by Lucas Flint
But Beams did not see either Pesa or any of the Darzens in here. Nor did he hear the sound of metal scraping against stone anymore, either. All he could hear was the howling of the blizzard outside, which seemed to be getting louder and harsher all the time.
Just my luck we had to come out here in the middle of blizzard season, Beams thought, staring out the window at the impenetrable white wall of snow which was pouring from the sky. Gonna be a lot of fun trying to keep up with those hunters when we leave this place. Bet they’re used to playing the snow, but not me, because snow is a myth in Texas.
Shaking his head, Beams began carefully making his way down the hallway, doing his best to avoid the slick, icy spots. He peeked into the various rooms along the wall, but never saw anything. The Ruined Temple seemed entirely abandoned to him, which made him wonder whether the scout had been telling the truth about Pesa being dragged into here. Maybe the scout had mistaken another set of ruins for the Temple?
Wouldn’t surprise me, Beams thought. All of these buildings look the same to me. I’d have gotten lost if I had had to find the Temple on my own.
When Beams was halfway down the hallway, he heard the sound of metal scraping against stone again. This time, it was coming from behind him, so he turned around to see where it was coming from. His heart failed him at the sight that greeted him.
Standing not too far behind him were four Darzens. Their armor was completely black and lacked the spikes which normally characterized the Darzen soldiers, but other than that, there was no mistaking the beings standing before him for anything other than Darzens. He had no idea how they had managed to sneak up on him like this, but he wasn’t going to let them take him down.
Before Beams could fire his lasers, however, a familiar voice behind him said, “I wouldn’t fight if I were you, Beams. Those are the Chosen Elite, who are much stronger and faster than the soldiers you are used to dealing with. It would be wiser to stand down.”
Beams looked over his shoulder. The Dread God’s Avatar stood behind him at the other end of the hall, but he was not alone. He clutched in his hands a scared-looking young woman, who wore robes identical to the robes worn by all of the other Ariopolitans Beams had seen. But she was not wearing a hood, which allowed Beams to see her pale skin and pitch black hair. She couldn’t have been older than sixteen or seventeen and was very beautiful in an exotic way. Her eyes were wide with fear and she shook with terror in the Avatar’s iron grip.
“Avatar,” said Beams, energy still blazing in his eyes. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
The Avatar smirked. “It has been a while since we last saw each other, hasn’t it? I will admit I didn’t think you would manage to get away from that universe the Dread God banished you to, but somehow you did anyway. Good job.”
“I had help,” said Beams. His eyes darted to the woman the Avatar held. “Is that Pesa?”
The Avatar nodded. His grip on Pesa tightened and she whimpered in pain. “Yes. Quite a pretty little human, isn’t she? But very weak, very thin. The females of your species always surprise me with how weak they are. Darzen women are much stronger.”
“Let her go,” said Beams. “Or else.”
“You are in no position to threaten me, Beams,” said the Avatar. “I am the one with the girl, not you. I could take her pretty little head off without even thinking about it.”
As the Avatar spoke, he ran one of his fingers along the back of Pesa’s neck. Based on Pesa’s terrified expression, it must have felt awful.
“So?” said Beams. “Let her go. She’s just an innocent girl. She doesn’t have anything to do with this.”
The Avatar tilted his head to the side. “You mean you want to rescue her without even knowing who she is?”
“I’m a hero,” Beams said, gesturing at his chest, “well, a sidekick, I guess, but the point is that I’m supposed to help those who cannot help themselves. That includes kidnapping victims like poor Pesa here, even if I don’t know her personally.”
The Avatar ran a finger though Pesa’s dark hair, making Pesa flinch. “I am starting to realize you honestly believe your rhetoric about ‘helping’ people. You humans are odd.”
“Yeah, we’re really weird in comparison to you Darzens who hold teenage girls ransom for no reason,” said Beams sarcastically. “Nothing ‘odd’ about that at all.”
The Avatar rested his hand on Pesa’s shoulder again. “Then again, perhaps it is a good thing you take your own human ideas so seriously. It will make it that much easier to kill you.”
