The War of All Wars

by J. Eric Booker

  Only moments later, these ghosts began to bow as the two men passed…as Baltor followed, he wondered if the ghosts bowed because he and his master were once-upon-a-time vampiric-beast-lords, or because they possessed the crystal skulls. Perhaps both reasons, he concluded.

  As they began to climb up the narrow steps of the pyramid, nearly ten minutes after having entered the city, Trendon said, “Oh—you’re correct. They bow in reverence for both reasons.”

  “Okay, captain…or master…or whatever you like to be called.”

  “Just call me captain.”

  “Aye, aye, captain.”

  Five minutes later, they were at the top of the pyramid, in which there wasn’t a soul around up here, except for the two men—inside this large gazebo, there sat thirteen tribal thrones that formed a complete circle, in which the seats faced outward. All were void of occupants…at least for the moment.

  “Baltor, place a skull on each of the thrones facing outward.”

  “Yes, master,” he said before he did—upon placing the final skull onto the final throne, all thirteen skulls slowly began to light up until they were as bright as normal light bulbs.

  Even though Baltor honestly expected more to happen with the crystals, nothing else did.

  Trendon looked over and asked, “Ready to teleport back into the cockpit? This time I will be taking the navigator’s seat, and you will be taking the captain’s seat, so aim your teleportation for your seat.”

  “Yes, captain.”

  With that, the two teleported inside the cockpit—Baltor sitting in the captain’s seat, and Trendon standing just next to the driver’s seat. After he had put on the helmet and picked up the joystick, he sat down just before he began to buckle himself in—Baltor had already buckled himself in.

  Once Trendon was ready to go, only a couple moments later, he looked over at Baltor and said quite seriously, “After we reach outer-space, and I give the order, you are going to teleport back to the top of the entrance that leads down into the Mayan city we just left. Be ready to fight, as the Vompareus have already begun to come out of the portal from the other side as I speak.”

  With a very perplexed look on his face, Baltor asked, “Why did you not just leave me there?”

  “For many reasons—one, when we were standing there at the portal we just opened, between their world and this world, they could magically feel both our powerful presences even from the other side…they’re not stupid to take us both on at the same time, especially since they know exactly who we are!

  “Two, now that we are away from the area and back inside the ship, they have already sent a few scouts to check out the ruins. By the time they make it outside, during the time of the eclipses at the same time, their moon and Mars, in nearly five minutes, we will already be in space. So, in turn, they will report to their superior-officers that ‘the coast is clear,’ and thus will begin to amass their forces inside the ruins until the eclipse becomes permanently locked into an eclipse, thanks to their magical powers. Then they will try to take over the planet…but you shall be waiting for them at the entrance, my apprentice.”

  “So, what you’re really saying, captain, is that you just launched the preemptive strike in this war?”

  As soon as Trendon had said the first word to his answer, the ship had begun to rise into the air. “Exactly! Better to know where they’re going to strike from than to have to guess, especially considering how enormous this planet is and how many crevices there are for the enemy to hide, until it’s too late for us to adequately defend.”

  “I see, captain.”

  “The other reason I want you with me is because I want you to see the alien planet with your own eyes. The final reason is because you are not yet equipped with your sultan’s magical battle armor, helmet and swords…there, now you are.”

  “Thank you, captain…but I did not know this armor had magical powers.”

  “It never has before now, my apprentice.”

  By this time, they had just passed over the level of the clouds—the moon was only now just starting to pass in front of the sun.

  Trendon picked up the speed of the spaceship by one notch, and the color of lights outside abruptly switched from blue-to-black.

  They were now in space…instantly Baltor saw the black-and-gray planet, which was an even tinier black speck in outer-space—trillions and trillions of miles away.

  As his binocular-vision focused in more than a thousand different times, he could see the chaotic storm clouds whirling all about, not to mention the fearsome lightning bolts—the largest and longest bolts he’d ever seen, including in Hell.

