Chapter 2
Wakeup Call
'This isn't right,' murmured Presto, looking around. 'What am I doing back here again?'
The Underworld. It was just as Diana had described it, he could remember it clearly. They were sitting on the grass, after No-Name had gone, trying to get the terrible memory of that evil creature out of their minds…
Sheila had her arm round Bobby.
'That was such a creepy place,' she said. 'Those Fire things were horrid! Do you think Venger rang that gong deliberately, Hank?'
The Ranger nodded.
'I bet he did!' said Hank bitterly.
'What gong?' interrupted Presto. 'I was stuck on that stupid cliff, remember. What happened?'
'There was this big lava pool,' said Diana. 'With a rectangular gong. Venger made it ring, you know, like in King Kong: a dinner gong!' She glanced at Hank. 'Then six giant salamanders appeared outta nowhere.'
'What happened after we left?' Hank asked her.
The Acrobat smiled confidently.
'Those salamanders didn't scare me! I fought those guys off with a branch, but it was a good job Dungeonmaster rescued me just in time…'
'This can't be right,' said Presto. 'I can't be back here!'
He looked around again at the pool of lava and the giant metal gong next to him. There was no mistaking it. This really was the Underworld.
'But this must be where those Salamanders were,' he said quietly. 'Aw, man, how did we get back here?'
Screwing up his face, he tried to remember what he'd done. Yes, he'd done that dumb spell, 'You know, we're lucky to have each other. Abra-ca-dabra, abra-ca-dember, do something that we can remember!' That wasn't enough to send them all back to the Underworld? It had taken the combined powers of Dungeonmaster and all the weapons to do that last time! No way his Hat could be powerful enough to do that. Could it? (Are you sure?)
Presto looked down to the weapon once again. It wasn't powerful enough; it couldn't have done this, no way! The insidious panic of earlier had become so familiar that he barely noticed it. He had to be wrong.
'Aw, I don't understand,' he said angrily. 'Dumb Hat! What have you gone and done?'
Suddenly, there was a deep shuddering through the ground. The lava in the pool sloshed around and Presto backed away from the edge. This wasn't a good place to stay! And if he was back in the Underworld, the others should be around here somewhere then he'd just have to look for them! He trotted briskly back to the tunnel entrance, clutching his Hat.
'I sure wish you were working!' he told it. 'And I sure wish the others were here too!'
He stopped and gingerly rubbed his aching eyes. The tunnel was dark compared to the eerie orange glow by the pool. It looked dangerous. What isn't dangerous in the dumb place?
'Guys?' he called tentatively. 'Ya down there? Hank? Sheila?'
Behind him there was another slosh of lava. He turned. Was that a pair of yellow horns he could see poking out of the pool? It's time to go, Presto! Was that another pair… and a big, black tail? (Make like a Cavalier and run, run, RUN!)
He darted into the tunnel at top speed.
Now, running was not Presto's strong point. His enforced turn as the Acrobat was one of the most unpleasant experiences he'd had in the Realm; Hank had done a better job as Barbarian than he had being the Acrobat! Now Diana, she was good at this sorta thing, but he just wasn't designed to run. That was a well-known and straightforward fact. Running was not good. Running was not good in a thick, heavy robes either. And running in a thick, heavy robe in the hottest place in the Realm, when you've had nothing to drink for hours was just dumb.
The Magician eventually stumbled to a halt, panting. The one side of his face was sore, as if he'd spend all day in the sun. His mouth and throat were the driest he'd ever felt and his head was pounding as well.
I've never been so thirsty, he thought. There has to be some water somewhere.
The tunnel had ended. Before him there was a dry, undulating range of black basalt hills, all covered with a thin layer of ash. Presto coughed. At least the smell of sulphur was less down here.
But where are the guys?
The Magician looked around again. He was low down in a dip between ash hills. But, perhaps, from the top of one of those low hills, he would get a better view; maybe he'd even catch a glimpse of the others. OK, so it was dark. Hank and Diana wouldn't be very easy to spot, but Sheila's lilac Cloak would, and so would Eric's yellow armour.
