This follows on from the 'what happened to Dream Boy?' fanfic.
Briefly, for those who haven't read the previous story - Dream Boy, following a vision, arrives on Xanthu, meets the Amazers and the Tamaran Quantum Queen. They join up and defeat the League of Assassins only after a hard fought battle in which Insect Queen in killed. James Cullen and Dream Boy start a relationship.
There was quite a bit more to it than that but you'll have to read it for yourselves to find out - I don't want to give too much away!
As always any comments are appreciated.
Cxx
[ October 13, 2009, 02:26 PM: Message edited by: Harbinger ]
Posted by Harbinger on :
It had been exactly a week since the Life Eradicators had been defeated.
Still Rol felt bad about it.
He hadn't had a single vision about the galaxy wide threat that had hit so many planets so badly, and he knew that quite a few of his fellow inhabitants at Amazer's Spire were wondering what good having a pre-cog on the team was when said pre-cog couldn't even see a potentially galaxy wide extermination event. He didn't tell them but apart from short range visions while taking the unarmed combat class he hadn't had a single vision since they had defeated the League of Assassins a month ago. He even heard someone sat behind him in the canteen ask in a quiet conspiratorial voice why they hadn't asked him to rejoin the Legion since he had obviously not mentioned the threat so the Legion could get the credit. Rol hadn't turned around to confront the enqisitor, partly because he was worried that it would start an official inquiry into his tenuous membership to the group, but also because James' flinty glance had told Rol that whomever had made that comment would be remembered and dealt with. Rol didn't want James to lose his popularity within the ranks because of him. They were still getting to know each other, they didn't need this!
The Amazers' did nothing to help defeat the virtual monsters, not one glance at them let alone decisive battle. Even worse, the Earth Govs Young Heroes team had collapsed and potential members had rallied to the Legions' call rather than the Amazers'. All of this added to the chagrin of the Xanthu Tribune's Office of Meta-Human Affairs which meant that the Amazers were put under the scrutiny of the Tribunes High Office. Rol had let the team down, he didn't need the Government or the Amazers to tell him that, he saw it in his own eyes reflection every morning in the mirror.
Posted by Harbinger on :
Even though no-one had said anything directly to his face somehow this made things worse for Dream Boy. The military discipline within the Amazers team made such direct confrontations highly unlikely. It also made small sideways comments, casual unexplained avoidances and unwillingness to make eye contact all the more painful.
James Cullin had told Rol in no uncertain terms to stop worrying and get on with it, that these things would be forgotten in no time. The hand to hand combat class that Rol had set up for the trainees had lost the majority of its attendees and as it was not one of their many compulsory training events he had no authority to challenge the members who avoided him. Of all the trainees and full team members who initially had keenly attended only the Lamprey, Typhoon and the Vygran insectoid Gates had remained. Even the Seperator and the sweet natured Captain Marvel had bowed out with quiet comments about work load increasing and too many commitments. Their apologies had been hollow to Rols' ears but he accepted them with some graciousness and reminded them that they had a duty, to team as well as themselves, to keep training to the best of their abilities.
To add to Rol's embarrassment the Monstress and Dragon Mage had casually mentioned they would start attending the class. Rol knew they meant it as a show of support but somehow it only added to his frustration.
Bloody Life Eradicators!
Posted by Harbinger on :
The training class had gone well. Lamprey had finally learned the Alto-Judo throw that Rol had patiently been showing the class for the last forty five minutes. She had flung him nearly twenty five feet into the air with her enhanced sea born strength. Dragon Mage's spell had cushioned him before he had made painful contact with the ferro-concrete ceiling.
Once returned safely to the ground, with a proud grin on his face Rol complimented the small trainee and called an early end to the class. He didn't want to tell them but the success of the Lampreys throw had been due in part to his distraction by a minor vision; a feeling, an urge that pulled him away from the here and now. Rol knew he would have to tell James before he acted on it and his excitement at the prospect of actually doing something other than mope around the Spire feeling sorry for himself was almost overpowering making him giddy.
He would persuade James to join him and it would all be good!
Posted by Harbinger on :
Bloody James!
Bloody bloody James!
Too sprockin' busy my ass!
Rol's thoughts screamed between disappointment and anger. He didn't ask for much, just a few days together with the man who was supposed to be his partner. James himself had said he was overdue a break, but oh no, not until Psyche returned to the Spire to agree the time off.
Well sprock Psyche and her mysterious mission with Atmos and James' sister Jasmin. The Amazers were big enough that they wouldn't miss James if he joined him on a break.
At least, a darkly cynical part of Rol's mind interupted, he didn't say he had to stay just in case the Life Eradicators returned!
Rol stomped to his quarters, threw his clothes into an unseemly pile on the floor and stomped straight into the steam shower. He knew that things would be fine in the long term, that if he could only get through this with at least his dignity intact then all would work out in the end.
The vision that took him over while stepping into the shower didn't confirm or deny this life long held certainty from Rol, it did though show him that he was in for another adventure on Xanthu. One that would cement his place within the Amazers.
[ October 13, 2009, 01:23 PM: Message edited by: Harbinger ]
Posted by Harbinger on :
"Rol, I'm sorry. You do understand don't you?" James looked upset as he spoke, his eyes on the floor, shoulders beginning to hunch in embarrassment.
"James, you and I still have a lot to go through together so don't worry. This is something I need to do, me going is not about you or us, it's me. Trust me I need to do this. I will be back you know, you'll see me soon." He gives the Quantum Kid his biggest smile and they hug fiercely.
"Call if you need me okay, promise?"
"Stop it James, you'll see me soon."
Dream Boy musters his resolve and steps into the transport tube, smiling once more before asking the Spire's resident AI to take him up to the shuttle bay and his one man Legion craft. He doesn't look at James as he gets gently lifted by the anti-gravs but can feel his lovers eyes follow him.
Posted by Harbinger on :
Three days later, as Rol wandered through the small towns market searching for the whatever it was that drew him here he wished he's given James another hug and tried just a little bit harder to reassure. Still, why waste time on the past when the future is always available. Somehow the Naltoran saying that was somehow supposed to bring comfort didn't ring true to Rol. He had spoken to James everyday, he'd even had a 'call from the Monstress and Lamprey asking him how he was, but the draw of a prophetic vision was always hard to explain to those travelling in the limited space of Now-Time.
Still, here he was on East Continent of Xanthu, by far the least populated place the young Naltoran had ever been. There were literally thousands of clicks between the small towns, something that had blown Rols mind when his one man crafts' auto 'bot had explained it to him. Thosands of clicks between towns! While Naltor wasn't as densely populated as earth it still had very little open wild country, the earlier Xeroxian settlers utilised virtually every scrap of useable land in their efforts to convert their new and previously virginal world into a place that their Seers had foretold would one day be a centre for scientific excellence.
Rol smiled to himself as he remembered Naltors strange history. Only Naltor could claim, in all the scientific community of the United Planets, to have been settled through a mystical time warp by 15th century sorcerors and witches from across Old Earth. It had taken centuries for the population to fully renounce their magical past and accept scientific process and for the earlier mystics spells cast on those who had taken the strange journey there to spread the so-called Seer Seed to the whole planets population.
In the seven centuries that Naltor had been settled there had been more radical sociological changes than on almost any other planet settled by Earth humans.
[ October 13, 2009, 01:25 PM: Message edited by: Harbinger ]
Posted by Harbinger on :
While the Central Continent was a bustling metropolis East Continent was far more sparsely populated with several areas devoted entirely to the traditional lifestyles translated to this far off world by the original Earthfolks who had settled here five centuries before. For the first time in his life Rol had seen houses made from traditional materials - mud, wood and stone from local quarries. The animals that apparently ran free were a delight, though chickens still confused him - apart from eggs, which could be synthetically produced far quicker and easier, he could not understand why anyone would want to keep such an irritating animal. They called when the sun rose - the first time he'd been awoken by one he thought it was some klaxon portenting a natural disaster! And with their ungainly flights to roof tops and fences and squabbling... yuck, no, Rol thought, the appeal of keeping chickens would remain a mystery to him.
He'd discovered that while placing himself into the lightest of meditation he could ride the camels that the tribes folk used as transport with as much skill as any native. Of course he didn't tell them that he could foresee each bump and turn so was reacting a split second before the potential embarrassing act occurred. Goats were fantastic creatures he thought; inquisitive, fearless, affectionate. Okay, so a few had tried to chew on his clothes, one even started to nibble on his hair in one village, but their basic nature still appealed to the young Naltoran.
And the silver and black Kente cloth robe he had bought in a small market on the edge of a dark forest had been one of the most comfortable articles of clothing he'd ever worn. Rol was starting to enjoy every moment, almost resenting the interuption that James' call would bring to his journey. He didn't know exactly were he was going but as he travelled he felt the comfortable sense of purpose - his subconscious had already seen this path he was following and he relaxed himself into an easy pace of travelling further away from the more populated areas into the Tribeslands that surrounded the huge central massif, partly forested, often rough scrub ground that he knew would turn to a large open desert as he travelled north.
Of all the new experiences the one that would stay with him the longest was the range of amazing smells! The warm earth beneath him radiated an aroma of comforting solidity. The plants swept the air with a riot of signature scents, the animals were unique. Every new smell delighted the young man as he travelled further towards his destiny.
[ October 11, 2009, 12:07 PM: Message edited by: Harbinger ]
Posted by Harbinger on :
He had been away from the Spire for twelve days when it happened.
For the previous two days he'd been in the lands of the Afar, a people he learned who had originally came from the old earth geo-political nation called the Ethiopian Danakil Desert. They were a surprisingly wary people, not as open or chatty as the previous tribesfolk. Their towns had small central squares were local marketstall holders would stare at him wide eyed and whisper conspiratorially to each other as he approached. Rol smiled and graciously played the stupid tourist for them, though he begain to worry that he may have somehow missed a local tradition or custom that made him appear stupid or even rude.
On this morning he learned why. He knew the guards were coming for him before they arrived so made sure all his possessions were in order, his robe rubbed free of creases and his face washed, his biggest smile ready for the two men in their dark grubby armour with outdated weapons to hand. Well, they were going to take him one way or another so why not make it a thoroughly more pleasant time for all, and as he thought this he remembered his mother. She would have approved of this approach to his situation. Grace cannot be bought she often said.
He walked out into the dusty street, waving a friendly goodbye to the landlord of the hostel and asked him to hold onto his camel until he returned just as the guards approached. Several children played, two women carried supplies in baskets and several old men sat under a tree talking. No-one looked directly at him he noticed, something that screamed louder than a banshee to him that there was trouble coming.
