Claire turned in her seat to face him. ‘Do you think the battle will happen tonight?’
‘I wouldn’t have thought so, as it was daytime in my dream.’
‘Yes, and it was on another world where it might be morning now.’
Alex jumped off the sofa. ‘Oh crap, I didn’t think about that, I best go and get changed.’
Claire shook her head and stood up. ‘I better go and warn the others.’
Alex changed and walked back downstairs where a few of them were moving around. He joined Carrie, sitting on one of the sofas. She was ready for the battle in case it did happen that night. ‘Where are the others?’ he said.
Carrie wore a black tracksuit. Most of them had decided to wear them on their nights out, mainly due to the running. ‘Some are in the gym getting prepared, and the others are getting changed.’
‘Don’t you want to be in the gym with them?’
‘I would if I knew when it was going to happen. I find it easier to relax than worry about it.’
‘I can’t imagine you worrying about anything.’
‘Not the fighting I don’t, just the waiting.’
Adair sat down. ‘Waiting made me a stronger person.’
‘You had one heck of a wait to be honest,’ said Alex, somewhat sheepish. ‘Sorry about that.’
‘What are you sorry for? You gave me hope when I thought none existed.’
‘You must really want to get revenge on them,’ said Carrie.
‘I will destroy them, not out of revenge for anything they did to me, but for all those innocents they murdered.’
‘You will get that chance soon,’ Alex told him.
‘I look forward to it.’
Alex stood. ‘Something’s not right.’
Carrie looked up at him. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘We are going to another world, will meet the inhabitants for the first time, and I’m wearing a t-shirt.’
‘Are you expecting royalty?’
‘I don’t know, but there’s a good chance they’ll be there.’
Carrie’s eyes grew big. ‘You’re serious.’
‘Alex is correct,’ said Adair. ‘If I know the ones who might be living there, then you will meet the king and queen.’
‘Well this is no good, you better get changed, and I’ll go and tell the others to do the same,’ said Carrie, and walked off towards the gym.
Alex pulled at his t-shirt. ‘Get changed into what?’
‘I don’t know, think of something,’ said Carrie, disappearing into the gym.
Adair creased his brow. ‘If we are going to save them I don’t think they will care what we’re wearing.’
‘You’re right, but I think they’ll have other ideas,’ said Alex, as the others were already coming out of the gym.
‘You had to say something,’ Claire huffed, not looking very happy.
‘What are you worried about? You look fine,’ said Alex, as Claire was also wearing a casual but smart black tracksuit.
‘Thanks, but Paige wants us to wear the outfits we made.’
‘I thought they were for a ceremony.’
‘You just don’t like them,’ said Paige, sounding a little hurt.
‘I do like them, but I think we should have something that’s more us.’
‘They are us, maybe it needs some tweaking, but I don’t think we’re far off.’
Adair shook his head. ‘You’re more worried about what you should wear than facing hundreds of demons?’
‘You not changed yet?’ said James, coming down the stairs.
‘That was quick,’ said Alex.
‘You know what Paige is like, and she won’t let you go otherwise.’
‘I best hurry then.’ Alex laughed, before running upstairs again.
‘We have something,’ said Blaze, from her opened doorway nearly an hour later.
Alex stepped into her room, and looked into the crystal ball. He saw a man lying near a portal he had seen in his dream. ‘Is that an elf?’
Daralis nodded. ‘Yes, and he looks injured.’
‘I’ll go, I want the fighters prepared in the gym,’ said Alex, and vanished.
‘The young looking elf tried sitting up. The portal he had seen in his dream was square like a huge television screen, with a blurry picture.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Saving the Elf Service
‘We need help,’ said the elf, who had long black hair and wearing clothes not to dissimilar to what Paige had designed. He leant on the edge of the portal with blood coming from his side. ‘My people are in trouble.’
Alex helped him up. ‘I’ll have to get you back to the mansion first.’
The elf shook his head. ‘We have no time.’
‘What’s your name?’
‘I am Meldun, son of Torgon.’
‘Well, Meldun, son of Torgon, how long will the portal stay open?’
‘Until someone closes it.’
‘House take us back.’
‘Where are you taking me? My people are in trouble. We are under attack from demons.’
‘I have to go and get my army, and let the ladies tend to your wounds,’ said Alex, as they appeared in the hall of the mansion.
Daralis rubbed her eyes as Alex appeared with the injured elf. ‘Are those demon wounds?’
‘Yeah, will you need your potions?’
Luella shook her head. ‘No, dear, not when there are six of us.’
‘I hope I don’t have many more to bring you,’ said Alex.
Meldun didn’t want to stay and tried to follow, but Joseph, whose strength had grown since he had lived in the mansion, held him back. The elf agreed to stay and have his wounds treated with the promise he could watch what they saw on the crystal ball.
The small army of humans, gnomes and two wolves appeared in front of the portal.
‘You must remain hidden, and wait as long as possible. I want most of them, if not all to get through, and I don’t want any of them doubling back inside,’ said Alex, and entered the portal with Adair and House.
Adair pointed his staff. ‘I can see smoke.’
