The Last Portal

by Robert Cole

Soon Kaloc was leading them through vast networks of tunnels and caverns filled with streams, lakes and forests, and all under a roof teaming with glow-worm and insect life. This was how Chris remembered it, and he spent much of his time proudly explaining to Joe and Susie the wonders of the underworld. Joe and Susie were totally mesmerised by what they saw. They spent all their time gazing at the arrays of limestone formations that adorned the roofs of the caverns, or rose up like shimmering minarets from the floors. And amongst all this beauty were the Nethral, who milled around the party, excitedly firing questions at Kaloc as they passed. But Kaloc did not stop and chat to the Nethral. Instead, he strode out, setting a pace that Chris, Susie and Joe had to run periodically to keep up with.

  As they passed groups of Nethral, Chris detected heightened levels of fear. Many were aware of a large invasion force gathering on the surface near Mount Caporel, intent on capturing the portal. The Nethral had pledged to defend the portal, but this task was almost impossible. Unlike the small tunnels the Nethral had dug to the surface, the tunnels in this region had been carved out over the millennia by volcanic activity and vast underground rivers. Consequently, they were numerous and large, impossible to defend against any determined assault. Despite this, many Nethral had already left to join in the defence of the underworld. These Nethral were essentially going to war against an enemy they could not defeat.

  The reading of this information quickly drove away all of Chris’s initial excitement at seeing the Nethral again. Visions of the underworld forests and all its life burning under the weapon fire of the Zentor plagued his thoughts. Now he understood Kaloc’s haste to return, but he could not see how the Mytar, or Kaloc, or anyone else for that matter, could ever stand against such a force.

  After an hour of hard walking, the party had reached the end of a large cavern. This cavern was actually the home of Duss and Cass and was one of the most extensive and beautiful caverns Chris had so far seen. He estimated that it was around two kilometres across and close to twice as long. The party had walked its full length before Kaloc finally stopped next to a narrow gap in the wall. After motioning the rest to follow, he disappeared through the gap. When they climbed through after him, they found themselves in a small dimly lit tunnel which quickly widened. Then they saw it, the distortion was unmistakable; in the centre of the cavern was the portal with the control panel next to it.

  Joe and Susie rushed forward as if greeting a long-lost friend, but Chris hung back. He had been worried about the meaning of the information he had received from the Nethral and decided to talk to Kaloc about it. He found Kaloc in deep discussion with some of his commanders over the allocation of weapons to the Nethral. Apparently, the Nethral didn’t like surface weapons and preferred blowpipes, short swords and axes; weapons they could use at close range in the tunnels without causing cave-ins. Kaloc ended up agreeing to deploy the Nethral soldiers in the smaller tunnels, while his soldiers would concentrate on defending the larger tunnels and the caverns. Chris waited until the last of Kaloc’s commanders had left. When he approached Kaloc, he found him studying a Nethral map of the surrounding caverns, spread out on a large limestone table.

  “Has Zelnoff found out where the portal is?” he asked when Kaloc looked up.

  Kaloc carefully rolled up the map and placed it in a drawer. Chris could see from his slow deliberate movements that he was mentally trying to focus on something he found painful.

  “As you know, the Zentor stopped their assault when they realised you weren’t there,” he began, turning to Chris. “We weren’t in good shape. Many of my men were injured, so we headed for the safety of the tunnels near Mount Caporel. I knew it was a risk.” He paused for a moment, his eyes staring distantly at some point behind Chris’s head. “We couldn’t see any sign of the Zentor. They appeared to have broken off contact with us together, so I decided it was safe to enter the underworld.” Kaloc looked directly at him and Chris saw the answer in his eyes before he spoke. “I’m afraid I was wrong. The Zentor must have seen us enter the underworld. Zelnoff, I’m sure, now realises the portal is here.”

  From the despair in Kaloc’s voice, Chris knew this was a disaster.

  “We will talk more of these matters later,” Kaloc said. “First, eat and get cleaned up.”

