The Adventures of Benjamin Skyhammer (29 page)

"I assure you it's true, milady," Skyhammer said firmly. "In addition, I have discovered that this ceremony is the method by which the Byndari aim to remove the magic. But most importantly, my lord," he looked straight at the King, "if magic is removed from the world, Floatilla and all its residents will fall onto the mountains outside and surely perish. We cannot allow that to happen."

Everyone began talking at once.

The Aridizan king held up his hand for silence. "Why should we believe you? Let's complete the ceremony and return to our countries." His wrinkled black chin shook as he spoke and his black eyes glittered with a keen intelligence. The purple robe became him.

The King looked insulted. "Skyhammer is reliable and honest. If he tells me this is true, then I believe him."

A chirp erupted from the Flyer again. They all saw abject despair on her face. She gained control of her voice. "No magic means the Flyer race will die. We cannot procreate without magic."

Relieved that he had made it in time, Skyhammer began to relax. Time to tell them the rest of the story and let them decide how to deal with the issue. "The Byndari are-"

"Aliens."

Everyone turned to the Nasuchu and Katipo females who were backing away from the rest of the group.

Chapter 28

"Aliens," the Nasuchu queen repeated. Naked like the Katipo queen, grey skin like death, she clutched a small black cup in her palm, the mouth pointed at Skyhammer. The Aridizan king took a step towards her and she trained the black cup on him instead. "Don't move, HriHri."

The Aridizan froze.

Accomplices. Skyhammer's face fell. "That's why there are no Byndari here." He shook his head. "Alien species can't enter a Relic. But it doesn't matter." His voice twisted in disgust. "They have sent two races to do their bidding. So now you're servants to aliens," he sneered in an attempt to distract them. He had to protect the King from that black thing.

The Katipo queen laughed. "We are allies, fool. Once this world is no longer magic-driven, the Byndari will be able to leave Pingala and return to their home world."

"Why couldn't they leave before?" The King asked. "How long have they been here? Who are they?"

The Nasuchu woman cackled. "They tricked us all but in the end they chose Nasuchu and Katipo as their allies. The Byndari's star ship crashed on Pingala thousands of years ago. It crashed because their ship was run by technology, not magic. When they entered our atmosphere, the ship fell into the ocean. They've been here ever since."

"Why didn't they tell anyone?" This from the Aridizan king. "We could've helped them."

"Pah!" the Katipo queen snorted, dropping her arm back at her side. "Do you see all these planets in the Hall of Worlds?" She threw her arms out.

Skyhammer kept his eye on the black cup in her hand. He didn't know what it did but the queen obviously thought it was some sort of weapon. He would treat it as such. He wanted to kill her now, to kill her and the Nasuchu queen. Both women didn't seem to care that changing the world to technology would wipe out at least two races. But he also felt curious about technology. A world without magic? A world where a species' brain power mattered?

"All these planets," the Katipo continued, "are the same as Pingala and the Byndari's home world. They use either magic or technology. One or the other. Every few thousand years, the planet's intelligent species can change between the two. The Byndari knew they just had to wait. They just didn't think it would be as long as it was. They realized that the species on Pingala didn't know about the system. When they found the Relic from the Pinnacle, the piece of wall, they knew it was their only chance to escape."

She sounded so sympathetic. Skyhammer's lip curled in disgust. She cared nothing for the other species on her planet. "What else did the Byndari promise you?" he asked.

"Katipo and Nasuchu will run this planet with the technology our new alien friends have shown us." The Nasuchu queen had pointed the black cup at the Aridizan King again. He took a step back.

"What is that thing, Nasuchu?" the Flyer queen asked. "What do you mean by 'technology'?"

"A weapon, Flyer. A gift from our new allies. Technology is what the Relics are based on. That's why the Relics don't do anything."

"The Retrograph Vault works," Skyhammer muttered. The King and the other Royals nodded.

The Nasuchu queen tapped her chin with her finger. "Ah yes, the Retrograph Vault."

"And the Kingmaker Towers," Skyhammer added. It bugged him now. Why would these Relics still work when Pingala so clearly operated on magic? "Unless they aren't Relics and they operate on magic."

"The Towers are access to the Hall of Worlds so they must always work if the planet's species are to be able to change between magic and technology," the Flyer queen said.