Alex nodded. ‘It’s the village . . . the battle is to the right of it.’ He flew, and Adair pointed his staff in the air and flew after him.
They saw two armies; a hundred mounted elves outnumbered three-to-one by demons as big as horses. The largest demon, twice the size of the others, raised an arm and they attacked.
Alex flew at them, with his hand now glowing, pointed at the demons and golden energy shot through the air. Lightning came from the tip of Adair’s staff, and the first line of demons fell before vanishing. The remainder backed off not understanding the power of their new enemy.
Alex noticed the pucas, looking terrified, next to the witches. ‘House, can you get the pucas safe?’ he said, as he and Adair landed in front of the elves facing the demons. No sooner than they landed the pucas were behind them.
‘NO,’ the demon twice the size of the others roared. ‘They have been promised to me.’
‘Come and get them,’ Alex bellowed, as his hands started to glow again, ‘if you can.’
‘You cannot be here,’ the grey-haired witch screeched.
Alex shrugged. ‘It was you who left the portal open.’
The demon stood over twelve feet tall, had six horns on its head, and its hands had long extended claws. It charged at Alex, who raised his hands and the golden flame hit the demon on the chest, and sent it flying backwards. The witches looked horrified as they went to help the demon, but Adair was ready for them. The power of the electricity which came from his fingers and staff crackled in the air. It hit the witches simultaneously, they both screamed, as did the demon and all three burned.
Alex scratched his head, as the other demons ran. ‘It’s strange the witches didn’t try to escape.’
Adair nodded. ‘Yes, there’s something or someone missing.’
Alex turned to the stunned looking elves. ‘Would you look
after our little friends for a few minutes?’ He turned back towards the demons and floated off the ground, his eyes started to glow. ‘Let’s send them back.’
They flew once more killing any demon which went off course.
Adair pointed his staff and the demons ran. ‘We best make sure they go in the right direction.’
The demons had seen Alex kill their leader with ease, and none of them gave it a thought to attack him or the wizard.
‘We could go faster,’ the wizard suggested.
‘We don’t want to catch them, just chase them out.’
I will go and warn the others, said House, and find some rocks.
~~~~
The small army waited, James had them in a u-formation around the portal, with a line of twenty gnomes side by side at the end. The demons ran out, no one moved until they hit the wall of gnomes, those along the side charged in, it was carnage.
The demons, taken by surprise, stood no chance. Many trapped in the middle attacked other demons in their attempt to flee. They outnumbered them by more than seven to one, but were defeated in minutes. Those that managed to get through found Jodie and the wolves waiting. Some tried to get back through the portal but Alex and Adair had other ideas. There were limbs flying everywhere, but to the relief of most, they vanished just as quickly.
Jarlath leant on his axe. ‘Now that was fun.’
Fergal nodded. ‘Yes, a good battle if not over too soon.’
Alex walked towards them, and as there was no sign of any demon it looked like no battlefield. ‘You never gave me a chance to get in the action.’
‘You’re getting too slow, old man,’ James joked.
Roth stretched up and patted James on the shoulder. ‘Those were sound tactics there.’
‘You were merciless,’ said Alex.
‘Well, you didn’t want any escaping,’ said James.
‘I almost feel sorry for them,’ said Jarlath. ‘Almost.’
James shook his head. ‘Don’t, they get a lot bigger and will kill anything for food.’
Paige looked at Alex. ‘Did you kill the witches?’
‘Adair did, and for some reason they didn’t try to escape. The pucas are safe,’ he said, and glanced at the portal where six elves appeared.
‘Is that really you, Adair?’ one elf asked. He was tall, and slim in leather armour. The elf removed his helmet. He had pointed ears and long dark hair.
‘Yes, it is I, Torgon, my old friend,’ said the wizard.
The elf clasped his hands together as he glanced around. ‘What happened to the demons?’
‘Defeated, their essence sent back to hell or wherever they came from.’
Torgon the elf looked at the small army. ‘Who are your friends that we owe our lives to?’
‘Humans, gnomes and wolves, this is Alex our leader.’
‘I don’t want to sound rude,’ said Alex, ‘but could we leave the introductions until after we have dealt with the fire in the village?’
‘Yes,’ said Torgon. A little surprised. ‘Please come, but your weapons must remain here.’
‘We understand,’ said Alex, and all the weapons disappeared.
‘What on earth?’ said Jarlath, who nearly fell over.
Your weapons are back in the gym, House told them.
Alex looked up. ‘Do we need to go back through the portal for you to take us to the village?’
No, but the others should know it is still daylight in there.
They appeared just outside the village.
‘Kristina,’ said Alex, and pointed at part of the village which was not burning but the flames were getting closer. She understood what he meant and put a shield up to protect the untouched buildings. A line of elves carried buckets from a stream. Kerry and Emma took over by floating the buckets through the air to Anna and Leann hovering over the buildings, emptying the buckets where needed. Summer walked up to the main fire and put her hands out, palms up, and the fire started diminishing. When they were all out she turned away from the village with her hands held outwards and released flames into the air.
