A wave of hate rolled over Richard. His knees started to buckle, but he resisted and forced them straight. Shoving his now empty blaster back into its holster, he switched the yellow gem from his left hand to his right. Reaching into the gem, he sought out any sign of Power inside. He found the flower. He also found something else, a presence. The presence reminded him of a person. An image of a comely brown-haired woman with a yellow flower in her hair popped into his mind. Along with the image came an intense desire to fight.
Activating his phase rod with his left hand, Richard rushed forward shouting, “For Glory!”
Something rose behind the demon. It was Amir. In his right hand was the flaming battle axe the demon had dropped when it turned into the serpent.
“For Glory!” shouted Amir as he swung the axe.
The fiery blade sliced into the muscles of the demon’s left arm, cutting it away at the elbow. The shadow arm fell to the floor. The demon fingers twitched as they released the speck of yellow in their grasp.
Changing directions, Richard dove for the speck of yellow, coming up with it in his hand. The wounded shadow-demon charged at him, but Amir struck out with the flaming axe once more, cutting off the demon’s right leg.
The nightmare creature fell to the floor. Even as it did, the shadow that was its body wavered, forming a new leg and arm. Rising to its feet, the demon held out its right hand. The fiery axe flew out of Amir’s grasp and into the demon’s waiting grasp.
“My turn, giant,” laughed the demon.
“Now, Rick,” said Nickelo. “Heal the gem now.”
Not having to be told twice, Richard shoved the yellow speck into the chipped spot on the Heart-stone. A blaze of yellow shot out so bright that it caused the blast shield on Richard’s battle helmet to activate. He lost sight of his surroundings. When the shield deactivated, both Amir and the shadow-demon were on their knees with hands covering their eyes. The boulder in the center of the cavern was gone, as was the multicolored chain.
The yellow-haired angel stood free, but only for a moment. Even as Richard watched, the angel fell to his knees and then to all fours.
The demon was the first to recover. Picking its axe off the stone floor, the demon rose and headed toward the angel. “You fool. You are not yet complete. The Heart-stone exists outside you yet. I will destroy you before you can be made whole.” The shadow-demon laughed. “You do not have the strength to stop me.”
Richard moved between the angel and the demon, holding his phase rod in his left hand and the brightly glowing Heart-stone in the other. “Stay back, demon. I swear I’ll tear your heart out before I let you harm him.”
The demon laughed. “Fool mortal. I have no heart.” He laughed again before raising his battle axe to strike.
Amir came leaping from the shadows and onto the demon’s back as he’d done before. This time the demon didn’t fall. Amir hung on nonetheless, pinning the demon’s arms to its side.
“Go!” shouted Amir. “Take the angel and go now.”
“No,” Richard yelled back. “The demon’s too powerful for you to take on your own.”
“Do what I say, Rick. I am an elf friend. This is my task. Yours is to save the angel. Don’t argue. I can’t hold him long.”
Richard glanced from Amir and the struggling demon to the fallen angel. The demon roared and shrugged its shoulders, nearly breaking free. Somehow Amir held on.
“You have to choose, Rick,” said Nickelo. “That is the price of freewill. You can either help Amir or save the angel. You cannot do both. You may be able to get the angel out first, then come back and help Amir. All I know for sure is that the algorithm indicates you have to save the angel or Portalis will be destroyed. If it is, so too will be the hope of the three galaxies.”
Richard glanced from Amir to the angel and to the cavern walls. Each of the three time-bubbles was still frozen in time, but the scenes had shifted slightly. Jeena was on her back in the orange time-bubble. A one-armed dark elf was above her with a vicious grin on his face. A blast of blue energy was heading Jeena’s way. Richard sensed that her Power reserve was empty.
Jeena’s defenseless, Richard thought. She gave everything she had to me.
He looked at the purple time-bubble. Shandria and Telsa were locked in hand-to-hand combat with the lich. Dozens of demons were heading their way. The situation in the green time-bubble was no better. The undead and demons had broken through Mia and the others. The hallway of their intersection was a blurred mass of swords and fangs as the elves, demons, and undead sought to destroy each other.
