by Lucas Flint
“Damn it,” said the Avatar, his voice full of pain and rage. “I should have seen that coming. You destroyed my sword and burned my hand.”
“I’ll do a lot more than that if you don’t leave me alone,” said Beams. Of course, he wasn’t sure he could. His eyes were starting to water from overuse of his energy beams and he was finding it harder and harder to hang onto the window ledge, especially with the ice cold wind blowing through. He wasn’t even sure he could pull himself up.
The Avatar raised a foot. “I’ll just crush your fingers, then, and send you falling to your doom the old-fashioned way.”
Right before the Avatar brought his foot down on Beams’ fingers, someone slammed into the Avatar’s back. Taken by surprise, the Avatar windmilled his arms rapidly in an attempt to regain his balance, but it did him no good. Because he had been standing on one foot, all he could do was tip forward and fall forward out of the window.
Beams clung as tightly as he could to the wall as the Avatar fell past him. The Avatar reached out to grab his legs, but Beams fired another blast at his hand, causing the Avatar to cry out again as he fell. Then, with an ominous crunch, the Avatar crashed onto the stone and snow below, impaling himself on a pillar of stone rising from the ground. The Avatar’s eyes went wide and then his head lolled to the side and he stopped moving entirely.
Is he dead? Beams thought, looking down at the Avatar’s body below. No way he could have died that easily … right?
“Son of Arius!” said a feminine voice above him. “Are you well?”
Beams looked up. Pesa was looking down at him, her black ponytail hanging off the side of her face, a concerned look in her pretty dark eyes. She was clutching the window sill with her hands, staring at Beams as if she was afraid he might fall.
“I’m fine,” said Beams with a grunt. “Gonna need a hand up, though.”
Pesa frowned in confusion for a moment as if Beams had just said something in a different language, but then quickly nodded and said, “Yes, it is cold out. Here, take my hand.”
Pesa held out a hand toward Beams, which he grabbed with a firm grip. He was surprised at how small her hands were. Beams wasn’t a big man himself, but his hand easily enveloped hers and his grip was like iron compared to hers.
Nonetheless, Pesa managed to pull him back up into the Temple. It wasn’t much warmer inside than it was out, but at least Beams wasn’t constantly being beaten on by the icy wind. For that alone, he was thankful.
Still shivering, Beams looked at Pesa and said, “Thanks. Did you push the Avatar out of the window?”
Pesa nodded. “Yes. I was running away like you told me to, but then I saw the Avatar push you out of the window and I saw how he was going to kill you. So I sneaked up on him and, when he least expected it, pushed him off. He’s a lot bigger and heavier than me and I am not very strong, but I took advantage of the fact that he lacked balance to make it easier.”
“Very clever,” said Beams. “Reminds me of my own fighting style. I tend to focus more on taking advantage of my opponent’s weaknesses than taking them straight on. Kind of have to because unlike a certain someone I know, I’m not super strong.”
Pesa blushed at Beams’ praise. “I’m not very much of a fighter, to be honest. I just wanted to save you because you saved me. That’s all.”
Beams nodded. He couldn’t help but find her voice and mannerisms very sweet, almost cute. She definitely seemed a lot less hostile and unfriendly than the other Ariopolitans he had met so far, though he assumed that was because he had saved her from the Avatar.
In any case, I saved her, Beams thought. Time to find the other hunters and take her home.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of clanking armor coming down the hall. Looking in the direction from which the sounds came, Beams’ heart failed him at the sight of a dozen Darzen warriors rushing toward him and Pesa with their weapons raised. Beams had completely forgotten about the Darzen soldiers who the Avatar had brought along with him to kidnap Pesa.
“Oh, no,” said Pesa, putting a hand over her mouth, “I forgot about those monsters. What should we do?”
“Run,” said Beams, grabbing Pesa’s other hand, “we can’t take them all on ourselves. Too many to deal with at once.”
