Tgfhi’s mouth was dry. His arms and legs felt numb. He should go back to school to check on Rhen. “Dad,” Tgfhi said. Tgonar was speaking with one of his soldiers and didn’t hear him. “Dad,” Tgfhi tried again, when he saw the soldier turn away. “Dad, I have to go back to the University.”
Tgonar raised an eyebrow but waved Tgfhi on when he was approached by some of his advisors.
When Tgfhi reached his palace’s portal, he found it wasn’t working. “Oh, my God,” he whispered to himself. The portals used a blue energy to function. Themrock’s powers were blue. They ran on Themrock’s powers. Tgfhi wouldn’t be able to use his portal again until Themrock was awake. He contemplated returning to the Elfin University in one of his Dad’s spacejets, but after glancing out the window, he noticed that the Tgarian sky was dark with spacejets from all of the Tgarians who were hoping to spread the word about the Black Angel’s return and Themrock. Besides, Tgfhi thought, kicking the bottom molding under the window in frustration, it’d take him most of the day to get to Thestran in a spacejet. He wanted to be there when Rhen woke up.
When Rhen woke up, Tgfhi thought. When Themrock woke up. Tgfhi dropped down to the ground, as the enormity of the day’s events overwhelmed him. Rhen was Themrock. Rhen was Themrock! He couldn’t believe it. He was best friends with a Genister, and not just any Genister, the most powerful Genister in the Universe. The Genister who’d created them. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and if he was this overwhelmed from learning about Rhen’s identity, he couldn’t even imagine how Latsoh was going to react.
Tgfhi wished he was back at the University. He’d love to see Latsoh’s reaction when she found out. She’d probably lie on the ground crying with joy. She’d been praying for Themrock’s return her whole life and now he was back. Tgfhi shook his head. Themrock was back. He reached up to itch his face and realized his cheeks were wet. Blinking his blurry eyes, it occurred to him that he was crying. He was lying on the ground crying. Tgfhi roared with laughter. He was doing exactly what he had thought Latsoh would do.
Outside on the palace’s grounds, Tgonar gazed down at the elfin man lying unconscious at his feet. Bosternd had taken all of the Genisters with him except for this one. Tgonar wasn’t sure what to do with the Genister who’d threatened Themrock. He didn’t have any prisons strong enough to hold the man, and he knew that once the Genister woke up, he’d destroy any building they placed him in. With a nod of his head, Tgonar told his men to carry the Genister off to a nearby, uninhabited planet. “Dump him on the ground and get out of there as fast as you can,” he instructed his soldiers. They didn’t have to be told twice. They wanted nothing to do with the Genister whose powers glowed purple.
Back on Thestran, everything was a mess. Elves were lying on the ground everywhere. The Thestrans rescued those elves that were in danger and carried others to beds or lay them out in rooms. No one knew what had happened and fear permeated the atmosphere. Rachel was working overtime to try to bring them back to consciousness, but nothing seemed to work.
“We haven’t any idea what’s happening,” James snapped at a Delegate, who’d approached him in the Grand Hallway. “Please, help us rescue those individuals who are in danger. We’ll make an announcement about the situation as soon as we know what’s going on.”
When William ran by, James called out to him. “William, would you call Lilly and Jet? Tell them to return to the palace immediately. We need them here to help us with the wounded.”
“Sure,” William said. He jogged upstairs to his room and grabbed one of his older communicators. It was a model that didn’t use Genister power, so it was still working. Flipping it on, he contacted the University’s radio station and had them relay his message to the Headmaster.
Professor Dewey bustled into the student dining hall, where they were laying out the elves. He spotted Lilly hovering over Latsoh’s unconscious body in the center of the room. “They need you back at the palace right away,” he told her.
“Do they know what’s happened?” she asked, as Jet guided her through the unconscious elves towards the door.
“No, not yet. Feel free to take one of our spacejets.”
“Thank you,” Lilly said.
--
An hour later, for no apparent reason, the elves woke up, the portals came back on line and people who had powers found that they could use them again.
Tgfhi slammed the edge of Tgarus’ portal frame with his hand. For the last fifteen minutes, he’d been asking it to open to the Elfin University, but it still wasn’t responding. He was desperate to get back to Rhen. “You’re driving me nuts!” he yelled at the golden frame. Turning, he began to march around the room in a circle shouting, “Open to the Elfin University!” He’d been doing the same thing ever since the power had come back on. If he hadn’t of made it into a game, by using a different voice each time he asked the portal to open, he would’ve gone insane.