Taking a final glance at Amir, Richard made his choice. He grabbed the back of the angel’s robe and began dragging him toward the exit to the green time-bubble.
“I’ll be back,” Richard shouted as he dove for the exit.
Before he got to the opening, everything froze.
Chapter 59 – In Check
____________________
The exit from the cavern to the green time-bubble was only half a meter away. It mattered not. Richard was frozen in midair. He could see into the intersection of the green time-bubble where the elves fought. A demon was in the act of stabbing a spear of fire at Mia’s exposed back. Commander Astradis was rushing in her direction, but even frozen in time as they were, it was all too obvious the monk would be unable to close the distance before the spear tore into the high priestess’s flesh. Lord Derander was in the process of exchanging sword blows with a demon and a trio of zombies. Richard could just make out the top of Tracer’s helmet above a mass of zombies. Where the others in the elves’ party were, Richard didn’t have a clue. For all he knew, they were already dead.
I can think, but I can’t move. I can’t even move my eyes. I can only see what’s in my field of view.
Richard remained frozen for he knew not how long.
“Nick, are you there?”
No reply.
Richard waited. A moment became an eternity. The lack of a sense of time was a torture all into itself. Finally, he sensed movement out the corner of his eye. The first thing to come into his field of vision was a set of highly polished boots. The boots were followed by a clean-shaven man with dark hair. He wore a white blouse with ruffles around the cuffs. The man moved forward until Richard could see him more clearly. He knew the man that was no man. He was the master demon.
“Ah,” said the meticulously dressed man in words that came as thoughts. “You recognize me. That is good. I hadn’t planned on meeting you again until the game was nearer the end, but…” He sighed and pointed at the shadow-demon. “Alas, good help is so hard to find. Perhaps my rebellious servant is right. Perhaps an elf friend would serve me better.”
The shadow-demon was also frozen, but its words echoed in the cavern without need of moving its mouth. “Master, I have done all that you asked. I have guarded the angel ever since the first Great Battle. Not once have I left its side. Although the prison was weakened with the theft of the seed parts, I used my own Power to keep the chains strong. I live only to serve you, Master.”
“Yes, and that is as it should be,” said the master demon with a smile that was no smile. No longer clean-shaven, a dark mustache now adorned the master demon’s upper lip. He twisted the end of the mustache and looked at Richard. “I desired you to heal the Heart-stone. You did that, but you waited too long to escape with the angel. My servant would have killed you before you got through the opening.” He shook his head. “Now that would never do, would it? You are mine, Wizard Scout. You owe me. When the time of the second Great Battle comes, you must make the right choice. Then and only then shall the game reach its appointed end.”
Richard tried to glare at the man-demon. He found it impossible with his face muscles unable to move but consoled himself by sending out the strongest feeling of defiance he could muster. “I am no one’s pawn. I have freewill.”
The master demon laughed. The laugh was almost friendly. “Yes, yes. You and your precious freewill. You may find it is n
ot as free as you suppose.” His laugh turned into a vicious grin. “Everything has a cost, my friend, even when it’s free. As for not being a pawn, I find that amusing. Your Earth has a game called chess. It’s a simple game of strategy involving two opponents. Its lowest game piece is a pawn. They are expendable. Have you ever played the game?”
Richard refused to participate in the demon’s word game, but the master demon seemed content to wait. He just stood there twisting the end of his mustache. How much time passed, Richard didn’t know. Maybe it was a minute; maybe it was eons. Finally, his natural stubbornness gave out. “I’ve played it with my battle computer. He always wins.”
The master demon laughed. “I’m sure he does. You see, you have freewill while playing the game, but your precious battle computer anticipates your moves. His moves are designed to make you want to move your pieces in the way he requires. He uses your freewill against you. The game I play is so far above your level of understanding that an eternity would not be long enough to explain the rules to you. Suffice it to say that thanks to you, I now have my opponent in check.”