  Chris wasn’t finished asking questions, but it was clear from Kaloc’s tone that this would have to wait. He wandered back past the portal to where the tunnel expanded into a large chamber filled with supplies and weapons. In one area, queues of Nethral were being fitted with cut-down versions of the same type of armour that Kaloc’s men wore. Much to his delight, Altac was there, talking to Joe and Susie. Chris noticed, to his astonishment, that Altac’s leg wound had almost healed. But his face looked tired and drawn, as though he hadn’t slept since their encounter with the Zentor.

  “Can you walk on it now?” Chris asked, bending over to take a closer look at a compress that was still strapped to Altac’s left leg.

  Altac put all his weight on the leg, then walked several steps without any sign of a limp.

  “It does get sore if I walk any distance,” he said. “The Nethral have some herbs down here that have disappeared from the surface many thousands of years ago. They have amazing regenerative powers. I have ordered their collection to heal our wounded.”

  Altac directed them toward what looked to be the mess hall. “Please, you must all be very hungry.”

  Once they had eaten and washed, Kaloc re-appeared and led them to a small room on one side of the chamber. This must have been Kaloc’s personal office, Chris thought. Inside, the walls were decorated with beautiful landscapes, paintings of Kaloc amongst various family groups, and one large striking portrait of Kaloc with a woman with long, dark hair which flowed past her shoulders. Chris was immediately drawn to this painting. The woman was nearly as tall as Kaloc, with striking hazel-coloured eyes and a beautiful warm smile. Kaloc had his arm around her and a look of complete joy and contentment on his face. Chris could hardly recognise him. The Kaloc that stood beside him today was a mocking contrast to this picture.

  Chris detected strong emotions and looked up. Kaloc was standing next to him in silence, also staring at the painting. Chris felt an enormous sense of loss and sadness radiating from the Guardian. Kaloc’s eyes were unfocused, almost glazed, as though he was recalling a past that no longer existed.

  “Who’s she?” Chris asked, feeling immediately that he was prying into things Kaloc didn’t want to talk about.

  Kaloc continued to stare at the painting with a distant expression. “Someone I knew long ago,” he sighed. “Before this world had ever heard of Zelnoff...or the Zentor.”

  Chris watched Kaloc’s face, discerning the misery in his eyes. “You must hate Batarr for doing this.”

  Kaloc shook his head slowly. “Batarr is Batarr. He can’t change what he is. We should have seen more...recognised the danger.”

  “But Batarr helped Zelnoff invade the planet.”

  “The blame doesn’t rest on Batarr alone. We knew there was a disturbance across the dimensions, but we ignored the signs. We were blinded by our own denial.”

  “But he also helped Zelnoff kill the Mytar?”

  “Batarr was no more than a tool. If it wasn’t Batarr, it would have been someone else. The result would ultimately have been the same.”

  Chris looked up at Kaloc in surprise. He seemed almost resigned to defeat. “You mean you can’t stop Zelnoff?”

  “Only the Mytar can stop Zelnoff,” Kaloc replied. “And in our world, they were either not found, or killed before we realised what was happening.”

  There was silence after this last comment. Chris avoided looking across at Susie and Joe. He already knew what they were thinking. The immensely of what they were facing felt like a huge hand slowly squeezing the life out of each of them.

  “But you knew who the Mytar were?” Susie asked, stepping up next to Kaloc.

  Kaloc shook his head. “The Guardians can det
ect the Mytar on the planet the portals are linked to, not our own. I say they were not found or killed because the previous world fell even more quickly than ours. No conflict, no wars, he swept through unopposed. Such a thing could only happen if the Mytar from this world were killed or never found.”

  “Well, can’t you contact the Guardians on Earth and warn them about Zelnoff? Get them to contact the Mytar on the next planet?” Chris asked.

  “We don’t know who the Guardians on your planet are.”

  Chris frowned up at Kaloc, unsure whether to believe him. “But that’s silly,” he said finally. “If all the Mytar and Guardians got together, then someone like Zelnoff could be stopped.”

  This comment drew a wry smile from Kaloc. “Who do you think Zelnoff is?” he said, turning to Chris.

  Chris shrugged.

  Susie, who had been listening intently, spoke up. “He’s a Guardian.”

