Night Of Terror
Chapter 19
XIX
"Michael, do you have a place to stay," Ava asked. "…while you're here, I mean?"
Michael hadn't thought about it, and Zan sensed that he was caught off guard by the question. "You should stay here at the palace, Michael! You're one of us! Any defender of the kingdom who is also a descendent of Rath's must stay at the palace. I will not accept any other answer!"
Michael smiled and lifted his glass of jubish in a semi-toast. "Then I guess the answer is yes."
"Excellent!" Zan said. "Ava, will you see that Mayrna chooses a good room for our guest and prepares it for him?"
"Of course, Zan. Michael, I am
very pleased that you will be staying here."
"Thank you."
"There is one thing that you must do, Michael," Rath said. He reached into a small box that he carried and removed a small container similar to a jar but made of something that clearly was not glass. He removed the lid and dipped a finger into the jar.
"Come here."
Michael leaned over, and Rath applied a thin layer of cream to Michael's eyebrows and nose… then to the tops of his ears.
"This is the cream that distorts your features?" Michael asked.
"Yes," Rath replied. "This cream has a refractive coefficient that falls within the infinitesimally small range that the shape-shifters cannot see, so anything covered with this cream is invisible to them. To the shape-shifters, we appear to have a flat face with only a small nub for a nose, no eyelashes, and ears that are flat on the top. It is enough so that we can easily recognize their fakes."
"Amazing," Michael said. "I can't see the cream on you at all."
"To us, the cream is simply translucent… invisible, and we see right through it as though it weren't even there. But the shape-shifters see nothing where the cream is applied. It blocks light refraction to their eyes. Their brains try to compensate by creating a false flat image where the cream is. They see skin, but it is featureless, created by their own brains inability to process the lacking data. That is the only weakness in their vision, though. Except for that, they see more than seven times as much as we do. To put it into perspective, we see from here to here in the light spectrum…" Rath held his hands a little over a foot apart. "The shape-shifters see in a range from here to here…" Rath moved his hands out to arms length… "with a defect area that is no bigger than a pinhole in the middle."
"It's amazing that your scientists were able to discover it," Michael said.
Rath nodded. "They are very efficient sometimes."
"Come, Michael," Zan said. "Allow me to show you the palace, then I'm afraid that we must retire for the night. As the king, I have to rise early, though sometimes I wonder what for."
"Zan has continued the reign of peace for our people," Rath said. "And he has worked tirelessly to improve the welfare of the people. The scientists and researchers that he brought together have cured the last diseases that existed on Antar; and under him, the people have greater prosperity than ever before. But he doesn't listen to me when I tell him that he needs to get out and see what is going on… what the people are saying… who may be an enemy…"
"That's what I have you for, Rath," Zan said. "Besides, I have done only good works as the king. I've offended no one. Why would anyone want to harm me?"
"Kivar…" Rath reminded him.
"Kivar is one man… and he is disgruntled, because he wants to be the king. He's a deranged individual… and the shape-shifters aren't Antarians. Kivar brought them here."
"Perhaps," Rath said. "And how many other deranged individuals may there be out there who want to be the king? I'm telling you Zan, you cannot be complacent about this. You must show more than your good works. The people must see your strength."
"I surround myself with strength, Rath… I have you… and my army that you head. I am a peaceful king. I want that to be my legacy."
"I'm just afraid that your legacy may be seen not as peaceful but as weak by those like Kivar. It is something for them to exploit."
"Your admonition is duly noted, Rath… and I appreciate it. I know you have my interests at heart. That's why you're the leader of my army and my closest friend."
Rath smiled and looked at Michael. "You see what I'm up against here, Michael? Well, perhaps he is right. Maybe I am acting like a mother hen, and maybe the people will appreciate his peaceful legacy."
"Peaceful people will appreciate it," Michael said simply.
Rath smiled. "Very well-said, Michael! I see you understand."
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Michael looked out the window of his room in the palace at the stars and three moons above. He breathed in a deep breath of fresh air then closed the window, locked it, and climbed into bed. He was tired. It had been a rigorous day. It was hard to believe that he had come here, fought shape-shifters masquerading as Dragons, had his jaw dislocated by Rath, then dined in the palace and been accepted by Rath and Zan… and all this had happened today. Somehow, some of it seemed like it was already in the distant past. But when Michael rolled over, his sore muscles reminded him that it had been today. Within minutes, Michael was asleep.
