Post by lawrenceliberty on Sept 4, 2020 15:37:36 GMT
Amethyst Princess of Gemworld
The Man of Many Deaths
By lawrenceliberty
Princess Amethyst was nervous as she paced back and forth within the halls of Castle Amethyst in the magical realm known as Gemworld. While the beautiful blonde woman was a capable warrior who had received training in both sorcery and swordplay and ruled one of the strongest of the Twelve Royal Houses that together dominated the realm, she had another side to her that only a few truly understood. Amethyst was in fact an Earth girl named Amy Winston who had spent most of her life living in Hudson, New York with adoptive parents Herb and Marion Winston. She only discovered her birthright as the regal Gemworld Princess a short time ago and even though she was magically transformed into a young woman whenever she left the Earth dimension behind to enter the Gemworld, she still retained many of the insecurities of a typical teen girl. The fact that she brought a new and fresh perspective and sense of wonder to all the miraculous creatures and events she encountered or experienced in Gemworld was an advantage and she charmed most of those she met. Still, when faced with a serious illness and the grief and worry that accompanied it, anyone would find themselves feeling anxious. Because she was a true heroine, the Princess Amethyst also felt a desire to help solve the crisis. Naturally, not knowing what to do caused her to feel helpless and frustrated.
She was a beautiful blonde in a brief purple tunic and boots. She carried a gleaming sword over one hip and her gleaming birthstone the Amethyst hung around her neck. She looked around the grand palace and noticed things like loyal servants and guards each performing necessary duties and awaiting any request she might make. She saw faithful Granch towering above the others yet somehow seeming as insecure and out of place as she occasionally felt. He was a humanoid figure with grayish skin and a massive physique. Although he was in fact the son of the evil Dark Opal and he had a monstrous demeanor, he was a good and loyal being who fought bravely for her and for anyone in need of help. She smiled as she noticed the lovely handmaiden Laral approaching him as she went about her customary duties.
“I think my hapless brother has made a conquest! There may be hope for us all!” said a handsome dark haired man with a think mustache and a bright red outfit.
Carnelian the Crimson Rogue was another son of Dark Opal’s but this adopted Earth boy had also rejected his father much as Granch had. Now, he was drawn to Amethyst and struggled to find a path to redemption for his past crimes. He was conflicted to say the least but he concealed it behind an air of bravado and sarcasm.
Amethyst accepted him since she understood him. They had much in common since they both knew the ways of earth and were teens when on their native world. She said, “I think it is wonderful! Dear old Granch deserves some affection in his life and Laral is a sweet girl!”
Carnelian gave a mocking sigh and said, “Isn’t love grand? Beauty and the Beast Gemworld style!”
Amethyst shoved him playfully and then turned to face the approaching Granch after Laral hurried off after exchanging a few words with the hulking being.
“Well, Brother, you have the look of a man in love! It suits you well!” said Carnelian.
Granch frowned and hesitated before replying, “I do care for the Lady Laral although I realize I have no right to express such sentiments!”
Carnelian interrupted Amethyst before she could reply. “Don’t let me hear that kind of self-pity from you! You are a hero of the realm and my brother! If anything she is not good enough for you!”
Amethyst smiled with relief. It was good to hear Carnelian actually say something kind for a change. She had noticed that in their mutual exile from the Dark Opal domain the two siblings had grown closer and were beginning to like one another.
She added, “He is right. Noble Granch, you and Laral are perfect for one another as friends or more!”
Granch smiled broadly and said, “You are as always too kind my Princess!”
He cleared his throat and said, “Lady Sardonyx is no better. We have just received word that none of the healers could revive her from her magical sleep! Dark Opal’s magic is potent as always!”
He referred to the raven haired wife of the oily Lord Sardonyx. Although normally a villainous lackey for the sinister Dark Opal, Sardonyx was also currently his master’s victim since a murder plot against Dark Opal secretly hatched by Lady Sardonyx had been discovered and foiled and the dread magic user had responded by placing the woman in a seemingly unbreakable mystical sleep. Her hapless spouse had pleaded and groveled before Dark Opal but all he had received in return for his desperate pledge of servitude had been a wicked smile and a mocking laugh. Now, in his domain within the Burning Sands in the House of Sardonyx, the grief-stricken noble was refusing to leave his wife’s side.
Amethyst said, “Lord Ruby’s own quest has taken him away along with Lord Topaz and Lady Turquoise. Since we can’t get him to use his own magic, maybe, we can try the next best thing!”