“I haven’t done anything to help you. I do not work on the side of evil.”
The smile on the demon’s face disappeared. The dark-haired man’s eyes flared, drawing Richard in.
Richard beheld death and destruction on a scale that threatened to destroy his mind. The focus shifted to Portalis. Fleets of starships battled above the planet while winged beings from Richard’s worst nightmares flittered back and forth in the void of space, tearing holes in dreadnaught armor as if the thick brerellium steel plates were made out of paper. His vision focused on the planet’s surface. Down he went. Great armies of demons allied with Dragars and Thargs faced off against formations of elves, dwarves, gnomes, and a hundred other races along with UHAAVs and storm-troopers carrying weapons of technology. Spells and plasma beams crisscrossed a plain below a mountain with a top that looked like the mouth of a dragon.
Richard had seen the place before. New Drepdenor, he thought.
The vision passed. Richard was again in the cavern, frozen in midair with the back of the angel’s robe still clutched in his right hand.
The demon moved close and placed his hand under Richard’s chin. The dark-haired man’s hand grew hot to the touch. Lifting Richard’s head, the master demon locked eyes and smiled. It was not a friendly smile.
“That is what awaits you, my friend. You are a pawn in a game beyond your understanding. My opponent is unwilling to sacrifice his pawns for the good of the game. I am under no such compulsion. When the time comes, you will choose correctly, and I will win the game.” He smiled. This time the smile was friendly. “In the meantime, you have helped me put my opponent in check.”
“I haven’t done anyth—” Richard started.
The master demon flicked his little finger ever so slightly. Waves of pure Power washed over Richard, expelling him through the opening, into the green time-bubble. As soon as he was through the opening, time started again. Waves of pure Power turned demons and undead into atomized bits of dust. Richard was flung through time-bubble’s walls, landing on a brush-covered plain.
The battle suit’s armor took the hit of landing without problem. He was up in a flash. Bodies rolled on the ground and came to a stop. Richard recognized one in particular and ran over. It was Mia. She was face down. He turned her over and stared into her open eyes. They were no longer dark with silver specks. Her eyes were pure silver as was her hair.
Recognition came into her eyes. “Rick. We are alive. How? Why?”
Richard looked around and shrugged. “I’m not sure. Maybe—”
“Where’s Amir?” came Tracer’s voice. “Everyone’s here except Amir.”
Helping Mia to a sitting position, he looked around. He spotted Lord Derander and Master Freestrod, both worse for the wear but alive. There was Tracer and Skylark walking through the brush, looking for their comrade, Amir. Commander Astradis and his fellow monk sported bloody wounds to their heads and chests, but they both held weapons in their hands and immediately took up defensive positions around their high priestess.
Two other elves lay on the ground, both with critical wounds of their own. Near them stood a yellow-haired man in a robe of white with long white wings extending from his back. The angel knelt down and touched the two elves. A white glow surrounded both lancers. When the glow disappeared, the elves’ wounds were no more. The two lancers stood and stared in awe at the angel.
Rushing over, Richard grabbed the angel by the shoulder and spun him around. “Where’s Amir?”
The yellow-haired angel’s shoulders drooped. He looked at Richard and shook his head. “The master demon did not see fit to send him with us, I fear. He is lost.”
“Get him back! Now! You’re an angel. Save him.”
The angel just stared at Richard’s hand on his shoulder.
After a moment, Richard released his grip. “Please. You’re an angel. You can save him.”
“I’m sorry, Wizard Scout. I cannot. I am not the kind of angel that can fight a master demon. I have another task to do. You also have yours.”
“I can’t leave him to those demons,” Richard said. “We’ve got to save him.”
The yellow-haired angel shook his head. “You cannot save everyone, Wizard Scout. Sometimes you have to make a choice. Amir made his. He sacrificed himself so that we could escape. The master demon has him now. The giant was an elf friend. You already know his fate. You were there when he died.”