"Ah, there you are!" His exclamation made the two men uncomfortable but they didn't ask him how he knew that they were here for him. Instead one stood behind him while the other led him through the streets to a parked Vikken antigrav tub. The first hi-tec transport Rol had seen for days, even if it was a 29th century model that looked as if good will and spit held it together. Without being asked he gracefully jumped into it, landing comfortably on the wide seeat within. They need not know his flight ring had made that manouvre possible he thought with a small smile. The guard who followqedhim tried to make the same leap but crashed into the seat with a loud cry of embarrassment. Rol silently helped pull the guard out of his crumpled position with stateman-like aplomb before sitting back down and staring down the small path that led out of town. The first guard chuckled as he sat in the drivers seat and started the engine.
[ October 11, 2009, 12:09 PM: Message edited by: Harbinger ]
Posted by Harbinger on :
They drove in silence for nearly an hour, the countryside become wilder with every mile. In the distance Rol could see patches of trees with silhouetted forms of what he thought must be vultures. The legendary Earth scavengers that had become extinct on their home planet four centuries before. The tall scrubby grass that lined the roadside occassionally broke to show the wider plains. In these quick glimpses Rol saw animals that he would never have believed still existed. The diaspora that brought these people here had also brought much of the peoples' native flora and fauna; Giraffes with a clownish stature frollicked, two rhinos stood as if guarding precious stones stared at the road, monkeys scrambled over trees and rocks, and other animals that Rol could only guess at.
They stopped with a suddenness that suprised Rol. Thankfully he had a split second warning he relaxed himself enough that, unlike the guard in the back seat with him, he was unhurt as he tumbled into the front of the vehicle. Standing in the road before the battered vehicle stood a huge water buffalo with majestic horns and the gait of a ruler.
The guard in the front cursed, tooted a horn and waved his arms in an effoert to move the animal from the road. With casual indifference it stood still and lifted it's wide head to stare at them like they were rude guests in it's front room.
"Allow me." Even as Rol said it he knew what he would have to do. The guard beside him tutted and pulled his weapon up to remind Rol that he would not get far.
With a casualness that belied the trepidation Rol felt at approaching such a huge wild animal he strode up to it, right hand outstretched as if to shake hands.
"Now then, what if I asked you politely to move, what would you say to that?" As he said it Rol casually placed his hand on the creatures head and concentrated on his flight ring, not enough to generate true flight but enough to lighten the animals head, disorrientating it as he pushed the beast with his left hand towards the side of the road. The water buffalo staggered as if obeying him, momentarily going down on it's front knees as if bowing before staggering off the road.
"Thanks awfully, we won't be long and you can have your road back."
Rol casually walked back to the guards vehicle and once again elegantly leaped inside.
Fighting the urge to say "home Jeeves," Rol smiled at the driver and nodded down the road.
Both guards looked shocked and remained still for several seconds before driving off.
Another twenty minutes passed before there was sight of another human being. Rol estimated they had travelled three hundred clicks since the guards had picked him up that morning. In he distance he saw smoke and heard noises that made him realise they were finally approaching a town. This was where he was supposed to be!
[ October 13, 2009, 01:27 PM: Message edited by: Harbinger ]
Posted by Harbinger on :
The town was a mixture of rural farmsteads and concrete pre-fabricated housing blocks. Rol noticed very few children or animals on the streets. Dominating the skyline was a building with cathedral like windows and buttresses. Without being told he knew that this was the place he was being taken to.
As the transporter lunched to a halt Rol vaulted out and landed softly on the packed earth below. He extended his arm to help the guard down. The guards response was a few well chosen curses before he jumped clumsily to land beside Rol. The driver remained in his seat grinning.
"So where to now?", Rol kept his chin up as he asked, refusing to allow the guard to see any doubt or concern.
A grunted reply seemed to indicate Rol walk over to a large barn-like door. Smiling Rol walked, around them other people appeared, some dressed in the same dark guards uniform, other Rol imagined were servants. All of them were looking at him as if he were an assassin.
As they approached the large doors a small woman appeared, her dress and turban ornate compaired to the others. Rol estimated her age at 50 though she had obviously worked hard during those years. In her left arm she held a staff of blackened wood with a small pizo-electric cell atop that cast a strangely green light. By the way crowd watched her at least as much as they watched Rol he knew this was the person he needed to talk to.
"Hi there, my name is Rol, I believe you wanted to speak with me?" He keeps his tone light knowing that whatever the issue is here it has still to be resolved so best not jump in too hard too fast.
"You will save the princess! As foretold the Silvered Seer has arrived to guide our children and their children!" The womans voice was rich and strong, her staffs green tip pointing to Rol as she spoke though never once did she look directly at him.
The guard who had reluctantly sat beside Dream Boy began to speak, "The water buffalo bowed to him, he can control the wild beasts!"
The crowd started to chant and within seconds their numbers doubled as people streamed out of buildings to see the new arrival. More and more joined in the chanting, "The Silvered Seer! He has come! The Silvered Seer! He has come! The Silvered Seer! "
Oh bloody Nass, Rol thought, they think I'm a Prophet!
Posted by Stealth on :
Wonderful work, Caron. I could see and smell the unspoiled nature you described. The bit about chickens made me laugh out loud, and you've made me think twice about goats. Rol is an immensely likeable protagonist.
I look forward very much to the next installment.
And, OMG, Captain Marvel in the 31st Century -- I love it and I can't wait to see where you go with that in future stories.
Posted by Set on :
You really went wild on the sensory descriptions, with a strong emphasis on scent and a subtly sensuous description of the feel of the Kente cloth.
I love your command of the language. I love seeing words like silhouette and aplomb and diaspora, and then there's casual use of 'clicks' to denote distance, which creates a bit of 'specialized language' to remind us that we're in a different time/place.
The little background elements sneaking in, such as Rol thinking of an admonition from his mother that 'grace cannot be bought' are awesome. I like how you don't force them (a weakness of mine, to go all Exposition Lad in my writing) but let stuff like that flow. I'd lose my focus and go off on some flashback-tangent about his family at this point, while you just took the exact snippet you wanted to convey what you needed for this scene, and then moved on, without losing or misplacing the momentum.
Posted by Harbinger on :
Wow! Thank you both, your comments are truly appreciated! Seriously, it makes my day to find out some actually took the time to read and comment on my writing.
I only wish that I could spell 'silhouette' correctly I knew it was wrong but was possessed by the ghost of writings future at the time.
Thanks Stealth and Set, as I enjoy bothof your work it means a lot
Cx
Posted by Harbinger on :
Five days before.
The Princess Rabecka, Shining Light of the House of Afar, First in Line to the Golden Throne, Daughter of Sheyneyna Queen of All Deserts and all round spoilt royal brat had gone on a two day safari trip with three loyal guards and her handmaiden Elizabori. The first the royal family had known of any shennanigans happening was when the ID chip status lights for the entire group had vanished from their family info grid. As if by magic the princess and her retainers had simply vanished. A small army led by Prince Orik, her esteemed uncle, had immediately set out to find the missing Princess.
They found two of the guards. Or peices of them anyway. Small bloody peices of them, more rags than flesh. DNA analysis has confirmed the identy of what was found.
At the same time Anagastru the Crone, Temple Seer and Advisor to the House of Afar had fallen into a trance exclaiming the arrival of the Silvered Seer. This seer would bring peace and prosperity to their peoples it was foretold. He would tame wild beasts with a touch, find his way through the deadliest of mazes, rescue a princess, heal the Great Divided tribes and ultimately ensure the peoples of the continent, so long ignored by their more techno-savvy cousins on other continents and worlds would regain their rightful place within the race of Man.
As Rol heard this he started to curse himself for a fool. He knew with a nagging barely conscious certainty that he would have to help the Princess somehow and that he would have to do it without the aid of the Amazers. Damn precognition, he thought, for telling him that although the team could be here in under an hour and probably solve this problem in as long, his role here was not to be a team player - it was to be a leader!
Posted by Harbinger on :
As he was being told this tale the old woman, whom he now realised was in fact the Temple Seer Anagastru the Crone had led him through the large doors and into a maze of corridors that took then through the bowels of the castle. Any staff they had encountered enroute had backed into doorways with heads bowed and eyes closed or turned and fled. Rol had a feeling that his small guide was a considerable political power within these walls.
At the bottom of a tightly spiralled stairway she bundled Rol into a small bathroom and told him to wash quickly, he was away to be presented to the Queen.
Rol hurriedly splashed steaming hot water on his face, then drew of his raiments and splashed the hot water over his chest and under his arms. There was no soap or cologne for him to disguise the smell of his days travels but at least the smell wasn't quite as robust a few minutes later when he rejoined Anagastru.
The stairwell led them up several flights before she led him through a long well lit corridor and stodd before an ornately carved door. Squaring her shoulders Anagastru knocked on the door with her staff. They waited thirty seconds before the doors opened without a sound.
Inside was a library. A library that contained leather bound books - real books. Printed and complete, neatly in row upon row upon row from floor to ceiling, stretching all the way around the large room. Rol was in awe! He felt his jaw drop as his gaze took in the sight before him. It took nearly twenty seconds for him to realise that in a corner there was a woman sat at a desk watching him with mild amusement on her face as she waited for him to see her.
"Please come in Rol Purtha, former Legionnaire and current Amazer. Make yourself comfortable." She indicated a high backed chairopposite where she sat and waited for him to sit before continuing.
Rol felt awkward and clumsy, thrown off balance by the treasure trove of paper that surrounded him.
"you are dismissed Anagastru, though your son may join us shortly, tell him to bring a fresh pot of tea. Thank you." The woman at the desk looked tired as she spoke to the old seer, but the genuine affection in her eyes was evident. Anagastru bowed her head and left the library quietly, the carved doors closing quietly behind her.
Posted by Harbinger on :
"I'm sorry, I'm a bit... ummm"
"Don't worry Rol, we know who you are and how you have travelled for the last two weeks. You may relax here, this room is where we have come since our earliest childhood to find peace. It is a magical sight, no?" Her arm swept round the room indicating the many inviting volumes of knowledge bound within leather and paper upon the shelved walls.
"You have still to learn the ways of the peoples here on Xanthu, something only a true native could know so, I guess it's best we forgive you for not bowing before sovereignty, eh?" The mischievious glint in her eyes gave her tease away though Rol still blushed.
"Forgive me your... umm majesty, I have never been in the prescence of royalty before so... ummm." Again Rol's awkwardness shows.
