Journey to the Unknown

by Jaclyn Cadell

"That's true, but I think that I am mad at you for risking your life the way you did. Nevertheless, Darling, I appreciate the gesture. Thank you so very much!"

  "Honey, I couldn't let him kill you. You mean too much to me. Now, what is the easiest way for us to escape this two-bit trap?"

  "I think that the easiest way is for me to transport us back to the main floor of the palace so that we can see what is going on."

  They transported to the main floor in front of the throne room. The palace was a madhouse. People were running back and forth as if they had no idea what to do. Emett grabbed a passing page and asked, "What has happened? Why does this place look like a disturbed ant hill?"

  "Lord Taos has fled the palace, and we don't know who is in charge. We are trying to find someone to tell us what to do."

  Alison said, "Hat, is this a good time for us to announce ourselves and to take over?"

  It most certainly is. You could not find a better time. You will have to watch out for the real evil doers and get rid of them. Most of the staff is just that: hired employees who had nothing to do with the evil that permeated this place. Guards and the chamberlain's staff are the bad guys you need to lock up, the rest you can keep on to serve you.

  "Thank you, Hat. You, Page, this man is Lord Darius and I am Lady Amabel, the rightful rulers of Magicktopia. We are taking over as of right now. Please tell everybody to assemble in the throne room and we will straighten out this mess."

  "Oh, Lady Amabel, I am so glad to see you. I will get right on it. Do you want me to have other pages relay the order?"

  "Yes, that is an excellent idea. We want to see everybody, from the kitchen staff on up. Please go get started."

  Emett said, "Alison, you need to cast a spell right now to freeze the guards and Chamberlain's staff in place until we can take care of them. Let's go into the throne room and get out of this madhouse."

  The throne room was massive. It was at least 100 yards wide and 300 yards long. Magically endowed, the room was bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. It could grow even bigger if necessary, but that was rarely needed. There was a dais at one end of the room and a throne rested on it. The seat was made of marble and looked to be impossibly uncomfortable. After Alison had cast the spell on the bad guys, Emett asked her to use her magic to get rid of this throne and bring in two overstuffed recliners for them us use as thrones. Alison thought that was an excellent idea, and she got right on it.

  The old throne vanished in a puff of smoke and two recliners appeared. They were top of the line with no amenity left out. The chairs were covered in leather, one in red for Emett and the other in sky blue for Alison. They took their seats and Alison conjured up iced tea and popcorn for them to munch on while they waited for the staff to assemble.

  Alison suddenly sat up and said, "We need appropriate clothes. We just don't look like the rulers of a prosperous country in the clothes we are now wearing. I'll cast a spell which will not actually change the clothes we are wearing, because I know that you don't want to give up that special armor. It will just look to everybody else like we are dressed in the height of fashion. How does that strike you?"

  "Sounds good to me. We do want to make a good impression. Do whatever you think is appropriate." A moment later, they appeared to be dressed as the rulers of Magicktopia should dress.

  Emett said, "Before we forget, we need to get you one of those protection charms. I think that all we need to do is have a page pull one from the nearest guard and bring it to you. Can you send a mental message ordering one to do that?"

  Alison nodded and a few minutes later, a page came in and bowed. He said to Alison, "Your Majesty, is this what you commanded me to fetch for you?"

  Alison looked at it and nodded. "Thank you, Earnest. I appreciate the fast service."

  "Any time, Your Majesty. Your wish is my command." Earnest was sent to join the staff that was beginning to accumulate in the room. Alison and Emett talked about inconsequentials while they waited for everybody to get the word. Alison conjured up iced tea and popcorn for the people to munch on while they were waiting.

  Emett had been lounging, but now he sat up straight and asked, "Is everybody here, or should we wait longer?"

  There was complete silence which seemed to stretch out forever. Nobody was brave enough to speak up in front of the rulers. Emett said, "Earnest, is everybody here?"

