Star Chaser- The Traveler

by Reiter

  “The Final Round awaits us all, but this point of justice must first be resolved. For I did not call this shay-spawn out to be my Second, fellow gamesmen... I called him out so that he would face the justice he has long eluded.

  “From the star-term when he dared make use of my property, to the occasion when he put hand upon what is sure to be an Iro-Gellvu in the very near future,” Gantee proclaimed, pointing at Kinjass. Dungias looked over at Kinjass who was already reveling in what he was witnessing. “Do you stand with me, Kinjass?”

  “Yes!”

  Gantee turned and faced his Vu-Prin who was stepping back toward the naxarian point of the arena. “Your shield protects you from direct iro-forms, vermisar. Let us see what it can do with a field!” Gantee held up both hands and created field of electricity around Dungias that did not touch him, but surrounded his body.

  “You look to be grounded now, shay-spawn,” Kinjass said as his hands started to glow.

  As the field started to shrink around Dungias, Gantee walked around him and stood upon his point on the arena floor.

  “I am ready!” he said, closing the field around his Vu-Prin who screamed as the electricity coursed through his body.

  The problems of victory are more agreeable than those of defeat, but they are no less difficult.

  Winston Churchill

  Laylaria rose up from her seat, watching her eldest Vu-Khan writhe about the sandy floor of the arena in agony. She mouthed the word ‘no’ as she leaned against the glass. “Make him stop,” she pleaded.

  “Perhaps this is a measure which has eluded Dungias for too long,” Jorl’Lassor suggested, receiving the glaring eyes of his wife as she spun around quickly to make sure she could place the source of the sentiment correctly.

  “That is your Vu-Khan!” she said.

  “And he will make a fine champion,” Jorl’Lassor replied as he stood up. “… and a finer Iro-Gellvu.”

  “That he will!” Danatra added, holding up her fist in support of Gantee, and Laylaria’s attention was drawn to her first born. The gleam in her eyes, the smile on her young face; Laylaria looked around the room and found that she was in the minority. Her best option was to remove herself from the room as quickly as possible.

  “I need some air,” she said softly.

  “You need to gain resolve!” Jorl’Lassor shouted as his wife kept walking. “You heard Gantee. His slide-sled was dismantled! All so Dungias could make a shield to protect himself!”

  “To protect his Vu-Prin!” Laylaria thought as the door to the booth closed behind her. She started running for the lift doors, hoping she could get to the arena floor in time. A magnetic pulse forced the doors open and Laylaria jumped down the shaft, slowing herself with Force energy and a second magnetic pulse to provide an exit. She was reduced to transit-by-foot once more as the ceiling was too low and there were too many people to afford an impromptu flight. The Iro-Gellvi pushed her way through the crowd; she could hear the cheering and the harsh commentary regarding her first-born Vu-Khan. When she reached a point to where she could see the arena floor, she stumbled to a stop, feeling weak in the knees as her hand flew to her mouth.

  “My Vu-Khani,” she gasped.

  ** b *** t *** o *** r **

  Dungias staggered forward toward the center of the arena floor as the electricity raked over his skin. When he was able to stop his forward progress and turn to face Gantee, he could hear Kinjass scream, “No!” and add his own current to the field Gantee had created. There was not a point on his body where pain did not dwell with a hard grip, and Dungias dropped to one knee.

  “Help me, Vi-Prin!” Kinjass commanded and Vradara hesitated only for a moment before adding her considerable talent to the field.

  “What are you waiting for?” Brymm asked, taking hold of Zarrak’s shoulder. “Put the shay-spawn in his place!”

  “But he already has three punishing him, Mentor,” Zarrak argued before he was struck across the face.

  “He should not even be on these grounds!” Brymm retorted. “Make an example of him, and do it now!”

  Gura looked up at the people who were cheering for more punishment, several of them looking directly at her, begging her to join in the brutality. She lifted her left hand and Orvo took hold of it before she could release the energies she had started to generate.

  “If you are going to put him into his place, tell me, what place would that be?” the youngest gamesman inquired. “For he is already Malgovi.”