“Samantha Stevens?” quipped Carnelian!
Amethyst said, “No! Citrina! She’ll know what to do!”
Granch said, “Yes, the Witch-Mother’s wisdom may provide the answer we seek to heal the stricken Lady Sardonyx!”
Carnelian shrugged and said, “I would have thought of her except for the whole being dead thing!”
Amethyst said, “Her spirit still comes to me when I use the magical Veil of Vision or the Waters of Seeing. She has not left us and I’m super glad about it!”
They sat silently before a pool of shimmering water in a private chamber near the palace garden. The room was serene and the sunshine that shone through the open doors that looked out on to the lush and colorful flower gardens below made Amethyst feel warm and secure. It was a happy place and she felt a connection to her late father since she knew from the others that the late Lord
Amethyst had been gifted with a talent for and passion for growing plants. The skilled swordsman had found peace when in his expansive gardens during his lifetime and Amethyst liked to think being here brought her closer to the man she had never met.
She shook her long blonde hair away from her face and concentrated as she gazed into the crystalline waters and her gemstone began to glow brighter and brighter.
She thought of the kindly old woman Citrina who had been a founder of the Gemworld long ago when the magical races had fled Earth for sanctuary all their own. Technically, they rented the realm from the mysterious Ancient Ones in an arrangement that made it essential for every one of the Twelve Houses to have a living heir. That was one reason each ruling House needed to be occupied by a vital heir and the recently rejuvenated Lord Ruby had set off on a quest to find a bride. She missed the good and powerful Lord Ruby who had raised her late mother Lady Amethyst as his own daughter long before Amethyst’s own birth.
Now, as the wizened but wise lady Citrina appeared within the waters, Amethyst smiled broadly and said, “Citrina! I am so glad to see you! I miss you so much! We all do!”
Citrina smiled benignly and said, “Fear not, my child. I am not lonely in my new realm of existence. There are many others here who offer me friendship and love! What is your need, dear one?”
Amethyst said, “It’s that creep Dark Opal! He did something to lady Sardonyx that turned her into a kind of Sleeping Beauty but nobody can wake up her. Her husband has tried everything and I got to admit I feel really terrible for him even if he is a sneaky rat!”
Citrina said, “Dark Opal’s ways are as labyrinthine as they are cruel! To untangle his magical spell, you must seek the Man of Many Deaths in Ametrine!”
Amethyst frowned as the waters suddenly shimmered and Citrina’s image vanished once more.
“Ametrine is a market place city in my domain! It s not far from here at all! But who is the Man of Many Deaths?” she whispered.
Her eyes widened as she stood up from the pool and she thought of the wise woman’s words. “Gosh, did Citrina mean she had a boyfriend when she said she was not lonely?”
Later, as Amethyst guided a beautiful white winged unicorn through the skies over the Amethyst domain and Carnelian and Granch followed in a chariot drawn by winged hippogriffs, she smiled at her steed and thought once more of her late grandfather. She had named the unicorn Max after him and she still felt like he would have loved knowing about her life in Gemworld.
“Grandpa Max loved Tolkien and Lewis and he’d be so excited if he could see me here! Maybe he can” she thought.
Granch said, “Ametrine is a dangerous place. There are thieves and mercenaries among its masses. A market town attracts people of every type and race!”
Carnelian said, “Some fine looking wenches frequent Ametrine on festival days! It is too bad we don’t have more time to see the sights so to speak!”
Amethyst said, “Yuck. You are sooo creepy at times! Who is the Man of Many Deaths?”
Granch said, “I can only assume the rather cryptic phrase refers to someone who has taken many lives. Perhaps, we seek an assassin?”
Amethyst nodded and said, “I remember it was a woman assassin who tried to kill Dark Opal. That’s what caused him to curse Lady
Sardonyx. She hired the killer!”
Carnelian smiled as he recalled the beautiful Darksun Assassin called Cerulean. She had been lethal and lovely but she had missed her chance to kill his hated father when she had instead decided to offer help to a stricken Lord Moonstone.
“She was someone I would like to meet again! I’ll just keep that to myself though!” he mused.
They landed near an open farmer’s market with wooden benches and rows of produce carefully displayed by their vendors.
“Mingling with the peasants is always a bore!” said Carnelia as he pretended to stifle a yawn.
