by Ceri Clark
Everyone got up to take a closer look,
“Are you controlling this?” Kiera asked.
“Yes, through the Matrix - it’s anticipating what I want. Can anyone see Aras?”
The picture expanded again.
“There!” Shenella pointed. At the bow of one of the ships they could see a man point in their direction, as he talked to another man in a black uniform. It was either a general or an admiral, Jake guessed. Kiera looked from the image in the light and back to Jake.
“I know. Apparently we are related. He’s my great-nephew or something.” Jake explained.
Abruptly Shenella twisted around as if to answer an unseen call.
“Several of the temple guards have swum out to the ships. They swam through most of them. They report there are about forty of them that are real.”
As she spoke Jake imagined the guards bumping into the ships. In response the picture behind them altered to show the bottom of the ships underwater. They could see three guards swimming together beneath the hulls. Through the churning water, they could see oars regularly beating the waves.
“That’s how they are doing it - slaves.” Mirim blurted.
Aras sat on his ship. The white towers of the Citadel rose from the sea, promising more power than he had ever dreamed of. He was half Elementi, and perhaps he could use that rather than fight it. Without a crystal he would not be as strong but if he attacked Jake, maybe he could beat him with the element of surprise.
As he had done hundreds of times before, he sat down and let his awareness float from his body. He sped towards the Citadel - following the white thread, which bound him and Jake together.
The four were talking quietly. It would be short-lived he vowed. He knew he had to act quickly, a part of him knew that if all five got together he would not have a chance. He couldn’t see the fire element but he was sure he or she would be around. The dread at the pit of his stomach told him so. If he took down Jake, the others would crumble. He jumped into the boy’s body.
Kiera was looking in Jake’s direction when he faltered mid-sentence. As she watched he choked, his face turning red before he collapsed in front of her. From her console she reached out her arm. She could just touch him. She frowned; there was something... someone else there.
As she felt his arm, she experienced an overwhelming sense of pain and despair. She probed deeper. It was Aras! He was trying to take over Jake!
Kiera rushed over to Jake. His body convulsed on the floor. She grabbed hold of her crystal from the console and concentrated on it. As she held the small clear rock in her hand she saw two ghostly images superimposed on Jake's body. The two were evenly matched. Jake needed help.
Pulling the magnetic field from the ground deep beneath the ocean bed, she shaped it, altering it slightly and directed it at Jake’s body. She watched the ghostly figure of the older man leave the limp body. Tuned to his frequency she followed Aras as he fled back to his ship. He was in so much pain, and she couldn’t stand it. It was his Elementi side she saw. It was strangling him. Gathering her power again she once again tuned it to his resonance. She delved her awareness into his body searching for the tell-tale white stream of his Elementi power.
Kiera floated above Aras' body. This was the man who would kill them all if he could. But, he was in so much pain, would she be able to resist killing him? She could stop the entire war now. All she had to do was stop his heart. It would be so easy. It frightened her how simply it could be done. Just a little tweak here and all their problems would be over. She gave the idea room to roam for a moment. Deep down, the revulsion grew. She could never do that. Where did that thought even come from?
Reproaching herself, she began to focus her powers again. She gathered the magnetic field around her and sent small bursts of energy to unravel the white strand from around the darker stream coursing through his body. She hovered for minutes, ensuring it was completely free before blasting the cord with the power of Eleria's magnetic field. Satisfied the link was broken she left to re-join her own body. He wouldn’t be able to do that again.
Moments later, Jake coughed and sat up. He shuddered at what had just happened. A thought occurred to Jake, he said aloud,
“Show me Aras.”
The picture on the wall changed. This time, the uniformed man had gone. Aras was sitting cross-legged on the deck, a painted circle in front of him. He was murmuring something.
“What’s he doing now?” Kiera asked.
“He’s calling a Deoc,” Mirim explained.
“No, he’s calling several Deocs!” Jake shouted, and he pointed at the corner of the picture. The image zoomed in. Forty Deocs appeared floating in mid-air.