At the crest of the first hill, he stopped, still panting. His head was starting to thump.
Presto looked around for a few minutes, the crack in his glasses making it difficult to make out details. Eventually, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of colour, the tiniest glint from one of the hillocks. Not having a better plan, Presto slid unsteadily down the ash cone and headed towards it.
It was a tall hill, possibly the tallest, and he was climbing very slowly. But when he was only a few feet from the top Presto looked up again. Nearby there was a neat mound of stones just above him, but it wasn't that which caught his attention. It was the clear glint of yellow and white from the top of it.
He pulled himself up faster, his heart thumping suddenly. He knew that colour, and he knew that shape. He clambered closer. Oh, no…this wasn't happening…
It was Eric's Shield, all mashed and twisted, looking like it had been run over by a dump truck. Presto ran his fingers over its surface; there was no magic in there either.
This was just too odd! There was no way the Cavalier would give up the Shield, even if it wasn't working right. He loved that Shield. He polished it every night. He petted it occasionally when he thought the others weren't watching. There was no was on earth that Eric would leave it anywhere!
Presto picked it up, still looking in confusion at its scraped surface. He turned it over. The back was covered in rich, brown stains. Dried blood…A lot of dry blood…Too much…
Understanding and nausea rushed through him simultaneously. There was only one explanation. Presto didn't move, his hand still resting on the broken Shield and a fat tear rolled down his face. That couldn't be right. Eric couldn't be…
'What's happened?' he whispered. 'What's gone wrong?'
There was a noise behind him, and Presto turned, not even bothering to hide his sorrow. He could see a figure in the gloom, almost catlike, lithe and ready to pounce. It walked up to him slowly, and as it moved Presto felt a hint of recognition. He'd seen someone who walked like that, he knew someone who moved like that. The figure took another step forward.
She'd lost the red band across her forehead, and her hair was tied back, not bunched at the sides like a life preserver. Her arms were covered in shallow cuts. But he recognised the furs and the gold armbands, even before he saw her face. He almost stopped breathing in surprise.
'D-Diana?' Presto asked timidly. 'Is that really you?'
The girl frowned. When she spoke, her voice was just a whisper.
'Presto?'
He nodded, too numb and surprised to do much else. They stared at each other for a few seconds before the Magician was able to form a whole sentence.
'What's ha…'
The rest of the question was muffled as she flew forward and enveloped him in a fierce hug. She didn't say anything. He couldn't hold on to a coherent thought and he just held her, grateful for the comfort, feeling her tears leak into his robes. Minutes later, her grip lessened, and she looked up.
'I searched for you,' she said. 'I tried to find you, but the Underworld is so big…I thought I'd lost you too.' She sniffed. 'How did you survive?'
Presto shrugged, the confusion and fear returning in erratic surges. Don't panic, what ever you do, don't panic! There is a reasonable explanation.
'I don't know…We all did. At least I thought we did. I don't understand.' He looked at her carefully. She had said "the Underworld". He had been right. They were back. 'Diana, why are we back here?'
She frowned at him.
'Back? We've been here since…He came.'
Presto shuddered. Was that the "He" he thought she meant? Was that the "He" that came at the call of the Box of Balefire? Thinking about the Box naturally made Presto think of the Cavalier again. He glanced at the Shield, his heart sinking. He knew the answer before he even asked.
'Is…he…?'
Diana nodded, her top lip trembling.
'Yes. Eric's dead. C-crushed by the worm that lives in the tower. I found his Shield.'
'Are you sure?' Presto whispered. This had to be wrong. This could NOT be happening!
Diana nodded.
'I-I saw him…after,' she mumbled, blinking away more tears. 'But I couldn't find the others.' She looked up eagerly into his face. 'But if you survived, then maybe they did too.'
