Tgfhi looked out the window at the stone driveway and side gardens that led up to his palace and froze. It appeared that this was where the Surpen and Tgarian soldiers had made their stand against the Rasacks. There were broken bodies everywhere. A few of the Rasacks were standing around the battlefield, eating the dead soldiers.
The Rasacks ignored the Black Angel as he pointed over at their ships. They had no intention of leaving. Lowering their heads, they ripped into the human bodies at their hooves.
Tgfhi watched with satisfaction as the Black Angel froze the Rasacks standing on the front lawn of his palace then tossed them back towards their ships.
Once the Rasack Commander had been released from the Black Angel’s powers, Tgfhi could hear him shouting, “No! We aren’t leaving! We killed their King. Tgarus is ours!”
The Black Angel ignored the Rasack Commander’s declaration and pointed his finger at the Rasacks’ ships. He used his powers to fire the spacejets’ engines in preparation for departure.
“No!” the Rasack Commander protested, stomping his front right hoof. “Tgarus is ours!”
Suddenly, Tgfhi found himself standing beside the Black Angel in front of the Rasack Commander. The Black Angel pointed at him and then at the ground. Tgfhi watched as the Commander swished the purple tip on the end of his tail as he considered the Black Angel’s gestures.
“The King’s son?” the Rasack Commander asked a moment later. The Black Angel nodded once bringing a smile to the Commander’s scaly mouth. He lunged for Tgfhi, his jaws wide open.
Instinctually, Tgfhi ducked down when he saw the four-inch long fangs heading towards him. He needn’t have worried, though, because the Black Angel killed the Rasack Commander before he could make contact. Tgfhi watched as the Commander’s body dropped onto the grass at his feet with a thud. He stood up, his heart pounding, as he berated himself for not using his new powers to fight. His first reaction had been to flee.
Glancing around him at the other Rasacks, Tgfhi saw that they were all dead. The Black Angel must’ve killed the entire troop when he’d stopped their Commander. Tgfhi shook his head. He couldn’t imagine how much power that must’ve taken.
Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, Tgfhi said, “Thank you! You saved us! You’re amazing!” He felt weird having to pretend that he didn’t know who the Black Angel was, but he knew this charade was important to Rhen, so he continued. “We’d all be slaves if it wasn’t for you.”
The Black Angel turned away from Tgfhi as he continued to express his gratitude. Rhen walked through the battlefield, glancing left and right at the dead. He was furious with himself for letting this happen. He should’ve been here to stop it. If only the Genisters had told him.
Rhen was so tired of the Genisters. They were always offering to help, but never following through. He was going to have to give them a piece of his mind the next time he saw them. Stopping at a particularly bloody section of the garden, Rhen glanced down at his feet. There, lying on what had once been a patch of yellow daisies was Tgonar. He’d been ripped into pieces and bitten repeatedly by the Rasacks.
Tgfhi had been walking along behind Rhen, rambling on about how evil the Rasacks were and how awesome it was to finally get a chance to meet his hero. He stopped beside Rhen to see what he was staring at and his eyes fell on his father’s mutilated body. Tgfhi screamed and fell to his knees. He crawled over to pick up his father’s head then reached out for his father’s right arm and a chunk of his father’s rib cage. Pulling them in towards his body, he sobbed, “Please! Save my father!” Tgfhi looked up at the Black Angel. “Please, Rhen. I’m begging you!”
The Black Angel jumped with surprise as Tgfhi called him by his name. He hadn’t realized that Tgfhi knew who he was. He turned and looked around, to make sure that no one else had heard. Fortunately, no one was near them. Sitting down beside Tgfhi, Rhen took in Tgonar’s body. It wouldn’t be easy for him to bring Tgonar back to life. A person who’d been poisoned and mutilated as much as Tgonar had would be very hard to restore. He had barely been able to heal himself when he’d been bitten by a Rasack years ago, and that had been just one bite. To heal someone who’d been bitten as many times as Tgonar had would mean that he’d have to break the rules he lived by. He’d have to use his full powers. The Genisters had told him he wasn’t allowed to use his blue power, but maybe, if he did, he could heal Tgonar.
