxygen to cause a planet-wide spread of instant pollution. The further it spread, the clearer it became until it was undistinguishable from the air around them.

The Saviours ran to the window, shoving aside the thick drapery to peer outside.

In the streets, people fell to their knees, grabbing their throats, choking on the thickened air, their eyes bulging as their skin turned a sick shade of bright pink. Others sprinted for the surrounding buildings, pounding frantically on doors, screaming to be let in, while the people within their houses locked their doors and windows, drawing the curtains and huddling in corners, taking as shallow a breath as possible. It may not have been announced, but they could tell. The air was changing, shifting from the clear, pure oxygen that usually floated about in Antar's atmosphere to something else. Something more sinister. It was changed to…

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…Carbon Dioxide. Lethal to Antarians in large doses. Khivar kicked his feet up on the desk, leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head as he watched the holographic feed from the spy satellites he had aimed on Antar. It wasn't the same authentic experience of watching it on an Earth television, but it was entertaining nonetheless. Later he'd ask Lindsey if he had the scene on Earth video. They could watch it together; maybe eat popcorn (he'd seen them do it on Earth and wanted to try it). He grinned maniacally as he watched a particularly big man fall flat on his face after having a coughing fit, then erupting into violent tremors as a seizure wracked his body.

Yes.

Revenge was sweet.

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The red headed scientist coughed violently as she pulled out an atmospheric scanner from her pocket. "Carbon Dioxide ratios are off the charts!" she sputtered between coughs.

"Close the outer air vents!" Rath commanded into his comm. link. "I only want the air that was in here before the explosion circulating in here!"

Every full Antarian in the room was wheezing, slumped over in their chairs or even on the floor. The only upright people in the place were the Saviours, who were accustomed to the carbon dioxide found in Earth's atmosphere. Rath rushed over to Siare who was collapsed on the floor taking weak, shallow breaths. He pulled her head into his lap and held her hand. Isabel held her other hand, wiping her forehead with her sleeve. The others gathered around while Michael just remained standing by the window, body rigid, seemingly entranced by what was happening outside.

"You're gonna be okay. We'll fix this," Isabel was whispering to her over and over, silent tears streamed down her cheeks. "God, you can't die now. I just found you."

"The portal! We can use it to move them. Get them off the planet!" Ava exclaimed.

"We can't move an entire planet," Alex said. "And where would we take them? Earth? They'd die instantly."

Siare was gasping for breath as she looked at her children, finally her eyes landed on Rath.

"Gr-granolith," she rasped. "Get…Granolith."

"The Granolith? Do what with the Granolith?" Rath asked, confused.

"Power…help…restore…" she said. Suddenly, she erupted into a fit of coughs. "You-you have to get the granolith." She forced it out insistently. "The power. It can fix it…restore Antar."

"The Granolith?" Isabel asked. "We need the keeper! Somebody go get Max!"

"No." Siare rasped. "Blue…bl-blue stones…"

"She's delirious. We have to get her out of here."

Suddenly, there was a gust of light wind through the room. Everyone looked up towards the window, worried that more air was coming in from outside, but the window was closed.

And Michael stood there, staring blankly into nothing, his eyes glowing red as he held his arms out in front of him. The room door slammed open and the air began to swirl faster as the Carbon Dioxide from everywhere in the base rose up and collected into a dark cloud above the room. The cloud then floated towards Michael in a big ball. In one swift movement, he used his power to throw open the window and toss out the offending chemical. Then, just as quickly, he slammed the window shut again before any more carbon dioxide could enter the room. He closed his eyes then, took a deep breath and fainted.

"Michael!" Maria cried as she ran to catch him before he hit the ground. Silently, she thanked her slayer strength and speed, as she was able to slowly lower him to the ground. She held his head in her lap and stroked his hair.

All around the base, people were getting up off the floor, finally able to breath properly now that the bulk of the poisonous gas was filtered out, but the people outside…it was doubtful that many survived. A few of the braver doctors, nurses and soldiers made their way to storage rooms to get gas masks and oxygen tanks so that they could go outside and save others, maybe bring any survivors into the safety of the base. Others, who were more cynical and less brave, decided that this was only a temporary fix and that they would do just as well retiring to their rooms so that they could die in the comfort of their own beds.

Meanwhile, back in the meeting room, Rath twisted, his eyes shifting back and forth between his brother and his mother, torn between tending to his past and tending to his present. Faith shared a look with him, knowing what he was thinking and went over to Michael's side, crouching beside Maria. There, Rath would have a connection to his brother through her.