Presto's head was spinning. He couldn't comprehend what was going on. They were in the Underworld, the others were missing, and Eric was dead! This was wrong. He knew it. Eric wasn't supposed to be dead.
'Diana,' he said. 'We all did. We were all OK. ' The Acrobat frowned more deeply as Presto tried to explain. 'We met Joseph, and Lorne. We went to Recadia and Mindril. We defeated the Darkling and spent the night in Mindril. We were all fine!' Presto took a long slow breath. 'It's not supposed to be like this! I remember. I was holding on to the cliff, and I fell. Then…' What happened next? C'mon, what happened next? 'Then I was with Dungeonmaster. Yes! There was a big crystal cave, and a pool of shiny magic. The others were there too; you were there. Dungeonmaster brought us there! We went back to the surface, but No-Name had gone!'
Diana shook her head slowly, looking at him as if he'd gone mad.
'I was left fighting the salamanders by the pool,' she said. 'And the others went on ahead with Dungeonmaster. But there were too many of them and my branch was almost gone. I had my back against the wall and they were advancing. I turned to climb.' She smiled thinly. 'They aren't much good at that with no legs, and it got very cold, very quickly. They didn't follow.'
She closed her eyes, a line of tears on her cheek.
'Then there was an awful crash from the tower nearby. A voice shouted "I HAVE IT! IT IS MINE THIS TIME!". The ground shook and the salamanders fled back to the lava. When it stopped. I climbed back down. I've been here ever since.'
Presto stared at her.
'How long?'
'I'm not sure. Days, maybe weeks. There's no night or day.' Tears started in her eyes again. 'And no stars.'
Presto shook his head. 'No, you couldn't have been. It's not possible. IT'S NOT!
Dungeonmaster saved us. He saved us all just in time and…' Presto trailed off, his voice breaking. What had he asked the Hat to do?
'You know, we're lucky to have each other. Abra-ca-dabra, abra-ca-dember, do something that we can remember!'
'Oh, oh no,' he whispered. 'It couldn't have done all this!'
I think it did, you know. I really think it did! (Could it?)He'd been vague, yeah, but was an odd turn of phrase really enough to rewrite history? He'd been vague before, and nothing like this had happened! The Hat wasn't that powerful. It wasn't. IT WASN'T! (Umm…)
'Do something that we can remember…' he murmured, ignoring the stare Diana gave him. 'Well, we all could remember this trip!'
No matter how close they'd come to defeat against the Darkling, this was the fight that they could never forget. That, along with Dungeonmaster's final warning: until he returns…
The Nameless Evil was always at the back of their minds. Eric had opened the Box of Balefire, and technically Hank had "let" him, but that was a difficult point: they all knew Eric would have done it anyway. In the original history, the Cavalier had paid dearly for his curiosity; he'd been tricked by No-Name into believing his friends were better off without him and, after a few weeks of grumbling and sniping at them, had the misfortune to meet the evil Warlock.
Presto shivered, fighting back tears. In this new history, Eric had paid the ultimate price. He was dead.
Diana was watching him, suspicion all over her face. Suddenly he grabbed her arms searching her eyes.
'This is all wrong, Diana. You have to trust me! It's not supposed to happen, it's not supposed to be like this!'
The Acrobat was taking short, shallow gulps of air.
'I-if it's n-not,' she stammered, 'w-what's happened? Why?'
Presto released her, looking out across the ash plain. His mind was fuzzy and he could hardly think, but he knew this was dead wrong.
The Hat. It was the only explanation.
'It was a spell,' he said, his voice shaking. 'Somehow, it's changed the past. Instead of doing something to make us all happy, it's gone and changed the past, so we're not together anymore.' Do something that we can remember... 'It's my fault. My dumb spell, I didn't… mean… to.'
Presto stopped, shaken and cold to the core. It was his fault. He could hardly concentrate on what the Acrobat was saying.
'The Hat somehow changed history,' said Diana fearfully, 'and Dungeonmaster reached the magic first instead?'
