Gorinthians

by Justin Mitchell

  “I see that you managed to survive the Frond Lords I sent to visit you,” Jerard said, almost conversationally. “A pity. You should not have come back. This world is not your concern.”

  “I see that you still have almost no understanding of how the universe works,” Radroc said dryly. He watched Jerard calmly, hoping the other man did not have any new surprises up his sleeve. If life had taught Radroc anything, it had taught him that no matter how much you learned, there would always be mysteries that other people would discover before you. All you could do was hope you adapted to the surprise fast enough to survive and react. “Did you kill Terrance finally?”

  “Not yet,” Jerard said with a sardonic smile. “He is still on my list. His little clone, however, is no longer with us, I am sad to say.”

  Radroc frowned disapprovingly. He had argued vehemently with Terrance when Terrance had cloned himself, using the body of a wood gnome with which to graft his DNA. Terrance had always thought of himself as humankind’s savior. Terrance had argued that there needed to be someone left on this world with a perfect memory of his knowledge if anything ever happened to him. He was always tampering with things that he did not understand.

  Radroc could feel the complex knot of frequencies pumping through Jerard’s brain as he prepared to attack. Radroc had learned how to observe a person’s brain waves to listen to their thoughts long ago, a skill that had saved his life many times. Jerard’s thoughts were filled with a determination that was almost inhuman. Possibly, it was inhuman, depending on how human Jerard could still be regarded. His eyes locked with Radroc’s for a moment. A flicker of what seemed to be surprise flashed across his face, and Radroc felt a sliver of doubt enter into Jerard’s thoughts. Somehow, Jerard perceived that Radroc could read his thoughts.

  “Just why are you here?” Jerard asked curiously, glancing at the heavily armed battlements that surrounded the city of Chasel Ri’ Aven. He could tell Jerard was stalling as he tried to cope with his newfound knowledge of Radroc’s ability to hear his thoughts. Small barbs were appearing throughout Jerard’s Resonance as he experimentally looked for ways to block Radroc from listening to his thoughts.

  He watched Jerard casually, trying not to betray his feelings of anxiety should Jerard find a way to block him from his thoughts. “I told you a long time ago. I represent another race that tries to keep order in the Universe. What you are doing here effects much more than even you can imagine.”

  “Perhaps you are not as informed as you think.” Jerard had a look in his eyes that made Radroc nervous. There were traces of thoughts racing through Jerard’s mind, images of alien people not from this planet. Radroc felt a ball of ice fill his stomach as he realized whom the humanoids were.

  At that moment, Jerard struck. A drain opened up in the very space that Radroc stood, invisible except for the sudden implosion of matter that had existed where Radroc stood. Radroc felt a sense of satisfaction from his location several paces to the side of where his projection had stood. He had learned long ago that it was much more difficult to fight something you could not see. Radroc always projected a physical representation of himself within a few paces of his consciousness, complete with the sense of his resonance.

  Jerard stared at the empty space where Radroc’s form had been moments ago, frowning slightly. Radroc could tell that Jerard did not believe he had defeated him so easily; especially after all of the previous times Jerard had attempted to kill him, only to find him popping up somewhere else.

  Radroc remained stationary, waiting for Jerard to make his move against the Avenry. Captain Jorbran stood in shock, staring at the empty space where Radroc’s projection had stood. Clearly, he did not think Radroc would die so easily, either. A moment later, Captain Jorbran gave the signal through his Yar that the other Guardians had been waiting for.

  The combined Yars of all of Guardians began creating small vibrations, each resonant vibration harmonizing and sub-harmonizing with the other Guardians. Within a few seconds, the walls were crumbling around the Guardians. The Guardians remained floating in the air as the walls crumbled around them, facing Jerard resolutely. All of the buildings near the walls were crumbling from the intensity of the vibrations that ranged across every physical length of the wave spectrum, and then onto the opposite side on the spirit wave spectrum.

  Jerard moved jerkily, as if he were snared in a sticky substance. His image became blurry as he tried and failed to focus his Yar. Nothing in the scope of resonating vibrations would be able to function properly. It was a vast broadcast of signal noise that jammed every kind of communication possible, including the frequency used by the Spirit to process conscious thought.