CHAPTER TEN
“Help!” Kyra screamed, raising her arms and waving them at Bolt and the others. “Someone, save me! I—”
Graalix immediately pointed one of those strange gauntlets at Kyra. A red mist flew out of his knuckles and enveloped Kyra. Kyra immediately began hacking and coughing in the cloud of red mist that covered her head until she suddenly fell over onto the ground as unmoving as a stone.
“Kyra!” Bolt shouted. “No! You monster.”
Graalix looked over at Bolt and the others with a wicked grin. “What are you so upset about, human? I didn’t kill her. I simply put her to sleep for now. The screeching of infants has always irritated my ears, especially the screeching of human infants.”
“Where is the Spirit?” said Aster, stepping forward and holding his sound blaster up. “Kyra told us the Dread God killed her, but she wasn’t sure. Where is she?”
“The Spirit of the Woods?” said Graalix. “We were about to ask you the same question.”
“What do you mean?” said Captain Galaxy in surprise. “Didn’t the Dread God kill her? Wouldn’t he know where she is?”
“The two of them did clash, that is true,” said Graalix, nodding, “but the Dread God was unable to kill her. She escaped at the last second, which would not have been very bad, but she also set up a barrier around this castle to keep us from getting in, which was our original goal the entire time. We didn’t think we would ever get in, at least until you four showed up and politely opened it for us, for which I must thank you for your complete and absolute foolishness.”
“What are you talking about?” said Captain Galaxy. “Couldn’t you have used your dimension-hopping tech to get inside the Castle?”
“The barrier which the Spirit put up blocks dimensional portals,” said Graalix. He scowled. “How, I don’t know. All I know is that the Spirit is far more powerful and dangerous than even I first believed. She is also quite clever, but her cleverness obviously didn’t take into account a bunch of stupid humans trying to get into her Castle. Had it, we wouldn’t even be standing in the courtyard of her Castle in the first place.”
Bolt’s hands balled into fists. “Why do you want to get into the Castle anyway? What is the Dread God planning?”
Graalix’s lips twisted into an amused smile. “Do you really think I am going to tell you the Dread God’s plans so easily? I am no fool. What the Dread God seeks is, as you humans might say, none of your business.”
“What about us?” said Bolt. “I don’t suppose you’re going to let us go, are you?”
“Of course not,” said Graalix. “The Dread God is hardly threatened by your existence. Nonetheless, you have proved to be a terrible thorn in his side, so I am going to slaughter all of you today and present your bodies to the Dread God himself as an offering and a sacrifice. He will be quite pleased because you and your friends elsewhere have been very annoying and in the way.”
“Are you talking about Beams and the others?” said Bolt, thinking about how he hadn’t heard from them since they left HQ. “What about them? Are you guys trying to stop them, too?”
“Again, none of your business,” said Graalix. “What matters is ensuring that you four die here, where you will never be able to get in the way of the Dread God’s plans ever again.”
Graalix pointed at them. “Attack and kill the enemies of the Dread God! Those who stand in the Dread God’s way deserve nothing but destruction and endl
ess suffering!”
The Darzens rushed toward Bolt and the others, swinging their weapons over their heads and letting out an inhuman scream which sent chills down Bolt’s spine. But Bolt didn’t hesitate. He activated his super speed and rushed toward the Darzens. He slammed into and through them, scattering the Darzen soldiers to the winds. His real target was Graalix, who was reaching toward the unconscious Kyra with a malicious look on his face.
But Graalix noticed Bolt rushing toward him at the last second and turned to face him, but Bolt punched him in the face and sent him flying. Graalix crashed into the heavy oak doors in front of the entrance, a dazed look on his face before he shook his head and jumped back onto the cobblestone path in front of Bolt.
“Good punch, human,” said Graalix, rubbing the side of his face where Bolt had punched him, “but I am afraid that you will have to hit me harder than that if you want to kill me.”
“Fine by me,” said Bolt, pulling his fist back again. “I’ll hit you as many times as it takes to bring you down. I’ve got time.”