  Kaloc nodded. “That’s possible, or a Mytar; someone who has special powers like the Mytar and has managed to develop them to an extraordinary degree. He also possesses knowledge of inter-dimension travel that not even the most accomplished Guardian would know. Either way, he hasn’t been able to gain this knowledge and power by himself. Originally he must have had help from either Mytar or Guardians like Batarr. Whoever designed the portals and created the Guardians foresaw this possibility and split the powers of the Mytar among six individuals. They also ensured the Guardians could not contact each other in case they learnt how to travel between worlds like Zelnoff can now.”

  “And now this system will work in Zelnoff’s favour,” Chris said. “The Guardians can’t warn each other about Zelnoff.”

  “Your Guardians should already be aware of entities crossing into your world and causing atmospheric and climatic disturbances,” Kaloc replied, after a moment’s thought. “I just hope they are wiser and more vigilant than we were and have already contacted the Mytar in the next world.”

  “But can just one group of Mytar stand against Zelnoff?” Susie asked.

  “Any fully functional group of Mytar will be more than a match for any single entity such as Zelnoff. Zelnoff knows this, which is why he has already gone to great lengths to destroy you. Still, none of you comprehend the powers of a fully functional group of Mytar.”

  Joe groaned loudly at this remark. “But we’re too young,” he said. “And we don’t know who the other Mytar are.”

  Kaloc looked at Joe thoughtfully. “You are no match for Zelnoff in your present form, I agree. We have to find the others, but first we must first delay Zelnoff’s invasion of your world, if only to give the Guardians of your world more time to prepare.”

  “How? By defending the portal?” Joe asked anxiously.

  “Actually, we have already lost this portal,” Kaloc replied, pausing and scanning their faces. “The Nethral will defend valiantly, but the entrances around Mount Caporel are too large, and Zelnoff’s army is too strong. Ultimately Zelnoff will be able to invade the underworld.”

  “Then we have lost,” Chris said, barely able to contain his own anger at Kaloc’s apparent lack of emotion. “You’re saying that we can’t stop Zelnoff reaching the last portal …?”

  “If this was the last portal, I would never surrender it while I still lived,” Kaloc said, with a hint of steel in his voice that stopped Chris in his tracks.

  “There’s another one?” All three spoke at once.

  Kaloc walked over to a picture at the other side of the room. “Do you see anything odd about this picture?”

  It was a group of seven hominids dressed very formally in long flowing robes. In the centre of the group was Batarr; this time dressed in a golden robe with a bright red sash. His black hair was neatly pinned back behind his head and he had something that looked like a sceptre in his arms. A more youthful Kaloc stood in the second row, a full head taller than most of the other Guardians. Chris guessed that this group represented all of the intelligent species on Cathora. There was a large hairless Taal, and the gorilla-like species that seemed to make up the bulk of Kaloc’s soldiers. There was a dark-skinned lady with black eyes, wispy blonde hair and almost no mouth, and another much smaller lady with large jagged ears and hazel eyes. The array of odd shapes and sizes was staggering.

  Chris guessed they were probably the Guardians in happier times. Then he realised. “There’s no Nethral.”

  “That’s right. Every major species is represented except the Nethral. The surface people have been separated from the Nethral for so long that many have forgotten they exist. And no one knows, not even Batarr, how extensive the underworld really is.”

  “You had no idea what was down here?” Chris asked, finding Kaloc’s lack of knowledge of his own planet difficult to believe.

  “We thought there were no more than a few isolated groups of Nethral living in dark tunnels,” Kaloc said. “There has actually been no direct contact between the Nethral and the surface people for centuries. I just had no idea,” he waved his hand in the air, “that all this existed.”

  “But whoever made the portals knew.” Joe voiced what everyone was thinking.

  Kaloc nodded. “I was forced to hide in the tunnels around Mount Caporel to avoid detection by Zelnoff’s soldiers. That’s when I first encountered the Nethral and realised these people were not primitive tunnel dwellers, but they inhabited a world every bit as extensive and beautiful as that of the surface. That’s when I realised there must be another portal here somewhere, and with the help of their high council, I have found it.”

  “Where?” Chris asked.

  “It’s a long way from here.”

  “Does it have a Guardian?”

  Kaloc shook his head. “There was an ancient legend about its existence and a rough location. It took me nearly a year of searching the underworld before I found it. Although it didn’t have a Guardian, it was still operational. It appears that the line of Guardians that operated it died out thousands of years ago.”

