For those who are interested, I also have an account on Fictionpress. I have a fantasy story there, called: Legacy of the Dawnbringer. The link is in my profile.

Chapter 21

Malice stood on a balcony overlooking the swarming black mass that was her army, smiling with satisfaction. She looked to where a group of gihox smithies were concentrated in the easternmost part of the vast encampment. Burly forms milled about those smithies, giants working them day and night, forging the gear her army would use. Clustered to one side was the machinery of war, great catapults and ballistae.

A wave of nausea washed over her all of a sudden, buckling her knees. She grasped the balcony railing, pearls of sweat beading on her brow. In her thoughts she could see a glowing boulder, its blue-white light indicating it as a kairu relic. The nausea melted away then, and a grin spread across her dark face.

''I have a task for you,'' Malice said, turning away from the balcony and walking back into her room. Zane lay sprawled in a chair there, feet crossed at the ankles, one arm slung casually over the chair back. ''I just sensed a kairu deposit,'' the dark spirit said in answer to his questioning look. ''I want you to retrieve it for me.'' Zane nodded, standing up and walking out of the room.

Malice moved back to the balcony, once again taking in the awesome spectacle of her gathered army. Soon they would be ready to strike out at the small villages to the west, and then her army would start taking larger prizes. Cities would fall, then whole nations. The earth would burn in the fires of war, and as the gihox realized absolute control over the planet, she and Zane would be worshiped as dark gods.

She could barely wait.

xxxxx

Zane stood in a valley some distance beyond the valley that held the gihox army. Trembling with excitement, he produced his x-reader, flipping through his monster x-drives until he found the one he was looking for. ''MANAGARM!'' he exclaimed, holding the gadget up before him. He fell down on all fours then as yellow energy enveloped his body, and he began growing and changing shape.

When the yellow energy dissipated, he had completely transformed into his newest monster. He resembled a wolf the size of a full grown bull, with a wildly shaggy coat of black fur, and his one eye glowed fiercely with red fires. A garish scar ran over his other eye, which was completely black. A line of drool hung low from his mouth, the spittle sizzling like acid as it hit the ground.

Zane howled with glee, then bolted away in search of the kairu.

xxxxx

Gargatorix, the bored gihox sentry leaned casually against his nine foot spear, head bobbing as he dozed off on the job. He was supposed to be guarding a rocky mountain pass not too far from the main encampment, but so far he had seen nothing save for the occasional eagle or mountain goat.

The sound of feet scraping off stone brought him from his stupor, and he slapped the haft of his spear across his palm. The sound came again, this time louder, and the giant realized it came from behind a large boulder about a dozen yards off. Likely it was his friend Koloth, who was supposed to take the next shift. He figured his fellow sentry was trying to play a trick on him, and so he lowered his huge spear. Koloth had ever been one to play tricks on you.

''I'm onto ye,'' Gargatorix barked. ''So ye better be getting yerself out from behind that boulder afore I decide yer an enemy and beat ye dumb.'' There came no reply, and so he approached casually. However as he rounded the boulder he saw it was not his friend – not a gihox at all, but a human wearing a red bandana. ''Ye're not Koloth,'' Garbraxis protested, feeling betrayed.

''True,'' the human said, pointing over the giant's shoulder. ''And neither is he.''

The gihox spun about just in time to see another human, this one older than the first and wearing a gray robe, leap into a spinning circle-kick. The blow connecting thunderously on his face, making his wide and flat nose wider and flatter still. The giant stumbled back, blood pouring freely from both nostrils, and then he stumbled over the first human, who had gone into a crouch behind him.

Gargatorix landed heavily on his back, then the older human leaped atop his chest, from where he sprang into a somersault that had him double stomping his heels into the giant's eyes. The gihox screamed in agony, throwing his hands up before his bloody eyeballs. But the human did not end there, stomping hard on his face, pounding the foolish giant into unconsciousness.

''We should tie him up,'' master Baphamel said as he jumped down from the gihox's massive chest. Ky and Maya came out from behind another boulder, staring wide-eyed from the brutal Redakai master to the giant lying on the ground, his face covered in blood. Had it not been for the heaving of its chest, they might have thought the behemoth dead.

