The War of All Wars

by J. Eric Booker

  So what do you suggest we do now?

  Even though he took a deep breath, he still answered telepathically, I guess we’ll just have to use that invisibility spell and sneak over them on the magic carpet. After all, the fact that there are hundreds of minotaurs indicates to me that they must be guarding something important beyond. What other purpose could they have?

  Sounds like a good plan to me, she said with a smile. Climb aboard behind me and hold on. I want to drive.

  Okay, he said and did. He wrapped his arms around her waist.

  Just before she began chanting, she threw a small smile, as she liked it just as much when he was holding onto her as the other way around.

  She began chanting her spell—thirty seconds later, they and the rug turned invisible.

  With that, she steered them around the corner, and entered the room—it was just as they neared to about twenty feet away from the minotaurs who were playing cards, that one stuck his nose up into the air, sniffed the air a couple of times, and roared aloud at the top of his lungs, “Minotaurs—I smell intruders! ”

  “Oh crap,” Nemis said aloud—meanwhile, every last minotaur sprang out of bed, ready for combat.

  Go—go—go! Baltor exclaimed telepathically.

  She directed the carpet to fly over the minotaurs and toward the exit at top speed, just barely avoiding two flying axes that went sailing nearby.

  Three more axes flew by in the next moment. That final axe actually struck Baltor in the back—although it bounced harmlessly off, he became visible.

  As they zoomed passed the exit, they heard one minotaur roar aloud, “Let’s get ’em, boys—charge!” Following that order came the sounds of all the minotaurs roaring out like angry bulls as they began to stampede with a weapon in hand toward their enemies!

  Nemis and Baltor saw that this tunnel went straight an entire mile before making a left. In a little under a minute, they were already making that left—this new tunnel continued straight for almost three miles until it ended at a closed door.

  “Baltor,” Nemis said aloud, “there’s a door—”

  “Yeah,” he interrupted, “I see it. Do you have any sort of ‘unlock doors spell’ in your arsenal?”

  “No, I don’t,” she replied.

  “Hmmm,” he said. “Okay. A little over a minute from now, we will be arriving at the door, and yes, there is a lock on it. Don’t know if it’s booby-trapped or not, magic or otherwise. Also, I have reason to suspect that one of them minotaurs might have the key as they are guarding whatever is behind it…so what I’m about to do is to hop off, fight and kill them all. Then we’ll discover whether my theory about them possessing the key is true.”

  “Are you crazy? What if their weapons are magical?”

  Baltor answered, “Well, one hit me already in the back with its axe, so my suspicion is no, unless it was a good-but-bad throw…if you want, use some of your attack spells, especially your fireball! I should be all right…I’m off!”

  With that, he hopped off the carpet, rolled on the ground, drew his swords and faced the minotaurs that had just begun to round the corner—due to the size of the hallway, only five could run side by side.

  “AHHHHHHHHHHHH,” they roared, running even faster. Several in the front of the ranks even tried to throw their axes at him, but Baltor deflected them all with his swords.

  Though the ones that had thrown them were disarmed, they lowered their heads until their sharp, piercing horns pointed directly at their enemy.

  Except when he had to avert an incoming axe using one or both of his swords, Baltor remained in the basic ready stance. That is, until bout twenty seconds before their arrival, he fearlessly began walking forward, step by step, all the while swinging his swords around his body so fast that they looked like spinning fans.

  This boldness actually surprised the minotaurs in the lead, and they slowed down their pace, which turned out to be a huge mistake—for the ones in the rear began to push and shove the ones in the front, which caused two of them in the very front to trip over their feet and crash hard into the ground.

  Consequently, the minotaurs right behind them crashed on top of those, and so on, and so on … it turned into a massive pileup!

  Only a couple of the minotaurs managed to make it through, and they continued on—because Baltor knew that cattle had heads that were as solid as a rock, he knew that these minotaurs’ weaknesses were in their bodies, especially their legs, and so he somersaulted forward one time until he was in the crouched position, and waited.

