biDisclaimer:/b Skull, Lord Zedd, Goldar, and Zordon are the property of Saban. Everyone else is
mine./i
pcenterThe Crow in the Iron Mask - Part 2/center
pcenterBy: SilvorMoon/center
p To any outsider, it would have looked as if Lord Zedd's plan for destroying the world of
Tien had gone badly awry. His monster had been singlehandedly driven off by the planet's
fledgling hero, outsmarted and wounded by his own weapon. It appeared that the warlord was
going to have to rethink his strategy.
P Appearances could be so dreadfully deceiving.
P Of course, Goldar had know way of knowing what was going on in his master's devious
mind. He only knew that the warrior he had selected to battle the Dark Falcon had proved an
abysmal failure, and that if he did not handle the situation carefully, he could very well be pinned
with the blame for the outcome. That didn't worry him much. He'd had plenty of experience in
dealing with matters such as these, and anyway, the monster in question was so ridiculously stupid
it was unlikely that ianyone/i would be unable to see how its defeat had been its own fault.
The armored primate had no sympathy whatsoever for his charge. He would be more than happy
to hand the monster over to Lord Zedd for any kind of punishment as long as it meant he himself
would get off the hook. He dragged the protesting monster to the great double doors of Zedd's
throne room and shoved him through, giving him a vicious kick for good measure that sent the
hapless creature skidding across the smooth floor toward the base of the dias where Zedd's
throne rested. The monster winced; his backside was sore enough from being burned even
without metal-plated feet booting him around. He cowered before his master, hardly daring to
think what the punishment for his failure might be. Goldar sneered.
P "Master, this pathetic creature has failed to complete your assignment for him," he said.
"What are you going to do with him?"
P Zedd leveled a cold stare at his general, and Goldar shrank back a little, sensing that
somehow, he had made an error somewhere. That was confusing to him, but he refused to lose
any more face by asking what the problem was. Zedd held his gaze just long enough to make his
silent message clear, and then turned on the unfortunate monster.
P "Who are you and why have you been brought to me?" he asked dangerously.
P "P-p-p-please forgive me, m-m-m-master," stammered the monster. "I-I-I tried my best, I
really did. That person, the Dark Falcon, he tricked me! It's n-n-n-not my f-f-f-fault!" The
monster sounded close to tears. It trembled piteously on the floor.
P "Of course it's not your fault," Zedd replied, shocking Goldar with his sympathetic tone.
"It wasn't fair of that Dark Falcon to fool you like that, was it? You couldn't be expected to win
an unfair fight."
P "You're not angry at me?" asked the monster in amazement.
P "Of course I'm not angry with you! How could I be angry? After all, if it really wasn't
your fault, I can't blame you for it. As a matter of fact, just to show you how much faith I have in
you, I'm going to give you another chance."
P "Oh, thank you!" said the monster joyfully. "You can count on me, Lord Zedd! I'll get it
right this time."
P Zedd smiled. "I'm sure you will."
P As the monster vanished in a blink of blue light, Goldar turned to stare at his master in
amazement.
P "I don't understand," he said. "Why are you rewarding him for failing you?"
P "That wasn't a reward," answered Zedd, smiling icily. "That was punishment. When the
time comes, he will be destroyed, and it won't be the Dark Falcon who destroys him."
Pcenter~*~/center
P Skull returned home in a foul mood. He hadn't been so thoroughly annoyed with anyone
for a long time, if ever, and someone was going to pay for it. As fate would have it, that particular
someone was waiting for him at the door.
p "bOh, hello, Eugene,/b" said the Firebird lightly. "bDid you have fun fighting the -
urk!/b"
P The fire entity's speech was abruptly ended by an unmelodious squawk as Skull closed his
hand around the Firebird's throat. Firebird fluttered around wildly, releasing a small shower of
flaming feathers that burned themselves out before they touched the ground.
P "bLet me go! Let me go this instant!/b" Firebird commanded.
P "First you listen," Skull replied. "I did what you told me to do, and now Cedar's mad at
me, and it's all your fault. I'm not letting you go until you promise to explain all this and
apologize to her."
P "bI'll do no such thing. It's not my fault if you misinterpreted perfectly good ad.../b"
He trailed off as Skull tightened his grip. He turned up the heat of his feathers a little, not enough
to burn, but enough to be painful, as a warning. Skull did not relinquish his grip. The two stared
at each other for a moment.
P "bI could burn your hand off if I wanted to,/b" Firebird warned.
P "bI could wring your neck if I wanted to,/b" answered Skull.
P "bEr, um, yes,/b" said Firebird, deflating. "bNo need to be so cross. I'm only
trying to help. I don't understand why you have to be so violent about it. All right, I'll apologize
to your friend if it will make you happy. Now, let go of me!/b"
P Skull relinquished the Firebird, who spent the next few moments grooming the feathers on
his neck, muttering to himself about humans with dirty hands and people with no manners.
P "I'm waiting," Skull said impatiently.
P "bOh, all right. I'll go look for her,/b" answered Firebird. "bJust wait here. I'll be
back in a flash./b" The Firebird spun in midair and soared through an open window into the
house.
P Skull sighed and leaned back against the doorframe, rubbing at the slightly scorched hand
that had been holding the Firebird. He wasn't sure he'd ever stood up to anyone like that before,
especially someone as powerful as the Firebird. The thought that he could hold his own against
someone like that made him feel pretty good. And once Firebird apologized to Cedar, she would
forgive him, and everything could be okay again...
P Firebird reappeared and settled on the branch of a nearby tree.
P "Did you talk to Cedar?" asked Skull.
P Firebird approximated a shrug. "bI couldn't. She isn't here./b"
pcenter~*~/center
P Chaos seemed to be the order of the day, as the creature who called himself Firestrike
reappeared downtown. He wasn't striking any fires now, however, which rankled him a bit.
Despite his bold words to the Dark Falcon earlier that day, the fire-making spell was not tied to
him, but to his enchanted whip - a good thing, since he might have been burned to a crisp himself
if the weapon had not been disposed of. Now he was making do with a pair of gleaming
shortswords, but just the presence of a rampaging monster on main street was having the desired
effect. Terrified citizens ran from him in feathered streams, giving shrieks of avian terror as he
perused them.
P However, the results brought on by the second attack were nowhere near a impressive as
they had been the first time around. For one thing, there was no denying that a monster who lit
unquenchable fires was a good deal more impressive than a monster who could not. Also, most of
the people in that part of the city had taken themselves to safer places, and causing terror and
chaos was much more difficult when there were fewer people to terrify. That might have been the
reason why Cedar was a bit slow in noticing the danger.
P After taking her angered leave of her erstwhile companion, Cedar had flown to a secluded
roost atop a seldom-used building near the edge of the business district, where she could be alone
with her unhappiness. She curled herself into a dejected ball of feathers and sobbed out her
disappointment. All this time, she had thought Eugene was her friend! That obviously wasn't the
case anymore. He didn't need her, he didn't want her around. It was just like the townspeople had
said: the Dark Falcon was the hero, and she was only there for the sake of convenience. The only
thing she was needed for was to make her "partner" look better. Well, she wasn't going to stand
for it! If he didn't want her, fine. She'd let him have his way. He could handle this hero business all
by himself if he wanted to. He could blow himself up for all she cared. She wouldn't mind one bit.
She buried her head under her wing and cheeped miserably
into her feathers.
P She didn't know how long she had been like that before she became aware of a commotion
going on below her. Blinking her eyes, trying to clear the tears from her vision, she peered down
from her hiding place at the turmoil below.
P "Him again," she muttered. "Vat rrrotten timing. Vell, I'll fix his vagon."
P So saying, she reached for the amber drop at her throat, but then she paused, thinking. On
one hand, it was obvious that her so-called friend didn't want her involved in these fights anymore,
and she was still angry enough to let him deal with what he'd asked for. On the other hand, her
better nature reminded her, the people down there - her people, whom she'd sworn to protect -
were in danger, and it went against her grain to sit by and do nothing when she knew she could
help. If nothing else, maybe it would prove that she was good for something, after all. It was a
chance to one-up the Dark Falcon, and that was good enough for her. Whispering the word of
power, she shifted from her half-human shape to full Firebird form and swooped down on the
monster below, screaming the ancient, wordless battle cry of all winged things.
P To say the monster was taken by surprise was a bit of an understatement. One moment, he
was happily causing havoc in the streets, and the next, his vision was full of blinding, burning
wings. He scrabbled at his face, dropping his weapons in momentary panic, trying to protect his
eyes from the wildly slashing claws of whatever had attacked him. After a few confused moments,
the monster managed to get a grip on one of Cedar's wings and hurl her out of the way. She
bounced unharmed from the canopy of a nearby vendor's stall and took to the air once again.
P "What in the world are you?" asked Firestrike.
P "I... I am your enemy. You need not know more than that," Cedar replied. Inwardly, she
winced. It was one of the things that was stinging her: while the Dark Falcon could confidently
call himself such, she had no name at all to give.
P The monster seemed to consider this a moment before replying - he was definitely not the
swiftest thinker Cedar had ever encountered.
P "Well, I guess it doesn't matter much," he replied, stooping to retrieve his swords. "Since
I'm here to level the city, you're gonna be a shiny feather-duster in a minute, anyway."
P "We'll see about that," Cedar answered.
P In an instant, Firestrike found himself trapped in the middle of what seemed to him to be
an angry, shrieking, flaming tornado. Cedar didn't have any weapons other than her beak and
talons, but those she used with all the skill and strength she had. The monster lashed out at her
with his blades in retaliation. He clipped a few of the plumes from her trailing crest and tail, and
the pinfeathers of one wing were shortened somewhat, but the swords were not his weapon of
choice, and he was having trouble wielding them against something that moved so close and so
quickly. He was starting to get dizzy from trying to follow her rapidly spiraling movements.
Finally, in frustration, he threw down his weapons and began grabbing erratically at his flying
attacker. By pure luck, he managed to catch hold of her crest feathers and hold her out in front of
him, putting him well out of range from her claws and making it virtually impossible for her to use
her beak. She cried out in pain and frustration as she struggled in vain to free herself.
P "Now I gotcha," said the monster, grinning gleefully. "I don't know what kind of critter
you are, but you're obviously no match for a powerful warrior like me. You know what I'm going
to do with you? I'm going to bash your skull in, and then I'm going to take you back to Lord Zedd
so he can have you stuffed and mounted! How do you like that, huh?"
P "You let me go! You'll never get away with this!" Cedar shrieked. "The Dark Falcon will
be here any minute, and he won't be happy when he sees this."
P "I'm not afraid of the Dark Falcon," answered Firestrike. Now that the last battle was over
and beginning to dim in his mind, he had begun to fancy that it was he who had driven off the
Dark Falcon, instead of the other way around. "The Dark Falcon's nothing but a weird guy in a
funny-looking suit, and iif/i he was brave enough to show his dumb face, I'd just take my
swords and-"
P He was interrupted in mid-threat as the chance suddenly availed itself for him to suit
action to words. As he was speaking, a hail of glowing red laser bolts suddenly fell from the sky,
all of them striking the monster and making him yelp in pain. In his shock, he lost his grip on his
captive, and she immediately began fluttering away to a safer location. At the same time, the Dark
Falcon himself dropped out of the blue, holding his Phoenix Phaser gun in one hand and looking
angry.
P "Okay, monster, let's get this straight," he said. "I am having a ireally/i bad day
today. If you know what's good for you, you'll go away before I decide to take it out on you."
P "And just where have you been?" Cedar demanded angrily. "If you had been just a few
seconds later, this thing would have ikilled/i me! What took you so long?"
P "I got here as fast as I could," Skull replied defensively. "It's not my fault it took so long."
P "Sure, nothing is your fault, is it?" said Cedar acidly. "You're just perfect, aren't you?
You're so much better than everyone else, and you don't need anyone else's help."
P "Cedar, look, I'm sorry about what I said earlier-"
P "Of course you say that now. Well, don't expect me to come crawling back to you like
silly tame pet just because you make apologies," Cedar chirped angrily.
P "But I really didn't mean it!" said Skull. "Honest, Cedar, it's the Firebird's fault! He was
the one who told me to do it!"
