Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 23:30:51 -0500 From: Rhaven Subject: Star Child Chapter Fourteen This is a story of full fiction, no robot or fantasy creatures were harmed in its creation I am glad to announce that my website had finally been UPDATED, with Star Child artwork, the story and a SNEAK PEEK of Star Child 2. Take a look: www.rhavenlore.com Star Child Return to Thrae CHAPTER FOURTEEN Ash was hesitant to follow the group of Ellers through the solid wall of ice. When someone goes to this kind of extreme to locate you, it always meant bad news. However, Ash figured that since he had appeared in Thrae, all he has known was bad news. Otto held his hand firmly as they faded beyond the ice walls of the caverns. Ash didn't have to open his eyes to know they were no longer in the caverns. The warm air hit him like a furnace. After hours in the dark ice caves, freezing, being back outside in the warmth was almost more than Ash could handle. His body shivered as the warm air thawed him. "Prince Asrais, if you could follow me please. The Grand Master needs to speak with you immediately." Nazarus said quickly. The six other Ellers split up and walked to separate areas of the large encampment. Ellers were all around him, separated into warrior groups as far as Ash could figure out. Ellers with swords and shields, Ellers on horseback, Ellers with bow and arrows and even a small group of Ellers meditating. Ash had never seen so many naked people in his life; an army of nude Ellers didn't look that impressive to him. "Where are we?" Ash whispered to Otto as they approached a large tent. Otto pointed to the horizon towards the mountains in the distance. "That is the Maelstrom Mountains." Ash moaned and drooped his shoulders. After all they had gone through, they had come full circle. They were still days away from finding the blade of the Star Child and reuniting with Puck and Dango. Nazarus led Ash and Otto into the tent. Sitting on large overstuffed pillows were an Eller and a human boy. The boy was sprawled across three pillows and snoring quietly. "Please come in." The Eller whispered. "Forgive my young friend; he has had a long journey." The Eller gestured for Otto and Ash to have a seat. "I will see you later Prince Asrais, Otto." Nazarus said with a bow. "I must organize my men." "Of course Nazarus, thank you for fetching our young prince." The Eller on the pillows smiled and returned his attention to Otto and Ash. "I am Grand Master Ochen, and I presume you are eager to learn why I have searched you out." "Very eager and curious, Grand Master." Otto answered bluntly, remaining on his feet. Ash moved closer to his tall friend, if Otto refused to sit down, then so did he. "Our sleeping boy here is Liam Ember from the now destroyed House of Cigam. He and others had gathered together in hope to defeat Prime." Ochen leaned over and ran his fingers through Liam's hair. "Liam risked his life to find me. to warn me." Ochen shook his head as if trying to rid himself of feelings. "I. I refused to help; I refused to offer assistance in this great evil. And because of my conceit and ignorance. thousands of humans perished." "That's horrible." Ash said without thinking and instantly felt ashamed for saying it aloud. "Yes, young Prince it is horrible." Ochen said apparently not insulted by Ash's comment. "We have never asked or needed the help from humans; after all, it was they who made us slaves. However, it is time to put aside our differences. It is time for Thrae to be united, for us to stand together in this time of turmoil." Grand Master Ochen stood and stepped in front of Ash. "The Rose Konig Clan pledges its complete loyalty to you Prince Asrais. Together we will stop Prime's mad plan and bring peace back to Salvane." "Th.thank you." Ash said blushing. "Could you help us get to the Sememman Sea? We need to find the other half of the Star Child." Ash held up the hilt. "It's really important we get there before Prime does." "Yes." Ochen stuttered as he stared at the perfectly white handle. "It has been centuries since I have seen the Star Child. If you can tell us where the blade is, my army will take you." "Something is wrong." Otto interrupted, lifting his axe high in defense. "Grand Master." Yelled an Eller as he raced into the tent. "Prime's warriors. they are approaching. "Prime's warriors?" Liam Ember screamed, drawn out of his deep slumber by the loud voice of the Eller. "We . we have to get out of here?" "Calm yourself Liam." Ochen turned his attention to the Eller soldier. "How many robots are approaching?" The soldier looked uncomfortably around the tent. "I think all of them." Puck forced himself to stay awake. He was thrown across the horse like an old saddlebag. Every bump and jolt from the horse sent searing bolts of pain through his body. The only satisfaction he had was the fact that Fylgiar had been severely injured, by Dango's hand he presumed. Puck kept his thoughts on Dango in the back of his mind. He knew something horribly had happened to his long time lover. However, if he let those thoughts in, he would be consumed by them. All Puck knew was that Fylgiar would die