Ceceta was horrified by the way her husband looked. Doing her best to smile, she said, “Yes, Rhen, it’s me.”
The room was filled with a disturbing, crunching sound as Rhen turned from the Surpen God of War, back into his elfin form. He looked horrible. His skin had turned green, his fingers and toes had claws, his upper and lower teeth protruded from his mouth in sharp fangs, his pupils were red, a long, thick, green tail stuck out of his back and his hair and beard were uneven, as if someone had chopped at them months ago with a knife. Rhen was wearing a filthy military uniform that was stained and ripped, and an unholy odor wafted from his body, filling the room with a stench so foul it made their noses run.
“His collar,” Ngi said quietly beside Bosternd. The blue collar that had been around Rhen’s neck while he was an animal, had shrunk in size to accommodate his elfin form. The prongs within it bit deep into his flesh, causing blood to seep down his throat.
Everyone was stunned at the sight of him. No one had known that he could change back into his elfin form.
“You look tired my love,” Ceceta told him.
“I… I… I thought you were dead,” Rhen said. He stepped back and forth, bobbing his head up and down. Rhen’s breathing was still labored and shallow and it was clearly an effort for him to speak. “After Milow I… I got sick with this, this, this, this virus. It… It changed me into this,” Rhen told Ceceta. “I… I… I c… couldn’t leave my bed, n… not even to go to t… t.. the b… b… bathroom. When, when, when they told me you were d… d… dead, I… I t... t... t... tried t... t... to g… g… get up t... t... to g… g… go t... t... to you. I… I c… c… couldn’t move.” Out of breath, Rhen dropped his head down to try to get the air he needed.
“I know love. I’m sorry,” Ceceta told him. “Things got out of hand, but now everything’s going to be okay.”
“Kill Ceceta,” Andres bellowed at his soldiers.
Bosternd motioned for his men to stop. They were done taking orders from Andres. Rhen had shown himself. He had stopped for Ceceta. Bosternd was putting his faith in Rhen.
“I said kill Ceceta,” Andres yelled. He reached out and struck the Surpen soldier standing closest to him. The soldier refused to move. Andres lifted his hand to strike the man again, but Loreth caught his arm. “Look,” Loreth said, pointing at Rhen who had started to shake. “Order Rhen to do it again.”
“Rhen, kill Ceceta,” Andres demanded.
Rhen shook his head, fighting against his father’s order. His eyes darted back and forth and he took an unsteady step forward towards Ceceta, as if he were going to follow his father’s demands. The Thestrans could see the battle going on inside of him, and they realized they were on their own. With nothing to lose, they lunged forward towards Andres and his advisor. Andres fell to the ground as James hit him with his powers. Loreth blasted his powers about the room, killing people at random, before turning his energy blasts on Rhen. He shot Rhen in the shoulder, throwing him clear across the room.
Ceceta ran towards her wounded husband screaming, “Help him, help him, help him, help him,” over and over again.
The people around Ceceta gave her confused looks. They couldn’t figure out who was she yelling at?
Suddenly, a shimmering, misty image of the Black Angel swooped into the room. He flew over to Ceceta and gave her something. “The key to his collar,” the Angel said. “Remove it and he will heal.” The Angel disappeared as quickly as he had arrived.
Ceceta took the key and removed Rhen’s blue collar. A moment later, Rhen healed the wound in his shoulder. He was still affected by the virus in his blood, but the potion that Andres had injected into his body was now out of system.
Rhen rose to his feet and ran down the stairs towards Loreth.
Laughing, Loreth threw a power blast in Rhen’s direction. Rhen put his arms up and blocked the blast with a power shield. “Do you really think you can stop me?” Loreth asked as he threw another power ball at Rhen.
Rhen dodged Loreth’s blast and threw his own power ball. Loreth flew up over it laughing. “Try this on for size,” he said, pulling together a purple power ball. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the glowing ball towards Rhen.
Rhen poured every ounce of his strength into his shield. It glowed so white, that everyone, except for Loreth, had to shade their eyes. Loreth’s purple powers hit the shield and dissipated. “Damn it!” Loreth shouted. He flew up towards the ceiling, surveying the room.