Shenella shivered in distaste. The fire-beings touched a deep-seated fear ingrained in her water-psyche. “There’s one for each ship,” she noted.
The Deocs hovered over the ships for a few moments, keeping pace with their speed. As one they moved off the ship and sped towards the Citadel.
Kiera ran back to her console. Placing her fingertips on her crystal she concentrated on the planet’s metallic core. She could feel the energy radiate out in waves. She reached out and pulled it towards the surface. In her mind’s eye she took the waiting schematic of the building from the Matrix and manipulated the energy to cover the surface of the Citadel. Increasing her pull, she felt the air fizzle around her.
“We have a force field,” she called, “...but I have to concentrate on it to keep it up.” As she spoke two of the Deocs reached them. They were heading straight for one of the windows. Expecting the crash of glass, they ducked; instead there was a large bang. As they hit the force-shield, the Deocs exploded.
Relief showed on everyone’s faces. The remaining Deocs halted in mid-air, seeming to consult one another and froze. Turning back to the ships, they could see Aras was summoning more of them.
“They may be able to get through if several try together.” Mirim warned.
Jake hesitated. There was only one thing he could do.
“Are there any weapons here?”
“Weapons?” Mirim repeated.
“Yes, you know guns, swords, that sort of thing?”
“In the corridor, there should be some swords in the cupboards.” Mirim stood and led him to the cupboard. She took out a small brass key from her pocket and unlocked the heavy wooden doors.
“Why is it locked?”
“Habit I suppose,” she replied.
The cupboard was huge, spanning the entire corridor that split off at the far end into the Royal apartments. The section that she had opened held long heavy broadswords, standing upright in long rows. On the pommel of each sword was smooth white ivory. In drawers to the side were small daggers, each looking as expensive as their larger counterparts.
“Wow, I could have done with these when we were doing battle re-enactments!”
Jake saw her blank expression and shrugged. “Never mind.” He grabbed the first one and tested its weight. It was half as tall as him but he swung the sword with practiced ease. It was well balanced. Happy with his choice, he ran back into the control room.
“Send me over to Aras.”
“Are you sure? He will have been fighting with swords since he was a child,” Mirim warned.
“So have I, Mirim, so have I.”
Mirim looked doubtfully at him but nodded. She placed her hands on the crystals and Kiera copied her. Jake nodded at them and a swirling mist of light began to surround him. It brightened and he gave a brief brave smile before he disappeared from their sight.
Karl chose that moment to join them at the control room.
“Was that Jake?”
Kiera nodded. “He’s gone over to fight Aras.”
“Are you mad?” Karl looked from the image on the far wall. “There is more than one man on that ship. He’ll be killed before he even gets to him!”
“We can’t fight that way,” Mirim replied.
“I can. Send me over to help.” Karl ran out
of the room and grabbed a sword from the open cabinet visible from where he stood.
Running back to the control room, he shouted at Mirim.
“Send me now!”
“You’ve got no powers, you’ll only hinder him,” Mirim protested.
Karl rolled his eyes.
“He’s fighting with a sword, not any powers. I can help.”
“...In for a Hars, in for a Heral.” She nodded at Kiera and they touched their crystals again. Karl was gone.
The air was still on the ship when Karl materialized, but the ship was still rocking slightly. It took a second to get his bearings before he looked up to find his friend. He grabbed hold of the railing for support when a large sailor spotted him. With a roar the man lunged at him with a dagger. Karl ducked and brought his sword up in a swift sharp jab to the kidneys. The man collapsed yelling. Karl paused, breathing hard. He’d never hurt anyone before. He’d ‘killed’ while fighting but that was play-acting. This was real.
A shout to his left brought him out of his reverie. Jake was in trouble. Karl left the man groaning and leapt over a barrel that had rolled towards him. The seas were getting choppy. Mirim and Shenella were using their powers to distract. Problem was it was distracting him as well. He smiled grimly; he knew what was happening though. Any advantage was a good advantage.
