CHAPTER TEN
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A streak of white air jetted from the Steelkin's face. It would have frozen all of the attackers at once, but they had already scattered. It swiveled its head toward the biggest target. That was Ben. It had the huge teenager almost targeted when…
Shriek. Crack.
Tomas had carved a long gash in one of its back legs. Distracted from Ben, the Steelkin raised that wounded leg with the intent of stomping. Tomas quickly leapt out of the way before the leg pounded the earth. At the same time, Ben aimed for the front right leg. He brought his mace down hard on its ankle.
The leg buckled. Ben retreated before the Steelkin could fire another cold blast. It barely missed him, and he could feel a horrible chill on his bare legs.
But he and Tomas had the advantage. They were insects next to the Steelkin, but their magical weapons made for devastating stingers. It was too heavy and slow to defend itself properly. Blade and mace tore up its legs until everyone could hear the low, ugly sound of bending metal. Like a tower getting pushed by a hurricane, the Steelkin leaned to one side and fell upon its master's palace. The Citadel of Iron trembled, but its tough metal shell withstood the blow. It kept the Steelkin from falling completely over.
It shouldn't have been able to right itself. However, everybody knew better than that now.
They watched the metal pieces come back together. As the legs healed themselves and the Steelkin pushed itself upright, Tomas looked to Kathy. She was rubbing the amulet. It did not even give the hint of a glow. She shook her head at him.
We're going to lose, he thought, unless Oliver can pull something out of his hat.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Nothing could touch Oliver. He was still terrified.
He felt like he was inside an engine. He moved carefully through steel corridors. The walls were dark gray and covered with gears. Those gears twitched and whirled, surrounding Oliver with a constant hum. Pipes belched smoke. Vibrations would abruptly pass through the floor. He couldn't shake the fear that he was about to get chewed up and spat out.
The Steelkin were a constant threat. He would hear them clanging as they approached a corner. He kept sliding through a wall and hoping that he wouldn't run into metal soldiers into another room. No, they couldn't hurt him. (At least, he didn't think so.) However, if they found him, then so much for the surprise attack, right?
He crossed through one room after another. He found racks of weapons, mounds of stolen treasure, maps of the Realm and a hundred other items. He just couldn't find anything that could help his friends outside the Citadel. Nor could he locate Dawn.
He wandered through the metal castle, alone and feeling helpless.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Tomas shouted, "Charlie, you got anything for us?!"
The boy nodded. He closed his eyes and lifted his staff. The giant Steelkin slowly turned to him. Charlie seemed oblivious as the Steelkin aimed its vent.
"Charlie, look…!"
The bats exploded from cracks in the canyon walls. They swarmed toward the Steelkin. It suddenly found a dark cloud obscuring its vision and felt a hundred wings beating against its hull. Some of the bats were caught in its breath and fell to the ground as chunks. The majority remained to confound it.
Ben and Tomas went after its legs again. This time, it fell all the way to the ground with a tremendous crash. It should have been the sound of victory.
It merely picked itself up, just as it had done before. It resumed looking down at the annoyance at its feet. The bats retreated, seeing the futility of another attack.
"I think we're out of tricks," Ben said.
"But we're not out of fight," Tomas replied. "Come on."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
This is ridiculous. Why did they change their minds? Why are they fighting a battle they can't win? What's different about…
Wait.
Where is their spy?
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Charlie slipped on a patch of ice. As he skidded to a halt, the Steelkin aimed at him. Ben saw this, but he was too far away to help the boy. He could only watch in horror.
Someone could do more than that. Blaze stood between the boy and the iron monster. He took a deep, deep breath.
The Steelkin spat its freezing air. Blaze breathed a streak of fire that intercepted the white cloud. It halted the cloud's advance and rained water onto the earth. The cold quickly overcame the fire and began to force its way downward. Blaze kept blowing fire, but he could not win.
He wasn't trying to. Ben understood this. Charlie didn't. He looked at his friend in harm's way and shouted, "Blaze, don't!" The older boy, however, rushed forward and gathered him with one arm. He rescued Charlie just before the cloud overcame fire and…
"BLAZE!!"
The cloud dissipated. A dragon was now immobilized in his position of defiance, icicles hanging from his chin, a thick cocoon of ice around his body.