  “He is shay-spawn!” Gura countered, sounding almost as if she were asking a question rather than making a statement.

  “He does not have your iro, but you do not have my brown hair,” he said, brushing her long red hair out of her face. “In what place should I put you?” Gura’s auburn eyes looked deeply into Orvo’s brown and she shook her head, not having a verbal response to offer. She turned to face the center of the arena, but took a step back toward the edge and her Second moved with her. The move was not received well, but there was far too much carnage going on for complaints to continue beyond the most immediate instance.

  ** b *** t *** o *** r **

  “They’re killing him!” Laylaria said as she focused her thoughts and started to lunge forward over the wall and onto the arena floor.

  “As well they should!” Nugar cried out as he took hold of the passionate Malgovi. It had been some time since he had seen one that did not trigger some level of disgust in him… and on this occasion he had been treated to the sight of two. The Vi-Zai and Vu-Khan combination made for a less dramatic impact; the child should, after all, demonstrate the traits of the parents. Still, it was very pleasing for him to see it and recognize that once again the Stars had not given him a false course to follow. “Damn shay-spawn, why are they ever allowed to remain among us?!”

  “What are you doing?!” Laylaria grunted as she spoke, struggling against an aging form that possessed far more than strength than she would have estimated. He had also grabbed her in a way that prevented her from putting him into an immediate throw.

  “I am trying to keep you in the good graces of your sect, Iro-Gellvi,” Nugar said as he kept his arms tightly wrapped around her body and hoped no one would see a Vinthur holding a Malgovi against her will. Fortunately, there was enough necessary distraction for Nugar to feel safe in continuing to hold her. Sharpening the tone of his voice, Nugar looked at Laylaria and shook her once as he spoke. “And I am trying to tell you that you are seeing with your heart, not your eyes!”

  The Iro-Gellvi of the Kith Z’Gunok stopped her struggle to free herself and turned her attention back to the arena. Nugar’s eyes fell from around her as she leaned forward on the wall.

  ** b *** t *** o *** r **

  Dungias was on his side, screaming in agony at the strength of the field. He looked at Gantee and appeared as if he was trying to speak. His Vu-Prin added more power to the field. So focused was the gamesman that he did not hear his Vi-Zai calling his name, shocked at the sight of what he was doing to his own blood. Dungias wailed again, rolling over to his hands and knees.

  “Noooo!” Dungias screamed as he looked up at Gantee.

  “Do not let him gain his feet!” Kinjass commanded. “Double your efforts, Vradara!” The energy tearing into Dungias increased and soon it was difficult to look upon him with all of the light rising from his body. The roar of the crowd had abandoned any hope of intelligible communication, quickly becoming screams much like the one booming from Dungias’ mouth. They matched his cry, though they felt nothing of his pain; they only knew they wanted him to feel more of it – to scream louder before dying! Gura looked over at Orvo who simply shook his head in disbelief of what he was observing. Their eyes met and Gura quickly put aside the growing will to join in the shay-spawn’s torment.

  “Die shay-spawn!” Kinjass screamed, coming forward with as much iro as his body and talent could provide. His hands were already shaking and soon his arms were also trembling, but still he found the means to
direct more power to the field.

  Sparks flew from the shoulder of the stylized armour on Dungias’ left arm and the large shay-spawn shuddered as he reached his right hand to his left forearm. A distinct clicking noise preceded the sound of machinery powering up. Without warning, the electrical field was absorbed into the capacitors lining the inside of the shield. Of the three Dungias had jury-rigged, two of them were showing overload status, but he was not pressed by the flashing lights. He knew he was about to relieve the capacitors of their payload.

  “Doubling your efforts won’t even make you half my measure, Kinjass,” Dungias said as he turned, angling the face of his shield toward the Blaxidurns. The overage of energy in the two capacitors was put to use in the development and projection of a Force energy wave. The Cadre Blaxidurn was caught by surprise, and both Vradara and Kinjass were thrown with incredible power to the far wall; the same fate befell Zarrak. Brymm managed to direct the thrust of the wave over his squatting body and turned to look at the far wall as the safety barriers were tested. Brymm could hear the generators increase their output to contend with the power expended in receiving the flying Malgovi. He then looked back at the shay-spawn, not believing what he had just seen and quickly shook his long, thin, green hair out of his face. His awe quickly turned to ire as Dungias smiled at him.

