Visions of Chaos

by Des Pensable

  ‘It was called a Rod of Lordly Might,’ Xentos replied.

  ‘Have you seen the druid Alin Amber or the Rod of Lordly Might?’

  ‘No,’ said Xentos.

  ‘Please let him go Aquitain,’ said Miranda. ‘He will answer these questions willingly. He has been a friend of mine for years.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ asked Aquitain and receiving assurance from Miranda he released control of Xentos, after ensuring that the Crin was no longer controlled by the mask.

  He thanked Aquitain for releasing him from the mask’s domination, but would not help them in any fight against the mask. He needed to return to the Queen as soon as possible to advise her of the threat to the Crin city so they might devise a suitable defence strategy, and asked for free passage through the Jeti village. Aquitain told him that he couldn’t give him permission to pass through the village, only the chief could do that, so he would have to await the outcome of their clash with the mask.

  Xentos apologized to Miranda for fighting her and commended her defence against his domination attacks. He then told her that he was under orders from the Queen not to assist her while she was still working with the chaos bear. However, after she told him that she had seen the Queen after he had gone missing and that she had asked her to help find him, he became a little more cooperative.

  He told her that the Chaos Lord and the mind wizard in the mask knew that Aquitain had been reincarnated as a bear. They had known he was in the Jeti village and had set a trap for him. The Chaos Lord wanted Aquitain to cause trouble all over Mudrun, but he had the feeling that Erastius, the other mind wizard in the mask, wasn’t so keen on the idea. He offered Miranda two Crin fighters for protection, but that was as far as he would go without the Queen’s approval.

  Miranda told Aquitain they were walking into a trap, and he said he had guessed that would be the situation when it was clear that the mask had dominated the Crin. However, unless they continued the little people would become the innocent victims in this game that the Powers were playing, and he wouldn’t accept that. She began to panic at the gravity of the situation. Jacintra herself wanted Aquitain as her slave. How could they fight against a Spirit Lord? She was frightened not for herself but for Aquitain, and everyone else on Mudrun. This could be disastrous.

  ‘Tain, perhaps we should carefully consider this situation,’ Miranda said. ‘They have purposely weakened you so that you can hardly move, let alone fight. The prediction of chaos throughout the land will come true if they can dominate you. You should not be here. Tactically, the best thing to do would be to take a teleport ring and go to the Barra camp and recover to fight another day. If the mask realizes his trap will no longer work he might leave.’

  ‘Mandy, please trust me, I have already told you that a mind wizard fights with his mind not his body. Erastius is a mind wizard. He will fight us with deception, fear and illusion. He knows we want to stop him. You should know that the Taskmasters use commands, charm and domination every day in the Crin colony. The biggest blow to any dominator is to be dominated themselves. Xentos was scared witless. Erastius knows we couldn’t fight the Chaos Lord, so he implanted the suggestion in Xentos’s mind that the Chaos Lord helped him to dominate Xentos, who has conveniently passed it on to us.’

  ‘For the Chaos Lord to help Erastius, the mask would have to be a portal between the spirit world and our world. I know how the mask was made. It is not a portal, therefore the part about help from the Chaos Lord is untrue. Even if it was a portal, the Chaos Lord could not come through because only deities can travel between the spirit world and here. Erastius is scared of us, but is trying to deceive us into believing that we can’t beat him.’

  ‘But what about at the shrine when Jacintra possessed your body? She must have found a way to get here then,’ said Miranda.

  ‘No, that is not necessarily true. I have thought about that. There were dozens of little people spirits, including that spirit of the shaman and a druid in the shrine, who all wanted to pass on. A spirit possessed me, but it never said who it was. It was left up to us to decide, and we believed that it was Jacintra, the Chaos Lord and acted accordingly. A cunning and powerful shaman may have been able to possess me when I wasn’t expecting it; and remember that the spirit left me and followed the others through the urn, which was a one way portal.’

  ‘What about when you turned into the Chaos Cat at the Crin city? You scared the Queen out of her wits,’ she asked.

  ‘I have wondered about that myself. I think that the spirit who possessed me back in the Cat shrine implanted some sort of suggestion in my mind, which triggers under some situations. I can block it easily enough,’ he replied.

