The Surpen King - Part 2 - Rise of the Elves

by Charity Kelly

  Now James understood. He hesitated, considering Rhen’s words. First of all, System 12 didn’t want to be a part of Thestran or else they would have asked; and secondly, even if they were a member of his Council, James didn’t have the ability to move the spacehole Rhen was talking about. “No,” he said. “I think we’d be happier if you took System 12. We don’t have anyone who can move the spacehole.”

  One of the portals by the wall opened and they heard Bosternd mention to Rhen that they were late. As one of the servants handed Rhen a long black staff, Rhen said, “Okay. How about if I take twelve for a little until I can teach your people how to move the spacehole?”

  James nodded. “Sounds good.”

  Rhen saluted then turned towards the waiting portal. The Delegates could hear a raucous party coming from the other side. Wearily, Rhen’s guard elves climbed to their feet. They stepped through the portal, followed by Rhen’s servants. Bosternd reached for Rhen’s arm to stop him. “Your crown.” He handed Rhen a titanium crown that was marked with interlooping patterns made of diamonds. Rhen shook his head. Bosternd lifted the crown higher. “Rhen, you have to wear it. Protocol on System 12 dictates it.” When Rhen tried to step past Bosternd, he reached up and shoved the crown onto Rhen’s head. “I hate crowns,” Rhen growled. He tried to pull it off, but Bosternd caught his hand and again told him that he had to wear it. Rolling his eyes, Rhen stepped towards the portal. “And smile!” Bosternd snapped.

  Rhen swung about, giving Bosternd a tight, pained looking smile, which had Bosternd laughing. Turning back around, he stepped through the portal.

  As soon as he did, the people in System 12 went wild. Reed reached up to cover his ears. Their cheers were louder than a spacejet landing in the Council Chamber. Bosternd saluted James then stepped through the portal before it closed.

  As soon as the portal frame cleared, the Delegates felt themselves relaxing. “I’m glad I’m not him,” Reed mumbled. James agreed. He’d always thought that he had it bad, but Rhen’s schedule was ten times more hectic than his. “I bet he wishes school would never end,” James said.

  “Does anyone else feel tense?” Henry asked the room.

  His family laughed. They all did.

  ***

  Te waited for Loreth in his office in the Delegate wing of the Thestran royal palace. He had a new idea the Genister needed to hear. A purple swirling vortex of lights formed in the air in the middle of the room and Loreth flew out of it wearing typical Genister clothing: black pants, shirt, boots and cape.

  “What do you want?” Loreth asked. He was only stopping by because he needed Te to stop contacting him.

  Te bristled at his tone. “You should be glad that I called you. I have a new idea.”

  Loreth scoffed. He hated spending time with Te. He’d tried torturing the man, but some latent mental illness of Te’s had made his efforts unsuccessful. Te had somehow convinced himself that he’d wanted the pain. No matter what Loreth did, Te’s mind made it fit into his own personal reality. “Really? You Gods-damned ass. What plan do you have?”

  As usual, Te’s mind didn’t hear Loreth’s insult. “We should orchestrate an event so that we can get close enough to Rhen to kill him. All I need is the Supreme’s forces and then–”

  “No!” Loreth barked. “We don’t want to kill Rhen. We just want to wake him up.”

  Te was furious with Loreth for interrupting. “Exactly. That’s what I said.”

  Loreth closed his eyes and groaned as Te went on to explain the people he knew in power who would help him with his plan. “…because everyone is willing to help me now that Yfetb’s dead. I’m the most popular person in the Universe.”

  Loreth couldn’t take it anymore. He was busy working on his own plan that involved Thaster. The red Genister had been avoiding him, spending time with his new wife, but he’d finally agreed to meet.

  “I’m going,” Loreth said, lifting off in flight. As he breached the ceiling, he heard Te say, “I told you it was time for you to leave. I’m expecting an important briefing from Lord Percy on System 12.”

  Loreth landed on Neptian’s moon. Thaster’s red ghostly image was hovering in a seated position over a boulder, waiting. “You’re late,” he snapped, his thin mustache making his lips look narrower than usual.