"Of course, the Tamaran Quantum Queen, Typhoon of the Ancient and most Imperial House of Hemmil-Gotha-Rex-in-Exile and Princess Projectra have never excercised their royal priviledges before you have they?" Again the teasing look, making Rol feel almost as if he was a ball of string for a bored cat to lazily swipe at.
"You seem to know a lot about me my Lady but unfortunately I'm rather in the dark about... all this." Rol echoes her sweeping arm movement.
"Of course, forgive our presumptions. You are addressing Queen Sheyneyna of the House of Afar. We are happy to name you royal guest in our... meagre home." Her smile is a quick warm flash. "You arrive at a rather difficult time as our daughter has vanished under worrying circumstances. We hope you understand that there are things that are difficult for us to fully explain to an... outsider. Our good friend and advisor Anagastru believes that we should not inform the planetary Science Police and instead put our faith in the Princesses return fully in you. You do understand that puts us... me... in a rather difficult position." For the first time he sees the sadness and worry upon the queen's face. A hint of anger in her voice alerts Rol to the steel within her character. Her royal bearing may be polished and urbane but Rol realises that here in front of him is a woman of extraordinary strength and character.
The queen meets his eye and continues, "Our daughter has always been... willful is perhaps the best word. She left us five days ago for a jaunt out to visit some of our outlying villages in the company of dear Elizabori. They have been friends since earliest childhood. They took three guards and had enough resources to evade or even fight their way from a small army. We may be a provincial people Rol but we are not niave. When they're signals were lost we assumd they had foolishly set up camp within the Great Caves of the Oranthrax. My late husbands brother, Prince Orik led a team to return them here but only found the... the remains of two of our daughter's guards. We were immediately on alert, but for Anagastru, our most trusted advisor we would have called in the aid of the Central Continent's police. She persuaded us to await your arrival. So tell me, why areyou so special Rol, your career so far has been interesting but far from exemplorary. So, why you Rol? What makes you so special?"
Posted by Stealth on :
Wonderful as always, with vivid characterizations.
Waiting on pins and needles for the next installments.
Posted by Harbinger on :
Outside the castle Anagastru had spoken to her son, the driver of the vehicle that had brought Rol to this small town.
"You remember what I told you, yes? You must do it even though you might not want to. Your place in Xanthu history will be assured!"
The thin man looked crestfallen as he agreed with his mother.
"Go now, take the brew to our Queen and the outworlder prophet. Don't let them talk between themselves for too long."
Posted by Harbinger on :
Saved by a knock on the door!
In walked the old womans' son. Rol wasn't exactly surprised that it was the driver that had brought him here.
"You majesty, honoured guest, here are refreshments." With bowed head he laid the plain wooden tray on the small table beside the Queen and started to pour two fine china cups with a steaming amber brew.
The Queen motioned for him to pull up a chair and join them at the table.
"Your majesty, please allow me to introduce myself to our guest." He turned to Rol and put his hand out to shake. "My apologies if we seemed... eager for you to join us earlier but we need your help."
"No problems Tre, that's fine, your gracious Queen has just explained."
"How did you know my name is Tre?" His eyes wide in shock. Rol was not about to say that he had had a brief precognitive flash of the young man saying exactly that, instead he smiled cheekily and gave a quick shrug of his shoulders. Queen Sheyneyna gave a throaty laugh before turning a stern face to the shocked young man and said "Are you going to join us?" her head nodding towards the nearest chair.
Posted by Harbinger on :
"So, your daughter, Princess Rabecka, needs found and returned. I'm sure with the help of this young man I can give that a go." Rol had indicated the silent Tre who now suppressed a splutter of tea as he realised that he would be be travelling with Dream Boy. He started to answer but was cut off by the Queen, "You are very confident for one so young Rol Purtha. We have our own Seers here, your people were not the only mystics to leave Earth, and not even Mama Anagastru is so certain. What guarantees can you give?"
"None your majesty, only the certainty that I have foreseen my own future and it does not involve failure." Rol spoke with casual confidence, though his own doubts were buried just out od sight of the Queen's probing look.
"If I can have two hours in private to prepare we can leave just before dusk sets in and be at the last place you knew your daughter was before midnight. No time like the present eh?" Rol gave a small laugh at the Naltorian disdain for that saying.
"Do you need anything, any weapons or...." Tre asked before quickly falling silent before his Queen.
"Thank you, a warm shower and a place to meditate for an hour please. I'd like to think we won't need any weapons though. If worst comes to the worst we can call for back up I'm sure."
"Make it so Tre, show Rol to the Old Alchemist suite on the North Wall please. After you finish your tea of course." There is warm gratitude in the Queens voice, the implicit peaceful resolution in Rol's dismissal of taking weapons obviously reassred her.
"Thank you your Majesty, I'll go now and freshen up before I meditate on our journey. Thank you." Rol has just enough knowledge of Royal protocol to wait for the Queen to rise before standing up himself. She offered her hand and wished them both success.
She may not have been quite so comforted had she known that as Rol walked out of the room he was thinking "Bloody grife! Why do I always get myself into these impossible situations?"
Posted by Harbinger on :
Casual history of Naltor (1)
Naltor was seen by the greater United Planets populace as a highly advanced scientific planet.
And it's true to say that in the large part that assumption was true. But it wasn't the whole picture. Originally settled by mystics from Old Earth who were part of a radical sect that believed it would one day produce a scientific solution to their home planet Earths problems. These original settlers were later joined by refugees from the Gemworld and even later by Xeroxans. The initial problems of taming the lifeless, tectonically unstable world were resolved through high magicks and low-tech solutions. The three continents were evenly populated with traditional clans of magical users being fairly evenly split, the idea being that too much of a concentration of a single field of mystical study would take away from the prophesied scientific growth that they had set out to achieve.
Over centuries Naltoran mystics battled with the previously alien logic of science, and with a judicious use of precognitive magicks had learned and then excelled in these disciplines. By the 28th century they had established the scientific community that the original settlers had foreseen. Not that all magicks was overlooked or dismissed. Despite the lack of formal mystical training many families had kept the oral training alive through the generations and Sapphire City in the Great Northern Sea had a galaxy famous museum of magical paraphernalia. As a child Rol had visited the museum with his mother and been strongly attracted to many of the bizarre exhibits on display. His mother had mentioned that her great grandmother was said to have known several spells herself though as she only had male children would not pass the knowledge onto her family before she had died. Rol, with a childs natural openmindedness towards the supernatural had immediately understood this logic.
Two years later at the age of 11, when he had passed the initial tests for Pre-Commando training, he requested that one of the courses from the optional lists he was required to choose from was 'understanding basic magickal theory.' There had been only five of them in the class: himself, NIeru Mkaan - a stubborn, rude girl with amazing pigtails and a love of turning every conversation around until it focussed firmly on herself, Shabeesa Ding- a narcoleptic with shifty habits who was thrown out of the class, and later the Pre-Commandos for her habit of acquiring objects in a thoroughly unlawful manner, Professor Nijedulla their tutor, and Simeon the grey lazy cat who barely contributed a yawn, let alone a full throated meow for the entire course. For a 12 week term during Rol's first year of training, every Third- and Fifthday he had spent a literally magical couple of hours learning about the history of his own race, the various fields of mystical research and the strange logics in manipulating the very unscientific energies that these fields involved. After the academic term had ended, and much to considerable teasing by his peers, he had been awarded the college's Purple Nebulae award for his skill in this subject. Not that he had cast a single spell in this time, but at least he was the first student in living memory who had firstly attended every class in this section, and secondly never once fallen asleep in Professor Nijedulla's presence.
Despite the teasing Rol felt proud.
Posted by Harbinger on :
Rol was shown into a low ceilinged room. Stark stone walls with several hanging banners depicting alchemetic symbols hung over windows gave it a gloomy feel. Apart from these there were only three large wooden benches and an open fireplace that looked as if it had not been tended in decades. Rol walked over to one of the banners and examined it. Tre stood at the door, unsure if he should follow Rol into the room or not.
"Do you know about the Alchemists dream of transmuting lead into gold Tre? It was not, as many assumed, driven by greed or materialism. Each element had an associated state of existence given it. Lead was seen as the most mundane- it was associated with a humdrum, dull life, one filled with drudgery and hardship, while gold was almost angelic, it was the element of saints and royalty. So to transmute one to the other was as much to change ones life to the better, an aspirational transformation. It was only later, during the First Terran Reinaissance and the rise of Italian families like the despotic Medici's that these desires were altered to become so much about greed and gross materialism was encouraged. Alchemy, despite it's reputation was originally a very spiritual art."
Tre stood at the door, still unsure. Rol turned, smiled at the young man and asked that he be left undisturbed for two hours.
After the guide had gone Rol locked the door and opened up his back pack, took out a silver tube and teased a small cone of incense from it. The lid of the tube gave a small spark and a sweet smoke slowly rose to fill his senses.
Reaching into his pack Rol pulled out his Amazer Belt and flipped the magnetic sensor button. A hologram materialised before him. James!
"Hi James, hows things?" Rols weary smile ached with real happiness as he spoke to James Cullen.
"Missing you Dreamy Boyo, when are you going to come back home? Or do you want me to join you? We've got a full compliment of members at the Spire so if you want...?" There is something close to guilt in his voice as he makes the offer.
"Give me two days then if you haven't heard anything come looking for me, I've been kind of roped into helping..."
"The missing Afar Princess?" James smiles as he interupts.
"You spying on me?" Rol laughs before continuing, "Yes, I'm helping out here but should be done in a day or two. We're going to the Caves of Oranthrax tonight, do you know anything about them James?"
"They're supposedly haunted or have some nasty gene-spliced beasty living there, whatever it is they have a bad rep so be careful okay?"
"Of course, you don't doubt me do you? See you in two days okay?"
"Believe it boyfriend!"
Posted by Harbinger on :
After they had spoken Rol felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. For all their teasing Rol knew that James was one of the most reliable people he had ever met. If he said he'd be here in two days then he would be.
Rol went back over to the table and blew into the coiled plumes of smoke from the incense he'd lit before taking a deep breath of the sweet smoke. He used his flight ring to float above the smoking cone and slowly relaxed himself into a lotus position and meditated.
Rol dreamed.
A cavemouth surrounded by bulbous red berries. A stench like he could never have thought existed, even in his dreaming state his body started to retch.... Smears of red across his cheek, his clothing, Tre covered in red, red, red... Blind rats the size of horses.... A cave, dark and mysterious, twisting back upon itself in mobius patterns, a wooden cage, a dual, a ecstatic flight... the images were overlaid by phrases and sounds, screams of rage and the clash of battle. James! James is there, fighting and barely holding his own...