But before they could get anywhere, one of the Darzens raised a laser rifle and fired it at the ceiling above them. The laser struck the ceiling and sent huge chunks of stone falling toward them, forcing Beams and Pesa to jump out of the way to avoid being crushed by the debris. Unfortunately, that also resulted in the debris getting in the way of their path, trapping them between a huge pile of debris on one side and the dozen charging Darzen warriors on the other. Their only avenue of escape was the windows, but Beams didn’t think either he or Pesa would survive a jump from up high, especially after what happened to the Avatar.
So Beams began firing energy blasts at the Darzens, but his blasts were much weaker than usual. Most of his blasts hit, but because they were weaker than normal, they barely slowed down the Darzens at all. If anything, his energy beams just seemed to enrage the Darzens even more, who roared and chanted in that strange language of theirs which made Beams’ skin crawl.
Pesa clutched Beams’ arm tighter than ever. “What are we going to do, son of Arius? Don’t you have something up your sleeve?”
“Unfortunately, no,” said Beams, shaking his head. He looked to the left and to the right. “We’re trapped. And, unless you’re willing to take a very long jump down, we’re not going anywhere.”
Pesa’s eyes widened in horror, which made Beams feel frustrated. He wanted to tell her it would be okay, but he had no idea how to make it okay. All he could do was stand in front of Pesa and do his best to fight the Darzens. Better to die fighting than to die on his knees like some coward.
That was when a sudden battle cry filled the air, a battle cry which Beams had heard not too long ago. The battle cry caused the Darzen soldiers to stop and turn around to see where it was coming from. Through a gap in the Darzens’ forces, Beams could see exactly who was making the battle cry.
It was Garus and his hunters. The dozen strong, burly men were rushing down the hallway at a surprising speed, waving their spears over their heads and making a battle cry which sounded like the howling blizzard outside. The hunters crashed into the Darzen soldiers like a tidal wave and soon a vicious, bloody battle erupted in the hallway of the Ruined Temple, with the Darzen soldiers and the Ariopolitan hunters tearing at each other like a bunch of wild animals. Beams stayed where he was. He didn’t even try to help, because the Darzens and the Ariopolitans were so closely intermixed that if he tried shooting his lasers, he was just as likely to hit a hunter as he was to hit a soldier.
But the battle, as vicious and bloody as it was, lasted just a few minutes. Soon, all of the Darzens lay on the ground, their suits of armor immobile. Their energy forms leaked out of their armor, only to be burned away by the personal torches the hunters carried. It seemed that the Ariopolitans had not forgotten the true nature of the Darzens at all, despite how many years it had been since the Dread God ruled them, because they showed no mercy as they burned away the Darzens’ energy forms.
Then it was finally over. All of the Darzen warriors had been slain, while only a handful of Ariopolitan hunters had fallen. Some of the hunters had also suffered broken limbs or deep gashes, but none of them had received fatal injuries from what Beams could tell. Some of them even looked like they could still fight, which amazed Beams, because his adrenaline was already starting to fade and all he wanted to do was rest.
Garus approached Beams and Pesa. He looked totally uninjured. Indeed, Beams had seen Garus shatter the knees of one of the Darzens with that staff of his. Whether that was due to Garus’ own strength or the strength of his staff, Beams couldn’t say.
Why not both? Beams thought idly as he watched the lead hunter approach them.
“Princess Pesa,” said Garus. He stopped before her and bowed deeply, st
ill holding onto his staff for support. “It is a pleasure to see that you are safe and sound. We feared that the Darzens might have harmed you.”
Pesa smiled. “Thank you for your concern, Hunter Garus, but I am fine. The one they call the Dread God’s Avatar did manhandle me somewhat, but they didn’t injure me, thanks in no small part to this son of Arius here.”
Pesa patted Beams on the shoulder when she said that, causing Garus to look at him curiously. “You mean this outsider saved you?”
“He did,” said Pesa, nodding. “He was a brave warrior, on par with any of our hunters. We even worked together to defeat the Avatar. He seems like a true son of Arius to me.”