P "Blaming it on him won't do you any good," Cedar replied. "As far as I'm concerned, you
and the Firebird can both - eek!"
P Cedar's tirade was ended abruptly. The monster, who had gotten bored of listening to the
argument, had decided that this was as good a time as any to renew his attack. A flash of his
sword had sent Cedar tumbling to the earth with shooting pains running through her left wing.
She lay dazed in the street, panting in agony.
P "Okay, that tears it!" shouted Skull at the monster. "Let's see you pick on someone your
own size!" He pressed the trigger on his laser that caused it to unfold into a gleaming sword and
held his new weapon menacingly. The monster froze as he tried to contemplate this new threat
and his chances of surviving it.
P Seeing the coming confrontation, Cedar managed to get herself back on her feet and,
amazingly, back into the air again.
P "Oh, no you don't!" she shrieked. "Don't you think I can take care of myself? I'm not a
fledgling, I'm a warrior, one of the Firebird's chosen! I'm just as good as you are! If you can take
monsters alone, then so can I!"
P "Cedar, don't do this! It's crazy!" called Skull. "We're supposed to be working together!"
P "I see," Cedar answered. "I must let you fight alone, but you think I cannot fight alone! I
won't take it!"
P "Cedar, look out!" Skull cried.
P It was too late. The monster made a second slash at her, clean and well-aimed. He was too
close not to hit his mark, and Skull was too far away to do anything to stop it. There just wasn't
enough time to react...
P A bolt of lightning fell out of the sky, silver lightning that sent both the heroes and the
villain flying in three different directions, and for a moment, the street was obscured by grey-white
smoke. Then the smoke cleared, revealing a most remarkable figure.
P It was the Dark Falcon, sort of. It was as if someone had looked at Tien's resident hero
and redone the design to make him seem even more impressive. His costueme was in the same
style as the Dark Falcon's, but it was done entirely in silver instead of black and trimmed in black
instead of garish red and purple. A gleaming silver mask covered the upper half of a face that
seemed eerily like and yet unlike Skull's. It had the same general shape and features, but there was
a kind of stern bravery and knowledge where Skull showed fear and confusion. The newcomer
had the same dark hair, shot through with glints of true silver that flashed in the bright Tienese
sunlight. The form-fitting suit showed off a body that was hard and muscled. Next to him, the real
Dark Falcon looked weak, foolish, and frightened - not to mention a bit dusty and bruised from
being thrown abruptly to the ground. The stranger surveyed the scene, and then dashed directly to
where the injured Cedar was still lying in the road.
P "Are you all right?" he asked worriedly. His voice, at least, was not copied from Skull's. It
was deep, powerful, and, Skull realized, vaguely familiar. Hearing it was triggering dim
recollections that made him feel slightly uneasy.
P "Who... who are you?" Cedar asked dazedly.
P "I am called Ironhawk," answered the stranger. "Are you hurt, my lady?"
P "I'll be all right," chirped Cedar weakly.
P "You are brave," answered Ironhawk. "Don't worry; I'll see to it that this cretin is dealt
with firmly. Hawk's Talon!"
P In a flashy maneuver, he produced a gleaming curved sword, marked down the edges of
the blade with twisting runic letters. The monster stared, transfixed in shock and fear as the
silver-garbed hero charged at him, blade held high. A warrior with some experience behind him
would have been able to snap himself out of his trance and run. Firestrike, however, didn't have
any real experience with the art of war. He managed to utter one last scream before the enchanted
blade struck him, and then he collapsed and exploded in a fountain of blue fire and smoke.
Ironhawk casually sheathed his sword.
P "Wow," said Skull, envious. He wished he could dispatch monsters with that kind of
efficiency and style. "Thanks a lot. I owe you one."
P "You owe me nothing. It is all part of my mission," answered Ironhawk, not quite turning
to look at him. "Where the Dark Falcon goes, I must also go, and there lies my battle."
P "Can you tell us who you are?" asked Skull. "I mean, what's your name? Are you one of
the Aerials, or are you another outsider?"
P "I have given you the only name I intend to give, for now. Later, you will learn more
about me," answered Ironhawk. "But now, my work here is done. If you wish to speak with me
further, meet me in the house at the southeast corner of the Thieves' Garden. I'll be waiting for
you there. Farewell to both of you."
P With those final words, Ironhawk took a running start, pumped his wings, and soared off
into the sky. Skull was impressed. He had thought he had fairly well mastered using his wings, but
he'd never been able to take off from ground level without Cedar's help. Glancing in Cedar's
direction, he felt a further stab of envy; it seemed that she was impressed with this newcomer, too.
P "Now, that is ireal/i hero," she said. "At least he has manners. Not like some people."
P "How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" Skull replied. "I goofed up big time and I
know it, okay? I'm sorry, and I'll never do it again, so could we please stop fighting about it?"
P "You shouldn't have done it in the first place," said Cedar, unwilling to be placated.
"Perhaps I will go have words with Ironhawk. Maybe he needs partner."
P "You can't do that!" Skull protested. "Didn't you hear what he said? He's going to be
hanging out in the Thieves' Garden. You told me that place is dangerous."
P "Don't you think I can take care of myself?" Cedar's tone was challenging.
P "Well, yeah - I mean, no - I mean... do you really think it's worth the risk?" asked Skull.
He was honestly worried for the safety of his friend. Not only Cedar, but Hemlock, Poplar, and
others had warned him against wandering into the Thieves' Garden. He had heard whispered tales
in the public areas about how people would sometimes wander into that part of town and come
out without even their clothes, or, worse yet, never come out at all. It had been a bit of a slum
before the war, but since the Aerials had become too involved with the universal war to bother
with internal improvements, it had degenerated into a hotbed of criminal activity. Why someone
like Ironhawk would be hanging around the Thieves' Garden was too much for Skull to
understand... unless there was something funny going on, and he didn't care for that idea one bit.
P Cedar was too wrapped up in her own outrage to think much about it.
P "You just don't think I can do it," she said. "You don't think I can get by without someone
helping me. Well, it's not true! I can do just fine without you, so there!" With a flutter of wings,
she took off on a painful flight in the direction of the Thieves' Garden.
P Skull sighed and took a look around. No citizens, no monsters, no reason why he couldn't
exchange his disguise for his more ordinary human form, so he flashed back to his usual
appearance. It didn't look like he was going to be able to depend on having Cedar to fly him home
from now on. Maybe he'd have to practice taking off like Ironhawk did, but right now he was too
physically exhausted and mentally drained to even consider the idea. If it was a choice between
trying to take off alone and walking, he would walk.
P While he walked, he forced himself to engage in an activity he usually avoided if he
possibly could: thinking. Just where had he gone wrong here? What had been his fatal mistake?
Well, that was easy enough to figure out. The problem had started when he'd taken the Firebird's
crazy advice about trying to do things all by himself. He knew all along that it was the wrong
thing to do, but he'd done it anyway because he'd figured that the bird probably had to be smarter
than he was and would naturally know the best thing to do. This would be the last time Skull
would make that mistake, he promised himself. Finally, it seemed he'd found someone with less
sense than he had - but at least Skull was honest about it. Firebird, if he was accused of making a
mistake, would hem and haw and try to talk his way out of the accusation. At least Skull was
willing to admit he was in the wrong on this issue and ready to not make the same mistake twice.
The real question was, how would he get himself out of this mess?
P Wandering down the streets of the city, Skull came upon a small group of fledglings
playing games in the street. The manner of game they were playing was interesting enough to
make Skull stop and listen in on their childish arguments.
P "Let's play monster battles!" cried a rusty-feathered Aerial boy.
P "Yeah!" cheered a grey-plumed one. "Can I be the Dark Falcon? You can be that bird who
helps him."
P "I don't want to be the bird," said the first boy. "Make someone else be the bird. I want to
be the monster!"
P A squabble ensued. Skull stared, mildly shocked, as comprehension dawned on him. So,
ithis/i was the problem, the trouble behind the trouble. It wasn't just Skull's mistake that was
making Cedar unhappy. She was angry because even the youngest children treated her with scorn,
because she was a thing without a name that only seemed to exist to help the Dark Falcon. They
had more respect for the monster than for her! Now, it seemed, someone had appeared who might
treat her with the respect she deserved, and so she was going to him, no matter what the risks
might be.
P Skull felt awful. How could he have been so insensitive? Didn't he know what she was
going through? All his life, hadn't he lived as someone else's sidekick? He had lived as another
person's shadow, and now that he was out of Bulk's influence, here he was giving the very same
treatment to the best friend he had.
P *iI've got to do something about this,/i* he thought determinedly. *iSomehow,
I'm going to find a way to make this right./i*
P But how would he do it? He was at a loss for ideas. He racked his brain, but it wasn't used
to such strenuous work, and he just couldn't seem to find the inspiration he needed. This, he
thought grimly, was why he had never bothered much with thinking in the past - it was just too
much work. Too bad he needed to be able to do it now...
P Suddenly, his eye was caught by something in a shop window. It was a store that sold
trinkets, inexpensive jewelry, and other knickknacks. A number of them were arranged in a
glittering display in an effort to lure in curious customers, but there was one object out of the
crowd that held Skull's gaze. He didn't have any money at the moment, but that didn't matter
much to him. He could get credit on Hemlock's name if he really needed to, and this was more
important than any trouble incurring such a debt might cause for him. He went inside to have a
quick talk with the manager, and emerged moments later with a small brown box tucked
inconspicuously under his arm. Now all he needed to do was find Cedar.
P He returned to his place of residence, fostering a dim hope that perhaps Cedar had
reconsidered and decided not to go to the Thieves' Garden, after all. Even if she was angry right
now, she still wasn't that foolish... was she? Skull certainly hoped so. Toying worriedly with his
Firebird amulet with one hand and gripping his new purchase in the other, he walked up the front
steps of Cedar's home, pausing to greet the Firebird, who was still sitting on the porch railing.
P "bThat didn't take long,/b," Firebird commented, sounding a few degrees more polite
than usual. Though Skull had no way of knowing, it had been thousands of years since anyone
had stood up to the Firebird, much less threatened him with any kind of physical violence, and it
had earned him some respect from the flaming bird, if only temporarily.
P "Well, we kinda had help," Skull replied. "Did Cedar come home? I've got something for
her."
P "bNo, I haven't seen her all day,/b" answered Firebird. "bIs she really all that
upset?/b"
P "Worse," Skull replied. "You know, you really are gonna have to apologize to her. What's
the big idea of giving her powers if you didn't want her to help me, huh?"
P "bI don't know,/b" said the Firebird, ruffling his feathers and looking sheepish. "bI
was never any good at understanding women, anyway. If I had been, I never would have gotten
trapped in that silly stone in the first place./b"
P "Really? asked Skull curiously.
P Firebird shrugged. "bIt was my ex-wife's idea. Powerful sorceress, beautiful women,
dreadful temper./b"
P "Uh, yeah," Skull replied. "I hope Cedar comes back soon. She said she was going to look
for that other guy."
P "bWhat iother guy/i?/b" asked the Firebird, suddenly looking worried.
P "I dunno, just some guy who showed up," said Skull. "He said his name was Ironhawk,
and he looked kinda like me... like the Dark Falcon, only he was all in silver. He blew up the
monster for us."
P "bPreposterous,/b" said the Firebird. "bThere is only one Dark Falcon, and you
are him. If there was another force like that around here, I would know about it./b"
P "Well, isomebody/i came and destroyed the monster," Skull maintained, "and that's
who Cedar's gone to see."
P "bHmm. This could be serious,/b" the Firebird replied, sounding concerned. "bLet
me check something./b" He closed his eyes a moment and was very still. Skull fidgeted
uncomfortably as long seconds slipped by. Finally, the bird came out of his trance and gave Skull
a hard stare.
P "Well?" asked Skull, worried.
P "bAre you absolutely sure the monster was destroyed?/b" asked the Firebird.
P Skull nodded. "I saw it. He went up in blue flames. Blam!" He made an explosive gesture
with his hands.
