“Damn,” Dale said. “We can't risk leaving the horns for the Kudgels to take. We'll have to settle with him.” He drew his sword.
“It's nothing personal,” Helena said, drawing hers. Benny, Burgundy, Kolpak, and the dwarves followed suit. They were many to the monster's one, but the Cyclops probably outweighed them all and was obviously a seasoned warrior. This would not be easy.
Benny's misgivings continued. He feared they were fighting a friend rather than an enemy. Then he got a notion. “Wait!” he cried. “We're not enemies! We're contestants. We can determine the victor without bloodshed. We need dull swords.”
The others looked at him as if he were crazy. “How can we do that?” Dale asked incredulously.
But the Cyclops understood. “Rub that rock,” he said, indicating a dark slab set into the mountain slope. “So.” He demonstrated, rubbing one side of his huge blade on the stone. It came away dark and looked dull. Then he rubbed the other side. Then he chopped at a branch. Instead of cutting it off, the blade bounced. It was dull and maybe cushioned, so that while it could bash, it couldn't cut.
The Cyclops stepped back, waiting on them.
Helena shook her head, bemused. “Out of the mouths of babies,” she murmured, and rubbed her sword. The others followed, including Zenith and Cloud.
“I hope there's an antidote,” Kolpak muttered as he stroked his weapon.
“The other stone,” the Cyclops said, gesturing to a similar slab across the glade.
The fight resumed. The first to engage the Cyclops were the two Sorai. The one-eyed giant swept his sword across, catching them in its arc and smashing them to the ground. They were uninjured, but shaken and out of the fight for now. It seemed that the blade was not only blunted, but softened so as not to cause a club-like injury.
Dale and Helena attacked together, striking at the knees, which were as tall as they were. “Ooo!” the Cyclops howled as bruises appeared. The dulled blades did have some punch. Then he kicked out with both feet, a feat impossible to most folk, and swept them to the side. Like the Sorai, they were not technically injured, but would take a while to recover.
The dwarves swarmed the feet, bashing at the toes. “Ooo!” the Cyclops repeated as his feet bruised. He tried to kick the dwarves away, but they were on top of the feet and clinging to them, refusing to be dislodged. He squatted and brought his sword down to knock them off.
At this point, Benny dropped his sword and invoked his staff. He leaped onto the Cyclops’ bent knee, and leaped again, smacking the staff against the giant eyeball. He felt its magic working.
“OOOOO!” the Cyclops screamed, falling back on his rear. “I'm blinded!”
“Have we proved ourselves?” Benny called. “Do you yield?”
The Cyclops nodded. “I yield. You are worthy.”
Helena stepped up. “You have healing elixir? Where is it?”
“In the cave, Amazon,” he said, evidently recognizing her voice.
She went to the cave and returned with a double armful of white paste. “Is this it?” She threw a glob at the damaged eye.
The glob struck, spread out, and sank into the flesh. The eye blinked, then brightened. The Cyclops could see again. “Yes,” he said belatedly.
“Friends?” Helena asked.
“Yes. Kiss me, Amazon.”
She laughed and sat on his extended hand. He brought her to his face and she kissed his nose.
“That makes it worth it,” he said as he set her carefully down.
After that, they were indeed friends. The copious salve repaired all of their bruises and restored their vitality.
They stroked their weapons against the other stone, restoring their sharpness, then joined the Cyclops in his cave, which turned out to be remarkably comfortable and well appointed. He served dishes of tasty stew and they talked.
“We're actually here to destroy the horns,” Benny said cautiously, afraid this would make them enemies again.
“That's good,” the Cyclops said. “Those horns are sheer mischief and should be abolished.”
Had he heard correctly? “But you are guarding them!”
“I am guarding them from those who would abuse their powers. That's my assignment. That doesn't mean I like it.”
All of them gazed at the Cyclops. “This is of the nature of a private opinion,” Dale said. “Separate from your duty.”
