Hakuu had barely cleared the terrace when Gokur grew large enough that he had to leap off the terrace's edge, and the ground shook when he landed.
His size continued to increase, and as Sandorin watched, a small part of his brain realized that Hakkien's strange utterances earlier must have been a spell to make Gokur's clothes remain intact as he grew.
Gokur was a towering height now, surpassing that of the citadel that imprisoned Kougaa and the other Demons. "I can break it now!" he said with a smile, and his voice boomed like thunder across the rocky valley. Pulling back a fist that was bigger than the other three men put together, Gokur let out a roar and smashed his fist into the stone building, taking off the entire upper portion.
Hakkien guided Hakuu over near the young Giant's face. "Gokur!" he shouted. "Remember, there are people at the bottom!"
Gokur nodded, and after Hakuu flew back to a safe distance, he brought his fist against the citadel again, knocking away a few more stories. Demons rushed out of the rubble, and they ran with inhuman speed toward the second citadel.
Hakuu started to follow them, and Gokur bent down and held out his hand, allowing Kougaa to climb onto his palm. With steps that shook the valley floor, Gokur took him over to the other citadel. From his perch on Hakuu's back, Sandorin watched as Kougaa changed, his long red hair turning into flames, his eyes twin burning suns. The Demon prince held up his hands, and a ball of fire formed around them, glowing and increasing in size until it was almost the size of Gokur's massive head. With a battle cry the prince released the fireball at Gyokuu's citadel, and it exploded against the jagged stone barbs, leaving a gaping hole on the side.
Demons poured out of the hole in the wall, and chaos ensued as they battled with their clansmen. Gokur held out his hand to the highest balcony, and Kougaa scrambled off just as Hakuu arrived with the other three.
"You did it, Hakkien," Kougaa cried out as the mage dismounted with Sandorin and Gojen, who immediately drew their swords.
"You healed him," Sandorin said.
"Sometimes things work the way I want them to," Hakkien said. "I'm glad this was one of those times."
"Gojen," Kougaa said to Gojen, "come here, and let me give you the power that lives in your blood." He held out a glowing hand.
After the smallest of hesitations, Gojen stepped forward and took Kougaa's hand. The glow intensified, and began to travel up Gojen's arm, soon enveloping his whole body. His ears lengthened, drawing out to tapered points, and his eyes glowed like embers.
"Look at him," Hakkien murmured to Sandorin, as the ends of Gojen's shoulder-length hair danced with flickering flames. "He's beautiful."
Gojen held out his hand, his long, thin fingers tipped with claws, and as he gazed at it a small ball of fire appeared in his palm. He smiled, revealing a set of fangs. "Thank you, my lord," he said to Kougaa, and he sheathed his sword.
"Let's go," Kougaa said, and the two Demons created twin fireballs that blasted off the iron door. He and Gojen disappeared into the darkness, Hakkien following close behind.
"Sandorin?" Even as a whisper, Gokur's voice boomed behind him. He turned to see Gokur bending down toward the balcony, his face close to its outer wall. Gokur smiled at him. "I grew," he said, "and I was able to help them. Even if I can never grow again, I will never forget this day."
Sandorin reached out and touched him, his palm a tiny thing on Gokur's chin. "You did well," he said. "Continue to fight, and keep Kougaa's people safe."
His hand disappeared as Gokur gently brushed a fingertip over it, and then the young Giant straightened up and moved with ponderous steps over to the other side of the citadel.
Sandorin ran down the steps, and when he exited the stairwell he found himself in the midst of a battle. Dozens of Demons rushed him, and Sandorin fought them with swift, deadly grace, his sword ringing as it struck their battered weapons. Every now and then he would see Gojen release a fireball, while bright streams of glowing, green light burst from Hakkien's hands, decimating every creature they touched.
Out of the corner of his eye Sandorin saw a woman, laden with two weapons, try to leave the chamber. Gyokuu. He spun around and delivered deadly blows to his three opponents, and then he swiftly made his way over to block her escape.
"Don't think you'll leave here alive," Sandorin said, the point of his sword at her throat.