  A split second later, he heard Nemis’ voice unexpectedly say in his head, Duck!

  In the next moment, he assumed the prone position on his belly.

  A fireball zoomed only inches above his head, which exploded upon impact with the four leading minotaurs—instantly, they caught on fire, already having forgotten about their prey.

  Baltor took advantage, killing all of them in only seconds.

  With that, he pressed on in killing minotaur after minotaur until he was at the heart of the pileup itself. There, he began to hack, slice and stab like a lunatic wherever he saw moving bodies or heads!

  In less than thirty seconds time, Baltor had killed more than two-dozen enemies, but he did not stop. He leaped on top of the corpses, crouch-walking over beyond the pile, and stabbing more, and more, and more.

  From behind him, he heard the sounds of a lightning bolt sizzle into any remaining living minotaurs at the lead. Though these types of creatures are fearless in nature, the ones in the far rear of the ranks saw that their numbers were quickly becoming decimated—they retreated.

  Baltor, all the while, continued on killing more and more, as most were stacked on top and/or underneath other minotaurs…

  Within five minutes, he had at least killed hundred and fifty of them. His armor, as well his face, was soaked in blood.

  Finally, he emerged at the back of the pileup, seeing about two dozen of the remaining thirty-nine minotaurs still waiting to fight, though they now looked like they were in total shock and disbelief.

  Looking like a madman, Baltor roared at the top of his lungs, “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

  This action caused a dozen of those minotaurs to begin retreating, but by then, it was already too late.

  As there had not been any minotaurs within stabbing or slicing range, he began to throw his swords as if they were throwing axes—one after the other—into the backs of the beasts. Of course, he used his superpowers to have his swords back into his hands after they had stabbed an opponent.

  After rounding the corner of the tunnel, he saw that there were only six left—jetting at top speed, he caught up to and killed the remaining minotaurs.

  Only a few moments later, his mind heard Nemis timidly ask, Are you okay, Baltor?

  I’m fine…not a scratch!

  That was amazing from what I saw—you are, by far, the greatest fighter I’ve ever seen…the greatest!

  Thank you, Nemis. Just stay where you’re at—I’m going to check this room out to see if I can find the key. It shouldn’t take me too long to locate and get back to you…

  Okay. By the way, I’m so very-very-very glad you’re alive.

  Thanks, he replied before entering the room. After looking around, a smile formed on his face as he saw—for the first time—an iron key that was hanging on an iron key ring, which hung off a rusty nail nailed into the wall.

  As he picked up the key ring, he used telepathy to tell Nemis, I found the key…I’ll be there in approximately eight minutes.

  Okay.

  Precisely eight minutes later, he arrived at her position with the key. Upon seeing him with her physical eyes, she began to reach out in order to give him a hug, but in mid-reach, she hesitated, dropped her arms back to her side, and looked away with frustration. After all, she did not want to get him mad for her display of affection.

  All the while, he had been looking at her with curiosity, observing the stars that lit up he
r eyes, until that glimmer faded as disappointment and fear set in—she obviously had “strong, romantic feelings…”

  After sucking in a deep breath and releasing it, he reached out and gave her a tight hug—in the next moment, she wrapped her own arms around him, while bearing a smile of contentment.

  Though she had a hard time fighting back all the “burning passions” growing within her, neither did she want to kiss a bloody face, so she pulled back from the hug and used the sleeve of her robes to wipe away the blood around his lips as best she could—he allowed it.

  Once gone, she ever so gently kissed his lips. At first, Baltor couldn’t resist either, especially as good as her lips tasted on his, and how long it had been since he had kissed any woman, and so he began to kiss back, which kisses continued to get more and more intense!

  Until suddenly, an image formed in Baltor’s mind—an image of his belated and beloved wife, Brishava. Never since her death had he even been remotely attracted to any other woman; that is, until now. He pulled away from the kiss, and looked away with confusion, frustration and a hint of bitterness.