  “And Batarr has no idea it exists?” Susie asked.

  “No Guardian, or Nethral for that matter, knows anything about it. I have told you now because it will become necessary to use it in the near future. The Nethral have been instructed to hold back Zelnoff’s forces just long enough to allow this immediate part of the underworld to be evacuated, they will then melt back into the underworld and leave Batarr and Zelnoff to the portal.”

  “And we will transport to this other portal,” Chris said.

  “Yes,” Kaloc nodded. “Then I will teach Susie and yourself to combine your powers of telepathy.”

  Chris and Susie looked at each other.

  “What for?” Susie asked.

  “When this portal is captured, Zelnoff will believe he has possession of all the portals and we have transported to another location. He will not be guarding against a possible eighth portal. Zelnoff will then prepare his forces for the final crossing into your world. To co-ordinate the simultaneous crossing of his forces through seven portals at once will be a difficult process, even for Zelnoff with Batarr’s help. It will require all his concentration. At that time, he will be at his most vulnerable to an attack.”

  “What type of attack?” Chris asked, suddenly feeling the weight of the world back on his shoulders.

  “With your help, I should be able to send his forces into another dimension altogether. Somewhere they can do no harm and Zelnoff cannot retrieve them.”

  “So they will never reach Earth,” Joe said.

  “That’s right. They will disappear forever. It will be some time before Zelnoff can assemble another invasion force. This should give you valuable time to find the other Mytar.”

  “You mean we can go home?” Joe asked.

  “Yes.” Kaloc smiled at Joe’s sudden enthusiasm. “But you must promise to come back.”

  There was a collective nod of agreement. Chris looked around the faces of his friends. He had not believed it till now, but just maybe there was something different about t
he three of them after all.

  The meeting broke up soon afterwards, when one of Kaloc’s commanders came with the news that Zelnoff’s forces had begun their march into the underworld. The Nethral had booby-trapped many of the tunnels and the initial assault had been repelled. But Zelnoff’s soldiers were massing again, and a second attack was imminent. Kaloc left in a hurry, in deep discussion with his commander.

  Cass and Duss were waiting for Chris near the mess hall. They seemed very flustered and confused about what was happening. Chris had to spend a considerable amount of time explaining why Zelnoff wanted the portal and why Kaloc was trying to stop him. Finally, they shook their heads and said the planet was not a safe place, and they didn’t understand these things. Chris had to agree. After many reassurances that he would be all right, they left to collect their belongings and join the evacuation.

  Several hours later, Chris climbed through the narrow gap in the cavern wall to say goodbye to Cass and Duss. From here he could see over most of this vast underworld cavern. Streams of Nethral were already leaving their houses and disappearing into the many tunnels leading off the central cavern.

  “Where will you go?” he asked.

  At this comment, at least, they did not seem confused. “We have many friendss,” Cass said.

  “And many relativess,” Duss added.

  “They will be very happy to ssee uss,” Cass said.

  “Yess very happy,” Duss again added.

  “Don’t worry about uss. Jusst make ssure that thiss Zelnoff doess not get to the portal,” Cass said, taking Chris by the shoulders and peering deeply into his eyes.

  Chris smiled reassuringly. “I will do my best.”

  “And don’t get caught up in the fighting. You are too young for ssuch thingss,” Cass went on.

  Chris nodded. He could read only concern for his welfare in Cass’s huge black orbs and it made him feel ashamed about all the things he couldn’t tell her. Then, with a parting wave, they were gone, fading into the streams of Nethral who were abandoning their homes to certain destruction from Zelnoff’s forces. Chris quickly turned away from the sight and headed back to the portal.

  When he arrived he found Susie, Joe and Kaloc huddled around a small fire, deep in discussion. Kaloc was explaining some of his future plans. He immediately made a space for Chris on the bench beside him.

  “I was just telling Joe and Susie about the need for secrecy concerning the existence of the Nethral portal,” he said. “And they have been telling me the details of your escape from the Zentor; a very close call, by all accounts. The Prower also tell of Joe’s remarkable ability with the crystal weapon.”

  “Yeah, I killed at least ten Zentor,” Joe said, “I even blasted them right out of the sky.”

  Kaloc lips tightened as he nodded slowly. “That is impressive.”