Graalix sneered. “You are assuming I’ll even let you get close enough to hit me again.”
Graalix slammed his fists together. His gauntlets glowed bright red again and more of that strange red mist came out of it. Only now, the mist was twisting and turning in the air like a snake writhing along the ground. Bolt watched the mist, dumbfounded, as it rose higher and higher into the air until soon it towered over everyone else in the courtyard.
“What is that stuff?” said Bolt. “It’s not poison, is it?”
Graalix grinned. “It’s the Dread God’s Tears, converted into a mist-like substance which can do a variety of things to targets. It can knock them out, as you saw I did to the girl … or it can kill them, slowly and painfully, especially if it is forced down their mouth. A gift from the Dread God for my service to him.”
Without warning, the mist shot toward Bolt. Bolt launched into the air, just narrowly avoiding the mist, but the mist twisted at the last second and followed him through the air, forcing Bolt to fly faster and higher in an attempt to outrun it. He managed to keep ahead of it, but the mist still kept a respectable distance behind him and it seemed to be catching up.
Bolt threw a red lightning bolt over his shoulder at the mist, but the lightning bolt simply passed harmlessly through the mist as if it wasn’t there at all.
Uh oh, Bolt thought, weaving in and out of the Castle’s towers in an attempt to avoid the mist. If I can’t hit it with my lightning, I’m pretty sure I’m screwed.
So Bolt decided to outrun it. He increased the speed of his flight and began doing all sorts of mid-air maneuvers, twisting and turning and weaving in and out of the Castle’s many towers. But the mist was persistent, matching his every move and even coming up with a few of its own. Bolt did not know if the mist itself was somehow sentient or if Graalix was directing its movements from below.
Either way, unless I can get rid of it, I’m just going to waste a lot of time running away, Bolt thought, glancing down at the Castle courtyard below. And I’m worried about the others. Can they beat the Darzens without me? I don’t know. They’re going to need my help regardless, so I need to lose the mist.
Graalix’s gauntlets. If Bolt could break those, or maybe just knock out Graalix, then he could get rid of the mist. Therefore, Bolt would need to get back to the courtyard. A quick glance down told him that Graalix had not moved an inch from where he had been standing before. The Pokacu was looking up at Bolt with an amused expression on his face, no doubt taking pleasure in watching Bolt fruitlessly evade the mist chasing him at every turn.
I’ve got no choice, Bolt thought. Time to wipe that grin off his ugly face and make Graalix realize that it’s going to take a lot more than mist to take me down.
Banking hard to the right, Bolt turned around and shot directly down toward Graalix. He sensed the mist turn to follow him behind him, but Bolt believed that if he could just move quickly enough, then the mist would be unable to keep up with him. He put on a burst of speed, pulling his fist back in order to deliver a powerful punch to Graalix.
But then, without warning, the mist suddenly appeared in his path. He banked to the left, swerving off to the side and missing Graalix entirely. He heard Graalix laughing below him, no doubt amused at getting in the way of Bolt’s path and forcing him to retreat. The Pokacu’s laughter annoyed Bolt, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Wait a minute, Bolt thought as he flew away again, the mist on his tail once more, who says I need to punch him? I can’t believe I’ve already forgotten about my lightning powers. Let’s see his mist stop this.
Bolt did a loop in midair and flew back toward Graalix. This time, he charged lightning in his right fist and, after taking careful aim, hurled the lightning bolt at Graalix.
Graalix stopped laughing when he saw the lightning bolt coming at him. To Bolt’s disappointment, Graalix jumped out of the way at the last second, barely avoiding the lightning bolt, which created a deafening explosion when it hit the ground. But Graalix didn’t miss a beat, turning his arms to direct the mist in the air toward Bolt.
Taken by surprise, Bolt got a face full of the mist. It burned the exposed part of his face and, when it got into his mouth, tasted like flaming wood. Bolt screamed in pain and fell to the ground below, the shock from the pain temporarily disabling his flight.