  "Yes, Your Majesty, they are."

  Emett said, "OK, here are some rules that we will live by until further notice. First and foremost, there are no more slaves in Magicktopia. We want that proclaimed throughout the land, starting as soon as this meeting breaks up.

  "Second, all grievances between people are to be settled in courts of law. No more private duels and vigilante justice. All private armies are to be disbanded. It is acceptable to hire guards to protect property from thieves and vandalism, but any one using a private army to rob or intimidate another person will be treated as a bandit, as will every member of that private army.

  "Third, bribery and any other corruption will be dealt with harshly. No public official will be permitted to extort money for doing what is a normal part of his job. There are no exceptions!"

  Emett then announced that the guards were no longer authority figures and would be kept in the dungeon until a better solution could be worked out. The same was true for the Chamberlain and his staff. A new Chamberlain and staff would be hired as soon as possible. Until then, everybody was expected to continue with his normal assigned duties. Any conflicts would be settled on a case-by-case basis.

  Some other items were covered and everyone was dismissed to return to duties. The pages were assembled and asked if they knew of any good candidates for the job of chamberlain and his underlings. A number of names were suggested, and Alison asked that they be invited in to the palace tomorrow to interview for the job. The rest of the week was devoted to settling the various personnel problems, especially among the chamberlain's staff and the guards. Alison handled the selection of a new chamberlain and his staff, and Emett took care of setting up a new set of guards.

  Alison removed the barrier to normal passage in and out of Yesenia, plus a few other details that had to be covered. A visit was made to The Undefeasible's chambers and all of the people temporarily housed there were returned to their homes in Yesenia. The Undefeasible was thanked for his help, and he said that he had enjoyed the company, so he was invited to visit Yesenia any time he wished. Alison and Hat devised a personal transport spell for him that let him jump back and forth between his chambers and the palace at his convenience.

  Life was peaceful, but a bit hectic for about six weeks, until a cry for help came in from Xylon, a city to the east of Yesenia. The town was under attack by flying creatures that breathed fire or lightning and were too strong for the local wizards. The town fathers of Xylon begged Alison and Emett for help as soon as possible.

  Hat was able to provide Alison with the information she needed to transport her and Emett there without delay. They had feared that Aaron had returned, despite his promise not to, because this sounded like his kind of mischief. As soon as they arrived and had a chance to talk to the town fathers, they changed their minds and blamed Lord Taos. The problem was, why would Taos attack an out-of-the-way place like Xylon. Other than people to use as slaves or otherwise for his entertainment, they could not figure out what Taos would gain from attacking here.

  A few minutes of reflection gave Emett the answer. Taos had already gotten what he wanted, Yesenia was no longer defended by Alison and Emett. The whole purpose of the raids on Xylon had been to draw them away from the palace so that Taos could return.

  This called for an immediate change in plans! Alison would stay in Xylon for the time it took to eliminate the flying menace while Emett jumped back to Yesenia to be ready for Taos when he showed up. Taos knew when they left the palace because of the tracer spell he had put on those charms that the two heroes now carried all of the time.

  Alison and H
at quickly fabricated a charm which would locate Taos for Emett. He dropped that charm in his pocket and jumped back to the palace. All Emett could do now was to be on the lookout for Taos and hope that Alison could handle the problem in Xylon without him.

  Alison was pleased by Emett's concern for her safety, but she was also slightly annoyed that he always wanted to be her protector. She knew that there were many times when her magic abilities were actually better for handling a situation than were Emett's raw force and strength. Nevertheless, she loved the big lummox, and appreciated his efforts to protect her.

  The attacks on Xylon always came at the same time of day, so Alison knew when she had to be prepared for action. Mid-afternoon was the time, so Alison stationed herself on a tower where she could have a good view all around the city. Precisely at 3:00 PM, the flying creatures showed up. They bore a vague resemblance to some of the Dragons pictured on TV and in the movies back on Earth. Their bodies were long and snake-like, and they had a single pair of very long wings which they used to glide on, rather than beat fast like common birds. The body was a silvery metallic color and the wings were dark brown with a large yellow disk about half way down the wing on each side, sort of like military airplane insignia.

