"Why don't you cut them some slack?" I suggested. "Let them spend the rest of the day here. The city is a beautiful place. They’ll love it."
Selena seemed to hesitate, and then said, "I'll go back to Remaca, and tell the teachers at school something came up." She glanced around at the students, and added, "You're all to be back for class first thing tomorrow. Don't be late!"
"You heard the boss," I confirmed to the group. "Have a good time exploring, but be back in time for class." The group broke up instantly, and started fanning out into the city. As the last one disappeared, I looked at Selena, and quietly said, "Thanks for giving them a break. They'll be at war soon, and I'd like to see them be happy for as long as they can."
"I don't know who you're kidding," Selena responded. "I'm going to go inform the school what's going on, and then I'm coming back to explore." Seconds later, she left, and I was alone. I gently nudged the baby dragon that was sleeping on my shoulder. It lifted its sleepy little head, and blinked at me twice.
"I've got to leave, and you must stay here," I explained. I stepped out the door, and walked out into the open yard. Placing the small animal on the ground, I already knew that the next time I saw it, the beast would probably be gigantic. "Give my love to Bitsy!" I instructed the miniature dragon. The tiny thing smiled up at me, and barked twice. Then I folded space for home.
Chapter 12
Teebok
I arrived on Remaca to find the huge oak tree in my front yard, a towering pyre of flames. It was almost dark, and the flickering light cast shadows far back into the surrounding trees. Grey bodies littered the ground around me. Two Magi warriors were standing guard at my home's front door, and I noticed they jumped when I appeared. Down by the river, I could hear Al roar, and it was not a happy roar.
Overhead, a spaceship was being destroyed, and its remnants ripped to pieces. Huge junks of debris were falling into the upper atmosphere, and burned as they fell through to the ground below. Guardians ruled the sky here, and they were decimating our attackers. The glow of force fields shone brightly around the school, and I could see that a full scale attack was in progress.
All this happening, and all I could think about was April and the twins. I bolted across my front lawn, and up the stairs. The Magi on the right side of the door said, "Your family is safe inside."
I stepped in, and found Jasmin and April standing in the middle of the room, involved in a conversation. I heard Jasmin say, "It's over! The Guardians report that Al just terminated the last of them."
"What has happened here?" I demanded. "I leave for an hour, and come back to find the place a disaster." April stepped close, and grabbed my arm. She was trembling all over, and my anger came to a peak. It was a mindless anger, and I knew it wasn't healthy.
But at that moment, I wanted to do something really mindless.
"Tersa was here, and two greys came to the door," April told me. "She stepped out, and a dozen of them were there. The next thing I know, its battle royal outside. Tersa was wiping the floor with them, and then the robot things showed up. Al came running up, and stepping on them like bugs. He set fire to the tree accidentally, and was chasing them all down the road the last time I saw him."
"We have a visitor out here!" The Magi at the door shouted in. "He's asking to speak to Kaltar!" I turned and stepped out, not knowing what to expect.
A lone man in grey stood there. It was obvious at a glance this man was different than the other greys I had ever seen. There a fluid look to the way he moved, and I could tell he was capable of fluxing time. I got no feeling of threat in the link. There was more of a sense of vast age.
"You are the Magi they call Kaltar?" he yelled at me. I nodded, and he said, "I would speak to you, if you'll call off your dogs."
I stepped across the porch, down the stairs, and directly up to the man in grey standing in my yard. The tree was still ablaze, and the air felt warm from the blazing torch. "I am Kaltar!" I told him. "What do you want?"
"My name is Donald Morgan," The man informed me. "I sent people to talk to you, and they were attacked. I decided to come myself, to show there were no hard feelings." I hesitated. His mind seemed as if it was fogged. I couldn't focus on his thoughts.
"You're getting a very nasty reputation among some of my friends," I advised him. "I find it hard to believe your people were victims here."
"Yet, it's the truth!" The man declared, stepping closer. "My people have no problems with the Magi. We leave your people alone, and you leave us alone."