Tgfhi did two more circles then dropped his voice to imitate Nk’s, “Open to the Elfin University!” There was a popping sound behind him. He jerked about in time to see the blue powers within the portal frame fade. “Finally!” He jumped through the frame into the Elfin University’s portal room.
Hundreds of students were milling about the room, waiting to use the portal to go home. “Do you know what happened?” a few of them asked him as he dodged around them on his way to the exit. Tgfhi was going to leave without answering their question, but a student he liked, who sat next to him in his meditation class, grabbed his arm. “You were with the Black Angel. What happened? Tell us.”
Tgfhi stopped short. He gazed out at the sea of faces. The students looked afraid. He didn’t want them to be scared. This was the time to rejoice. “The Black Angel saved Tgarus from the Rasacks. We’re safe,” Tgfhi told his friend. He paused, trying to decide what to say next. By now, word of the Black Angel’s identity was all over Surpen’s side of the Universe. It was only a matter of time before it reached the Thestrans’ side. He might as well tell them what had happened.
“The Black Angel is Themrock,” Tgfhi announced. “He was knocked unconscious by another Genister in a battle that occurred after the Rasacks were defeated on Tgarus. As he lost consciousness, we lost our powers and anything tied to Themrock became inoperable.” Tgfhi pulled his arm from the student’s limp fingers. As he ran from the room, he heard the people behind him screaming with joy.
Tgfhi laughed. They had no idea that Themrock was only a short distance away from them right now. Tgfhi picked up his speed. He needed to get to Rhen. He needed to know if he was okay.
Tgfhi ran into Rhen’s apartment and found Crystam, Nk and two other Surpen generals sitting in Rhen’s living room looking stunned. He walked over and peeked into Rhen’s bedroom. Rhen was sitting in a chair, in the middle of his room, with a towel around his shoulders as Ceceta cut his hair. His head was down and his long brown hair covered his face. He was dressed in one of his Surpen tunics and he’d put on his ankle-high trainers. His bright orange socks were just sticking out over the top of them.
Lying about Rhen’s bedroom were the six Genisters Tgfhi had seen in the sky on Tgarus. The room was noisy, because the Genisters were lecturing Rhen. “Listen,” the dark green, ghostly Genister snapped. “For the last time, I don’t care about the fact that he’s your friend. You can’t use your full powers. You’ll be killed by Therol. Don’t you get it?”
Rhen had told Tgfhi that Thellis’s powers were dark green. Tgfhi shook his head. Thellis was the Genister who’d become friends with Rhen on Surpen.
“I had to help Tgonar,” Rhen said through his hair.
“No! You didn’t,” the Genister who glowed silver stated. She tossed a silver power ball the size of a tennis ball into the air and caught it. Tgfhi recognized her from his visit to Surpen. She was the skinny woman who had lots of freckles. “We can’t always be there to protect you, you know. What if he’d killed you? What would’ve happened then?”
Rhen shr
ugged and Ceceta scolded him, pushing down on his head, “Stop moving, love.”
Tgfhi glanced towards the closet and saw Rhen’s Black Angel clothes lying in a pile near the door. A female Genister with turquoise powers was sitting on the ground next to them. Like Thellis, she had an ethereal body. Tgfhi jumped when he noticed that she was staring at him, but there didn't appear to be any eyes in her head.
Clearing her throat, the turquoise Genister caught Thellis’ attention. She jerked her head towards Tgfhi.
The Genister who had gold powers pointed her well-manicured fingertip towards Rhen’s Black Angel clothes and made them fly into his closet, as Thellis flew over towards Tgfhi.
Tgfhi felt himself being pushed backwards out of Rhen’s bedroom by Thellis. When Thellis had closed the bedroom door behind him, he knocked Tgfhi to the ground and wrapped his Genister whip around his throat. “As I’ve already explained to your beautiful fiancée and these Surpen generals,” he told Tgfhi in Tgarian, “what you’ve just witnessed is a secret. Not a secret like, whoops, I told my best friend, but a secret like, if you tell anyone, you’ll die, along with your entire family. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes.” Tgfhi’s throat hurt from Thellis’ whip.