The King looked at the Flyer. "I agree. If these changes have been going on for thousands of years then maybe the Moksha lived through both technology and magic and created objects that could be used in both."

Even the Nasuchu and Katipo queens nodded.

"We want to keep Pingala a magic planet," the Aridizan King said in a firm voice. "Majority rules."

"We're wasting time," the Nasuchu said to the Katipo. "When will they learn that technology rules now?" The Nasuchu moved her finger. A bolt of blue light shot out of the opening and into the Aridizan king. A reek of burning flesh and clothes arose. His head hit the floor face first, then his body crumpled over it.

No one moved. Even the Nasuchu looked surprised. She and the Katipo queen exchanged smiles.

"This will be even easier than I thought," the Nasuchu said to the Katipo. "Rantama was right."

Skyhammer flung himself to the left behind the nearest sphere, pulling the King after him. He heard two more shots as he moved farther away from the turncoat queens, pushing the bewildered King in front of him. He didn't allow himself to think about the Byndari name he had just heard. He pushed it down inside and concentrated on saving the King.

They crouched behind one of the spheres. The King breathed heavily. Skyhammer turned his face to the floor in order to hear better. He started in surprise. Set into the metal hexagonal floor was a black rectangle. In the middle, silver letters spelled out SATURN. On the left side of the letter 'S' was a crown symbol with a circle around it. Directly opposite, on the right side of the letter 'N', was a lightning symbol. A light under the crown picture shone a dull red. A bright green light emanated from under the lightning symbol. Skyhammer glanced over to another sphere. The same symbol board with green and red lights sat under each sphere.

"Humans, we know you are in here," the Nasuchu sang out. "Our weapon will not rest until you are both dead." She paused. "Go press the lightning symbol," she ordered the Katipo queen. "It's flashing yellow. Our window of opportunity will be closed when the eclipse is over. It's only a few minutes away." Then she screamed to the ceiling, "You are the only two left, humans. Two against two. But my lovely new weapon tips the balance!"

If the Katipo queen pressed the button, Floatilla would fall. Not on him, this room was no part of the Tower in Quasianti. But Higgins was out there. If the whole city crashed on top of the Tower, she and Mute would die. "I have to get back to the Pingala sphere," Skyhammer whispered to the King. "They can't be allowed to touch the lights. Make your way back to the stairs while I distract them."

The King nodded, eyes wide, and shook Skyhammer's hand.

"One more thing, King."

The King turned, mid-crawl.

"Don't let Higgins come in here." He glared at the man.

The King nodded and continued on his way.

Skyhammer moved in a large circle until he was opposite the staircase. He could hear the Nasuchu and Katipo queens clomping around on the metal platform.

"Hey corpse eater!" he shouted. "You can't get me, crazy cannibal!" He jumped up and down until he was certain the Nasuchu queen had seen him. Then he dropped to his belly and slithered back in the direction of the Pingala sphere, always keeping spheres between himself and the queen.

The Nasuchu stalked past him on the other side, muttering to herself.

He moved in towards where the Pingala sphere was. Close enough to see the red feet of the Katipo queen. She knelt in front of the symbol board. The crown was still green but the lightning symbol was flashing yellow.

The tiny Katipo queen leaned forward, both hands in front of her, closing in on the yellow symbol.

Skyhammer crept up behind her. Here's hoping the gap is a really deep one, he thought, then grabbed her ankles and tipped her over the edge. The Katipo queen toppled forward, screaming.

The Nasuchu raced back, firing at Skyhammer. He crouched down and pulled the dead Aridizan king's body in front of him as a shield. When the yellow stopped flashing, he would kill the Nasuchu queen.

"Stop where you are, Nasuchu," a familiar voice called out behind him.

Skyhammer's head jerked up. Higgins. She wouldn't know about the weapon. "It shoots, Higgins, be careful," he yelled. Popping his head out from behind his makeshift shield, he noted the Nasuchu queen had stopped running and was taking careful aim.

"Higginsdownnow!" he screamed.

A bolt of blue left the Nasuchu's hand and shot over his head.

THUD. Higgins' body hit the floor behind him. He was too late.