  ‘I ... I suppose you might be right. This is a horrible way to fight. How are we supposed to know what is real and what is not? I don’t like these mind games Aquitain.’

  ‘Mandy, this is exactly why I am here. I have trained all my life to fight this type of fight. Featherdown has a wonderful tapestry in his entertaining room showing a huge battle, but readily admits that it was won not by force but by deception. Let’s not let Erastius win before the fight starts; let’s let him deceive himself.’

  ‘You continue to amaze me Tain!’ she said with admiration. ‘I don’t know how you can stay so calm and think so deeply about these things.’

  ‘And you continue to amaze me,’ he murmured. ‘I can’t work out why those eyes of yours are so beautiful!’

  ‘All right, that’s enough flattery. You can’t even see my eyes. Let’s go and get the mask,’ she said with a chuckle. She no longer had any fear or doubts. They could and would win.

  Chapter 33 The Mind Battle

  ‘Spirit Lord, there are nearly a dozen Jeti outside the entrance to our mine. The chief does not wish to harm them. What shall we do?’ asked Rori over their mindlink.

  ‘Do they look like they will attack you?’ asked Aquitain as Goth carried him towards the mine.

  ‘It’s hard to say, Spirit Lord. They look scared and angry, yet they are not attacking.’

  ‘Move back from them, form a defensive circle and sing a shield wall. I will be there shortly,’ Aquitain replied.

  He told Miranda and Zephira that the cats were there and that one of them would probably be the mask.

  ‘Erastius is very sure of himself. He wants to capture me and display me to the Jeti people. They will then tell all the other tribes what happened, and people will be too scared to challenge him. Who knows what he will do then? But we’re going to make sure that it doesn’t happen.’

  Miranda had great confidence in Aquitain, but Zephira stepped in front of them.

  ‘Cousin, it’s my turn now. You and Miranda have hogged all the fun. You’re depleted and can’t fight a magic battle. Granddad spent thousands of gold on my training and I came here to defend you, and I’ve done nothing except enjoy the holiday. The least you can do is give me a bit of exercise. This is what I think we should do,’ and she outlined her plan.

  Previously, Miranda might have been jealous of any suggestion from Zephira; but since they had now come to an understanding over Aquitain and were more like sisters, Miranda welcomed Zephira’s suggestion and pressed Aquitain to agree. He reluctantly consented and nodded approval. He could see that his cousin was really busting to show her stuff, perhaps more to prove herself to Miranda than to him.

  They heard the singing well before they reached the back of the little people’s circular defensive formation. Aquitain was curious about their wall, and examined it using his detect magic power. He also went over and felt it; he had never seen anything like this before. It was a solid barrier, yet seemed formed out of the air itself. He would definitely have to find out more about how they did this, since he could manipulate air himself and might be able to duplicate the effect. He listened to the words of the song and memorized them. Later he would analyse the meanings, but not now.

  The fifty little people almost completely blocked the entrance to a narrow gully, perhaps
twenty paces wide and lit by torch and moonlight. On the edge of the torchlight zone perhaps fifteen paces from the little people, prowled a dozen black cats, nervous and fearful, but held in check by one of them who was the mask. Erastius wasn’t worried; he could order the cats to attack and teleport away if he wished, but he wanted to catch Aquitain; so he allowed the bear, Goth, and Miranda to move to the front of the little people’s line to face him.

  ‘So you didn’t stay dead,’ said Erastius. ‘Somewhat of a shame, but you will give me much more pleasure this way. We will have so much fun together, especially with your woman. It’s been such a long time I’ve forgotten what it’s like.’

  ‘You talk tough for a pathetic spirit in a metal casket. They probably stuck you in there because you were unable to raise a flag and wouldn’t know what to do with it if you could. All your experience comes from stealing other people’s life experiences. I pity you,’ said Miranda.

  ‘I was speaking to the bear, not you druid bitch,’ said Erastius.

  ‘The bear speaks through me,’ said Miranda.

  Moments later, the bear changed to the form of a naked twenty-year-old newman male that looked remarkably like Aquitain. He called Miranda to toss him a pair of bracers, and he attached them to his forearms and activated the arcane discs.