P "bI was afraid you'd say that,/b" Firebird replied. "bI don't know what it is, but
there is still something out there. It is something powerful... something evil./b"
pcenter~*~/center
P Cedar soared high over the far edges of the city, shining like the setting sun that was
gradually making its way eastward. She was nervous. Below, a set of boxy buildings and narrow
streets laid out the checkerboard pattern of that part of town called the Thieves' Garden,
shadowed now in the waning light of evening. She circled them warily, suddenly not at all certain
she really wanted to go there. All kinds of ugly rumors had always been circulated about that
particular area, and they had only been growing worse with the growing intensity of the war and
the resulting laxity of the law. Cedar had often overheard her father discussing how he planned to
sent people in to clear that place out once and for all, but he had been far too distracted lately to
deal with such troubles. The appearance of the Dark Falcon had made Tien itself a safer place, but
that only meant that Hemlock was free to send his warriors back to Zordon's assistance with the
major part of the war, and that left little energy for the Aerial mage to worry about such a
relatively minor problem as the local den of thieves. Now Cedar felt apprehensive about visiting it,
especially with night coming on. She wondered if it might not be best to go home and try again in
the morning. She would feel a lot safer coming here in the daytime, especially if she could
convince Eugene to come with her...
P *iHe is probably angry at me,/i* she thought ruefully. *iFoolish bird, losing your
temper. He did apologize to you. He is sorry. You know he makes these mistakes sometimes.
Would be best to forgive him./i*
P She sighed a little. It had not been fair of her to shout at her friend like that. It wasn't
entirely his fault. He was so uncomfortable with the responsibilities he had. Perhaps he had really
needed a chance to prove to himself that he was really up to the task. And if the Firebird had
instructed him to do it, then naturally, Eugene would. Cedar felt a twinge of remorse for the
accusations she had leveled at her friend, the harsh words about thinking he was better than
everyone else. She knew that wasn't true. Quite the contrary - he was so self-effacing, he would
rather do anything someone else told him to do than believe he had a good idea of his own.
P *iI will apologize to him,/i* Cedar decided. *iBut... maybe later. I do want to see
who this Ironhawk is. I will be safe here if he is with me./i*
P Cedar swooped down and landed on the roof of one of the largest ramshackle buildings
that stood - if the term was used loosely - in the Thieves' Garden. All of the buildings in this part
of her world were built of stone, but these were so old and so badly constructed that their walls
and roofs were beginning to sag and bulge, threatening to fall over if someone leaned on them too
heavily. This one, like most others, had a flat roof designed for convenient landings with a stone
railing around it for safety, and an inconspicuous trapdoor in one corner that presumably led to
the lower parts of the building. The dark streets seemed to be empty, but Cedar didn't trust her
judgement very much on that issue. Her night vision was not good, not even as good as her
human friend's would have been, and she knew that any thieves and vagabonds that might be
lurking about would be well hidden. She was just wondering how she was supposed to find
Ironhawk in this gloomy place when a shadow glided over her with a barely audible
iwhoosh/i. In the next instant, Ironhawk himself dropped out of the sky and landed lightly
next to her.
P "There you are," he said. "I was wondering when you would come."
P "I was a little nervous," she explained. "Father says this place is not very safe."
P "Don't worry," said Ironhawk soothingly. "No one here is going to bother us. I'll make
sure of it. I took some precautions, you see - I knew you would be coming alone."
P "How?" asked Cedar, puzzled.
P "Because," Ironhawk explained patiently, "I knew you were angry at the Dark Falcon. I
could feel it before I even knew where you were. It's a sixth sense of mine, to know when people
are angry and afraid. I felt the grip of anger upon you, and now... now, I will take advantage of
it."
P In an unnaturally fast movement, his hand shot out at her, reaching for her heart. Cedar
screamed in surprise and pain, and there was an explosion of white lights that sent them both
flying in opposite directions. Cedar, more comfortable with her wings and relatively unscathed by
the blast, managed to keep herself from being hurt in the tumble. Ironhawk was pitched against
the railing that ran around the roof of the building, knocking a few bricks loose. He hissed in
something that sounded more like anger than pain.
P "So!" he snarled. "I should have expected this from a ihero/i. You've forgiven him
already, is that it? Weak, pathetic creature!"
p Cedar stared at him in increasing fear. There was something not quite right about his voice
all of a sudden. The deep tones were still there, but they were overcast by what sounded eerily
like a second voice, one that hissed dryly, like the ghost of a serpent. The feathers on the back of
Cedar's neck rose, and her amber eyes widened.
P "What are you?" she demanded.
P Ironhawk got up and laughed. He didn't even seem to be hurt at all by the explosion.
P "I am an Eccubus," said the hissing voice. "My host, at the moment, is an Aerial I
snatched from the streets earlier this morning. I was hoping I might be able to take you next, but I
don't think we're suited for each other. Still, there are other things I can do to you..."
P "If you do anything to me, the Dark Falcon will destroy you for it!" Cedar chirped.
P Ironhawk - or the Eccubus - or whatever he was - grinned villainously.
P "He can't. I'd love to see him try it! I ilive/i off of acts of vengeance. Anger, hatred,
fear, and greed are my lifeblood. The minute he goes over to anger, he's mine. Think about that
while I mangle you, my pretty bird."
P "It will never work," said Cedar, trying to believe in what she was saying. "His heart is
good, and you'll never take it."
P "We'll see," answered the Eccubus casually. He abruptly glanced up at the sky in surprise.
"Well, how delightful! Here he comes now!"
P Cedar glanced up at the sky and was just able to make out a dark shadow skimming across
the sky. The Dark Falcon was on his way! Cedar stirred, trying to recover herself enough to
become airborne and join him, but the Eccubus kicked her sharply, adding yet another jolt of pain
to her earlier injuries. It might have been possible for her to fight, but not if her enemy could keep
her on the ground.
P Skull made a surprisingly coordinated landing and flipped his wings out of the way,
readying his laser and glaring at the Eccubus.
p "What have you done to her?" he demanded.
p "Nothing... yet," the Eccubus replied. "I'm not after her. I'm after you... and I've got you,
too. Prepare to be destroyed, hero."
P "Not a chance," answered Skull. To back up his words, he pulled the trigger on his gun
and fired a set of rapid blasts at the Eccubus. The lights struck him as if they were no more than
that - just harmless lights. He stood there grinning, a warped expression that it didn't seem like it
should be possible for a human to created.
P "You see?" he laughed. "I'm immune to your weapons. The only way you could possibly
defeat me is in hand-to-hand combat. Want to try?"
P "No, don't!" Cedar shouted. "He's trying to trap you!"
P "I've got to do something," answered Skull. He pressed the trigger that transformed his
pistol into a sword. "I'm ready."
P The Eccubus sprang at Skull, using his silver wings to gain extra altitude, but Skull
dodged and slashed at the oncoming creature. It winced and grunted, but it didn't seem to be
badly hurt. It produced a weapon of its own, the gleaming silver sword it had used earlier, and
Skull quickly found himself put on the defensive. He was a little worried; he'd never actually been
in a swordfight before. Fortunately, his Dark Falcon instincts took over, and he watched with an
amazed detachment as his hands directed the blade to slash and cut and parry. Still, his adversary
was incredibly fast and strong, and he wasn't sure how long he could defend himself against the
onslaught of attacks.
P Meanwhile, Cedar was struggling to collect herself. She had been injured by the fire-
monster earlier that day, and the Eccubus hadn't helped much by kicking her, but that didn't
matter a whole lot to her. What mattered now that her friend was in danger, danger he might not
have been in if it hadn't been for her misguided anger, and now she was going to do something
about it. With a victorious shriek, she rose up into the air like a Phoenix from its bed of ashes and
dove at the Eccubus.
P She just barely missed being impaled by Skull's sword - he was so wrapped up in trying to
keep himself from being skewered, he hadn't been able to notice Cedar. He backed off just in
time, and Cedar proceeded with an attack of her own, momentarily blinding the Eccubus with her
flaming wings.
P "Get him now, while he's busy!" she shouted.
P Skull nodded and raised his sword, looking for a clear shot. Taking careful aim, he swung
the sword as hard as he could, driving it for the creature's heart. He felt it connect, heard an
unearthly wail of pain, and then...
P For the second time that night, there was a tremendous explosion, as the rooftop was
suddenly lit by what seemed to be millions of red and blue sparkles. Skull blinked, momentarily
blinded - even though the sparks vanished almost instantly, there were still a bunch of green after-
images dancing around in front of his eyes. He rubbed at them, and then tried to look around.
Cedar was safe, hovering near the place where his opponent had been a moment ago. Now,
instead of a man in silver armor, there was only a young male Aerial dressed in black lying
unconscious on the ground next to what looked like a rusty iron mask. It looked like this was the
end of Ironhawk. Skull began to give a sigh of relief.
P Then he noticed an extraordinarily large, black, ugly thing grinning maliciously at him, and
the breath caught in his throat.
P The Eccubus had undergone a few changes since his appearance on Tien, none for the
better. He was separated from his Aerial host now, but he had been draining energy from him for
the last few hours, and the resulting metamorphosis was dramatic. He was no longer a tottering
stick figure, but a hulking giant with bulging muscles and clawed hands. A mouth full of gleaming
sliver teeth was stretched in a hideous mockery of a smile, and a slanted pair of blood red eyes
glowed menacingly.
P "Ohhhhh, boy," said Skull shakily. "I think I'm in for it now."
P "You couldn't be more right, hero," the thing hissed. "Nothing can stop me now that I'm
at full strength - not you, not your pet bird, not anyone."
P "Cedar," Skull replied. "Is not my pet. She's my partner, and we ican/i stop you. So
there."
P "Don't be ridiculous," the creature scoffed. "No one has ever found a way to destroy an
Eccubus. I don't think a foolish human like you will be the first. That being the case," it added
thoughtfully, "I think I may let you live, for now. I can't steal energy from someone as pure-
hearted as you two, and you'll be too much trouble to eat. I will destroy your city first, and then
perhaps I'll come back for you. Goodbye."
P The Eccubus abruptly turned and leaped from the top of the four-storey building, landing
lightly in the street, and then bounding away at a speed surprising for its size. Cedar and Skull
looked at each other in amazement.
P "Uh, Cedar," said Skull, "what's an Eccubus?"
P "I don't know," Cedar replied, "but my father will. Come on. I'll carry you home... if
you're not angry at me."
P "I'm not angry," answered Skull. "I know how you felt, and I'm sorry I was mean to you.
No hard feelings?"
P "None," Cedar replied, half-opening her beak in an avian grin.
P Their conversation was interrupted by a low moan, and they both turned to look at the
man who had recently been hosting the Eccubus. Now that the excitement was over, Skull
recognized him as Obsidain, the leader of the punks who had beaten him up early that morning.
He was twitching uncomfortably, his face contorted in pain.
P "He doesn't look so good," Skull remarked. "Do you think your dad will know how to
take care of him?"
P "I don't know, but we can find out."
P "Okay," said Skull. "How about you carry him back to your place, and I'll fly myself back.
Then you can talk to Hemlock and I can talk to the Firebird, and maybe if we're lucky we can get
this all straightened out before something ielse/i happens."
P Cedar nodded and went to collect the semi-conscious Obsidian while Skull prepared to
jump from the roof. Within moments, the winds of evening were carrying all three across the sky.
pcenter~*~/center
P Some time later, Cedar and Poplar were in the parlor, tending to Obsidian, who was
stretched out on the sofa. He was a bit feverish, but not visibly hurt, and so it was decided that
probably the only thing that could be done for him was to let him rest in peace. The two female
Aerials kept a constant vigil, cooling his forehead with a damp cloth.
P Meanwhile, Skull had discovered that the Firebird had vanished again. Muttering
uncomplimentary things about it, he went in search of Hemlock. He found the wizard in the same
place he usually was, which was in his study, poring over dusty old books. The door was ajar, so
Skull only rapped politely on it before letting himself in.
P "Good evening, Eugene," said Hemlock with distracted politeness, hardly glancing up
from his book. "Vat brings you herrre?"
P "Hemlock, what's an Eccubus?" asked Skull.
P Hemlock looked up from his book then. He turned and stared at Skull with amazement
and a little fear in his eyes.
P "Vhere did you hear that vorrrd?" he asked.
P "There's one of them running around downtown," Skull replied. "It got some guy. Poplar
and Cedar are taking care of him now, but he doesn't look so good, and I thought maybe you
might know-"
P "There's an Eccubus ihere/i?" asked Hemlock in horror. "This is bad. This is
extrrremely bad. Vat arrre ve going to do?"
