Written 2006

Posted 11-21-22
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THE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, CHAPTER 6

A story of Necromantra

By Aladdin

Edited by Christopher Leeson
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Chapter 6

THE VORTEX

I heard distant horns off in the direction of Roch and so sprang into the air to be able to see what was happening. Duke Erhan was responsible for the excitement, making a mass sortie from out of his beleaguered city. To me, it looked like a suicidal attack of desperation. Armand’s men were responding swiftly to the rush of the enemy. Because of that, I didn’t see what the city garrison hoped to gain by exposing itself to a superior force.

The battle was joined, but I wasn’t sure what I should do about it. The Armandites seemed to be in control and were not in need my intervention. Also, I was reluctant to kill Ulikans – of either faction – lacking any compelling reason for doing so.

Then a sudden cry went up and, with that, the situation changed massively. The Darkurans were pouring out from their camp in a widening mob. I supposed that their very presence would rout Erhan’s soldiers with ease and then the brutes would savor what would be a bloody pursuit back to the city, which I thought they might actually take before the day was out.

I was totally wrong.

Dismayed shouts came from behind me and, looking back, I saw the Darkuran ambassador and his bodyguard emerging from Armand’s tent. The former had something held in his gore-drenched fist.

That object was the severed head of Viscount Armand.

This turnabout was surprising, but I was able to guess what was going on.

I reasoned that after Princess Arielle’s rescue, Erhan saw his political position as hopeless. Clearly, he had sent negotiators to the Darkurans in order to offer them the sun and the moon if they would come over to their side. In fact, he’d probably had diplomats in Darkur for quite a while already. Q’zon, I thought, must have grown unhappy with Armand for occasionally putting the good of Ulik over the good of Darkur. Consequently, the king must have seen Erhan’s offer as an appealing one.

Having arranged the treachery, Erhan had launched his attack against Armand’s besiegers. With the latter shifting to meet Erhan’s sortie, the Darkurans struck from the rear. Armand’s array, being caught between two enemies, collapsed and a massacre began. I didn’t think anything could save the situation and I wasn’t even sure which which side I should be on. But I didn’t care. My only interest was in protecting Airelle, and that I could still do.

I stayed near the battle for as long as I dared, absorbing the energy being released by countless death blows. Simply by hovering aloft, I was being charged like a battery.

But I dared tarry not for long. With the rout of Armand’s army, the victors would soon be sweeping through the noncombatant area, where Princess Arielle was; I had to get there before before the enemy did. The camp was nearby and I reached it in under a minute.

“Marinna!” the teen shouted at the sight of me coming through the flap of her tent. She looked afraid, in fear that I was now supporting the Darkurans. The plucky girl was standing her ground, fending me off with a sword and a buckler.

“I want to get you out of here!” I said.

“No! Help my people. My life doesn’t matter!” she returned.

“Which side do you consider to be your people?” I asked.

“All of them!”

I shook my head. “War is not a party game, Arielle! Once a battle starts, it has to run its course. There's not much I can do help anyone, unless you let me help you.”

I stepped toward her, not afraid of her sword – which looked too heavy for one of her build to handle well. Besides, with my healing power I probably could have survived even a thrust through the heart. She actually lowered her blade as I drew nearer.

Then, scooping up my stepdaughter with no cry of protest from her, I went phantom and levitated the two of us through the roof of the tent. A few arrows and lances intercepted our insubstantial forms but, in the main, the fighters remained fixed on the disintegrating battle. I flew the girl to a line of rugged hills about fifteen miles away. My life-sensing power sensed nothing larger in the vicinity than a vlag -- a harmless Godwheel creature about the size of a rabbit. I set the two of us down on the craggy dome and let the girl scurry away from me.

“Keep your head low and stay here,” I told Arielle. “I’m going back to find your cousin. After that, we'll find a long-term refuge for you.”

“No, Marinna!” she yelled. “You have to do more than that!”

I left her without answering. The best thing I could do would be to find the princess' cousin, who must be with the victorious army. Young Arielle would be in a bad way if she didn’t have someone trustworthy to protect her.

From an aerial viewpoint, I saw an incoming a sight that I hadn’t expected. At that, the situation had radically shifted. This day had certainly turned into one destined for the history books!

#

Unknown to me, Captain Arielle had been holding her men back from engaging with Armand's allies. They were still standing in reserve when the Darkuran attack began, this making it clear to the war-maid what the real situation really was. That took away any wish she had to join in the fight and instead pretended to pursue a nearby cohort of routed Armandite soldiers to disguise her disinclination to join the battle. Arielle started shouting after the fugitives, requesting a parley. One junior officer recognized Arielle and interrupted his dash for life and engaged with her.