Charlie cried against Ben's shoulder. He felt anguished as well. So did Kathy. She was huddled behind another one of the living ice statues. She shook the amulet and yelled, "Why won't you work?! Why won't you do anything?!"
It remained as useless as before. She closed her eyes. "Oliver," she whispered, "please help us."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
He passed through a steel door, expecting nothing. He found…something.
He wasn't sure what it was. It had the appearance of an enormous boiler. Several gauges were displayed on it. Each held a quivering needle. Several wide pipes led from the central drum and broke through the walls.
It looked important. The question was – what would happen if it got busted?
He got closer to it. He tried to find a button or a lever. Nothing of the sort was visible.
He did find a long glass cylinder. It was full of bubbling water that got funneled into the machine through metal tubes. The cylinder was close to the floor, so he could touch it.
He looked around him. No one else was around. He pulled down his hood and then tapped the cylinder once. It was scorching hot, and he quickly pulled back his finger. He covered his arm with his cloak and tapped again. He banged the cylinder, harder and harder. He couldn't raise one crack. Something else was needed. Something harder that could…
The door creaked open. Before Oliver turned, he could hear the footsteps of Steelkin. He found five metal soldiers advancing on him. Their swords were already in hand. He grabbed his hood.
Then he stopped. He slowly lowered his hands.
They kept marching for many steps. Then they stopped. They had formed a semi-circle around him. Only a few feet separated the two sides.
They watched him. He watched them.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The Steelkin was considering its choices. It had Ben and Tomas backing up. The two young men were far apart, so it couldn't freeze both at once. But that only meant it just had to do one at a time.
So which to do first? The Knight or the Viking? Both had hurt it with their vicious little weapons. Perhaps the Knight first, then the Viking and the little Shepherd huddled in the arms of the Witch.
It advanced, slowly turning its head left and right. Ben and Tomas kept backing up until their heels were touching the frozen captives – the ones whose fate they would soon share.
They glanced at each other. Each saw fear, but also determination.
Then they turned and faced the Steelkin, ready for one last attack.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Come on, come on," Oliver taunted. "You know you want it."
The Steelkin examined him. They weren't stupid. They could see the cylinder right behind Oliver. They knew what the cloak could do.
Still, his hands remained at his side. How fast could he raise them?
One of the metal soldiers stepped toward him. His hands remained down.
It took another step. They still remained down.
Another. His arms hadn't moved.
And then with shocking speed the Steelkin crossed the last inches.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Ben and Tomas ran toward their enemy, weapons raised, screaming. Almost languidly the Steelkin looked at Tomas. White air rose from its mouth.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Oliver didn't raise his hood. There wasn't time for that. However, he could turn as the Steelkin thrust its sword at him. The blade could have pierced his heart. Its tip caught his arm, instead.
At that moment Oliver's mind split in two. Half of it was engulfed in pain. The other half yelled at him to raise his hood, just like he planned.
Using his other arm he grabbed the hood and yanked it upwards. The Steelkin was caught off guard. Having wounded Oliver, it had kept lunging forward. Its momentum carried itself through Oliver. It rammed into the cylinder.
It was hard enough. It was fast enough. The cylinder busted open. Hot water gushed over the floor. A sputter could be heard inside the boiler. It grew to a loud cough. Then the sound of wheezing and screeching gears filled the whole machine. Smoke leaked through the pipes. The needles went all the way to the red.
Then it just stopped. The needles fell to zero. The whole machine was quiet.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Tomas saw the white cloud approaching him. It was too late for him to dodge. He waited for the overpowering cold.
Then the cloud dissipated. Thin white tendrils floated to the air and evaporated.
The Steelkin had become motionless. Ben and Tomas watched as the red glow in its eyes faded.
It leaned slightly to the right. Then a little more. And a little more.
And then it was plummeting. It crashed to the ground. This time it stayed down.
Tomas and his group needed a few moments to figure out what happened. Then Ben grinned and said, "Oliver, my man."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Oliver watched the Steelkin drop. His enjoyment of their deactivation was tempered by the tremendous pain in his arm. He knelt on the ground and checked his wound. He saw a gleam of metal amongst the blood. He realized that the point of the sword had been within his cloak's range. It became insubstantial with him. Therefore, it still hurt.
