by Jae Vogel
“Just give us our clothes back. These are appropriate for the environment of the desert, but back home they’ll think we have escaped from a costume party.”
“We can manage that with no trouble.”
The light began to fade again and Dion found the area around him became very dark. Once again, the light returned and this time they were deposited right next to the van, just as he requested. Dion looked around and found himself with his three friends. They were back in the same clothes they wore before they left the desert. Dion breathed easy since he didn’t need the explanation about the change of clothing to the parents. The immortals took care of it before, but even an immortal from Olympus or the Abode of the Blessed could make a mistake.
Dion went over to the van and checked it over from the outside. From what he could tell, it had not been disturbed.
“Well, that was a fun trip,” Emily told them. “When do we get to do it again?”
“Hopefully, never,” Dion said to her. “I hope they’ll never have cause to pull us out again. You didn’t get to see the creature I might encounter tomorrow.” Dion briefly told them about the meeting with Frank the sphinx.
“Yeah, that sounds more than I want to deal with myself,” Sean told him. “Say, what is that noise?”
Chapter 15
In the background, they could the sounds of a party in progress. There were voices of young men and women mixed with laughter. They looked at each other and walked through a side trail to see what was happening down by the banks of the creek.
They walked through the underbrush and pushed trees and saplings out of the way, as they wandered in the direction of the noise. Sean saw them first: the chess club hanging out with the Naiad sisters. He almost stumbled over a Naiad kissing her boyfriend on the ground. Dion and friends made their way to the scene of happiness as they walked down the embankment and to the shore of the creek. There was a bonfire, which blazed on the bank next to the water, and several of the chess club members where enthralling their girlfriends with daring tales of brilliant move where they captured queens and took knights from their opponents.
“No kidding,” one young man told his girlfriend, “there I was. I was playing the best guy they had at Stivers and he had me cornered. By all accounts I should have lost that one and been sent home with my tail between my legs. But he didn’t know that I had a few tricks up my sleeve he didn’t know about. Boy, you should’ve seen the look on his face when I castled right in front of him.”
“So you beat him?” the Naiad asked him. She was back to wearing a tracksuit. It was still a bit cold to cover them strictly with hair.
“Well, no, he surprised me too. I should have realized he had some tricks too that I didn’t know about. Still, when I saw the look on his face, it was worth it.” She leaned on him and placed he slender arm around his shoulders.
“Nice to see you, Dion,” the club president said. “We’re thinking about getting a present for you. As you can see, our lives have changed for the better since the girls came into it.”
“I’m glad to have made a difference. Have you talked to them, told them about the world in which you live?”
“We’re working on that.”
“You just do that,” Dion told him and looked at the scene before him. He still couldn’t believe the sight he saw. All guys who hadn’t had a date and were about to graduate high school. And there were more water nymphs who wanted boyfriends. How did he get himself into these situations?
“So where have you been all day?” the club president asked him. “We haven’t seen much of you either. Not that we’ve been bored as you can see.”
Dion shook his head. Right now, all he could think about was his parents imprisoned in the clock tower and the sphinx who guarded it. How many sphinxes were in that tower? Was there anything else from the aether in that place? He needed to focus on rescuing the grandmaster that was in there too. But nothing could stop him if he won this final round.
“So how long do you think this party will go on?” Dion asked Ken, who was one of the chess club guys who was at the party.
“Probably all night. The guys showed up a little bit ago and they’re having the time of their lives.” That minute one of the Naiad sisters appeared and grabbed him by the arm.
“Baby, I’m lonely,” she said to him as an arm snaked across his back.
“You’ll have to excuse me, Dion,” he said to his friend. “You might notice I have something else to take care of right now.”
Dion stood there with Lilly and watched as the two of them walked off and went down by the creek. They sat in the shade of the firelight and watched the stream flow gently down the banks and into the buried culvert. The school year would end soon enough and the chess club members would be attending college. How it would all work out with the Naiad sisters was something Dion didn’t want to think about. There would be many things to work out after this week, but right now, he needed to think about how he’d get into the clock tower tomorrow.
It was a long day. He’d been across the burning sands with his friends the Jehuti’s and met a sphinx named Frank. Lilly and he would be married eventually. What had made him give her the ring? He didn’t know himself, but it seemed the right thing to do and she’d proven to him this week she had the meddle to stand by him when things became bad. He really didn’t need college as his powers were almost complete, but they might someday desert him and he needed to be ready for the day. He could go far in life, but the elemental abilities might be a burden on him someday. He needed someone to be there for him, should he rescue his parents and obtain the fifth elemental power.
“So I hear you are now a fire master?” one of the Naiads said to him. She stood next to her chosen and held the young man’s hand. All this young love was touching, even to Dion.
“The powers were given to me just a few hours ago,” Dion told her. “At least I don’t have to worry about fire elementals making a run at me in the future.”
“Can you make them do anything you want?” she asked him.
“In theory I can, but I won’t do that. You don’t want to make an elemental work and hate you. Not one who can burn things down anyway. I can do a lot with them, but I have to be careful.”