''I agree,'' Boomer said, giving the supine giant a wide birth. ''But do you have any rope?''

Master Baphamel smiled, producing a sphere from within the folds of his robe. He threw the sphere at the gihox, a myriad of blue energy cords springing from it, weaving together into a net to entrap the unconscious monster. ''There,'' he said. ''Now we just have to drag him away to where he will not easily be found by other gihox. Boomer, help me out here.'' The large warrior moved to help the Redakai master drag the behemoth away.

When that was done, the four companions moved on. They came to a rocky ridge a short while later, and they crawled up the incline on their bellies. When they crested the ridge, their mouths dropped open. In the distance they could see a massive black fortress, exactly as master Boddai had described it, and massed around it like ants were thousands of evil giants, milling about their camps. From the top of the fortress' tallest spire there flapped a banner, showing two eyes on a light gray background, one purple, the other covered by an eye patch.

''Damn,'' Maya muttered under her breath.

''How are we gonna get past that swarm?'' Ky asked.

''I have an idea,'' master Baphamel said. ''But it's risky.'' He produced his x-reader, and selected his invisibility x-drive. ''Malice may be able to sense me using this, but then again she also may not.'' He pointed the gadget at himself, and he turned completely invisible, then he used the attack on his companions, each in turn.

''Follow me,'' he ordered, running in a crouch toward the edge of the encampment, the three members of Team Stax in tow. They made their way toward the section of the encampment where the war machines were, for there were not nearly as many gihox concentrated around them. As they passed through the encampment, Maya could hear what some of the giants were talking about. She was not very good at the gihox language, but she knew enough to know that the creatures were talking about war, and how they were going to enslave the humans. She also heard some of them talking about recipes that used humans as a main ingredient.

Then they were through the encampment, the four standing before the huge front gate of the fortress. It was flanked on either side by a watchtower, and a giant stood in each of those towers. The gate was closed, but after a few minutes it opened for a contingent of half a dozen giants, whom the four companions shadowed into the structure, entering a vast black hall.

The gihox contingent moved away, and as they left the four, they shed the invisibility attack, stepping out into the open once more. On they went, moving through high and wide corridors, and sneaking past several bored gihox guards. At one point they had to sneak through a room of gihox craftsmen, who were carving huge obsidian statues resembling various kairu monsters.

''There must be a throne room somewhere in this place,'' master Baphamel said as they moved along a corridor. ''If there is, then Malice is probably there.''

They rounded a bend, walking right into a trio of very beleaguered gihox guards. The giants barked something and came on, brandishing their weapons. The older man leaped in at the closest brute, and the behemoth swung its sword across. Baphamel ducked under the swishing blade, then sprang into the air, planting a double kick right into its throat. The blow was not hard enough to kill the behemoth, but it was enough to send the behemoth stumbling back, gasping for breath.

Another of the brutes charged in, chopping down with its club. Maya jumped out of reach, then rushed back in, running up the cudgel and the arm holding it, grabbing hold of the hair at the back of its head. Planting her feet against its broad back to gain leverage, she launched a series of sharp jabs at the back of the monsters neck. The behemoth stumbled once, twice, and then it went down, unconscious.

The third giant stabbed at Baphamel with its spear, but the master brought his palm in at the side of its tip, turning it harmlessly aside. As the gihox retracted its weapon, the older man rushed in, connecting with a flying kick on its face. The behemoth went down heavily to the ground, but the stubborn thing would not stay there. It tried to stand up, but Baphamel promptly laid it low with a second kick to the face.

The gihox Baphamel had kicked in the throat charged in at Boomer, unarmed and leading with a heavy punch. The stocky warrior dove through its widespread legs and kicked out, buckling one of its knees. The giant put its feet under it and whirled about, grabbing Boomer and lifting him into the air.

Then the giant howled in agony and dropped Boomer. The stocky youth looked at the monster, or more particularly at the spear Baphamel had buried deep in its hamstring. The master extracted the spear with an accompanying gush of blood, then slammed the butt of the weapon into the gihox's skull, dropping it unconscious to the ground.