Amethyst rolled her eyes and walked up to an elderly man in a long blue and gray robe. He was selling vegetables and since she had seen him before she knew he was very familiar with the area.
“Good sir, could you guide us? We seek someone known as the Man of Many Deaths? He is said to frequent Ametrine!” she said with a winning smile.
The old man smiled back and said, “Aye, Princess! Old Jacobe knows of the one you seek. He is a healer of sorts but he has the look of a warrior as well. He keeps to himself for the most part but buys his supplies here from time to time. He is a solitary fellow but he moves like a jungle cat. No one would trouble him in a dark alley nor by light of day. Still, all say he is kind and polite when approached properly. He merely has an air of danger about him!”
Granch said, “Where might we find him?”
Jacobe said, “I could not tell you. He is seen here from time to time when he needs supplies but he was last here days ago. I do think he was headed for the Wildthorn Woods!”
Carnelian sighed and said, “Wildthorn Woods? Why couldn’t he be headed to the Pleasure Palace of Xanadu or some less forbidden place!”
Amethyst thanked Jacobe and turned to the others as they walked back to their steeds.
“Wildthorn Woods must be outside the city limits but I have never heard of it. I guess I’ve let my geography studies of Gemworld down a bit!” she said.
“What? A teacher’s pet like you slacking off! Next, I’ll lose all faith in Betty Gilson!” sneered Carnelian.
Granch replied, “Come brother. I know the way to the forsaken forest and I do agree from experience that it is a darksome place full of deadly perils!”
Amethyst placed one hand on Granch’s brawn arm and said, “We shall be safe together. I know I can always rely on you!”
Later, as they flew toward the thick and ancient forest known as WIldthorn Woods, Amethyst studied the lay of the land and admired the massive trees that towered above the ground and almost shut out the sky as their branches met each other across narrow paths covered with what looked like years of leaves and growth.
Amethyst said, “You know what’s weird? I don’t hear any animal sounds!”
Carnelian said, “Don’t worry. We will. We will!”
Granch said, “ I know many of the creatures are nocturnal. We better move swiftly and yet I am at a loss as to how to locate our target!”
Amethyst said, “I had one brief session with Lord Ruby after he was rejuvenated. He has agreed to teach me more about my magic and to do a lot of cool stuff with it. He mentioned something about using our gemstones in new ways!”
Carnelian said, “Lord Ruby may be a young stud now but he’s full of hot air like always! He thinks he’s more important than ever since we met his kinsman Arion of the Blowdryer!”
Amethyst thought, “Poor Carnelian is so jealous of anyone who has magical powers!”
She placed both hands on her glowing amethyst gemstone and concentrated.
“Find me the Man of Many Deaths! Find me the one Citrina said we should seek!” she whispered.
Suddenly, a bolt of purple energy erupted from the gemstone and exploded with brighter radiance at a spot deep within the winding trails of the woods!
They followed the light swiftly using their flying steeds to soar above the trees and make excellent time.
As they landed carefully at the site where the energy had dissipated after its final burst of power, they saw a scene of battle as a lone man faced six ursine humanoids. They had shaggy dark fur and the teeth and basic demeanors of bears but they talked in guttural tones and wore ragged clothing and carried weapons.
The man wore a green and gold costume that was crisscrossed with pouches and belts containing weapons of various kinds. He moved with an athlete’s grace and speed and his features were determined but pleasant in nature. He had dark black hair and blue eyes. He glanced their way and then returned his focus on the bear-men.
He swung a short sword around and deflected the first attacker’s Morningstar. He ducked a second attacker’s sword thrust and connected with a sweeping spin of his blade that cut off an arm of one bear-man and continued its passage to impale a second one.
He dodged a swiping paw and kicked a bear in the chest. He kicked off of the larger foe’s body to flip through the air and turn to stab another bear with a dagger he had whipped out of his utility belt.
He received a heavy blow from a studded club carried by one bear-man but he seemed to ignore the impact and he brought his sword down with such force that the ursine attacker’s weapon shattered and sent fragments of metal into its face.
He stabbed it and rolled away from the next attacker who loomed over him.
Granch suddenly caught the bear-man and physically lifted it off the ground and hurled it into a tree with stunning force.
“My thanks, friend!” said the man in green who smiled in gratitude.
Amethyst brought her own sword around to disarm a bear-man and she noticed as she fought that the man was indeed a pleasant looking warrior. He fought so well but he retained a kindness in his eyes that marked him as one who did what he did effectively but
not with any malice or cruelty.