“What can we expect at Erhan’s hands, lady?” the lieutenant asked feverishly, trying to stanch the blood that was oozing from one elbow joint of his armor.

“I think Erhan will accept willing defectors – which you’d be wise to become,” Arielle told him. “But I also don’t think the Duke is your real problem. Keep away from the Darkurans for as long as possible, until they get bored with killing humans. Tell me, have you seen the princess or the witch?”

“No, Sir Arielle,” the lieutenant replied. “I’m sorry.”

The captain urged the lieutenant to spread the word to his unit to come back and join her band without displaying their Armandite badges. “If you pretend that you have joined my contingent it may save your lives,” she said.

#

I hung in midair, watching a flight of Aerwa warriors sailing over the horizon. I wasn’t totally flabbergasted at this turn of events because I had been the one to urge Captain Arielle to send emissaries to the Aerwa king with a plea for them to prevent a Darkuran expansion into Ulik. I had thought that ploy would be a long shot but, suddenly, here they were! In fact, the elf-like aliens must have been lurking in the area well before the battle had ensued, gathering intelligence and waiting for the Darkurans to make some move that would justify a war. That standard was a low bar, since there was very little that a Darkuran might do that wasn’t abhorrent to an Aerwa.

The Aerwa before me were arriving in great numbers and so their chance of victory was high. The real question was whether Q’zon would react badly to an Aerwa attack and commit to a major war which could lead to the destruction of the be the entire kingdom of Ulik.

I deemed it time to get out of sight, since I was known to the Aerwa as a dangerous enemy -- having helped Q’zon in his war against them. At the sight of their ancestral foes, the Darkuran brutes began to shape-shift into the shape of dragon-bats, so they could meet the aerial onslaught. That was the Darkurans for you; they were stubborn bastards who almost always preferred to die fighting rather than running. I was more concerned for the men of Roch; would the Aerwa hold them to be enemies, too, since the Darkurans were fighting on their side? Or would Erhan seize the moment and make common cause with the Aerwa?

But did any of it really matter?

While the wild fight raged, I resumed my search for the blonde soldier girl.

I spotted her battle flag and, wrapped in a protective force-field, made for it, setting myself down amongst the men of her band. The minor stir I created brought Captain Arielle to the fore immediately, looking at me as if uncertain whether I had come as a friend or an enemy.

I stepped toward her, saying, “I've taken your cousin out of harm's way. I think you should go join her.”

Arielle grimaced and then called an officer to her side. "Take command while I'm gone," she told him. Then to me she said, “I really do need to talk to the princess.”

Taking the warrior into my arms, I levitated her armored mass, making it less weighty than a sack of goose down. Seeing us rising skyward brought cries of amazement from her soldiers.

I at once summoned a wind to carry us speedily toward the peak of rock where, I hoped, the princess would still be awaiting my return. Happily, the girl came out from behind a boulder upon seeing the captain and I touch down.

“Will you come with me to my home world," I asked the girl,” or do you have a better refuge in mind?”

“Why must we go to some strange new world?” the princess asked in perplexity. “I don’t know all of what is going on, but surely the whole situation that we talked about before has changed.”

“Things are different but not better, I answered. “If you stay, I’ll have to go back to Q’zon. If I don’t, the Tradesmen will kill you just for the sake of hurting me.”

“What will happen if I stay here?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe there will be a big war between the Aerwa and the Darkur, or maybe there won’t. Maybe you’ll have to marry Erhan, or maybe you won’t.”

“It’s better if you leave the Godwheel,” the younger Arielle said to me. “You’re too dangerous a person to have with us.”

“I tend to agree. But if I go and you stay, the Tradesmen will kill you. They’ve promised to do that and their good at keeping promises. I don’t think their power will be so great on Earth, but I do know that they’re able to go back and forth between worlds, and so there will always be some danger. No matter where you go, you’ll have to live in disguise, unless I go back to Darkur – and the Tradesmen have an uncanny way of finding people.”

She looked to her cousin. “What should I do?”

“I don’t know,” said the captain, “but whatever you do, I’ll stand with you.”

“Do you think I should stay?”

The soldier winced. “Even without the danger from the Tradesmen, you will live the life of a political pawn, just as you were doing before with Erhan and Armand. Worse, now that the Aerwa are involved, a terrible war may come to Ulik.”

