by M K Drake
Professor Sprocking rolls out of the way just in time and then tries to dart towards the Sword, but is blocked by Draconus’s massive tail. The dragon swings it hard and sends Sprocking crashing back into the sand. He recovers quickly and sends a barrage of blue spear-like energy blasts towards Draconus.
The dragon blocks the assault with the large protruding bones from his tail, deflecting the attacks back to their origin. Professor Sprocking raises a shield but the impact is so powerful that his protection is shattered and the force knocks him to the ground once more.
Professor Sprocking tries to send another array of energy but nothing happens, just some minor sparks. He tries once more, but again, nothing. He then looks at his amulet, his source of power, and finds it damaged from the last attack.
Draconus senses that all is not well with his foe and walks over to him, picking up the sword on the way. The blade is tiny in his giant grasp, so he wields it between his claws. “Now I will keep this, after I have tainted it with your blood. I do you a favour Majjai, I reunite you with your beloved.” Draconus swings the blade down and is about to make contact when he is abruptly knocked to one side.
Mage Avipaul has come charging in on one of his giant Rhinors, he knocks Draconus back, forcing the dragon to relinquish his grip on the sword which comes spinning down to land next to Professor Sprocking.
Mage Avipaul stops next to the Professor and holds a hand down, “Need some help my friend?”
Professor Sprocking picks up the sword with his left hand and holds up his right, to be pulled up onto the giant creature by the Mage. “Thank you, I need to get to Mage Kayban, he can fix my amulet. Can you take me there? And what is this glorious thing?”
“This majestic friend of ours is a Rhinor! We keep them safe in our jungles; they were deemed too clumsy and dangerous to be transported to the third realm. And of course, I can get you to Mage Kayban” replies Mage Avipaul. “But do you not want to deal with the dragon first?”
Before Professor Sprocking can reply, Draconus has already risen, and flapping his mighty wings, launches himself back into the air.
# # #
“I guess they certainly owe some payback towards Shadow Wolf after what happened at the Burrow’s house!” shouts Marcellus to Professor Morgan as he spies the ground-based troops of the newly monikered ‘Knights of Valhalla.’
“Indeed they do; would you not seek vengeance for me if I fell at the hand of a demon, Marcellus?” replies Benjamin, as he dodges a lash from Scourge.
“Of course, but I wouldn’t let that happen to you in the first place,” Marcellus sends his metallic whip lashing towards Scourge, cutting the demon’s skin.
Professor Benjamin Morgan is quite agile for one so portly, and is able to hold his own against the majority of demons, but Scourge is another matter entirely. The Professor feels great resentment towards the one that impersonated Professor Snugglebottom. This beast sat with them many a time at Wysardian Manor, completely undetected. “You traitor, Snugglebottom!”
The beast hisses. “My name is Scourge, human! Do not dare refer to me as the imbecile!”
Professor Morgan works with Marcellus to double-team another attack, sending a combined fireball towards Scourge. “We had tea together! Tea!! An Englishman does not drink tea with another Englishman and then turn out to be a traitor! It’s just not done! It’s bloody well not British!”
“Fool!” snarls Scourge. “Do I look British to you?”
While Professor Morgan keeps Scourge distracted Marcellus sneaks upon the monster’s six and sends a fist into its belly, knocking the beast to the ground. “You’re far too ugly to be British!”
Scourge, angered at the blow, stretches out his wings, knocking Marcellus and Professor Morgan to the ground, then attempts to fly up.
Marcellus quickly recovers and hooks his whip to Scourge’s trailing leg, pulling him straight back down.
“You’re much stronger than you look Majjai,” Scourge splutters. “You should have been killed at the Manor when I defeated you there. What are you?”
Professor Morgan sends another fireball to block an attack aimed at Marcellus, “Ha! You do not know? Today you battle an angel! An Eternal!”
Scourge gasps, “You, it is you! The Eternal that fell! Ha! My master is truly a genius! You will all be destroyed! Ha! No wonder you survived, angel! But your effort was futile! I will take much glee in this! Now, I must go, you wingless fool!” the demon whips his tail towards his foes, this time sending them far away enough to allow him to take off.
Professor Morgan dusts himself down before helping Marcellus up. “What on Earth was that about?”
Marcellus sighs. “I have no idea, but I guess we’ll find out soon. The Amethyst is in play, and I fear this is all connected. Especially after Myrddin’s revelations.”
# # #
“Fall Kazmagus! Fall!” The Horseman sends blow after blow towards the ancient Majjai. The shockwaves vibrate through the very sand and rock beneath them and out into the sky.
“Never! I have fought stronger than you! And won!” Kazmagus spins away from the next attack and sweeps the Horseman to the ground, before dodging another assault from the World Ender’s steed, who tries to stomp on Kazmagus as he attempts to get up.
Kazmagus sends a fireball into the belly of the demonic horse, stopping the beast instantly and launching it into the sky.
“No!” shouts Vengeance. “My horse! How dare you?” the World Ender stands and begins to breathe slowly, trying to channel his Trinity energy together at once.
Kazmagus senses what the Horseman is trying to do and charges towards him but it is too late. The World Ender sends a giant ball of alternating blue, red, and purple-coloured energy towards the ancient Majjai, sending him on a direct impact course with Spitfire.
The Horseman smirks as he watches Spitfire, in his Hyper Jet form, collide with Kazmagus, sending them both, along with General Crawford, careering to the ground. “Mastery achieved… Majjai.” Then he looks around and spots his horse laying on a sand dune not too far away. He rushes over and tends to its wounds, healing them with his touch. “Be well. Do not worry; rest now. I have to deal with the abomination and his friends. It will not take long.” The Horseman stands and raises a hand, summoning one of Razakel’s massive Slugs. He waits for the beast to settle and be still before making his request: “Take me to Shezmu.”
Chapter 35
The Head of Shezmu
Atticus tries desperately to reach Joseph but keeps getting pulled back by the sheer number of Shezmu’s spawn that are attacking; his only comfort is that Joseph is managing to hold his ground, although at what cost? Every life taken is a step closer to the Amethyst taking over and triggering his father’s end. Atticus needs this battle to conclude as quickly as possible. He turns to see Khan and Olof on the ground and shouts out, “Olof! Stay close to my dad, keep him safe, I am going to help Ju Long in the air!”
Olof nods and cuts a path through towards Joseph with shards of ice. “Stay behind me, Mr. Jones, I will cover your six and flanks! You concentrate on what is ahead of you. Step with me as we head to the pyramid!”
Atticus, comfortable that his dad is in good hands, takes off in to the air and makes his way to the upper area of the chamber to aid Ju Long against the falcon-like spawn; as Atticus gets closer to them he can see their form much clearer, their golden wings reflect the little light there is in the chamber, but their chests are armoured with thick, heavy scales.
“Atticus, aim for their heads and wings, their hide everywhere else is too thick, even for our fireballs!” Ju Long swoops in behind Atticus as several of the falcons turn and open fire, shooting streams of energy and molten lava towards the two heroes. Ju Long, still in his dragon form, gets in the way and uses his own armoured skin to absorb the attack, protecting Atticus from harm. He then uses his massive tail to whip the enemy out of the sky. “And watch out for that lava blast, stings a bit!”
“Thanks!” shouts
Atticus, “We need to get to Shezmu,” he ducks as one of Shezmu’s spawn breaks through and attempts to snap at his head; Atticus turns and uses his telekinesis ability to snatch it out of the air and fling it into the path of another swarm. “How many more of these things?”
“We are getting there, forget about how many are left, and concentrate on taking on the next wave, because here they come again!”
# # #
“How much further does your scanner say Pali?” asks Safaya, starting to get bored with the amount of time taking to get to the Scroll’s chamber. “The smell in here is revolting, and I do not trust the ease at which we are progressing. Things are rarely this tranquil.”
