by Roy Huff
“I’m going to visit the Alarians. I am going to give them the artifacts so they can live on, and then I am going to ask them to join us in the destruction of all the secrets and tricks used by The Keepers that prevent the flow of the element. Once they do that, we will destroy the armies of Everville and those that support the armies, and no one will ever be able to stop us again!” Mallory proclaimed.
The dragon grew excited. It flapped its wings, which now spanned over a hundred feet, and let out the loudest roar Mallory had heard from the beast to date. It breathed out giant flames that reached an even greater distance.
Rathlar was gaining in size and power quickly, and it was mad. Mallory had the dragon completely convinced, and it was ready and willing to do his bidding. Of course, Mallory did not tell the dragon that the element was tied to the very existence of the universe or that the element was the counterpart to entropy. He did not tell him that if the balance between the two was disrupted it would be disastrous and have negative repercussions for the entire multiverse. More importantly, Mallory still had to convince the Alarians to go along with his plan, but to Mallory, those were just petty, minor details.
Mallory turned his attention and growing mental powers to the Alarians. He read the minds of as many of the leaders in the land as possible. He discovered that the two cities had two separate governors, and the politics within each of the cities varied greatly.
The Alarians who lived in one city were resigned to live out the rest of their existence naturally and die off once the energy that sustained them was depleted. The other city continued to search for a way to live on. They were the half of their species that convinced their society to leave their dying universe and bring their species to a new one. They were also the ones that laid their eggs in The City of Worms.
Even within the city that contained a stronger sentiment for survival, the thoughts and beliefs varied greatly among them. Some of the Alarians wanted to extract whatever energy they could to live on regardless of the destruction of other species. Others wanted to find new ways of creating or accessing energy from other areas or universes without harming others.
It was obvious to Mallory that he would have to go to the city responsible for the seeding of the worms and discuss with those likely to be more sympathetic to his ideas about fighting against the armies of Everville. That’s what he did, but before he willed himself to the moon above, he asked Rathlar to stay below on the planet. He convinced the dragon it would be better for negotiations and it would get to see them soon enough once they left together for the battle against Everville. Rathlar was disappointed but obedient.
Mallory arrived on the large moon orbiting the planet and had already found a group of sympathetic Alarians that were willing to listen to what he had to say.
The Alarian’s speech was not like anything Mallory had heard before. Their language was a series of clicks and musical tones that came from the protrusions on the three sides of their upper body, so his understanding of their speech was strictly mental.
His growing power, though, allowed him the ability to transform his own speech into a form that the Alarians could understand and he explained that to them.
“I have a way for you to get all the energy that you need. There exists a substance in this universe know as the element. It provides unlimited power, giving whoever wields enough of it the power to control time and space with mere thought. The more of it is collected, the greater the power will be, but it must be channeled through artifacts composed of special materials that extract the element from the universe as it is being created.
“There is a place called Brackenbone in a land that surrounds the realm known as Everville. The element, for whatever reason, is channeled to a cave deep in the land of Brackenbone in a region called Vermogen. If you possess the artifacts, like the one I am wearing around my neck, then you can extract the element from the cave and channel it directly into the artifact regardless of your location in the multiverse. The element builds up quickly and provides almost unlimited power. You will be able to provide your race with enough energy for lifetimes to come,” Mallory explained.
“What do you want for these artifacts,” one of the Alarians in the crowd asked.
Mallory chuckled and responded to the question from the crowd. “What I need from you is no small task. There is a group of elders known as The Keepers that have appointed themselves as rulers over their realm. They control access to the element and prevent others, excluding themselves, from using it.
“I think you will also want to hear what I have to say next. The Keepers, along with the help of self-appointed oracles known as The Seven Pillars of Truth, began channeling the element into your offspring to prevent others from accessing it. Your unique composition was the perfect container for the energy. Since the eggs were not yet fully mature, they simply dissipated the energy across the expanse preventing others from accessing it in any real quantity.
“A great hero, Jacob, from a realm known as Earth, believed that it was wrong to use your offspring in such a way. He decided to use the element to trigger the development of the worms into sentient creatures.
“The Keepers enlisted armies of the surrounding lands to destroy your offspring. With the help of human, Owen Sage, as well as one of the oracles, they murdered all of your babies. I was, however, able to save one of them. Rathlar is on the planet below. I have raised him during this time and he is very eager to meet you.
“What I need from you is to help me destroy the mineral rocks and the portals capable of preventing the flow of the element. I also need your help in destroying The Keepers as well as the armies that follow them,” Mallory finished.
The crowd of Alarians was shocked. Individual Alarians started shouting different things in outrage against The Keepers in their own language of clicks and notes.
“Murderers!” “Killers!” “Let’s kill them!” shouted different members of the crowd.