  “My apologies.”

  Thaster tilted his head, his mismatched hair molecules jerking to the left.

  Loreth dropped his gaze to the moon’s surface. He found Thaster’s imperfections hard on the eyes. “I wanted to talk to you about a new plan I have.”

  “First of all, change back into Therol. I don’t like speaking with the shell you use on the mortals.” Thaster waited until Loreth changed into Therol. “And secondly, I’m not interested. I don’t like to leave Chisten alone for long periods of time, so count me out.”

  Therol was surprised. Thaster had never shown any of his previous wives this much interest. Was it possible he loved Chisten? “It won’t take long, I promise. I’ll do all the leg work,” Therol added. “You just have to supply me with some extra muscle to finish the job.” When Thaster didn’t leave, Therol realized he was intrigued. He needed something from Themrock too. Only Themrock had the codes to unlock Hell.

  “Our annual Arrival Day Party is coming up. Ever since Rhen got his powers, Thellis has been inviting him. Themrock usually relaxes during the party. He’s flipped forward a few times and I’ve almost caught him on several occasions. I’m planning on attending this year’s event.”

  Thaster snorted, a red puff of his powers flew out of his nose. “They won’t let you.”

  “Actually, they have to. It’s in the Code Book. You can come too, if you want. All Genisters are forgiven and welcome to attend the party. It’s a time of amnesty.” Thaster’s eyebrows raised. He clearly hadn’t known that. He stroked his pointy chin, considering Therol’s words.

  “I’m going to drug them,” Therol said. Thaster laughed. “Seriously, I have about a pound of Ventarian delights. I’m going to put them in the punch when no one’s looking. Once they’re all high, I’ll convince Themrock to come forward and then I’ll talk him into returning to Genister.”

  When the crooked edges around Thaster’s lips rose, Therol knew he liked his plan. “When’s the party?”

  Therol smiled. He had him. “It just so happens that it’s tomorrow.”

  Chapter 31

  Rhen and Ceceta’s Apartment – Elfin University

  Jet’s baby was teething so he wasn’t getting enough sleep. He was so exhausted that he’d stopped working out with Rhen in the mornings. “I’ll take your place, Jet,” Sarah said as Rhen hesitated in his bedroom door.

  “You won’t be able to keep up,” Rhen told her.

  Sarah disagreed. “Let me try.”

  “Fine. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  The next morning, just before dawn, Sarah met Rhen down by the lake. He was wearing his military shorts and a half tunic, which Charlie had told all of them should just be called a t-shirt. Rhen was stretching out before his run when Sarah walked up to him.

  “You know you won’t be able to keep up with me,” he said, without looking up.

  Absentmindedly, Sarah swirled a small stream of water into the air. “I still want to try.”

  Rhen watched her. Sarah had been slow at learning her water skills. In fact, she was behind everyone else. “I have an idea.” He reached out for her hand. “You’ll be able to keep up with me if we run over the lake. This lake connects with several others all the way to the ocean. You’ll have plenty of water to draw from.” Rhen guided her out onto the water. As they stood on top of the water, Sarah laughed. She loved it when Rhen did this trick.

  Rhen reached out to put his hands on either side of her face then pulled her head towards his. For a moment, Sarah thought he might kiss her, but he simply touched his forehead to hers then released her.

  Sarah gasped as her powers came into focus. “Why didn’t you do that before? Why did y
ou make me take lessons, when you could’ve just given me the knowledge?”

  Rhen checked to make sure his running boots were properly tied. He was ready to start. “When you’re in battle, you’re less likely to panic if you’ve learned your skills by yourself.”

  “But this is so much easier.” Sarah moved her hands and the water rose high into the air over their heads before turning to ice and then evaporating. Rhen shrugged then jogged out over the lake. Sarah twisted her hands, said a few words, and the water propelled her forward. She stood on the crest of a wave as it flowed beside Rhen, keeping up with him.

  When they returned, Rhen’s fight class was in session on the University’s lawn. As they rounded the bend becoming visible, Ngi stopped his lesson to watch. It wasn’t every day that you saw a man running on water while, beside him, a woman was being propelled forward by a wave.

