***
Mike sat in the cool on a smooth rock, a pretty flower of purple and red in his hands. What have I done? … Have I gone down the wrong path? “All this power and might… I would trade it all for a second chance…” he said to himself.
“Would you trade it all for a friend?” a voice asked from behind him. The boy quickly got up and spun around. Before him stood the heir to the Magmalian throne. Mike clenched his fists, destroying the flower he held. The legendary armour quickly covered him. “Woah! Take it easy now!” Azar tried to pacify, stepping back with his hands in the air.
“What do you want?” Mike asked, his tone unfriendly and unwelcoming.
“I want the same thing you do.”
“You know nothing of me.”
“I know you want Lex dead. That’s at least one thing we have in common.”
Mike looked down. “Going after Lex and the others… was a mistake.”
“Surely, but only because the other Ionides that you sided with were weaklings.”
Mike looked up at him with a glare of reproach. “I can see right through you, Azar. You come here thinking I’m another card in your deck… Well you best leave before I kill you. I am in a solemn mood, so I will show you mercy and spare your life.”
“Come on, Mike,” Azar negotiated, “look at our mights. Together, we could form an indestructible team.”
“I already betrayed my blameless friends… I will not too betray the Ionides who died by my side by siding with the likes of you. Besides…” Mike turned away from Azar and began walking away. “I am already indestructible.”
Azar sneered at the Ionide, envying his power and his right to make such declarations. “Boy!” he blasted, losing his cool. Mike stopped, turning his head back toward Azar. The prince briskly walked up to him. “Think about how powerful we can be together.” He went before Mike. “Imagine. With your brute force and strong defences, my magic and fire will make a perfect match for you.” Azar placed his right hand on Mike’s right shoulder. Mike stared at him coldly, like there was no feeling left in him. “They will never forgive you…” Mike slowly raised his right hand and rested it on the prince’s chest. He felt Azar’s heartbeat steadily accelerate. Mike felt Azar’s hand shaking.
“You wish to side with me, yet you do not trust me,” Mike said.
“Mike---” Before Azar could continue, there was a suddenly, awful moment, as a foot-long spike, too quick to react to, extended from Mike’s hand. It jutted out through Azar’s back. Blood gushed like it had long struggled to escape its prison. In the succeeding second, Mike retracted the spike. As the prince fell backward, the deathly dark glow took his eyes once again. Darkness, too fast to be noticed, rushed from Azar’s eyes to Mike’s. The prince’s half of the seventh spirit had found a new master. Mike slowly turned his head and put his hand at his side.
Prince Azar was dead.
***
Lex and Kyle were away from the others hunting lunch. The hunt became laborious and frustrating, and there seemed no chance of success. “I dunno how he does it, man!” Kyle whined, “Blade leaves for half a minute and returns with meat you’d pay solid money for at the market!”
“Stop!” Lex commanded suddenly, Maximo’s voice heard clearly coming from his mouth. Kyle stopped abruptly and turned to Lex in fright. Lex was very still.
I feel a dark energy, the demon’s voice warned.
“What is it?” Kyle whispered, his hand already at the handle of his sword. A black image caught their eyes and they quickly turned in its direction. They stepped back in fright. Before them stood a sinister-looking figure, what appeared to be a tall man in a black hat that hid a part of his face. He was dressed fully in black, and wore a trench coat, not the typical dress of the time and place. He carried a black cane in his right hand. “What in the world?” Kyle whispered to Lex. The man slowly walked up to them. “Who the hell are you?!” Kyle sounded nervously, hoping the others would hear, drawing his sword.
“Hmmm…” the man muttered, and appeared to smile slightly, still slowly walking toward them. “Amusing,” he said in his whispery, shady voice. “you have no idea how backward this world is… Do put that thing away,” he told Kyle, motioning mockingly at the sword.
“Our world?” Lex wondered aloud in deep ponder, infinite thoughts already rushing through his mind. “Who are you?”
“A collector.”