  She asked, “What’s wrong?”

  While sucking in yet another deep breath, he pulled away from the hug while answering, “My wife…”

  Now looking clearly upset, she released the hug before asking, “You’re married?”

  “I…I was. She died a long time ago.”

  “Ohhhh,” she said, sounding relieved—not for the fact that his wife was deceased, but the other fact: No longer married. Once more, she tried to wrap her arms around him.

  Again, he pulled away from the hug, before saying, “Look, you’re going to have to give me time. Okay?”

  “No problem,” she softly answered. “No problem at all.”

  After clearing his throat several times, he said, “Besides that…we’ve got a whole hell of a long way to go, and seven more Arches to kill.”

  “You’re right,” she said with an affirming nod. “But at least tell me now that you’re attracted to me, as I am to you, and I will say no more until you’re ready.”

  “You already know that answer, or I wouldn’t have kissed you back,” he answered in truth.

  “But, sometimes a woman needs to hear these things…please, Baltor. Tell me…”

  “Okay,” he said as he looked back into her eyes, “I’m attracted to you. You are so very beautiful—inside and out. But I must confess… with you wearing those black robes of yours, and thus being of the evil alignment, I’m a little concerned. In fact, I’m very concerned because I am good…not evil.”

  “Whether you admit it or not, you too bear a semi-evil alignment, which is why you glowed both blue and red right before we first met. Blue means good and red means evil. Yet just like me, you have a lot of good in you…I can feel it.”

  Looking and sounding insulted, Baltor replied, “I’m not evil at all…look at all the great things I’ve accomplished in life. I used to be the ruler of an entire planet—a beloved Sultan to more than twelve million human people. And yes, I was awesome at it too…always very concerned with all the wants and needs of all my subjects…making the poor rich and the rich even richer. And right before I left—my planet—to come rescue my friend here—in hell—I called all my provincial governors together into my main palace’s courtyard in Pavelus—oh, and I had fifty-one palaces/provinces in total and a little more than sixty-two trillion in my coffers.”

  After clearing his throat, he stated with pride, “It was then and there that I publicly declared to everyone that my Sharia Empire is forever after the Sharia Republic…democracy at its finest that I set up their constitution and bill of rights. If I was ‘evil,’ I would have only cared about myself…and never renounced my title, my lands, my peoples and my wealth…trust me, I’m one of the good guys.”

  After releasing a chuckle, she responded, “That’s kind of the way it is with me too, but nowhere near your level…so, let me ask you, do you think I go off killing little babies in the middle of the night?”

  While squinting his eyes and staring into hers, he answered, “No, I don’t.”

  Throwing her left hand out in front of her toward the door, she suggested, “Good…let’s go! We’ve got a long way to go.”

  “Okay,” he said with a nod and a smile.

  With that, he spun around and walked up to the door—before he put the key into the lock, however, he checked for booby traps, both in the lock itself, as well all around the doorframe.

  Once he felt satisfied that no booby traps remained—at least on this side of the door—he inserted the key and turned it.

  When the mechanism made the clicking sound to indicate the door was now unlocked, Nemis felt her heart inside become unlocked as well. She realized, at that moment, that she would do anything for this man—even die if necessary!

  Focused only on his “immediate task at hand,” as always, Baltor eased opened the door just an inch—he proceeded to check thoroughly around the doorframe for any booby traps on the other side.

  When none could be found, he opened the door halfway.

  They looked inside but did not step through. This room looked exactly like the ladder room that led up to this floor—cylinder shaped, possessing the same size and dimensions, and of course another ladder that led up to still another floor—but this room didn’t have any tiles on the floor, only smoothed-out sand.

  Baltor rolled up the carpet, slung it over his shoulder, and asked, “Ready to go up?”

  “Sure…but do you think I should cast a detect-magic spell, in order to make sure this area’s not also booby-trapped in a magical fashion?”