  As they reached the shore, Rhen slowed down and bent over to catch his breath. He’d had a good work out. Running on water was harder than running on land. He’d pushed himself today.

  Sarah had been working the water for so long that she ached. She stopped moving the water as soon as she reached the shore and tumbled onto the land when the water disappeared from underneath her.

  Rhen laughed. “You can’t control land, silly. You have to stop the water, while you’re still on water.”

  “Now you tell me,” Sarah groaned. She spit out some grass and lay back on the ground, feeling exhausted. “I didn’t think I would be tired just from moving the water.”

  “Use of any power drains you. You’re strong, though. I didn’t think you’d last twenty minutes and you went the full two hours.”

  Sarah smiled at his compliment.

  The guard elves, Charlie and Jet arrived on the banks of the lake beside them. “Nice workout?” Jet asked. He was jealous of Sarah. He had always been the one to work out with Rhen. It was their quiet time to chat about life. He hoped Rhen wouldn’t let Sarah join him every morning from now on. Some of the things they used to discuss weren’t proper for a woman to hear.

  “Yes,” Rhen said, stretching his back. “How many times were you up last night?”

  Jet groaned. “Four.” He followed Rhen as he started walking across the lawn towards the Teacher’s Residence Hall.

  “Why isn’t she sleeping through the night anymore?” Rhen asked.

  Jet rubbed his eyes. “She’s teething.”

  Rhen stopped short. “What kind of teeth keep you up at night? Vampire teeth?”

  Jet laughed. “Yes, that’s right. I forgot to tell you the baby’s a vampire.”

  When they mounted the stairs to the Teacher’s Residence Hall, Aaron put his arm around Sarah. “It looks like you’ve finally learned how to use your water skills.”

  “She knows what to do now,” Rhen told him over his shoulder, “but I think I tired her out too much.”

  “No, you didn’t,” Sarah protested, her hand clutching tightly to the stair’s railing. “I’m totally ready to go again tomorrow.” Rhen gave her a thumbs up then disappeared into his apartment.

  As soon as his door closed, Sarah collapsed. “Oh, Gods, kill me,” she croaked. “I’m dying. I’m so tired.” Jack and the others laughed as Aaron helped Sarah to their bedroom. Jet was relieved. He had nothing to worry about. Sarah wouldn’t be showing up for any more workouts, at least not for a while. He went into Rhen’s apartment with Shno and Jack and sat down on the couch to wait until Rhen was finished dressing. Ceceta and the others were at Surpen class.

  When Rhen came out of his bedroom, he was dressed in a casual light green tunic and he wasn’t wearing any weapons. Jet felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. Rhen without weapons?

  “Jet, I’ve got something to do this morning. Would you tell Bosternd that I’ll meet up with him tomorrow and let Ceceta know I’ll see her for dinner?”

  “Sure,” Jet said, stepping around the coffee table to close the distance between them, but he wasn’t quick enough. Rhen disappeared before he could reach him. “Gods damned!” he yelled. He was furious with himself for not moving faster. Jet pulled out his communicator. He had to let Bosternd know he’d lost Rhen. He hoped he wouldn’t lose his position.

  ***

  The Thestran royal family, elfin royals, and a battalion of Surpen soldiers waited in the University’s student common area for Rhen to return. There were too many people to fit in Ceceta’s apartment, so she’d decided they should wait in the common area. She’d figured Rhen wouldn’t have any trouble finding them when he returned. “Ceceta,” Bosternd said as a swirling vortex of turquoise flashing lights appeared near the student bookstore. Ceceta stood up just as Rhen was shoved through the vortex. He bounced twice and skidded across the floor, coming to a stop against one of the many couches in the room.

  “Crap,” Ceceta said, running to his side. Rhen lay on the ground laughing. He didn’t respond when Ceceta tried talking to him. “Put him on the couch, please,” she told Bosternd and Jet.

  “Rhen, what’s wrong with you?” Bosternd asked, as he helped Jet lift Rhen onto the couch. Laughing, Rhen fell forward over his knees. Bosternd and Jet caught him before he could land on the floor. Behind them they heard someone say, “He was with us at our annual party.”