He was awoken by a polite rap at the door.
"I'll be out to you soon Tre, we'd best get going if we are to be at the Caves of Oranthrax by first light tomorrow."
Posted by Harbinger on :
Carrying his pack Rol followed Tre down to the old Vikken vehicle. The didn't try to see the Queen before they left, she'd let Tre know that she sent her best wishes and would pray for their safe return. At the vehicle though stood a small party of locals headed by Anagastru. She held onto her staff as if seasick Rol thought and her eyes looked feirce, bright and fragile, like distant galaxies. Her knowledge and use of Blood Magic had weakened the woman he realised. He remembered his lessons from his first year at the Pre-Commando Academy about the cost of magicks and silently wished the older woman as much strength as she needed.
Without a word she hugged her son and turned to Rol, "You will bring them back safe, you might even be the Prophet we need. Tre has an imaging implant so can send for help if you need it, remember that young man and go with all our wishes for your successful return." Without thinking Rol suprised himself and also hugged the woman. He was shocked at how thin she felt beneath her volumous robes.
"Keep a light on in the northern tower so we can find our way back."
With that he lept into their transport and called for Tre.
[ November 04, 2009, 04:19 PM: Message edited by: Harbinger ]
Posted by Harbinger on :
The journey towards the Caves was suprisingly unremarkable.
Tre activated the auto- control and they both sat in silence in the darkened cab watching the land as they sped past. Out on the plains Rol could see trees and the darkened humps of the larger animals as they rested for the night. He missed the scents he'd revelled in for the past few days, the aircon silently providing cool, sterile air.
Rol could feel Tre's unspoken tension in the air between them but didn't want to say anything. He knew that non-Naltorians could misinterpret the glimpses of future and act out of character because of misunderstood foreseen results. Rol knew Tre would survive, he had seen his whoop for joy as they flew back to the castle with James, the handmaiden and the Princess but he wanted the young man to be sharp, complaisancies would damage their mission. After about three quarters of an hour Tre started to snore quietly. Rol was mildly amused as he turned away from Tre and closed his eyes to join him in sleep. The next few days would be rather energetic.
Posted by Harbinger on :
The planet Xanthu - a history, part 2
Once the first settlers had terraformed the uninhabitable parts of the planet that would one day be called Xanthu and arranged and divided the continents and seas into their agreed political-economic states the initial focus on establishing the colony gave way to the search for a role for the people who had braved this new world.
As the planets' star had a remarkably thin Oort cloud and was quite literally on the edge of the Galactic Arm the unblemished views from the planet towards distant galaxies was immediately apparent. In the heart of the continent called East, a huge continent almost as large as the Euro-asian landmass on Old Earth that the settlers had given over almost entirely to establishing a ecological paradise ripe with transposed livestock from their homeworld, the four ruling councils decided that they would join forces and build an observatory that any Xanthu citizen could visit if they so desired. For almost a century this incredible feat of engineering was one of the greatest tourist attractions within fifty light years. The clear air and feeling of remoteness that this structure gave to visitors upon the huge central massif in the centre of this wilderness continent became a must see tourist attraction for all manner of sentients from throughout the fledgling United Planets.
The twelve day massacre later referred to as the Transposed Tribal Wars of 2803 very nearly destroyed the great observatory and certainly destroyed Xanthu's tourist trade, and almost had the remote world cut from the fledgling United Planets. Two things stopped the worlds govenments from an embargo on all goods from out of their system. The first was widely reported - this world had incredibly large deposits of silver, an element that early transmatter systems needed in vast amounts and an incredibly diverse ecosystem transposed from Old earth that replicatedalmost exactly conditions that the mother world had not seen in seven centuries.
The other factor that was not reported throughout the United Planets was that much like Old Earth, planet Xanthu's strange mixture of background radiation and strong magnetic fields was increasingly causing the rise of mutations within the local populaces genestructure. Planet Xanthu generated conditions that couls give rise to a meta-human class people. A dozen or so at first when the planet's population was two or three million, but still enough that if this quirk could be exploited then the risk of a rogue state exporting Meta class beings into the United Planets was simply too grave to risk. On the other hand, a planet with a large Meta potential would be a great ally to have. The UP diplomatic Corps had no choice but to broker a ceasefire and established a ruling Tribune to manage the four traditional governing councils. This, along with quite a lot of political arm twisting and backroom skullduggery ensured that the planet Xanthu was brought back into the United Planets fold.
The traditional four ruling councils are often referred to as the Great Divided Tribe. There are legends that one day the Great Divided Tribe would be reunited by a single Prophet, a man who would lead the peoples of Xanthu back on a righteous and peaceful path.
Posted by Harbinger on :
Just as Xanthu's small savage star threw it's morning light across the dusty land the Vikken drew to a halt and the auto-control gently woke the two young men by announcing it was approaching their destination. Rol was relieved that he had had no further visions in his dreams. Tre initialised a scan of their surroundings and apart from a family of hippopotami and several wart hogs in a nearby watering hole and some dozen and a half feeding giraffes there was no sign of life larger than a house cat for a quarter of a click around their vehicle.
They broke their fast with basic rations; tasteless, chewy and filling, though well short of satisfying Rol thought.
"Tell me about the security Tre, what would the Princesses guards have been carrying to protect her?"
"Probably wearing standard impact armour, a couple of mid-range blasters, maybe a couple of disruptors and definitely an image inducer and flight pack for any hasty retreats. Their vehicle was a Star One Grade so nothing short of nuke would have been able to get into it.The royal guards are pretty tough Rol, they train like it's the only reason for living. A Science Police officer and some UP diplomatic adviser came to us last year giving a talk on royal security protocols and such-like, you know the sort of thing. The guards made sure they left knowing that they knew what they were doing. They've have never been back. They see us as a wild bunch I think." Tre chuckled as he told Rol his story, his pride in his people was very evident. Rol didn't laugh. If the guards were that well trained and that well armed then what the hell could have gotten past them to take the Princess?
"And Tre, this time be honest with me but what was a royal Princess doing out here so far from anywhere? I checked the scanner while you made breakfast and there are no settlements for hundreds of clicks near here for them to visit. Would you like to tell me what the furry dickens is really going on?"
Posted by Harbinger on :
quote:Originally posted by Stealth: Wonderful as always, with vivid characterizations.
Waiting on pins and needles for the next installments.
Thanks Stealth. That's me set the scene now- in my draft it only took six parts, yet somehow they multiplied into about twenty - we'll soon be getting into the action I promise!
Coming soon - more, more, more!
Cx
Posted by Stealth on :
Yay! I'll wait until I have unlimited free time this weekend, so I can take my time and really savor the latest installments.
Posted by Harbinger on :
"Well, you see it's kind of.. umm.."
"Tre, tell me what we're involved in or I won't be able to help. I'll call the Spire and get Atmos involved. You really don't want him nosing about 'round here."
"It's.. well.. delicate. You see the princess Rabecka doesn't really act in an.. umm.. appropriate way."
"Just tell me Tre." Rol says softly, gently cajouling.
"She's in a relationship with Gahald, her chief security guard."
"Was he one of the guards who's remains were found?" Even as he asks it Rol knows that Tre is happy that the former lagionnaire isn't asking about something else. There's relief written on Tre's face like grafitti.
"No he wasn't found so you see.."
"And what else Tre, no more pointless secrets."
"Well.. they kind of both also see Elizabori, the Princesses handservant." Tre looked horrified. A schoolboy caught squirming with embarrassment.
"Polygamy isn't that unusual Tre, my own uncle Buzz was in.."
"You really don't understand, it's the Transposed Tribal Wars of 2803 all over again. The ruling families have to ensure a clear hereditary line or it gets messy Rol. If the Queen were to find out or if Rabecka were to get the throne suddenly it would be bedlam!"
"Explain it to me again Tre, you've lost me now."
Posted by Harbinger on :
The Transposed Tribal Wars of 2803.
King Orufus had only one daughter, Charltsi. Princess Charltsi was renowned for her parties and social gatherings. She was reputed to be rather plain, well educated but not especially clever, but still she was the hostess everyone wanted to served by as her charm and attentiveness are legendary. She had a low level meta skill that made her alluring to anyone of a sexually reproductive age. Not too strong a reaction but enough that she could turn the head of anyone, anyone who was old enough to notice. She had several lovers and had three children, two boys and a girl. When she took the throne from her father in 2800 she was hailed as a perfect modern mother, well regarded by all, definitely approved of in Royal Court circles, held in high accord by the other Ruling Families and adored by the public and media planetwide.
Until the Red Eye Plague came in 2802. At this point, with over 25% of the population either dead or blinded by the mutated Khundian virus there were louds howls of social unrest being heard by all. The Academy of Medicine based in Central Continent had a cure developed within a week from the first case being confirmed and all townships in even the most remote parts of the planet had it within a standard day afterwards. That wasn't quick enough for poor Princess Charlsti. She had died two days before.
Ten days of planetary mourning and then her oldet son, Prince Elwiar was to be given the crown, sword and drums of his mother's royal office. Until a random DNA search showed some anomolies. He and his siblings all had different fathers. Not something that would normally have even been mentioned, let alone cared about. Unfortunately in the aftermath of the dealt Red Eye Plague public trust in High Office was at an all time low. In a desperate move the Royal Court determined that the Prince's father was a highly regarded business man with strong familial ties to the Royal Court of the neighbouring kingdom. DNA samples of the young prince's siblings showed that neither of these children had fathers from within their kingdom. On the one hand it was not really a matter of concern. Who cared surely? The High Vizier decided that the younger opf the two Princes father would potentially be better connected to a more politically powerful Royal House so the oldest prince, and by planetary law also the rightful heir, was overlooked and Prince Elwiar stood and watched as young Prince Alpward was given the crown and authority.
It took two weekd for the story to come out and the High Viziers decision became public news. Initially the political fallout was minimal, but slowly the family of the father of Prince Elwiar gained support within the Royal Courts, their obvious dissatisfaction at the seeming snub that one of their lineage would not be fit for rule became a scandal that wouldn't die. Prince Elwiar, in a moment of teenage rebellion left his family to reside within the neighbouring Royal Courts generosity. By now diplomatic and trade routes had been damaged and the rumours flew like ravens.