“Well, my scans are not picking up anything untoward,” replies Pali, pointing her arm outwards, using her embedded torch to light the pathway ahead. “But I agree, we should be on our guard.”
“Well, I’m glad you think so; Joyce, please throw a protective shield to our front and rear, just in case.”
Joyce obliges before stepping closer to Pali, worried that Safaya may be being a little abrupt. “You, haven’t seen much combat have you?” she whispers softly, trying to ensure Safaya does not hear their conversation.
“No, we Mecha Knights are usually inventing things for other Majjai to use. Our mastery of infusing Majjai powers with technology usually keeps us away from the front line.”
“Well, I’d say that is probably a blessing. I hate all this fighting, and can’t wait for this stupid war to end. But if you’d like, Safaya and I can teach you some techniques – if we ever make it back to Wysardian Manor,” replies Joyce as she angles her shields slightly to match the contour of the corridor.”
Pali’s arm device begins to bleep.
“What is it?” asks Safaya, changing her stance in preparation for an imminent attack.
Pali taps some buttons on the panel attached to her arm. “I’m not sure, there is an odd singularity appearing, as if a portal is lying in wait.”
Joyce peers at the holographic image, trying to make some sense of the numbers and data on the projection. “Where from?”
“It’s all over. The readings are very strange. These portals are all interconnected. They are not like the Majjai portals, or even like the Loki medallion ones. They are all linked directly to the source – Shezmu. I think, if we take him down, then every being to come through one of his openings would get dragged right back.”
“Well, that is good news,” says Safaya as she peers ahead into the darkness. “We can relay this information to Atticus when we return to his side in battle. For now, I think we have found the chamber.” She points ahead to what appears to be a doorway; there is a strange glow emanating from it, pulsating a deep golden yellow colour which changes to crimson and finally a light blue. As the trio move closer, the rotation of the colours increases in speed incrementally.
“Stay behind me,” says Joyce, holding her energy shield in front; she steps cautiously through the doorway into a large, circular chamber. Here the walls are smooth to the touch and the ceiling incredibly high. In the centre she can see a pillar of light, changing through the colours they saw earlier, her eyes follow the pillar from the ceiling to the ground, where she spies a small plinth, and on top of it, a pair of scrolls. “We’ve found them!”
“Yes! Yes you have!” a voice echoes deeply around the room; it’s so loud that the Majjai cup their ears as tightly as they can. “Greetings from Shezmu! Do you really think you would be able to get this far into my domain without me seeing?”
The girls scream in unison as Shezmu tries to invade their minds.
“I see everything! Your companions will soon meet their doom!”
Joyce screams out. “Never! We are stronger than you think!” she looks at Pali. “Is there anything you can do to block his mind invasion?”
“Yes,” she says, as Shezmu sends another barrage of thoughts into them, forcing them to close their eyes tightly, trying to block out the Egyptian demi-god, “Yes, if I can isolate the frequency he is transmitting on…”
“Do it! Arrrggghhh!” Safaya screams. “Quickly!”
Pali frantically scans everything she can, her own vision blurring. Finally she spots the frequency she needs and isolates it. “Found it!” she says as she activates the block.
The three Majjai un-cup their ears and breathe a long, deep sigh.
“Impressive,” says Shezmu, his voice still echoes in the chamber, even with the mind invasion now being blocked “But you’ve only bought yourself a few moments. You, Joyce, your mind revealed much… feelings… and fear. You fear one in particular. Allow me to arrange a reunion.”
Pali, looking concerned as something strange shows up on her holographic projection, “Er, remember that strange portal that was following us… well, it’s there!” She points to the opposite end of the chamber as a large wormhole appears, and from it emerges an enemy that is well known to Joyce.
“Hello Joyccccccccceeeee!” Herensugue slithers out of the portal, his six remaining heads all hissing in Joyce’s direction; the demon’s seventh head, which Joyce removed in a previous encounter, evidenced only by an empty stump on a seventh protruding neck. “You owe me a head, Majjai. Your flesssssh tasssssted ssssso good the lassssst time we met, I think I shall take the ressssst of it. To think, your leader, Atticussssss, sent the femalesssss to do thissssss tassssssk. As if he wantssssss to fail.”