P "I don't know," said Skull. "What iis/i an Eccubus? Why are you so worried about
it?"
P "Eccubi are deadly creatures," said Hemlock seriously. "Von of them can level a whole
city with no trrrouble at all. They steal power frrrom varrrrious sourrrces to make themselves
strrronger - especially power in the form of strrrong negative emotions. No von has ever found a
vay to destrrroy one. They are far too strrrong to be attacked physically, and they steal the power
frrrom any kind of magical attack to feed themselves."
P "Um," said Skull. "You mean this thing is invincible?"
P "Forrr all prrractical purposes, yes," Hemlock answered. "They usually die rather qvickly,
but they can do incrrredible amounts of damage before that happens."
P "Well, somebody's got to find a way to get rid of this one before it eats all of us!" Skull
exclaimed.
P "I know of no vay to do that," said Hemlock, shaking his head. "I vill have to trrrust in the
Firebird's varriors to prrrotect us."
P "Well... that might not be such a good idea," Skull replied nervously. "See, Hemlock... I
don't really know how to say this, but, well, the Dark Falcon... he's me."
P To Hemlock's credit, he did not look surprised. He gave no indication of skepticism. He
simply sat and stared at Skull a long time, making the human fidget.
P "Vell," he said. "That explains a few things. Vell, Eugene, I vill help you as much as I can,
but I do not know vat I can do."
P "Just tell me everything you can about this Eccubus critter," Skull replied.
P Hemlock nodded. "Fine. Hand me that book over therrre, the von vith the blue cover. Ve
can start vith that von."
P Skull handed him the book, and then stood by as he watched the wizard flip through the
pages and begin to read slowly through the yellowed pages. It was going to be a long night.
pcenter~*~/center
P Nearly an hour later, Hemlock closed a book and added it to the pile that he had already
searched through, and Skull sighed. It felt like they had searched through half the books in the
mage's library, yet they were no closer to finding any answers than they had been when they
started.
P "This is crazy," said Skull in frustration. "I can't just sit here all night digging through old
books."
P "You can't go out looking for that Eccubus vithout a plan," said Hemlock sternly.
P "Maybe I can't, but this isn't doing any good," Skull replied. "I'm not going to sit here
while that monster destroys the whole city. I've got to do isomething/i." He turned and
started for the door.
P "Vhere are you going?" asked Hemlock worriedly. "Crrrazy human, you're going to get
yourself killed."
P "I don't even want to think about it," Skull replied, and he left the room.
P Heading for the front door, he passed by the parlor where Cedar and Poplar were
attending their patient.
P "Eugene? What's going on?" asked Cedar.
P "We're going to go look for the monster," he replied. "Or at least, I am. Do you want to
come?"
p "Did Father find some way to get rid of it?" Cedar asked hopefully.
P "No," Skull replied. "I'm going to try to fight it anyway."
P "In that case, I'm coming," Cedar replied.
P "What do you mean, you're going to fight a monster?" asked Poplar in shock. "What are
you talking about? What's going on?"
P "Ask Hemlock. We've got to go," Skull replied. He and Cedar hurried out into the street,
leaving a very worried pair of Aerials behind.
pcenter~*~/center
P Hunting for monsters at night was not an especially fun job. Trying to fly at night was bad
enough, even with Cedar lighting the way somewhat. Skull's night vision was better than Cedar's,
but even he wasn't very well suited for hunting for a black monster in the dark. All he had to go
on was the Dark Falcon's sixth sense that told him that something nearby was not as it should be.
P "Look down there," said Cedar, pointing with her beak. "What's that?"
P Skull looked in the direction she was indicating and made out movements - several small
shapes that seemed to be retreating from a much larger dark shape.
P "That could be it," Skull agreed. "Let's check it out."
P They swooped lower, skimming at about roof level above the street. Now they could see
for certain that this was definitely the Eccubus. Skull felt a sinking sensation just looking at it - it
seemed to have grown even larger and more menacing since he had last seen it, and its red eyes
were now flaming orange and glowing like hot coals. He reached for his laser and fired a few
shots at it, hoping to at least stun the creature, but it didn't seem to have any effect whatsoever.
The Eccubus turned to stare at him and hissed, flicking a snakelike tongue between double rows
of sharp teeth.
P "You again!" it growled. "Are you going to insist on making a nuisance of yourself? Go
away before I decide to shred you."
P "I'm not letting you destroy my city!" said Skull, trying to sound braver than he felt.
Compared to this thing, the monster he had battled that morning looked tame as a kitten.
P "Let? What makes you think you can stop me?" laughed the Eccubus. "Nothing can stop
me now! You hear? Nothing!"
P It hunched itself up, looking for a moment like a huge, grotesque toad, before springing
high into the air and ramming straight into the startled Dark Falcon. They spun head over heels in
midair for a crazy instant before slamming back into the street, and Skull got the wind knocked
out of him as the large and proportionally heavy monster landed on top of him. It raked its claws
across Skull's chest twice, causing searing pains, before Skull managed to pull a shielding wing in
front of him. Seeing her friend in trouble, Cedar dive-bombed the creature and slashed at it's
unprotected back. It roared and jumped away for a moment, then turned and swatted at Cedar as
if she were nothing more than a fly, sending her spinning into the side of a building. Dizzily, Skull
pulled himself into a semi-crouch, forcing himself to think, to plan. There just had to be some way
of defeating this creature.
P Somewhere in the back of his head, a lightbulb was flickering dimly, and he pursued it. All
of Hemlock's books had said more or less the same thing about Eccubi. Normally, they were
fairly weak creatures who did their best to stay out of sight, unless they could manage to find a
host to feed off of. Once they drew enough power from their hosts, they would go on a rampage,
destroying everything in their path until they eventually died. Why? Why did such evidently
powerful things expire at the peak of their strength?
P Skull stood for a moment, waiting for the answer to come clear, watching the Eccubus
looming closer, its jaws gaping wide as it moved in to bite his head off, it's eyes glowing with the
power it had stored. Suddenly, the idea flashed into his mind, neat and complete and perfect. But
would it work?
P "One way to find out," Skull muttered to himself. Out came the pistol again, and he took
careful aim and pulled the trigger, sending a steady beam of red energy straight into the monster's
open mouth.
P The beam didn't even faze it. The Eccubus absorbed it, just as he absorbed the other
shots. Undaunted, Skull continued firing, and the creature laughed.
P "Foolish human!" it roared. Its voice seemed to increase in depth and timbre even as it
spoke. It seemed to be slowly growing as it absorbed the energy from the laser. "You think that
little toy can hurt me? I cannot be harmed by your weapons! I am invincible!"
P "What are you doing?" shouted Cedar. "You're just making it worse!"
P Skull just ignored both of them and concentrated on keeping his beam steady, even as the
Eccubus reached out one clawed hand and lifted him up off the ground. Cedar shrieked. The
monster laughed. The laser began to grow warm from the strain, and it shot off a few sparks.
p "No! Don't give out yet!" Skull muttered. "Just a little longer..."
P "Forget it!" sneered the Eccubus. "I'm tired of toying with you, Dark Falcon. You're time
has come! Prepare to - argh! What's going on?"
P Something odd seemed to be happening to the Eccubus. Lines of light seemed to be
making spiderwebbed paths across his dark skin, shimmering the same gold-orange as his eyes.
Smoke began rising off of him.
P "This can't be happening!" the creature shouted. "Nooooooo!"
P The creature gave an earsplitting howl of pain, and then there was a tremendous explosion
that briefly filled the street with golden light. Skull was pitched through the air, and he landed
with a tooth-rattling thump in the middle of the dusty street. It was more than his battered body
could take, and he blacked out.
P He awoke moments later as he felt Cedar gently shaking him. He opened his eyes slowly
and rubbed his aching head - or tried to; he was still holding his pistol in one hand. He stared at it
in puzzlement for a moment until he remembered why he had it.
P "What happened? Did it work?" he asked anxiously.
P Cedar nodded. "You blew it up. I've never seen anything like it." She gestured with her
wingtip, and Skull looked. There was a large, scorched crater that filled the entire street, sending
char marks and cracks up the sides of nearby buildings.
P "That's nice," said Skull tiredly. He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep again, but
Cedar wouldn't let him.
P "How did you do it?" she asked. "I thought you said you couldn't destroy an Eccubus like
that."
P "Eccubi eat energy," said Skull, giving up on trying to sleep and sitting up instead.
"Hemlock told me so. He also said that they always end up dying when they try to destroy a city.
I just guessed that maybe it couldn't take but so much, like a balloon filling up with air. When it
gets more than it can handle..." He trailed off and looked at the scorched spot. "I sure am glad
he's gone. Can we go home now?"
P "I think we can," Cedar replied.
P Skull clambered to his feet and waited for Cedar to take her accustomed place on his
shoulders. Spreading his wings, he rode up into the sky, heading for home and rest.
pcenter~*~/center
P When Skull and Cedar arrived back at the house, they found Poplar dutifully watching
over the sleeping Obsidian. She looked up in surprise as they came in through the door.
P "You're back!" she exclaimed. "Hemlock told me you had gone to fight the monster, and I
thought that-"
P "It's okay," Skull assured her. "Everything's all right now."
P Cedar nodded. "Eugene made the monster explode."
P "You found a vay to destrrroy an Eccubus?" asked a nearby voice. Hemlock came in from
another room, his eyes alight with interest.
P "Yeah. I'll tell you about it later," Skull promised. "How's Obsidian? Is he doing any
better?"
P "A little," said Poplar. "He vas moving just a little vhile ago. I think he vill vake up soon."
P Just as she spoke, Obsidian moaned and began to stir. "Ow, my aching head. Wha'
happened?"
P "You were attacked by a monster," Cedar volunteered.
P "We found you and brought you back here," added Skull. "Are you feeling okay? You've
been out all evening."
P "I think I'll be okay, once I..." Obsidian trailed off as he opened his eyes and saw Skull
looking down at him. "Hey, you're that guy me and my friends trashed this morning! How come
you bothered to rescue me?"
P Skull shrugged. "I dunno. But I sure wasn't going to leave you to be eaten or something. I
couldn't do that."
P "Oh," said Obsidian. He closed his eyes and slumped back into the sofa cushions. "Thanks.
Thanks a lot. And, um... I'm sorry about what happened earlier."
P "Because we saved you?" asked Cedar skeptically.
P "Kind of," said Obsidian, "but... I don't know. I just don't feel the same as I did this
morning. I was angry then, and scared... that's all gone now."
P Skull refrained from mentioning that the change was probably due in part to the monster's
attack. It might not really make any difference.
P "No problem," Skull replied.
P Obsidian smiled. "Thanks. I really mean it. I'll make this up to you somehow."
P "Don't mention it," said Skull. "Hey, I'll talk to you more later, okay? I just remembered
there's something I wanted to do."
P "He should be resting, anyvay," said Poplar sternly. "Sleep, young man. You can talk in
the morning."
P Obsidian didn't object - he really was tired. Skull beckoned to Cedar, and they slipped
quietly out of the room.
P "What's going on?" asked Cedar curiously, as she followed her friend back to his room.
P "I've got something I want to show you," Skull replied. "It's a surprise!"
P "Something good?" Cedar asked.
P "Just wait and see."
P Skull went into his room and picked up the parcel he had bought earlier. He held it out to
Cedar.
P "I bought you a present," he said.
P Cedar took the box, carefully untying the strings and unfolding the paper. Opening the
box, nestled among pieces of soft cloth, she found a small golden mask.
P "What's this?" she asked, looking puzzled.
P "That's for you," Skull replied. "I asked the Firebird about it, and he said he can tie it into
your powers. Just to show everyone we're on equal footing... we also talked about giving you a
name. Firebird suggested 'Gold Eagle.' How does that sound?"
P Cedar beamed. "I think it sounds just right. Thank you, Eugene. You're sweet."