As Amethyst knocked the bear-man off his feet with a skillful kick, she noticed carnelian calmly plunging his own sword into a bear-man’s burly back.
The man in green and gold fired a crossbow bolt into the final bear-man and then bowed low to Amethyst.
“I thank you all for your timely help. I have a feeling your arrival was deliberate based upon that display of pyrotechnics!” he said.
Amethyst said, “Yes! I mean, we’re looking for you. I mean we were told you could help us with a sick friend. She‘s not exactly a friend. That is, she needs help and they say you can heal people. Are you the Man of Many Deaths?”
She winced at the way she had stammered but she was still a mixture of regal beauty and poise and schoolgirl awkwardness.
He smiled briefly and said, “I suppose I could be called that for various reasons. I have gone by worse names in my time. Most call me Stalker! I will help your friend if possible. I have certain talents in the medicinal field. I am currently on a quest of my own though. I seek a missing comrade!”
Carnelian said, “Stalker? I have heard my father speak of you. Dark Opal wanted to recruit you once. He said you were a most fatal man except for one flaw!”
Stalker said, “Dark Opal would think me flawed since I have a soul. When my reputation was first made, I lacked such a commodity. I am thankful to have one and compassion, sorrow, joy and the other emotions it enables me to feel!”
Carnelian said, “You know of my father? I took you to be a mere passerby here!”
Stalker said, “I have traveled the Gemworld in the distant past. I was here once when your grandsire was still alive!”
Grinch said, “And yet you look too young to have been here so long ago!”
Stalker shrugged and said, “That has to do with my epithet. You see…!”
He did not complete his sentence. His piercing gaze fell upon a strange structure that was mostly concealed by twisted trees and massive roots. The fight had broken some of the foliage and this bizarre structure was now partially revealed.
He said, “As I said I came here to look for a friend who failed to keep an appointment to meet me at the Ametrine Market; however, this half buried mystery gives me pause!”
Amethyst said, “I’ll help you!” She gestured and the energy of her gem burned away rows of foliage to reveal a massive cylinder –like object imbedded deeply into the ground. It towered over them and yet clearly most of its body was below ground.
“That structure has been here for ages. It certainly looks as though it predates these venerable woods!” said Granch.
Stalker said, “And yet what mad man would design a keep with most of its structure buried and twisted beneath the ground?”
Amethyst and Carnelian exchanged startled glances. Their Earth heritage gave them added wisdom in this matter.
“It’s not a keep. It’s starship! It’s a crashed spacecraft!” said Amethyst.
Granch said, “Are you saying it is a means of transportation betwixt the stars? Like the ones depicted in your Space Trek entertainment you told me about?”
Amethyst nodded and said, “Exactly! It must have crashed here long ago and the impact buried most of it. I guess the trees just grew up all around it.”
Stalker said, “My friend Cairn is not within yon craft since the dust of ages marks its surface but I am drawn to it as one who has ever sought the unknown!”
He climbed nimbly up the wrecked craft and swung up and over again and again until he managed to force his way through a ruptured portal of some type that hovered near the exposed top of the ancient spaceship.
Amethyst said, “He’s better than any circus acrobat I’ve ever seen!”
Carnelian said, “I’d say he’s as good as Batman!”
Stalker dropped down inside the opening and landed nimbly inside the wrecked craft. He moved carefully forward and ever deeper into the ship until he passed rows of shattered consoles and twisted and burned computer banks.
He did not worry about what the craft’s damaged devices were originally meant to do. He merely explored and smiled as Amethyst and Carnelian joined him. Granch had remained outside with their steeds.
“We flew up with my unicorn and climbed down!” explained Amethyst.
Her gemstone illuminated the chamber and they saw a strange figure before them. A beautiful blonde hair in what appeared to be a voluminous white ball gown and high heels sat slumped over before them in a chair. A flickering green amulet hung around her delicate neck.
“She looks like a combination of Heather Locklear and a Mitch Wackey Princess!” said Carnelian.
Amethyst looked down at the woman’s long blonde locks and pale complexion and said, “She isn’t dead is she? I mean I don’t want to sound gross but there’s no decomposition!”
Stalker bent down and touched the woman. Slowly, color returned to her cheeks and she opened her eyes. They were blue and her lashes were thick and long. She sat up and touched the emerald gem that hung around her beck.