“Exactly. I would be quite satisfied to see them abolished. Then my onerous mission would be finished and I could go home.”
“If you feel that way,” Helena said, “Why didn't you destroy them yourself? That would prevent anyone from abusing their powers, so is consistent with your mission.”
“I can't. They are almost invulnerable.”
“So we have come here for nothing?” Benny asked, irritated.
“Not at all. I can't touch them, but you can.”
“Why should I want to? To blow one could be doom.”
The Cyclops looked at him. “You hold the only weapon that can damage them.”
“I do?” Benny asked, surprised again.
“You brought it here coincidentally?”
“Maybe the Protector directed it,” Benny said thoughtfully.
“That must be the case. He set me to guard them, and you to destroy them.”
Benny looked at his staff. “I had no idea!” He looked around. “Then maybe we'd better get to it.”
But then they all froze in place, except for the Cyclops. Benny could move his eyes to look, but that was all. What was happening?
A black cloud floated into the cave. No, it was some kind of fuzzy air ship, supporting two people and several Kudgels. It settled onto the floor, and the two got off. Benny saw with astonishment that they were his mother Winona and his brother Ammarod Current. They had used magic transportation to get here unexpectedly rapidly. But how had they known the way?
Winona faced the Cyclops. “Where do you stand, One-Eye?” she demanded.
The giant hesitated. “I discover that I am not allowed to intervene in your affairs,” he said after a moment. “I do not understand this, but it is so.”
“Then you are dismissed,” the witch said.
Benny was amazed. The Cyclops was permitting this? How could that be?
The Cyclops glanced at Benny as if understanding his question. “This turns out to be a more complicated situation than I can handle,” he said. “I must let it play out in its own fashion.” He departed.
“Indeed,” Winona said.
“What is complicated?” Ammarod asked her. “We are here to blow the Horn.”
“No. That is the final expedient if we fail our primary mission.”
“Our allies are turning against us. This signals incipient failure. That is why we must destroy the present system.”
“We can recover our allies,” Winona said. “The key is Magenta, who is marshaling the leading contingent.”
“Magenta,” Ammarod said. “She is a lot of woman, willful and physically appealing. I mean to have her for my concubine, though I may have to manacle her hands and feet and file off her teeth to inhibit her resistance. Even so, it may be a challenge to possess her. But she will never return that contingent to us.”
“Not if treated like that,” Winona agreed. “That's why you can't have her.”
Ammarod laughed. “What is the point in killing her? She is too good to waste.”
“She will not be wasted. The key to her cooperation lies with Benny.”
Benny, still in stasis, was startled. Was this the reason Magenta was to come to join them? But he would never ask her to turn her contingent of Kudgels over to the enemy.
“We must persuade her to join us,” Winona said. “That is what Benny can do. She likes him, and may soon love him, now that the way has been cleared. For him, she may turn that corner.”
This was another surprise for Benny. Magenta liked him? She had been good to him, certainly, but he had never fooled himself that this was anything
more than her niceness as a person and friendship with Virtue. And what was this about the way being cleared?
“Mother, Benny is warring against us,” Ammarod reminded her. “He is not about to change sides either.”
“That remains to be seen. I have been guiding him indirectly all his life. Now it is time to become direct.”
“I don't understand,” Ammarod said.
Neither did Benny. What was the woman up to?
“I have an ambition of my own,” Winona said. “I want to be queen of Pakk, with my sons as regent kings. This requires intricate management.”
Ammarod shrugged. “You can be queen, of course, and I will be a king, if we conquer the planet. What does Benny have to do with that?”
“He is my son, as are you. I am the only woman who has truly cared for either of you. It has been an ongoing challenge to protect the two of you from heartache.”
“The two of us?” Ammarod asked. “I am not aware of this.”
“Of course you aren't. I was not certain that either of you would properly understand my efforts.”
“What efforts?” Ammarod demanded. Benny was curious too.
“My efforts to prevent you from being corrupted by scheming women.”
“What scheming women?”