  “And Altac said it would take ages to learn how to use a crystal weapon,” Joe added proudly.

  “To operate, load and service correctly, that is very true,” Kaloc said, fixing Joe with a stern look.

  “Right,” Joe said a little more quietly.

  “That staff of yours,” Chris said, “now that’s really cool.”

  Kaloc picked up his staff from the ground and put it across his lap. “As with everything, there is a story behind this staff. The builders of the portals left behind many items. Some still remain a mystery, as the knowledge of their use has been lost over thousands of years, but the purpose of three of their items is known; the portal, the key and this staff. This is the only offensive weapon that the builders of the portals left. Its mechanism is unknown, but it is powered by the same blue crystals that power our crystal weapons. Somehow it converts the energy from these crystals to a white light that is much more powerful than the blue light of our crystal weapons.”

  “So you just press a button to fire it?” Joe asked.

  Kaloc smiled. “Nothing so crude. Somehow the staff locks into the user’s thought processes. I just have to think, aim and fire.”

  “Wow…that really is awesome,” Joe said.

  “And there’s only one staff?” Susie asked.

  “Yes, I’m afraid so. The staff has always been passed to the Guardian that is in charge of Defence. That was me; a bit like your Minister of Defence back on your Earth. Of course, until Zelnoff invaded Cathora, the staff was purely a symbol of authority, since there were no serious conflicts on Cathora. Unfortunately, now it has become the most powerful part of my arsenal.” Kaloc paused and smiled at the three of them. “That is, of course, until you three came along. I’m very pleased with the progress of all three of you.” He turned his attention to Chris. “Especially you. Joe tells me you managed to gain control of your dreams after only the second night. Indeed, I doubt if Batarr would make a third attempt, since it is clear that you have already surpassed his powers and can no longer be manipulated in your dreams.”

  “So you don’t think we need to tie him up?” Joe asked, sounding disappointed, but grinning wickedly at Chris at the same time.

  “No, I believe it won’t be necessary,” Kaloc answered, smiling mildly at Joe. He paused for a moment. “There is something that I would like Chris to help me with. So far, I have not told anyone, except you three, about the Nethral portal. But we’ll need some loyal soldiers to help us when we reach it. Chris, no one can hide his or her true allegiances from you. I need to have a group of about five trusted soldiers who will come with us to the Nethral portal. These soldiers will form the core of a future resistance movement and will help shape the Nethral into a fighting force, if necessary.”

  “So you want me to read the minds of your men?” Chris asked.

  “Yes, I do. I need soldiers I can rely on and trust.”

  Chris looked across at Joe and Susie, but they only shrugged.

  “Sure, I can do that,” Chris said.

  “Good,” Kaloc climbed to his feet. “I must go and organise the defence of the tunnels. There isn’t much time, so please start straight away.”

  “Anyone in particular you want me to concentrate on?” Chris asked as Kaloc was leaving.

  “My personal staff,” he called back over his shoulder.

  Over the next twenty-four hours they received a constant stream of reports from the battle. The second assault was more organised and extensive than the first. As Kaloc had predicted, the sheer magnitude of the forces aligned against the Nethral and the large number of entrances into the underworld was proving too much to defend. There were also other creatures that even Kaloc had not seen before that spearheaded the attack; boulder-like creatures that appeared impervious to weapon fire and could smash their way through cave-ins with apparent ease. Insect-like soldiers that rushed ahead of the main forces blasting away at anything that moved. And creatures that curled themselves up into balls and rolled forward at incredible speeds, only to spring open again when they reached their objective. All these creatures were totally alien to Cathora, and drove deep into the Nethral defences, forcing the Nethral to retreat further into the underworld.

  While the reports of the battle came in, Chris moved around the camp trying to engage Kaloc’s key personnel in conversation. Altac was easy, as it was clear that speaking to the Mytar seemed to ease his own fears. He spent a lot of time talking about all the amazing variety of herbs he had already seen in the underworld. The other staff members, however, were more difficult to engage in dialogue, particularly when it became clear the battle was not going well for the Nethral. As the day progressed, the trickle of wounded became a flood, and the need for more medical supplies and weapons sent Kaloc’s staff into a frenzy. Chris managed to select five staff, including Altac. The other staff were Ranus and Seanus from the race of gorilla-like soldiers that seemed to make up the bulk of Kaloc’s fighting force, Denma from the same race as Altac, and Pepas, a small dwarf-like creature with dark skin, pointed ears and saucer-shaped eyes. All these soldiers seemed to be driven by the same sense of fierce loyalty to Kaloc and an abhorre
nce of everything that Zelnoff stood for.