"I will deal with her," Kougaa said, as he walked up next to Sandorin. Behind them Gojen and Hakkien dealt their final blows to their foes, and the floor of the chamber was littered with the bodies of Demons. He took the weapons from her and handed them to Gojen, who still bore the Demon form Kougaa had bestowed on him. Kougaa searched the woman roughly, and he withdrew a milky-white Jewel from her corset.
"Cunning witch," he said, "the man who captured you is Sandorin of Kinza'an, son of Komon of Kinza'an, who you had murdered for this Jewel. I should let him run his sword through you, and let him take his vengeance upon you."
Gyokuu said nothing, her eyes burning with hatred as she stared at her dead lover's son.
"But I did not promise Prince Sandorin vengeance,"Kougaa said, "I promised him the return of his stolen Jewel." He placed the jewel in Sandorin's hand. "I have fulfilled my promise to you, Prince Sandorin. I ask you to please lower your sword, for I have another promise to keep."
Sandorin lowered the blade, but he remained ready to strike.
As Sandorin moved away, Kougaa reached out and grasped Gyokuu's hands. "I promised vengeance to myself, you grasping scullery maid," he said, and his hands started to glow with a deep red light. "Vengeance against you, who killed my mother in order to supplant her place at my father's side, you, who drove my father to break thousands of years of peace because of your lust for power, and you, who imprisoned me and my people while you destroyed any hope we had of ever leaving this gods-forsaken place."
The hatred in Gyokuu's eyes turned to fear as the red glow traveled from Kougaa's hands into her own, then up her arms, and he held on tightly while she struggled to escape him. She screamed as her skin reddened, then blackened, and moments later she turned to ash in his hands.
Just then they heard a thundering crash outside the citadel, and they staggered for balance as the building shook.
"Gokur," Hakkien said, and Sandorin rushed down the spiraling stone steps, the others following close behind.
They found him unconscious in the rubble, transformed back to his smaller size. A group of Kougaa's kinsmen had been protecting the young Giant while the others continued to fight Gyokuu's men. Kougaa and a few of his kinsmen joined together to create a large ball of fire, and when they released it their foes perished in its flames.
"What happened?" Sandorin asked one of the Demons.
"He passed out and fell," the Demon answered, "and then he shrank down to this size. We couldn't attend to him, it took all our effort to keep him safe."
Rocks fell around them as the Citadel rumbled ominously.
"We have to get him away from here," Sandorin said, and he gathered Gokur in his arms and moved as swiftly as he could into the main valley.
"There, Sandorin," Hakkien said pointing to a flat plateau, "there's a good spot."
When they reached the outcrop, Sandorin knelt down and gently lowered Goku onto its rough, flat surface. "He's burning with fever," he said, pressing his hand to Gokur's hot, sweaty brow.
"He might have remained too long in his true form for his first time," Hakkien said, and he checked Gokur's pulse. "I don't know."
"You don't know?" Sandorin swallowed with some difficulty, trying to control the rage that rose up in him. "If he dies, Hakkien, I—"
"Let me help," Kougaa said, and he knelt down beside Gokur. "I can remove his fever from him. It is a kind of fire, and I have power over fire." Kougaa placed his hands on either side of Gokur's face, and he chanted in a low voice. The redness slowly left Gokur's face, and although his skin felt cool when Sandorin touched him, Gokur did not awaken.
"Sandorin," Hakkien touched his shoulder. "Use the Jewel."
Sandorin dug it out of his pocket. "But I don't know how to use it," he said watching a rainbow of colors flash under its milky-white, iridescent surface. "I've only ever seen them worn in this torc."
"Let your mind guide it," Hakkien said. "You are its guardian now, its king."
Sandorin gathered Gokur into his arms, and he placed the Jewel at Gokur's throat. Heal him, he thought. Bring him back to me.
The Jewel glowed, and for a second Gokur's body shimmered with the same silvery light, and then the glow faded. Sandorin took the Jewel and pocketed it, his heart pounding as he waited.
Moments later, eyes the color of summer mead opened and focused on him.
"Sandorin?" Gokur gazed up at him. "You're big, like me."
A corner of Sandorin's mouth turned up as relief flooded through him, and he ruffled Gokur's sweat-dampened hair. "You're small again, idiot."
"Oh! That's good," he said, and he rested his head against Sandorin's chest, wrapping his arms around Sandorin's waist.
Sandorin drew him close, not caring who saw them.