“You sure didn’t give her an aspirin. You just touched her. What kind of power do you have?” demanded Carnelian.
Stalker said, “I was once touched by a goddess of healing and nurture. I retained a fraction of her ability to heal with my touch it doesn’t always work though.”
The blonde woman sat up abruptly and said, “I have slumbered for eons! My amulet tells me I have been trapped here for longer than I could imagine and yet my amulet still has power! How is this possible?”
She looked at them and said, “The magic of my amulet translate my speech so we may understand one another. I owe you thanks for reviving me!”
“I am the Princess Cherimot of Camelor. I represent that world as a defender who served the Guardians of Oa. I come from a world of magic and I was on my way to a meeting or sorts when my ship passed through a time warp that hurled me eons into the future and through space itself. Beings known as the Ancient Ones captured me and put me into a kind of trance. I can only assume they left me here and forgot about me! My amulet tells me thousands of years have passed since my accident!”
Amethyst said, “The Ancient Ones own the dimension itself. Citrina built Gemworld here and we kinda pay them rent to let us stay here. We pay them in small amounts of magic. It is like those creeps to just put you here and then forget about you. Time is different for them!”
Princess Charimot said, “The Guardians of Oa equipped me with a weapon. It is a tool that produces emerald energy that answers to my will power requests. Some agents use guns shaped like the one the man in red carries while I use an amulet since it is more normal for my world’s culture as is my attire! Still, while my amulet should be powerless after not being recharged for sons it still has vitality. I can only suppose the magic …the raw magic of this realm altered its function over time!”
Carnelian bowed low and said, “You may call me the Crimson Rogue, Your Majesty!”
He added, “You know you sound like a Green Lantern! They use rings of power and green energy too!”
Princess Charimot said, “My masters the Guardians discarded robotic agents and selected me and other humans to take their place but I know nothing of green lanterns unless you refer to the battery we use to recharge our devices!”
She scowled as she found a shattered lantern under a control console.
“This proves my amulet is now powered by magic. The power battery that I would normally use every twenty four hours to charge the amulet is shattered!”
She concentrated and a deep emerald glow filled the room and slowly the rocket emerged from the ground and righted itself.
“I must return to Camelor and to Oa itself!” she declared.
Stalker said, “Perhaps, you might use your power to help us find my missing friend so I in turn may help heal another in need!”
Princess Charimot smiled winningly and said, “Of course! I am pleased to help after you revived me!”
She nodded slowly and said, “My amulet communes with me. It says this Cairn you seek …I have drawn his name, his appearance and nature from your memory … is nearby in a glade due East! He is a unique being to say the least.”
Stalker said, “Aye, that he is!”
They accepted her thanks and offered their own before departing from the ship. Granch greeted them silent with one raised arm as the ship flew off into the skies over Gemworld!
“She was a babe!” said Carnelian.
Amethyst said, “She was lovely. I wonder how she will adjust to being so far away from her own time!”
Stalker said, “While there is life there is hope I have known sorrows and joys many large and many drawn from the smallest of moments in daily life and I have learned that all emotions and all experiences are to be treasured!”
Carnelian said, “I hate to interrupt this Hallmark moment but shouldn’t we find your friend and be on our way?”
Stalker swung on to Amethyst’s unicorn’s broad back behind her and they flew off toward the East!
Amethyst said, “Who is Cairn? I mean what is he like?”
Stalker said, “Cairn is rather difficult to describe. He is a good ally and he and I had had many adventures together across the cosmos! If he has been delayed then something serious has happened to him. He is very capable!”
“Tell me of your friend. You said she needs healing?” he continued.
Amethyst said, “Yes. Her name is Lady Sardonyx and she is in a kind of spell. I guess it is a little like the suspended animation Princess Charimot was in.
Carnelian said, “She is a proper witch! Her husband is an oily worm who would stab you in the back for pleasure. Still, we feel sorry for him and he might be a good ally if we keep both eyes on him!”
Granch said, “Sardonyx is a good husband and father but he is enslaved by Dark Opal. He fears him and his wife tried to free them
from his thrall by hiring a Darksun Assassin to slay him. It failed and Opal punished her with a curse of slumber!”
Stalker said, “I will try to revive her. I would like to meet this assassin though. I have battled their kind more than once. They are not that different from the Kraken Pentacle or the Vashak Assassins of other realms! They are deadly and brutally skillful in slaying.”
Carnelian said, “As are you, Stalker!”