Clutching his arms and feeling ill, he staggered to his feet.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
They spent a couple of seconds cheering. Then they rushed the main door.
"We're here!" Ben shouted after the iron doors fell to his mace. "Show yourself, Terror!"
No one did. They only saw metal men littering the floors of an ugly hall.
"I said, show yourself! Come get…"
"We need to find Dawn," Tomas interrupted. "And Oliver."
The mention of Dawn's name brought ready agreement from Ben. The group split up. Ben and Charlie went looking for Dawn; Tomas and Kathy for Oliver.
The search didn't take long, despite the Citadel's many rooms. They kept expecting to encounter The Terror – the one who had caused them so much trouble, the one who had terrified the whole Realm – but he remained elusive. They only encountered more prone Steelkin.
Ben kept smashing doors. One busted door revealed a stairway. They lead him and Ben into a dungeon. They found many cells. As he looked through one window after another, he discovered empty rooms.
Then they found the one with a young woman sitting on the ground. She had her legs raised toward her chest and her face pressed against her knees. However, Ben would have recognized that curly black hair anywhere.
"Dawn…" he whispered.
She didn't hear him, of course. With his mace he cracked open the door. He and Ben rushed toward the prisoner.
"Dawn!" Ben repeated as he touched her. She flinched, waving her manacled arms.
"Dawn, it's us."
Dawn stopped struggling when Charlie hugged her as tightly as he could. The touch was familiar to her. She slowly raised her face.
And, oh, how Ben had wanted to look at those brown eyes again. He was trembling slightly as she touched his face. She looked down at the boy embracing her. Then she looked at Ben again.
"Yes," his lips said to her. "It's us."
She pulled him into an embrace. For a long time Dawn, her brother and boyfriend stayed in that hug. She couldn't hear Charlie's quiet sobs. Nor could she hear her own. Ben heard them both. He felt like crying himself.
Then he gently pulled away from her. "Come on," he said. "We're getting out of here."
She watched with amazement as he snapped the chains with his mace. After getting to her feet, she took another look at his fur costume.
"Yeah," he said, smiled crookedly at her expression. "I know. Guess you didn't get the new wardrobe."
True. She still had the t-shirt and jeans that she had worn on the ride. Good Lord, that seemed so long ago…
"Follow me," he said. He took the point with Dawn and Charlie behind him, hand in hand. She was also surprised by his wool clothes and staff. Still, he remained her little brother. He grasped her hand as if he was afraid to let go. She felt the same way.
They arrived at the front hall just when Kathy and Tomas had returned. Oliver was walking between them and looking sick. However, his face lit up like everyone else's. "Dawn," he croaked. "Welcome back."
Ben headed toward him. "Oliver, you sly son-of-a-gun, you actually…"
He started to hug Oliver. When Oliver winced, he noticed the wound. "Oh, no…"
"The metal piece has stopped the bleeding," Tomas said. "But we still need to get him out of here. We need to get out of here, period."
Ben frowned. He lifted his mace. "But The Terror…"
"We came here to rescue Dawn. Let's not push our luck."
Ben hesitated, but briefly. Then he nodded and joined the others as they walked out of the Citadel.
They had only gone a few steps when something changed in the air. They felt it first. Then they saw thick, dark lines flowing high above the ground.
Ben saw Dawn's horrified expression. As the lines converged on each other and blended together he said, "It's him."
Tomas looked a question. Ben looked back an answer.
The lines were gathering into a black cloudy shape on the ground. It was taking on the form of a person.
"Everybody," Tomas said quietly, "get ready."
Just like that, happiness turned into fear. However, they did as Tomas ordered. They prepared their weapons. They waited to see the face of their enemy.
A softer color appeared amongst the black. It was the shade of skin. Eyes, hairs and a mouth were forming. As the figure became clearer, everybody except Dawn thought, 'Is that…? No, it couldn't be.' Only she knew otherwise. Only she had seen the face of The Terror.
The lines completely merged into the figure. He now looked just like a human; a human wearing a back suit; a human whose face they had seen a thousand times before and who now left them dumbstruck.
They were looking at the face of Tom Hanks.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX