by Bryan Cohen
"He stopped the dark souls. How did he do it?"
Riu's mother shrugged. "It seemed like a mystery even to my father. But whatever he could do, not a single dark soul made it back alive. He vanquished all of them when I was a little girl."
Ted spooned in some more of the meal. "Well that makes sense. If nobody was able to report back, the General wouldn't know about it."
Before Ted could search through the woman's mind again, he could feel his powers beginning to short out. Sure enough, the glowing boy walked into the room beside his mother.
The boy smiled. "I saw you in my dreams."
Ted nodded as he finished up the bowl. "I saw you too. Riu is a nice name."
The boy put his hand on his hips and glared at his mother. "This proves it. My purpose is here."
Ted looked the boy up and down. He was skinny and short. But at the same time, he seemed almost too wise for the body he had. It was as if the spirit that inhabited his grandfather had passed directly onto him.
Riu's mother did not look the least bit happy. "I will not have you going off to some fight that our people are not a part of."
Riu's face scrunched up in frustration. "Mother, this is a war everyone is involved in. You can't run away from destiny."
Ted stood up, ignoring the wooziness that accompanied it. "If he's able to do what I've seen in my dreams, your son could save millions. Maybe even billions of lives."
Riu's mother snatched the finished bowl from Ted's hands. "You are not a mother. You don't understand what it's like to risk your child's life." She turned toward her son. "Take him to the elders. If they say it is meant to be, I will not be allowed to stand in the way. But that does not mean I approve."
Riu's face lit up. "The elders will agree with me. I'm sorry, Mother, but you may not see me again."
The boy turned and walked out of the room. His mother focused all her attention on Ted. "Go with him. I wish you luck."
Ted smiled. "Thank you. We'll need all the luck we can get to get through our war."
The woman shook her head. "No. I mean with the elders. They may not let you live."
Ted kept pace with the little boy as they walked through the middle of the village. The words of Riu's mother stuck with him as he thought of Erica. He had a feeling that if he didn't make it, she'd say, "I told you so" at his funeral.
The boy stared straight ahead as he walked. "Finally, all the torture. All the names. And now I too can be a hero."
Ted looked toward Riu. "I was teased as a kid too. At least you probably didn't need a night-light growing up."
The boy looked at Ted. "What is a night-light?"
Ted put up his hand. "Don't worry about it. It's an Earth thing for kids who are afraid of the dark."
"Only the saddest of children are afraid of the dark."
"Touché, Riu. Touché."
When they reached the village elders on the far side of town, it was nearly nightfall. A beautiful and strangely-shaped moon began to lift into the horizon. He wondered if the planet he was on was likewise a triangle. Ted almost felt like himself again, and while he wasn't woozy anymore, it did feel odd not to have his powers close at hand. He'd grown impervious to the living-soul-blocking abilities of his enemies, but as he stood next to Riu, something different was at play. It wasn't like someone turning his abilities off. It was more like reaching for his powers and only finding a hole in the universe. Whatever it was that made the little boy glow, it was something the light and dark souls knew nothing about.
The cave of the elders was a winding circuitous route, but eventually they reached a room centered around a bearded, bald man. His facial hair reached the ground. It was as white as a winter storm, and it was adorned with small trinkets all the way down.
Ted admired the old man. "It's good to know that manscaping is a thing here."
Riu patted Ted's side. "You are strange, human. I wish you luck with the elders."
The living soul looked down at his small friend. "You're not staying? What do I even do here?"
Riu gave him a knowing look. "Everything will become clear. And if you survive, we will head to your war."
Ted let out a huff. "All this talk about the elders killing me is kind of making me nervous."
Riu didn't respond as he turned and went back the way they'd come. The elder and Ted were the only ones left in the cavern.
Ted stepped forward. "That really is exceptional facial hair you've got there. Maybe you guys could take it easy on me. You know, with the whole potentially killing me thing?"
The elder moved his hands in a circular motion. As he did, Ted noticed a small bowl like the one he'd used earlier appear on the ground. He watched with amazement as it filled halfway with a purple liquid.
He grinned awkwardly. "On my world, I'm not quite old enough to drink, but if all this is a wine tasting, I think I'm willing to bend the rules."
The elder's voice was deep and powerful. "Drink this to face the fears of your past, your present, and your future."
Ted looked around the room. "I'm guessing there isn't an option here? I wouldn't mind taking the physical challenge."
The elder stayed motionless and Ted took the cue. He picked up the bowl of purple liquid and brought it to his mouth. Unfortunately, it was no aged Bordeaux, but the taste was sweeter than he expected. As he finished the contents of the bowl, he wiped his mouth with his arm. "Is that it? Is there any strange purple fruit you want me to eat too?"
"And pay attention, will you?"
Ted recognized that voice anywhere. He turned around to see something impossible. Behind him were three people he knew were beyond dead. Nigel and the Torello twins were there in the flesh. And they didn't seem very happy to see him.
33
Natalie couldn't help but be impressed by Erica as they walked toward the headquarters of their final planet. Erica, Natalie, and the rest of the team were flanked by massive warriors sporting impenetrable skin. They almost looked a bit like walking rhinos. She made a mental note not to call the creatures that to their faces. She looked over at the protector, who was staring straight ahead.