P Leaning over, she kissed him quickly on the cheek. While Skull was still standing there in
shock, she turned and ran down the hall laughing. Skull smiled and gave a small sigh of
contentment. Being a hero, it seemed, was a lot of trouble... but sometimes, it was worth it.
pThe End... for now.
mine./i
pcenterThe Crow in the Iron Mask - Part 2/center
pcenterBy: SilvorMoon/center
p To any outsider, it would have looked as if Lord Zedd's plan for destroying the world of
Tien had gone badly awry. His monster had been singlehandedly driven off by the planet's
fledgling hero, outsmarted and wounded by his own weapon. It appeared that the warlord was
going to have to rethink his strategy.
P Appearances could be so dreadfully deceiving.
P Of course, Goldar had know way of knowing what was going on in his master's devious
mind. He only knew that the warrior he had selected to battle the Dark Falcon had proved an
abysmal failure, and that if he did not handle the situation carefully, he could very well be pinned
with the blame for the outcome. That didn't worry him much. He'd had plenty of experience in
dealing with matters such as these, and anyway, the monster in question was so ridiculously stupid
it was unlikely that ianyone/i would be unable to see how its defeat had been its own fault.
The armored primate had no sympathy whatsoever for his charge. He would be more than happy
to hand the monster over to Lord Zedd for any kind of punishment as long as it meant he himself
would get off the hook. He dragged the protesting monster to the great double doors of Zedd's
throne room and shoved him through, giving him a vicious kick for good measure that sent the
hapless creature skidding across the smooth floor toward the base of the dias where Zedd's
throne rested. The monster winced; his backside was sore enough from being burned even
without metal-plated feet booting him around. He cowered before his master, hardly daring to
think what the punishment for his failure might be. Goldar sneered.
P "Master, this pathetic creature has failed to complete your assignment for him," he said.
"What are you going to do with him?"
P Zedd leveled a cold stare at his general, and Goldar shrank back a little, sensing that
somehow, he had made an error somewhere. That was confusing to him, but he refused to lose
any more face by asking what the problem was. Zedd held his gaze just long enough to make his
silent message clear, and then turned on the unfortunate monster.
P "Who are you and why have you been brought to me?" he asked dangerously.
P "P-p-p-please forgive me, m-m-m-master," stammered the monster. "I-I-I tried my best, I
really did. That person, the Dark Falcon, he tricked me! It's n-n-n-not my f-f-f-fault!" The
monster sounded close to tears. It trembled piteously on the floor.
P "Of course it's not your fault," Zedd replied, shocking Goldar with his sympathetic tone.
"It wasn't fair of that Dark Falcon to fool you like that, was it? You couldn't be expected to win
an unfair fight."
P "You're not angry at me?" asked the monster in amazement.
P "Of course I'm not angry with you! How could I be angry? After all, if it really wasn't
your fault, I can't blame you for it. As a matter of fact, just to show you how much faith I have in
you, I'm going to give you another chance."
P "Oh, thank you!" said the monster joyfully. "You can count on me, Lord Zedd! I'll get it
right this time."
P Zedd smiled. "I'm sure you will."
P As the monster vanished in a blink of blue light, Goldar turned to stare at his master in
amazement.
P "I don't understand," he said. "Why are you rewarding him for failing you?"
P "That wasn't a reward," answered Zedd, smiling icily. "That was punishment. When the
time comes, he will be destroyed, and it won't be the Dark Falcon who destroys him."
Pcenter~*~/center
P Skull returned home in a foul mood. He hadn't been so thoroughly annoyed with anyone
for a long time, if ever, and someone was going to pay for it. As fate would have it, that particular
someone was waiting for him at the door.
p "bOh, hello, Eugene,/b" said the Firebird lightly. "bDid you have fun fighting the -
urk!/b"
P The fire entity's speech was abruptly ended by an unmelodious squawk as Skull closed his
hand around the Firebird's throat. Firebird fluttered around wildly, releasing a small shower of
flaming feathers that burned themselves out before they touched the ground.
P "bLet me go! Let me go this instant!/b" Firebird commanded.
P "First you listen," Skull replied. "I did what you told me to do, and now Cedar's mad at
me, and it's all your fault. I'm not letting you go until you promise to explain all this and
apologize to her."
P "bI'll do no such thing. It's not my fault if you misinterpreted perfectly good ad.../b"
He trailed off as Skull tightened his grip. He turned up the heat of his feathers a little, not enough
to burn, but enough to be painful, as a warning. Skull did not relinquish his grip. The two stared
at each other for a moment.
P "bI could burn your hand off if I wanted to,/b" Firebird warned.
P "bI could wring your neck if I wanted to,/b" answered Skull.
P "bEr, um, yes,/b" said Firebird, deflating. "bNo need to be so cross. I'm only
trying to help. I don't understand why you have to be so violent about it. All right, I'll apologize
to your friend if it will make you happy. Now, let go of me!/b"
P Skull relinquished the Firebird, who spent the next few moments grooming the feathers on
his neck, muttering to himself about humans with dirty hands and people with no manners.
P "I'm waiting," Skull said impatiently.
P "bOh, all right. I'll go look for her,/b" answered Firebird. "bJust wait here. I'll be
back in a flash./b" The Firebird spun in midair and soared through an open window into the
house.
P Skull sighed and leaned back against the doorframe, rubbing at the slightly scorched hand
that had been holding the Firebird. He wasn't sure he'd ever stood up to anyone like that before,
especially someone as powerful as the Firebird. The thought that he could hold his own against
someone like that made him feel pretty good. And once Firebird apologized to Cedar, she would
forgive him, and everything could be okay again...
P Firebird reappeared and settled on the branch of a nearby tree.
P "Did you talk to Cedar?" asked Skull.
P Firebird approximated a shrug. "bI couldn't. She isn't here./b"
pcenter~*~/center
P Chaos seemed to be the order of the day, as the creature who called himself Firestrike
reappeared downtown. He wasn't striking any fires now, however, which rankled him a bit.
Despite his bold words to the Dark Falcon earlier that day, the fire-making spell was not tied to
him, but to his enchanted whip - a good thing, since he might have been burned to a crisp himself
if the weapon had not been disposed of. Now he was making do with a pair of gleaming
shortswords, but just the presence of a rampaging monster on main street was having the desired
effect. Terrified citizens ran from him in feathered streams, giving shrieks of avian terror as he
perused them.
P However, the results brought on by the second attack were nowhere near a impressive as
they had been the first time around. For one thing, there was no denying that a monster who lit
unquenchable fires was a good deal more impressive than a monster who could not. Also, most of
the people in that part of the city had taken themselves to safer places, and causing terror and
chaos was much more difficult when there were fewer people to terrify. That might have been the
reason why Cedar was a bit slow in noticing the danger.
P After taking her angered leave of her erstwhile companion, Cedar had flown to a secluded
roost atop a seldom-used building near the edge of the business district, where she could be alone
with her unhappiness. She curled herself into a dejected ball of feathers and sobbed out her
disappointment. All this time, she had thought Eugene was her friend! That obviously wasn't the
case anymore. He didn't need her, he didn't want her around. It was just like the townspeople had
said: the Dark Falcon was the hero, and she was only there for the sake of convenience. The only
thing she was needed for was to make her "partner" look better. Well, she wasn't going to stand
for it! If he didn't want her, fine. She'd let him have his way. He could handle this hero business all
by himself if he wanted to. He could blow himself up for all she cared. She wouldn't mind one bit.
She buried her head under her wing and cheeped miserably
into her feathers.
P She didn't know how long she had been like that before she became aware of a commotion
going on below her. Blinking her eyes, trying to clear the tears from her vision, she peered down
from her hiding place at the turmoil below.
P "Him again," she muttered. "Vat rrrotten timing. Vell, I'll fix his vagon."
P So saying, she reached for the amber drop at her throat, but then she paused, thinking. On
one hand, it was obvious that her so-called friend didn't want her involved in these fights anymore,
and she was still angry enough to let him deal with what he'd asked for. On the other hand, her
better nature reminded her, the people down there - her people, whom she'd sworn to protect -
were in danger, and it went against her grain to sit by and do nothing when she knew she could
help. If nothing else, maybe it would prove that she was good for something, after all. It was a
chance to one-up the Dark Falcon, and that was good enough for her. Whispering the word of
power, she shifted from her half-human shape to full Firebird form and swooped down on the
monster below, screaming the ancient, wordless battle cry of all winged things.
P To say the monster was taken by surprise was a bit of an understatement. One moment, he
was happily causing havoc in the streets, and the next, his vision was full of blinding, burning
wings. He scrabbled at his face, dropping his weapons in momentary panic, trying to protect his
eyes from the wildly slashing claws of whatever had attacked him. After a few confused moments,
the monster managed to get a grip on one of Cedar's wings and hurl her out of the way. She
bounced unharmed from the canopy of a nearby vendor's stall and took to the air once again.
P "What in the world are you?" asked Firestrike.
P "I... I am your enemy. You need not know more than that," Cedar replied. Inwardly, she
winced. It was one of the things that was stinging her: while the Dark Falcon could confidently
call himself such, she had no name at all to give.
P The monster seemed to consider this a moment before replying - he was definitely not the
swiftest thinker Cedar had ever encountered.
P "Well, I guess it doesn't matter much," he replied, stooping to retrieve his swords. "Since
I'm here to level the city, you're gonna be a shiny feather-duster in a minute, anyway."
P "We'll see about that," Cedar answered.
P In an instant, Firestrike found himself trapped in the middle of what seemed to him to be
an angry, shrieking, flaming tornado. Cedar didn't have any weapons other than her beak and
talons, but those she used with all the skill and strength she had. The monster lashed out at her
with his blades in retaliation. He clipped a few of the plumes from her trailing crest and tail, and
the pinfeathers of one wing were shortened somewhat, but the swords were not his weapon of
choice, and he was having trouble wielding them against something that moved so close and so
quickly. He was starting to get dizzy from trying to follow her rapidly spiraling movements.
Finally, in frustration, he threw down his weapons and began grabbing erratically at his flying
attacker. By pure luck, he managed to catch hold of her crest feathers and hold her out in front of
him, putting him well out of range from her claws and making it virtually impossible for her to use
her beak. She cried out in pain and frustration as she struggled in vain to free herself.
P "Now I gotcha," said the monster, grinning gleefully. "I don't know what kind of critter
you are, but you're obviously no match for a powerful warrior like me. You know what I'm going
to do with you? I'm going to bash your skull in, and then I'm going to take you back to Lord Zedd
so he can have you stuffed and mounted! How do you like that, huh?"
P "You let me go! You'll never get away with this!" Cedar shrieked. "The Dark Falcon will
be here any minute, and he won't be happy when he sees this."
P "I'm not afraid of the Dark Falcon," answered Firestrike. Now that the last battle was over
and beginning to dim in his mind, he had begun to fancy that it was he who had driven off the
Dark Falcon, instead of the other way around. "The Dark Falcon's nothing but a weird guy in a
funny-looking suit, and iif/i he was brave enough to show his dumb face, I'd just take my
swords and-"
P He was interrupted in mid-threat as the chance suddenly availed itself for him to suit
action to words. As he was speaking, a hail of glowing red laser bolts suddenly fell from the sky,
all of them striking the monster and making him yelp in pain. In his shock, he lost his grip on his
captive, and she immediately began fluttering away to a safer location. At the same time, the Dark
Falcon himself dropped out of the blue, holding his Phoenix Phaser gun in one hand and looking
angry.
P "Okay, monster, let's get this straight," he said. "I am having a ireally/i bad day
today. If you know what's good for you, you'll go away before I decide to take it out on you."
P "And just where have you been?" Cedar demanded angrily. "If you had been just a few
seconds later, this thing would have ikilled/i me! What took you so long?"
P "I got here as fast as I could," Skull replied defensively. "It's not my fault it took so long."
P "Sure, nothing is your fault, is it?" said Cedar acidly. "You're just perfect, aren't you?
You're so much better than everyone else, and you don't need anyone else's help."
P "Cedar, look, I'm sorry about what I said earlier-"
P "Of course you say that now. Well, don't expect me to come crawling back to you like
silly tame pet just because you make apologies," Cedar chirped angrily.
P "But I really didn't mean it!" said Skull. "Honest, Cedar, it's the Firebird's fault! He was
the one who told me to do it!"
P "Blaming it on him won't do you any good," Cedar replied. "As far as I'm concerned, you
and the Firebird can both - eek!"