  “A most distressing thing, isn’t it, when one’s resolve is suddenly made less than credible,” Dungias hissed at the Mentor, hoping to anger the aged Malgovi even more.

  “What do you think of this resolve?” Brymm shouted, thrusting his left hand forward. A stream of bright orange light shot from his palm. Dungias was already in air when the blast struck his shield. He body was thrown into a wild spin, but Dungias managed to keep his center and twisted his body so that it would spin and flip even faster. He landed on both of his feet and stumbled back a step, looking at the Mentor as if he had genuinely been asked to rate Brymm’s action.

  “The word impulsive springs to mind,” Dungias considered, quickly lowering to one knee. The joint had barely touched the arena floor when the second blast ricocheted off Dungias’ shield. “Not to mention petulant,” he added, leaning out of the way of the third attack. Lunging toward Brymm, Dungias threw his shield as hard as he could. The device sailed quickly through the air toward the Mentor who snorted a laugh, wrapped Force energy around his arm and knocked the shield to the ground.

  “And what do you sa–” Brymm’s question was interrupted by a bolt of electricity which burst against Brymm’s chest. The arena resounded in one unified awestruck gasp, as the iro had come from the outstretched left hand of a shay-spawn.

  Approaching the level of mastery necessary to be considered for the position of Mentor meant the candidate had not only mastered several iro-forms, but could sustain a constant field of energy around their bodies. The Xaix title had indeed been earned by Brymm, and he found the discharge of electricity to be aggravating and distracting. He recovered quickly, only to find that Dungias had never stopped running. The thrown shield and the iro-form blast had been intended to serve a singular purpose: distract Brymm long enough for his opponent to close the distance and make their contest a physical one. The Mentor did not need to look at Dungias’ stature to know the youth held a very clear advantage over him, and his mind raced for the simplest solution.

  “Too close to the wall to fly back,” Dungias said, pressing his body for more speed.

  “Who says I need to go back?” Brymm retorted as he began to ascend.

  “Absolutely no one,” Dungias thought as he jumped high into the air, giving his body to the techniques of Pax’Dulah. His rate of ascent exceeded Brymm’s, though the Mentor was at fault for that, and before he could recover from another underestimation of his opponent, Dungias had grabbed the right ankle of the Mentor with his left hand. The sustained energy field was, by-design, intended to protect the Mentor from iro-forms. Once physical contact was made, the iro-form around his body was disrupted, and the feed of electricity ran unchecked through his body. Brymm screamed out and fell to the ground. Dungias released his grip just before landing and rolled to pick up his shield. He had just slid his left arm back into place and locked the circuit when Brymm was up and firing an energy bolt from each fingertip.

  Again Dungias was on the move, but his opponent was counting on his speed and fired his bolts to herd Dungias in the direction the Mentor wanted him to go. Brymm then formed moving Force energy screens on all sides of Dungias which were too tall for the shay-spawn to vault. Quickly finding nowhere to run and three more attacking fronts than his shield could handle, Dungias stopped running and took a simple fighting stance. The screens started moving to make the box much smaller.

  “So,” Brymm said softly, licking his lips. “… you like jumping about, do you?” The screens started glowing with iro granted to them by their creator. “I fear not even your talents will scale these walls!”

  Gantee had been beyond word or action, watching his Vu-Prin score telling blows on a Mentor while denying the aged one any legitimate retaliation. As the screens formed around Dungias and the siblings made eye contact, Gantee turned and directed Force energy at Orvo and Gura, who were also preoccupied with merely witnessing the Final Round. The bolts were too strong for either gamesman to keep from being thrown to the wall of the arena. Gantee then looked back at Dungias. Brymm smiled when Gantee took a step away from Dungias and lowered his head, the common stance for a student under the tutelage of a Mentor.