Alex stared at her in amazement. ‘Now that’s impressive.’
Summer wiped sweat from her face. ‘You don’t want to do that too often.’
‘Where did you learn to do that?’
‘In the kitchen.’
‘We owe you so much on such a sad day for us,’ said Torgon, looking at a cart carrying the fallen elves. ‘It would have been so much worse if you hadn’t shown up.’
‘I apologise we were not here sooner, but we had no idea where the portal was until one of your own came out of it.’
‘My son, he is still alive?’ said Torgon.
‘Yeah, he was injured so I took him back to our home.’
Torgon lowered his head. ‘I have lost him as well . . . it would have been a demon that injured him.’
Alex looked surprised at the elf. ‘Are those in the cart not dead?’.
‘No, but they are fatally wounded, we can heal most wounds but not of those made by demons.’
‘Torgon, you would’ve had no problem curing that a long time ago,’ said Adair. ‘What has happened to your powers where you could have defended yourselves?’
‘We stopped practicing the old ways, as we’ve had peace for so long. Given time we will remember it.’
‘I will help you there,’ said the wizard.
‘Thank you, but it’s too late for my son.’
Alex saw the sadness in the elf’s eyes, and put a hand on his shoulder. ‘You may not have the power to cure them at the moment but we have people who do. Your son is fine, as those injured will be, but tell me there must be more of you than this.’
‘Indeed, there is,’ said Torgon, sounding relieved at the news of his son and of the other elves. ‘We are just a small party who came to save the villagers. Most others are in the city where we hoped to fight them off until we found the powerstones. We have other elf kingdoms, but the nearest is four days away by horse.
Alex glanced towards the city in the distance, but could only see the top of the buildings by a mountain because of the high trees in front.
When did the witches and demons get here?’
‘A few days ago they appeared by the portal, but there were only a few of them at first. They must have been waiting for others to arrive.’
‘Why were you using wooden sticks?’ said Alex.
‘Weapons are not permitted here, so when we found out about the demons we quickly looked for some sort of defence.’
Adair raised an eyebrow. ‘Wooden sticks against demons.’
‘We managed to find an enchantment which would defend us against anyone who meant to cause anyone here harm, but we didn’t have time to enchant many.’
‘I’ll go and get your soldiers wounds dealt with, and return shortly with the rest of our friends,’ said Alex, as something about weapons confused him.
James and three gnomes helped Alex get the injured elves off the cart and return to the mansion. They arrived in the hall as Daralis came out.
‘Five of them, I will get the others,’ she said.
‘How are they doing, House?’ said Alex.
They are weak, like Carrie was, said the spirit.
Luella and the other five white witches stepped out of Blaze’s room. ‘You’ll have to lie them down somewhere.’
Let me do it, said House, and the first elf started floating in the air like a magician’s assistant after the chairs had been removed.
The six white witches stood around him and placed their palms down on his body, they chanted a few words in some ancient language. A white glow covered the elf and after a few minutes it disappeared.
‘You need to sit him somewhere,’ said Daralis. ‘He will be a little disorientated for a while.’
They did the same with the next four and seated them next to each other on one of the sofas.
‘How is Meldun?’ said Alex.
Luella glanced at the elf rubbin
g his head. ‘The same, but his mind will be clear soon.’
‘Could you not see us on the crystal ball?’
Blaze shook her head. ‘It was too fuzzy.’
‘Maybe it’s because you’ve not been there. I’ll go back, and see where best to take them. Could one of you fetch the others so we can go on a trip to another world?’
Joseph leant forward. ‘Are we all going?’
‘Yeah, I don’t see why not,’ said Alex, as House took him back and to his surprise he saw carriages already waiting.
Torgon nodded to another elf before walking over to Alex with the pucas. ‘How are they?’
‘They’re fine, a bit light-headed, but I’ll need some transport for them.’
‘You can have one of these carriages.’
‘Yeah, it would be perfect . . . I’ll go back and get them.’
‘There was something else,’ said the elf. ‘You asked us to look after your friends, but these pucas say they have never met you.’
‘That’s true, but will come clear very soon,’ said Alex, kneeling down by them.
‘Friend,’ said the female puca, holding her baby out to him.
‘I will hold him when I come back, I don’t want to frighten you when I disappear.’
‘You hold her, and take us with you,’ the puca insisted.
‘Yeah, OK,’ said Alex, and took the baby.
‘How remarkable,’ said Torgon. ‘She gives you her baby and you’ve never even met them before.’
‘I think you will understand when I bring everyone else here, if that’s OK to do so.’
‘Yes, indeed, I look forward to it.’
Alex appeared in the hall with the pucas as the children came down the stairs in their outfits and ran to him. Briana got there first with her hands out, and he passed her the baby.
‘You gave him away too easy,’ she said.
‘There are six of you, what chance did I have of keeping him.’
‘None really,’ said Orlaith, as she picked up the baby’s mother.
House took Alex and the elves back to the waiting carriage. He returned to find those in the hall waiting, and the new pucas very happy in their outfits.
Other Worlds: Vesta Mansion Trilogy - Book Two - Fantasy Page 25