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… … … … …Michael spread his wings wide to catch the breeze coming over the top of the mountain. He felt the lift of the wind under his wings, and he let it carry him up… above the little green valley below. He looked for Maria, but he couldn't find her where she usually was. Michael looked down at the swift river below. Liz was usually there, skimming the surface of the water and making little eddies with the tips of her fingers. Liz liked to feel the cool spray over her wings and body on these warm summer days.
"Strange," Michael thought. "Maybe Max arrived before I did and they flew up into the east winds." Michael glided over the river and between two small hills; then he brought his wings down with powerful strokes, lifting himself upward into the high east wind. Here, he settled into an easy glide, allowing the powerful winds to support him. He looked as far as he could see in every direction, but he could not see Maria anywhere. Nor could he see Max or Liz.
Suddenly, Michael sensed that someone was beside him. He turned, expecting to see Maria…
"Kryys! Where did you come from? Where are your wings?"
Kryys smiled. "I don't need wings, Dad."
"Have you seen your mom? I'm looking for her."
Kryys shook his head, and his smile disappeared. He looked sad.
"Are you looking for her, too," Michael asked.
Kryys didn't answer. Instead, he dissolved into a billion tiny bright molecules, sparkling against the sun, and disappeared as mysteriously as he had come.
Michael felt a stab of something like fear… or foreboding. He wasn't sure what it meant. But he would have given anything right now for the comfort of Maria's presence next to him… her smiling face… her gentle touch… her warm body… Michael turned and flew back the way he had come. Perhaps Maria had returned home, he thought to himself. … … … … …
Slowly, Michael realized that there were voices around… loud voices. He rolled over and tried to block them out… then suddenly he sat bolt upright in his bed. It was Ava's voice… and Zan's, and several that he did not recognize. And judging from the tone of what he had heard, they appeared to be in trouble. Michael threw on his clothes quickly and opened the door to look out into the hall. He heard more yelling and some screams from outside. Michael ran quickly to the throne room. He arrived to find piles of bodies near the entrance… soldiers… but not theirs. It appeared that they had all had their necks broken or died of wounds from some kind of knife… or dagger. Michael remembered his and Max's dreams about Rath. He ran to the closet and opened the secret passageway behind it; then he ran toward the gardens that Vilandra had led them to in the dreams. As he emerged into the gardens, he was met by Rath.
"Rath! I'm so glad…" Michael looked at Rath closely. He had no eyebrows, no ears above the middle, and his nose was too small. Michael brought his hand up, and a blast of power incinerated the imposter, leaving only ashes where it had stood. As Michael turned around, he was confronted by Kivar, carrying a large, unfamiliar-looking weapon. Kivar pointed the weapon at Michael and smiled. Before he pulled the trigger, however, Nyykto appeared.
"Kivar, don't! I have plans for this one!"
"What plans, Nyykto? We finish him off now… get it over with… then Zan and the others will be a simple matter to finish off."
"I need to extract some information from him before we kill him," Nyykto said. "And I want him to think that he betrayed and killed Zan and the others… It's my revenge for his meddling."
Kivar thought about it then nodded. "Very well. I admit it will be good to know that he suffered before dying. I can use the TAZIER on him after he has suffered the humiliation of thinking that he betrayed Zan." Kivar kept the TAZIER gun pointed at Michael. "Do your mind crap now, Nyykto, while I have him covered."
Nyykto walked up to Michael and placed his hands on Michael's head. Michael felt a jolt of intense pain stab through his head, as though his brains were being sucked out through a small hole. He tried to fight the pain, but he grimaced then screamed. Nyykto smiled… but only briefly.
"I'm not getting the information I wanted," Nyykto said. "It's as though he's filled his mind with different thoughts… almost as though he were a different person. This isn't one of your shape-shifters is it, Kivar?"
"Of course not, you idiot. They wouldn't try to deceive me. Have you rendered him harmless for now?"
"Yeah… yeah… You can put the gun down. I can handle him now."
"I've got things to do," Kivar said. "Let me know when you're done with him."
Nyykto nodded. Michael was unable to move at all since Nyykto's mind extraction. He felt as though the knowledge of how to move had been removed from his head.