  Dungias looked to the controls of his shield device and altered the settings. Striking the approaching wall with the shield produced a repercussion so great that it nearly drove Dungias into the opposite panel. He slid to a stop and rolled back to the center of the slowly shrinking area. He knew he did not have long, but what kept him from losing heart was the fact that he had concluded the slow approach of the panel was probably intended to make him panic. Dungias was not sure if he could pull victory from the moment, but he was not going to suffer the loss of his demeanor.

  “The walls are filled with iro,” he thought, altering the settings of the shield one last time. “But they are not so luminescent that my trapper cannot see his prey.” Dungias looked to the panel he had struck with his shield and his eyes squinted. “Peculiar. I nearly reached the opposite wall… but that was moments ago.” Adjusting the controls of his shield once more, Dungias dashed into a desperate sprint, throwing his shield straight up.

  “Let’s see what your precious iro can do with this!” Dungias yelled as he hurled the device in mid-stride of his run.

  “Let us not look,” Nugar said, closing his eyes as he took hold of the back of Laylaria’s head and gently pushed it forward.

  “Why?!” the concerned Vi-Zai inquired as she reluctantly allowed her chin to drop to her chest.

  As soon as the shield rose above the energy barriers, it released thirty flashes of blinding light. Cries rose from every eye that had followed the shield, and Nugar quickly scanned the faces of the crowd to see who had been wary enough to look away or cover their eyes. At first, he was greatly disappointed, but he found reason to smile as he reached the Royal Viewing Booth to see the First Prince recovering and smiling down at the judges who apparently had auto-defenses worked into their viewing booth. Three of the five quickly stood up as one pointed at the arena floor.

  “Fly, my Vu-Khan,” Nugar overheard Laylaria whispering.

  “No wasted movements, boy,” Nugar smiled.

  Running toward one of the energy walls, Dungias had jumped and thrown both feet forward. He had bounced off the wall, as he had expected, but he had done so at an upward and diagonal vector, flipping and twisting so that his feet touched against the adjacent wall, drawing the same reaction. By the time he had bounced for the fourth time, he had enough height and power to fly up and over the barrier… and towards the blinded Mentor.

  “Yes!” Dungias cried out as his feet crashed down on Brymm’s right shoulder and chest. They both fell, but it was clear
the older Malgovi had taken the worst of the exchange. “As it turns out, I do like jumping about!

  “Speaking of…,” Dungias said before giving a huff of air as he kicked up to his feet. Brymm screamed in a blind rage, his left hand trailing pure energy as he clawed for whatever target was within reach. Dungias reached across his body and smacked the clawing hand away with his armored fist. He brought the gauntlet back, hammering it into Brymm’s jaw. Anyone with wary eyes knew it had been broken, as the man was made to spin in a full circle while he was on his knees.

  “Enough!” one of the judges cried out and Dungias looked up, slightly confused.

  “Has he been scanned and deemed unable to continue?” he asked.

  “Recognize that he is a Second,” the judge replied. “His master has already been eliminated from competition.”

  “But that happened before he made the barriers!” Dungias argued. “Where was your judgment then?!”

  “Remember your place!” the judge commanded.

  “Come down here and remind me!” Dungias shouted.

  Before the judge could say anything, the viewing crowd weighed in with their opinion: they cried out like they had not yet screamed that star-term. But they were not cheering Dungias. They were crying out for justice and the particular justice they demanded called for blood.

  “He dared to touch one of us!” one wailed.

  “He struck a Mentor!” another shrieked. “He is a shay-spawn. This cannot be permitted!”

  “We demand justice!”

  “Yes!” Gantee howled, holding up a glowing fist. “Justice!”

  Dungias had barely turned to face his Vu-Prin when his shield struck him in the back and carried his body to the wall of the arena. His body was not permitted to drop to the ground as his shield pressed him to the wall, slowly increasing in pressure against his back. Gantee used Force energy to hold Dungias in place as he manipulated magnetism to bring the shield to his hand. He looked at the device and tossed it to the ground while turning his Vu-Prin’s body to make him face his superior. The cheers died down quickly as everyone watched.