  Ceceta turned to see Theta’s turquoise form struggling to pull Thellis’ translucent body out of his green vortex. Thellis appeared to be as drunk as Rhen. He fell ungainly from the sky onto the ground, while laughing at nothing.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Charlie said as he approached Theta. He pointed at Rhen. “You took him away from us, got him drunk as a skunk, and now you’re dropping him back on us?”

  “Well, not exactly,” Theta replied, while pulling Thestrst out of his orange vortex and Theta out of her pink one. Both Genisters were giggling as they floated down towards the floor. “You see, they aren’t drunk.” There was a roaring sound outside the building. It got increasingly louder until the ground beneath their feet started to shake. Theta’s turquoise powers shivered in the air around her as she turned to look out the front entrance through the building’s large windows. Two balls of flame were flying through the sky towards them. “Here come the others. I sent them on their way, but it looks like they can’t slow down.”

  Ceceta ducked reflexively as Thamber crashed through the glass above the doors. She flailed about, her body on fire, as she spun into the students’ newsboxes, igniting everything and sending burning documents everywhere. Her golden powers were barely visible through the flames. The Water Elves in the room quickly extinguished the fires as Thamber climbed to her feet. She stumbled about drunkenly, her eyes lacking focus.

  Thatch’s landing was worse. She smashed through the doors themselves then hit a pillar that sent her spinning right through the windows in the back of the room. Completely out of control, she bumped up and down along the school’s grounds, leaving deep gouges in the soil along with streaks of her silver powers.

  “So,” Bosternd said, his voice calm as the school’s common area burned and fell down around him. “Care to tell us what happened?”

  “Well,” Theta began. Using her turquoise powers she put out the remaining fires and restored the room to order. “See, we kind of had an unexpected situation.”

  “Stop fooling around!” Ceceta yelled. She pointed at Rhen’s back. “What’s my husband on? What are they all on?”

  Theta threw up her hands. “Don’t get mad at me. I didn’t do anything. In fact, you shouldn’t be yelling at me at all right now. You should be thanking me. I saved them from the TUB.”

  The Ultimate Blackness or TUB, as many people called it, was the empty space between the Universes. It acted like a cushion, so the Universes could expand without bumping into each other. Everyone knew to keep away from the TUB because occasionally it would emit gravitational waves that would seep out into their Universe, sucking anything in its elliptical path back into the TUB.

  “What were you doing near the TUB?” Bo
sternd asked.

  “I’m an idiot,” Ceceta mumbled. She glanced up at Theta. “Arrival Day Party?” Theta nodded. Turning to Bosternd, Ceceta said, “Every year the Genisters hold an Arrival Day Party. It marks the day when Themrock brought them to our Universe. They have their party on the rim of the TUB. They find its emptiness peaceful.” She bent down to pull up on Rhen’s tunic, hoping to get him to stand. Jack and Aaron walked over to help her.

  Well, that explained what they’d been doing. Now Bosternd just needed to know what was wrong with them.

  “It was bad,” Theta told Ceceta. “When I showed up, there was a large wave on its way. If I hadn’t arrived in time, they’d all be in the TUB right now.”

  “Thank you for saving them, Theta. Do you know what’s wrong with them?” Ceceta glanced over at Thellis to see he had removed his clothing. She winced when he looped his fingers into his underwear and pulled downward.

  Theta zapped Thellis, putting his clothes back on. Thestrst was making out with a statue of the Headmaster that he’d found in the back of the room, Tharis was pulling on her hair so hard she was crying and Thamber was gnawing on a wall. None of them seemed to be in urgent danger, so she turned back to Ceceta. “Well, we kind of had a party crasher. I guess they didn’t know he was there until it was too late. He put something into their drinks and now everyone is a little out of it. But, we’re on Thestran now, so we should be safe. I think.” She tilted her head towards the ceiling. “I wonder if I should move them again? Would a different Universe be safer?”

  Charlie swung his hand through Theta’s ethereal form. “Concentrate. Start by telling us what the party crasher put into their drinks.”