“Let’s see you do something with the bonfire,” she told him, gesturing in the direction of the bonfire.
Dion turned to it and could see the small fire elementals dancing in the flames. They weren’t very large and would be thrilled to show the humans what they could do. Dion closed his eyes, had a small conversation with them, and raised his hand at a ninety-degree angle. This was the signal they should go to work.
The fire swirled together and began to create patterns in the flames. It gathered into itself and created a phoenix, then a burning turtle and finally a horse. The crowd who watched it change each time cheered when the images changed shape. It was better than any firework display any of them had witnessed before. Also, it stayed close to the ground. At Dion’s request, the flames broke into the images of the small fire spirits who danced in the flames, this time where everyone could see them. This produced plenty of gasps.
“Nice job, Dion,” Ken told him. “You should go work for one of those Las Vegas casinos.”
“Thank you for the compliment but my place is here. And I still have to go back in there tomorrow.”
“Back in there? You have four elements, I thought you’d be done by now.”
“I need one more that is inside the clock tower. My uncle is holding the fifth element grandmaster prisoner inside it and my parents too. I need to go get them out tomorrow.” He walked away with Lilly as Ken stood aghast at what he’d been told.
“I can’t believe you’re going back in there tomorrow,” Lilly told him as they watched the water from the bank. “Are you sure you don’t want us to go with you?”
“I can’t have anyone in there but me. The map doesn’t show what’s inside it. I only have a vague idea what is in there other than my parents and the Aether
Grandmaster. I have to go in there alone and bring them back.”
“I wish you would let us go in there with you,” Lilly told Dion as she hugged him. “I can’t imagine being without you at this point.”
“I understand, but the battle is my own. Don’t worry; I have four elemental powers and my uncle only has one.”
“But isn’t it the strongest one?”
“The aether is the basis of the power of the other four, this is true. But he lacks the knowledge of how to use it right. My uncle obtained it the wrong way and he only has a vague idea of how to use it. It will work against him when we meet each other in there. But I don’t have any knowledge of what else he has inside the tower. I expect he’s built all kinds of traps inside it to stop me from reaching my parents. It’s why I have to reach the elemental grandmaster first. If I am given full power over the aether, he’ll have nothing to use against me. I expect he knows this and has her hidden away where she won’t be easy to find.”
Dion turned to look at the party in progress and the Naiad sisters with their boyfriends. It was a little strange what he created and he still had no idea how it would all work out in the end. With prom coming up, the chess club would have plenty to plan for and prepare. But this wasn’t his principal concern.
Dion saw a shadow emerge from the edge of the woods and work its way over to him. The shadow was without a companion and at first he thought it might be one of the chess club’s friends. The party was limited to the club and the Naiad sisters, but other people might have heard about it. Dion watched as the shadow worked its way down the bank and came up to him at the edge of the water. It seemed to have a familiar form to it.
And then he recognized the face of his uncle, Seth Bach. The light from the fire illuminated his face and Dion could see the salt and pepper hair and the expensive suit he wore. His uncle recognized Dion and slowly walked up to him.
“Lilly, please go away,” he told her. “I have something to deal with. Give me a few minutes to have a conversation and I’ll be back with you.”
Lilly could tell there was no arguing with Dion and walked away. Still, Lilly kept his image in her face as she went away. She knew something very wrong was about to take place, but there was nothing much she could do about it. She walked over to the bonfire and watched Dion stand his ground as the shadow came up to him. At that minute, she put her hand to her mouth when she realized this had to be his uncle, the man who was the source of all their troubles.
“You have done very well, nephew,” Dion’s uncle said to him. “Better than I expected. You have all four elemental powers and have eluded all attempts I made to get you out of the way.”
“That is some great praise, coming from you, dear uncle. Perhaps you can prevent my assault on your clock tower tomorrow. All you need to do is release the fifth elemental grandmaster and my parents. Do this and I’ll leave you to your mall and whatever wealth it brings you.”
“Nice attempt, nephew, but there is a bigger game played here than my little mall represents. It stands over one of the gates to the abyss, did you realize that?”
“I knew there was some talk of it, uncle. I didn’t know whether or not there was any truth to the matter. I still think you would be wise to take the settlement I’m offering you. This way you can keep the mall and your holdings.”
“Do you realize what is inside the abyss, nephew? There are horrors inside it that human minds cannot comprehend. It is said that one only becomes complete when they cross the abyss, Dion. Would you like to make an abyss crossing?”
“Not under your guidance, uncle. I think I can do it myself quite nicely when the time comes. And, from what I understand, the abyss has no physical reality in this time circle. So how is it you claimed the location was necessary for the mall? You could place it at the entrance to the abyss? Couldn’t you have placed the mall anyplace?”
“Perhaps, but this location suited my purposes. It has the right vibrations and location for my final action. Would you like to know about what I have planned over the next three days for his world?”
“Not in particular. I doubt the end result will be good for anyone.”
“Oh, it will be very good for me,” his uncle snickered. “And I’m willing to let you have a part of it. As a family member, you should have something to do with it. Even I am not immortal. You just might have that ability if you work hard enough.”