The four breathed easier.

Suddenly a bolt of purple lightning flashed down the corridor, hurling back humans and gihox alike. Smoke wafting from her clothing, Maya looked down the corridor to see a familiar black-cloaked figure striding toward them. Another bolt followed, but Maya threw up a shield of her inner-kairu, shielding her and her companions from the attack that scorched the floor and the walls.

''Guess she's not into the whole issuing a kairu challenge before battling thing,'' Boomer said.

''Then we do not need to be either,'' Maya remarked, reaching out with one arm, firing a bolt of blue lighting down the corridor. The attack hit the dark spirit, causing her to jerk spasmodically, but she managed to regain control almost immediately.

Malice retaliated in fierce, her inner kairu reached out from her and into the obsidian floor, which seemed to ripple out from the dark spirit in waves, throwing the four into the air violently. They had to work hard to orient themselves enough as they descended so not to land on their heads.

''WALL OF BLADES!'' master Baphamel shouted, and a barrage of sharp razors shot out from his extended hand.

Malice gave the man a vastly superior look as her inner kairu reached into the floor, raising a protective wall from the floor in front of her. The razors pin cushioned the barrier, which promptly sank back into the floor as though it had never been. ''I would have thought a Redakai master would pack a bigger punch than that, Baphamel.''

Baphamel thinned his eyes. He had never been quite as strong as many of his peers when it came to channeling kairu energy, a fact that had so often frustrated the man. The martial arts, on the other hand, were his forté. He was regarded as one of the finest fighters of his generation, a testament to his five years spent as a vigilante.

''Cover me,'' Baphamel ordered, then he charged.

Ky fired a line of plasma, Boomer threw a ball of multicolored energy, and Maya threw a series of feather daggers in rapid succession. Malice ran a few steps up a wall, the orange beam striking the floor where she had been standing. Then she launched herself from the wall in a twisting somersault, the multi colored ball swishing past. She touched down, bursting into a blurr of motion, daggers deflecting off her bracers. Malice even managed to snatch one dagger from the air, then line Maya up for a throw.

But then a much better target presented itself, Baphamel charging at her, and she threw the dagger at the approaching man. But he just slapped the blade out of the air and launched himself into a flying kick, aimed for her throat. Malice sidestepped, then charged back in, forcing Baphamel into a short retreat. It was a short reprieve for the dark spirit, though, for he closed in on her immediately, unloading a series of jabs and kicks that had her on her heels, constantly blocking and parrying.

Malice thought she saw an opening and threw a left hook, but Baphamel had tricked her, for he glided out of range and came back in leading with a heavy punch that struck her across the jaw, staggering her backwards.

Baphamel, thinking to capitalize on his advantage he had gained, came on, but this time it was Malice who surprised him, for as he neared, the dark spirit struck him with a fist charged with her inner kairu. There came a dark flash as the blow connected, staggering the man, then there came second burst of black light as her sudden vicious backhand launched him away.

Malice did not get any time to catch her breath, though, for the three members of Team Stax were charging at her. The incoming barrage of jabs and kicks had her backing on her heels, making sure all she could do was defend, presenting her with no opportunity to strike back. She blocked and parried with wild abandon, using her inner kairu occasionally, sweat beading on her face. She noticed that Baphamel had gotten back to his feet and was moving to rejoin the fight.

Malice roared, her eyes glowing fiercely, and the ensuing blast of energy hurled her opponents back, sending them tumbling down the corridor. The dark spirit breathed heavily, but then she straightened. ''I thought I could defeat you all unaided,'' she remarked. ''But now I see the error of my thinking, for surely I am in need of a little bit of help.'' She produced her x-reader, and the image of a red dragon appeared, hovering above the small device.

''FANARLOKI!'' the name rolled ominously off her tongue, then she was enveloped in a shroud of green energy.

''No!'' Maya shouted, extending her arms, and a barrage of red energy balls burst from her hands, pelting the transforming Malice. As the attack played out, fires burned here and there, thick black smoke rising from the biting flames. The dark spirit had been engulfed by the blaze, and of her now nothing could be seen.