“Of what?” Lex asked quickly.
“Dark matter,” the man answered just as fast, like he was a confident contestant in a quiz show. “It is mighty precious where I am from.”
“Dark matter?” Lex was quite confused as to what this man was talking about.
“You’re a madman, that’s what you are!” Kyle blasted, and ran up to him with a mighty swing at the man’s neck. Lex’s eyes widened.
“Kyle!”
“Huh??” Kyle gasped and stepped back in wonder as he saw the mysterious man standing about a meter before him, smug, his hands in his pockets. “How’d you…” Kyle wondered if he could have erred so greatly in judgement, or if the man really shifted himself out of the way of his strike with no look of effort, with no cloud of waste mana as he was used to seeing.
“Step aside, young fool, my business is with Lex Leo,” the man said. Kyle slowly stepped out of the way, wondering what the intentions of this mysterious man were. The man walked up to the sweating, shaking, wide-eyed boy. “As I was saying,” the man continued, “I am a cross-dimensional traveller. I traverse all the realms of this universe at will.”
“Wh—What?”
“It’s alright. I am called the Dark Lantern. I travel realms in search of elemental darkness, which is the primary form of dark matter.”
“I… don’t understand.”
“You’re not supposed to. This is all just necessary formality. Just know that where I am from, dark matter is the most precious substance.”
“And what does all this have to do with me?!”
“You know quite well, Lex Leo. You host an enormous amount of dark matter. Interestingly, hosting an equal amount is a being close by here. And then the prophecy of this world… it tells of an even much greater amount of dark matter that will fall upon this planet. This dimension, I must admit, promises to yield more dark matter than I have collected in my entire career!” The man seemed quite excited about whatever he was talking about.
“So you want to kill me then?”
“Well, the dark matter you possess exists in the form of what you would understand to be a spirit, so yes, I will have to kill you.” Almost suddenly, Lex summoned up two spheres of ice energy in his hands, wondering though if they would be of any effect to this man. “My, my… I beg your pardon…” The shady man seemed a little surprised, but there was no look of fright or fear in his dim eyes. “My sincerest apologies. I had no idea. You are a very special boy… I will return with an answer to that in the near future. Until then, stay alive.” With that, the enigmatic character vanished into thin air. There was no cloud of darkness or mana, and no portal was seen created; he simply ceased to be there.
***
“Mike,” a calm voice said. He got up quickly from where he was and turned to where he heard the voice come from. His face went blank as he saw before him a familiar man and a fair woman beside him with a pleasant smile.
“Father?” he asked in disbelief, recognizing the man to be the one he saw in the trance the oracle had put him in. After a second of bewilderment, he ran up to them.
“Mikey!” the woman greeted, “You’re all grown up now!” she said with a warm pride, but also with a deep sadness. She was a rare beauty. Her skin was a shade darker than Mike’s and her teeth were even a more brilliant white. Amorphous held out his hand to stop Mike from touching them. Mike stopped before them, holding himself back from grabbing on to them.
“Mother?” he asked, almost stuttering.
“Listen to me, Mike,” his father said in a stern, fatherly voice, “your mother and I
, your entire race would have died for nothing if you do not avenge us. We can never rest in peace until every witch and wizard, every Icemaker, is wiped from the face of the earth.”
“No!” Mike called, grabbing at them, but they quickly faded from before him.
***
“Shh… Heard that?” Blade asked in a whisper.
“What?” Clover whispered back, already getting nervous.
“A cry out in the distance.”
A look of worry overtook Clover. “How long have Kyle and Lex been out?” she enquired. Rushing footsteps caught Blade’s attention, then Clover’s.
Blade drew his sword quickly, ready to kill. “Hm?” He soon recognized that the two boys running toward him were the same two boys he had sent to hunt for lunch. On reaching Blade and Clover, they panted heavily, trying in vain to speak with sense.
“What is it?” Clover asked, “A lion? Are you hurt?” She grabbed and inspected each of them quickly. Blade stepped past them and looked about in the direction from which they had come.