Jake had managed to get to Aras, but Karl could see another sailor out of Jake’s line of sight about to strike.
“Jake! Behind you.”
Jake turned with surprise to see Karl, nodded in recognition and looked behind him. Jake threw up his dagger, reversing it, before shoving it behind him. It sliced through the air and pierced the man’s stomach like butter. Still in his hand, he threw it up again to reverse it to parry a thrust from Aras. Jake was good!
More sailors came up the ladder from the decks below. Karl groaned. He charged forward and met the first one. They fought, parry after parry. The other man was bigger and drove Karl back, step by step, but Karl was quicker. Eventually Karl found himself back to back with Jake.
“This is like old times,” grunted Karl.
“A bit more dangerous,” Jake muttered in return.
Jake had never been more happy to see his friend. They moved as if choreographed. Each knew how the other would react after years of fighting mock battles together. His friend spun off fighting two sailors, one with the sword he brought and the other with the dagger he’d picked off from a fallen foe.
Jake turned back to Aras. He was a good fighter. But the older man had been ill and the strain was starting to show.
“Why are you doing this?” shouted Jake. He brought his sword above his head to avoid another fatal blow.
“One of us must die.” Aras aimed low. Jake jumped to the side but tripped over a rope. He fell heavily. Aras shouted, seeing his chance. Jake rolled on to his side and swept his legs against the other man’s, tripping him up. Aras fell trying to grab hold of a rope. He missed. A sailor fighting Karl bumped into him from behind and Aras fell forward over the railing. They heard him yell as he fell into the sea. A roar erupted from the higher deck. Jake looked back for his friend.
“We have to go Karl; there’s too many of them. Aras has gone.”
Karl ran over to him and looked overboard - there was no sign of the Emperor. Turning quickly he brandished his weapons at the advancing guard.
“Take us back!” Turning to the men advancing Karl shouted.
“There can be only one!”
Jake groaned at his friend. It wasn’t as if any of these had ever seen any films, let alone Highlander! Shaking his head, he took out his crystal and connected to the Matrix.
“Kiera, Mirim, bring us back!”
Lights swirled around them, became brighter and Mirim was sat in front of them.
“You made it!”
Jake moved off and took his place beside the other two. Karl moved off to the corner of the room to watch. The scenes on the screen in front changed as they watched to see what was happening now that Aras was gone. To their horror more Deocs were appearing above the ships. There were hundreds! By unseen command, the Deocs moved together as one towards the Citadel. Jake looked at Mirim.
“They don’t need Aras!”
There was a large crack above them and the sound of shattering glass. Kiera’s grasp of the shield collapsed.
The room was suddenly filled with Deocs. Jake acted quickly. He grasped them all into a mind merge and created a dome of power over their heads. The Deocs flew over them, obviously incensed.
“I can’t hold them for long!”
Karl was standing under the shield. He wished he could help. Beside his foot, Karl felt a surge of heat. He looked down. It was a crystal, just like the others were carrying. Curious, he bent to pick it up. It was warm to the touch and red fire swirled in its depths. Images began to form in the flames. The pictures shattered and reformed in his mind as the crystal gently glowed. Memories began to surface. He gasped as he remembered. He was the Fire King? The boy - he saw what had happened now. The boy was a cousin. He was family. Karl’s eyes burned as he realized the only family he had left died before he ever knew him.
Jake’s shield glowed white and it lowered against the combined power of all the Deocs. The Matrix urged Karl through the crystal. He jumped at the unfamiliar intrusion and remembered that he had been connected before when he was a child. Karl hadn’t had time to be trained before he was sent to Earth, but his father had shown him a couple of tricks. He knew what to do.
Feeling for the familiar energy of fire, he concentrated on the nearest one. As he focused inwards, he matched his energy signature to the Deoc in front of him. Its yellow eyes briefly blazed with sudden fear as it realized what the boy was doing. To the others he seemed to melt towards the boy and flow into him.