P Cedar's tirade was ended abruptly. The monster, who had gotten bored of listening to the
argument, had decided that this was as good a time as any to renew his attack. A flash of his
sword had sent Cedar tumbling to the earth with shooting pains running through her left wing.
She lay dazed in the street, panting in agony.
P "Okay, that tears it!" shouted Skull at the monster. "Let's see you pick on someone your
own size!" He pressed the trigger on his laser that caused it to unfold into a gleaming sword and
held his new weapon menacingly. The monster froze as he tried to contemplate this new threat
and his chances of surviving it.
P Seeing the coming confrontation, Cedar managed to get herself back on her feet and,
amazingly, back into the air again.
P "Oh, no you don't!" she shrieked. "Don't you think I can take care of myself? I'm not a
fledgling, I'm a warrior, one of the Firebird's chosen! I'm just as good as you are! If you can take
monsters alone, then so can I!"
P "Cedar, don't do this! It's crazy!" called Skull. "We're supposed to be working together!"
P "I see," Cedar answered. "I must let you fight alone, but you think I cannot fight alone! I
won't take it!"
P "Cedar, look out!" Skull cried.
P It was too late. The monster made a second slash at her, clean and well-aimed. He was too
close not to hit his mark, and Skull was too far away to do anything to stop it. There just wasn't
enough time to react...
P A bolt of lightning fell out of the sky, silver lightning that sent both the heroes and the
villain flying in three different directions, and for a moment, the street was obscured by grey-white
smoke. Then the smoke cleared, revealing a most remarkable figure.
P It was the Dark Falcon, sort of. It was as if someone had looked at Tien's resident hero
and redone the design to make him seem even more impressive. His costueme was in the same
style as the Dark Falcon's, but it was done entirely in silver instead of black and trimmed in black
instead of garish red and purple. A gleaming silver mask covered the upper half of a face that
seemed eerily like and yet unlike Skull's. It had the same general shape and features, but there was
a kind of stern bravery and knowledge where Skull showed fear and confusion. The newcomer
had the same dark hair, shot through with glints of true silver that flashed in the bright Tienese
sunlight. The form-fitting suit showed off a body that was hard and muscled. Next to him, the real
Dark Falcon looked weak, foolish, and frightened - not to mention a bit dusty and bruised from
being thrown abruptly to the ground. The stranger surveyed the scene, and then dashed directly to
where the injured Cedar was still lying in the road.
P "Are you all right?" he asked worriedly. His voice, at least, was not copied from Skull's. It
was deep, powerful, and, Skull realized, vaguely familiar. Hearing it was triggering dim
recollections that made him feel slightly uneasy.
P "Who... who are you?" Cedar asked dazedly.
P "I am called Ironhawk," answered the stranger. "Are you hurt, my lady?"
P "I'll be all right," chirped Cedar weakly.
P "You are brave," answered Ironhawk. "Don't worry; I'll see to it that this cretin is dealt
with firmly. Hawk's Talon!"
P In a flashy maneuver, he produced a gleaming curved sword, marked down the edges of
the blade with twisting runic letters. The monster stared, transfixed in shock and fear as the
silver-garbed hero charged at him, blade held high. A warrior with some experience behind him
would have been able to snap himself out of his trance and run. Firestrike, however, didn't have
any real experience with the art of war. He managed to utter one last scream before the enchanted
blade struck him, and then he collapsed and exploded in a fountain of blue fire and smoke.
Ironhawk casually sheathed his sword.
P "Wow," said Skull, envious. He wished he could dispatch monsters with that kind of
efficiency and style. "Thanks a lot. I owe you one."
P "You owe me nothing. It is all part of my mission," answered Ironhawk, not quite turning
to look at him. "Where the Dark Falcon goes, I must also go, and there lies my battle."
P "Can you tell us who you are?" asked Skull. "I mean, what's your name? Are you one of
the Aerials, or are you another outsider?"
P "I have given you the only name I intend to give, for now. Later, you will learn more
about me," answered Ironhawk. "But now, my work here is done. If you wish to speak with me
further, meet me in the house at the southeast corner of the Thieves' Garden. I'll be waiting for
you there. Farewell to both of you."
P With those final words, Ironhawk took a running start, pumped his wings, and soared off
into the sky. Skull was impressed. He had thought he had fairly well mastered using his wings, but
he'd never been able to take off from ground level without Cedar's help. Glancing in Cedar's
direction, he felt a further stab of envy; it seemed that she was impressed with this newcomer, too.
P "Now, that is ireal/i hero," she said. "At least he has manners. Not like some people."
P "How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" Skull replied. "I goofed up big time and I
know it, okay? I'm sorry, and I'll never do it again, so could we please stop fighting about it?"
P "You shouldn't have done it in the first place," said Cedar, unwilling to be placated.
"Perhaps I will go have words with Ironhawk. Maybe he needs partner."
P "You can't do that!" Skull protested. "Didn't you hear what he said? He's going to be
hanging out in the Thieves' Garden. You told me that place is dangerous."
P "Don't you think I can take care of myself?" Cedar's tone was challenging.
P "Well, yeah - I mean, no - I mean... do you really think it's worth the risk?" asked Skull.
He was honestly worried for the safety of his friend. Not only Cedar, but Hemlock, Poplar, and
others had warned him against wandering into the Thieves' Garden. He had heard whispered tales
in the public areas about how people would sometimes wander into that part of town and come
out without even their clothes, or, worse yet, never come out at all. It had been a bit of a slum
before the war, but since the Aerials had become too involved with the universal war to bother
with internal improvements, it had degenerated into a hotbed of criminal activity. Why someone
like Ironhawk would be hanging around the Thieves' Garden was too much for Skull to
understand... unless there was something funny going on, and he didn't care for that idea one bit.
P Cedar was too wrapped up in her own outrage to think much about it.
P "You just don't think I can do it," she said. "You don't think I can get by without someone
helping me. Well, it's not true! I can do just fine without you, so there!" With a flutter of wings,
she took off on a painful flight in the direction of the Thieves' Garden.
P Skull sighed and took a look around. No citizens, no monsters, no reason why he couldn't
exchange his disguise for his more ordinary human form, so he flashed back to his usual
appearance. It didn't look like he was going to be able to depend on having Cedar to fly him home
from now on. Maybe he'd have to practice taking off like Ironhawk did, but right now he was too
physically exhausted and mentally drained to even consider the idea. If it was a choice between
trying to take off alone and walking, he would walk.
P While he walked, he forced himself to engage in an activity he usually avoided if he
possibly could: thinking. Just where had he gone wrong here? What had been his fatal mistake?
Well, that was easy enough to figure out. The problem had started when he'd taken the Firebird's
crazy advice about trying to do things all by himself. He knew all along that it was the wrong
thing to do, but he'd done it anyway because he'd figured that the bird probably had to be smarter
than he was and would naturally know the best thing to do. This would be the last time Skull
would make that mistake, he promised himself. Finally, it seemed he'd found someone with less
sense than he had - but at least Skull was honest about it. Firebird, if he was accused of making a
mistake, would hem and haw and try to talk his way out of the accusation. At least Skull was
willing to admit he was in the wrong on this issue and ready to not make the same mistake twice.
The real question was, how would he get himself out of this mess?
P Wandering down the streets of the city, Skull came upon a small group of fledglings
playing games in the street. The manner of game they were playing was interesting enough to
make Skull stop and listen in on their childish arguments.
P "Let's play monster battles!" cried a rusty-feathered Aerial boy.
P "Yeah!" cheered a grey-plumed one. "Can I be the Dark Falcon? You can be that bird who
helps him."
P "I don't want to be the bird," said the first boy. "Make someone else be the bird. I want to
be the monster!"
P A squabble ensued. Skull stared, mildly shocked, as comprehension dawned on him. So,
ithis/i was the problem, the trouble behind the trouble. It wasn't just Skull's mistake that was
making Cedar unhappy. She was angry because even the youngest children treated her with scorn,
because she was a thing without a name that only seemed to exist to help the Dark Falcon. They
had more respect for the monster than for her! Now, it seemed, someone had appeared who might
treat her with the respect she deserved, and so she was going to him, no matter what the risks
might be.
P Skull felt awful. How could he have been so insensitive? Didn't he know what she was
going through? All his life, hadn't he lived as someone else's sidekick? He had lived as another
person's shadow, and now that he was out of Bulk's influence, here he was giving the very same
treatment to the best friend he had.
P *iI've got to do something about this,/i* he thought determinedly. *iSomehow,
I'm going to find a way to make this right./i*
P But how would he do it? He was at a loss for ideas. He racked his brain, but it wasn't used
to such strenuous work, and he just couldn't seem to find the inspiration he needed. This, he
thought grimly, was why he had never bothered much with thinking in the past - it was just too
much work. Too bad he needed to be able to do it now...
P Suddenly, his eye was caught by something in a shop window. It was a store that sold
trinkets, inexpensive jewelry, and other knickknacks. A number of them were arranged in a
glittering display in an effort to lure in curious customers, but there was one object out of the
crowd that held Skull's gaze. He didn't have any money at the moment, but that didn't matter
much to him. He could get credit on Hemlock's name if he really needed to, and this was more
important than any trouble incurring such a debt might cause for him. He went inside to have a
quick talk with the manager, and emerged moments later with a small brown box tucked
inconspicuously under his arm. Now all he needed to do was find Cedar.
P He returned to his place of residence, fostering a dim hope that perhaps Cedar had
reconsidered and decided not to go to the Thieves' Garden, after all. Even if she was angry right
now, she still wasn't that foolish... was she? Skull certainly hoped so. Toying worriedly with his
Firebird amulet with one hand and gripping his new purchase in the other, he walked up the front
steps of Cedar's home, pausing to greet the Firebird, who was still sitting on the porch railing.
P "bThat didn't take long,/b," Firebird commented, sounding a few degrees more polite
than usual. Though Skull had no way of knowing, it had been thousands of years since anyone
had stood up to the Firebird, much less threatened him with any kind of physical violence, and it
had earned him some respect from the flaming bird, if only temporarily.
P "Well, we kinda had help," Skull replied. "Did Cedar come home? I've got something for
her."
P "bNo, I haven't seen her all day,/b" answered Firebird. "bIs she really all that
upset?/b"
P "Worse," Skull replied. "You know, you really are gonna have to apologize to her. What's
the big idea of giving her powers if you didn't want her to help me, huh?"
P "bI don't know,/b" said the Firebird, ruffling his feathers and looking sheepish. "bI
was never any good at understanding women, anyway. If I had been, I never would have gotten
trapped in that silly stone in the first place./b"
P "Really? asked Skull curiously.
P Firebird shrugged. "bIt was my ex-wife's idea. Powerful sorceress, beautiful women,
dreadful temper./b"
P "Uh, yeah," Skull replied. "I hope Cedar comes back soon. She said she was going to look
for that other guy."
P "bWhat iother guy/i?/b" asked the Firebird, suddenly looking worried.
P "I dunno, just some guy who showed up," said Skull. "He said his name was Ironhawk,
and he looked kinda like me... like the Dark Falcon, only he was all in silver. He blew up the
monster for us."
P "bPreposterous,/b" said the Firebird. "bThere is only one Dark Falcon, and you
are him. If there was another force like that around here, I would know about it./b"
P "Well, isomebody/i came and destroyed the monster," Skull maintained, "and that's
who Cedar's gone to see."
P "bHmm. This could be serious,/b" the Firebird replied, sounding concerned. "bLet
me check something./b" He closed his eyes a moment and was very still. Skull fidgeted
uncomfortably as long seconds slipped by. Finally, the bird came out of his trance and gave Skull
a hard stare.
P "Well?" asked Skull, worried.
P "bAre you absolutely sure the monster was destroyed?/b" asked the Firebird.
P Skull nodded. "I saw it. He went up in blue flames. Blam!" He made an explosive gesture
with his hands.