Before long there was a small skirmish along a border, harsh words turned to harsher violence. The Royal Families convened, politicians were summoned, diplomats scurried in excited circles. This situation would be dealt with swiftly. No-one doubted that this situation would be dealt with accordingly. Until Prince Elwiar was murdered in cold blood by his younger brother Prince Alpward.
Before the end of the day warplanes flew, bombs were dropped and the war had started in earnest.
After the losses of the Red Eye Plague Xanthu's population was approximately 248 million. After eleven days of fighting and before the peace deal the United Planets enforced with diplomatic finnesse the population stood at 242 million. Six million died. The infrastructure of East Continent was damaged beyond immediate economically affordable repair and the world would never have a government made from their own hereditary ruling classes again. a tribune was introduced by the United Planets who would oversee the governments and political decisions from then on.
Posted by Harbinger on :
"So you are saying that since then Royal Families have to... what, show DNA scans of their kids before they can ascend the throne?"
Tre looks like a sponge that had been wrung out, exhausted. He had not enjoyed telling Rol the history behind his planet's, and in fact the United Planets last civil war.
"There are protocols now Rol, Royalty can't be seen to give the Great Divided Tribes any reason to argue again. The Royal families are not nearly as powrful as they used to be. At one time our Queen woud be state head for 50 million people. These days her authority only covers maybe 10 million people. We must protect the line Rol, it's our.. my job."
Rol doesn't say his thought out loud though he's sure Tre must know he's thinking "But why?"
Instead, he turns away from the young guard and points to the dip in the land that leads down to the entrance to the Caves of Ornathax.
"It'll take us ten minutes to reach the Caves, let's not argue Tre. I do understand your loyalty. It's very admirable." He turns to flash Tre a warm smile."So, Tre, what are these fruit called?" Pointing to a large tree with blue-green leaves shaped somewhat like hearts and deep red luscious looking fruit hanging low from the wide branches.
"Stinking Egg Cherries, they are totally inedible Rol, don't even try."
"That's not what I had in mind." Rol smiles as his vision from earlier clicked into place. No, eating was not what he had in mind at all as he picked several of the plump fruit, not eating at all.
Posted by Harbinger on :
Crushing the fruit in his hand released a cloud of vomitous stench. Rol dry retched several times before gaining his breath back.
The juice and pulp from the fruit oozed slowly between his fingers as he rubbed it quickly into his flowing softly curled blond locks. More dry retching before he picked more fruit and crushed thse again between his hands. This pulp went into his clothes. More dry retching and tears followed.
Tre shouted "Don't expect me to get within 10 mets of you, that is disgusting!"
Rol threw a fruit with marksman accuracy into Tre's chest. The resounding thud splattered the fruit's pungent pulp across Tre's otherwise clean uniform. "Do it Tre, you got to trust me on this one."
"What do you think you are doing, you are mad!" More fruit was thrown and more painful strikes splattered the juices over the worried guard.
"Do it!"
It takes five long minutes and half a dozen more distressingly accurate splats before Tre relents and joins Rol in rubbing the fruit juice into their clothes and skin. Much retching, tears and slightly hysterical laughter is involved.
"There better be a damn good reason for this!"
"Trust me." Rol smiles and Tre curses.
"You not going to tell me then?"
"Oh you'll find out soon enough, but 'til then talk about something else eh?"
Tre grumbles as he rubs the last of his pile of fruit into his trouser legs.
"Okay Prophet, tell me about the Amazers. Tell me about Atmos and Psyche and the Monstress. Tell me about the amazing people you've met."
Rol smiles again and is not quite quick enough as Tre stuffs some pulp into his mouth.Even as he retches Rol howls with laughter.
Posted by Harbinger on :
"The Monstress is fantastic. She's so physically poweful it's a bit like meeting a walking talking mountain." Rol smiles a bit to himself as he starts talking. Since talking to James yesterday he hadn't thought about the Amazers and he realises that he genuinely misses them. "She's one of the most stable people I think I've ever met. Can't cook to save her life though, oooh you should be glad she isn't here or she'd find a way to marinade these fruit into something." Both young men laugh, Tre with a childish glee at knowing this private information, like a schoolboy overhearing his parents talking about another child. "No, but seriously Tre, She is just lovely, a total gentle giantess."
They continue to walk towards the coldera where the Caves start, the sun warming the pulp on their clothes and skin, somehow making the stench even worse.
"Psyche is quite charismatic, very focussed, intense but suprisingly caring. She genuinely cares about all the recruits and team members. I guess she's like a mother to many. Her eyes don't miss anything you know?"
"She looks scary on the Infonet."
"Nah, she's a doll, so long as you don't cross her of course." Again they laugh.
"Atmos.. well Atmos is full of energy, literally! He isn't really the calmest of people either so sometimes he rushes into things a bit. Not maliciously you understand, just ill-advised." Rol was rather pround of the diplomatic description he'd given. If truth were told Rol would have to admit that Atmos scared him silly. "His skillset is awesome, he's probably a match for virtually anyone." Tre frowns as he listens so Rol explains. "He can fly, is incredibly strong, fast, tough. He can blast energy like a rocket booster, can absorb and even manipulate ambient energy and... hey I just realised something!"
After a seconds silence Tre excitedly asks what.
"Atmos, he can influence people, like not mind control or anything but you kind of have to listen to him when he talks.I bet it's that energy manipulation. You see his appearance is, well striking is putting it mildly! I bet he used to see a lot of fear and anxiety, but if he can influence others brains, the tiny electricity that fires their thinking... hmmmm."
"What so he can, like, make you do what he wants?" Tre looks concerned as he asks.
"Not exactly, but you know he's someone you just have to listen to. Maybe it's a subconscious thing where he just fiddles a bit with peoples electrical impulses to fire them in a direction which won't let them freak out when they meet him. He is very striking Tre, what a prescence he has! Wow, that'll explain the friction between him and Psyche, her brain with all the emotions from everyone around her must be like a bonfire. It must be some low level psychic feedback loop."
"Yeah? You reckon that's what it is? The Infonet scandal pages all reckon it's because they both just need a damn good florgging."
Posted by Harbinger on :
Shameless bump before I post more of this during the week Posted by Harbinger on :
"Right, let's do this, let's get into those caves and rescue your Princess!"
Approximately an hour later when he awoke swinging upside down tied to the still unconscious Tre he knew he really should have just called the Amazers when the queen had asked for help and chances were he wouldn't be in such a precarious position now.
Keeping his eyes closed his other senses told Rol the more distressing news. They had obviously been uncomfortably stuffed inside a small wooden cage - grazen knees, pressure on face, chest and thighs -suspended above a boiling vat of a suspicious liquid that bubbled and spat it's angry heat upwards into ther faces smelling horribly of burning blood; a sweet heady mix of carbon and iron.
With his senses telling him how awful the situation was Rol's Pre-commando's disciplined training kicked in and he tried to remember as much as he could before readying himself to finally open his eyes. Anything he remembered might well help him understand the where's, why's and whatnots of his current appartently life threatening position.
Posted by Harbinger on :
Rol remembered the two young men had entered the cave mouth both pretending to have far more confidence than either really felt. Rol walked ahead of his guide with his eyes shut, Seer's sense allowing the former Legionnaire to pick his path with a stumbling security that Tre marvelled had at.
Twenty minutes later they had been slowly picking their way through the cavernous maw leading them ever downwards towards the start of a pitch dark drop when they first heard the scurrying. Both young men froze for a second before Rol grabbed Tre around the waist and willed his flight ring into life. The pair flew eight feet into the air just in time to avoid the pouncing giant fanged, horse sized, albino rat. The rat screeched in a strangely childlike wail as it fell tail first into the stonily patient mouth of the shaft. The beast,s pale claws desperately scrabbled to grasp anything that might stop it's killer fall.
"Oh my floggin' Stars!" Tre cursed, frozen in Rol's grasp as he realised what had just happened.
"Sssshh..." Rol gently floated the pair away from the tunnel below, out towards a ledge of granite jutting from the otherwise vertical fall of dark and silent imperviousness that seemingly made the cave walls that surrounded them.
Posted by Harbinger on :
Flaming Planets NOW! Magazine's easy guide to the Legends of the Observator's Planet.
Part 13, The Great Caves of Doom!
The Caves of Orthranax are a natural feature, mainly.
The original settlers of Xanthu had discovered the huge labarynthian structure in their very first planetary scan. One of half a dozen sites deemed a natural wonder under the ancient Obligatory Rites of Planetary Explorers written in 2104 by Captain Frances Beake, the cave system and 50 Clicks around them in all directions were immediately declared off limits to any form of development. As the caves run for nearly a thousand clicks out from the long exstinct volcano at the heart of the Central Massif of the continent known as East their very existance decided the fate for their home continent. East was to be given to the settlers requesting relocation to a Lo-Tec culture, one that would have the least harmful effect on the geology and enviroment.
Over the centuries the caves had been investigated, mapped, mined, inhabitted and quarantined in equal measure. There were quite literally hundreds of tales about the various inhabitants but there were five Planetary legends that every lover of the Xanthi system can recite without prompt:
26th Century Meta gangsters who specialised in blackmail and extortion, Fats Anaconda and her daughters Tarki the Tooth and Headbutt Dekku hid out within the huge cave system for nearly two months before the Science Police finally collared them;
Tariq Mohamud al-Massol, the 27th Century android maker set up his illegal Droidfarm here under the guise of a local workers market exporting untold numbers of his vat grown slaves throughout the Northern Arm of the fledgling United Planets for over six years;
Maelstrom Guianna and her meta-group the Xanthu Justice Brigade had initially set up headquarters underground within this natural wonder at the tail end of the 28th Century, and as a result of that;
The escape and resulting population boom of genetically altered vermin bred and released by Baron Blackblood and his Injustice Squad in one of their final battles with the original line up of the Xanthu Justice Brigade in 2799;
and of course most recently, Atmos the Amazer had one of his first all channel broadcast live battles when he stopped a confused giant Space Dragon from destroying the galaxy famous Observatory on the Massif above.
............
One of these tales' subject matters would be responsible for the death of Xanthui citizens within hours of Rol setting foot within the Caves.
Posted by Harbinger on :
They clung to the granite ledge and listened to the cave echo with the grunts, whistles and excited squeals of the previously hidden inhabitants of the dark. Tre quietly rummaged within his pockets and pulled out a dark reedlike object. Pressing both ends it unfurled and became a paper thin Commscreen. Tre deftly pressed his fingers seemingly randomly to express his requests onto the materials edge using a skill that Rol had only heard about in hisory lessons.