Beams smile sheepishly at Pesa’s praise. “Well, I just heard some metal scraping on the stone up here and went to check. I didn’t know they had taken Pesa up here.”
“Neither did we,” said Garus, standing upright again. “When we discovered that Pesa was nowhere to be found on the Temple’s first floor, we returned to the lobby to go up here. That is when we saw the arrow you left pointing to the stairs and heard the sounds of fighting, which is why we hastened to get up here as fast as we could. Looks like we were just in the nick of time.”
“Yeah, you were,” said Beams. “I’m sure those Darzens would have killed us if you guys hadn’t intervened. Thanks.”
“No problem, outsider,” said Garus. “But where is this one you call the Avatar? I do not see him unless he is among the Darzens we just slaughtered?”
“We pushed him out that window,” said Beams, pointing to the window over to the side. “He fell and impaled himself on a rock, so he’s probably dead. You can see his body from here.”
“Very well,” said Garus. “Let me check.”
As Garus walked over to the window, Beams looked at Pesa and said, “Did he call you Princess Pesa?”
Pesa nodded. “Yes. Technically, I am royalty, because I am descended from the original king of Ariopolis, King Horak. He was a good friend of Arius and helped him in the original revolution against the Dread God. He even named the city after Arius as a testament to their friendship.”
“Huh,” said Beams. “That’s kind of interesting. Do you think that’s one of the reasons why the Avatar tried to kidnap you? As revenge against your ancestor?”
“Probably,” said Pesa. “Legend says the Dread God can hold a grudge for eternity, so—”
“Princess!” said Garus from the window. “Please come and look. You must see this.”
Beams and Pesa ran over to the window where Garus stood. Garus was looking down at the ground where the Avatar had fallen, leaning on his staff. He did not look at either Beams or Pesa when they approached and instead pointed down at the ground.
“Do you see what I see?” said Garus, his eyes locked on the ground. “Or rather, what I don’t?”
Puzzled, Beams and Pesa looked down at the ground below. Due to the heavy snowfall that seemed to have picked up since they were last outside, it was hard to see the ground below.
But then there was a sudden gap in the blizzard and Beams saw it:
The Avatar’s body was nowhere to be seen.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The court of the Spirit was almost as big as the courtyard outside. It was certainly different from what Bolt usually thought of whenever he thought of a court for royalty.
The floor was made out of some kind of ancient wood, very firm and solid, while the walls and ceiling were covered with vines in varying states of bloom. Flowers of every color of the rainbow stood planted in flowerbeds set in the floor, while trees bearing delicious-looking but decidedly alien fruit loomed over them, making a vague tunnel which the six of them walked down. A tiny, crystal clear stream ran through the court, going underneath a small bridge in the center of the room and continuing through a drain on the opposite side of the room, though to where it went, Bolt did not know. The court smelled of freshly-picked apples and oranges and roses, as well as some other smells Bolt could not identify but which seemed to be coming from the alien fruits hanging above them.
Kyra giggled as they passed underneath the trees, holding up her hands and letting the leaves and branches brush against her hands. But neither Bolt nor any of the others dared to touch any of the plants, mostly because Bolt wasn’t sure which plants were poisonous and which weren’t. It didn’t help that the Spirit still seemed to dislike them, which made him extra cautious about touching the plants.
As they walked, Bolt caught glimpses of doorways and stairs leading to other wings of the Castle. Like the floor, they were made of the same oaken wood, but Bolt had a feeling that he would never be able to open the doors himself because the Spirit did not want him or anyone else going anywhere else in the Castle other than here. He also thought he caught glimpses of birds flying in the trees above, though they never stayed still long enough for him to confirm it.
At the end of the court was a massive nest, which Bolt realized was the Spirit’s throne, because she climbed up the steps to it and then sat down on it like a queen in her court. Kyra slid off of the Spirit’s back and took her seat in a small chair off to the side, where she immediately began bending a strange-looking green stick like a piece of rubber. The Spirit smiled at Kyra’s obvious amusement before turning her attention to Bolt and the others, at which point her smile turned into a serious frown.
“This is amazing, Spirit,” said Bolt, looking around the court in awe. “Did you make all of this yourself?”
“The Castle of Dimensions is much older than me,” said the Spirit. “It wasn’t always this big or beautiful. Like a tree, it started off as a mere seed. It is still growing and won’t stop growing for many more centuries, if ever.”
“You mean the Castle actually grew?” said Captain Galaxy in disbelief. “Kyra wasn’t just misunderstanding something you said?”
“Kyra never misunderstands anything I say,” said the Spirit with a playful smile. “Right, Kyra?”
“Right, Mommy,” said Kyra, nodding. “I always know what she’s talking about … sometimes.”
The Spirit just chuckled, but then winced, as if she had aggravated an injury on herself somewhere. She looked at Bolt and the others again. “But enough about my living arrangements. We are here to discuss why you are here.”
“Down to business,” said Aster. “Sounds great. So, we’re here because—”
“You wish to know where the Starborn are,” said the Spirit. “Correct?”
“Uh, yeah,” said Aster, who sounded surprised. “How did you know? We didn’t tell you.”
The Spirit shrugged. “I know more or less everything that goes on in the multiverse. It’s part of my job, part of my very nature. I don’t know what lies in the future, however. Just what is going on currently.”
“Well, then, that makes things easier for us,” said Aster, cracking a smile. “So I take it you will tell us where the Starborn are?”
The Spirit put a thoughtful look on her elephantine features. “I could, but I don’t know what good it will do you. The Starborn are not fighters. They are aware that the Dread God has returned, but they are too engrossed in their own creations to care about what he is doing. Sometimes, I envy their ignorance, if only because it would make my life so much easier. Alas, I am destined to remain aware of everything happening in the multiverse and not do anything about it.”
“But it’s not too hard for you,” said Kyra. “Right, Mommy?”
“Right, Kyra,” said the Spirit. “But it does make things … harder sometimes, I suppose.”
“Maybe you should just tell us where the Starborn are and let us convince them to help us ourselves,” said Bolt, jerking his thumb at his chest. “They know me and might be willing to listen to me.”
“It would be a fool’s errand,” said the Spirit. “As I said, the Starborn have little interest in taking part in this conflict. It would be a waste of time for everyone.”
“But we need the Starborn if we’re going to kill the Dread God,” sai
d Bolt. He pointed at the Spirit. “You know how dangerous the Dread God is. He nearly killed you, for Pete’s sake. Where have you been, anyway? Your daughter nearly got caught in a fire, a fire set by the Darzens I might add, and I had to save her.”
The Spirit rested on her throne. She favored her right side, probably because the injury which caused her limp was on her left. “I had to take the Dread God out of here before he could cause any damage. That’s why I disappeared and left Kyra on her own. If I fought the Dread God here, the Endless Forest would be in ruins already, so I forced him to go to another universe, one where we could do battle without fear of harming my trees.”
“Did you win?” said Bolt.
“It was a draw,” said the Spirit. She gestured with her trunk at her left leg. “He got in a few good hits, but I hit him back just as hard, and we both retreated. I think the Dread God forgot how powerful I am, though admittedly I forgot how powerful he was as well.”
“Have you fought him before?” said Bolt in surprise. “You seem to imply that.”
The Spirit chuckled. “I didn’t merely fight him before, young Bolt. We were lovers.”
A dead silence filled the court. Bolt could not help but just stare at the Spirit in absolute incredulity, hoping that she was joking or that he had misheard her. Even Hypno, who rarely seemed shocked by anything, stared at the Spirit, seemingly at a loss for words for this revelation.
“Speechless?” said the Spirit. “Not surprising. This is not generally well-known information. Even your little agency doesn’t know about it.”
“Yeah,” said Aster, who sounded as shocked as everyone else felt. “Our files on the Dread God and the Spirit of the Woods are extensive, but none of them mention that little fact.”
Captain Galaxy shuddered. “Ugh. I can’t even imagine the two of you being together. It must have been … awkward.”
