The War of All Wars

by J. Eric Booker

  The entire time, Baltor listened as Nemis chanted one of her magic spells, although he had no idea what spell might possibly save them from this madness.

  In the fourth second, a red dragon had just blown out a powerful blast of fire out of its mouth aimed at them both, but thankfully, the fire had no effect on either.

  The second Nemis had finished chanting on the fifth second, Baltor observed—with a whole lot of shock—that the dragons in the room were swiftly beginning to get larger and larger!

  Within seconds, the dragons were already far too big to be seen—replacing them were other unidentifiable dust particles that were getting larger and larger by the second. Only a few out of the entire bunch were blue, green, or red—most were white.

  Though they continued to shrink more and more, Baltor asked aloud, “What in the hell did you just cast, Nemis?”

  With a crooked smile, she answered, “I shrunk us to 1/1000th of our normal size.”

  “I see…I see.”

  “Are you angry I did this?”

  “Not at all…just surprised. So how long does this spell last?”

  “Actually, hee hee, we have an hour before returning to our normal size. What do you think we should do in the meantime?”

  Baltor was about to answer, but didn’t get a chance as he was forced to drop onto both knees on the carpet, as well duck his head into his chest, just barely ducking out of the way from a blue blob—with sharp spikes all over—that zinged by!

  After sitting down on the carpet, this time facing Nemis, he took a deep breath and released it to calm his tense nerves before asking, “What the hell was that?”

  She laughed before answering with a nonchalant wave of the hand, “Oh that, that’s a proton—they’re harmless if they touch you. The red ones are electrons, and the green ones are neutrons. Whenever a magical spell is cast, on a subatomic level, all of the particles in the area temporarily unite into one massive ball of energy…over time, the white particles dissipate, and the remainder of the colored particles spread out. On every single plane in the universe do these exist, including this hell…interesting?”

  Baltor hummed aloud, “Hmm…very interesting info. Well, are they dangerous?”

  “Just like with anything powerful,” she answered, “they can be dangerous when in the wrong hands…and they can be a blessing if in the right.”

  In the next moment, they had just entered into yet another brand-new world—this environment was even stranger than the last in that there were ever-growing clusters of sub-atomic particles just about everywhere—some of these particles were already the size of a house! Of course, they could not help but notice the millions of tiny worm-like creatures—with little blue lightning bolts that sizzled over their bodies. They floated about as if there was no gravity, while feasting on even tinier, levitating, white particles.

  Perhaps fifteen seconds later, Baltor was the first to say, “Wow…this place is a trip!”

  “Yes it is…I’ve been here nearly sixty times myself—first time in hell. No matter what world or dimension I’ve visited and cast this shrink spell, everything proves to be the same in the roots…”

  Baltor switched to using telepathy as he replied, I see…so, is there any way we can make use of those energy particles, in order to make them dangerous to the dragons, especially to Tamait?

  Nemis rolled her eyes up into the back of her head for a moment, before answering, Well, one way is via magic, as I already explained—the second is by making a mechanical bomb out of it…but I have no clue as to how to make that work. I once read in the history of my Order about a small group of alchemical masters—wearing the robes of black—who secretly tried such a feat in their shared magical tower several years before my birth. Unfortunately, the atomic bomb exploded prematurely, which explosion was so powerful that it destroyed not only the entire magical tower, yet everything within fifty miles of it—everyone and everything inside the tower was obliterated instantly, including their books, records, and their very lives…

  Once she was sure he understood her words, a handful of seconds later, she revealed, No one else dared to try and repeat their experiments that I know of…as for me, I like to come here and explore this inner world for fun. I didn’t know that it would save our lives!

  Hmm, he said with a small smile, Very interesting. Well, since the atomic bomb option is out, how about this become our game plan? When we get big again, sometime during the next fifty-eight minutes, we’ll teleport right behind Tamait’s throne. Ignore the other dragons, kill her as quickly as possible, and/or trigger the secret latch that opens the hatch to the river, which surely must be somewhere near her throne although I saw no water of any kind…yeah?

  With a nod, Nemis answered, Yeah…sounds like a good plan to me. Do you just want to wait around until we get big again, or do it sooner? I can end the spell at whim…

  Just then, they began to see six different planetary-sized blobs of color getting smaller and smaller—within twenty seconds of time those blobs had shrunk down to become the size of six enormous dragons!

  Not surprisingly, Baltor had already maneuvered the carpet behind a mountain-size blob of subatomic particles, and waited…

  Though all but one of the dragons began to search around, that dragon who remained in place roared out, “We know you’re around here…you can’t hide forever. Besides, Tiamat herself just ordered me to tell you that she now wishes to speak with the two of you, peacefully and amicably. Okay?”

  Baltor looked back at Nemis to see what she thought—she just shrugged her shoulders.

  “All right, we’ll have a friendly chat with Tiamat,” he answered without an ounce of fear, before he maneuvered the carpet until they were in full view of the dragons. Then he stopped it.

  Nemis—who had heard the dragon speaking her “native elfish tongue,” as had Baltor been speaking the same language since they first met—said, “Dragons, just so you know, it’s not a good idea for us to be in each other’s spaces when we grow back to normal size.”