He crashed through the branches of one of the fruit trees in the courtyard until he slammed into the ground. Dazed, Bolt raised his head, only for an apple to fall on his head and nearly knock him out.
Damn it, Bolt thought, blinking the tears out of his eyes and coughing. That mist is like tear gas. Maybe even worse.
Coughing and hacking, Bolt pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. He tried to stand, but for some reason his knees were wobbly and he fell back down onto his hands and knees again.
“What?” said Bolt, breathing hard. “I can barely stand …”
A laugh from above caused Bolt to raise his head. Graalix was walking toward him now, holding his fists out. The red mist continued to pour out of his knuckles, creating a larger and larger cloud overhead that looked like a storm cloud.
“A shame you didn’t inhale more, human,” said Graalix as he came to a stop dozens of feet away from Bolt. “But you inhaled enough to weaken you. Now, it is time for you to die. It will be a pleasure to watch your body writhe in pain as you die.”
Bolt opened his mouth to ask what Graalix meant, but then his nostrils began to burn and he looked up.
A massive cloud of red mist had gathered overhead … and it was lowering closer and closer toward him every second.
And even worse, he knew he couldn’t move fast enough to avoid it. All he could do was stare up at the cloud, praying for a miracle but knowing he would not get one.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“I thought the Dread God wanted me alive,” said Beams in surprise. “What’s all this talk about killing me?”
The Avatar ran a finger through Pesa’s hair again, making her shudder. “The Dread God has decided he has no need of you anymore, boy. In his infinite wisdom and grace, the Dread God has come up with another way to achieve his domination of the multiverse. Now you and your friends are but a thorn in his side, a thorn I intend to pick out.”
Beams’ fists grew tighter, tight enough that his knuckles had probably turned white, though due to the gloves on his hands, he couldn’t tell. “So you drew me out here alone to make me easier to kill.”
“Of course,” said the Avatar. “Right now, the Ariopolitan hunters are scattered and lost deep within the catacombs of these ruins. They won’t hear your screams of pain, no matter how loudly you scream. But they will find your body because we will leave it out in the foyer where they will return. I won’t even have to put a note on your body letting them know what has happened to you. They will simply know … know, and despair.”
“I’ll fight you,” said Beams. He gestured at the Darzen soldiers b
ehind him. “I’ll fight all of you jerks, to the death if I have to.”
The Avatar’s finger stopped at the base of Pesa’s neck. “Are you so sure about that? Would you really risk the life of this girl in order to get at me? You can, if you want, but it seems out of character for you.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“I would,” said the Avatar without a hint of hesitation in his voice. He began rubbing his finger along Pesa’s neck like it was some kind of rubbing stone. “It wouldn’t even be all that messy. The cold air would freeze her blood instantly, I imagine. Human blood is rather strange, not nearly as efficient as our energy forms. The cold air doesn’t affect us too badly, not even the joints of our armor anymore, which we oiled especially for this kind of environment. Too bad the same can’t be said for you.”
Even though he didn’t know her, it pained Beams to see Pesa feeling so clearly violated by the Avatar’s touch. He doubted that the Avatar felt any sort of sexual desire toward her, but the way the Avatar touched her—like she was some kind of toy for him to play with—angered him. Pesa just looked like she wished this whole thing would be over with. She wasn’t crying, but she was shaking and shivering, despite the warm coat she wore. Her eyes were desperately pleading with Beams to help her, but he knew he was in no position to save her, not as long as the Avatar held her.
“We’ll make your death quick,” said the Avatar. “Our research indicates that the human brain and the human heart are the two most vital organs for the human body to function. So we will behead you. You won’t even feel it.”
“I didn’t agree to die.”
“Then I suppose you want Pesa to die for you,” said the Avatar. His finger stopped in front of her throat, right where her arteries would be. “One slit across the throat and she dies. Are you willing to risk that?”
Beams gritted his teeth. He hated finding himself in these kinds of situations. They were all too common in his line of work, but that didn’t mean he enjoyed them. Far from it. He hated them with a burning passion, but just hating these kinds of situations did nothing to change the fact that the Avatar had him squarely where he wanted him.