“But if I flee, I don’t see how it will help our people.”

The captain shook her head. “I don’t either. But how much good have you been able to for do them while you’ve been here? Many people pity you, but I haven’t met anyone who thinks that you can rescue them from these terrible circumstances.”

“So what are you saying?”

“I’m saying that there are times when we are stripped of everything except our lives. When that happens, we can either build a new life, or throw the one we already have away on principle, Unfortunately, martyrdom seldom works very well – or for very long.”

Now the princess shifted my way. “Marinna, if I go to your world, will I ever be be able see my home again?”

“Possibly,” I said. “That will depend on how afraid you are of being discovered by the Tradesmen. Your cousin possesses a magic sword that’s able to carry people across the gulfs between your world and mine.”

The girl looked at the captain with amazement. “Is that true?”

“Yes. I never told you the whole truth because it’s a sad and ugly story. Your father asked me not to burden you with it.”

“Why?”

“Because of the magical sword I possess. It’s already killed every person I loved, except you and your father.” The soldier drew her accursed blade. “I’m not sure how much we should depend on this demon steel. Sometimes it forces me to do things that I have no liking for. I never dare forget how evil it is.”

I grinned mirthlessly. "I guess I’m not the only one who lives my every waking hour in Hell," I said.

Just then I heard faint cries, like of ghosts howling from the tomb. The sounds had to be issuing from the Demon Sword. “My God! Are the souls of the sacrificed men still alive inside that filthy blade?” I asked. “Why do you keep it? Doesn’t that wailing drive you mad?”

The knight shook her head. “I would gladly be rid of it, but in the hands of the wrong person it could do great harm. I would have thrown it into a volcano by now, except that I'm hoping to learn how to free its captives. Unfortunately, I'm not a witch. I don’t understand magic. Can you do something to help?”

I regarded the gleaming metal -- a deadly piece of work, too be sure. It made Mantra’s Sword of Fangs a mere Cracker Jacks prize in comparison. “Well, girl, I’d have to study the thing before I can answer that question.”

Her eyes flashed and she snarled, “Don’t call me a girl!”

I shrugged. “I don’t know why you have that attitude, but I think it will make you fit in just fine with the women on my world.” Then I pivoted toward her younger double. “Well, what’s your decision, Princess? You already understand the options as well as I do.”

The teen shifted back toward the soldier. “I want to get away from all this death, and I don’t want to be responsible for causing any more of it. If the Tradesmen are truly a danger to me, I have to go elsewhere. But please understand, Cousin, that I am neither ordering nor requesting that you should give up the life you have made here to come with me.”

The elder Arielle shook her head. “I’ve grown weary of these power struggles. I’d hoped they’d end when we got rid of Lord Pumpkin, but they‘re still with us. I need a new life as much as you do and I certainly can’t let you explore an entirely different world alone. By your leave, Princess, I will open the way for the three of us to travel to Marinna’s world. When I was there before I saw great evil surrounding the Pumpkin, but otherwise the land seemed peaceful.”

Young Arielle gave a perplexed but assenting nod. I took it as a gesture of resignation, not of hope.

The knight thereupon took a deep breath and, handling the blade like a spear, she hurled it into a boulder across from us. It struck deep, sinking inches into solid rock. It simultaneously released a fountain of energy that spun about and transformed into a dazzling vortex. Even though the warrior stepped up and retrieved the sword, the vortex yet remained.

“Come with me,” the elder Arielle said, wrapping her arms around both her cousin and me. Then, like some sort of six-legged beast, we moved as a mass into the gullet of the whirling light.

TO BE CONTINUED IN EPILOG, BELOW

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EPILOG

 
THE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, EPILOG

A story of Necromantra

By Aladdin

Edited by Christopher Leeson
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EPILOG

TWO WALLS, TWO WORLDS

The next thing we knew, we found ourselves between two dirty brick walls inside a fetid ally. We must have stood behind a butcher shop because black flies were bouncing off our faces, very much at home in an atmosphere of rotting meat.

The captain looked at the ugly place with consternation. I was also looking, trying to figure out what country we were in. I saw posters in English and could tell that the alley we occupied had a crowded sidewalk on one side and a dead end on the other.

“There’s no use standing here,” I said and then led the two Ulikans toward the throng of pedestrians. When a pair of college-age girls sashayed by, the captain regarded their cool summer wear. “Are these maidens harlots?” she asked.

I shook my head. “No, lots of women dress provocatively on my world.”