“A man!” Kyle finally managed to relate, “He just appeared from nowhere!”
“A wizard?” Clover asked.
“No-no!” Lex panted. Blade recased his sword slowly. Lex seemed to have calmed a bit more than Kyle.
“What did you see, kid?” Blade asked him.
“The—The Dark Lantern!”
A look of slight concern appeared on Blade’s face.
“One of the six the spirit told you of?” Blade asked to be sure.
“Yeah--” Suddenly and obviously involuntarily, Lex’s eyes turned black as he quickly assumed the meditative posture. Blade and Clover stood back quickly. As the sword master stretched his hand to touch Lex, Clover grabbed on to his wrist quickly, shaking her head almost nervously.
“You don’t wanna do that,” she warned.
“I see…” Blade stared down at the eerie darkness that gleamed from the boy’s eyes.
The boy opened his eyes to see Maximo standing before him. He was again in the strange world of white, where the man of darkness certainly couldn’t hide. “Maxie!” he greeted.
“Lex Leo,” the spirit began, neither looking nor sounding even slightly jovial. Lex had just noticed that there was now the vague sketch of a face on Maximo. It had probably been there since he had fully given himself to Lex. “Many things are happening,” he said, “and I have the feeling that time is even more upon us than I had thought. Do not concern yourself too much with the one called The Lantern right now. Like my brothers, he roams the universe in search for power.”
“Except your brothers can turn life energy itself into power,” Lex added, remembering his lesson from the Oracle.
“Right.”
“Dark matter! That’s what this Lantern guy is hunting! He’s coming for you, Maximo!”
“Listen. We cannot tell if or when he will strike.”
“What’s so special about dark matter anyway?”
“You mean besides the fact that darkness is the most dreaded element?” Lex suddenly felt stupid for asking the question. “Well, in some corners of the universe, it is of extremely high monetary value, and is used as a precious commodity. You should know that the essence that forms my being is power itself. If and when time allows, I will explain all these things for you. But first I must show you more urgent things.”
“Like what?!” Lex wondered what could possibly be more urgent than the Lantern’s eerie visit with him.
“Prince Azar is dead.”
A pale look of disbelief was on Lex’s face.
“He was killed, to be more precise.”
“What?! Who could possibly have done this?!”
“I can no longer feel his essence. He is certainly dead. The Ionide killed him, and now holds the half of me that you need.”
“What?! When did all this--”
“Listen, Lex! I have come upon a strange aura… Fate has sent us help from a powerful being. You and your followers must quickly get to the Magmalian Prison. Resting there is a prisoner with rare power. This person’s mind is even stronger than yours, Lex Leo, and there is no menace there. You need the prisoner on your team to stand a better chance against my brothers.”
“What kind--”
“This rare power is even enough to ward off The Lantern, and hopefully whoever he might return with to fight you. With this person, the kill list will be handled quickly. Move fast, Lex Leo. The prison. Go!”
Lex’s eyes flung open, and he found himself staring at Clover, who was sitting patiently before him, imitating his posture. “You’re awake!” she exclaimed gleefully. Lex quickly got up, ignoring her.
“We have a new mission!” he announced.
“Damn right we have a new mission!” Kyle agreed. That Lantern guy--”
“No. More important than him,” Lex cleared up, confusing everyone.
“What?! What’d that thing tell you now?” Kyle asked, sounding weary of it.
“Before that… I have some dreadful news…” Lex looked down as he himself struggled to accept what he was about to say.
“The prince. He is dead.”
“What?!”
“Huh?” Even Blade was surprised.
“Prince Azar?!” Clover asked.
“Yes. Maximo had me know… Clover!” Lex called as he saw her knees give way.
“Lex!” Kyle snapped at him as he was about to go to the almost crying girl. “Who did this?”
“Mike, and he now has the other half of the spirit.”
Blade sighed. “There might now be no way of defeating the Ionide,” the sword master said.
