Starblazer- Through the Black Gate

by Reiter

  “I’m curious,” Stewart replied. “How does a blind man see a facial expression?”

  “You could say a little bird told me,” Freund replied as he walked around to stand in front of the young man. Stewart glanced up at the old, blind entity and suddenly looked around as if he was listening out for something.

  “No,” Freund said as nearly every bird within his earshot fell dead. “It wasn’t any of those.” Freund extended his senses to the fallen creatures. As he expected, there was nothing of their life-force to restore, and he quickly teleported their bodies to his castle.

  “Hey, that was swift,” Stewart smiled, turning to look at the one bird that was still perched on a tree limb. “I guess that’s the bird you spoke of. Hello, Lark.” A precision beam of pure energy fired from the bird’s eyes only to hit the back of Freund’s blocking hand. “And he’s quick too,” Stewart said softly. “You are one cool-ass blind guy, Freund.”

  “I can’t tell you how it moves me to have your approval,” Freund answered sarcastically as the beam emission stopped. “Neve is no longer with you.”

  “That’s not her name now and thanks to you, she’s no longer with any of us,” Stewart returned.

  “For the moment,” the young boy and the old man said in unison. Freund leaned away from the boy who smiled brightly.

  “I bet it’s been a long time since someone’s been able to predict what you’re going to say, old man.” Stewart started walking and the aged entity merely lowered his head.

  “Given what I think your perspective of ‘long’ is, you would win that wager,” Freund admitted. “It was surprisingly refreshing!”

  “Bullshit,” Stewart argued, stopping in his tracks.

  “If that is what you wish to call it,” Freund returned as he walked to stand in front of the boy again. “It gets so very tiresome being the smartest one in the room; and somewhat frightening, since I happen to know that I am not too terribly bright. You have the opportunity to do something incredible, Stewart. Your powers, though incredibly diminished, are still beyond the comprehension of worldly minds. If you wish to apply them to beyond-worldly matters, I will be your advocate. Use them again in this fashion and I am afraid I will have to take the position of the defender of humanity.”

  “One would think you were too busy with everything Antavida left you with to be here trading words with me.”

  “One of my proudest achievements had always been time-management,” Freund said in a very satisfied tone.

  “That’s interesting… seeing as how it has dawned on me that you can’t find the others; they’ve actually managed to find your blind spot.”

  “For the moment,” Freund stressed.

  “Nothing lasts forever, old man,” Stewart replied before lifting his middle finger. “And while you’re here, wasting time with me, they’re just making all kinds of progress!” Stewart took two steps forward and gasped as a blade came out of his chest from behind his back.

  “There are limits to my patience, boy!” Freund whispered sharply in Stewart’s ear as he twisted the blade, sending pain through the young form. “And you have come dangerously close to them. Allow me to illuminate where your error was made. You knew. Recognize that I didn’t say that you thought, because that calls for some degree of an open mind. No, boy, you knew and this is the slightest example of what it feels like when you’re wrong in dealing with me.

  “I don’t need you!” Freund advised. “While it would be a most thrilling adventure to train you, develop you into more than a petulant, self-minded, would-be genius, bear in mind that you are a husk, boy! The treasure that made you truly powerful is gone, and somehow you have missed the fact that I was instrumental in her not being here!

  “This is the second time I’ve had to stab you, boy!” Freund remarked. “I had hoped that after the first, which prompted you to get rid of Antavida, you would have come to a different perspective about the Cosmos and your place in it. Pray that I am not called upon to revisit your innards a third time. Now… say ‘I understand’ and be on your way.” Stewart shuddered as the blade was twisted once more.

  “I understand,” Stewart panted and the blade was removed by a less than considerate hand. The young man fell to his hands and knees. Lark and Freund took their leave by way of teleportation. The wound closed quickly and it was less than a minute before Stewart was all but fully restored. His chest still ached and he was sure it would be some time before that pain would subside.

  “You can just kiss me at the crack, you old bastard!” Stewart rebuked, standing up and looking at his ruined shirt. “You wanna play it this way, fine! We can–” Suddenly, Stewart was very cold and he shivered, wrapping his arms around his chest to try to keep warm. Though new to the applications and receptions of power, he had grown enough to know where to find the source of sudden and drastic changes. He turned around to see a tall, slender woman clad in black, tattered robes and a laced scarf that covered her head, shoulders and chest.

  “I would ask you to forgive him,” she spoke, black smoke escaping from where Stewart thought her mouth must have been. “He is not normally so direct. But then again, you are something outside the norm yourself, are you not?” Stewart’s eyes glowed white as he summoned the power that remained in his body after Antavida made her departure. It was the first power that had come to his mind; the concept of wielding Coherent Light.

  “I’m not normal… and I’m not easy!” Stewart said softly.

  “There, there, little candle,” the woman said, turning and walking away. “There will be plenty of time for needless contests. This game, however, you are not ready to play.”

  Stewart took two steps forward, hearing and feeling another presence. “What the hell is that?” Stewart said as he quickly whirled around. There was nothing but various forms of trees, bushes and tall grass… all of which were blowing in an incidental wind. None of the grass was newly bent or depressed, no broken limbs on the trees, and no scent at all outside that of nature and his own body.