“Save me!” Andres screeched, from where he was cowering behind a burning chair.
Loreth glanced in his direction and sneered. Using his powers, Loreth lifted Andres up into the air. The Thestrans watched with surprise as Loreth proceeded to use his purple powers to form a noose around Andres’ neck. Andres dangled in front of them helplessly as the noose cut off his air. His face turned red and then blue.
Rhen threw a blast of his white powers at his father’s advisor to stop the man, but Loreth evaded his efforts.
Just as Andres was beginning to lose consciousness, Loreth hissed, “No, that’s too easy a way for you to die.” His purple powers flashed out towards Andres. The King cried out in pain before being thrown through the Council Chamber’s ceiling.
“Dad!” Rhen screamed.
“Too late,” Loreth said mockingly. “I’ve sent him into the TUB.”
“No,” Rhen howled, imagining his father’s slow, painful death in the TUB. He threw up his hands and sent an enormous power blast at Loreth that exploded in the man’s face. The blast blew off most of the Council Chamber’s roof. There was a quick flash of purple right before Rhen’s powers incinerated Loreth.
Rhen dropped to his knees. His body shuddered as he released himself, turning back into the Surpen God of War. “Dad,” he whispered into the roar of the remaining fires. He couldn’t believe his Dad was gone. Visions of his father teaching him how to hold a sword and cut his meat flashed in his mind. He would never ride Beasts with his Dad again. His heart ached at the loss and he wished he hadn’t fought against his Dad the last time he’d seen him. He hated Loreth for convincing his Dad to attack Thestran. If only he’d been able to hurt Loreth as much as Loreth had hurt him. The man’s death had been too quick.
When Rhen turned towards Bosternd, he found his friend, as well as the other Surpen soldiers, bowing before him. He had forgotten. With his Dad gone, he was now the Emperor of Surpen. Rhen snorted, blowing a blast of steam into the air and rose to his feet. The Surpens in the room rose with him. Before he could say anything, they cheered. Banging their swords against their armor to honor their new king.
Rhen shook his head. He would have to mourn the loss of his Dad another time. His first responsibility was to heal Surpen and to do that he needed to go home.
Turning to his right, Rhen found James standing beside his desk. “I’m sorry,” Rhen told him. He lifted his taloned foot and James flinched. “No,” Rhen said, shaking his head. “I just want to.” It was too hard to explain, so Rhen just did it.
James’ was astonished when Rhen pointed his talons into the air and the Council Chamber’s roof flew back into place. “How?” he began, but Rhen turned away. He pointed his claws towards the back wall and James could hear crunching sounds in the distance. Glancing down at his monitor, he saw his castle being repaired. The Second and Fourth Wings of the castle were now standing and the ammunitions hangars had stopped smoking.
“I’ve replaced the weapons that we destroyed when we blew up your munitions,” Rhen said turning back to his brother.
“How?” James asked.
Rhen shrugged. He didn’t want to talk about his powers. “Would you like me to heal anyone?”
James glanced around the Chamber at the stunned expressions on the Thestrans’ faces. “No,” he told Rhen. “I think we’ll be okay. We can heal our own.”
Rhen nodded and lifted his snout. He blinked his eyes as a memory of his Dad giving him his very first saddle flashed in his mind.
“Rhen,�
�� James said hesitantly. “Are you conquering us?”
Rhen turned his red eyes to James. “No.” He watched his brother’s shoulders drop in relief. “I could never run this place as well as you do,” he added, with a grin.
James laughed haltingly, his eyes on Rhen’s fangs.
“I have no desire to conquer the Universe,” Rhen added. “That was Loreth’s ambition. Unfortunately, he convinced my Dad to go along with him. I’m sorry that Surpen has caused you so much pain. It’s not our way.” Rhen turned towards Bosternd to find him beaming. “We will return the spoils of war that my Dad took and release the planets that wish to be free. I will send men to Sastar to buy back the slaves that my Dad sold to their government.”
“That will cost you a lot,” Kate remarked by Henry’s side.
Rhen turned his gaze on her. Kate thought he might turn away and talk to James, but he said, “It will, but it must be done, Kate.” She felt her heart ache with pride. Rhen was going to turn Surpen around. They’d won the war after all.