  As soon as the Dragons came within range, Alison began to bombard them with explosive fireballs. Her experience had now progressed to the point that these fireballs were able to home in on the target, so that they were fire and forget weapons sort of like Sidewinder missiles. The problem was that the Dragons appeared to be immune to fire. Well, Alison would just have to try something else.

  Alison's next offering was a ball of lightning. These, too, were able to home in on the target, so she could fire and forget them. Ah, the lightning appeared to stagger the Dragons and occasionally kill one, but it usually took two or three hits to score a kill. This was OK as long as she was fighting only a few of the Dragons, but they began to swoop in on her too fast for her lightning spell to recharge.

  How about a ball of icy cold? If she could freeze the Dragons, maybe they would fall to the ground and break into many pieces. When she tried her ice balls, they worked when they struck, but they traveled too slowly to be a useful weapon.

  OK, back to the lightning ball and hope for the best. She did manage to kill a number of the Dragons, but they had done a lot of damage before they decided to leave. Alison was puzzled because she had no idea why the Dragons left when they appeared to be winning.

  This was time for a conference with Hat. They talked for over two hours before coming up with a different form of lightning weapon. This time, the blast of lightning would be a bolt instead of a ball. This bolt would have a certain killing power, though it would not always expend itself on one target. Any power left over would be blasted into a nearby enemy and so on until the bolt's power was completely dissipated. Alison would just have to keep firing these bolts, which she called "chain lightning" until all of the enemies were killed.

  Chapter Twelve

  Lord Taos, in his human persona, transported into the palace throne room where he was met by an almost overwhelming surprise. There was Emett reclining on his throne and idly munching on popcorn and sipping iced tea.

  "Ah, Lord Taos, I've been expecting you. Actually, I have been wondering what kept you so long. I suppose you have noticed that Lady Amabel and I have made a few changes since you departed so unceremoniously. She conjured up these very comfortable reclining thrones and that monster HD video screen over your head. It's wonderful for playing video games during my idle moments. But, enough of that. I am placing you under arrest. I guess you know that, under the circumstances, you have no Miranda rights. Please remain calm while I transport you to a very comfortable holding cell."

  Taos screamed out an inarticulate noise and shifted to his true form of the misshapen Dragon. He hurled a bolt of magic fire at Emett, hot enough to melt iron. Emett was wearing all of his shielding armor, so the exploding fire ball only served to warm him up a little, though his prized reclining throne vanished into a pile of ash.

  Emett gazed at Taos with a baleful stare and said in a quiet voice that could still curdle the blood, "Now you have done it. That recliner was a present from Lady Amabel. You have tried my patience to its breaking point. Prepare to be clobbered!"

  Emett leaped onto Taos's back where he could not be reached by either of Taos's stunted arms. Emett drew his mace from his magic fanny pack and began to beat Taos about the face and ears. Emett was putting his entire strength into the blows, and they were further multiplied five-fold by the magic of the mace. If Taos didn't react quickly, his head was going to be smashed to pulp.

  As much as Taos tried, he could not reach Emett where he was perched on the Dragon's back. In desperation, Taos tried to roll over, but he could not get enough purchase on the marble floor with his misshapen and stunted feet and legs. He tried using magic to fly about and dump Emett from his back, but his magic spell had a safety side effect of not allowing anything to fall away from Taos while he was airborne. While all of this was going on, Emett was still pounding on Taos's head with the magic mace. Some of the scales were beginning to show the wear and tear of the attack, so Taos was rapidly approaching serious injury.