“But you are alone! And you should never underestimate a woman!” shouts Joyce, before she turns back and whispers to Pali and Safaya. “Watch his bite, the venom is deadly.”
“I am never alone you fool,” Herensugue raises his tiny reptilian arms instigating another portal to appear, and from it jump in a pair of Screamers, but unlike the Screamers they have seen before, these two are covered in flames. “A sssstrange thing happened asss we attempted to reconssstruct our own portal. These two came back to usss after they were thrown into it; they are very much dead, but sssomehow, are sssstill alive.”
Joyce fires a set of fireballs directly at the Screamers, but to no affect, the two demons’ merely absorb the attack.
Safaya then tries and sends a whirlwind to try and suck the air away from the demons’ flames, attempting to suffocate the fire, but again nothing.
Joyce holds her shields up as the Screamers prepare an attack; in unison they bellow forward a massive sonic blast, accompanied by a huge blast of fire. The stream is continuous, unlike the short bursts from normal Screamers; the energy is such that Joyce’s shield begins to crack. Tiny spurts of the flame begin to penetrate through the protective energy as bigger cracks begin to appear.
“How are we going to kill these things, we have no weapons!” screams Joyce, “I can’t hold this much longer, they are too strong!”
“I do!” says Pali, as she disables the hologram and pushes another button on her forearm, as she presses it a set of turrets morph outwards, she aims her forearm in the direction of their attackers and lets out a powerful but concentrated beam of energy, slicing the two Screamer demons into two just as the shield collapses.
Joyce drops to the floor, spent of all her energy. Herensugue use the opportunity to attack, lunging forward, his heads snap in her direction, but Safaya uses her command of earth to send a boulder crashing into the beast.
“Stay away from her, monster!” shouts the Princess. “We are not as weak as you presume! We shall show you what females can actually do!”
Pali sends a fireball high into the air. Safaya immediately latches onto it and splits it into five, firing all of them as a barrage towards the serpent demon.
The demon dodges, avoiding all the fireballs but one, which sends him across the room. He immediately responds by flicking his thick tails towards Safaya, she leaps into the air, out of the path of the demon’s blow, pushing Pali out of the way as she does so, saving her from the follow-through of the assault.
Herensugue takes advantage of the distraction and slithers again towards Joyce, one mouth agape
and aiming directly for her neck.
Pali re-energises her beam weapon and aims it deftly towards the fast-approaching head, slicing another from the necks of Herensugue.
The demon screams in pain. “Arrrrgghhh! Masssster! Massssster! Sssssave me!”
Shezmu’s voice rings around again. “I am busy out here coward, protect the scrolls! You fool!”
Joyce stands after finally catching her breath. “No one left to save you now, demon,” she says, as she steps cautiously towards her enemy.
“Foolisssh Majjai, you are fighting a war you cannot hope to win. He is coming! You cannot stop Him!” Herensugue coils his tail and launches himself over the three Majjai, sending a spray of venom towards them.
Joyce throws up a shield just in time, and the putrid liquid hisses and fizzles away against the protective wall, but the distraction was just enough. “Damn, he has gone!” she says, “Coward!” she screams into the dark corridor that Herensugue escaped through.
“His time will come, Joyce, do not worry,” says Safaya, as she steps over to the central pillar. “For now, we have what we came for, we must head back to the battle and get these to Elric as soon as possible.”
# # #
“Shezmu! Relent now!” Khan bellows out as loud as he can while the last spawn of the demi-god collapses from his sabre.
Atticus and Ju Long land and stand with the others. Atticus looks towards Joseph, “Dad, are you ok?”
“I’m fine son, I’m quite enjoying this. Olof was a wonderful bodyguard.”
Olof smiles. “Thank you, but, I think you need to step aside now, Shezmu is a different foe entirely compared to these lesser monsters.”