  “She can’t be back already,” Stewart thought as he continued his search. “Can she? Can’t that relic get anything right?!” Closing his eyes, Stewart summoned the power to clean and mend his clothes. “Have to admit though… knowledge is power… especially when you know as much as I do!” Stewart smiled and took to running home.

  “Can someone tell me what just happened?” Ethadior inquired as his face showed up on the southernmost facet of the black crystal that Jashana was holding. The Enacranite Lord looked more than slightly concerned and it was clear he was rethinking the wide berth he had given his students.

  “We can confirm that the shroud works, Mentor,” she reported. Her green-gray eyes betrayed deep concern as she tried to make an official sounding report devoid of her frustrations. “C’Zaddrus was testing the perception of the subject, and his hand had barely touched the black rim when the shroud gave us warning and–”

  “Leave the area immediately!” their mentor demanded before the image of his face faded away.

  “You heard him,” Jashana affirmed. “Let’s go!”

  “Say no more,” Wesley said, setting his brown-eyed gaze on the glowing blue crystal floating over his hand. “… we’re on our way!” The golf-ball sized gem started glowing brighter and the group of four, who were already floating above the ground, quickly ascended toward the clouds, flying westward. They did not see the old blind man standing not quite a full meter behind them, nor the bird that flew in and landed on his shoulder. Though they had left the area, the image of the two remained and Lark fed the visuals to Freund.

  “Did you have to say it was me?” C’Zaddrus whined, moving his brown hair out of his face.

  “Why not?” Teyan snapped. “It was you!”

  “Everyone please just stay under the shroud!” the fifth of their group requested as he looked around. His eyes shifted from hazel green to white as he looked around. If anything was following them, it did not register on the ultraviolet range of l
ight.

  “Yes, big brother, Quantil,” C’Zaddrus shot back.

  “You see,” Jashana remarked. “It’s that sort of attitude that nearly got us found out in the first place. ‘Oh, let’s see if the shroud really works!’ You imbecile!”

  “There she goes, on her enchanted rag again!” C’Zaddrus returned, setting off a full-fledged argument.

  Freund had seen enough, releasing the telepathic light he had used to prevent being seen. Both he and Tolarra were visible again, but none of the five leaving the scene would think to look back.

  “What was the deal with that tarp?” Tolarra asked, still in her bird form.

  “Firstly, thank you for the use of your eyes,” Freund stated, stroking the top of her head and back. “Secondly, I’m afraid it is very bad news.”

  “Looks to me like they were just young folk... still dripping behind the ears!”

  “And of course the giant-felling David had to shave before his fateful encounter,” Freund replied as he stepped back from where he stood. “He simply had to do it for grooming purposes… much like when he married Pandora the day after she opened the box, dreadful cougar she was.”

  “Okay, slight point made! You’re using fictional characters… well, one of them better damn well be fictional, because that box was no freaking joke!”

  “Says the talking bird which will soon turn into a most captivating woman,” Freund added.

  “Anyway,” Lark returned, beginning to glow. “That still doesn’t tell me why it’s bad news.”

  “SpellCasteRs are involved,” Freund revealed. “They were not Enacranites, but there seemed to be something of their essence about the group. From what I could tell, that shroud of which they spoke was not something they made so much as something they found or received… from an entreaty or eager deed! Either way, one more thing has just become involved in our matters.”

  “Entities!” Tolarra sighed as she closed her eyes.

  “And right behind them, deities,” Freund added as he closed his as well. He searched for and found his castle, establishing a link with its living room. “The very last thing we need right now. Yes, I’d say this was very bad news indeed. Our game might have just been changed!”

  In a flash of light, they were once again back in the castle. Star Lark flew away from Freund’s shoulder and took her human form. She started to speak as she turned to look at Freund, but gasped in shock instead. He was suddenly pale white and weak, trembling and on the verge of collapsing. She streaked to his side, taking hold of his shoulders just before the strength in his legs gave.

  “Baby, what is it?!” she asked. “Was it the teleportation? What’s going on?!”

  “No,” Freund said, dropping his staff to the floor. Where it struck the tile, the floor cracked and the castle trembled.

  “Freund, you’re scaring me!” Tolarra said, standing Freund up and looking into his face.

  “The game, Tolarra. It has most definitely changed.”

  Star Lark looked at the board, but nothing seemed any different. She was about to ask Freund to explain himself until she saw the chairs under the table. Freund’s chair was gone while the other black chair remained. “How is that possible?!”

  “I did not tell them,” Freund stated as he began to weep into his hands. “I never told them the destroyer of Old Earth followed them to the Rims, and sought to finish what it started. I thought it best that they not know.” Tolarra carried Freund over to one of the large chairs and sat him down.

  “Neve had accepted my challenge,” he continued. “… and I thought things were set and certain. But she chose to merge with Stewart… and then Xaythra… Xaythra came!”

  “Freund, we were both here for all of this,” she said, unable to see anything affecting his body or mind, yet he was still weak and getting weaker. “We both watched Tau Upsilon fall. That took Xaythra out of the game.” Freund moved quickly and harshly, applying surprising strength as he took hold of the back of Tolarra’s head.