at his hands, no matter if it took him a lifetime. "Maybe you should rest." The robot boy said. "I'll fucking rest once this is all over with." Fylgiar barked. "That time is at hand." Puck strained to see who the new voice belong to, but couldn't see pass Fylgiar's knee. However, in the end it didn't matter, Fylgiar knew the intruder, knew him and by the tension in his voice, hated him. "Prime." Fylgiar growled. "What the hell are you doing here?" "Your job, I believe." Prime said casually. "You were ordered to find the Prince, but I see all that you have gathered is one less eye and a deplorable Eller." "I." Fylgiar's anger was so strong it made it hard for him to speak. "I am doing my job." He said slowly, his injured eye throbbing as he spoke. "So Aero, I see you are still following this maniac." Aero looked down at his feet. "If you had just done your job correctly, then we wouldn't have to be here." Lord Aero said sounding almost sad. "Boy bring the Eller aboard my chariot. He may be important in my final goal." Prime ordered. "Boy." Fylgiar was shocked as he watched Boy remove Puck off the horse and carry him over to the insane Autonoid. "Boy what. what are you doing?" "I'm sorry Fyl, I have to do this." Boy said simply. "You don't have to do anything that freak says!" Yelled Fylgiar, throwing his hand over his missing eye as it started bleeding again. Puck groaned as he hit the metal floor of the hovering chariot. Lying on his back, he stared up at the demonic robot. Prime, the master of all this destruction, the murderer of King Verloren and half the human race. Puck could end all this horror now, if only he could get the Neurochoker off. Years ago, Puck had been sent to Earth as watcher and protector of Prince Asrais. For all he knew, Ash was never meant to return to his home world, but Prime happened and Puck returned with his young ward. From that moment of ignorant decision, Puck had screwed everything up. For all he knew, all his friends were already dead. The fate of Thrae rested in his bonded hands. "Don't worry about your little robot; I'll take good care of him." Prime said smiling. "But I would hate to think of you getting lonely here in the woods." Prime helped Boy climb onto the chariot and then turned his attention to Lord Aero. "I think you have spied enough Lord Aero." Prime waved his hand and from the back of the chariot came a terror filled scream. Aero stumbled away from the now visible Grem. The reptilian boy fell off the back of the chariot, his flesh bubbling off the bones. "Grem." Aero whispered the name, he didn't feel grief from the boy dying, Grem was nothing more than a tool to him. Aero felt grief from being discovered. "Did you truly believe this little slime could spy on me? You are an idiot Aero. A would be conqueror, with a singularity of thought. Sadly, that is what blinds you. Even I a machine, have more of an imagination than you ever will. Time to say goodbye." Prime lunged forward and slammed his fist into Aero's stomach. The man howled as he flew thirty feet through the forest. Fylgiar would have laughed at Aero's misfortune, but he still was in shock as he watched Boy fly away with Prime. "By the way." Prime said as they flew above the trees. "I'd start running. Woods are going to become very crowded here soon." "What the fuck does that mean?" Fylgiar screamed at the parting chariot. "Mother fucker!" With a fuming shake of his head, Fylgiar approached the moaning Lord Aero. Sprawled out across a thorny bush the Lord looked more angry than hurt. "I will not lose this way." Lord Aero grunted as he pulled himself out of the bush. "Prime thinks he has won. He has won nothing. Nothing! Fylgiar, you know where they are headed right?" Fylgiar shook his head again and turned away from the Lord. "Aero, you are truly an idiot." Fylgiar walked back to his horse and pulled on its ear. A panel hissed its way out of the back of the horse 's neck. "Prime is a machine; he doesn't do things without reason." Lord Aero stumbled over to Fylgiar, brushing off the dirt and leaves as he tried to walk. "What the hell are you babbling about Fylgiar? And where the hell did you find a mechanical horse?" "The horse found me." Fylgiar said simply, as he tapped a button on the illuminated panel. "Prime should have killed us both. Even you must admit he could have done that easily. So why didn't he?" "He. didn't need to kill us." Aero swallowed hard and nervously looked around. "So what do you believe was his reasoning in sparing us?" Fylgiar frowned at the image that was displayed across the panel. "Prime has left us here alive, because it appears he's called in his warriors." "What do you mean?" Aero pushed his way in front of the panel and wrinkled up his nose at all the blinking lights. "What the hell am I looking at here?" "Prime has all his robots coming our way. The monitor is picking up. 10,000, no 20,000 robots." "We.we need to get out of here!" Aero almost screamed, it took all his courage not to go running off into the woods hysterically. "Can you cast spells?" Fylgiar asked calmly, although he was in excruciating pain. "Spells? I am Lord of Misset; of course I can cast