Stalker said, “I am good at killing. It is all I knew for so long. I have tried to make amends by using my sword for good and gaining other more useful skills over the years!”
Amethyst touched his arm as she turned around to gaze at him. “You certainly know how to heal people!”
“And yet perhaps, you’re not that good a healer! I mean we were told you were the Man of Many Deaths!” said Carnelian.
They drew closer to the edge of the forest only to nearly fall from their mounts as they caught sight of a gleaming thread that hung across the glade and gleamed in the fading sunlight.
They struggled to keep their balance as a massive and beautifully ornate crystalline web came into view.
“It is a giant cobweb made out of glass or some kind of shiny crystal!” exclaimed Amethyst.
Granch said, ‘And that must be its maker!” He pointed to a huge spider with a hard crystal carapace on its broad thorax. Eight legs extended from this central mass and it hissed at them as it moved down the crystal lines toward them!
Stalker’s keen eyes detected something more. At the center of the web was a small hut that defied gravity and logic by resting squarely in place on what appeared to be far too delicate crystal strands that stretched across the glade.
“Cairn is in that hut! I can detect him and I can also detect a powerful evil!” he said as he drew his sword.
He slid skillfully along a crystalline strand of the web and confronted the giant Crystal Weaver. He darted forward and sliced through its head as it loomed above him.
Amethyst cried, “Look out!” She flew forward on Max the unicorn and blocked the path of another approaching spider.
“Ick!” she thought as she saw its waving legs and bravely blasted t with purple energy.
It shimmered with the lilac light of her gem and then the spider shattered into fragments.
Granch bounded forward and tackled another spider by one leg. He wrestled with him and flipped it over in a display of sheer power.
As it flopped over he brought his foot down again and again and broke the monster in half.
Stalker had flipped forward and deftly moved acrobatically through the crystal web until he could reach and drop down on the final crystal weaver. He fought to keep his balance on its arching back and slowly he broke it into pieces with skillful blows from his sword.
Meanwhile, Carnelian had guided the hippogriffs and their chariot down to the hut at the center of the web.
He kicked open the hut’s door to see a beautiful woman and a monster. The woman had flowing black hair, a lovely face, and wore a purple and lilac dress with fishnet hosiery and black boots. The monster was as tall as Granch and was broader in build. He had chalk white skin and his hands and feet were huge. His face was distorted in pain and his mouth was a jagged gap across his deathly pale face.
He leaped in front of the beast and said, “Fear not, Fair Lady! The Crimson Rogue will protect you!” He drew his gun and aimed it at the monster.
Before he could fire the gun, a bolt of magical fire struck him from behind and he crashed to the ground. He groaned and looked up to see the beautiful woman smiling down at him with a cruel expression of her lovely face.
“Oh, I am sure you would, mortal but Syrene needs no help from the likes of you while I possess the Runestone!”
“I’ve fouled things up again!” moaned Carnelian.
Stalker, Amethyst, and Granch entered the hut to hear her mocking words.
“Uh oh! This is bad!” thought Amethyst as she knelt down to check on Carnelian.
He was weak but alive. She looked up and said, “Why don’t you pick on someone with magic like me?”
Stalker made his way to the monster and said, “Cairn, old friend, are you hurt?”
Cairn said, “No! This witch captured me and planned to use me in some vile ritual!”
Stalker said, “Foul witch! You won’t harm Cairn or anyone while I live!”
Syrene said, “Cairn is it? I found him with my magic. You see I need someone like him for my plans to rule the world. This gem is called the Runestone. It was plucked from a million years in the future. I had regained it from a super heroine and I was back in my proper era ready to use it to achieve world domination as is my right when it vanished! Some kind of release of dark magic ripped the Runestone into this shabby domain in the barbaric past. I found it with my crystal ball and located a wonderful power source for it. Your hulking friend there shall be my key to unlock the Runestone’s awesome power!”
Cairn said, “I was an ogre but years ago I was caught in a petrifying spell by another foe and it left me what you see. I am not flesh and blood nor am I inanimate. I am merely Cairn!”
Syrene laughed and said, “Do not worry, Sir Ogre. Your invulnerable body is perfect for my needs. I am unable to use the Runestone until its energies have been refined by the passage through a living being whose body is strong enough to contain the magic fire. You will perish but the Runestone shall be ready for me to use and I shall return to my future world and be a most powerful monarch as my father was before me! The time is right and the stars are aligned properly. That is why I had to keep yon ogre here and not use him immediately upon his capture. All celestial signs must be correct for the ritual to work!”