Rol was genuinely impressed that Tre obviously knew how to manually type. it was an almost legendary skill!
The screen started to glow giving a gentle light that allowed Rol to read the message.
"WTF?? U betta hav a ansa Rol or wes EATEN!"
Rol reached out his left hand and typed his reply-
"l/''jkjkl'/kuj.hasdsssssss"
It was several seconds before Tre answered. . "U not type? U ansa by squeezing my arm. 1 squeeze yes, 2 squeezes no, 3 squeezes don't know, ok?"
Rol lightly sqeezed Tre's wrist once.
"U know wot that was?" One squeeze. A pause again.
"U gonna get us killed" Two rather firm and deliberate squeezes.
"Do we move or stay?" A small slap at Tre's wrist lets him know that his quuestion could not be answered with the sqeeze system they had just arranged.
"Sorry, we move now?" two squeezes. A pause then another three squeezes.
"Wot sort a prophet r u?" three squeezes.
Silence.
Posted by Harbinger on :
They had sat for almost ten painfully quiet and still minutes before Rol slowly stood up. The squeals, hisses and scuttling noises had subsided and neither young man had heard anything in several minutes. Rol gently pulled Tre up onto his feet, Tre massaging his left foot to ease cramp. Rol once again wrapped his arm around Tre's torso and willed his flight ring to lift them gently off the granite ledge into the dangerous darkness.
Below them the scurrying noises increased and there were a few excited yelps. The giant fanged rats had not left the two menalone, they had mearly waited!
Rol froze. Tre was starting to shake. Rol knew what was coming, he even knew that they would both survive but that didn't make the choice to move forward any easier.
Whispering softly to the terrified young guide "Ssshhh Tre, we will rescue your Princess, that's a promise. You must be brave and trust me" Rol suddenly dove down towards the pit and the snarling, fanged and hungry gene spliced vermin below.
Posted by Harbinger on :
Dream Boy had foreseen what was away to happen and slipping his consciousness out of the here and now to prepare for the next he instinctively relaxed his body. Tre clung onto Rol as if using the young Naltorian as a shield. They flew down the pit as fast as Rol could risk, snapping jaws almost catching them as the blind giant rats jumped to try to drag them down to the dark cave floor and a guaranteed horrific encounter. As they flew they could hear and sense with the certainty that defying death in total darkness gave that the rats were all around them.
"Hang on!" Rol twisted his flight path to avoid a towering column, his Seers senses not warning him of the beast that lept towards them. The resulting smash knocked Tre unconscious, left the rat bleeding as it impaled itself on several small stalagnite spikes that littered the floor and Rol desperately aware that the pack was closing in on them, fast.
They had landed beside the smooth wall, not ten feet away from the bleeding rat. It wasn't dead and it's painful whimpers were a beacon to all the others around them. Rol scrambled over to Tre, wrapping an arm under the unconscious guides shoulder Rol heaved him over to the wall. Once there Rol frantically pulled a small military looking pouch from Tre's belt and pressed the side. The automatic defense dome. Six feet out from the small pouch in all directions sprung a force field, good for up to five seconds to keep off the stealthily approaching pack. Hopefully long enough for Rol and Tre to find an escape.
Also more than long enough for the wounded rat that had slunk close enough that the force field sprung up behind it allowing it an uninterupted to cause a whole lot of hurt to it's prey.
Rol pulled Tre into a small crevice, placing the unconscious guide carefully down before slipping out to face the giant rat he had foreseen that would inadvertantly save their lives.
Posted by Harbinger on :
The force field thrummed and rippled throwing an aurora-like shimmer of pale blue, lighting the cave for the first time possibly in centuries. Rol didn't have time to sightsee. The giant rat, surprised by the howling commotion behind the force field jerked it's head away from Rol for less than a second.Dream Boy lept onto the rats back, flinging his arms around it's broad back and willed his flight ring to take him back the route he'd just come from. The rat resisted with a ferocious thrashing, it's screams turning truly blood curling once Rol had whipped his arms away as he barely squeezed through the crevice mouth. The rat smashed heavily into the edges, it's bulky body jamming against the rocks. At the same instant the pack broke through the energy shield that had kept them from their next meal and like a wave of biblical terror they dove onto the bloody body of their pack mate and gorged themselves.
Tre was behind Rol, so Rol's muscular body blocked out much of the immediate risk from the packs raptorous actions as they bit, chewed, clawed, fought over and generally ate their way through their pack mate to get at the two adventurers. Tre was later heard to say that this experience would probably never make his top three best experiences he would ever have wakening up. Neither he not Rol ever told anyone that they both clung to each other as the pack tore it's bloody way towards them.
Posted by Harbinger on :
With a savage screech the top half of the rats carcass was ripped away and a large toothed blood smeared face pushed it's way towards Rols chest. Warm blood streamed from it's mouth. It sniffed once as it forced it's ways towards them. As it did Rol put his hand onto a glob of the stinking berries he'd smeered over himself and rubbed it into the blind rat's nose.
It choked then violently ripped it's head away. It's bulk as it twisted crashed into the remains of its former pack mate and the ravening pack. Rol knew what to do next. As fast as he could move he grabbed the stinking berry pulp and smeared it across as many of the startled rats faces as he could, narrowly missing being bitten and clawed.
The resulting pandemonium gave Rol several seconds grace as several of the pack tried to flee, more faught amongst themselves and a few slunk to safety dragging bloody chunks and limbs from their falling.
Tre had uncurled from behind the former Legionnaire, the two young men seizing the opportunity to flee. Within seconds they were airborne again and leaving the savage pack behind.
Posted by Harbinger on :
Tre, finally breathing normally asked "If you knew those berries would stop them why did we have to throw them at each other, I could have put them in a pouch much easier."
"Oh I know, but be honest Tre, it was far more fun throwing them at me wasn't it?"
"What the sprock you saying?" indignant surprise raised Tre's voice.
"If you are going to have me as your Prophet Tre then take this as your first pearl of wisdom - it's never to late to have a happy childhood. That's my first lesson if you want it. One more thing... I'm sorry."
".... Rol, forget it."
"You misunderstand Tre, I'm sorry about the force field."
"What you talking about..."
Rol didn't answer as by that point both had flown into a wall of energy slung invisibly over the cave which had rendered them unconscious and left them spinning into a crash on the floor below.
Posted by Harbinger on :
Rol's memory of their flight and fight with the gene-spliced horrors in the cave led him to where they were now and he now knew why he was suspended as he was; tied to Tre, stuffed into a cage barely bigger than a coffin, suspended over a vat of boiling flesh and blood.
They had obviously reached the place they were meant to be, the place where he had foreseen a duel, James appearing and blood. Lots of blood! He knew now that within an hour this adventure would all be over. In a part of his mind that he was uncomfortable aknowledging he knew that it was only this Seer's assurance that was the only thing that kept him going in anything other than total terror.
Rol took a deep breath and opened his eyes.
Posted by Harbinger on :
Yet another shameless bump! Posted by Harbinger on :
Rol opened his eys slowly. The light in the cave was not bright but even so his eyes stung. It took him almost ten seconds to focus clearly through the tears that sprung in his eyes.
Ten feet underneath the cage he and Tre had been bundled into while they were unconscious there bubbled a cauldron at least as tall as either man, full of a dark red thick liquid. It was undoubtably blood, the hot rank odour permeated the air around them making the cavern smell like a charnel house in hell. The cavern floor had obviously been levelled out and floored with a tiled ceramic flooring. There was a raised stage at one end with an ornately carved throne and rack of objects on it. Around this stood a crowd of locals, all silent, waiting. Apparently asleep on the throne sat an old man wrapped in a red fur lined cloak. The rest of the cave was empty apart from several large pale green vats that bubbled quietly along one of the walls.Rol was amazed at just how clutter free the floor appeared. Not one speck of blood despite the bubbling cauldron below, no remains, no furniture , no dropped items or casually discarded objects.
"Tre, we're going to have to get out of this cage."
"Yup. " Both had whispered with half an eye on the silent crowd .None of the large group that stood around the throne appeared to be watching Rol and Tre, no-one evenglanced around as the young Amazer struggled with the ropes that bound his and his guides wrists behind their backs.
"We are going to escape aren't we Rol?" Tre's whispered question had a slight ring of hope.
"When we get these ropes undone I want you to take my belt, it has an Amazer flight buckle attached. Go empty the vats Tre, okay? Don't interupt me as I have to deal with our sleeping villain over there. When James arrives you know it's time to leave, okay?"
"Kid Quantum? Here? Wow!"
Rol smiled though wasn't sure if he was happy or not with the new tone of hope in Tre's voice.
Posted by Harbinger on :
The ropes dug, burned and scraped as they struggled out of them. Both men's arms and faces were striped with red several minutes later when they had finally shrugged them off.
As Rol pulled the last of the rope from them and fed it out of the cage to drop into the vat below Tre uncomfortably pulled on Rol's belt.
"Why don't you give me your flight ring? He angrily asked as he fumbled with the Amazer's buckle.
"Trust me, I need it."
Tre pulled off the buckle, awkwardly crashing into the wooded cage.
Despite all the noise they had made as they struggled free the crowd hardly seemed to stir. On the throne the old man groaned and rubbed his arms over his eyes. The crowd groaned and several of them started to stretch as if wakening.
"Right, think 'FLY!"" and with that Rol kicked heavily against the bottom of the wooded cage, smashing it underneath the two men. Rol clung to the rail as he pushed Tre out. The guide, eager to please and terrified of failing, followed the instructions he had been given and darted out of the cage and shot across the air straight towards he nearest vat.
"Right, time to sort this out!"
And with that Rol dropped out of the cage right into the boiling vat below.
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As Rol had hoped the Legion Flight Ring's auto eco-defensive capacity protected him from the sudden extreme heat and broiling liquid. He reached down and tugged onto the rope he had dropped. Even while struggling to grab it he heard the previously quiet crowd at the throne roar into life.
The young Naltorian knew he had to be quick or Tre would be caught and their chances of escape would be lost. It felt for all the world to Rol as if he were trying to grab onto the slippery rope while immersed in a vat of room temperature custard.
Were it not for the small golden ring his skin would have been sloughed off in the heat in seconds.
..........................
Tre had flown to the nearest vat and crashed shoulder first into the top of it. Flying, he decided, was not as easy as it looked or as much fun. The top of the vat was covered in a thin glassy film and below Tre could see half a dozen people unconscious curled up inside. The lid easily lifted off and he dropped it onto the ground at the side before jumping inside, using the Amazer buckle to arrest his fall before he landed on top of one of the sleeping prisoners.