"Who exactly are you?" I asked him.
"I’m known as Teebok to my people," he replied. "I am of the Clovis. My people harvest the cattle of Earth, and put them to use."
I had heard of these creatures before. They were cold blooded killers, that fed off humans from Earth. The monster smiled at me, and a double set of teeth appeared, one just inside the other.
"I doubt we have much to discuss," I informed him. "My race is mostly vegetarians, and I happen to like humans."
"I just love humans," Morgan noted without skipping a beat. "Slow cooked is best."
"It's time for you to leave!" I informed him. My voice had dropped to a snarl, and even I was slightly surprised how the words came out sounding. At that moment, first Jasmin, and then April, stepped out onto the front porch. There was a blur of motion, and Morgan was standing behind April, with his mouth at her throat. I don't understand what happened, but I seemed to come unglued, and literally folded space onto the man.
My weight, attached to his upper torso, ripped him off his feet, and spun him around. We staggered across the porch, locked in a death grip. I wouldn't release the thing, for fear it would attack April again. The beast was immensely strong, and as we violently wrestled around, it began to change. Its twisted shape grew larger, and in seconds, I was fighting a thing ten feet tall.
I heard April screaming, and pulled up all the energy I could on short notice. Charging my hands with raw electricity, I grabbed the beast by the throat, and released the charge. The effect was immediate. The shapeshifter screamed in pain, and fell back. I shot across the porch, as if fired from a cannon.
It appears I passed out for just an instant. When my eyes focused again, it looked as if Morgan had returned to his normal shape. His clothes were smoking slightly, and I could tell, Tersa was getting ready to kill him.
I heard her say, "You made a big mistake coming here!"
She pulled back her sword arm to decapitate him, and I weakly managed to yell out, "Stop!" Tersa seemed to freeze in place, and glanced at me with fire in her eyes. I saw the internal struggle wash over her, and after a moment, she relaxed just slightly. Still holding her blade ready, she told me, "They came here to kill April and the children."
"Let her kill him!" Jasmin advised as she walked up from the direction of the school. "My father would approve."
"I'm fed up with the killing!" I told them both. Glaring at the shapeshifter, I asked, "Don't you understand, the Darkness is the enemy, not us? You're just assisting it in destroying this entire galaxy. Is that really what you want?"
"We have fled before the Darkness from Galaxy to Galaxy for as long as we have existed," the Grey leader explained. "We simply cull the sick and wounded animals, and then move on. If we didn't, the humans of Earth would have destroyed it long ago."
"That's not true!" April squeaked out. "You have no right to say that!"
"We have harvested thousands of humans from Earth every year for centuries," Morgan informed us. "Nobody ever wondered where they went. Humans are too shallow to care about their own kind. Look what they do to their own world."
"From what I hear, it's you who put the Earth into a death spiral," Jasmin noted in a cold voice, straining with energy. She glanced at me, and asked, "Please, may I kill him?"
"I would like to know why he went after April," I noted. "Of all of us, why pick on her?"
"The two of you are known to us," Morgan replied. "I saw her, and lost my head for an instant."
"That's not an answer," Tersa demanded. "Why would you want to harm April over any of us?"
"I thought she would provide a way out," the grey leader answered. "It appears I was wrong."
"You got that right!" Tersa growled loudly. I could see in the link, that she was at the breaking point.
"Stand down, Tersa!" I ordered. "Stand away from him!"
"I will not!" she bluntly refused. "This thing is too dangerous to live."
"I told you to stand down!" I reiterated. "I'm not going to say it again!" The look of defiance in Tersa's face was intense. For just a moment, I thought Tersa would kill him outright. Then she stepped back, and away from our visitor.
"Get up!" I commanded. Morgan slowly stood up, and stood staring at Tersa, as if he expected her to attack at any moment. "I'm going to let you go," I told him. It's hard to say who I shocked more. Morgan, or my own people.
"You're kidding!" Morgan blurted out.