“I don’t—” Richard started to say, but the sure knowledge of Amir’s fate came to his mind. He remembered being on a hill overlooking a white-walled city. A giant that wasn’t a giant was battling an elf-maid riding a unicorn. Richard locked eyes with the angel. “I once saw a giant before the gates of Silverton. He was possessed by a demon. But that can’t be—”
“Yes,” said the angel in a voice full of sympathy and peace. “Amir was once an elf friend, but the master demon kept him behind to make a time-commando of him. Your friend was possessed by the shadow-demon in the cavern. Amir died long ago when the unicorn Elf Friend Swiftmane sacrificed his life to destroy the demon-giant. The side of good lost two elf friends on that day.”
Realization came over Richard. “They were expendable, is that what you’re telling me? If that’s true, then you’re no better than the master demon.”
The angel said nothing.
Richard looked back at Mia. She was holding the Heart-stone.
“You dropped this,” she said. “If it is what I think it is, then we must hurry back to Slyvrastra before the world is destroyed.”
“There is no need to hurry, High Priestess,” said the angel. “The Heart-stone is now the wizard scout’s to do with as he pleases.”
Anger burned inside Richard. “The hell it is. Our friends died getting this gem. We have to use it to stop the world from tearing itself apart. That was our mission.”
“Nay,” said the angel. “Your task was to free me. You have done so. Your friends did not die in vain. The Heart-stone is a part of me. All that it did before, I can and will do now. Portalis will be saved…for a time. The Heart-stone will be needed later. You may do with it as you will. You will have to make the choice.” Glancing around, the angel waved his hand. A gentle wave of Power reached out, healing all of the elves’ wounds.
Sensing the angel was preparing to leave, Richard said, “Jeena, Shandria, Telsa, and the others. What about them? They’re still in the time-bubble.”
The angel shook his head. “No, they are not. The master demon expelled them out at the same time he sent you here. Why, I cannot say, but he did so nonetheless. Jeena and her companions were picked up by your Sergeant Ron in the Defiant almost two million years ago. You will find them waiting for you when you return to your own time. High Priestess Shandria, Wizard Scout Telsa, and the others were also expelled to the place and time they entered the time-bubble. Telsa and Rembis have already returned to Silverton in
what you know as the present.”
Blasts of thunder echoed in the distance. Richard looked past the angel to see smoke coming from the tops of several mountains. The ground shook.
“It is time for me to go, Wizard Scout,” said the yellow-haired angel. “I will give you one last piece of advice. The demonic forces facing you are too strong to resist alone. You need allies. They are out there. You have only to find them.”
“Where?” Richard asked. “Who?”
The angel smiled.
An image of dragons and angels flashed in Richard’s mind.
“Where?” Richard asked.
The angel smiled again and began sinking into the ground. Before he disappeared, an image of dolgars and spirit-horses flashed in Richard’s mind. Then the angel was gone.
A geyser of yellow shot up out of the ground and washed outward, reaching all the way to the mountains and beyond. The rumbling of the hills grew quiet as the shaking of the earth stopped. The smoke-filled sky grew clear and the sun shone bright.
Mia walked up and handed Richard the Heart-stone. “Now what?” she asked.
Richard stared into the yellow gem. For some reason, the outlines of two flowers were now inside. He thought of Amir and the giant’s beloved Glory.
They’re together now, he thought. They’ll always be together.
Looking at Mia, Richard said, “Now, we find allies.”
Chapter 60 – Ironfist
____________________
Six weeks after the battle in the time-bubble, Richard stood on the northern bank of the river facing the mountain called New Drepdenor. He did not stand alone. Mia stood on his left and Lord Derander to his right. Between the river and the mountain was a formation of giants wearing chainmail and helm. They were arrayed in a long line from one side of the river valley to the other. The massive soldiers held shields and spears at the ready. The point of every spear was aimed at Richard.
“Hmmm,” said Nickelo. “I calculate they are not members of the Wizard Scout Richard Shepard fan club.”
Wizard Gigantic (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 9) Page 47