Chapter 29

Higgins is hurt. Higgins is hurt. Higgins is hurt. That was all Skyhammer could think. He rose, holding the Aridizan body at his back as a shield, and ran to her.

Higgins lay on her back, her left arm severed just below her shoulder. He pulled her around the nearest sphere, blocking them both from the Nasuchu's weapon, and kneeled beside her.

"Skyhammer." Her eyelids fluttered open. "Save magic. Save Floatilla." Her eyes closed. Skyhammer's eyes registered that Higgins' severed arm and shoulder weren't bleeding but his heart could only see her still form and a lonely life without her. He inhaled. She wanted him to save magic. This time he wouldn't fail.

STOMP. Skyhammer raised his head and peered around the sphere. The Nasuchu queen had used her foot to press the technology symbol.

His heart stopped beating. Time stopped passing. He blinked, then stood up and faced the Pingala sphere.

The Nasuchu cackled and danced around the sphere, firing blue bolts into the endless ceiling. Now the lightning symbol was green, the crown red.

Skyhammer drew his sword and stalked towards the Nasuchu, heedless of anything but the need to kill her and a sinking sadness about the millions of tragic deaths he knew were now occurring outside the Tower.

He floated across the metal floor, a cloud of darkness and death. A smouldering ball of anger burnt inside him.

The queen heard him coming and turned. A look of fear crossed her face then she raised her arm, weapon clutched in her hand, and gave him a contemptuous smile. "Your sword against th-"

With a snarl, Skyhammer lunged. He batted her hand aside with the point of his sword then drove it into the queen's chest. With a sigh of surprise, she toppled to the floor. Skyhammer glared at her lifeless form.

After pushing the queen's body off his sword with his heel, he rushed back to where Higgins' body lay prone on the floor. Her eyes stayed closed. Her left arm lay some distance from the rest of her body. He noted the lack of blood but he leaned in close to listen for her breath. A small puff of air filled his ear.

Skyhammer collapsed over her body in relief. The edges of the wound appeared burnt; the weapon must have cauterized it.

He looked around at the dead bodies, former Kings and Queens of Pingala's most intelligent species. Death reigned inside and outside the Hall. The red and green lights under Pingala's sphere caught his eye. Maybe he could change it back. He jumped up and pressed his foot on the glowing red crown. Nothing changed.

He didn't know how long he sat there, waiting. So quiet in the Hall of Worlds now. He stroked Higgins' face and kissed her cheek and called her name. She didn't respond. He looked at Higgins' hand and back at her body again. Skyhammer grabbed the arm and pressed it to her shoulder. Maybe if he held it long enough it would grow back together. He wanted to get her medical help but it was hopeless - Floatilla and all the people living there would be dead. Silence enclosed him in a small world, him and Higgins alone. He listened to her breath and talked to her, recalling aloud the development of their friendship, telling her over and over how much he cared.

Some time passed. Images of Floatilla residents' descent to the jagged mountains around the Tower filled his mind. He shied away from the thought, terrified that he had wished this upon them and it came true. He stared at Higgins, willing her to awaken.

Finally she stirred. Her eyes opened. A small smile creased her face. "Saved you . . . again," she whispered.

He gulped, nodding, not trusting himself to speak. He covered her hand in kisses.

"Take me out."

He sat her up ever so gently but her face still spasmed in pain. He bound her left arm to her shoulder with a piece of material torn from the Aridizan's cloak. Then he tied her arm across her chest. Pain filled her eyes. He smiled encouragingly to be strong for her since he couldn't take away her pain.

Then Skyhammer carried Higgins from the Hall of Worlds and back into Quasianti.

* * *

When Skyhammer emerged from the passageway to the Hall of Worlds carrying an unconscious Higgins, the first sound he heard was sobbing interspersed with whispered conversation. He halted. The chamber in the Kingmaker Tower was almost pitch black. Since the Tower was a Relic, it had not been destroyed by the fall of the floating city. Across the chamber, a very faint square of light was blocked by dark figures. Why was it so dark? No more magic, he realized. Of course. Before, human magic had always lit the chamber. None of the humans who had taken refuge from Floatilla's destruction would know how to light a fire or would have even prepared for that eventuality. "My King?" he called out. "It's Skyhammer." The room fell silent.