“You understand,” Thellis continued through gritted teeth, “that Rhen doesn’t realize he’s Themrock. This is his choice and we’re protecting him while he relives his life in this mortal shell. Once Themrock releases his memories, he’ll be caught in a constant battle against Therol and Thaster. As long as he remains ignorant, they won’t be able to touch him.” Thellis paused to touch Tgfhi’s shoulder with his hand and Tgfhi felt an aching, coldness seep into his body. “Do you understand what I’m telling you?”
The door to Rhen’s bedroom opened and Bosternd stepped out into the living room. “Okay, Thellis,” Bosternd told the Genister, when he saw Tgfhi shaking on the floor. “That’s enough. Let go of him. He understands the seriousness of this situation.”
“What’s going on out here?” the silver Genister snapped. She marched over to the bedroom door, her silver powers flaring with annoyance.
Rhen followed along behind her to see what was happening. “Oh, hi, Tgfhi,” he said, when he spotted Tgfhi lying on the floor. “How’s your Dad?” Rhen had short hair on one side of his head and long hair on the other. He pointed to his long hair, adding, “See, I told you my hair sometimes grows long for no reason at all.”
Tgfhi smiled up at his friend from where he lay on the ground. He was still feeling chills throughout his entire body as Thellis squeezed his shoulder with his powers. “Yeah, you did,” he said. At the time, of course, Rhen hadn’t mentioned to him the fact that his hair grew long because he was turning into Themrock. “My Dad’s fine. Thanks for saving his life,” Tgfhi added in haste.
“Rhen, come back in here and let me finish,” Ceceta called out. Rhen smiled at Tgfhi and rolled his eyes before returning to his bedroom. The silver Genister followed, closing the door behind her.
Thellis tightened his grip on Tgfhi. “I said… do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Ease off, Thellis,” Bosternd warned the Genister. “As I already told you, they understand the gravity of the situation. They’ll keep their mouths shut.”
“I just want to make sure we won’t have a security risk.”
“You won’t,” Bosternd told him. “Not with this lot. They’re his best friends. Rhen’s safe with them.”
Thellis gave Bosternd a nod and released Tgfhi. He glanced around the room at the others then flew through the wall into Rhen’s bedroom.
Bosternd studied his generals. They’d had no idea that Rhen was the Black Angel, let alone a Genister. Today’s discoveries had left them stunned. “You guys alright?”
Nk nodded slowly.
“Yeah,” the general sitting beside him whispered vaguely as the other general cleared his throat and grunted.
“Good.” Bosternd sighed and leaned his head back against Rhen’s bookcase. “There’s nothing more to do here,” he told them. “Why don’t you return to Tgarus to make sure that everything’s under control? Thellis and I will meet with you later tonight to answer any questions you may have.”
The generals rose and walked towards the door. Nk hesitated in the doorway. He needed something, but he didn’t know what.
“Don’t worry,” Bosternd told his friend. “Rhen’s fine. He’ll be bossing us around within a couple of hours.”
Nk nodded, feeling relieved. “Good,” he said softly.
“And you don’t have to worry about the Genisters. They’re all bark and no bite.”
Nk’s shoulders relaxed. He hadn’t realized, until this moment, how terrified he’d been of them.
“You good?” Bosternd inquired.
“What, me?” Nk asked with his usual grin. “You’ve got to ask? Come on.”
Bosternd smiled and raised two fingers in salute as Nk closed the door behind him.
After the Surpens had left, Bosternd turned to face Tgfhi and Crystam. They sat on Rhen’s couch, holding hands and gazing off into space. “Drink?” he asked, pushing off from the bookcase.
“No,” Tgfhi said. “We’re fine.”
Bosternd hesitated then leaned back against the bookcase. “You’re doing remarkably well. When I first found out, I passed out.” When neither of them responded, Bosternd tried again. “It’s quite a secret, isn’t it?”
“Oh, God!” Crystam gasped. “Themrock, my God, is in the next room.”
Bosternd studied Crystam’s face. Her blue eyes looked strained and her lips were thin. “I gave Thellis my word that you’d be able to keep quiet on this. I hope I wasn’t mistaken.”
“We won’t say anything,” Tgfhi reassured him, pulling Crystam in closer to his body.