“I don’t think so, uncle,” Dion told him. “You can keep your little schemes. You can keep your mall if you return the people I ask. I think I’ve made you a fair offer, why don’t you accept it?”
“You little puke,” his uncle snapped at him. “How dare you talk to me like this? I would like to remind you, Dion that I have the power of the fifth element and you don’t.”
“Perhaps, but I have the other four, which you do not. I don’t care how you came by your full powers, uncle, but you got them the wrong way and they will be your downfall.”
“I will fall down? I don’t think so Dion. I think you should be the one to watch your step.”
His uncle, who wore a black trench coat, stepped back on the little hill and glared at Dion. Next, he closed his eyes and concentrated. Dion could feel the energy in the atmosphere. His uncle was bringing up something from the aether. He could summon some kind of element from the aether realm and had no hesitation doing it.
Dion concentrated as well. He put out orders to all the elementals in earth, air, water and fire round him. He could feel their interests in the atmosphere about him. Even the Naiad sisters let go of their boyfriends and turned to look at Dion. The chess club realized something was wrong and looked in the same direction.
Dion could see a form shimmering in the air next to the creek. His uncle smiled as something began to take form out of the aether and pull itself into the material world. His uncle had brought something down from the abyss, which contained the basic building blocks of matter. He could feel it happen in front of him.
The shimmering form slowly congealed into a solid mass. The mass became a thing of horror as it took shape in front of the crowd around the bonfire. It grew to the size of a bear. It didn’t stop growing until it reached ten feet in height. The Naiads stepped back and formed a protective barrier between themselves and their boyfriends as they had some idea of what it was about. The chess club found themselves pushed back, up toward the top of the embankment as they saw the light strike the beast down on the shore.
“What the hell is that?” Ken finally said.
“I have no idea,” said Sean, who stood next to him.
Sean watched it with curiosity. When he was much younger, his mother made him go outside and dig up some creeping vines, which were growing over her flower garden. Sean went and got the shovel to dig the roots out of the ground. The roots ran back from all parts of the vine to a central point, and then sent runners to other points in the yard where more vines grew. Sean unearthed a root ball at one place, pulled it out of the ground and looked at it. When he saw it up close, the root ball looked disgusting. It was a mass of roots, which grew from a central point. Up close, it appeared to be a mass of worms or small snakes. He tossed the first root ball in the trashcan and burned the next ones he found. It didn’t matter; the disgusting vines returned the next year and in greater quantity.
Right now, he starred at an animated root ball. At least, it’s what it appeared to be from where he stood. But this root ball twisted and turned as it found itself in an unfamiliar territory. It fell over sidewise and tried to right itself as the root ball sent out masses of vines from the center of a body that grabbed any spot they could hang onto. The first twelve of them locked onto a tree to one side, hauled the center section up, and righted it as it grew bigger again.
Dion hadn’t done an extensive amount of research on the fiends which dwelt in the abyss, so he didn’t have a clue what it was. All he knew was that it had to be a dweller of the threshold, one of the primal creatures which controlled the gate to the abyss. Th
ere were many of them beyond the gate, but few people knew about them as they never left their home.
Every so often one might gain entrance to this circle of time. Stories would spread about some kind of demon loose on the land. They usually didn’t last long in the corrosive atmosphere of the planet and would break down quickly since the things were made from ectoplasm. Dion felt a certain pulp writer had glimpsed one and it served as the basis for his horror stores. These were cosmic monsters of a terrible appearence.
As it righted itself, the beast sent out more tentacles, which meandered their way toward the light from the bonfire. The creature fed off vibrant energy and the fire was a source of it in which to feed. Dion couldn’t remember what the counter was to those things; he never had the opportunity to talk with Edward about them. He did know they were elementals, which meant there would be a way to stop it; he only had to remember what would do it. The censer he carried in the bag would be useless, so he sat it on the ground.
Two of the Naiad sisters tried to block it as the thing crawled along the ground toward the fire. Both were sent flying into the creek when the tentacles grabbed and tossed them into the air.
“Stay back!” Cynae yelled to the rest of them. “It wants the fire. Stay out of its way because there’s nothing we have here that can stop it.”
“You know about these things?” Dion yelled at her. “What do you need to stop it?”
“A black diamond works best,” she shouted out to them. “Anyone got a black diamond?” One look on the blank faces told her all she needed to know.
“I guess that’s a no,” she yelled back at the rest of them, just loud enough so Dion could hear her.
“Jeweler’s been closed for hours,” Dion shouted back. “Wish I’d know about this thing in advance.”
“Hindsight is no good now,” Sean said. “Anything else can stop it?”
Dion halted as he watched the mass of tentacles slowly work its way to the fire. He worried it would begin to grow enormously if it reached the fire. The beast had an insane demand for energy, if what he remembered was right. There had to be one other way to stop it. He just couldn’t remember what bound it in place beside the black diamond Cynae mentioned. He continued to think as the Naiad sisters moved the boys back and out of its path.