She is all business. I would not want to get in her way right now.
As they reached the main chambers of the rhino's leader, Doren nudged her side. "Erica looks like she's going to kill somebody. Do you think it would be bad for our negotiation if Erica killed somebody?"
Natalie smirked. "If Erica killed one of these things, I think they'd be too impressed not to join us."
The creatures beside them stopped, and Natalie, Doren, and the rest of them matched their position. In front of them, the largest and most impenetrable creature of the bunch walked into view. Natalie could imagine why the dark souls were unable to take down creatures of this magnitude. To even kill one of them would take an army.
Getting them on our side certainly wouldn't be a bad thing.
Erica bowed low in front of Ki-Tar, the leader of the rhinos. "Your eminence, thank you for taking an audience with us."
The massive man's voice was as large as he was. "Your mission hasn't exactly been a secret one, protector. All the realms are talking about your little army. I can imagine why you'd want us to join."
Erica looked into his eyes. "The stories of your battles have traveled the cosmos. And we know that you harbor some bad blood for our common enemy."
The rhino's gargantuan face contorted into a smirk. "No need to inflate our egos. Where is the living soul? Is it meant as an insult for him not to be on our world too?"
Natalie bit her lip and wished she could've convinced Ted to stay for just one more planet.
Erica put on her best nonchalant face. "As I'm sure you know personally, not all heroes can make every trip during a time of war."
Ki-Tar flared his nostrils. "I take this as a sign of great disrespect."
When the other creatures slammed their giant weapons into the ground, Natalie couldn't help but jump a bit. She mentally considered how their small band could get
out of the throne room alive.
Erica stepped forward. "You may take his lack of presence here however you'd like. But there are two kinds of generals in this world. Those who negotiate or those who take action." She turned toward Ki-Tar's top officials. "Our leader takes action. He is planning the assault on the dark souls as we speak. Would you rather sit and leave your weapons unbloodied, or do you want to be a part of history?"
Now the creatures' chants turned in the other direction. Their cheers grew louder as they thought of the opportunity to swing their swords.
The leader of the rhinos put up his hand. "Enough! If you truly believe that with our help you can end the dark souls' scourge for good, we will come. Do you believe that Ted and this army will end a thousand-year war?"
Natalie stepped forward. "If we don't win, we will die on the battlefield. How does that sound to you guys?"
The cheers got even louder, and Natalie knew she had said exactly the right thing. Before long, their army was complete.
Natalie welcomed the return to the Realm of Souls with 300 armored warriors. The soldiers by land joined the tens of thousands of creatures that would patrol the waters and the air. To see all of them gathered in one place was truly breathtaking. During a feast put on by the light souls, Natalie spoke with multiple sets of parents from Treasure. She successfully avoided Mr. and Mrs. Finley while Erica jumped on the grenade of explaining exactly where their son was at the current moment. They seemed to buy her excuse, though Natalie wasn't sure exactly how much longer that would last.
The next morning, all of the forces of the living souls’ army had gathered together for their path back to Earth. Natalie was surprised to see that Erica had yet to arrive on the scene, despite her propensity to get to all these meetings exceptionally early. She sought out the protector in her quarters.
As she stepped into the room, she noticed that Erica was sitting on her mattress beside the book that would allow her to create the portal they needed.
Natalie leaned against the doorframe. "Are you making some kind of grand entrance?"
Erica shook her head.
Natalie's forehead wrinkled. "If that's not the case, then what are we waiting for?"
"We got the whole army together, but without Ted here we can't create a portal large enough for everyone to go in at once. Even in a remote area, it's not a good idea to just send some of our troops."
Natalie looked at her friend and smiled. "I had a feeling that might happen without Ted here."
"We need him, Nat. I can't believe he went off on this little solo mission."
Natalie heard some noise from outside of Erica's building. "Don't worry. I think I figured out another solution."
Erica had a confused look on her face. "What did you do? Who's out there?"
As Erica got off her mattress, Natalie couldn't help but feel a bit giddy inside.
As the window opened, Erica could see just what Natalie was so excited about.
"I know that when you needed to create a portal, you and Jennifer, and Dhiraj... and Travis joined hands to make it happen. You need a giant portal—" Natalie gestured out to the scene below. Every resident of Treasure, over 1,000 strong, had joined hands in the streets. "If you need a giant portal, I think we can pull that off for you."
Erica turned away and looked back toward the book on the mattress. "I'm not sure if I can do it."
Natalie took Erica's hand and squeezed it. "Alone, you can't. But don't forget that you've got all of us too."
34
Ted could hardly believe his eyes as he stared into the faces of his earliest enemies. Nigel and the Torellos looked even more real than when Mr. Redican had projected their images into his mind. He wasn't sure what was in the purple beverage he'd consumed, but it definitely seemed to be more than pinot noir. The three dark souls circled around Ted as he crouched down into a fighting stance.
"There's no way you're real. The last time I thought you were real, I nearly killed Erica and Natalie."