“Who forces them to do so?

“Nothing forces them, except their own vanity, I think. Many women think that wearing very little is a good way to attract attention. Many women like that kind of attention.”

“You’re joking!”

“Not at all. I’d wager that you ladies will want to wear clothes like theirs by this time next year.”

“Never!” the knight stated emphatically.

“On the subject of clothing," I cautioned, "Earth people tend to judge strangers on the basis of a lot of unimportant things, including what they wear. We have to get you into some local garments so that you won’t stand out. I can use some new duds, too, since I have nothing with me except Godwheeler fashions.”

As if to affirm my warning, a police officer stepped up to us. “Lady,” he addressed the captain. “Is that sword real?”

To my surprise, Arielle understood his speech and replied in English, “Of course!”

I spoke up. “She means of course not. The assistant costumer just issued her that sword along with the rest of that costume. Joan of Arc is being filmed a few blocks from here.”

“From here?” the officer echoed, taking in the sparing cut my sorceress outfit. “Is it a porno version? That’s the only kind of movie that’s ever made around Van Nuys. Wandering the streets in wacky costumes is going to get you gals into trouble. This isn't a nice part of town.”

Having passed along his warning, he continued on with his patrol. I was glad that he hadn’t given us any trouble, since I wouldn’t have wanted to get rough with a decent man who was only doing his duty.

But the brief conversation had informed me where we were -- Van Nuys, a suburb on the north side of L.A., which had been my take-off point from Earth. Unfortunately, it was within walking distance of Canoga Park, where another ex-knight of Archimage, Mantra, was living. If she laid eyes on me, her first reaction would be homicidal – and I can’t say I’d blame her.

“Who was that man?” the princess asked.

“A police officer,” I explained.

“What does that word mean?” asked the teen.

“A ‘policeman’ is what your people call a guardsman of the Night Watch,” I explained.

“Did he speak true?” inquired the blonde warrior. “Will I be challenged every time I go abroad wielding a blade? Is there no freedom in this land?”

“Not much, and there’s less of it every day.”

“What sort of world have you brought us to?”

“It’s the world of my birth. It’s the only world I have to offer you,” I replied.

“I think we should get new clothes, as Marinna says,” suggested the younger Arielle.

“How is it that you – ladies – are able to understand the night watchman’s words?”

The princess shrugged. “Even though he wasn’t speaking Ulikan, I understood him.”

The knight affirmed that. “On my first visit, I found that I was able to speak the language of this land. It has to be due to the magic of the Demon Blade.”

“Well, that’s a lucky break!” I said. “Knowing the language is going to make it easier for you to get along in this country. As for clothing, I’ll show you how to purchase things you need. Afterwards, we’ll find you a place to stay. But buying things takes money. That means I have to go out and get us some.”

Because Ulik had both inns and coins, the Godwheel visitors were able to grasp what I was telling them.

#

Leaving the pair resting at a street bench, I went off alone. In large American cities, criminals are everywhere; I readily identified a flamboyantly-dressed man as a pimp and robbed him. Now in possession of a few hundred dollars, I rejoined the girls and took them into the Goodwill store that I had noticed during my outing. The cousins emerged from the clothing section looking like sisters, in shirts, jackets, and jeans. The captain, I noticed, was carrying her armor out of sight, wrapped in a bundle. She asked me if there was any place she could hide it and keep it safe.

“Hold on to it,” I told her. “A fine, hand-made suit of plate will be worth a lot of money to a collector.” Glancing toward the princess, I said, “And the same goes for your court dress. Be sure to insist on a good price.”

“Will we ever dare to go home?” asked the warrior. “It is said that the Tradesmen never forget.”

“Maybe if I die they won’t have any good reason to keep looking for you,” I told them.

“Are you willing to do that?” the captain asked.

“Not yet,” I said.

From the thrift store, we explored the depressed residential area behind it, where there were “for rent” signs displayed. We soon found an acceptable room and I demonstrated for the Airelles how to pay a night’s rent in advance.

I advised the Ulikans not to keep their room for very long, but to instead find more permanent lodgings some other town or city. I explained that should the Tradesmen capture me, I might be forced to reveal the location of the princess if I knew it. Also, if I lost my mind again, I might get the notion to kill the two of them for some mad reason.

Food was next on our agenda. We stopped at a small grocery where I gave them another shopping demonstration. Following that, we called at a fast-food place for a warm meal. We ate from our bagged lunches outdoors, using one of the restaurant's canopied tables. I couldn’t help but smile, watching my stepdaughter wolf down her first Whopper burger with relish. “Wonderful!” the teen exclaimed. “’Tis is a dish fit for a king!”