  Trendon added, “One more thing you should know before you teleport back, which you will do when I relay the order, you will go to the top of the staircase leading down into the ruins, so that not a single one escapes. Then and there you will begin the fight of your life, as you make your way for the portal—again, ensure none escape! Never before have you faced so many powerful enemies, not even in Hell… Understand all I’ve said so far?”

  “Yes, captain.”

  “Finally yet most importantly regarding our first phase in battle…once you have crossed through the portal, will it shut, find the rod, take it, and then teleport into the seat you’re currently strapped in. It will be then that I will fire the blaster and destroy the invasive planet. Understand?”

  “Yes, captain.”

  “God’s luck—the orders are given. Execute!”

  CHAPTER XVII

  In the next moment, Baltor teleported to the top of the staircase, leading down into the underground Mayan ruins. Just beyond the sunlight that poked down onto the first forty stairs, he could already see hundreds of pairs of red-glowing eyes staring at him in utter hatred! Not even a split second later after his arrival, growling and hissing sounds began to erupt…

  Baltor drew his swords out—the light reflected off the swords and penetrated into the darkness…joining the growling and hissing sounds were the sounds of pain as the light touched their ethereal flesh! After all, every single cloud in the sky had mysteriously vanished.

  “Stop!” one of the Vompareus howled out in agony, in both a man and a woman’s snaky voice. “Why do you torment us, Baltor Elysian? Join us, and we will make you second-in-command of our trillions of forces…and you will understand only pure delight, as we rule supreme in the universe with chaos as our only law! Not only will we destroy the 9 Planes of Hell and their 9 Arch-Devils, as well all dragonkind, yet we’ll destroy the 7 Planes of Heaven and their 7 Arch-Angels…and finally, the Creator God!”

  Not moving his swords an inch, Baltor asked, “Why in the hell would I want to join any of you? All you seek is chaos and death…and death is all you shall get from me and my swords.”

  He/she answered, “What do you think you are? You are one of us…you are a Vompareus, and so you shall always be! Oh, you do your best to deny it, but it is both still an integral part of yours and your master’s innate nature…you still are a vampire-beast-lord. Both of you have feasted on human flesh…many times!”

  Baltor answered, “Not anymore. I am a Watcher.”

  Thousands of hissing sounds henceforth began to erupt at that—without fear, he began to walk forward into the darkness! Already had his swords begun to swing and twirl all around his body, only moments before he was consumed by the darkness…wave after wave of twenty-foot tall vompareus-beasts came in for the attack—with fangs ready to chomp and claws ready to rip!

  Fortunate for Baltor, as the staircase’s width happened to be four feet wide, no more than one vompareus could attack at a time—so it was just near the bottom of the staircase that he held his ground, slaughtering two-to-three every single second.

  However, hundreds more vompareus continued entering through the portal by the minute—once most of the enemy had been cleared out in Baltor’s immediate area, a little more than an hour later, he chanted out a shield spell. However, instead of having the shield surround him, he w
illed it to protect and barricade the sole exit to this place.

  Once the shield was in place, nearly a minute later, he again began to walk forward, casting still more spells, while holding and swinging his swords all around the whole time. Whenever he cast lightning, magic missiles, or fireballs, they blasted out of the very tips of his swords, eliminating between two-to-twelve enemies each and every time…and whenever a vompareus tried to get near the shield, he swung one or both of his swords at the beast, which actions ensured the head was completely sliced off!

  After having slaughtered nearly two thousand creatures so far over the course of the next hour, and all the while utilizing every single martial-arts technique he had in his arsenal as well his equally powerful magics, he finally made it to the gazebo at the top of the pyramid. The only enemies left were those pouring out the portal’s hole!

  At this point, Baltor had been killing between ninety-to-one hundred and eighty every single minute. For the first time ever, since becoming an immortal more than two centuries ago, he began to not only sweat and breath profusely, yet grow battle-weary from so much combat.