  There was only one thing left for Taos to do. He could not escape as long as Emett was holding so tightly to his back with those legs of veritable steel. An effort of terrible will allowed Taos to raise his deformed tail and sweep it across his back, knocking Emett to the floor. As soon as Emett was gone, Taos transported himself somewhere else, Emett had no idea where.

  Alison was ready, this time, when the Dragons showed up. As soon as they were in range, she fired off her chain lightning. It bounced from Dragon to Dragon, severely injuring some and having little or no effect on others. Those Dragons that fell to the ground and were not yet dead were attacked by members of the army with stabbing spears magicked by local wizards to penetrate Dragon scales. This worked, but only on Dragons that were within human arms reach.

  The battle raged for over 30 minutes, with the Dragons spitting destructive balls of explosive fire and lightning, and Alison throwing her devastating chain lightning at the Dragons that got close enough. Alison had one advantage with her chain lightning spell—only one Dragon had to be in range. The bolt would still jump from Dragon to Dragon, even if the Dragons later hit by the same bolt had been out of range when it was originally launched.

  The Dragons would not give up if they still had any ability to fight, so the battle lasted much longer than was good for the Dragons. Toward the end of the fight, when only two Dragons were close enough, the bolt of chain lightning would jump back and forth between them until one Dragon was dead. This was fascinating to watch, but the Dragons were not amused.

  When the battle ended, the last Dragon had been killed and there were none left to fly away to their lair. Alison hoped that this meant that there were no Dragons left to resume the attack tomorrow. She was concerned about Emett, so she concocted a summoning spell the locals could use to call her back to Xylon if the Dragons showed up again. Alison transported herself to the palace throne room where she found Emett reclining on her throne and waiting for her to return.

  Alison conjured up another throne for Emett, and they sat there comparing notes and trying to decide what to do about Taos. It was obvious that he could not be permanently stopped until something could be done about his ability to transport away as soon as he ran into trouble he couldn't overcome.

  They talked about the problem for a while and could not find a solution, so they got into a multiway discussion including Hat which lasted for over two hours, but they still could not find a fool-proof way to bind Taos. Finally, Emett suggested bringing The Undefeasible in on the discussion since, after all, he was a Dragon. He just might have some useful ideas.

  They ate supper and decided to visit The Undefeasible the next day. They adjourned to their bedroom and played several rounds of hide-the-weenie before going to sleep. Alison found herself wanti
ng to have the formal wedding so that she could get pregnant and insure a legal heir to the throne of Magicktopia.

  Alison and Emett showed up at The Undefeasible's chambers only to find him dashing around from place to place in a great show of frustration. He was so upset that they had a terrible time getting him to slow down enough to tell them what was going on. Finally they got him to calm down enough that they could talk to him.

  Alison thought that a neutral subject might get him enough under control of himself that they could work out what to do to help their friend. She chose to talk about his name. "My friend, could we find something less formal to call you. The Undefeasible is so stately and formal that I have trouble remembering that you are my friend when I use it."

  "Ah, dear Lady Amabel, I understand what you are saying and even agree, but I only have that one name, so I don't know how the situation could be improved."

  "Hmm ... That does present a problem. We certainly can't call you George or Henry if those aren't your names. Ah ... I have it! Suppose we call you TU, your initials. That is commonly used among friends where we had been living, and TU certainly speaks to your dragonly bearing."

  "Oh, Lady Alison, I like that! Certainly, you and Lord Emett may call me TU, and I would be honored to have you do so."

  "Wonderful, now that's settled, maybe we can find some way to help you with the problem that has you so upset. Would you care to explain it to us so that we could offer suggestions?"

  "I certainly will tell you, but I don't know what you could do to help. The essential problem is that my cousin wants to move in with me. That would not be so bad, except that he and I really don't get along. He is the pushy, assertive type of person, and I am much more the laid back and go-with-the-flow type. Always before, whenever we have spent much time together, we have wound up bickering and eventually hating the sight of each other. That's why I threw him out of here approximately 17 years ago, but now he wants to come back.