  “No one is ever out of the game!” he whispered, his body trembling.

  “What the hell is happening to you?!” Tolarra pleaded. Her eyes began to well with tears; she felt powerless to help the man she loved.

  “No one is ever out! There are no forfeits! Someone has to play… one can withdraw, but someone will always be chosen to play! That is the way of the board. That is its power!”

  “Isn’t this your board?” Tolarra asked. “What the fuck gives with this thing?!”

  “No one here can truly make a claim to the board. It is where it wishes to be, and it also happens to be the only judge of consequence whenever a game is played. As it stands, with my chair missing, I am not the defender of man.”

  “Well then who is?!”

  Freund closed his eyes as his body started to glow. Tolarra could feel the energy around him and was very gently pushed back from his body, away from the castle.

  “No, you can’t mean me! No, Freund! There’s no way you can ask that of me. The entire human race? Are you out of your head right now?! This is your thing, Freund. Your thing. I’m here to help you… to help you see the things you might have missed, remember? I’m your glow in the dark Herald!”

  “Then shine for me!” Freund projected, and Tolarra did not hesitate to summon her brightest light. The normally invisible castle could be seen for light years, as it appeared that a new star had been born in the folds of space. Succumbing to another spell, Freund shuddered and grew weaker. Tolarra walked over to him and held his head against her chest. He in turn wrapped his arms around her waist. Her light sustained him and his love fueled her power to burn even brighter.

  “I am no longer the custodian of the game board,” he projected to her mind. “But I can nominate one to take my place.”

  “Then let me go and get Shuronne, or Survaysi, or one of her badass kids! Isn’t that why you call them Dark Pawns?!” she asked, becoming more angry and definitely more desperate.

  “You underestimate yourself,” he projected as his body continued to fail. “And I do not know how much longer I can sustain the removal of my place. I need more light!”

  “You got it, baby!” Tolarra whispered, summoning more power. She could feel Freund guiding her to find reserves she did not know she possessed. Touching upon another level of power, her light faded as she gasped, standing both herself and Freund up. The eyes of Star Lark took on an empty stare, losing all emotion, and once again the mind of the woman was replaced by the entity of the chessboard.

  “It would seem that I am not beyond error,” it said, turning Freund around. He was no longer pale… no longer weak… the performance had all been a ruse, and it did not know how long it had been fooled by his masterful act. “Of all the false memories I planted in your mind, it seems that I overlooked something which was gravely important.”

  “Perhaps you forget the exchange I had with the female assassin who managed to plant a bomb in my mind,” Freund noted, unable to truly see what he was talking to. “It was a lesson for me, realizing that in my mind there were gaps; places where objects could be placed without my knowledge.”

  “And you replaced the bomb with?”

  “A contingency,” Freund replied. “In the years since the assassin, I have not only learned of the power she used, but I have also mastered the technique she applied. You could say I taught my mind to run continual diagnostics: always searching for something in my mind that appeared to be me that I had no hand in putting there.” Tolarra’s head turned as it looked around, seeing beyond the walls of the castle. “It has been a few years, but it would seem that with or without you, the form of Tolarra was trying to hide things from me. Though your deception could affect all of what is living, personally, I cannot say which offense is greater.”

  “So you know of the child she has cast into the light?” it inquired. “Your child!”

  “I do indeed… and so does the child!”

  “And you mean to defy me, sending off copies of your m
ind in memory-pods, seven by my count, in hopes that you can recall what I have done, if not what I am about to do.” Freund nodded and the figure contemplated. “Your cunning has been underestimated more than once. The weakness you demonstrated was genuine on a certain level. I wonder what you were doing whilst feigning dire weakness.”

  “Consider it another contingency,” Freund replied. “… as I am not about to concede anything to you. There are far too many questions to answer.”

  “You are not even a fledgling of vitaception–”

  “And yet I was able to deploy those memory pods, wasn’t I?” Freund retorted. “Either you’ve grown rusty or–” realization crashed through the forefront of Freund’s mind. Vitaception was indeed the First Sense, his actions should have been much too slow for a creature that was a master of the power… unless the creature was not what it purported to be… or if it had been removed from being vitaceptive, distracted by something. Just as it was difficult to see an entire painting if one was focused on a brushstroke. With that, one of his questions had been answered, giving birth to scores of new inquiries and the need to investigate to make sure his conclusions were indeed accurate.

  “You had me removed as a player, but only a higher authority than mine, on the side of humanity, could do that,” Freund spoke softly. “The Enacranites!” The accuracy of his suspicions forced the creature to act. It moved toward him, disappearing in a bright flash of light. Freund smiled and rubbed his chin.

  “How long do I have?”

  “It is difficult to say,” the castle replied. “The complexity of dimensional shifting is nothing like what you used to trap the anti-life, but certain security measures are in place in between the dimensions which should slow its return.”

  “Well done, my sweet abode.”

  “I only did what you told me to do,” the castle replied.

  “Perhaps, but you did it with such style!” Freund made his way across the room, heading directly for his chair. “And since we do not know how much time we have, let us make the most of it, eh?”