The highest-ranking member of the crowd, who held a ranking similar to that of a city councilman, spoke up.
“We must bring this to the Governor, both Governors. I strongly believe that once our Governor has heard what you just said that you will likely get our support, at least from our city. If you don’t get the official support from the Governor, I promise you will still have many who will fight for your cause and give you the army you seek,” the councilman stated.
The councilman decided to let Mallory stay at his residence for the night while he took the issue to the Governor. Mallory graciously accepted, happy that it looked as if he would soon get their support.
The councilman’s home, as with the homes of all the Alarians, was very plain. Mallory felt irritated at staying in a place with such banality, so he took the time to exercise his ever-increasing power to temporarily transform the home into the greatest display of opulence anyone in his realm had ever seen.
After seeing how Mallory had used the power of the element to transform the home of the councilman, he gained even more support. What he had done spread quickly through the city. Many Alarians felt that the power of the element was exactly what their species needed, and others were simply aghast at the notion that their offspring were destroyed for the sole purpose of preventing others from obtaining power.
The following morning, the councilman had convinced the Governor to pay a visit to Mallory. He, too, was impressed with what Mallory had done to the home.
“Mallory is it? My name is Governor Jahal. I have spoken it over with the council and we have decided that we will support you in the battle against Everville and The Keepers. I am also in talks with the Governor of our other city and I’ll hear back from her tomorrow. In the meantime, I’ve set up a meeting with the council and I would like you to attend,” the Governor said to Mallory.
“It would be an honor,” Mallory replied.
Governor Jahal introduced Mallory to some influential people in the city, a few councilmen and some powerful businessmen. For the rest of
the day, they took the time to take Mallory to the most exclusive and expensive places in the city. Though for Mallory, it was all quite unimaginative and plain.
Mallory felt that the Alarians were a boring species and the luxuries that they had to offer paled in comparison to even the basic natural existence that he had lived when he used to be a Fron, namely, the quality of the food. For a race of species that had outlived its own universe, he found the Alarians wanting and pathetic. He did not believe that they deserved the power of the element, and that it would no doubt be wasted on them.
He was very happy with the idea that once the Alarians had done what he needed them to do, he would take back the element, not just from them, but from Rathlar as well. He wasn’t going to stop at just the element. He planned to take all their energy and snuff out their species for good simply because they irritated him. After all, they had lived long lives. It was time for them to die and make way for a younger, more powerful leader in the universe, namely, himself.
The following day, Governor Jahal introduced Mallory to the council at the meeting.
“Everyone, this is Mallory,” the Governor said, introducing him.
After receiving loud applause, Mallory began to speak. “I wanted to present
these artifacts to the Governor. These artifacts will sustain your race for numerous lifetimes,” Mallory said to the members at the meeting.
Mallory placed one of the artifacts around the arm of Governor Jahal and then handed him the rest. The Governor handed the remaining artifacts to the highest-ranking members of the council. Once in possession of the artifacts, they immediately began to feel its power.
“It’s working already,” one of the councilmen said with excitement.
Mallory explained how the element, once sufficiently strong, could be used by sheer will and thought to create or do whatever its owners desired. Governor Jahal then spoke up and said, “We are in your debt. Now that we have the element, we will be able to provide the energy needed for our society.
“As I have stated before, we have agreed to provide you an army that will support you in your battle against The Keepers. I do regret, however, that you will only have half of our armies. The Governor of the other city has declined to help, in spite of what was done to our progeny. Nevertheless, they will be the beneficiaries of the energy and the power of the element, thanks to your generosity.
“We will ready our soldiers. As you already know, we are a race of shape shifters and have no need for weapons or transport. When you command, we will transport those willing to Everville using the power of the element. We will aid you in the complete annihilation of The Keepers and their armies in retaliation for the destruction of our children and in gratitude for the near limitless supply of power and energy that you have gifted us,” the Governor said.
All of the members of the council stood up and clapped, though the ones who were not handed an artifact immediately began to envy those that did.
Word spread quickly of the impending battle and over a million Alarians volunteered to fight. Even those who chose not to volunteer or didn’t approve of the battle felt there was little risk or potential loss to the Alarians. From what they were told of The Keepers, it was unlikely they would face retaliation if they lost. More importantly, both cities would benefit from the energy provided by the element. For now, those that volunteered readied themselves for battle and waited for Mallory to give the order to attack.
CHAPTER 13
THE ARRIVAL
While a battle was about to unfold in Everville, disappointment and concern had begun to set in with the members of the Echo Club at Easton Falls University. Avery had called in Anika and Dante to discuss the situation.
“I’ve spoken with Zee and Adaline. It looks like Jacob already completed the construction of the artifacts. Eli was able to acquire all the materials needed for Jacob, who has been very quiet since his meeting with Eli. It appears that whatever Jacob’s plans were, he has succeeded,” Avery said with disappointment.