  As soon as he had hardcore-battled his way into the circle-of-thrones, still with a glowing skull sitting in each throne, he jumped through the portal to “the other side”—now battling the enemies on the “alien world.”

  Besides the dark and tempestuous clouds above that were continuously shooting out massive bolts of lightning, as well the ruined cities of this once-thriving land, there existed hundreds of millions of congregated vompareus-beasts, for a good thirty-mile-long stretch everywhere he looked—with hundreds of thousands more arriving at his destination every single minute.

  Upon seeing the throngs and throngs of enemies fast approaching his position, he grimly realized that there would soon be billions of them here, if not trillions…and that all had but one mission: to get to that portal and travel to the other side.

  What he didn’t see anywhere—even though he had been killing between one hundred and two hundred every minute now—any sign of where the Rod of Ro’shain could be located. After all, that was his “primary mission.”

  Although he doubted he had the energy to cast another shield spell, he still decided to give it “a shot.” Most surprisingly to him, only ten seconds later, a shield did pop up right in front of the portal! Therefore, he focused his attention on killing the vompareus-beasts coming his way, as he fought without fear or mercy through the throngs of beasts, slicing off head after head after head after head, and/or using magic! The answer to where the rod was located would come when it was time….

  Sure enough, the answer arrived—for nearly thirty minutes after having entered this new world, at the very horizon, there stood a vompareus-beast who held the very rod in his hand—obvious to Baltor, this must be a high-ranking member, as IT had a red rectangular bar with a gold star located in the middle of each shoulder.

  This particular creature, however, had already begun the process of chanting some type of magic out…so without hesitation Baltor teleported right behind this vompareus, already swinging his swords in such a way as to slice its head off…but the creature had also teleported away.

  No matter where he looked either, IT was nowhere to be found, although the millions and millions and millions of other creatures had already surrounded him, yet again…and even worse for Baltor, a bloody type of sweat had just begun to pour out his veins.

  Obviously seeing any blood at all instantly made Baltor’s mind begin to worry—after all, not only was it a bad situation because he was slowly losing blood and energy, yet it was a far-worse situation because the vompareus-beasts were trying to lick up every drop that fell to the ground! Even worse, those lucky enough to get a drop were getting more powerful by the second…

  In fact, only ten seconds after the blood had begun to pour out his skin, Baltor became slightly wounded for the very first time, thanks to a single claw attack that tore open his right facial cheek—a small stream of blood flew through the air…sucked up by still another vompareus-beast.

  Baltor realized that if he stuck around here any longer, he was going to soon be “a goner”—in the next moment, “an idea” struck him: why not try to focus my mind on that one vompareus beast with the red-shoulder markings, as well the Rod of Ro’shain, and try to teleport there?

  Only a split second later, this is exactly what he did…nearly forty battle-packed seconds later, a portal finally opened up near his location, and without looking, he dove straight through. Now he stood in the ruins of a burned-out castle, and he saw the vompareus with the rod (about a hundred feet away) flying for the exit!

  He threw both swords simultaneously, in order to slice off the beast’s head. And only a second later, both swords did their job…IT turned into a pile of dust.

  Without hesitation, Baltor ran and dove for the rod, and once in his hands, he placed it into his magic pocket, before willing his swords back into his hands and fighting off still more vompareus-beasts already coming in for the attack—at the same time, he visualized the captain’s seat in the cockpit of the spaceship!

  It took nearly thirty seconds, filled with fearsome battling, before a portal opened up—without hesitation, he dove through it, just before willing it shut behind him.

  He discovered that Trendon still sat in the driver’s seat, in which the ship remained parked a little over a million miles away from the alien planet. Without haste, Baltor yelled out, “Fire, captain!”