It was obvious that Tgfhi and Crystam were having a hard time. Bosternd wanted to make sure they’d be alright when Rhen came out of his bedroom. The last thing he needed was for one of Rhen’s friends to tell him he was Themrock. Glancing into Jet’s apartment, Bosternd tried again to get them to talk. “I had wanted to tell Jet about Rhen, so he could protect him properly, but obviously, I couldn’t. You’ve been watching Jet here at the school. Do you think he can handle the situation?” Neither Tgfhi nor Crystam said anything, so Bosternd tried again. “I never knew the elves were tied directly to Themrock. Thellis just told me that they were the first people Themrock created. At the time he wasn’t sure if they could live on their own, so he didn’t give them complete autonomy like he did with the rest of us.”
Crystam and Tgfhi stared at a spot on the wall next to Rhen’s bedroom door. Bosternd sighed. He needed to give them more time. Pushing off from the bookcase, he walked into Rhen’s kitchen, pulled a pitcher of blood out of the refrigerator and poured himself a drink. He’d like to get Tgfhi and Crystam talking. He needed to know that they were going to be okay. Placing his glass in the sink, he returned to the living room and said, “Tgfhi, you seemed fine earlier. I guess Thellis freaked you out? You shouldn’t worry about him. As long as you keep Rhen’s secret, he won’t bother you.” When Bosternd saw Tgfhi close his eyes and lean back into the couch, he knew the boy was coming around. “So, tell me, what happened on Tgarus before we showed up?”
Tgfhi lifted his head. He couldn’t understand why Bosternd kept talking. Clearing his throat, he said, “Rhen took me to Tgarus as the Black Angel. When we arrived, we found that the Rasacks had defeated both of our armies.”
Bosternd nodded. “We’re putting more troops on Tgarus. It won’t happen again.”
“Thanks,” Tgfhi said. He ran a hand across his face. “Rhen tried to get the Rasacks to leave, but they wouldn’t, so he killed them. Then…” Tgfhi shuddered as he remembered what had happened next. “My Dad. My Dad had been torn to pieces. I asked the Black Angel to bring him back to life and he did with his blue powers. Right after that, Therol and Thaster arrived.”
“And the rest I know,” Bosternd said. He stretched and rolled
his shoulders back. It seemed Tgfhi was going to be alright. “I certainly wasn’t expecting my day to end like this.” Lifting up a textbook that was lying on the coffee table, he examined its spine before putting it back down. “Thanks for filling me in, and don’t feel bad about causing this whole thing. It was bound to happen eventually. You can’t keep a secret like this hidden forever.”
“Causing the whole thing?” Tgfhi asked in a small voice as he looked up at Bosternd.
“Yes,” Bosternd said hesitantly, realizing he’d made a mistake. “It’s not your fault.”
“What are you talking about?” Crystam asked.
“Rhen told us that he had to use his full powers to bring Tgfhi’s father back to life. By now, you’ve noticed that each Genister has their own signature color. Well, Themrock’s powers are blue. Therol could sense Themrock using his powers. But, as I just said, it’s not Tgfhi’s fault. Rhen decided to save Tgonar’s life on his own. Tgfhi didn’t make him do it.”
“Oh, God,” Tgfhi moaned, dropping his head into his hands. He’d almost killed Themrock.
Bosternd felt guilty. “Tgfhi, it’s not your fault.”
Tgfhi shook his head. He didn’t want to hear it. Bosternd was just trying to make him feel better. The reality was that he’d almost killed Themrock.
Realizing Tgfhi wanted some space, Bosternd moved over into Jet’s apartment to give him the time he needed.
A few minutes later, Tgfhi was staring numbly at Rhen’s bookcase while feeling awash in guilt when he thought he saw something move. Squinting, he peered at the books on the second shelf. There. Something moved behind Ceceta’s history book. Waiting patiently, he studied the open space between her Women in Interuniversal Politics book and Math book. Tgfhi jumped when he caught sight of a small, red man about six inches high with red wings, black hair and a long tail walking across the shelf.
“What?” Crystam asked.
“There’s a small, red man on the bookshelf.”
“Oh, no,” Crystam groaned. She got up and walked over to Rhen and Ceceta’s bedroom door then knocked repeatedly until the Genister with gold powers opened it.
The Surpen King_Part 1_Return of the Gods Page 36