Rhen bit his lip behind the scarf that covered his face as he considered the ramifications of what he was about to do. Would he be able to heal Tgonar? He sure hoped so, because the Genisters were going to kill him when they found out he’d tapped into his blue powers.
Rhen glanced about the sky. There weren’t any Genisters on Tgarus. Perhaps, if he did it quickly, he could use his full powers without anyone finding out.
Tgfhi was crying beside him. Rhen’s heart went out to him. He knew just how Tgfhi felt. Rhen decided to do it. He’d tap into his full powers and pray that they were strong enough to heal Tgonar. After all, Tgfhi was his best friend. “Okay Tgfhi,” Rhen whispered. “Don’t worry. I’ll try to bring him back to life.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Tgfhi sobbed, while handing Rhen his father’s head.
A group of Tgarians approached them as the Black Angel pulled all of the pieces of Tgonar’s body that he could find towards him so that they rested around where he was sitting on the grass. Rhen placed one of his hands on Tgonar’s head and the other on Tgonar’s mutilated chest. A moment later, a blue light poured out from behind the Black Angel’s sunglasses as his hands glowed bright blue.
Tgfhi watched as the blue light that was flowing out of Rhen’s hands quickly healed Tgonar’s wounds. It reattached his appendages and stitched together his organs. Once Tgonar’s body was whole, the blue light concentrated itself within Tgonar, working to remove the Rasacks’ poisons. Tgonar cried out in pain as the blue light radiated within him. Rhen felt bad about hurting his friend’s father, but there was nothing he could do about it. All of his energy was focused on removing the poisons within Tgonar. Rhen hoped his powers were strong enough to do it.
Just when Tgfhi was about to yell at Rhen to stop because he couldn’t take the sound of his father’s screaming anymore. Tgonar fell silent. Tgfhi watched as the blue light that had surrounded his father retreated back into Rhen’s hands.
Rhen pulled his blue powers back into his body, tucking them away deep inside his soul. He didn’t know how he’d done it, but he had. Tgonar was free from the Rasacks’ poisons. He sure hoped the Genisters wouldn’t realize what he’d done. Lifting his hands off Tgonar, Rhen rose to his feet.
Tgfhi leaned over to help his father sit up. Tgonar’s mouth was open in astonishment as he gently touched his face, his neck and his body in disbelief.
"Thank you!" Tgfhi cried out to the Black Angel before pulling his father in for a hug. He couldn’t believe Rhen had saved his dad.
“Yes,” Tgonar said. He looked up, over Tgfhi’s bent head, at the Black Angel. “Thank you for giving me back my life. But… how did you do it? I was already in the time beyond.”
The Black Angel didn’t answer. Instead, he turned away. He had more to do before he could leave. He loved Tgarus and he wasn’t going to leave it like this. Swinging his hands about in the air, the Black Angel sent his powers out over the city, extinguishing the fires and restoring the buildings.
While the Black Angel worked to fix Tgarus, Bosternd and his most trusted generals, along with seven battalions of Surpen soldiers, ran out of Surpen’s Tgarian Headquarters. “Tgfhi, Tgonar, are you alright?” Bosternd asked, when he reached them.
“Yes,” Tgfhi said. “How did you know we were being attacked?”
“Jet contacted me,” Bosternd told him, as his troops ran off in different directions to help the Tgarians.
Bosternd was just turning towards the Black Angel to see if he needed assistance, when his eyes caught sight of a purple swirl in the air above him. The color of the purple
lights inside the swirl matched those of Loreth’s. Before Bosternd’s mind could register what was happening, a Genister, wearing traditional black Genister clothing, flew out of it. “Hell,” Bosternd cursed, when he realized the Genister above him was Therol. He’d never seen Therol before, because Therol had only ever met in private with King Andres, but he knew from the Rasacks’ that Therol’s Genister color was purple. What he hadn’t realized before was that it was the same purple color as Loreth’s. Every Genister had their own signature color. No two Genisters matched — which meant that Loreth and Therol were the same person.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are, Themrock,” Therol sang over the palace’s grounds.