Anika shook her head, and Dante wrinkled his face and looked withdrawn.
Cleophas walked in from the other room and saw the expressions on their faces.
“Listen, this doesn’t mean that Jacob or Mallory will ultimately be successful in the destruction of Everville or concentration of power there or here. It’s a setback, yes, but let’s not forget that Owen’s already embarked on a journey to The Third Pillar of Truth. He was successful the first two times, and I have to believe that he will be successful again.
“You may be tempted to go after Jacob and look for the small container of the liquid element, but I would caution against it. Assuming he hasn’t already depleted it, Jacob may have already transported it to The Other In Between or to Mallory. I think more importantly, though, it’s unclear how much power Jacob possesses with the newly created artifacts. At this point, I think the prudent thing to do would be to watch and to wait,” Cleophas said with certainty.
Dante sighed. “Maybe you’re right. As much as I would like to help, I’m not sure there is anything we can do beyond that. If Jacob possesses even a small amount of the element, he’s going to be difficult to stop”
“Whatever happened to the other members of the Echo Club? I haven’t seen or heard from them,” Anika said in bewilderment.
“Unfortunately, neither have we, Anika. We’ve called around, talked to their roommates, but no one has seen or heard from them recently. It’s very troubling, very troubling indeed,” Avery replied in frustration.
“What about their parents? Has anyone tried contacting their parents?” Anika said in response.
“Yes, I even notified the school. If they don’t show up within the next twenty-four hours, there will be a missing persons report filed on all of them,” Avery continued.
“This is just crazy. Do you think Jacob had anything to do with this?” Dante asked.
“To be honest, I don’t know what to think. I’m not sure what’s going on, but we will get to the bottom of this. I know all of this is frustrating, but we will figure this out one way or another. At this point, we’re just going to have to wait and see,” Avery said.
Dante and Anika may have had to wait, but back in the surrounding lands of Everville, the armies of the giants and the Ubaloo were fast at work getting as much of the mineral rock moved into place and ready for extraction as possible.
“Is that the last of it?” Borak asked Faine.
“Yep. That’s it,” Faine replied.
The giants had just transported the last of the piles of mineral rock mined behind the walls of Vermogen using the monstrum. Borak and a hundred giants now had to transport the monstrum back through the portal. At the same time, the Fron had just finished getting enough of the special minerals from beneath the catacombs of Everville for transport to Brackenbone, which they needed to begin the construction of the final collector, the collector that would be used to restore access to the portals once the transfer of the element had been cut off.
“Let’s go!” shouted Borak to the one hundred soldiers holding the monstrum. They had begun their journey back to the portal one jump at a time. By the time Borak and the giants made it a few hundred feet towards the portal, the Fron were already arriving with the special minerals from Everville.
During his return, Borak and his giants could see the remaining Ubaloo soldiers preparing for battle. As in each of the eight surrounding lands of Everville, half the army would stay behind to protect the land while the other half departed to the land of the giants to join up with the army of giants to prepare for the battle that loomed ahead.
“This is the last of it. Bring it over here,” shouted General Varrick.
The mineral rocks that had been piled up by the monoliths were now being smashed and stripped down as quickly as possible. The General hoped that by the time Borak returned, the modifications to all of the portals would be complete and they would be able to stop the flow of the element to the dragon once and for all
.
The initial pile of rocks by the first monolith was already stripped down, and the giants were attaching the mineral elements to the outside of the portal within the monolith. They would need to repeat the process on each monolith until the final portal in the last monolith had been prepared. Once that was complete, they would have to wait for the order to activate the portals simultaneously at the direction of The Keeper.
“Line your men up over here,” Colonel Consilium said to a contingent of his soldiers.
He had placed the giants in three separate rows because it was unclear whether the attacking army would come from the portals within the monoliths or if they would come from someplace else. Consilium had also placed a column of soldiers from all of the armies by each of the monoliths. By having a row of giants in the front, in the back, and in the middle, the giants would be best positioned to defend the armies of the other realms while simultaneously being able to take an offensive position against an invading force.
The soldiers were now in position, and the focus shifted to assisting with the modifications to the portals. A few hours later, the second portal was completed. While the remaining soldiers waited for the completion to the modifications, they were making large pits in the ground for roasting meat. The soldiers had gotten hungry from the bustle of preparing for battle as well as transporting all of the boulders.
Once the pits had been made, the Fron were among the first to start eating. The food in the land of the giants was not as good as the wonderful delights the Fron were used to back in Everville, but the giants were really good at making charred meats that they smoked over the pits.
“This is really not bad,” Toe said to Sako while stuffing his face with roasted flesh.
“Yeah, this is pretty good. There’s plenty of it, too,” Sako replied as he turned to stacks of smoked meats off in the distance.