''There is not an x-drive in your arsenal that can destroy me,'' said a voice from within the inferno, a voice that sounded partially like Malice, and partially like rolling thunder, sending shivers through the floor and walls. A tremendous pair of leathery wings, at least thirty feet across, spread from the blaze, scraping against the corridor walls. Then the head appeared, rising from the smoke cloud, rising to tower above the four companions at sixteen feet. Its scales were mottled red and purple, and its purple eyes were slitted, staring out from under its horns.

''Kairu preserve us,'' Maya gasped.

The dragon face crinkled into a caricature of a smile as the three members of Team Stax cowered before her magnificence. Then her expression turned into one of incredulity as master Baphamel rushed to close the distance between himself and her. A sword wrought of red flame appeared in his hand. Malice retracted her head, then shot it forward, thinking to devour the foolish man, but Baphamel sidestepped, slashing at the dragon face. The fiery blade carved a line down the side of her face, over her eye, though it did not damage the eye itself.

Malice roared and retracted her head, then opened her fanged maw, spewing forth a line of destructive purple energy. Baphamel dove into a sidelong roll, the beam tearing up the floor where he had been standing. As he came out of the roll he launched the flaming sword at the dragoness, the blade gashing a foreleg. Up came that foreleg, the dark spirit thinking to crush the man and be done with him, but then a fireball struck her squarely in the face, stealing her attention.

Malice stared pure murder at Ky, who stood some distance away, the young Stax preparing to throw another fireball. The beast opened its mouth again, charging its breath weapon, but then a hammer smashed against its scaly armor, sending sheets of hot pain through her side. Her head jerked off target, the purple beam blasting a chunk from the wall, then its gaze fell upon Boomer who stood up close, platinum hammer poised to strike again.

''WIND BLAST!'' Malice roared, beating her leathery wings, and a gust of green wind smote Ky, knocking him from his feet, and sending his latest fireball soaring way off target. Then she turned her attention to Boomer, her tail snaking around to grab the stocky man by the ankle and lifting him into the air. She held him up before her face, her mouth opening, with purple light falling upon the frightened Boomer.

Then a barrage of red energy balls smote Malice in the head, the bellowing dragoness dropping Boomer to the ground. The stocky youth crawled away on all fours, and the dark spirit looked about to see Maya standing off to the side. ''Damn it!'' Malice roared, lashing with her tail, drawing numerous cracks in the wall as the young woman dove out of harm's way.

How foolish Malice thought herself at that moment. She had been so excited to show off her new monster that she had completely ignored the fact that in a corridor she would be at a sore disadvantage due to her size. If she had enough room to fly around she would have dispatched her enemies quickly and easily.

''You are all going to die!'' she bellowed, the sheer volume of her voice shaking the very foundations of the fortress. Suddenly she felt someone leap onto her back, and her serpentine neck swiveled about to regard Baphamel, standing in the area between her wings. Malice watched as he clenched a fist, and channeled his inner kairu into it, causing it to glow a soft blue light. She tried to bite at the man, but Baphamel was the quicker. He smote his fist down on the area where her wings met. Her half human, half monstrous scream echoed through the halls as sharp jolts of pain shot through her entire body, before dropping her to the ground, where she lay very still.

A green shroud of energy encompassed the dragoness, then its massive silhouette began to shrink, and when the energy at last dissipated, Malice lay on the floor in her human form. Baphamel walked over to the dark spirit, thinking to scoop her into his arms, but then the floor beneath his feet speared into the air as a column, and he had to jump off to prevent being crushed against the ceiling. Malice shakily got back to her feet.

''You are defeated, Malice,'' Ky said. ''Surrender.''

''Never,'' the dark spirit growled, producing her x-reader.

''She's gonna teleport!'' Baphamel roared.

An orb of light appeared around the x-reader, and then it grew until it encompassed the whole of her. The four companions converged on the orb as it began to dissipate, but only Maya was able to throw herself into the light, following the dark spirit. Then the orb was gone, and so too were Malice and Maya gone.

To be continued...

Maya = Call for Heroes, by Pierre Langer.

Malice = Divine Power, by Shockwave Sound (the song is in a video titled: Army of Ages - Divine Power)