The Magician forced himself to remember those few minutes after Dungeonmaster had rescued them. Who else was there, instead of Dungeonmaster? Who else could it have been? There was only one option…Venger!
'Venger,' said the Magician quietly, growing paler by the second. 'I let Venger win.'
'Presto, no. It's not…' said Diana.
'Yes!' shouted Presto hoarsely. 'I did this! It's my fault!'
'You can't think like that, Presto! The Hat's never done anything like this before.'
'It has!' hissed Presto, sick to his soul. 'It spelled you to the dumb Giant's castle, it's done loads of dumb stuff! I can never get it to do what I want! I never manage to control it the way I want! And now I've… I've killed him.'
'No, Presto…' started Diana.
'I killed him,' said the Magician, trying no to cry. 'I let Venger win. This is my fault.' Oh God, what about the others? Hank, Sheila, Bobby. 'And the others…'
The sentence hung unfinished in the air. The Magician was shaking. He wanted the ground to open up and swallow him. Suddenly, Diana gripped his arm.
'Presto, please don't give up. I've only just found you, please, don't give up. Please, don't leave me.'
The instant those words were out, another memory struck Presto, as clear as the day it happened. The Temple of Light, she was looking upwards to the burning figure… "Kosar, d-don't leave me!"
He looked back at her, sitting next to him with a tear-streaked face. She'd survive here, for who knows how long. They were friends; they were family. A cold thrill of fear passed through the Magician. There was only one way to help.
'I have to change it back,' he said thickly. 'I'm gonna put it back the way it was.'
'But how? Our weapons don't work.'
Presto looked around desperately, stuck for inspiration. All he could see was the vast black plain of ash, framed by the huge black hill beyond. It was the darkest and most terrible place he'd ever seen. He didn't want to be stuck here forever.
'I'll recharge the Hat,' he said suddenly. 'I'll take it to the Dungeon at the Heart of Dawn, and recharge it like Dungeonmaster said. Then I can cast a spell that will put everything back the way it was, the way it should be.'
Diana shook her head.
'That won't work. There's no way to get to the Dungeon at the Heart of Dawn now. The worm in the tower smashed the only way in.' Her hand moved across to touch the Shield again.
Presto felt light-headed and sick. There was a pounding pain across his temples and he had difficulty seeing straight.
'We have to Diana. This wasn't supposed to happen! Somehow, we have to change it back!' He took a long breath of air, ignoring the foul smell and the burning in his throat. It was their only choice.
'C'mon, Diana,' he said. 'We have to try!'
The Acrobat nodded, but didn't look convinced. It worried him. Diana was usually the last one to give up.
'I mean, how hard can it be?' he added.
The mournful way that the girl looked up at him was enough to make him wish he hadn't said anything. After all, she was the one who'd survived here. She was the one who was likely to know what could, or couldn't, be done.
He stood up abruptly, ready for anything, trying to show her how confident he was. But his head started to spin before his legs were even straight. The ground was coming close again. Why was it moving so fast? (Er, Presto, I think…)
'It's OK, he should be fine.' 'You are fortunate we found you.' 'I never got the chance to tell him.' 'Give him some more water.' 'Tell us all you can.'
Presto could hear the familiar voices but couldn't respond. They were talking about him. He tried to sit up, but hands forced him to stay still. He opened his eyes, but it was all a big blur.
'Take it easy, Presto,' said Diana's voice. 'Rest. You're in a hideout. We're safe for the moment.'
The Magician let his eyes close. He trusted Diana, and liked the sound of that word.
'Safe,' he mumbled. 'Still one of the best words.'
Someone ran their hand across his cheek.
'Rest.'
He slowly let himself sink back into the cooling darkness, voices and sounds blurring on the edge of his consciousness. He dozed, aware of the voices talking, and catching snippets of their conversation.
'Do you think it's true?' 'Do you believe him?' 'He mentioned you.' …
'Can we help?' 'What else can we do?' …
'There is so little time.' 'I sense it is the truth.' …
'The others?' 'They'll try and stop him.' …
'Does it matter now? He must be dead.'