Winona hesitated, then evidently decided to say something she hadn't planned on. “Laurel, for one thing.”
Benny remembered that that was her name for Virtue Vampire. But Virtue was no schemer. Far from it! She was a completely lovable partner and wife.
“Laurel!” Ammarod said. “I loved her!”
“Exactly,” Winona said evenly. “She was casting her wicked spell, taking you away from me. I had to act. She finally died the way she was supposed to.”
Benny suffered an ugly chill. Virtue was dead?
“What do you mean, the way she was supposed to?” Ammarod demanded. At this point, Benny was with him. “She was never wicked. She was a lovely, innocent girl, a considerable change of pace from the females I have known.”
“Yes. The others were sluts and you knew it and used them accordingly. No problem there. But Laurel was winning your heart and soul. She forced my hand early.”
“Forced your hand? We were attacked by vampires!”
“Not exactly, son. I sent my servants, who were freshly turned vampires, to kill Laurel, ending that threat, and bring you back to me. But they attacked you instead, tearing your limbs from your body, strewing your entrails across the land, gang-biting you, feeding on your precious blood, while she managed to get away, albeit as a converted vampire. She had, I think, no proper memory of the occasion, and thought she had turned vampire voluntarily. Neither did you. I could not repair your body from their feeding frenzy, so I created a new and better body for you, the one you have now.”
Benny was appalled. He had had no idea that Virtue had been converted by force, and it seemed she didn't either. All because Ammarod's mother was jealous of his affection for Laurel!
Ammarod was so tight he was like a statue. He, too, had not known. “You intended to kill Laurel? The woman I loved?”
“Son, I didn't want to tell you, but it was the only way! Her memory of you was returning. She was ensnaring your heart. I had to act.”
“And how did she finally die?” His words were barely audible.
“Seeing there was no other way, I took personal charge so there would be no further mistakes. I finally visited her at the home she shared with Benny, in her guise of Virtue. She was ensnaring you a second time, after completely corrupting Benny. You thought you were raping her, but you were doing only what she compelled you to do. You could not help yourself. You thought you were possessing her, but she was possessing you. So I knifed her to death, making sure there could be no recovery.”
Ammarod was silent. Benny shared his horror.
“And thus, I cleared the way for Magenta,” Winona concluded. “She is no vampire and is not a schemer. She is truly innocent of the female machinations. She can be managed. She can take Laurel's place with Benny, and when he has won her love, we can slowly turn her to our side. We will win back the rogue Kudgel contingent. We will win the planet. I will be queen, and you and Benny will be kings. That is why you must not touch her again, son. You abused her, and she will never trust you the way she will trust Benny. This way is perfect.”
“You're mad,” Ammarod whispered. Benny could not have said it better.
“Not at all, son. I am practical. I am doing what needs to be done, and I know you and Benny will appreciate that in due course.”
“Because of you, I lost Laurel and turned to the dark side,” Ammarod said in a low tone. “I thought Laurel had abandoned me, and turned to Benny to spite me. That's why I treated her roughly when I found her in her new alias. I lost everything I really cared about, including Laurel's love.”
“Yes. Isn't it wonderful? Now you can start over, unencumbered emotionally. You can be mine again.”
“I lost everything,” Ammarod repeated. “Including, now, my mother.”
“No, my dear, you have at last recovered her.”
Ammarod drew a knife and leaped for her before she could react. He stabbed her repeatedly. She cried out, not with pain, but surprise. In her insanity, she had never anticipated this.
Ammarod turned away, leaving her to die. As Winona's life faded, her spell of stasis wore off, and Benny and the others recovered their ability to move.
Benny ran to her. “I'm sorry!” he cried. Despite her crimes, he knew she had done it from love, not hate. Cruelly twisted, but nevertheless love.
“Benny,” she gasped. “I will always love you, Ammarod, and Aiken. All I wanted was for the three of you to be with me.”
“It didn't have to be like this!” Benny cried.