  “We know,” that dragon answered, “We’re about to teleport.”

  Once the dragons had departed, Nemis released the shrink spell. In the next moment, she, Baltor, and the carpet began to grow at a rapid pace—thirty seconds later, they were back to their normal size.

  Without any further delay, the surrounding dragons began to unite, forming one very solid-looking tubular tunnel, separating Tiamat from Baltor and Nemis.

  After Baltor had flown the carpet beyond the tunnel, Tiamat began, “I did not know who the two of you were when you entered my palace without invitation—now I do. Unlike most of my Arch-Devil comrades, I know exactly who and what you are, Baltor Elysian. And why the two of you have come…I’m just amazed you got as far as you did. Most impressive, especially for a vompareus.”

  While Baltor looked shocked at hearing all of this information, Nemis looked just-as-confused, as she had never heard of a “vompareus.”

  “Oh,” Tiamat continued, “if you think you’re shocked now…wait until you hear what else I have to say. Remember Dreeak?”

  Baltor nodded his head—the vompareus dragon he had slain a little less than two centuries ago!

  “Thanks in part to me, Baltor Elysian—you now have the body of a vompareus, the mind of a human, and the powers of a dragon! It was by my divine will alone that she be sacrificed to your cause.”

  Baltor asked, “Why in the world would you sacrifice one of your loyal minions to help my campaign—dragon, highness, or Arch-Devil, or Tiamat, or whatever you liked to be called nowadays?”

  “To answer your second question first, Baltor Elysian, any of the above is an acceptable title, including just my basic name that means “mother”—Tiamat! To answer your first question now requires a bit of explanation…so listen up and very carefully…

  “I decided to help ‘your campaign’ because I but recently came to the conclusion that your master made a wise decision when he trapped your vompar
eus clan into their own Realm of Darkness a little over nine thousand years ago—the problem is that your master fell into a trap, the key taken, and now they are free!

  “In the last thirty-one years since their release, they have already managed to conquer two entire worlds filled with souls, and they have just begun their attack on a third world…their powers multiply every day.

  “But…the problem is…we haven’t received a single soul in payment, which makes them liars who must be stopped, as they will soon rule the universes, the heavens, the interplanetary dimensions, and even the hells. It is only a matter of months before their powers will surpass all of ours…even mine!”

  After giving them a handful of seconds to consider her words, she added, “Even worse. Most of my comrades continue to allow themselves to remain blinded to the cold-hard facts like idiots, including the Chief of Devils, Azalea…despite all the evidence I presented at the latest appeal to ‘renege the deal, declare war, and unite our forces.’”

  “Of course,” she stated, “this new plan also included releasing Trendon from his prison in the Ninth Plane, so that he could assist us in re-trapping the Vompareus back into the Realm, which is where they belong forever and with the key to the door destroyed. In not just my opinion alone, those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.”

  She was about to add more, but Baltor interjected, “Excuse me…I hate to interrupt, but why is it that Beeal tried to psychically probe me, saying he didn’t know what type of immortal race I was?”

  Tiamat laughed a few times, before answering, “He was the only Arch-Devil who didn’t bother to show up to that meeting and stubbornly refused to listen to me when I tried to tell him about it later. Before that meeting had been concluded, the majority who did show up denied my proposition and appeal, and so, here we are. So, if you promise to me on your word of honor that you will destroy the key after you’ve locked the Vompareus back into the Realm, the Rod of Ro’shain, I will let you pass…yes?”

  “Hmm,” Baltor said. “I don’t know if I can make that promise, as that rod does not belong to me.”

  Tiamat countered, “Your master will most certainly agree with my logical decision…especially since it will not only save his life and soul, yours, yet the rest of the universes, realms, heavens and hells! That rod is too powerful for one person to possess!”

  Baltor was about to say something to the contrary.

  Tiamat, however, continued to say, “As a final bonus, I will tell you the names of two other Arch-Devils who are in top-secret agreement with our cause, because they voted to go to war versus the vompareus…most likely, they allow you to safely pass to the next plane, as will I, if you agree.

  “But, before you agree, which I already know you will, you will never reveal to anyone that it was I who revealed any of this information to you. Not only will I successfully lie about it, but then I’ll personally hunt you down, kill you, and throw your soul with all my other ones in the bottomless pit of doom…and trust me, if you thought the souls were suffering on the other 3 Planes of Hell, you haven’t seen anything yet! If you want to see, however, I will gladly show you.”

  “Not necessary to see the souls, thanks. Deal, as for what the rest of what you said,” Baltor answered.

  “Swear on it.”

  Raising his right hand, Baltor promised, “I swear that I will destroy the Rod of Ro’shain once the Vompareus are either destroyed, or at least permanently trapped back in the Realm of Darkness.”

  “Fine then,” Tiamat said with all five of her mouths smiling, revealing tens of thousands of jagged teeth. “The names of the two Arch-Devils are Mastema and Losifer.”

  With that, the pedestal she was sitting on immediately began to slide to the side, revealing a dark hole underneath—the sounds of rushing water below could once again be heard—the River Styx.