Therol’s purple vortex dissipated just before the Black Angel looked up at him. Rhen glanced up at the Genister in the sky and realized he’d never seen this particular Genister before. He wasn’t sure what the man was talking about, but he didn’t want to wait around to find out in case he was there to punish Rhen for using his full powers. He needed to fix as much of Tgarus as possible before Thellis arrived. Walking towards Tgonar’s palace, he got back to work, using his powers to remove the dead and repair the damage that had occurred during the battle against the Rasacks.
“Don’t ignore me!” Therol shouted. “You can’t turn your back on me this time. You used your true powers. I felt them.” He pulled his Genister loop off his belt and spun it in the air beside him. It enlarged in size, until it was five feet across in diameter. The loop hummed and vibrated as it spun. An array of bright, colorful lights began to flash within it as its magic commenced.
“We need to get the Black Angel out of here!” Bosternd shouted to his men. “Go!”
“No,” a voice said behind him.
Bosternd turned to see who had spoken. His eyes widened with fear and he stepped backwards when he found Hell’s red Genister hovering not more than two feet behind him. Thaster's translucent, red body shimmered as he gazed up at Therol, who was working his loop.
The Surpen soldiers stood frozen in terror at the sight of Hell’s King standing amongst them.
At the sound of Thaster’s voice, the Black Angel turned around. Rhen knew he couldn’t defeat Thaster in Hell, but he could definitely hurt him in this dimension.
“Get on with it!” Thaster barked at Thellis, when the Black Angel started to walk towards him.
Therol spoke in Genister, saying Themrock’s name a few times, while gesticulating towards the humming loop with his hands. Suddenly, he yelled, “Themrock!” and there was a bright blue flash of light within the ring that blinded everyone for a second.
“Get the Black Angel out of here!” Bosternd screamed, his eyes squinting against the light as he ran towards the Black Angel.
Thaster ignored Bosternd’s attempt to rescue Rhen, because just as Bosternd reached the Black Angel, Therol’s Genister loop did its trick and the Black Angel’s clothes fell to the ground as the man who was in them rose up into the loop.
As he lifted up into the Genister loop, Rhen’s physical appearance changed. He now had shoulder length, dark brown hair, a short beard and blue, glowing eyes. He was also dressed in the Genisters’ traditional black clothing.
Rhen realized it was useless for him to fight the Genister loop, so he remained still as his body dangled in the air, caught amongst the loop’s flashing lights, his arms pressed tightly against his sides.
“Nice job,” Thaster said with appreciation. He floated up into the air beside Therol on a red cloud. “Yes, well done.”
“What exactly do you want?” Rhen asked him, annoyed. He hoped that no one on the ground could see him. He didn’t want the Black Angel’s identity to get out. He’d only just begun to save people again.
“Silly boy. I thought by now that’d be obvious. I want you dead,” Thaster replied, his red powers flaring with delight.
“Well, you certainly can’t do anything to me if I’m pinned in here,” Rhen told him in Surpen. “You might as well release me so we can get on with it.”
“Crap,” Thaster hissed.
“What’s the matter?” Therol asked, turning towards him.
“You didn’t do it right,” Thaster snapped. He swung his translucent, red hand in the air towards Therol. “You’re an idiot! You’re completely incompetent!”
“What?” Therol asked. He glanced back at Rhen. He couldn’t figure out what Thaster was complaining about. Themrock was caught within his loop. They’d finally succeeded. “What do you mean I didn’t do it right? We captured him!”
“Do you know who you are?” Thaster asked Rhen, his red form floating closer to the spinning loop. He hoped his assumption was wrong.
“Yes,” Rhen replied. “I know who I am. Do you know who I am?”
Thaster turned on Therol with anger. He was tempted to kill the purple Genister. “I was right,” he hissed. “He doesn’t know who he is. You screwed up! You called his body to the loop, but not his mind. You still don’t have him. He’s useless to us like this.”
Therol’s mouth dropped open as he stared at Rhen. Somehow, he’d captured Themrock’s body in the loop, but not his mind. Themrock’s mind was still closed inside of Rhen’s body. The loop hadn’t forced Rhen into full consciousness. According to Genister law, Themrock’s mortal body was untouchable as long as his conscious mind was separated. Until Rhen realized he was Themrock, neither Therol nor Thaster could touch him.
