Whistlestop (30 page)

“
My lord, I must
unfortunately advise you that the Wizard Master of Whistlestop has
already paid me for her. I honestly wish I could help you. Perhaps
you can negotiate with him? I hope you understand my
predicament.”

Karl turned and walked away, saying,
“Yes, elf, I do understand your situation and I do not wish to
cause you more trouble for a simple bitch. In my position, there
are limitless women to choose from. In fact, I am feeling oddly
generous today, and as I have many other appointments later, I will
give you the former trehbor as well. My only condition is that you
must either kill him today or remove him from the territory of the
empire. I have no need for failed leaders on my team.” Karl joined
his troops and then the entire group shrank from three dimensions
to two and then one and disappeared entirely.

“
Rick, have your men
release the trehbor,” Jed said. “Then we need to get out of here
before Karl thinks about Lydia or Jeremy too much and decides to
come back.”

Jerry and the ogre Pernicious led the
force as they proceeded toward the Woods of Elin at the base of the
Savage Mountains. The woods were the sacred ancestral home of the
trolls, while the yetis inhabited the upper slopes of the
mountains. All of the other sentient species of Paranaxis had long
ago fled these lands, leaving them to the never-ending struggle
between those monsters. It would take a week or more to pass
through the woods, assuming no troll contact was made. The mountain
range was exceedingly steep and rugged, making passage a virtual
impossibility. Unfortunately, the goal was not to pass through, but
to convince the trolls and yetis there was something more important
to fight for than their petty differences.

Montrose had convinced Antoine and the
other ogres to join their forces as they had passed through the
ogre woods. Even though Pernicious was twice the size of a normal
ogre, having only thirteen did not bode well for this part of the
adventure. Jeremiah feared they could all die here, never having a
chance to face the Emperor of the Universe. Lynn rode up to Jerry
on her horse and said, “We need to camp here, Jerry. It is far too
risky to enter the wood at night. We should all get a good night’s
sleep before we venture forth.”

“
Okay, please tell everyone
to set up camp,” he replied. “Come with me, Pernicious.” Jerry and
the ogre continued ahead until the first trees were only a few
hundred yards away, and then they both sat down. “What do you
think, Pernicious?”

“
I think you could have
saved time and killed me before, Jerry. We stand no chance against
a troll.”

“
You think this is a
suicide mission then?”

“
Suicide for me, probably.
You aren’t from this world, Jerry. A troll is a monster. The trees
in the wood are a hundred feet tall, and that barely covers their
heads. If one attacks, I will defend you, but the rest must flee
the wood. My life will save yours. I owe you and your wife that
much for saving the sprite.”

“
There has to be another
way!” Pernicious only shrugged his shoulders. “Let me change the
subject then. Can I ask you about your name? Pernicious is a
peculiar word for a name.”

The ogre chuckled. “My real name is
Pernell. I was always big for my age, Jerry. The others made fun of
me, and that made me angry sometimes. As a boy, I got into a lot of
fights. I always won because of my size, and that made me the bad
one. Some started using the name Pernicious, as though I started
every fight, but I never did.”

“
I’m so sorry,
Pernell.”

“
It’s okay now. One day I
met Alicia. She was so beautiful, and she liked me. She understood
that I wasn’t evil. I forgot the cruelty of the other children.
That woman was my whole life.” He smiled and said, “She called me
Perry.”

“
Whatever happened to
her?”

“
Like Montrose and many
others, when the empire invaded, my wife was slaughtered by the
tattooed demon. I was fighting in the war and did not know until I
returned to my farm. I went insane with anger and sorrow. I buried
her and burned down my home and moved to the woods. I was angry for
a long time and earned the name Pernicious all over again. I fought
with everyone I met. I had to get the anger out of my body and that
was the only way I knew how. Soon, I was all alone and that was
fine with me. I lived in the forest, sleeping on the hard ground,
eating grubs or plants or whatever I could find. One day, I decided
I had cried long enough. I wanted to find Montrose or another old
friend and start again. So I left the wood and went hunting for my
breakfast. That’s when I shot Isolde.”

“
I would like to be your
friend, Perry,” Jerry noted, touching the other on the
knee.

“
Thank you, Jerry. It would
be my honor.” His eyes opened very wide and he jumped to his feet,
pulling Jerry up as well. He pointed toward the wood and said, “Do
you see it?”

“
Oh my God!” Jerry gasped.
About one hundred feet into the woods, where the light was
disappearing into shadow was a troll. It was on all fours, and
close to the ground so as not to be seen. It looked human, although
its brow line was heavy and its forehead sloped. It was wearing
some kind of animal skin loincloth. “It must be forty feet
tall!”

“
Now you know why we have
no chance.”

“
Do you think it will
attack us?”

“
No, they do not leave the
woods. They agreed to stay there if we stay out of their
territory.”

“
So, if we go there
tomorrow, we are the ones breaking the treaty.”

“
That’s right. How do you
feel about Jeremiah’s plan now?”

“
Not optimistic, that’s for
sure.”

“
Father, we are concerned
that you are putting Lilian in too much danger! She is just a
girl,” Gabriel argued.

“
Thank you for agreeing
with me, Gabe,” Emmanuel’s wife Rachel smiled from her seat next to
her husband on the dais at the front of the temple. “Manny, sending
her to face that monster was careless and risky!” He only frowned
and looked at the gathering.

Angelina was sitting next to Lilian,
quietly listening to the family argument. They were in a large
temple. The roof was supported by marble columns on all sides, and
at least a thousand angels were in attendance. The temple was
floating on a cloud, and only blue sky could be seen in every
direction. “Father, I know you did it for a good reason. Please
just explain it to us.”