  “Sounds good.”

  She cast her detect magic spell, but nothing out of the ordinary in the room lit up.

  Baltor placed his left foot down on the sand, feeling that it was solid—one second later, his right foot joined his left.

  After noting the ground here was solid, he cautiously walked up to the ladder until reaching it, and then climbed to the top—Nemis followed.

  Once at the top, he poked his head above the rim to check out the new surroundings, as well to ensure that the coast was clear—it was.

  Unlike the two previous levels where there were four exits, there was one exit/direction they could go—a thin and narrow tunnel that was only five feet wide and ten feet tall.

  He stepped up to the next floor and waited for Nemis.

  Once she stood by his side, only moments later, she asked, “I need to eat something real quick—please hold on?”

  “Okay,” he answered just before laying the carpet out on the ground and sitting down in the front-middle of it. Not once had he ever gotten thirsty, or even hungry.

  As soon as she had sucked down her nutritional packet, she sat down behind Baltor, grabbed his waist, and said, “Let’s go.”

  With a nod, he willed the carpet to rise up five feet into the air, before moving it forward at top speed.

  As they went down this tunnel, they saw it continued for fifteen miles before coming to a T-intersection. Unlike all the previous intersections before, the sand abruptly ended and a concrete floor emerged—not a single piece of sand could be found on the concrete.

  “Hmm,” she was the first to say, “at least we’re seeing something different now. Maybe we’re getting close to the end of this labyrinth.”

  “I don’t know,” Baltor said, while cocking his head to the side just a little bit. “Remember how big this pyramid is from the outside?”

  “True,” she answered, while squeezing him just a bit tighter, “I had forgotten.”

  “By the way,” he added with a laugh. He looked over his shoulder and added, “You also forgot to toss a white pebble onto the ground behind us, just in case we need to go back to the beginning.”

  “Right,” she said, just before she pulled out the bag, and dropped the appropriate stone onto the ground. “Which way do you think we should go?”

  After having looked both directions, he answe
red, “Both ways look about the same to me…we’ll go right.”

  “Okay.”

  They went right down the tunnel, which tunnel veered left at a ninety-degree, after twenty-five miles.

  Upon having stopped at the corner itself, they discovered that they were at one of the four corners of a square-shaped city that was fifty-squared-miles, consisting of millions of buildings made from sandstone—many of these buildings possessed hieroglyphics that had been etched by master stonemasons onto the surfaces.

  Pylons and/or statues, also made of the same material, had been planted at the entrances to these gold-fenced-and-gated properties that surrounded the buildings.

  The roads had been paved with gold, running parallel and perpendicular every mile. At every street corner, there stood a twenty-foot tall light-post, also made of gold, in which the top of the post held a glowing, sky-blue orb.

  In the smack middle of this city, a mini-pyramid stood at ten thousand feet tall, and made from what appeared to be one solid piece of malachite crystal. The top of the mini-pyramid existed only one hundred feet near the dome of the big-pyramid. The primary source of light came from a prismatic orb that hovered halfway between the two, which light managed to spread itself out throughout the city.

  Regarding the city’s population, there were tens of millions of them, spread just about everywhere in various-sized clusters like the stars—handling his, her, its, or their own business. Surprising to Baltor and Nemis, only a small percentage were human, while a vast majority consisted of hundreds of different humanoid races, including hybrids like jackal-headed or bird-headed humans, or the other way around.

  Of course, a wide assortment of dangerous-and-scary monsters roamed and patrolled all about—hundreds of thousands of monsters in total.

  One of the strangest-looking monsters all did not have arms or legs, yet it needed none as it flew all about. Instead, it had the body the size of a rhinoceros, the shape of a ball, and hundreds of wriggling tentacles spread all about. Upon closer inspection, it had a single eye in the middle of its body, a mouth with rows of razor-sharp teeth like a shark, and each tentacle had an eyeball that looked intelligently all about as the main eye.