Lifting his snout to James, Rhen said, “If there’s nothing else, we’ll be off.”
“Rhen,” James said, stepping forward. “We won’t hold Andres’ actions against you. You’re innocent in our eyes. Also, Rachel has found an antidote to the virus in your system. Why don’t you stay on Thestran and we will heal you?” He didn’t want Rhen returning to Surpen just yet. He wanted to keep an eye on his little brother. Everything had happened so fast, the Universe needed time to recover.
“An antidote?” Rhen asked. “Really?” James nodded. Rhen dropped his reptilian head downward to consider James’ words. “Yes,” he said, lifting his eyes to meet James’. “That would be good, but first I must go home to Surpen. There’s a lot that I need to take care of on my planet. Later, I will seek out Rachel for this antidote.”
James hesitated before dipping his head in Rhen’s direction. “Spoken like a true King.” He didn’t like Rhen’s decision, but he knew he would’ve done the same thing.
“If you find you need help healing your wounded, let me know,” Rhen said.
“We will, thank you.”
Rhen turned towards Ceceta. “Are you… are you…” he wanted to ask her to return to Surpen with him, but he wasn’t sure how she felt about him. A lot had happened over the last year.
“I’m coming my love,” Ceceta said. She rushed down the stairs to be by his side.
Rhen sighed and turned to Tgonar, who had entered the Council Chamber with his army in time to see Rhen destroy Loreth. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
“When I heard you had opened a connection from Surpen to Thestran, I knew I had to come. It’s been too long since I’ve seen my son.”
Rhen frowned at Tgonar’s words. He would never see his Dad again. Without responding, he transported his military force back to Surpen.
“No way,” Charlie laughed out. “How does he do that?”
Before Tgfhi could make his way down to his waiting father, Erfce grabbed his arm. “Hey, I guess the Black Angel saved the day.”
“But he wasn’t the same,” Latsoh said beside them.
“No,” Erfce agreed. “It was like he was a ghost, as if he had died and come back.”
Tgfhi was confused by what had happened. He and his friends knew the Black Angel was Rhen; so if that was the case, who had just impersonated the Angel? Turning, he saw his father waiting for him at the bottom of the steps, arms open. It was over. Rhen had stopped Andres. Tgfhi ran down the stairs into his father’s embrace. He would deal with the question of the Black Angel another day. Today, they would celebrate.
Chapter 33
Surpen Palace
“I just heard that Rhen has removed all of Debrino’s Codes,” James told his family, sitting down to join them at the dinner table a week after their battle with Surpen.
“That’s amazing,” Henry said. “I didn’t think that would happen in my lifetime.”
“We did well with Rhen,” Kate said. “He’s taken on many of our Thestran ways. Freeing his father’s prisoners and returning all of the captured Kings and Queens to their thrones, is exactly what we would have done. He’s definitely following in our footsteps.”
Reed chuckled. “Yeah, I’m not so sure about that Mom. Every planet that he’s freed has pledged itself back to Surpen. You may think he’s being ‘Thestran’, but I think he’s just being clever.”
Kate stiffened. “He’s not that clever. If he was, he would’ve returned for Rachel’s antidote. He’s making many of our allies nervous, staying in his present form.”
“All in due time Mom,” James told her.
Three months later, Rhen sat down on his back haunches next to Ceceta on the balcony of the Surpen Palace. When he had returned to Surpen, after his battle with the Thestrans, he had offered his mother the throne. Her role as Surpen’s Opposition Leader had helped the country fight against Loreth’s influences and Rhen felt he owed his mother, but Orpel was content to sit on the sidelines. Her only request was that he keep her involvement a secret and he remove the restrictions placed on women, which he did at once.
“It’s been three months,” Ceceta told Rhen, interrupting his thoughts. She reached out to pat her husband’s thick neck. “I think it’s time for us to visit Rachel.” Rhen nodded but didn’t respond. “I miss you,” she told him, her fingers dancing across his scales.
A crunching sound filled the air as Rhen changed back into his elfin form. He pulled Ceceta up into his body. His skin and claws hurt her, but she remained quiet. She didn’t want to frighten him. Rhen had been acting odd around her ever since they had returned to Surpen. This unexpected show of affection on his part was rare for him these days.