  ‘All right Erastius; lets see what you’ve got. I’m naked except for my bracers. Do your worst.’

  ‘Ha. You want me to destroy you so that you become a martyr and I cannot use you in my plans,’ said Erastius.

  ‘No. I want to show the Jeti people how pathetic you are. I want to show them what a true Spirit Lord is like. Do your worst.’

  All the little people stopped singing to watch, which was not a good idea, since any spells missing the bear were likely to hit them. However, they were fascinated.

  ‘Divide into two groups and move to the side, lest you be hit by magic,’ said a voice in their minds, and they followed its instructions. Some thought that it must be the Chaos Lord, others the spirit bear. It didn’t matter as it made sense, so they obeyed.

  Erastius was annoyed. This arrogant upstart was just too much to tolerate. He had Jaztrix create an illusory Cat Lord, and then she shape changed back to her gnome form within the illusion. This way she could cast a few of her wizard attacks at the bear now pretending to be a newman. This would be fun. He would be humiliated, but not killed.

  On Erastius’s orders Jaz cast a lightning bolt, not full power but enough to really hurt. The naked newman casually reflected the lightning bolt back and hit two cats, which died when their hearts stopped.

  ‘Sorry, I meant to direct that back at you but got the direction a little wrong,’ said the naked newman.

  Erastius was annoyed and instructed Jaz to send a fireball. As the fireball left the gnome’s hand, the naked newman crouched down and the two bracers shields formed an umbrella shaped dome over him, completely protecting him from any damage.

  ‘Thanks for warming up the night a bit. It’s a bit chilly without my clothes,’ said the newman.

  ‘You want chilly do you?’ yelled Erastius, and a burst of freezing air was cast at the naked newman; but again he used the shield to avoid any damage.

  ‘A nice cool breeze. Very stimulating on a warm night,’ said the newman.

  Next a stream of magic missiles was directed at the newman but they all dissipated in the shields.

  ‘That’s a very fine shield you have,’ said Erastius, ‘but no shield can block all magic.’ And he had Jaz cast a blight word that would cause a horrible debilitating sickness.

  Aquitain, still in the form of a Logicon slime who was sliding up the centre of the area vacated by the little people, heard the words.

  ‘It’s a blight word Zephira,’ he said urgently through their mindlink.

  ‘I know. Granddad taught me about them,’ she replied.

  Blight words were related to death words and were peculiar in that they didn’t use the normal draconic vocabulary, but the horrid forbidden language of some chaotic god. The words were difficult to pronounce and it hurt the ears just to hear them, even if they didn’t cause their malevolent intent.

  Zephira, pretending to be Aquitain, chanted a word of purity, the counter to a blight word, and absolutely nothing happened. She remained unaffected and Erastius stood amazed.

  ‘How do you expect to harm a spirit bear with a blight?’ said the naked newman.

  ‘But ... you’re not a spirit bear,’ said Erastius, ‘You’re a newman.’

  ‘No. You’ve got it wrong. I’m the spirit bear called Aquitain. I’m here to protect the Jeti people from a nuisance called the Image of Jacintra.’

  Jaz raced forward wearing the mask, allowing Erastius to attack Zephira with a powerful domination attack, and Zephira wilted but held him at bay. He was right - the shield couldn’t protect her from everything. A sustained mental attack just might break her defenses.

  ‘You’re not the bear. You’re a fake,’ said Erastius, just as Aquitain got close enough for a mental attack.

  ‘You’re correct,’ said Aquitain and launched his domination attack on Jaztrix.

  The attack succeeded, and Jaztrix’s mind was his for a moment. ‘Take off the mask,’ he commanded, and Jaztrix tried to comply with his wishes but she was overwhelmed by a counter domination attack by Erastius. Simultaneously, Aquitain was attacked mentally by the Chaos Lord Jacintra herself.

  ‘So we meet again,’ said Jacintra. ‘You will do my bidding and we will have such fun.’

  ‘Not likely,’ said Aquitain, and mentally retreated to his mental Tower of Will. Jacintra followed him as a huge cat and battered at the door of his tower.