  Radroc was immune to most of the signal noise. He had shown the Guardians the frequencies that Jerard would most likely use. As Jerard hung in midair, helpless in the snare of vibrations that jammed his thoughts, Radroc struck out with his power, pulling Jerard’s spirit out of the modified shell that the deranged scientist had created for it in this plane. Radroc felt a strong surge of uncertainty about completing his mission after seeing the beings with which Jerard had been in contact. Still, he could not stop now. With a sigh, Radroc pulled out a small crystal and channeled his Yar into it. Within a few seconds, a hole that only Radroc could sense opened up, connecting Jerard’s home plane with this world’s plane. Radroc flung Jerard’s spirit through the gateway, where it would await rebirth on his home planet if he could find the way.

  Radroc closed the gateway. “That’s enough, Captain.” Radroc’s voice in Captain Jorbran’s ear caused the stocky man to jump slightly before recovering. A moment later, Captain Jorbran sent out the signal through his Yar to the rest of the Guardians to stop. As they slowly let their Yars release the vibrations, they began descending slowly to the ground where the remains of the wall lay.

  “Did we win?” Captain Jorbran asked with a grin, directing his question at the place that he had heard Radroc’s voice.

  “It appears so,” Radroc replied with a sigh that contradicted his statement. He projected a new image of himself so that the others would have something to focus on.

  “What about the remains of Jerard’s army?” Captain Jorbran inquired with a glance toward the mountains.

  “I will take care of them when I leave,” Radroc assured him. “They are not likely to remain in their stone castings once they learn of Jerard’s demise.”

  Elder Torrence made his way out of the remaining rubble that surrounded the gate. “Where is Jerard?” he demanded, looking around them as if he might catch a glimpse of his remains.

  “I sent his spirit back to his own plane,” Radroc answered slowly, watching Elder Torrence with a speculative gleam in his eye. “I discovered something I was unaware of before Jerard left us.”

  Elder Torrence grunted as he surveyed the destruction that surrounded their city. “What did you discover?”

  “Jerard has been in contact with another race for quite some time now.” Radroc felt the familiar ball of ice settle in his stomach as he recalled the images in Jerard’s mind. “These beings are from another plane. I have had encounters with them before. I fear that we are only just beginning a struggle that may last a very long time.”

  “What are these beings like?” Elder Torrence asked with a scowl.

  “They look similar to humans, as far as their physical characteristics.” Radroc was not sure how much to tell them without speaking with his father. “Their organs are slightly different, and their bodies are deformed from years of what they call various stages of shrub-stain decay. They found a source of technology that they began playing with before they learned what the lasting effects would do to them, and they lost a lot of their original humanity in the process. The technology they discovered while trying to preserve their race is the dangerous part, however. I will need to discuss things with my council before I can tell you more, but be prepared for more conflict.”

  “That’s what we live for,” Elder Torrence said dryly. “Are
these beings able to use their Yar?”

  “To a point,” Radroc replied. “They communicate with their minds instead of using verbal output. Again, this ability was more related to technology than any mastery of their Yar. They have a keen interest in this planet because of the vast amounts of free energy the planet radiates. The vehicles they use to travel will not function here, so we have some time. That is, as long as Jerard has not already set more events in motion than I am aware of.”

  “When will we see you again?” Elder Torrence inquired curiously.

  “That’s hard to say,” Radroc replied with a frown. “If you don’t see me, then this threat will probably not materialize. If you do see me again, it will be because the threat has become dire.”

  “Then farewell, I hope,” Elder Torrence muttered grimly.

  “Indeed,” Radroc smiled to himself. Elder Torrence’s gruff exterior belied a true compassion and value of spirit that had originally drawn Radroc to him. Turning, Radroc began making his way down the mountain toward the remains of Jerard’s army. It appeared to the Guardians that each of his steps covered hundreds of feet. Within a few moments, he had reached the remains of the army of stone giants near the boundary. All of the Elementals were gone, leaving the crude stone bodies as a testament of their once-terrible existence. In time, the reality of them being a living army would fade to myth as future civilizations regarded them as works of art by ancient civilizations.

  Radroc pulled out his crystal one more time, channeling his Yar into it to open a gateway back to his own plane. With a last glance at the blighted landscape, Radroc stepped through the gateway.