spells." "The horse can travel at high speeds, but I'm not sure it can keep us ahead of the robots. Our only chance if the robots catch up with us will be magic." Fylgiar closed the panel on the horse and climbed into the saddle. Aero managed to climb behind Fylgiar after several tries. "You do know that magic has no affect on the robots, right?" Lord Aero said rudely. "It all depends on which spell you cast." Fylgiar said as he kicked the horse into top speed. "Prime's robots aren't what they seem." Otto grabbed up Ash, before the boy could say a word. "We need to get out of here now." Otto yelled above the ear-piercing roar that filled the air. They could hear and feel the ground shake from the advancing robots, though they were still miles away. It was a terrifying experience, like knowing that a disaster was approaching, but having no way of hiding from it. Ash looked around at the chaos, Ellers attempting to get organized, prepared for the approaching attack, but Ash could see the fear in their eyes. It was the same fear he felt. "Liam follow us." Ash yelled trying to get the terrified boy's attention. "Prince Asrais, we will try to delay the robots so that you may escape." Grand Master Ochen said quickly. "You must stop Prime from getting the Star Child." "Can't you just teleport everyone there? I. I don't want anyone to get killed." Ash said twisting around in Otto's hold so that he could see Grand Master Ochen. "I'm afraid not Prince Asrais. The spell we used to get you here takes too long." Ochen looked towards the horizon. "I don't believe." Suddenly the sounds of yelling filled the campsite. Over the ridge, Ellers stumbled back as four robots raced passed them. The robots were bombarded with energy balls, lightening bolts, and spheres of blinding light and other magical attacks as they made their way easily through the campsite. Otto quickly pushed Ash behind him and readied his axe. The robots ignored the Ellers; as if they were nothing more than inanimate items. It was obvious that Otto and Ash were their true target. The robots didn't bother defending against all the magical attacks, they ran over any Eller not quick enough to get out of their way. To Ash's surprise, Otto didn't wait for the robots to reach them, the Autonoid rushed forward raising his axe high. With his first swing, Otto did what all the spells from the Eller's had failed to do, the robot exploded in an eruption of metal and wires. However, before Otto could swing again, the three remaining jumped on him. Ash watched the attack in horror, feeling completely helpless. He was relieved to see Nazarus join the fight wielding a strange jagged sword. The naked Eller managed to slice off one robot's arm. The robot stopped its attack and looked at its missing limb, looked around as if looking for its attacker. Nazarus held up his sword ready for the counter attack, but the robot returned its attention to Otto. "We have to get out of here!" Liam screamed, tugging hard on Ash's arm. "I can't leave." Ash yanked his arm free of the hysterical boy's grip. "I've got to save Otto." Ash started running towards Otto, but another hand grabbed him before he could take a step. Ash swung at the person without even thinking, but Grand Master Ochen ducked away from the blow easily. "You cannot help your friend. We must get you out of here now." Ochen pointed to the horizon. Ash with gritted teeth reluctantly turned to where the Eller pointed. It looked like flood water of yellow, thousands of robots rushed over the ridge. Ash looked out on the battlefield; it was a sight no one should ever witness. Wave after wave of robots rushed forward, ignoring the Ellers, but nonetheless killing them in their mindless march. "Nazarus!" Otto yelled as he hit one of the robots attacking him. "Nazarus, get Ash out of here now!" Nazarus nodded grudgingly and left Otto to his attackers, but suddenly stopped when the Autonoid screamed. One of the robots had dug his fingers into Otto's shoulder. "Get out. of here!" Otto screamed. Nazarus raced over to Ash and grabbed his hand. "Grand Master we have to leave now." Nazarus yelled. "Take Prince Asrais and Liam. I will try to hindrance these robots." Ochen wrinkled up his face and stared over at Otto. The three robots attacking the Autonoid suddenly backed away. Otto stood and stretched his arms serenely. "Otto. Otto!" Ash yelled to his friend. The Autonoid smiled a wicked grin. The horde of robots gathered behind Otto, with his insane grin. "Otto. Nazarus what's wrong with Otto?" Ash said forcing back tears. "I think he's been taken over." Ochen answered. "Go now Nazarus, I will slow them down." "Taken over? OTTO!" Ash screamed. "Otto please!" But Otto didn't move, he only wave his arms forward, the robots instantly obeyed his silent command and started their march. "We are going to die." Liam wept. Nazarus took hold of the crying boys. "Get ready I'm going to cast a Tempus spell." Before Nazarus could complete his spell, a robot leapt onto Liam's back. Nazarus pushed Ash out of the way, as they both fell forward. Ash didn't need Nazarus's help in avoiding the attacking robots, the boy quickly sprang to his feet and dodged