After Rhen had gotten Surpen under control, the two of them had argued in private about Ceceta’s role in tricking Rhen into believing she had died. Rhen had been angry with her. Ceceta had assured him that, at the time, she hadn’t had any other choice, but Rhen had disagreed.
Ceceta kissed Rhen on his bearded cheek, fighting against her gag reflux. He spent most of his time in his beastly form and still hadn’t cleaned himself up yet. Rhen looked and smelled disgusting in his elfin body. Trying not to make a face, Ceceta breathed in the smell of old urine and rotten blood. By chance, Rhen’s eyes were closed, so he missed seeing her displeasure at being held by him.
Closing her own eyes, Ceceta concentrated on listening to Rhen’s beating heart. This was the first time he had held her in his arms since the war had begun. It was hard to believe they had survived the King’s wrath and come out on top. Loreth had hurt both of them for so long that neither of them felt safe anymore.
“Okay,” Rhen said quietly. He kissed Ceceta on the top of her head.
“Okay what?” Nk asked, walking out onto the balcony to join them.
Rhen released Ceceta and turned back into his beast like form.
When they had returned to Surpen, they had found Nk partially healed by the Black Angel. Even though it was Rhen, who had finished healing him, the only thing Nk could talk about these days was the fact that he had met the Black Angel. Tgfhi had been rather interested in Nk’s ‘Angel’ meeting, and during Rhen’s coronation, he had grilled Nk without mercy about his experience, until Tgonar had told him to be quiet or leave.
“Hey,” Rhen said, greeting Nk. “Ceceta said it was time to go to Thestran for the antidote and I agreed.”
“No, really?” Nk asked with sarcasm as Bosternd and Authe wandered out onto the balcony to join them. “You mean you don’t want to look like a lizard for the rest of your life?”
“I thought I looked like a dragon,” Rhen said, feeling slightly offended by his friend’s comment.
“Lizard,” Nk said.
“Surpen Beast of War,” Bosternd said.
“Worm,” Authe said, making everyone laugh.
“Do you want us to come with you?” Bosternd asked, patting Rhen’s shoulder.
“No,” Rhen said. “But, thank you for the
offer. Everything is still too raw. I don’t want to leave Surpen unattended. Stay here to keep the peace. You can meet with me in the Thestran’s castle whenever you have questions.”
“How long will it take them to give Rhen the antidote?” Nk asked Ceceta. The ban on speaking to women had been lifted, so Ceceta was free to speak to whomever she wished.
“Six days. There are six injections, one for each day,” Ceceta told them. “I don’t know how long it will take for the injections to work after they give them to him.”
“Probably not long,” Bosternd said. “We know from Rachel’s analysis of that black stuff Aul was making you drink that it was hurting your healing powers. You should heal quickly now that you no longer drink it.”
Rhen stiffened at the sound of Aul’s name. Aul had blackmailed Rhen into drinking Loreth’s black mixture, after he had seen Rhen release the Milowian prisoners. When Rhen had returned to Surpen after his battle with the Thestrans, he had wanted to punish Aul for his part in turning him into a beast. Rhen was positive that Aul was working for Loreth. But, upon his return, Rhen had found Aul and Narseth missing. No one seemed to know where they were.
“Yeah,” Rhen said. “This whole thing has been a nightmare. I’m glad it’s over.” Ceceta placed her hand on his side. Rhen turned to face her. “Ceceta is right. It’s time for the antidote. We need to get on with our lives.”
Later that day, Bosternd found Ceceta alone in the Throne Room writing a letter to one of her school friends. “Um, Ceceta. Could I speak with you, please?” he called out to her as she stood up to leave the room.
Ceceta chuckled and moved back to her seat. “Old habits die hard, I guess,” she told him. “I was just about to leave the room for you.”
“Yes,” Bosternd said, sitting down in a chair beside her. “It’s going to take all of us some time to adjust.” He paused and pulled at his uniform for a minute before continuing, “Ceceta, there were several things that happened on Thestran that I didn’t understand. I need you to explain them to me.”
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