P "bI was afraid you'd say that,/b" Firebird replied. "bI don't know what it is, but
there is still something out there. It is something powerful... something evil./b"
pcenter~*~/center
P Cedar soared high over the far edges of the city, shining like the setting sun that was
gradually making its way eastward. She was nervous. Below, a set of boxy buildings and narrow
streets laid out the checkerboard pattern of that part of town called the Thieves' Garden,
shadowed now in the waning light of evening. She circled them warily, suddenly not at all certain
she really wanted to go there. All kinds of ugly rumors had always been circulated about that
particular area, and they had only been growing worse with the growing intensity of the war and
the resulting laxity of the law. Cedar had often overheard her father discussing how he planned to
sent people in to clear that place out once and for all, but he had been far too distracted lately to
deal with such troubles. The appearance of the Dark Falcon had made Tien itself a safer place, but
that only meant that Hemlock was free to send his warriors back to Zordon's assistance with the
major part of the war, and that left little energy for the Aerial mage to worry about such a
relatively minor problem as the local den of thieves. Now Cedar felt apprehensive about visiting it,
especially with night coming on. She wondered if it might not be best to go home and try again in
the morning. She would feel a lot safer coming here in the daytime, especially if she could
convince Eugene to come with her...
P *iHe is probably angry at me,/i* she thought ruefully. *iFoolish bird, losing your
temper. He did apologize to you. He is sorry. You know he makes these mistakes sometimes.
Would be best to forgive him./i*
P She sighed a little. It had not been fair of her to shout at her friend like that. It wasn't
entirely his fault. He was so uncomfortable with the responsibilities he had. Perhaps he had really
needed a chance to prove to himself that he was really up to the task. And if the Firebird had
instructed him to do it, then naturally, Eugene would. Cedar felt a twinge of remorse for the
accusations she had leveled at her friend, the harsh words about thinking he was better than
everyone else. She knew that wasn't true. Quite the contrary - he was so self-effacing, he would
rather do anything someone else told him to do than believe he had a good idea of his own.
P *iI will apologize to him,/i* Cedar decided. *iBut... maybe later. I do want to see
who this Ironhawk is. I will be safe here if he is with me./i*
P Cedar swooped down and landed on the roof of one of the largest ramshackle buildings
that stood - if the term was used loosely - in the Thieves' Garden. All of the buildings in this part
of her world were built of stone, but these were so old and so badly constructed that their walls
and roofs were beginning to sag and bulge, threatening to fall over if someone leaned on them too
heavily. This one, like most others, had a flat roof designed for convenient landings with a stone
railing around it for safety, and an inconspicuous trapdoor in one corner that presumably led to
the lower parts of the building. The dark streets seemed to be empty, but Cedar didn't trust her
judgement very much on that issue. Her night vision was not good, not even as good as her
human friend's would have been, and she knew that any thieves and vagabonds that might be
lurking about would be well hidden. She was just wondering how she was supposed to find
Ironhawk in this gloomy place when a shadow glided over her with a barely audible
iwhoosh/i. In the next instant, Ironhawk himself dropped out of the sky and landed lightly
next to her.
P "There you are," he said. "I was wondering when you would come."
P "I was a little nervous," she explained. "Father says this place is not very safe."
P "Don't worry," said Ironhawk soothingly. "No one here is going to bother us. I'll make
sure of it. I took some precautions, you see - I knew you would be coming alone."
P "How?" asked Cedar, puzzled.
P "Because," Ironhawk explained patiently, "I knew you were angry at the Dark Falcon. I
could feel it before I even knew where you were. It's a sixth sense of mine, to know when people
are angry and afraid. I felt the grip of anger upon you, and now... now, I will take advantage of
it."
P In an unnaturally fast movement, his hand shot out at her, reaching for her heart. Cedar
screamed in surprise and pain, and there was an explosion of white lights that sent them both
flying in opposite directions. Cedar, more comfortable with her wings and relatively unscathed by
the blast, managed to keep herself from being hurt in the tumble. Ironhawk was pitched against
the railing that ran around the roof of the building, knocking a few bricks loose. He hissed in
something that sounded more like anger than pain.
P "So!" he snarled. "I should have expected this from a ihero/i. You've forgiven him
already, is that it? Weak, pathetic creature!"
p Cedar stared at him in increasing fear. There was something not quite right about his voice
all of a sudden. The deep tones were still there, but they were overcast by what sounded eerily
like a second voice, one that hissed dryly, like the ghost of a serpent. The feathers on the back of
Cedar's neck rose, and her amber eyes widened.
P "What are you?" she demanded.
P Ironhawk got up and laughed. He didn't even seem to be hurt at all by the explosion.
P "I am an Eccubus," said the hissing voice. "My host, at the moment, is an Aerial I
snatched from the streets earlier this morning. I was hoping I might be able to take you next, but I
don't think we're suited for each other. Still, there are other things I can do to you..."
P "If you do anything to me, the Dark Falcon will destroy you for it!" Cedar chirped.
P Ironhawk - or the Eccubus - or whatever he was - grinned villainously.
P "He can't. I'd love to see him try it! I ilive/i off of acts of vengeance. Anger, hatred,
fear, and greed are my lifeblood. The minute he goes over to anger, he's mine. Think about that
while I mangle you, my pretty bird."
P "It will never work," said Cedar, trying to believe in what she was saying. "His heart is
good, and you'll never take it."
P "We'll see," answered the Eccubus casually. He abruptly glanced up at the sky in surprise.
"Well, how delightful! Here he comes now!"
P Cedar glanced up at the sky and was just able to make out a dark shadow skimming across
the sky. The Dark Falcon was on his way! Cedar stirred, trying to recover herself enough to
become airborne and join him, but the Eccubus kicked her sharply, adding yet another jolt of pain
to her earlier injuries. It might have been possible for her to fight, but not if her enemy could keep
her on the ground.
P Skull made a surprisingly coordinated landing and flipped his wings out of the way,
readying his laser and glaring at the Eccubus.
p "What have you done to her?" he demanded.
p "Nothing... yet," the Eccubus replied. "I'm not after her. I'm after you... and I've got you,
too. Prepare to be destroyed, hero."
P "Not a chance," answered Skull. To back up his words, he pulled the trigger on his gun
and fired a set of rapid blasts at the Eccubus. The lights struck him as if they were no more than
that - just harmless lights. He stood there grinning, a warped expression that it didn't seem like it
should be possible for a human to created.
P "You see?" he laughed. "I'm immune to your weapons. The only way you could possibly
defeat me is in hand-to-hand combat. Want to try?"
P "No, don't!" Cedar shouted. "He's trying to trap you!"
P "I've got to do something," answered Skull. He pressed the trigger that transformed his
pistol into a sword. "I'm ready."
P The Eccubus sprang at Skull, using his silver wings to gain extra altitude, but Skull
dodged and slashed at the oncoming creature. It winced and grunted, but it didn't seem to be
badly hurt. It produced a weapon of its own, the gleaming silver sword it had used earlier, and
Skull quickly found himself put on the defensive. He was a little worried; he'd never actually been
in a swordfight before. Fortunately, his Dark Falcon instincts took over, and he watched with an
amazed detachment as his hands directed the blade to slash and cut and parry. Still, his adversary
was incredibly fast and strong, and he wasn't sure how long he could defend himself against the
onslaught of attacks.
P Meanwhile, Cedar was struggling to collect herself. She had been injured by the fire-
monster earlier that day, and the Eccubus hadn't helped much by kicking her, but that didn't
matter a whole lot to her. What mattered now that her friend was in danger, danger he might not
have been in if it hadn't been for her misguided anger, and now she was going to do something
about it. With a victorious shriek, she rose up into the air like a Phoenix from its bed of ashes and
dove at the Eccubus.
P She just barely missed being impaled by Skull's sword - he was so wrapped up in trying to
keep himself from being skewered, he hadn't been able to notice Cedar. He backed off just in
time, and Cedar proceeded with an attack of her own, momentarily blinding the Eccubus with her
flaming wings.
P "Get him now, while he's busy!" she shouted.
P Skull nodded and raised his sword, looking for a clear shot. Taking careful aim, he swung
the sword as hard as he could, driving it for the creature's heart. He felt it connect, heard an
unearthly wail of pain, and then...
P For the second time that night, there was a tremendous explosion, as the rooftop was
suddenly lit by what seemed to be millions of red and blue sparkles. Skull blinked, momentarily
blinded - even though the sparks vanished almost instantly, there were still a bunch of green after-
images dancing around in front of his eyes. He rubbed at them, and then tried to look around.
Cedar was safe, hovering near the place where his opponent had been a moment ago. Now,
instead of a man in silver armor, there was only a young male Aerial dressed in black lying
unconscious on the ground next to what looked like a rusty iron mask. It looked like this was the
end of Ironhawk. Skull began to give a sigh of relief.
P Then he noticed an extraordinarily large, black, ugly thing grinning maliciously at him, and
the breath caught in his throat.
P The Eccubus had undergone a few changes since his appearance on Tien, none for the
better. He was separated from his Aerial host now, but he had been draining energy from him for
the last few hours, and the resulting metamorphosis was dramatic. He was no longer a tottering
stick figure, but a hulking giant with bulging muscles and clawed hands. A mouth full of gleaming
sliver teeth was stretched in a hideous mockery of a smile, and a slanted pair of blood red eyes
glowed menacingly.
P "Ohhhhh, boy," said Skull shakily. "I think I'm in for it now."
P "You couldn't be more right, hero," the thing hissed. "Nothing can stop me now that I'm
at full strength - not you, not your pet bird, not anyone."
P "Cedar," Skull replied. "Is not my pet. She's my partner, and we ican/i stop you. So
there."
P "Don't be ridiculous," the creature scoffed. "No one has ever found a way to destroy an
Eccubus. I don't think a foolish human like you will be the first. That being the case," it added
thoughtfully, "I think I may let you live, for now. I can't steal energy from someone as pure-
hearted as you two, and you'll be too much trouble to eat. I will destroy your city first, and then
perhaps I'll come back for you. Goodbye."
P The Eccubus abruptly turned and leaped from the top of the four-storey building, landing
lightly in the street, and then bounding away at a speed surprising for its size. Cedar and Skull
looked at each other in amazement.
P "Uh, Cedar," said Skull, "what's an Eccubus?"
P "I don't know," Cedar replied, "but my father will. Come on. I'll carry you home... if
you're not angry at me."
P "I'm not angry," answered Skull. "I know how you felt, and I'm sorry I was mean to you.
No hard feelings?"
P "None," Cedar replied, half-opening her beak in an avian grin.
P Their conversation was interrupted by a low moan, and they both turned to look at the
man who had recently been hosting the Eccubus. Now that the excitement was over, Skull
recognized him as Obsidain, the leader of the punks who had beaten him up early that morning.
He was twitching uncomfortably, his face contorted in pain.
P "He doesn't look so good," Skull remarked. "Do you think your dad will know how to
take care of him?"
P "I don't know, but we can find out."
P "Okay," said Skull. "How about you carry him back to your place, and I'll fly myself back.
Then you can talk to Hemlock and I can talk to the Firebird, and maybe if we're lucky we can get
this all straightened out before something ielse/i happens."
P Cedar nodded and went to collect the semi-conscious Obsidian while Skull prepared to
jump from the roof. Within moments, the winds of evening were carrying all three across the sky.
pcenter~*~/center
P Some time later, Cedar and Poplar were in the parlor, tending to Obsidian, who was
stretched out on the sofa. He was a bit feverish, but not visibly hurt, and so it was decided that
probably the only thing that could be done for him was to let him rest in peace. The two female
Aerials kept a constant vigil, cooling his forehead with a damp cloth.
P Meanwhile, Skull had discovered that the Firebird had vanished again. Muttering
uncomplimentary things about it, he went in search of Hemlock. He found the wizard in the same
place he usually was, which was in his study, poring over dusty old books. The door was ajar, so
Skull only rapped politely on it before letting himself in.
P "Good evening, Eugene," said Hemlock with distracted politeness, hardly glancing up
from his book. "Vat brings you herrre?"
P "Hemlock, what's an Eccubus?" asked Skull.
P Hemlock looked up from his book then. He turned and stared at Skull with amazement
and a little fear in his eyes.
P "Vhere did you hear that vorrrd?" he asked.
P "There's one of them running around downtown," Skull replied. "It got some guy. Poplar
and Cedar are taking care of him now, but he doesn't look so good, and I thought maybe you
might know-"
P "There's an Eccubus ihere/i?" asked Hemlock in horror. "This is bad. This is
extrrremely bad. Vat arrre ve going to do?"