Jake looked blankly at his friend.
“How?”
“I’m the Fire King, you idiot. I was sent to Earth too but I never had the crystal. It was given to my cousin when a Deoc took him to safety thinking he was me. I remember now. Kind of explains why I didn’t think it was too weird that you could read minds, doesn’t it?”
Karl twisted and a few more Deocs flowed into him. He was invigorated. All that raw energy. It was amazing.
“It’s working!” Mirim exclaimed.
Emboldened, Karl concentrated on the other creatures. It truly was exhilarating, the energy sucked in from all sides. To the others he glowed a deep red with the energy. As each Deoc disappeared, they heard a small fizzle.
Kiera recovered from the shorting of the shield, began gathering the magnetic field again. This time she grimly thought it was going to be strong enough to beat off five hundred of those things. The air shimmered around her. Jake let the dome drop. An opaque green shimmering light surrounded the Citadel.
“It won’t stop anything physical, only energy,” she warned.
“Impressive.” Jake put his hand out of the broken window. The light fizzled but let him push it out and back in again.
Suddenly they heard a crash. As they were linked to the Matrix, they instantly knew one of the outer buildings had been hit. Rushing back to the light screen they saw what must have been a general directing cannon fire at them.
“They’re about a mile and a half away; we need to do something quick.” Jake ducked instinctively as another cannon ball shook the Citadel.
“Mirim, Shenella, can you create a storm? We need to sink those ships before they get any closer.”
They nodded. He watched them sit back at their consoles deep in concentration. As he watched, clouds from miles around began to move towards the ship. The water began to get choppy. Still in the mind merge, Jake could feel the tremendous energies played by the two.
“Kiera, you need to keep the shield up. They’ll probably send more Deocs now they know they broke through the first shield.” As he spoke more were forming beside the ships. “Karl, you need to create lightning. If we can punch a hole in the hulls, maybe we can s
ink them quickly.”
The storm was building in front of them but they still needed to charge the clouds. Jake dipped into Kiera’s shield and sent a bolt of energy up to the clouds a mile away. Karl caught it with his mind and separated the charge turning the upper clouds positive and the lower negative.
The waves below were now thirty feet high, and the ships were going out of control. The sailors who were manning the cannons, rushed to the sails to help stabilize the ships. Without the cannon fire, the Elementi were able to redouble their efforts. The charge built up in the clouds and Karl aimed at the first ship. A crack and jagged lightning hit the mast and the first ship began sinking. The sailors took hold of rigging and swung to safety to a nearby ship. The mage at the aft was unable to jump in time. A lightning bolt hit him and fifty ships disappeared. Everyone cheered.
Talik was standing on the deck watching with horror. He never realized their power was that strong. He rang the ship’s bell. His men scrambled to grab hold of the ropes, sails moved as they used the wind to their advantage. They regained control of their ships.
The Merpeople reported to Shenella that only five ships remained. It was time to get serious.
“Grow the storm,” Jake ordered. Mirim inclined her head and increased the wind, Shenella moved the water in its path, and together they created a giant whirlpool. The ships juddered in the water. The mages suddenly lost interest in fighting the Citadel and fought to stay on the decks. Huge waves crashed against the sides of the ships, sending men overboard. On the view screen in the Citadel they saw four ships remaining.
Jake sent up another bolt to the clouds, energizing the electrical field. As the energy built up Karl shaped them into bolts and sent them down on to the ships like acid rain.
“I feel like Zeus!” Karl shouted.
Bolts of lightning crashed from all directions above them to the waiting ships below. Shenella aided by Mirim created a tsunami and watched it grow and roll into the whirlpool. The ships veered from side to side and moved faster as the waves crashed in. Karl and Jake joined forces and sent in one more bolt of lightning, blinding them for the moment before destroying the whirlpool and the ships trapped inside it.