None of the prisoners stirred and Tre realised that he was beginning to feel very tired too. The air! Tre started to panic, he picked up the nearest person, an man of middle years that he recognised as a merchant from a nearby village, and willed the amazer buckle to lift them out of the vat.
As he landed heavily outside the crowd who had been around the throne turned as one away from the slumped man and roared!
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There were 57 of them and they all roared and ran towards Tre as he flew in and out of the vats carrying the unconscious villagers. All had faces twisted in anger, teeth bared and fists flailing.
And even as they started to charge Dream Boy erupted from the cauldron swinging the rope that had bound him and Tre only minutes before, blood streaming in all directions as it spun around him. He knew that his partner and fellow Xanthu Amazer James Cullin, Kid Quantum, would arrive within minutes but he also knew that he would have to protect his companion until them from this strange and rabid crowd.
Flying as fast as he could towards the crowd he swung the bloody rope into the chests of the front runners. Blood sprayed as the rope slashed across the attacking crowd. The end of the rope whipped up and ripped into the face of a young woman tearing the skin from her face. It froze Rol for a milisecond as he saw that underneath the layer of flesh torn from the woman's face there was no bone, no blood, just a pale blue featureless cypher: blank, emotionless, controlled.
An android!
James would arrive in under a minute but Rol knew if he didn't act now then Tre and the rescue of the princess would be lost.
Trusting his Seer's sense showed him what he had to do.
"Coward! Fight me yourself!" and with that bellowed challenge he flew at the slumped man on the throne over the heads of the charging crowd. Even as he flew the crowd's attention turned away from Tre towards Rol, they reached and lept and turned their synthetic attention towards him.
The man apparently asleep on the throne turned and gave Rol a huge smile.
"Come." It was the crowd that roared this as the man on the throne rose and pulled a sword from the rack at his side.
The crowd stopped trying to grab Rol and instead formed a semi circle of strangely smiling witnesses to the duel that was away to happen.
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Rol pulled his Pre-Commando baton from his belt and with a flick extended it to its full length.
The man before him, sword pointed low, smiled ferociously as Rol approached.
Behind him the crowd whispered "come."
"You are mute, telepathically speaking through your androids." As he said this Rol jumped aside from a sudden thrust of the sword, the rapier blade elegantly spinning as it followed Rols athletic move. Rol flicked the baton at it, catching the sword with a cymbal like crash and kicked out at the man but he had spun away throwing Rol momentarily off balance.
The man struck out with his fist, Rol's precognition almost failing him as the blow sailed by his face missing by a centimetre. Rol struck out, his baton catching the man hard across the shoulder leaving his opponent's sword arm painfully hanging limp.
The crowd started to take a step forward, a moan escaping from them as the pain of the blow reached them through their telepathic link to their creator. Within seconds the anroid crowd would be on him but Rol couldn't turn to face them as the man took the sword in his other hand and struck out.
Yet even as the mob moaned they seemed to come to rest, the air around them sparkling in a mist of purple.
James had arrived, his quantum field had saved Rol's life from the enraged androids.
Now to sort out their crazed creator.
Posted by razsolo on :
Harbinger, this is great! I have just started reading with the last 2 pages, great character and story-building at work here....I also really like the way you've captured how effective a power like precognition can be paired with some lateral thinking. The bit with the flight ring and the vat of blood was inspired! Posted by Harbinger on :
Thanks Razsolo, glad to hear you're enjoying this. have to agree that pre-cognition could be a really affective ability and hopefully I'm using it to full effect.
More coming, thanks again Raz
Cx
Posted by Harbinger on :
James cullen had been running a tactical training class for recent trainees at the Amazer's Spire headquarters when the alarm had been raised. The bio-sensors in Dream Boy's Amazer Buckle had registered that he had suddenly become unconscious. Something had happened to him and James wasn't about to wait for an exploratory party to get together to join him. Grabbing the two nearest trainees and raced to the Airdeck where the Amazers saucers sat waiting for action.
The AI controller of the Spire had already set their flight path by the time they had reached the saucer. Psyche's questions rang from the internal speaker and james gave concise answers as they flew.
Where, what, how many Amazers would be needed?
The teams empathic co-leader was making arrangements for a larger group to follw behind. The Amazers looked after their own.
In the minutes it took to the Amazer's craft to reach the caves James had downloaded satellite surveilance of the site along with a historic 3-D map ofthe twisting caves, cross referencing with the area where Rol's buckle had send out the alarm. The on-ship AI generated a path from the cave mouth to where Dream Boy may be. After programming the route into his Amazer's buckle James turned to the two trainees.
"Right, tell me you are not claustrophobic or scared of things that go bump in the night?" Even with the smile on his face both trainees knew that he would not accept a wrong answer.
"I can see in the dark." The wiry Talokean said, his accent making his answer sound like a challenge.
"Umm... I'm able to create a phosphorous glow if you like?" The young Trommite seemed a little unsure of herself as she answered but held her chin up as she looked into James' eyes. James expression didn't change as his mind raced. He had brought Shadow Lad and Zero, two trainees who had shown determination and ability to deal with situations as they arose.
"You'll both do great." Both trainees looked grateful to hear this from James though both had unspoken doubts that he was saying it for them rather than genuinely meaning it.
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Finding his lover and teammate in the caves had not been as straight forward as had James expected.
Even using the directions plotted by the Amazer's AI the caves twisted and turned, stalactites, sudden dips in the rough floor and unplotted rockfalls all conspired to delay the team.
The young Talokean had quickly spotted the giant vermin as the beasts skulked around them waiting an opportunity to pounce. James bound the creatures within a quantum pocket as Zero struck with sulfur that stunk and burned the attacking horde. It was Shadow Lads ferocity that worried James though as the Talokean physically tackled the beasts when they tried to pounce on the small team. The giant rats were quickly dispatched despitetheir size and savage hunger.
Even as the team fought their way through the caves James' Buckle directed them with a gentle voice.
Shadow Lad spotted the force field and gave warning before either Zero or Kid Quantum ran unknowingly into it.
It took a frustrating 30 seconds to break through the barrier with James' quantum energy straining to create a bubble that allowed the three to pass unhurt.
A further couple of minutes and they came into the large cavern were Rol and Tre had been held. James immediately flew to Rol's aid while the two trainees quickly ascertained that Tre was rescuing the trapped locals from the vats.
James was surprised that he found it more of a strain holding the large crowd at bay than expected.
He was unaware that the vats that had held the tribesfolk were still producing the gas developed to keep xanthu natives unconscious. Over by the vats Tre had slumped to the floor. Neither of the trainee Amazers had noticed as they were busy tending to the unconscious tribesfolk that they and Tre had rescued from the vats.
Without being consciously aware of it his quantum force sphere was slowly shrinking and the affected androids at the edges of the group were shaking their heads as they came to their senses.
Posted by Harbinger on :
Outside the caves three Amazer saucers landed. Psyche, Typhoon, Dragonmage, Lamprey and the Monstress climbed out followed by half a dozen trainees. To the Amazer's point of view some of their own were in trouble and they were going to make sure that they did everything in their considerable power to ensure that they got their teammates back.
Psyche arranged the team- Herself, Monstress and Lamprey took three trainees as the Strike team - their role was to act as an attack force, while Typhoon and Dragonmage had the other trainees behind Psyche's group. This secondary group - the Shield Team - were to provide any back up if needed and protect the Strike teams flank.
The giants rats, formally the dominant, fearless occupants of the caves, gave the group a wide berth after their recent losses against the smaller Amazer team. Apart from Psyche broadcasting a low level fear amongst the rats the team had no encounters with them. Their Flight Buckles carrying them in formation safely through the twists and turns, Typhoon and Lamprey generated a crackling electric glow that gave the team enough light to see the giangantic stalagnites that littered the cave like god's own teeth.
Monstress and Lamprey were at the front of the group, they knew about the force field from the auto-report received from Kid Quantum. Monstress smashed her giant invulnerable frame through it knowing that the energy had been disrupted by James Cullin earlier, while Lamprey took a deep breath and nervously reached her hands out preparing to hopefully absorb any residual energy.
It appeared that her massive team mates physical approach had been enough and the team cautiously progressed.
Posted by Harbinger on :
James collapsed onto his knees, his quantum force bubble finally disappearing releasing the androids from its hold. Rol was aware that his partner was in trouble but as the android creator was showing his ambidexterous swordsmanhip Rol knew he would not be able to save James right now.
Rol knew he would have to pull out all the stops if he was to stop the mad man before him. Drawing on his already dwindling reserves of strength Rol smashed out, his baton catching the swordsman firmly across the brow. The android crowd moaned and clutched their heads in unison. Rol took the opportunity to punch his opponent fully in the gut, knocking the air from his lungs and buckling his knees. Even as he fell the android maker flicked the swords blade out cutting Rol across the shins in an agonising slash, blood immediately seeping down the young man's legs.
As Rol shouted in pain his opponent scrambled back to his feet, a feral grin back on his face as he struck out with suprising quickness. Rol spun out of the way almost crashing into the advancing android group. Using his flight ring to levitate above the horde Rol quickly took stock of the situation.
The two Amazer trainees had released all the trapped natives from the vats but now had their hands full as the almost 30 androids ran at them. Tre was slumped against a vat beside a group of half a dozen or so sleeping Xanthuians.
James Was struggling to fight off half a dozen androids. The android maker was attempting to flee, sprinting towards the back of the cavern with a dozen androids. Rol knew he needed to end this quickly before their opponent escaped or James took any serious injuries. Flying at full speed Rol avoided the androids and crashed heavily into the back of the fleeing android maker. As his opponent fell Rol kicked out and knocked him unconscious, hoping that the androids would stop their ominous advance.
Unfortunately the android maker had pre-programmed his mob to carry on without his telepathic prompting.
Posted by Harbinger on :
Picking up the unconscious villain and levitating above the grasp of the attacking androids Rol could see his Amazer teammates enter the cavern.
Monstress ran at the attacking group of androids who were charging at the trainees, Lamprey close behind. There were a few traines behind them being given orders from Psyche. Rol willed his Legion Flight Ring onto speaker mode, activating a protocol that Brainiac 5 had programmed for potential crowd control situations. His voce boomed across the cave.
"They are androids, organic skin but unliving underneath. James needs help. Thanks Cassandra you're here, I've got their leader here but I'm going to need meds. I think the vats are producing an anesthetic gas, James is flagging here."
He flew to the end of the cave where his team mates had entered as he spoke.