P "I don't know," said Skull. "What iis/i an Eccubus? Why are you so worried about
it?"
P "Eccubi are deadly creatures," said Hemlock seriously. "Von of them can level a whole
city with no trrrouble at all. They steal power frrrom varrrrious sourrrces to make themselves
strrronger - especially power in the form of strrrong negative emotions. No von has ever found a
vay to destrrroy one. They are far too strrrong to be attacked physically, and they steal the power
frrrom any kind of magical attack to feed themselves."
P "Um," said Skull. "You mean this thing is invincible?"
P "Forrr all prrractical purposes, yes," Hemlock answered. "They usually die rather qvickly,
but they can do incrrredible amounts of damage before that happens."
P "Well, somebody's got to find a way to get rid of this one before it eats all of us!" Skull
exclaimed.
P "I know of no vay to do that," said Hemlock, shaking his head. "I vill have to trrrust in the
Firebird's varriors to prrrotect us."
P "Well... that might not be such a good idea," Skull replied nervously. "See, Hemlock... I
don't really know how to say this, but, well, the Dark Falcon... he's me."
P To Hemlock's credit, he did not look surprised. He gave no indication of skepticism. He
simply sat and stared at Skull a long time, making the human fidget.
P "Vell," he said. "That explains a few things. Vell, Eugene, I vill help you as much as I can,
but I do not know vat I can do."
P "Just tell me everything you can about this Eccubus critter," Skull replied.
P Hemlock nodded. "Fine. Hand me that book over therrre, the von vith the blue cover. Ve
can start vith that von."
P Skull handed him the book, and then stood by as he watched the wizard flip through the
pages and begin to read slowly through the yellowed pages. It was going to be a long night.
pcenter~*~/center
P Nearly an hour later, Hemlock closed a book and added it to the pile that he had already
searched through, and Skull sighed. It felt like they had searched through half the books in the
mage's library, yet they were no closer to finding any answers than they had been when they
started.
P "This is crazy," said Skull in frustration. "I can't just sit here all night digging through old
books."
P "You can't go out looking for that Eccubus vithout a plan," said Hemlock sternly.
P "Maybe I can't, but this isn't doing any good," Skull replied. "I'm not going to sit here
while that monster destroys the whole city. I've got to do isomething/i." He turned and
started for the door.
P "Vhere are you going?" asked Hemlock worriedly. "Crrrazy human, you're going to get
yourself killed."
P "I don't even want to think about it," Skull replied, and he left the room.
P Heading for the front door, he passed by the parlor where Cedar and Poplar were
attending their patient.
P "Eugene? What's going on?" asked Cedar.
P "We're going to go look for the monster," he replied. "Or at least, I am. Do you want to
come?"
p "Did Father find some way to get rid of it?" Cedar asked hopefully.
P "No," Skull replied. "I'm going to try to fight it anyway."
P "In that case, I'm coming," Cedar replied.
P "What do you mean, you're going to fight a monster?" asked Poplar in shock. "What are
you talking about? What's going on?"
P "Ask Hemlock. We've got to go," Skull replied. He and Cedar hurried out into the street,
leaving a very worried pair of Aerials behind.
pcenter~*~/center
P Hunting for monsters at night was not an especially fun job. Trying to fly at night was bad
enough, even with Cedar lighting the way somewhat. Skull's night vision was better than Cedar's,
but even he wasn't very well suited for hunting for a black monster in the dark. All he had to go
on was the Dark Falcon's sixth sense that told him that something nearby was not as it should be.
P "Look down there," said Cedar, pointing with her beak. "What's that?"
P Skull looked in the direction she was indicating and made out movements - several small
shapes that seemed to be retreating from a much larger dark shape.
P "That could be it," Skull agreed. "Let's check it out."
P They swooped lower, skimming at about roof level above the street. Now they could see
for certain that this was definitely the Eccubus. Skull felt a sinking sensation just looking at it - it
seemed to have grown even larger and more menacing since he had last seen it, and its red eyes
were now flaming orange and glowing like hot coals. He reached for his laser and fired a few
shots at it, hoping to at least stun the creature, but it didn't seem to have any effect whatsoever.
The Eccubus turned to stare at him and hissed, flicking a snakelike tongue between double rows
of sharp teeth.
P "You again!" it growled. "Are you going to insist on making a nuisance of yourself? Go
away before I decide to shred you."
P "I'm not letting you destroy my city!" said Skull, trying to sound braver than he felt.
Compared to this thing, the monster he had battled that morning looked tame as a kitten.
P "Let? What makes you think you can stop me?" laughed the Eccubus. "Nothing can stop
me now! You hear? Nothing!"
P It hunched itself up, looking for a moment like a huge, grotesque toad, before springing
high into the air and ramming straight into the startled Dark Falcon. They spun head over heels in
midair for a crazy instant before slamming back into the street, and Skull got the wind knocked
out of him as the large and proportionally heavy monster landed on top of him. It raked its claws
across Skull's chest twice, causing searing pains, before Skull managed to pull a shielding wing in
front of him. Seeing her friend in trouble, Cedar dive-bombed the creature and slashed at it's
unprotected back. It roared and jumped away for a moment, then turned and swatted at Cedar as
if she were nothing more than a fly, sending her spinning into the side of a building. Dizzily, Skull
pulled himself into a semi-crouch, forcing himself to think, to plan. There just had to be some way
of defeating this creature.
P Somewhere in the back of his head, a lightbulb was flickering dimly, and he pursued it. All
of Hemlock's books had said more or less the same thing about Eccubi. Normally, they were
fairly weak creatures who did their best to stay out of sight, unless they could manage to find a
host to feed off of. Once they drew enough power from their hosts, they would go on a rampage,
destroying everything in their path until they eventually died. Why? Why did such evidently
powerful things expire at the peak of their strength?
P Skull stood for a moment, waiting for the answer to come clear, watching the Eccubus
looming closer, its jaws gaping wide as it moved in to bite his head off, it's eyes glowing with the
power it had stored. Suddenly, the idea flashed into his mind, neat and complete and perfect. But
would it work?
P "One way to find out," Skull muttered to himself. Out came the pistol again, and he took
careful aim and pulled the trigger, sending a steady beam of red energy straight into the monster's
open mouth.
P The beam didn't even faze it. The Eccubus absorbed it, just as he absorbed the other
shots. Undaunted, Skull continued firing, and the creature laughed.
P "Foolish human!" it roared. Its voice seemed to increase in depth and timbre even as it
spoke. It seemed to be slowly growing as it absorbed the energy from the laser. "You think that
little toy can hurt me? I cannot be harmed by your weapons! I am invincible!"
P "What are you doing?" shouted Cedar. "You're just making it worse!"
P Skull just ignored both of them and concentrated on keeping his beam steady, even as the
Eccubus reached out one clawed hand and lifted him up off the ground. Cedar shrieked. The
monster laughed. The laser began to grow warm from the strain, and it shot off a few sparks.
p "No! Don't give out yet!" Skull muttered. "Just a little longer..."
P "Forget it!" sneered the Eccubus. "I'm tired of toying with you, Dark Falcon. You're time
has come! Prepare to - argh! What's going on?"
P Something odd seemed to be happening to the Eccubus. Lines of light seemed to be
making spiderwebbed paths across his dark skin, shimmering the same gold-orange as his eyes.
Smoke began rising off of him.
P "This can't be happening!" the creature shouted. "Nooooooo!"
P The creature gave an earsplitting howl of pain, and then there was a tremendous explosion
that briefly filled the street with golden light. Skull was pitched through the air, and he landed
with a tooth-rattling thump in the middle of the dusty street. It was more than his battered body
could take, and he blacked out.
P He awoke moments later as he felt Cedar gently shaking him. He opened his eyes slowly
and rubbed his aching head - or tried to; he was still holding his pistol in one hand. He stared at it
in puzzlement for a moment until he remembered why he had it.
P "What happened? Did it work?" he asked anxiously.
P Cedar nodded. "You blew it up. I've never seen anything like it." She gestured with her
wingtip, and Skull looked. There was a large, scorched crater that filled the entire street, sending
char marks and cracks up the sides of nearby buildings.
P "That's nice," said Skull tiredly. He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep again, but
Cedar wouldn't let him.
P "How did you do it?" she asked. "I thought you said you couldn't destroy an Eccubus like
that."
P "Eccubi eat energy," said Skull, giving up on trying to sleep and sitting up instead.
"Hemlock told me so. He also said that they always end up dying when they try to destroy a city.
I just guessed that maybe it couldn't take but so much, like a balloon filling up with air. When it
gets more than it can handle..." He trailed off and looked at the scorched spot. "I sure am glad
he's gone. Can we go home now?"
P "I think we can," Cedar replied.
P Skull clambered to his feet and waited for Cedar to take her accustomed place on his
shoulders. Spreading his wings, he rode up into the sky, heading for home and rest.
pcenter~*~/center
P When Skull and Cedar arrived back at the house, they found Poplar dutifully watching
over the sleeping Obsidian. She looked up in surprise as they came in through the door.
P "You're back!" she exclaimed. "Hemlock told me you had gone to fight the monster, and I
thought that-"
P "It's okay," Skull assured her. "Everything's all right now."
P Cedar nodded. "Eugene made the monster explode."
P "You found a vay to destrrroy an Eccubus?" asked a nearby voice. Hemlock came in from
another room, his eyes alight with interest.
P "Yeah. I'll tell you about it later," Skull promised. "How's Obsidian? Is he doing any
better?"
P "A little," said Poplar. "He vas moving just a little vhile ago. I think he vill vake up soon."
P Just as she spoke, Obsidian moaned and began to stir. "Ow, my aching head. Wha'
happened?"
P "You were attacked by a monster," Cedar volunteered.
P "We found you and brought you back here," added Skull. "Are you feeling okay? You've
been out all evening."
P "I think I'll be okay, once I..." Obsidian trailed off as he opened his eyes and saw Skull
looking down at him. "Hey, you're that guy me and my friends trashed this morning! How come
you bothered to rescue me?"
P Skull shrugged. "I dunno. But I sure wasn't going to leave you to be eaten or something. I
couldn't do that."
P "Oh," said Obsidian. He closed his eyes and slumped back into the sofa cushions. "Thanks.
Thanks a lot. And, um... I'm sorry about what happened earlier."
P "Because we saved you?" asked Cedar skeptically.
P "Kind of," said Obsidian, "but... I don't know. I just don't feel the same as I did this
morning. I was angry then, and scared... that's all gone now."
P Skull refrained from mentioning that the change was probably due in part to the monster's
attack. It might not really make any difference.
P "No problem," Skull replied.
P Obsidian smiled. "Thanks. I really mean it. I'll make this up to you somehow."
P "Don't mention it," said Skull. "Hey, I'll talk to you more later, okay? I just remembered
there's something I wanted to do."
P "He should be resting, anyvay," said Poplar sternly. "Sleep, young man. You can talk in
the morning."
P Obsidian didn't object - he really was tired. Skull beckoned to Cedar, and they slipped
quietly out of the room.
P "What's going on?" asked Cedar curiously, as she followed her friend back to his room.
P "I've got something I want to show you," Skull replied. "It's a surprise!"
P "Something good?" Cedar asked.
P "Just wait and see."
P Skull went into his room and picked up the parcel he had bought earlier. He held it out to
Cedar.
P "I bought you a present," he said.
P Cedar took the box, carefully untying the strings and unfolding the paper. Opening the
box, nestled among pieces of soft cloth, she found a small golden mask.
P "What's this?" she asked, looking puzzled.
P "That's for you," Skull replied. "I asked the Firebird about it, and he said he can tie it into
your powers. Just to show everyone we're on equal footing... we also talked about giving you a
name. Firebird suggested 'Gold Eagle.' How does that sound?"
P Cedar beamed. "I think it sounds just right. Thank you, Eugene. You're sweet."
P Leaning over, she kissed him quickly on the cheek. While Skull was still standing there in
shock, she turned and ran down the hall laughing. Skull smiled and gave a small sigh of
contentment. Being a hero, it seemed, was a lot of trouble... but sometimes, it was worth it.
pThe End... for now.