another advancing robot. Everywhere Ash looked there were hundreds of robots racing towards him. The Ellers tried to slow them down, but again the robots ignored them completely, as if the nude boys didn't exist. Ash jumped out of the way, as another robot tried to grab him, without thinking, knocked away a mechanical hand with the Star Child hilt. There was a flash of light and the robot faded from existence. "What the hell?" Ash muttered to himself, as he stared awkwardly at the white hilt. He didn't have time to figure out what had happened as he was quickly surrounded by robots. Ash suddenly heard the boy Liam scream. Ash swung the hilt around him, several more robots vanished. It opened enough room for Ash to roll passed them to where Liam lay on the ground. The boy was covered in blood and not moving, at first sight Ash was afraid Liam was dead. The boy moaned weakly and Ash leaned over him, waving the hilt around to keep the robots off them. "Liam. Liam can you hear me?" Ash screamed in the boy's ear. "Liam you have to wake up!" "It hurts." Liam groaned and forced one swollen eye open. "I'm going to get us out of here." Ash said as he pulled Liam up. "You're not going anywhere." Ash looked up at the ominously grinning Otto. Ash tried to roll out of the way, as the big Autonoid reached for him. However, Otto was too fast for Ash, in an instant, Ash found himself lifted off the ground. He knew it was hopeless to struggle, Otto had super human strength. Ash glanced at the hilt and looked back at his dear friend. "Let me go Otto, please. I don't want to destroy you." Ash threatened, hoping that Otto had seen the other robots vanish with a touch from the hilt. "You hurt me? I have no intention of letting you go. My dear Prince, you are going to recover the rest of the Star Child." Ash started to cry, tears rolling softly down his cheeks, he raised the hilt and slammed it hard into Otto's chest. "You seriously didn't think that would hurt me did you?" Otto laughed looked down at the boy in his hands. "That may not have hurt, but I guarantee this will!" Running passed the robots, Nazarus appeared, hold his jagged sword high over his head. The blade streaked down in a flash and Ash fell to the ground. Ash held in a scream as he stared over to Otto's right arm, severed above the elbow, the dismembered arm jerked and flexed unnaturally. "We're going NOW!" Nazarus screamed and pulled Ash to his feet. "Not without Liam." Ash said quickly, but Nazarus ignored him. The Eller weaved a complex spell and Ash felt as if he had fallen into thick syrup. The air hardened around him and everything and everyone froze. Ash dared to look over at Otto, a statue of absolute rage painted across his motionless face. "We have to get Liam." Ash found it hard to speak. "I'm sorry Prince Asrais, but Liam Ember is dead, there was nothing you could do." Nazarus said solemnly as he walked Ash through the maze of robots. "It was the strangest encounter I have ever experienced." Nazarus continued talking. "No matter what we did, the robots acted as if we weren't there." "I didn't see much of the battle." Ash admitted. "Only two hundred robots remained to capture you, the rest continued south." Nazarus walked casually into the woods. Ash suddenly realized that all his surroundings had become an unfocused blur. "What's happening?" Ash said looking around, trying not to panic. "I cast a Tempus spell, we are moving between the heartbeats of the world." Nazarus explained. Ash nodded as if he understood the Eller and decided not to ask any more questions. "We need to head south, to the Sememman Sea. We were supposed to take the Erland Caverns all the way to a black beach." Ash waited for Nazarus to comment, but the Eller remained silent. "We need to head south." Ash started again, but Nazarus gestured for him to be quiet. "There's the rest of the robots." Nazarus pointed to their left. It was a swarm of yellow robots as far as Ash could see. "I think I know the black beach you are talking about." Nazarus said, finally acknowledging what Ash had said. "It shouldn't take us long to get there." Nazarus picked up his pace only to stop completely after a few minutes of walking. "Now that is a strange sight." The Eller said almost laughing. Ash looked and giggled. Two grown men on a horse, but it was the man in back that made him laugh. It was apparent this person was unhappy about the ride. He clung tightly to the rider and was in mid scream. "Who do you think they are?" Ash asked. "Not sure, but if I didn't know any better I'd say the man in back was Lord Aero." Nazarus frowned. "No it can't be Lord Aero, why would he be riding on the back of a horse?" Nazarus laughed again and started walking again. Ash glanced back at the two men and wondered. If that was Lord Aero, then he was also searching for the Star Child. The man with him was heavily armed, Ash had the feeling he should stop them, that if they continued, it would be more trouble in the end. However, Ash didn't even know what would happen once they did reach the black beach. Without Puck, Dango and now Otto with him, he was lost. Ash had the feeling that he was heading to his doom.