"Yeah! You're kidding!" April agreed loudly.
"I'm going to let you go," I told Morgan. "And you're going to get the attacks on my people stopped."
"Why would I do that?" the shapeshifter asked.
"You'll do it, or I'll undo your entire species!" I told him. "I swore to myself that I’d never do such a thing again, but I'll make an exception just this once."
"You can't be serious!" Morgan balked. "Even you can't do such a thing!"
"I can, and I will!" I told him pointedly. "You have an opportunity here to save your species. Do you want to live, or die?" His mind instantly scanned me, and he knew my threat was real.
"I can't speak for the rest of my race," Morgan quietly informed me. "Even if I agreed, they’ll send others."
"You let me worry about them!" I said forcefully. "I want your activities on Earth stopped, and my people left alone! That's all I care about for now. If you're smart, you'll either help us, or get out of our way."
The tall, grey, man, stood there staring at me for several seconds. Then he asked, "I may leave here unharmed?"
"This will be your only chance to survive!" I explained. "If you mess this up, I'll make sure not one of your people are left to tell the tale."
"You can't be any worse than the Darkness." Morgan ventured.
"Oh yes I can!" I noted coldly. "Can be, and will be!"
"You're not really going to let this monster live?" Tersa demanded.
"TERSA! SHUT UP!" I snapped loudly. Taking a deep breath, I lowered my voice to a more normal level, looked at Morgan, and continued, saying, "This is a pivotal day for your species! It's up to you what happens next!"
"What do you want of me?" He asked quietly.
"I want the human harvesting stopped on Earth!" I told him. "The people of Earth are being freed of the Madness, and when they recover, it will go better for you and your people if they think you stopped feeding on them voluntarily."
"So it's true!" Morgan noted under his breath. "We were told a cure had been found." His eyes darted around for a moment, and he again said, "They’ll just send someone to replace me. They will grow hungry."
"Explain it to them!" I insisted. "I'm fed up with all the killing, and there aren't that many of you left after Satu-Ra pounded your home worlds into rubble. Don't force me to finish the job he started." For just a moment, I saw the anger crest in Morgan's mind. Then he calmed himself slightly, and finally said, "I’ll agree to try, but I can promise nothing!"
"I only promise one thing!" I said. "This is your last chance!"
"Very well!" The grey leader agreed. "I’ll try!"
"One more thing," I said quietly. "If you, or any of your people ever touch my beloved again, or harm my family in any way, I’ll make sure what's left of your people slowly die screaming!" Morgan dropped his eyes to the ground. I could sense the fear raging in the creature's mind. He had scanned me, and knew I meant every word.
Several seconds passed, and Morgan finally asked, "May I leave?"
"Don't make me your enemy!" I advised him. "We have a common enemy, and would make better allies, than foes."
"My people have never had an ally," Morgan said, almost to himself. "I doubt my people will believe such a thing."
"This is your last chance," I repeated calmly. "Try to reason with them. I'm through talking about this. You may leave."
Without further hesitation, Morgan folded space, and disappeared. The look of shock varied on everyone’s faces, but it was obvious this wasn't the outcome they had expected. Tersa turned without a word, and started toward the school.
"I want to speak to you!" I yelled at Tersa as she turned to walk away.
Spinning around to look at me again. She practically screamed, "I have several injured students who need my help! You just let the fiend go that ordered them attacked! I don't have time to talk to you!" Then she folded space, and disappeared.
Two seconds went by, and Jasmin quietly said, "Boy! Is she pissed, or what?"
"Why did you let him go?" April asked. "You know he's nothing but a predator!"
"He's a living creature," I reminded her. "And his people fear the Darkness. I'm hoping we can build something on that common ground."
"You don't stand a chance," Jasmin observed. "But I respect you for at least trying." She reflected for a moment, and then added, "My father would have approved as well. He's grown to hate the violence as much as you do."
"The Darkness works to divide us," I reflected aloud. "We must work together to defeat this evil. We are far stronger as a group, than as individuals."
