Wings of an Elfin Warrior

Wings of an Elfin Warrior

Chapter 9

Blind Legions



The haze that filled Bruce's mind was slowly opening to the bits and pieces of his shattered life. So much pain and yet it was easy to just watch it replay over and over again. It was easy because that was what he did every day of his life. That was what he saw every time he closed his eyes, every time he stopped to think. How many times had he heard the sound of the gun that killed his father, the clatter of the pearls, as they broke free from his mother's neck when the robber accosted her? He could almost count them and feel the sound of their silence as they died, leaving him alone in that dark, cold alleyway. But death is what is to be expected of life. He sees it all the time. He can't make it stop no matter how hard he tried he can't make it stop.

"That's right, fight it, Batman, or should I say Bruce Wayne?"

Bruce recognized the voice as the last sound he had heard just before he blacked out in the Museum. This must have been the man who injured Dick, the one S`lea called Golnac. He turned to confront the creature, but only saw more of his nightmares unfold.

"Fight it. The more you fight it the stronger, I will become." Echoed the voice.

That's when he realized that he had been unmasked. His identity was exposed to one of the deadliest men in Gotham, and he would have to face him not as Batman, but as Bruce Wayne.

***

As soon as Dick found out that Bruce had not returned home from last night's rounds, he began to feel panic. He wasn't sure why. After all, they had all been known to disappear for days at a time, Bruce more so now that he no longer worked with the JLA. But this whole thing just felt wrong. He would have at least told Alfred that he wouldn't be home today if his disappearance had been planned.

Barbara confirmed that he hadn't even turned on his tracking device last night and that he never reported to her where he would be.

"That sounds about right," Dick muttered, "Do as I say, not as I do."

"That is a rule in this world?" S`lea asked.

"Just in Batman's world," Dick replied. "If any of us had done that, he would've hung our butts by the stalactites and left us there to think about our actions."

She just raised her eyebrows, still watching Tim as he continued to run data through the computer. It was only minutes later that Barbara returned to the screen. "Dick, I think we may have a lead, but I'm really hoping I'm wrong."

"What is it?"

"GPD just received a call about another break-in. They're saying it's like the one you attempted to stop, only nothing was stolen. But they are missing the night security officers, and it appears as if there's been some kind of explosion in the Geology lab, like when the portal opened when you were there."

"S`lea?"

"I did nothing," she objected quickly.

"I didn't think you had. But do you know who might have access to the portal? Is there anyway to locate them? You said you traveled through them once before at the Lair of the Dragon Mage. Could they have been here in our world? Maybe it was they that called you through the gate before."

"No, it was you, Sire. Of that I am sure," she announced. "There have not been many who can travel through the doorways. But maybe…"

Her momentary pause seemed to last a lifetime. "It was told many lifetimes ago that they traveled through portals to hide the Dragon's Teeth from the evil that was plaguing my world. It is said many of the Coven died in other worlds. Others did return with stories of worlds with magic greater than their own, and some even told of a world of wingless Dragons and fiery mountains. But many believed that they were tales to keep the evil from ever looking for, let alone, finding where they hid the teeth."

"Wingless Dragons? Dick, do you think they meant dinosaurs?" Tim thought out loud.

"That would make sense. After all, where would you find dinosaurs now?"

"The museum," everyone announced at once. Tim's fingers flew across the keyboard. As he pressed "enter," a large picture of huge dinosaurs in a volcanic valley crossed the screen. Unlike the "rex" Bruce kept in the cave, many of these had long flowing necks and tails, not unlike S`lea's Dyeta.

"S`lea, what would you have called these if you had seen them when you crossed through a portal at that time instead of this one?"

"Wingless Dragons," she said excitedly.

"We call them dinosaurs. They're extinct now, but many thousands of years ago, they roamed this world."

"The Dragon's Teeth. They searched for the Dragon's Teeth! Gods be kind, I must stop them! If Golnac returns to my world with the Dragon's Teeth, his evil will be unstoppable."

"I don't understand. What are the Dragon's Teeth?"

"It is recorded that our world turned upon itself. All creatures battled to the death. When the sun awoke, there was no one left to rebuild but a human/Elfin halfling named Cara, who turned out was a true Mage, and the greatest of all Dragons, Kylach. Our world would have ended there, but Cara sacrificed herself to rebuild life. She turned herself into a Dragon, and she and Kylach became the parents of the New World. Because she was not a true Dragon, the children were of all creatures. Human, elfin and of course, the Dragons, but the Dragons were no longer large creatures, but small like me."

"If you consider that small, I don't wanna know what you call big," Tim looked up, awed.

"Some as small as game in the woods. It is said that when the world was able to survive once again that Kylach died, and Cara turned his bones to crystal, forever harnessing the powers and the knowledge of this great creature, and then buried them deep within the mountains on an island off the coast of Meric. If one were foolish enough to go searching, the only thing visible (to those who are not of the bloodline to the Dragon Mage) were the teeth. Some of the teeth were as large as I, others as small as my fingers.