  Moments later he heard Erastius say, ‘We have him my Lord. He will not escape you this time.’

  ‘Shut up and help me attack him. We have not got him yet,’ said the Chaos Lord.

  Aquitain was shocked. He had got it wrong. The Crin Xentos had told him that both Erastius and the Chaos Lord had attacked him, and he had believed the Crin to be wrong. He now knew better, and would have to pay the price for this bad mistake. He could hold out for a while, but inevitably they would breach his Tower of Will and the Chaos Lord would overcome him.

  ‘What’s happening?’ asked Miranda suddenly. ‘Both of you have stopped moving.’

  ‘I got it wrong Miranda. The Chaos Lord is somehow exerting her power through the mask. I’m trapped. I haven’t enough power to defeat them. It’s time to run. Leave me Miranda. Escape with Zephira while you can. We’ve lost this battle. I love you. Forgive me. I’ll see you on the other side.’

  Miranda refused to accept defeat and shouted to Rori, ‘Lord Aquitain needs power now. Sing the Power song!’

  ‘But I can’t, Druidess Miranda. Kami doesn’t think I can take the power yet.’

  ‘Then give me the power and I will pass it to him,’ she replied.

  ‘As you wish, Druidess. Hold my hand.’ And he began singing for power.

  The power song had not been sung in a fight in living memory, and as the warriors heard it they joined in slowly, unfamiliar with the words. To Miranda it was as if she was lying on the beach in the sun. However, rather than basking in its warmth, the sun was rapidly approaching Miranda. It quickly grew hotter and hotter until it became like a furnace.

  Miranda shouted to Aquitain through their mindlink, ‘Tain I have power for you, my love.’

  Aquitain looked at Miranda’s sprit aura and saw that it was brilliant and getting brighter.

  ‘By the Powers, you’ll kill yourself, Mandy. Let me into your mind.’

  ‘Take me. I’m yours my love,’ she replied.

  He created a thick illusory fog around his Tower of Will and escaped out the side opposite the Cat Lord. He gently thrust into Miranda’s mind and found it open and yielding to his ingression. It was an inferno of gusting power looking for an explosive escape. He searched for the core of her mind and found, it hot like a pebble that lay in the sun on a brilliant summers day.
He enveloped it like a cool hand, drawing heat from the pebble and shielding it in a cool shade.

  Miranda’s mind felt as her body would after laying too long on a hot, sandy beach. She was drowsy and couldn’t find the energy to move into the shade. It was just too hot. When Aquitain slid into her mind it was like a lover coming into her body. She welcomed him openly and completely. His mind felt like a cool breeze blowing over her on a hot summer day, and when he enveloped the core of her mind it was like her body had been immersed in a cool, frothy wave.

  She imagined herself floating in the warm shallow water off the beach where they had first met, and he lay with her with his arms tightly wrapped around her protecting her from any danger. It was a beautiful, blissful dream that she didn’t want to end.

  Aquitain created an energy channel from her mind to his and began drawing power to relieve the maelstrom from her mind. He imagined himself as a bear just outside his Tower of Will. A green beam of energy shone on him and he soaked it up, like a dry sponge soaking up water. Soon his imaginary bear figure was throbbing with power, and he heard the imaginary Cat Lord closing on him in the fog.

  ‘I have you now,’ it said gleefully, but stopped dead in its tracks when it saw him.

  ‘Be gone,’ he yelled. ‘You have no power over me now. Your people are protecting me. Leave me and don’t come back.’

  ‘I’ll go,’ it said. ‘It seems you’ve won this round, but we will meet again and perhaps you will do my bidding then. You can no longer use my body.’ And it vanished.

  Aquitain cleared the fog around his Tower of Will and imagined he saw an old man dressed as a wizard. It was undecided about whether to attack or run. So he charged at it and bowled it over, then instantly turned into a Logicon-like slime and flowed over the wizard image, completely enveloping it. Erastius capitulated.

  ‘You have me again, bear. I see that you’ve discovered the power of the little people. Are you going to enslave me again? I think I would prefer death to the nothingness of forever waiting to be called to do some trivial, magic stunt.’