"I'm going to tell Dona what's happened," Jasmin told me. "Then I'm going to inform my Father what has occurred here as well. He'll want to know what was said. I'll return as soon as I can, and help you finish moving." Then she bowed just slightly at the waist. As she stood up again, she folded space, and disappeared.
April stepped close, and hugged me to her. After a few seconds, she whispered, "You sure know how to shake things up!" As I held her, I realized I was trembling as bad as she was.
"I thought he was going to harm you!" I managed to say. "I couldn't stand it if he had hurt you!"
"I got that feeling," April acknowledged. She hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Would you really do away with Morgan's whole race?" When I didn't reply, she said, "I don't want to be responsible for the death of a species."
"If they ever harm you, or the children, they will all pay," I told her. "I love you too much to ever allow you to be harmed."
I could see the unease in April's mind as she whispered, "Sometimes, you almost scare me worse than they do." As I stood there, I knew, in a way, she was right to be uncomfortable. She was scanning me, and quickly added, "It’s not really you that worries me Kaltar. It's the scale and reach of the powers you have. I'm beginning to think you don't have limitations."
"I'm doing the best I can." I responded. "Yet I sometimes look back, and realize I've come a long way." I paused, thought for a moment, and then said, "I suspect I'm making some really big mistakes."
"Not really," April disagreed. "Actually. I'd say you're doing pretty well." She stepped back slightly, and said, "I need to go check on the twins." She turned, and started up the stairs. I followed, and soon found three Magi warriors standing guard at the top of the stairs. We walked on back to the nursery, and found Cindy and Vandahar waiting for us. The twins were sound asleep, and didn't stir as we entered the room.
"Are they alright?" April asked Cindy.
"They slept through the entire thing," Cindy replied. "I even scanned them to make sure they were fine."
"Let's get everything out of here, and moved tonight," I told April. "I don't want you or the twins here if he comes back." April gave me a long look, and then abruptly started packing up the babies things. After a moment, Cindy started helping her pack.
I turned to Vandahar, and said, "Please go find Tersa. I wish to speak to her." He hesitated for an instant, and then folded space.
April looked at me for a second, and then aske
d, "Do you think you should leave her alone for a while? She looked pretty pissed when she left."
"I can't help that," I replied honestly. "This has to be dealt with." Then I turned, and went back downstairs. As I stepped into the kitchen, I heard the house's front door open and close. When I looked back, Tersa was walking toward me, through the front room.
"Step in here!" I told her. "I want to talk to you!"
"If you're going to make excuses for letting that killer live, I'm not interested," she informed me as we walked into the kitchen.
"We need to talk," I responded as I sat down at the kitchen table.
"I'm not interested!" she repeated forcefully.
"I said SIT DOWN!" I practically yelled at her. She gave me an odd look, and abruptly sat down at the table. I sat for almost thirty seconds looking at her, and then, almost calmly, asked, "What are you thinking? Why would you disrespect my commands right in front of an adversary?"
"An adversary?" she asked, slightly flustered. "You were treating him like an ally. He was going to kill April, and the next thing I know, you’re acting like he's an old friend."
"You're too quick to resort to violence," I tried to explain. "Violence is something you resort to when the plan fails. It shouldn't be the first response you come up with every time something odd occurs."
"It's funny!" Tersa noted sarcastically. "When I looked out your front door, and saw a dozen greys. The first thing I thought, was how odd it was."
"Morgan claims he sent them here to talk," I told her. "He said you attacked his people, and set off the entire chain of events." Tersa's face turned bright red, and I thought her head was going to explode. Her mouth started to move several times, but no words came out.
"Try to calm down," I coaxed her. "You're going to have a stroke!"
"I'm going to help April pack." Tersa suddenly announced. She stood up, and headed straight for the kitchen door.
The Books of Kaltar Farsara Boxed Set - Books 1 through 3 (The Kingdom Kaltar Farsara Built) Page 41