Six rotating swirls of varying colors of light appeared in the sky above Therol. Genisters, dressed in traditional black clothing, flew out of the swirls into the Tgarian sky, as the Tgarians and Surpens standing on the ground below them cried out in wonder.
Rhen was just as surprised by the Genisters’ appearance as the people on the ground. The Genisters had never shown themselves in public before. He hoped they were there because of Thaster and not because he’d used his full powers.
“Are you two breaking the rules again?” a Genister with gold powers asked conversationally, while flying by Thaster’s glowing red form. She left a golden trail of light in her wake.
“It looks like they are, sister,” another Genister replied. She crisscrossed her sister’s gold path in the sky with her silver trail.
“Yes indeed,” agreed a Genister behind a mask, his ghostly body glowed a sunburst orange color in the Tgarian sky. “They’re definitely breaking the rules.”
“Release him now!” demanded Thellis. His dark green translucent body hovered in the air beside Rhen. Thellis’s green fists were clenched with anger as he stared at Therol and Thaster.
“Well, well, well,” Therol said as a purple power ball formed in the palm of his hand. “Look at all of you. What are you doing here? Are we having a party?”
“Release him, brother,” the Genister who glowed gold demanded. She hovered near Thaster on a golden cloud.
As his siblings kept Therol and Thaster occupied, Thellis dove down towards the ground. He flew up to Bosternd, then paused, using his green powers to make an enormous portal that flickered inside with blue energy. When he was finished, Thellis turned to Bosternd and whispered, “Our exit strategy, in case things go wrong.” Bosternd nodded that he understood as Thellis returned to the sky.
By now, Bosternd had met all of the Genisters. They were always popping into Surpen’s palace to check on Rhen. Although Bosternd had known that Rhen was a Genister, he had had no idea which Genister he was until this moment. Bosternd looked up towards the Genister loop, where Rhen was stuck among bright blue flashing lights. He couldn’t believe it. Rhen was Themrock. He was the big guy! The creator of their Universe! It was hard for Bosternd to believe that Themrock was his King… his friend. He squinted his eyes to try to see Rhen’s face, but the lights in the loop were so bright that they blocked him out.
Thellis was now flying around Thaster repeatedly, making a green tornado around his red form. “Go home, Thaster. You can’t do anything to him. He’s ours.”
With a heavy sigh, Thaster said, “You’re rig
ht.” He raised his hand and wiggled his fingers goodbye at Rhen before vanishing in a flash of red.
Therol yelled after him. “This whole plan was your idea!”
“Give him to us,” the Genister with gold powers ordered. “You know you’ve lost. Even Thaster has admitted defeat.”
“No,” Therol snapped. He wasn’t ready to give up yet. He threw a purple power ball at the masked Genister. As the orange Genister ducked under Therol’s power ball, the Genister beside him threw a silver power ball at Therol in retaliation. Her silver energy hit Therol on his back, surprising him and causing him to fall sideways into the Genister loop that was imprisoning Rhen. The loop sputtered and dropped down towards the ground with amazing speed.
“Themrock!” the Genisters cried out in unison, as they flew after him to save him.
Rhen couldn’t use his powers while he was held within the loop. He was completely vulnerable. The Genisters watched with horror as the loop hit the ground and bounced back up, striking Rhen in the head and knocking him unconscious.
At that moment, everyone in the Universe who had powers lost them, and all of the creatures that were tied to Themrock, including the elves, lost consciousness.
The living Genisters dropped to the ground like rain, while the dead Genisters’ colorful bodies winked out. As the large portal that Thellis had made earlier began to close, Bosternd grabbed Rhen and yelled out to his top generals to take the Black Angel’s clothes as well as the other Genisters through the portal. They threw themselves through the portal just before it closed.
After Bosternd and his men had left, the palace’s grounds were silent.
“The Black Angel is Themrock!” King Tgonar yelled a moment later to the cheers of his people. “Themrock is back!”
The Surpen King_Part 1_Return of the Gods Page 35