The word "dead" snapped Presto out of his doze. Hank! Eric! With a strangled cry, he woke properly, and sat bolt upright and looked round at the dark, blurry shadows. Acting on instinct, he groped beside him for his glasses and was relieved to find them sitting close to his head. Fumbling, he put them on and looked around again.
He wasn't on the ash plain any more, he was in a small cave made of dark grey stone and it was cooler and dark. He was feeling much better, his head had stopped thumping and he was a reasonable temperature again. There was a small flask of water beside him, and he took a quick sip, then another, then a big gulp, suddenly very thirsty.
There was movement at the cave entrance. Three people were approaching, led by Diana. But the Acrobat didn't hold his attention, the tall man behind did, and it was a good job Presto was already sitting down, or he would have fainted again.
Frightened, the Magician pushed himself back against the wall unable to look away, his eyes widening. Blue chainmail, yellow breast-plate, red cloak fastened at the neck by two rosettes. Presto chocked back a cry, his mouth hanging slightly open. For a second, he thought it was Eric.
An instant later, he knew he was wrong. The man was taller; he didn't have the Cavalier's slim build and narrow waist, and his hair was brown not black. But the Magician still recognised him: Dekkion, the last of the Celestial Knights.
His helmet was gone, but the Sword hung by his side. Presto shivered. He'd never noticed before how similar the Knight's uniform was to the Cavalier's armour. Then he noticed blood on the blue chainmail, and how exhausted the man looked.
Presto continued to stare at Dekkion as he sat on the ground close by.
'Greeting, my friend,' said the Knight, holding out his gauntleted hand. Presto gripped it nervously. That voice, it always seemed strange. It had suited the skeleton, but seemed too deep for such a youthful man. 'Diana has told us your tale.'
Us? There had been a third person in the group. Presto looked up. Just behind Dekkion, Diana stood looking nervously down at both of them and just behind her was another man. No, not a man: nothing more than a boy. And again, Presto recognised him.
The Magician gasped. That's Lorne!
Dekkion followed Presto's stare.
'This is another friend. He's…'
'Lorne!' said Presto with a smile. 'How did you get here?'
The young boy stared in astonishment.
'We've never met!' he said slowly, looking at Diana for reassurance. 'I don't know you.'
'No way, Lorne,' said the Magician. 'We found you and the dumb Stone of Astra! You must remember, you and Eric were…'
Presto stopped. The Cavalier was dead. It had all been changed. Lorne looked at Presto curiously.
'I don't have the Stone of Astra anymore,' he said with a hint of a sigh. 'A wizard called Korlock stole it.'
'How did you get here?' murmured Presto, looking between Lorne and the Knight. 'How did either of you get here?'
Dekkion patted the Sword by his side.
'I had enough magic in this weapon to flee the defilements of the Demon above. Young Lorne was saved by the Stone, and it brought him here. But the Wizard Korlock followed him and stole it, then fled to another Plane.'
In spite of his confusion, Presto nodded. This was getting too weird. 'Who am I gonna meet next?' he muttered. 'Strongheart? Karena?'
Dekkion and Lorne exchanged glances, then the Knight shook his head.
'The Lady in the Mountain is gone, the Demon was sure to destroy all of the family.'
Presto let a rare sneer creep over his face and snorted.
'Typical of Venger!' he said in disgust.
Dekkion glanced towards the Acrobat, then looked back at Presto in genuine surprise.
'No, Magician, you are mistaken. It is not Venger who rules the Realm with a fist of iron.'
Presto stared back.
'But there was no one else, no one but …'
Dekkion nodded, as if to encourage Presto to finish the sentence. Who else came to the Underworld? Not Dungeonmaster, not the gang, and not Venger? Who was left?
'Um…there was only Shadow Demon.'
Dekkion's face grew hard, and he nodded.
'Yes. The Demon of the Shadows rules the Realm.'