  “One final hint I should tell you about before you two go, regarding the next hell and its ruler—that is, if you want the hint.”

  “Whatever information you’re willing to part with, Your Highness, we genuinely appreciate,” was Baltor’s polite response.

  “Delial is his name—cold is his game. Baltor, you will be fine, but Nemis…you need to put that magic cloak of yours back on, or you will not survive a single second, as the temperatures get as warm as fifty degrees below zero, and as cold as two hundred degrees…

  “The reason for the major shift in temperatures is that there is a day and also a night, thanks to the sun that continuously revolves around this ‘cold, cold, cold day in hell!’”

  At this point, Nemis had already begun to strap her cloak on and don her hood.

  Tiamat did not pause in her briefing, as she revealed, “But at night, there are no moons or stars…so everything is pitch-black. Just remember to follow the course of the sun as you travel at night, and before sunrise, find yourself a hiding place in some deep underground ice-cave, and you can’t miss Delial’s palace on the other side of the world!

  “Now the reason you must hide during the day is because of Delial’s ice-demon legions of masterfully trained armed forces, posted just about everywhere on his realm. They will attack and torture you until your deader than dead, as will his tortured souls rat you out for a chance at freedom, so you must remain undetected from them the whole time.

  “As for the ice-devil prince himself, Delial has one minor weakness…he hates fireballs or spells relating to heat! But if I were you, I would avoid fighting him altogether, and twist the little sapphire on the right side of his throne, which will open up the entrance to River Styx…and get you to the next plane.”

  After a ten-second pause without interruption, she added, “Finally, I will make the two of you invisible to not only this Arch-Devil, yet every one following, except for Azalea. Unless you consciously choose to be discovered, of course, by saying that name…so there’s no confusion, you are visible to any of their minions. That is all.”

  “Thank you so much, Tiamat,” Baltor said with a whole lot of appreciation.

  All five heads nodded, before she replied, “You’re welcome. Now go!”

  With that, he landed the carpet just next to the hole. After standing to his feet and stepping off the carpet onto the floor, he politely gestured for Nemis to get off—she did.

  Only a moment later, he began to roll it up, in order to sling it over his shoulder and carry it that way.

  Nemis suggested, “Once you finish rolling up the carpet, give one end of it to me and let me try to squeeze it into my magic pocket…honestly, I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before.”

  By the time she had finished making her suggestion, he had already begun to extend one end of the rolled-up carpet—she opened her pocket as far as it would go.

  A few seconds later, the last of the carpet fit in there, just before she sealed shut her pocket.

  Baltor extended his right hand out for Nemis to take. Once she had, they walked to the hole, and jumped into the rushing river.

  Just after having been flushed away, they both heard Tiamat conclude telepathically, “Farewell, and luck….”

  CHAPTER IV

  At the end of this twice-as-thrilling-as-the-last ride, which ride lasted for a grand total of two days and five-six minutes (if time were to exist). There had been a dozen-in-a-half occasions where Baltor and Nemis moved at speeds of nearly five hundred miles an hour, before the river spat them out of an invisible pipe at three-ninety-six mph. Not once had they let go of holding onto each other’s hand, including now as they flew through the night skies.

  Unlike any of the previous waterfalls whose waters could not be stopped, the river here instantly blew and spread all about, thanks to the one hundred mile winds blowing in all directions. Every single drop of water turned to snow, hail, or even ice long before the time it hit the ice-covered mountainous terrain! Furthermore, the average person would have turned to solid ice in only a few seconds, as would have Nemis, but thankfully, she had heeded Tiamat�
��s advice about wearing her magical cloak in this hell.

  For about thirty seconds, they continued to fly out of control through the air—still holding hands—until making impact with the ground, which turned out to be the side of an icy smooth mountain that rapidly descended at a one-hundred-seventy degree angle for about two thousand feet. Right away, they began to slide faster and faster down this new type of exhilarating ride!

  Perhaps five seconds later, Baltor drew out one of his swords with his freehand and stabbed the blade deep into the ice—as he firmly held Nemis’ hand, they both stopped their descent.

  In the next moment, they began to look around—the landscape consisted of one massive piece of ice, masterfully sculpted with steep and narrow mountains and valleys.

  Stationed strategically across the board—including a few who stood on the sides of the mountains unaffected by gravity or the winds—were demonic-guards who wore flowing white hooded robes, and maroon gloves and boots. Their pulled-over hoods concealed their faces—only their white-glowing eyes could be seen with clarity! Every guard carried a ten-foot-long crystalline halberd that glowed the same color as their eyes.

  Also spread all about this hell were the scores of poor souls, thrown about by either the demons, or the wind. Every soul pleaded and cried for mercy, but this was obviously not going to happen for any of them.

  Most importantly, the one and only piece of good news to reveal about this place…neither guards nor souls happened to be near Baltor and Nemis’ position, at least for the moment.

  All the while they had been scanning around, Baltor had not only been using his night-vision, yet also his binocular-vision, discovering three caves—to the left, the nearest cave was about ten miles away and the second was sixteen miles. To the right, there was one cave he saw, but that was twenty-six miles away.