“Yes, that’s why this eating place is called the Burger King,” I japed.

Once we were well fed, I showed them how decent people put their refuse into trash cans. “Look, it isn’t going to be easy for the two of you to settle into a world that’s so different from your own, but things generally operate in the same way. Like, in Ulik people have to earn their way by working for wages. Same here. But until you find jobs that will pay decently, you can live on a kind of dole that’s called ‘welfare.’ That’s a policy of the government for giving alms to beggars and other needy people. Anyone living in a poor neighborhood like this one will be able to tell you how to get your share of it.”

The captain frowned. “Does this land have no honor? Is it not better to starve than to beg?” Her cousin, behind her, was frowning and nodding.

“Suit yourselves. I only wish I could introduce you to some guide who’d be able to teach you everything you need to know, but I don’t have any friends.”

I refrained from explaining how I had betrayed all my former comrades to their deaths. “But I do have a mortal enemy who knows about the Godwheel and might be willing to aid you,” I continued. “She’s a decent person and I think you’d like her.”

“Why is she your enemy?” asked the warrior.

“I murdered her lover. Her name is Mantra. She’s a sorceress, like me, but she's more sane than I am. She lives nearby, but her exact whereabouts is something that I have to keep secret.”

“Why?"”

“Because she wants it kept secret. She fights evil and has made so many enemies that she's forced to live under an assumed name. I don’t want to endanger her life, nor the lives of those whom she protects.”

At that point I stood up. It was time for me to go, and they already knew why.

As I turned to leave, the knight nudged something against my arm. “Here, Marinna,” she said, pressing the wrapped Demon Sword upon me. “Keep this. I want nothing more to do with the thing. Only, I ask that you seek to find some way to free the wretched souls it has imprisoned, if you possibly can.”

“No,” I said. “That’s a terrible weapon to hand over to a madm – madwoman. And, besides, if I go mad, I won’t care about helping your friends. Maybe Mantra can offer you aid – or lead you to some other wizard who’s even more skillful than she is. And, remember, if you give the thing up, you won’t be able to return to your home, should you ever want to.”

She glanced down. “Do you truly believe that we can ever dare to return to Ulik? And, in faith, I cannot think that either of us have very much left to return to.”

“Until you decide what you should do for the long term, it’s better to keep your options open. Anyway, that’s about all I can tell you – except to say that I’m sorry I’ve made such a wreck of both your lives.”

They didn’t try to delay my departure -- and that was for the best. Until I was truly rid of the Beast, I couldn’t have friends. When I turned the first corner, passing out of their sight, I also was also passing out of their lives. I wished it could have been otherwise, but I had to do it for their own sake.

I knew that wherever I was going, I had to avoid using magic. I had good reason to think that the Tradesmen could trace a wizard by his sorcerous energy. Somehow they had recognized me as Mantra’s daughter after I'd arrived in Ulik and suddenly seized me. Maybe I’d be a little safer on Earth, but maybe not. I’d have to do my best to stay hidden; I didn’t want to do the things that the Tradesmen would force me to do.

Alone again, I was depressed, but I couldn’t afford the luxury of feeling sorry for myself. I needed to keep my wits sharp if I was going to build a new life for myself. To get started, I needed money to work with. Unfortunately, the only quick way I knew of to get cash was to commit another robbery.

Engaging in crime would soon get me into trouble, and doing it without using magic would be very dangerous. I needed a job, something commonplace that would make Marinna Thanasi easy to overlook. The whole idea of doing common labor was unpleasant, of course. Gaining wealth without violence would put a stain upon a knight's honor. But, in truth, it had been a long time since I had been living honorably.

That left the question of what could I do to support myself? My craft had always been fighting and though women were allowed to take take combat roles in this decadent age, a woman bearing arms in civilian life would attract the sort of notoriety that I didn’t want. On the other hand, I’d been gambling since the fall of the Roman Empire and knew my way around modern casinos. I thought that I was reasonably prepared to work as a card dealer. Anyway, Las Vegas would be as good a town as any to settle into.

After robbing another street criminal with the use of very little magic, I boarded a tourist flight to Las Vegas. I dropped off to sleep over the California desert.

As usual, my dreams were haunted by the specter of the Beast. As in so many of my earlier dreams, whichever way I went it was never very far behind me.

The end