“I knew no other way,” she said, stroking his face. She smiled weakly. “You look just like your father.”
Then, she died as he held her. Her body transformed from the demonic witch into a beautiful young lady. That had to be her suppressed inner soul.
Benny rose to confront Ammarod, determined to set things straight. The others stood by, not interfering. Could this have been the reason the Cyclops had had to depart? To let this vital sequence play out? “I understand you better than I did before,” Benny said. “I share some of your horror. But you need to know that Virtue still cared for you, when she remembered, even though you ravished her. You did her an injustice. I don't hold you responsible for the brainwashing by our mother, Winona. Do not misjudge Magenta similarly; she is no proper part of that plot.” He hoped his half-brother would heed his words, because otherwise there would be more blood to shed.
Ammarod remained stoic, not speaking.
“There is a way to end the war,” Benny continued. “Both in Pakk and in your heart. This world is governed by the Protector, and he has allowed me to speak for him in this respect. He will forgive you if you change your ways and recant what you have done.”
Now Ammarod spoke. “It is too late. There is no other way.”
Dale intervened. “I was just like you, Ammarod, and probably worse, until Virtue saved me. It's never too late.”
Ammarod was silent, but a single tear streamed down his otherwise emotionless face.
Benny tried one last time to turn his brother. “The Horns are to summon the Sky Titans. They will destroy everything, including us. There will be nothing left.”
“I know,” Ammarod said.
Benny was desperate. “Then what do you want out of this?”
“The end.” Then Ammarod attacked.
The Kudgels sprang into action, going after Dale, Helena, and Burgundy. The three were ready for them. This had been a pause, not a truce.
That left Benny to deal with Ammarod. He had tried to make peace, but underneath it lay his anger over what the man had done to Virtue and planned to do to Magenta. Now that his brother had rejected the offer, Benny was free to pursue the other course. To destroy him.
If Amm
arod was surprised by Benny's ferocity, he didn't show it. He skillfully fended off Benny's attack, and countered with his own thrusts. There was to be no easy victory here for either man.
The others made short work of the Kudgels, sending the survivors fleeing back up into the mountain. They came to watch Benny and Ammarod fight, not interfering. Benny heard their comments as if he were a spectator, but he was not distracted. He pressed his attack unrelentingly, using his staff rather than his sword. It was as if he had two sides, the Peacemaker and the Warrior. The first had failed; now it was the second's turn.
“They're moving so fast I can barely see them,” Dale said, impressed.
“Ammarod looks like black smoke, and Benny's ghosting causes him to look like a blur,” Helena agreed.
“I couldn't fight better in my dreams,” Burgundy said. That was a significant compliment, considering.
But Ammarod was no pushover. He was clearly as proficient against a staff as a sword or other weapon. He feinted, and managed to catch his blade against the staff next to Benny's hand. Benny had to let go lest his fingers get sliced off, and the staff flung out and away. Benny himself was knocked back, for the moment disoriented.
Ammarod did not follow up against Benny. Instead, moving as smoke, he attacked the companions. Caught unprepared, they were vulnerable. In moments, Kolpak's soldiers were killed, and so were Quill's Sorai companions. Then he turned on Quill and Kolpak, quickly injuring and disarming them.
“Hey!” Dale exclaimed, raising his sword, about to go into berserker mode. But Ammarod bashed him back, and knocked out Helena before she could react. They were sucker punches in effect, but they were the suckers.
It occurred to Benny that Ammarod had not been trying to kill him, but to engage him long enough to divert the others so he could wipe them out by surprise. That devious ploy had worked. They had misjudged the man's deadly cunning.
Benny drew his sword and charged back into the fray. Ammarod, finally winded from his extraordinary combat, collapsed beside the Golden Horn. He must have drawn on special resources, which were now exhausted, leaving him depleted and vulnerable.
Benny hesitated. Did he really want to smash his brother now while he was down? Maybe the man would finally surrender.
Magenta Salvation Page 14