Jason Torello stepped toward him and clenched his fist. "Is this something a figment of your imagination could do?"
The dark soul pulled back his elbow and let loose with a punch so hard, Ted was pretty sure it fractured his jaw.
The living soul put his hand to his face and tried to ignore what felt like a knife going into the side of his mouth. He backed away from the three threats. "Okay, okay. You're real and you can hit me. What the hell do you want?"
The Brit smirked and looked at his fellow attackers. "Killing you would be a nice start to things."
Both of the Torellos converged at once. But unlike the last time they had fought, Ted had a big advantage. Despite having all three dark souls looking at him at once, Ted easily floated up into the air and avoided the charging Torellos. As he hovered, Ted reached out for the two twins with his powers and grabbed hold of their bodies.
Phil struggled against his control. "Oh, come on. Not again!"
Ted used his ability to slam the brothers into each other with such force, he was pretty sure he'd cracked both of their skulls at the same time. The two brothers collapsed in a heap as Ted descended to the ground.
Nigel still had the smile on his face. "A little extra power, I see. Let's see if it's gone to your head."
Nigel charged and swung at Ted. He easily dodged every blow, and when the Brit left himself open, Ted elbowed his former villain hard in the face. Nigel crumpled to the floor as Ted stood over him.
"What are you three doing here? What do you want?"
Nigel rubbed at his head. "How about you ask him? He's the one who sent us."
Ted turned to see two figures walk into the light. He recognized one of them right away. The eight-foot-tall wolf creature, known as a Lychos, snarled in his direction. The other had haunted his nightmares before.
"Senator Kable. Or should I call you Adam?" Ted cracked his knuckles and stared straight into the other living soul. "Unless you have a third nickname I should use. I know that you weren't even the one that killed me. Let's see if you can do it the first time."
Kable floated into the air as his Lychos charged for Ted.
The current living soul spun out of the way of a clawed swipe. But in his effort to avoid one villain, Kable was able to swoop in and a land a kick into Ted's midsection. With Ted's ribs still bruised from his earlier fall, the attack stung deeply.
The Lychos charged at Ted's exposed back, but this time he was ready for the two-pronged attack. Ted easily opened the blue portal behind him. When the Lychos was halfway through, the living soul closed it ruthlessly. While Ted was unsure where the top half of the creature ended up, the dismembered lower torso fell to the ground, oozing blood into the dirt. When Kable flew forward, Ted lifted his hands and created a miniature bubble like the one he'd erected over Treasure, except this wasn't for protection, this was a prison. Trapped in a translucent oval, Kable landed on the ground with a thud.
The former presidential candidate screamed in fury. "Let me out! Fight like a man!"
Ted opened another portal and floated the oval toward it. "I think it was you who first taught me not to fight fair." With that, the screaming Kable went through the gateway before Ted closed it mercilessly. He heard a slow clap begin from behind him, and it didn't take long to figure out where it was coming from. His doppelganger, the General, seemed to be enjoying himself quite well. "Chopping a Lychos in half? Using your defense as offense? I am so impressed. Because of our likeness, I almost consider you a brother."
Ted flew high into the room and directed all his anger toward his sworn enemy. "I'm not going to let you in my world."
The General didn't seem like someone who took Ted's threat very seriously. "My poor, poor living soul. You don't understand how all of this works."
Ted saw a faint green light from the corner of his eye. Riu entered his peripheral vision and Ted could sense his powers diminishing. He barely made it to the ground before he could feel the abilities of the living soul leave him in an i
nstant. Ted put up his hands, but the General's incredible strength made quick work of him. After two fists slammed into Ted's forearms, he was wide open for what came next. A dagger from seemingly nowhere entered the General's hands and stabbed the living soul in the midsection. He could feel the blood draining out of him as the General bore his identical stare into Ted's eyes. "This is the future, and it's already happened."
Ted tried to speak, but he could feel the blood trickle out of his mouth. The living soul collapsed to his knees and grabbed at the hilt of the weapon before falling over dead.
His eyes opened to the sight of the glowing boy just a few feet in front of the General.
Ted reached for the weapon that had penetrated his abdomen, but it was no longer there. He looked at Riu who stood fearless in the face of unimaginable evil. And the General, he was absolutely terrified.
"What are you doing to me? No, this cannot happen."
Riu projected his pride with his high beaming throughout the cave. "This is my destiny."
The General screamed a familiar scream as he, too, collapsed to the ground.
Ted stood up and the images all went away. No longer were the bodies of the Torellos, Nigel, and the General in the room. He was back where he'd been before. The empty bowl of purple liquid was on the ground, and the elder who sat before him stared into his eyes.
"You are strong. But death comes to us all."
Ted couldn't help but laugh. "You can talk? Maybe you could have given me a warning or something?"
The elder stroked his beard. "We give you permission to take the boy. At long last, the war will finally end."
Ted scratched the side of his head. "That's great and all, but what was I seeing there? Am I destined to die? Is the General? Does that mean we're definitely going to win?"
The elder returned to his original position. "These are questions not even a wise old man with a beard can answer. One thing is certain; the boy will do more good with you than he will here. Good luck in your war."