“
The child was never in any
danger,” he sighed at last. “Don’t you think I knew there was a
beast inside the elf? I would never put my own great granddaughter
in danger. I was watching over her very closely. If there had been
any possibility of harm, I would have protected her.”

“
But she must have been
terrified, don’t you think?” Rachel asked.

Emmanuel stood and replied, “Why don’t
you ask her? Lilian, please come up here and take my seat and allow
your relatives to ask what you think.” He took her seat between
Angelina and young Jeremy and crossed his legs. Lilian ascended the
three steps and sat on the crystal throne. “Please tell us all if
you were afraid, my darling.”

“
No, I was not afraid of
Marthrusta.” The angels gasped. “Actually, I was very sad when I
saw her.”

Rachel patted her leg and asked, “Why
were you sad?”

“
She was taken from her own
plane of existence by Linger, along with many of her
friends.”

“
Did Poppy tell you that?”
Rachel asked.

“
No, I don’t know if Poppy
knew that or not.”

Emmanuel raised his hand and said, “I
didn’t know who the creature was until Lilian told me about her. I
only knew the elf was possessed and wanted her to practice removing
curses because that skill will be invaluable as time progresses.
Please go on.”

“
I had a vision of what my
grandmother Sadie was feeling and asked Poppy if I could go help.
When I arrived on Whistlestop, I sensed the titan inside the elf,
and knew she was not from this universe. My grandmother felt sad,
alone and attacked by all sorts of creatures wishing to kill her.
Of course, she is normally incapable of feeling such things. She is
an angel, after all. I reasoned that it was the titan feeling those
awful things. Linger had cursed her and that curse also crippled
the elf. Both became victims of the Evil One’s scheme. I summoned
the titan out of her body which lifted the curse. At first, she
thought I must be the same as Linger and attempted to kill me, but
that reaction was just from fear. Then I sent her home and that’s
it.”

“
Father, when did you know
the identity of the titan?” Angelina asked.

“
At the moment she exited
the elf’s body. That is when I knew she could not harm
Lilian.”

“
Manny, much of what I’ve
heard so far is not believable. You must understand that,” his wife
explained. “How could Lilian know things that you don’t? Is that
even possible?”

Emmanuel stood and began to pace in
front of his family with his head down. After a minute or so, he
stopped and shrugged his shoulders. “Honestly, I don’t have a clue.
It isn’t possible for a mortal to know things we do not know, and
it should have been impossible for Linger to steal creatures from
other universes and enslave them here. Lilian, do you know what’s
going on?”

“
Poppy, I’m just a girl. I
see and feel this stuff, but I don’t know why.”

Emmanuel and Lilian disappeared and
Rachel screamed. The angels in the front row rushed forward, but
the two were nowhere to be seen. “Mother, what
happened?”

“
I don’t know. Can any of
you sense them?”

Angelina closed her eyes for a moment
and then shook her head. “Mom, this isn’t possible.”

Emmanuel and Lilian were standing in
the center of the Chamber of Despair. Only two of the chairs on the
dais were occupied by demons in human form. Asmodeus and Mithra sat
with one vacant chair between them. “What is the meaning of this?”
Emmanuel shouted. “How dare you summon me and my great grandchild
to this horrible place?”

“
Uncle, obviously you know
that my sister and I have no power to summon you, and certainly you
know we cannot access the Upper Realm.”

“
I don’t know how you two
did this, but we are leaving!”

“
Please wait a moment, dear
Uncle,” Mithra begged.

“
For what?”

The panel behind the middle chair
opened and a man stepped out. He appeared to be Emmanuel’s
identical twin, but with black hair and dark eyes. “Brother dear, I
am so happy you came?”

“
Poppy, he looks just like
you!” Lilian laughed.

“
You did this, Luce? How
did you accomplish such a thing? This isn’t possible, even for you
or me!”

“
Manny, please take a seat
at the dais so we can talk. We both know there is only one who
could bring you here.”

“
Are you serious? She does
not get involved in our affairs, Brother. Why now?”

“
Please sit, the two of
you,” Luce replied. “That is what we are here to
discuss.”

“
Give me one good reason
why we should listen to you.”

“
Asmodeus, you and Mithra
should leave. Your brother is up to something now. Please go find
out and then tell me. As well, what I have to say to our guests
must be private.” The others stood and walked through the passages
behind their chairs. After a moment, Luce said, “I know why the
child has her powers, Brother. How is that for a
reason?”

Arthur Truth woke suddenly and sat up
with his eyes wide open. He and several hundred others were
sleeping in the open park in the center of Ravenhead. It was early
morning and most of the revelers were still asleep after the long
and festive celebration the previous evening. He noticed his wife
sitting on a park bench holding her head in her hands and crying,
so he hurried over to her side to comfort her. “Do you feel it too,
my love? Isn’t it wonderful?”

“
Wonderful? It’s terrible,
Arthur! Lilian and my father have disappeared. What are you talking
about?”

“
Your father disappeared?
How is that even possible?”

“
It isn’t possible, but it
happened, and now none of us can sense him anywhere.”

“
He is in the Lower Realm.
Our granddaughter is with him.”

“
How are you able to sense
him if we cannot?”

“
That was the wonderful
news, Sadie. The Temple of the Inner Sanctum has been liberated and
the demons are fleeing Asterpast. My ability to see events has been
diminished since we fled our home, but it just came back! It was
like a dense fogbank suddenly evaporated, revealing the entire
universe again.”

“
I’m not certain that
answers my question, dearest. How can you sense the King of the
Angels when his family cannot?”

“
It must be Lilian. We both
know she has strong psychic energy. She must be amplifying my
ability to see her there.”