"It is said that Cara bore nine more eggs, each baring a set of twins with all the power of the Old World. They would be the Dragon Mages, whose lives were to protect the children of our world and the magic of the crystal bones. It is said that some time during the Time of the Dark Sun, when the world was most vulnerable, a new set of twins would be born to continue this tradition of Guardians. But ours is a selfish people. For all the good born into the world, there is all too often a balance of evil.

"In the time of the Quake, when the world should have celebrated the arrival of the next set of twins, an evil force found the cave, intending to bring the followers of the Right to the ways of the Dark by invoking the Dragon's Teeth. The Mages took all the Teeth they could carry and hid them within the portals of time. When they returned, they found that the creatures had shattered the larger Teeth, and the cave that had been held up by the great fangs collapsed on them. They died, but not before the thieves had stolen the egg that was believed to carry the next generation of Mages.

"It is said that I was born of the stolen egg. I do not know nor do I care, for there are more than enough Mages to keep the world in balance. But because of my heritage, I have the protection of the Coven and carry a Dragon's Tooth within the hilt of my sword to protect me and to strengthen my powers."

"But you said the magic hurts, if you carry a tooth...?" Tim wondered aloud.

"Hocus pocus is not the only magic in the world, Tim," Dick announced. S'lea smiled at her new friends, and then at Alfred, who seemed to blush with pride.

"Master Dick is right. Some of the most amazing things have been done by those not believed to have been of Sorcerer blood. Why, there is a story in my world where a young man not even your age lifted a large tree from a young woman who was pinned beneath it."

Tim Smiled. "But how do you know the story was true?"

"Because I was the woman." She returned.

Dick seemed to be pulled in to the Elfin Warrior's story. His thoughts were shattered by the repetition of his name.

"Dick?"

"Yeah, Babs?"

"Do you remember the time when you were in the Parker's Field and what you found? The crystal? You don't think …?"

"Is it possible?" Excited, the older boy scrambled to his feet. "Alfred, where's the costume I was wearing when I was hurt? The boots …?"

"They are in the uniform closet where they belong."

"Bring me the boots."

He anxiously searched them for the stone he had found that night. "Not here. I must've lost it in the fight."

"I don't understand. What is it that you're looking for?"

"I had a good-sized crystal shaped like a very large canine tooth. I stuck it in my boot. It must have fallen out…"

"No," Alfred interrupted. "I found it when I cleaned it and put it in your treasure box in your room. You know, the one you started when you first came to live with us."

"Alfred, could you…" Alfred was already halfway up the stairs when he hollered down, "I'll retrieve it."

"Babs, get the JLA on the line. Explain the situation. Tell them we need help. I need help. Bruce is in big trouble."

After a few minutes she came back. "No luck, Boy Wonders. Jon and Supes are off planet, Flash is on some hush-hush mission. There's only one-way communication there, so he checks in once every other day. The only ones left were Aquaman and Wonder Woman, and they said they were currently busy, but … but they were certain Batman was fine. After all, he has a plan for everything," she quoted sarcastically. "No luck with the Titans either. "

"DAMN!" Dick slammed his fist against the computer keys causing sparks to fly and the screen to squelch and blur a bit.

"Dick, calm down."

"Bruce, could be dead, Babs!"

"I do not care much for your comrades," Slea growled. "I can tell from your statement you do not totally believe what they told you."

"They don't trust Bruce," Dick informed her. "Most of them believe he betrayed them."

"Did he?" she countered.

"Not intentionally. Right now, that's not the problem. I have to find someone who can find Bruce."

"Then release my sword, Sire, and I will find him and rid both our worlds of this pox once and for all."

"I don't know where the sword is, S`lea. And even if I did and could give it to you, I will not allow you to kill him, and I sure as hell don't want him killing you."

"He will not kill me," she huffed. "Not without a fight. By that time, he will not be fit to ever hurt another."

"You said he could steal a soul just by looking at a man."

"No, I said he could steal a human soul. But I am not human, and any creature of the Marshlands knows that he only need to protect himself by invoking the Dar."

"Now, I am really confused," young Tim admitted. "I thought that Dar was a mechanism that prevented you from tarnishing your honor."

"Yes, in a way it is. You see when I am in a state of Dar, I am only able to see what I know to be true and do what I know to be right. I can only kill if the killing is just, and I can speak only what I know to be true in my heart."

"I still don't understand."

"The Dar covers my eyes and blinds me to all but what I know to be true and just, so his lies cannot pass through to my soul."

"Are you telling me he can gain access to our souls through the 'seeing' eye?" Dick whispered as the truth washed over him. When S`lea acknowledged this, a smile crossed the young man's face. "So my condition gives me an advantage."