  Trendon pushed the trigger button—besides the intense yellow laser light that shot out from the laser cannon located underneath the ship, there also came a sonic-boom. Unfortunately, however, the blast missed at the very last second fifteen seconds later, as the vompareus-beasts on the planet had magically diverted away the laser!

  “Damn!” Trendon exclaimed. “Baltor, run back to the weapons room and reload the weapon with the last crystal—hurry!”

  “I don’t know how—”

  With one hand, Trendon set the joystick into the armrest, and with the other hand, he took off his helmet and set that into the armrest on the other side. While running down the hallway to the weapon’s room, he yelled, “I’ll take care of it…you—you equip the navigator’s gear, sit in the seat, and be ready to fire when I tell you!”

  By this time, Baltor was sitting in the seat with the helmet on and the joystick equipped in his right hand—ten seconds later, he heard strange slurping noises behind him.

  Trendon said, “Keep your sights locked only onto the very center of the target—don’t worry about the vompareus that teleport in the ship, as I’m almost done…now, fire!”

  Right away, Baltor pulled the trigger—again erupted the laser-blast and the sonic boom! This time, the blast struck the alien planet directly in the middle, just before the entire planet blew up into quadrillions of subatomic particles in the very next moment!!!

  As he knew that the danger was not yet over, he drew his sword with his free hand, and pivoted around on one foot—the sword sliced off the head of the only vompareus that had somehow gotten through its very own portal!

  Only seconds later, Trendon had returned to the cockpit. After seeing that the planet was no longer in existence, he congratulated, “Outstanding shot, navigator.”

  “Thank you, captain!”

  “You’ve got the Rod?”

  “Yes, captain, in my magic pocket.”

  “Excellent. When I give you the command, plot the nav-computer for the Realm of Darkness, in which I have already added this location to the universal maps. After we get to the red-silhouetted door, floating in the middle of space, teleport to it and use the rod just like a key on the lock of the door—lock it.”

  Trendon wasn’t done with what he had to say, as he added, “The Vompareus inside will straight away sense our presences, and our motives, so be as quick as you can…and know the longer you take, the more you will have to kill in the end…understand?”

  “Yes, captain—course is already plotted
.”

  Trendon ordered, “Good…but now, you take the commander’s seat, and give me the navigator’s gear and seat.”

  After rising to his feet and walking over, Baltor handed over the helmet and the joystick—in the next moment, Trendon put the helmet on, took the joystick, and took the navigator’s seat.

  Once both men were strapped in, Trendon asked, “Are you ready?”

  “Yes, captain.”

  “Here we go. Execute.”

  The universe folded in on itself, and a rift opened up between the two sides—on the other side could be seen the blackness of space, other than the red-silhouette of a door with a glowing red lock on the right side in the middle.

  Only a split second later, that very door slammed open—hordes of vompareus-beasts began flying out at top speed! At the same time, Baltor teleported out into space about fifty feet from the door…in his left hand he held the rod, and in the other, one of his swords.

  Before that same second had passed, a space-battle began as he slowly-but-surely flew toward the door, hacking and slicing the beasts one after the other…it took nearly five minutes of mind-blowing battling before he finally arrived at the door.

  Once there, he had to kill six final beasts before he could grab the door, slam it shut before the next vompareus could exit, insert the rod into the lock like a key, and twist the lock—even in space, he could hear a double-clicking sound emanate!

  Now, he only had about twelve vompareus-beasts to destroy, of which creatures had actually become easy to kill…as he had killed tens of thousands already!

  Only twelve seconds later, he had slain the last beast into oblivion. Therefore, he teleported back into the cockpit of the ship.

  “Excellent work, Baltor, as always.”

  “Thank you, captain.”

  Trendon revealed, “While you were handling your last mission, I was plotting our next two courses into the nav-computer. We have two different galaxies we need to go, in order to acquire the right ammo—and then we have two more galaxies we have to visit, in order to bomb the infested planets. So, in the meantime, just relax in the captain’s chair and let me do what I need to do. Okay?”