Landing gracefully he dumped the unconscious man heavily on the floor. Psyche and a red skinned trainee Rol had never met before walked over to join him. Rol could see the pride in Psyche's eyes as she approached. He knew he wouldn't be able stop yet, he was riding on an adrenaline high that would leave him needing a long rest to recharge.
"He telepathically controls the androids so keep an eye on him. I'm going to borrow a saucer as I have some people to reunite, is that okay?" and before he got a reply Rol flew across the cave towards James.
Lamprey, Monstress and a couple of trainees had scattered the attacking crowd and begun seeing to the needs of the unconscious natives taken from the vats. Rol could see the thin trainee lass who had joined James was working her way around the vats, her touch sending a steam from various points. A Trommite, perfect for shorting out the machanism that was producing the knock-out gas. The towns folk were slowly stirring, some seemed overcome by the attention they were receiving from ther planetary champions, several were crying, a few more were looking at the androids - the unliving cyphers wearing their faces! Their shock, disgust and anger were very evident as several townsfolk kicked at the slumped androids.
Several of the townsfolk who had been in the vats were not as lucky, the androids had murdered them when they had attacked despite the best efforts of the Trainees Shadow Lad and Zero. A young woman, Rol noticed, cried out in anguish as she knelt over the obviously dead body of an older man so recently rescued from the vats.
James was sitting upright, the androids he had been struggling with had been smashed by the Monstress and lay sprawled arund, his head was gashed and it was apparent from his heavy breathing that he had taken a serious body blow.
"Hey James, you okay?"
"Never better Dreamy Boyo, never better." His thin smile and obvious happiness to see Rol lit up his battered face.
"Me too Kid." They grinned like fools as they hugged. "I've got a princess to return to her worried mother and a couple of loose ends to tie up. I'll join you at the spire within a couple of hours, I promise!"
Posted by Harbinger on :
Rol found Tre beside a group who obviously knew him. Tre had found the missing princess and her group.
The Princess was suprisingly humble, Gahald her personal security guard was a stocky man with eyes that missed nothing and jaw so broad it almost made his head look triangular, and the hand maiden Elizabori, a blond woman with a huge bosom and stunning smile, were shocked as Tre explained to them what had happened. Also in the vats were the two guards who the Queen assumed were murdered when the princess was kidnapped.
The security guards had apparently been substituted for androids wearing their clone grown skin and these dopplegangers had brought the princess here. Gahald told Rol and Tre that he had fought and destroyed the two androids but had been overcome by a gas as they fought, his last sight before being overcome by darkness was of townspeople apparently approaching the unconscious princess and handmaiden.
It was the handmaiden who supplied Rol with hs opponents name:" Do you remember," she asked Tre and the princess, "in our history lessons about the android maker who hid out in the caves centuries ago, Tariq Mohamud al-Massol?"
"Tariq the Mute." Princess Rabecka said it quietly but they all heard.
Posted by Harbinger on :
As the group made their way out of the caves Rol advised them all to keep their eyes closed. The sun was beginning to set but still the light burned at their retinas as if it had a personal vendetta against them for being out of it's light for so long.
"Tre, I need my beltback, I can't activate the control AI without it and it won't accept your orders."
"You can keep it Prophet, flying is not something I really aspire to doing anymore."
Rol smiled at his guide as he took the belt back, putting it on in one easy move he approached one of the Amazers saucers.
"Door." The saucer extended a ramp and a door appeared in the otherwise sleek side. As they entered the ship the AI's voice welcomed them offering refreshments and medical attention. Rol gladly allowed the small auto-med ball to examine his painfully cut legs. An extended arm smeared a salve over the wounds before the ball rolled on to Tre and examine the young guide who had acted so bravely at Rol's side in the caves.
Rol told the ship where they were to go adding he wanted them to approach from the north side of the castle.
"I did ask your mother to keep the north tower light on Tre after all." He turned to his friend as he said this, Rol smiled as he saw Tre was asleep already in the comfortably padded chair.
Posted by Harbinger on :
It seemed everyone in the castle and the surrounding towns had been there to see them return, the crowds in the castle's courtyard cheered and shouted as the saucer silently landed on it's telescopic legs.
The queen stood with her back ramrod straight, her eyes clear and her jaw firmly held high. At her side Anagastru, the royal advisor, local witch and Tre's mother held onto her staff as if it was all that stood between her and an early death. The queen waved aside her security as the ramp descended from the saucer and the crowd roared with renewed vigour as the princess ran down towards her mother.
It was twenty minutes and a hasty, though well earned and necessary shower later, before Rol stood before the queen in the library again. with them this time were princess Rabecka, Gahald, Elizabori, Anagastru and Tre.
Rol and Tre gave their stories quickly, both exhausted and slightly overcome by the reception they had received.
"So why did he suspend you above that cauldron?"
"I guess he wanted to test us, we had gotten through the caves and maybe Tariq wanted to have a little fun. He had probably been in suspended animation for a couple of centuries before his androids had awoken him again. Who knows what goes on in a psychopath's mind? Maybe he planned on boiling off our skin to put over an android," Rol smiled wearily as he answered.
Posted by Harbinger on :
"You look tired Prophet..."
"Please Anagastru, call me Rol." he had said this several times already to the older woman.
"Of course Prophet, but now please accept our hospitality and stay the night so we can show the people of our small estae the man who has saved their mostbeloved princess in the morning." The offer sounded sincere but Rol knew that the older woman would be spending the night organising a rally that would cement him into a position of the Last prophet if he stayed and the morning would be embarrassing if he stayed.
"James is waiting Anagastru, my apologies but tonight I have to return to the Amazer's Spire, if nothing else I must give a full report."
"Prophet... Rol, " the princess spoke now, "you are welcome here any time, now Anagastu leave our saviour be and let him go home." Rol smiled at the young woman.
"Thank you, I do really need to get back to the Spire tonight though I promise I will visit you all again. Though hopefully next time there won't be as much excitement."
Tre, Gahald and Queen Sheyneyna all laughed as Rol took Tre's arm and left the room.
"What is it Rol? Do you want me to join you to the Spire?" Tre looked worried as he asked. It was obvious the young guide was at home here in this anachronistic castle.
"Just some advice Tre. You really do deserve to have some fun you know." Tre looked surprised.
"listen Tre, your Seer commands it. Relax, try to get some fun back into your life, you're not responsible for everything that goes on here. Outside, in the crowds there's a young girl just for you okay. Go find her and call me in a couple of days okay? Okay?"
Tre looked slightly angry, as if Rol had somehow insulted him.
"How many times do I need to tell you? I get the impression you haven't had to many laughs Tre so go have fun."
"You mean like you and James?" There was a sarcastic challenge in his tone.
"Yes Tre, like me and James. Go find someone you want spend time with, cuddle up to, talk to, listen to, argue with and fight, make up with and repeat the cycle." Both men are smiling as Rol finishes, both realising how loud their conversation had become as they walked up through the castle towards the waiting Amazer saucer, and the crowds.
"As my prophet commands!" They are both smiling broadly as they walk up the stairs towards the courtyard.
"If I haven't heard from you in a week though I'll start to get suspicious." Both laugh.
"Rol..." Tre's voice almost breaks, there's an emotion that neither young man have wanted expressing but both have felt.
"Take care my good friend Tre, you really haven't seen the last of me you know."
And with that Rol opens the doors into the courtyard and flies up over the crowd. They roar and cheer as their princesses rescuer flies above them.
Rol activates the Flight Ring's speaker mode.
"Thank you all, your princess and townsfolk have been returned to you..." The cheering increased "... and my thanks to you all for your support. Take care of yorselves and We will meet again."
With that he flew down to the Amazer's ship and within minutes was sat restfully as he was flown across the continents towards his home in the Amazer's Spire.
Posted by Harbinger on :
Once in the Spire Rol went to the monitor board where he met Atom'x and the Vyrgan trainee Gates as they patiently co-ordinated the Amazer's activities.
"You have a good holiday Rol? James missed you." Atom'x and Rol had never been close but even so Rol was surprised by the barbed remark,
"We missed your combat class Dream Boy sir, the group was lessened without your input." The teleporting insectovoid had virtually no accent but Rol knew the comment was genuinely meant.
"Thanks Gates, the classes will resume tomorrow at 0800 hours don't worry. Have I missed anything else?"
Atom'x moved away from the consol and walked out the door casualy saying, "I'll be beck in five minutes, more than enough time for you to catch up and leave."
"Meow."
"Pardon Drean Boy sir?"
"Nothing Gates my friend, now what have I missed?"
"Well it seems you are the focus of a religious campaign, could you explain this phenomena to me please?"
"Sorry, what?"
"here's a camp been set up at the bottom of the Spire, approximately six thousand inhabitants at last count though the numbers are doubling daily. Can you explain why they call you the Silver Seer, have you decided you no longer want to be known as Dream Boy?"
"I... oh florg! Gates, thank you. I'll... ummm... I'll see you tomorrow at unarmed combat training."
Posted by Harbinger on :
Once in the quarters he had shared with James he flicked on the holotube and sat back on a Manilian beanbag. The semi-organic fibers adapted to his posture and mass and molded itself around his torso and legs and gently massaged his tired body.
Rol quickly scanned the news channel. His recent adventure was the top ranking story. A small team of Amazer's and the Xanthu Science Police were investigating the tunnels routing out the last of the androids and discovering a previously unknown set of caves that stored the generators and materials that Tariq the Mute had used. They had found a 26th centurry suspended animation tank explaining how the android creator had survived.
On a lower ranking news stream Rol found out that James had been flown back to the Spire and was said to be recovering under full medical attention. So, James was in the Medical Bay. Rol would visit him in the morning before the renewed unarmed combat class.
On a much lower streamed news channel he found what he had been dreading. A sect caling itself the Reunification of the Lost Tribes had announced that the Amazer known as Dream Boy was the Last Prophet and had asked its members to camp at the base of the Amazer's Spire while they waited for their Prophet to come forth and declare himself.
Rol felt sickened. How on Naltor was he going to deal with this situation now?
Posted by Harbinger on :
And on that note we've come to the end of this chapter of young Dream Boy's adventures with the Amazers on Xanthu. Coming soon, Rol learns that no good deed goes unpunished, he meets Squad Quantum and the Dreamboats and we learn a little more about Rol's rather strange family. Hope you enjoyed this and look forward to (hopefully) entertaining you some more soon.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
I knew it was wrong but was possessed by the ghost of writings future at the time.![[Smile]](smile.gif)