“Yes there is!” Lex answered quickly, and rushed over to Clover, kneeling with her. “It’s okay,” he whispered.
“I don’t understand! The prince was a good man!” she cried. “He had changed, had he not?!”
“I know, Clover.”
“LEX!” Kyle blasted in annoyance.
“Right!” Lex resumed, “We must at once journey back to Magma Town.” He stood, pulling Clover up with him.
“Might I ask why the hell?”
“Maximo told me that there’s a prisoner there that we’ll need on our side. He says the prisoner has some… rare power, and a mind strong enough probably to withstand Trium’s control.”
“What?! That’s crazy!” Kyle dismissed. “Such a powerful prisoner would certainly have escaped that stupid prison a long time ago. How could such a person be captured by soldiers in the first place?”
“What kind of prisoner do we go looking for?” Blade asked, “A man? Woman? Boy? Girl?”
“Well… I don’t know…” Lex said nervously.
“You don’t know…” Blade repeated, “So how exactly—”
“I’ll know when we get there! Maximo will show me!”
“Then why are we still here?” Blade asked.
Chapter 26: Star
It was real damnable luck that their horses mysteriously disappeared, but the zeal of the little group strengthened them to reach the southern end of Pirates’ Town by nightfall.
“I will pay you in the morning,” Blade insisted, “I am too sleepy to find the money now. Just let us by.”
“No! You think I am idiot! You pay now!” the plump man demanded.
“It’s alright, children. I know a better place we could stay down the road,” Blade turned and said to them. “They will gladly take a few tens of my gold coins.”
“T--tens? Come, come! Right this way, sir!” the man insisted, quickly leading them to the finest room in the inn. They quickly scurried in. There were only two beds there. As soon as Kyle closed the door behind him, it was opened again. It was the innkeeper. “Are you alright, Master…”
“Blade. Yes. All is well.”
“There’s a slightly bigger room down the hall with a family in it. They’re regulars but they don’t pay much. If you need--”
“No, no. This is good,” Blade told the smiling, welcoming man. Kyle looked at Blade like he w
anted to hear a better answer. “We are alright,” Blade repeated.
“Alright! Supper will be ready in a moment!” the man announced with a broad smile. The tubby man quickly excused himself, gently closing the door behind him.
“Blade, I thought we were out,” Clover said in a low voice.
“You thought right. We’ll have to be gone before sunrise.”
Kyle grinned.
***
“Where is that damn boy?!” King Aragan blasted. “Do I have to send my men in search of him like a lost dog again? This boy is working hard to get himself banished the kingdom,” he fussed to himself.
***
Hmm… Mike noticed a trail of muddy footprints. Four pairs of feet. Could be them. He moved along the trail.
***
It didn’t take long for the four tired souls to fall asleep. Clover slept beside her brother, leaving Blade and Lex to share the other bed. Blade must have had some internal alarm clock that woke him from his sweet sleep just before the sun came up. Just moments after Blade awoke, the innkeeper opened the door with a tray of food that could feed two large families. He could barely manage to hold it up. On realizing that the room was vacant, he threw down the tray of food with a shriek.
“Damn those scoundrels! Crooks from hell! Thieves! Robbers!” the man raved, waking and frightening the family sleeping just down the hall.
Blade and the group he led were already well on their way to Waterloo, miles from where they had slept. The morning sun graced them with good energy and a progressive vibe.
“Think we’ll reach that prison by tonight, Blade?” Kyle asked.
“The Dark Lantern. He is here,” Maximo warned the Icemaker. That was something the very next moment would have him see for himself. The frightened travellers seized movement as they witness three men, or three man-like figures at least, appear before them.
“The one in the middle! That’s the Lantern guy!” Kyle exclaimed, quickly drawing his sword.
“I see you haven’t forgotten me,” the man with the black hat said, walking up to them. “These are my associates, Electron and Hypno,” he introduced, sounding quite polite, even negotiable.
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