"That is so, just as the Dar shields my eyes, making me a difficult prey. Believe me, you do not want to experience the Noctra. Once inside your mind, he corrupts your thoughts. He can change your memories so that you fear all you know and change your reality so that your mind makes true your worst nightmare.

"After you have suffered to the point of complete mental collapse, he then offers you the only way out accessible to you. The first step is to give him your soul willingly, into which he will fill your gut with pitch and bile and turn your blood black with a slow and painful process called the Noctra. The second step is to kill your Self while he is still within your mind. Then your soul shares his poison, and you become one with him. You need only look him in the eye once, and he can claim you."

"Like Joey," Dick whispered.

"I am sorry. I do not know Joey. I just know that you and I are the best hope your father has now."

"Even if I could find him how could I help him? I fought these creeps once. They kicked my--"

"Right now, Sire, your blindness is the strongest weapon you have," she growled. "That, and the Dragons tooth." She took the strange crystal that Alfred had returned with. She relished the warmth of it. Then, taking a small leather pouch from her belt, she placed the tooth in it and hung it around Dick's neck with the all the heart-felt honor one might bestow a medal upon a winner in the Olympics. He seemed to reciprocate in his unspoken acceptance of it. "It is yours, Milord," she stated. "Trust in the magic within yourself, and it will strengthen you."

"Wait," Tim interrupted. "What your saying is that if I close my eyes, he can't hurt me. Then I'm going too. It's not like he can see through our visors."

"Whoa, slow down, Tim. Golnac, isn't the problem. It's his warriors. They're already dead and strong as an ox. There were only a couple on the roof, and they nearly killed me. You're staying here."

"Wrong. Even if you go, you're gonna need an extra set of seeing eyes. And there weren't a lot of volunteers the last time I checked. So, I am in."

"Ok, then. S`lea, there's just one question. If you say these creeps are already dead, how do we stop them?"

"You must break the connection to Golnac."

"And how can we do that?"

"The easiest way is to sever their heads from their bodies," she explained.

Dick balked. "Uh, I don't think so. What's the next option?"

"You must remember these creatures are dead."

"Yeah, so you said. Is there another way to turn them off? If so, what is it?"

"Yes, if you apply a solid blow about here on the neck. Whether or not the head is severed, it will break the Noctra." She laid her finger just below the sixth vertebrae of his neck.

"You're talking about breaking their necks," the blind hero argued.

"I am talking about releasing their souls. They are dead already," she emphasized. "You are freeing their eternal souls, that is all. You cannot kill what is already dead." The silence seemed to echo through the room. It was as if the next comment had already been said.

"One other thing. If we are too late, I will have to take out the Shadow Walker."

"No!"

"If he has been turned, and he is as good as you think he is, you will have no other choice. Remember those others that as you said 'kicked your ass?' Well, they were more than likely street urchins and such with no training and no will. He has been trained. He will be unstoppable if Golnac has him."

"OK! Ok, if he is … if it has to be done, I will do it," Dick sighed.

"Sire, you will be no more willing to kill your father than I was to kill my brother. I just felt you needed to understand that it might come to pass. If it should come to that, I would be honored if you would trust me to save you from such grief."

"Hey, stop talking like we're too late!" Tim barked. "Let's get dressed. We have a fight to fight and a boss to rescue." As if on cue Alfred came down with stairs carrying a box which he handed to S'lea.

"I took the liberty to make this for you, Miss, as I believed you would be with us for a while." Inside, she found a dark green bodysuit not unlike Dick's Nightwing costume in style, but also sporting a tunic. The belt was like the one that Batman wore, but on the buckle was a different emblem, a pair of black Dragon's wings."

"That's our Alfred. Always one step ahead of us all," Tim laughed.

"I had feared that you would eventually be joining my boys in their endeavor, so I believe this too will come in handy." He gave her a mask that looked similar to the emblem on her buckle.

Tim described what was going on to Dick as he pulled on his boots.

"There's one problem, Alfred," he laughed. "What happens to the Kevlar when she changes to her Dyeta?"

"Her Dragonself is not much different than some of the forms that your friend Master Garfield has changed into. The Kevlar was made with similar elasticity, but should there be a problem, her tunic or mantel should cover most of her."

"My hunting togs should be fine, sire, but I do thank you for your thoughts." S`lea acknowledged the man's gesture with a nod.

"No," Dick agreed with the older man. "Alfred is right. This is not like your world. Some of our weapons are a bit more advanced than your sword. The material will work like an armor or shield."

"One other thing," Alfred added. "I know this is not your sword, but it is the best out of Master Bruce's collection. I only held your sword once, but I am fairly sure it is of similar weight." S'lea gently hefted the large weapon, then stepped out and swung it around as if she had held it all of her life. "It will suit me fine. Thank you."

Dick stood slowly, looking blankly toward the area he knew held the uniforms.

"Is something wrong, Master Dick?" Alfred worried.

"It's nothing. I just never thought I would be able to go in there again for anything more than a memory."