She raised the Runestone and eldritch fire surged toward Cairn as Amethyst raced forward with Granch, Stalker moved ever so more swiftly and intercepted the blast! He glowed a brilliant red and then collapsed to the ground.
Syrene cursed as Amethys knocked her flat and Granch and Cairn tried to revive Stalker.
“The fool! He died for naught. His frail form could not contain the magi and yet where did it go? My Runestaff is empty still!” cried Syrene.
Amethyst said, “You’ll be sorry for this! We’ll lock you away for another million years!”
Cairn smiled and said, “He is alive! You will see!”
Indeed, second later, Stalker smiled and sat up and said, “he is right. You see when I was touched by the goddess of healing long ago I didn’t just gain healing powers. I also gained the ability to regenerate after death. I can be hurt. I can die. Still, seconds later I revive again as good as new! I suppose that is why they called me the Man of Many Deaths!”
Syrene said, “So your body absorbed the magic of the Runestone only to retain it in some manner after being instantly reborn! You’ll pay for this if it takes me a million years! The Runestone will regain its might in time and I shall wait.”
Stalker said, “And I just might be around then to stop you once more!”
Syrene shrieked with rage and vanished as the web began to tremble and the hut started to break apart.
“We better get out of here!” said Carnelian as he slowly regained his footing. They rushed away and escaped to safety outside the glade.
Stalker said, “That poor deluded woman had great power but she lacked the compassion to use it properly. The Runestone magic is gone for now too though as she said, it will likely regenerate in time in her now powerless Runestone. My revived body has shed its energies with my rebirth! I suppose it would have required a more permanent death for its magical energy to be refined as she wished!”
Amethyst said, “I am glad everyone is okay! Now, let’s get back home and see if Stalker can help Lady Sardonyx!”
Back at the House of Sardonyx in the midst of the Burning Sands, they were greeted coldly by the Royal Guards who led them to the Royal Throne room beneath the huge tent that housed their ruling family of the desert kingdom.
“They certainly didn’t roll out the welcome mat!” said Carnelian.
Stalker said, “I detect evil here. I wonder if we arrived too late to help the Lady Sardonyx!?”
Sadonux himself appeared with a cloaked man who stood in the shadows and watched them balefully.
Sardonyx glared at them coldly and said, “You are too late but not in the way you assumed. Lady Sardonyx is awake and well thanks to the magic of my new ally Ophidianus. He restored her while you were wandering Gemworld! You may depart now.”
Amethyst said, “I’m glad she’s okay. I really am. We wanted to help. We brought Stalker here to help her!”
Stalker stared at the shadowy Ophidanus and said, “We are not needed or welcome here. We shall go…but be assured I may return if I choose to do so!”
As they departed, Amethyst said, “I don’t understand. We really were trying to help. I mean I’m glad she’s okay and all that but why did he act so hateful?”
Carnelian placed an arm around her and for once she allowed it. He said, “Sardonyx is bitter from years of anguish and humiliation at my father’s hands. I think better emotions are lost to him now. He only knows fear and hate.”
Stalker said, “He may know much worse. His new ally is a being of pure evil. I sense that clearly. Beware of this Ophidanus! He is not what he seems but I cannot discern his secret upon so brief a proximity to his presence!”
Amethyst said, “Thank you for trying to help! Will you and Cairn stay here for a time?”
Stalker said, “No, Princess! We have a mission of our own to complete far from Gemworld. Still, we shall surely meet again one day!”
As he and Cairn departed, Amethyst, Carnelian, and Granch made their way back to Castle Amethyst.
“I wonder what it feels like to be immortal?” she said.
Granch said, “I fear it must be very lonely at times!”
They nodded in agreement and for once even Carnliean remained silent.
Back inside the Tent that contained the House of Sardonyx, the oily monarch turned to face Ophidanus.
“Did I do well, master? Did I please you? I made them leave as you requested!” he said.
Ophidanus glanced left and right and when they wre alone he removed his voluminous hood and his bald head and cruel features changed until he was covered his glistening scales and a forked tongue emerged from his mouth.
“As agreed, warm blooded one, I have healed your mate and your kingdom shall now belong to the Serpent Men!” he said with a hiss.
Sardonyx shivered and he smiled weakly. “As you command, Master!”
The End