After Kivar had left, Nyykto walked around Michael, looking at him carefully. "What secret are you keeping from me, Rath? No one has ever been able to fight my mind extraction before. Why can't I see what I'm looking for?"
"Maybe if I knew what you were looking for, Nyykto, I could tell you."
"Yeah…" Nyykto chuckled. "Sure you would, Rath! After you had slit my throat or broken my neck."
Michael shrugged. "Suit yourself. Get it your way if you can."
Nyykto pressed his hands to Michael's head again, and Michael felt a stab of such intense pain that, for a moment, everything went white, and he almost lost consciousness. Nyykto threw his hands down in frustration.
"You've found someone who has the power to fill your mind with useless drivel that I can't use… stuff about a whole fake life… to keep me from finding what I want. Well, I'll get around your blocks… your manufactured information. Trust me, Rath."
"Trust you, Nyykto? Now there's an oxymoron… 'trust' and 'Nyykto' in the same sentence."
"You seem somehow different," Nyykto said… "faster wit but slower reflexes. If I didn't know better, I'd almost say that you weren't you."
"Well, what can I tell you, Nyykto. What you see is all you get. There's a lot to me that you don't know about. I guess I forgot to keep you in the loop."
Nyykto scowled. "So it would seem. Okay, then, let's see how much of that useless information I can extract and how much I can replace it with. I wish I could hang around and watch your agony when you think that you killed Zan and Ava, but I have other things to attend to… Somebody needs to kill them, you know. Oh, yes! You should be able to move your arms and legs in about ten or twenty jodarish." Nyykto pressed his hands again to Michael's head. "By then, you will have forgotten that you saw me, and you'll realize that you have done something terrible. You have betrayed your king and killed him and the rest of the royal family…"
Michael struggled mentally to block Nyykto's thoughts from entering his head or his own from being removed.
"Well, what's this?" Nyykto said. "Who would have guessed that your mental ability would be so strong! I expected to find a weak, pathetic fool… all brawn and soldier, no brain, you know? Who'd have guessed? Don't worry, though, I'll break your defenses. You're no match for me in this area."
As Nyykto concentrated harder and harder, Michael concentrated harder and harder to block him. Michael felt that he was reaching the limits of his ability. He had no idea whether Nyykto was reaching the limits of his or not, but he hoped this would not go on much longer. It was all he could do to hold him back now.
Suddenly, a blast of power struck Nyykto from the right. Injured and surprised, Nyykto spun around to face his attacker. It was Zan. And with him was Rath. Nyykto turned pale. He started to react, but the blast he had received from Zan had had its effect. Nyykto collapsed to the ground unconscious.
"Are you alright, Michael," Rath asked.
Michael nodded groggily. His movement was just beginning to return.
"What did he do to you," Zan asked.
"He tried to remove my memories and replace them with false memories of killing you… and Ava. I was able to block him successfully… but I don't think I could have for much longer. You came just in the nick of time! How… How did you escape from Kivar and his soldiers?"
"Rath took care of them. They seemed not to be expecting him. He caught them totally by surprise as they attacked Ava and me. Between Rath and me, it was no trouble to mop up the likes of Kivar and his band of traitors."
"He's dead?"
"Not dead… unfortunately. But the loyal guards have placed him in confinement where he will not be any further problem." Turning to Rath, Zan asked, "Have you found Vilandra or my parents yet, Rath?"
Rath shook his head.
"Maria!" Michael shouted, jumping to his feet suddenly. "I have to find Maria!"
Zan looked at Rath.
"Maria is his lady," Rath said.
"Was she here," asked Zan.
"No," Michael replied. "She's in the future… in our time. But I have to get to her… make sure that she's okay."
"Then you must go now. Will we ever see you again, my friend," Zan asked.
"I… I don't know," Michael said. "Portal!"
Michael turned and looked at Zan, Rath, and Ava, as he walked into the portal. "Goodbye, my friends! Portal, take me back to my own time… to the time and place from which I left."
Michael stepped out on the other side into the palace. He looked around. Everything looked okay.
"Michael?"
Michael spun around. A man had just entered the room. It appeared to be Max, but he was older… much older.
"Michael? Is that really you," the older man asked.
"Max? I returned to our time. How… How did you get so old…?"
Just then an older lady walked into the room and took the older man's arm.
"I told you he would return someday, Zan!"
"Yes, Ava, you were right."
tbc