Siare was slowly gaining her strength back, the poisons being forced back out of her body by clean oxygen. Despite Isabel's protests, she forced herself up to her knees, crawling over to Michael, her other son. No, not really hers. Not anymore. Not ever, really. And certainly not after today.

Oz sat crouched on a chair near the window, his face a mask of stoicism, green eyes peering outside at people in military gas masks checking the bodies that lay still out in the streets. He knew it was futile. His werewolf status had heightened his senses past that of a regular human or Lythian. They were heightened to that of a wolf. Honed to the blood of the prey. And he could tell that searching was futile. There was no one alive out there. Not in the streets. There was no blood pumping, no heat. The meat was cold. Poisoned and freshly dead. Good only for a feeding, not a hunt. This day marked a gross reduction of Antarian population.

He shook his head, returning his attentions to the room. He sniffed the air, frowning. Yes, that was what he smelt. Fear. A lot of fear. Most of it radiating off of the scientists. His wolf side basked in the glow of it, but his human side worried about what it could mean. He had a good idea why they were scared. Michael. They'd never seen powers like that on Antar, nor the rest of the Lythian system. Not unless they were introduced to the Earth's atmosphere. And the fear of the unknown was always the greatest fear of all.

Oz looked up as Rath left his vigil of his family to join him at the window to survey the kingdom grimly. His face was set in stone, but his eyes were stormy. Oz could sense anger, despair and a little bit of deadly intent radiating off him in waves as he stood there silently. Thinking. Watching.

"Mom, what were you talking about with the Granolith," he asked finally.

Siare looked away from Michael to look up at Rath, worry evident in her eyes. "Nobody truly knows what the Granolith does or-or what exactly it is. It is a knowledge that is passed down from keeper to keeper, never to be revealed to the outside. But there are stories, legends about the Granolith. It is said that it was the creator of the Lythian system, that's where the name comes from. The Granolith is the ancestor of the Lythian system. It made the planets, the atmosphere, the people…everything."

"And you think that if we could activate the Granolith, we could restore the stratosphere?" Serena asked. "That's a bit far fetched."

"But we should try it though, right?" Isabel said. "It's worth a try. It's not like we have any other options."

"And how are we supposed to get it? I'm sure Khivar's not gonna be up for lending it to us," Kyle pointed out.

"The keeper should be able to summon it," Siare answered. "I mean, it is in their complete control."

"But you have no proof that it would work?" Alex asked.

"No. Nobody really knows how the Granolith works or how to make it work. All we've ever been able to do is access its energy as a source of power," she explained. "That's one of the reasons it was left with you. It had the power to propel you through space so you could quickly return to us once you were ready to come home."

"So its not a ship?" Isabel asked.

"No. Not in the slightest. It's an energy source, the very thing that keeps our planets alive. But it can't think. Not much, anyway.  That's where the keeper comes in. It selects one person that it deems worthy of the power and responsibility of keeping the planets and their peoples within the best of health, while keeping its actions secret. Beyond that, it can't do anything on its own."

"You know a lot about something that nobody knows about," Faith said suspiciously.

"A few thousand years ago, there was a keeper with a slightly loose tongue. He gave up some of the information on the Granolith in his time. Rumour has it that the Granolith recognised him as a traitor for leaking information and released him of his duties, taking its secrets with it."

"So Max is the key to fixing this?" Isabel asked. "The keeper?"

Siare shook her head; eyes steady on Rath's back as he looked out the window. He turned around as if feeling her eyes on him.

"No. He could never make it work. Zan was never the keeper of the Granolith," she said, looking directly into Rath's eyes, attempting to relay her thoughts to him silently. His eyes widened as he remembered.

"Blue stones," he said in realisation. Faith could read the answer in his head.

"Zan was never the keeper. Rath was," Faith said aloud.

"Not Rath," Rath said, turning his head to look at his brother, who had just begun to stir in Maria's arms. "Deimon." Siare nodded silently, casting her eyes away from his hurt gaze. "You knew."

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Well, what do you think? Sorry, it's kinda short. I think all my parts are gonna be a bit shorter than usual from now on. That, or I can take longer to update. Teachers, huh? They make you think their classes are easy the first year so you don't drop 'em the second year, then BAM! Homework! Bastards! *walks off muttering under breath*

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