  As night on the surface came, Kaloc’s staff barely had time to stop for more than a few minutes to rest. Chris and Joe helped out by preparing meals, while Susie, Altac and a team of Kaloc’s medical staff, applied Altac’s various herb remedies to the mounting flood of wounded, while other staff did their best to stitch their wounds. As the battle wore on, the wounded soon overflowed the medical area and eventually spilled out into all the sections of the tunnel and beyond.

  It was the morning of the next day when Kaloc finally re-appeared. He looked utterly exhausted and leaned heavily on his staff for support, but his eyes were bright and his expression determined. Chris could feel the emotion and power radiating from him.

  “Zelnoff’s forces aren’t far behind,” he announced. “I have ordered the Nethral to retreat. “We must also abandon this site.”

  Kaloc focused his attention on Chris, allowing him to read his thoughts. He was asking whom he had selected. Chris quickly told him, receiving a nod of approval before Kaloc summoned these soldiers into his office. After a brief meeting they re-emerged. Chris probed their thoughts. Each soldier had quickly accepted his new assignment, the honour of being selected to continue the fight with the Mytar uppermost in his mind.

  When the last of Kaloc’s soldiers had disappeared into the underworld, Kaloc caved in the tunnel leading into the main cavern by firing a bolt of light from his staff. Without a word he strode over to the portal and started manipulating the dials. The vortex started to rotate slowly, then picked up speed, and a low hum began resonating from it. Since the portal was not linked to another dimension, the enormous wind that had sucked Chris, Susie and Joe between dimensions was gone.

  Chris grabbed several boxes of dried food and slung three crystal weapons over his shoulder. Susie took the medical supplies and Joe took as many crystals and weapons as he could carry. On Kaloc’s signal, Altac and the other four soldiers, also loaded down with supplies and weapons, disappeared into the spinning vortex. The Mytar followed, and lastly Kaloc, carrying a box filled with his last remaining possessions.

  Loud cheers and shouts greeted the sudden disappearance of any resistance from the Nethral. Batarr was less inclined to celebrate. Zelnoff was a hard taskmaster, and he hadn’t been pleased that the three Mytar had escaped. The last episode with Chris had particularly unsettled him, as it was obvious Chris was still gaining strength. Zelnoff, however, would be very pleased once they had captured the last portal.

  One of the commanders, a Taal, reported that the advanced Zentor units had reached a large underground cavern. Batarr already knew the location of the portal. Zelnoff had extracted this information from some hapless Nethral soldier.

  “Excellent. Proceed as quickly as possible to the end of the cavern. There will be a small gap in the wall. The portal will be through there,” Batarr replied.

  Without the slightest hint of emotion, the Taal commander turned and strode off.

  Batarr watched the Taal disappear down the tunnel. The Taal nation will make a valuable addition to Zelnoff’s army, he thought. They were fiercely loyal with the ability to obey without question or emotion. The perfect battle troops, he sighed. But his heart found no comfort in the thought.

  With the order to advance, the Zentor took to the air, flying high above a patchwork of forests and green fields, split by the coursing lines of streams and rivers. Clustered squares of thatched roofs marked Nethral settlements, dotted along the riverbanks. As the swarm advanced, singularly or in small groups, Zentor peeled off to destroy these settlements. Their war cries remained unchallenged. Only startled cries and scurried activity greeted the incineration of each settlement as the animals of the underworld retreated into the forests. The leading Zentor soon arrived at the caved-in entrance to the portal. Using their weapons, they quickly blasted a path through the collapsed tunnel. Once inside, they scuttled forward, screeching excitedly when they found the portal still intact. After quickly securing all the exits, several Zentor took to the air, shrieking loudly as they flew back over the burning Nethral villages, eager to report their success to their commander.

  Chapter 12: Demoss