Cole slowly walked over to Vasen's lifeless body and climbed the beast's head. He gingerly stepped to the spot on the forehead where Silver Beam had struck. Cole grimaced at the oozing hole staring back at him. Holding back the bile building in his throat, the green eyed warrior rolled up his right sleeve and reached into the sticky mess. He groped blindly for several moments not wishing to know what exactly he touched several times. Finally, Cole's hand grasped the sword's pommel. It took several tugs, but the weapon was soon dislodged from Vasen's skull.
"This thing's a mess," mumbled Cole as he looked over the blood and gore stained weapon. Cole cleaned Silver Beam the best he could and returned it to its sheath.
"Cole?" called Lorene from below.
The former Dragonmaster looked down to his left to see Lorene, back in her traveling clothes, with a haggard looking Vaul on her right shoulder. Cole braced himself and jumped off the Demon Dragon's head to land right next to them.
"Where's Damion?" asked Vaul.
Cole looked off in the direction he had seen the crow fly. "At peace." He looked back to his companions with a new determination in his eyes. "We're wasting time, here. Let's go."
The three of them quickly walked off to the center of the city. Ciryn-Tiell had not fared well during the battle. The better part of its crystal towers and homes were in ruins. The marble streets were upturned into massive piles of rubble. Cole frowned whenever he saw an arm or leg protruding from the ruins. Crystal crunched under their feet as Cole and Lorene hurried to where the ceremony had been taking place.
They both loosed relieved sighs when they arrived to see the elders still chanting in harmony. Jorith, with blood running down the side of his face, walked over to them from those gathered near the elders.
"The magical energies being generated by the elders managed to protect them from the battle," he explained. "Unfortunately, most of the population was not as fortunate."
"How many casualties?" asked Cole.
Jorith suddenly noticed the blood on his face. "Current count is estimated at about two thousand," he said while dabbing at his forehead. "It's bad, but it could have been worse."
Before Cole could respond, the twelve elders suddenly stopped chanting. There was a magical thunderclap, and a black portal appeared in their center. Reinalthus rose from his sitting position to speak with Cole and the others. "We don't have much time," he said. "We generated much of our extra power to protect the spell during the battle. We can only keep the portal open for a few moments."
"Wait!" screeched Vaul. "If we go in, and the portal closes, how do we get back?"
Cole was already walking towards the black hole before them. "We'll deal with that when the time comes. Now, come on."
He stopped right at the portal's edge to look back. Lorene looked hesitant for a moment, but an adventurous smile soon appeared on her face. She grabbed Vaul in her hands and dashed for the portal. "Have a little faith, Vaul!"
"Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!" screamed Vaul as Lorene hurled them both into the blackness. They were soundlessly sucked in.
"What about the Dragon Armor?" asked Reinalthus.
"Can you look after it for a while?" returned Cole. "It isn't much use to me right now, anyways."
Reinalthus nodded understandingly. "We can do that. Good luck, Dragonmaster," he added after a brief pause.
Cole gave the old elf one last glance with a small smile. "Thanks," he whispered before following after his friends.
When Cole's vision cleared it greeted him with a very unexpected sight. He, Lorene, and Vaul were standing at the end of a wooden hallway. Doors lined the walls as far as they could see. The path behind them was the same thing.
"This is the Underworld?" wondered Vaul out loud.
"Or course not, young dragon," echoed a voice from ahead.
"Who's there?" challenged Cole.
"We don't have all day to shout back and forth, Cole," said the voice. "Walk straight ahead to the end of the hall and enter the final door."
The three companions looked at each other. "What do we have to lose?" asked Lorene with a shrug.
"Our lives," replied Vaul.
Cole smiled and started walking. "You know something, Vaul? You're becoming a pessimist." The dragon's response was a raspberry.
The three of them walked down the long hall slowly. It was then that Cole noticed there was no source of light anywhere to be seen, yet everything was clear as day in all directions. The hall finally ended with another door on the forward wall. Cole was the first there. He tentatively reached out and knocked.
"Come in," came the same voice of moments before from inside. The green eyed warrior carefully turned the brass door knob.
The trio stood dumbfounded at what lay on the other side of the door. What they found was an elderly man in the center of a cozy little library. Two of the three walls of the room were filled with books. The farthest wall was nothing but a large fireplace with a warm, crackling fire generating both a pleasant heat and light. The floor was wall to wall brownish red carpet. In the center of the room was a red lounge chair with enlarged arms and back. Next to the chair was a small coffee table with several books on it.
Seated in the chair was the old man. His head was completely bald, and his wizened face sported a bushy gray mustache. He wore a pair of loose white pants with a similarly colored shirt and a burgundy robe over them. As Cole looked into his purple eyes, he knew that this old man was much more than he appeared to be.
"Welcome, brave travelers," greeted the old man.
"Where are we?" asked Cole.
The old man rose from the chair. He stood just a couple of inches shorter than Cole. "Now, how can I put this without totally losing you," he mumbled while scratching his chin. "Ah! You are in what can be described as a focal point or nexus of space-time."
"You mean we're in-between dimensions?" suggested Lorene.
He nodded. "That's a fair description."
Cole was shaking his head. "How did we get here? We were supposed to be on our way to the Underworld."
"You still are," assured the stranger. "I just called you here to talk first."
"Called?" repeated Cole with a confused look.
"Brought, summoned, called," replied the old man. "It's all the same thing." He walked towards them with his arms folded in front of him. "I brought you here because there were some things you needed to understand before you reached the Underworld."
"Okay, wait a second," interrupted Cole. "Just who are you?"
"Me?" The stranger was silent for a moment. "Hmmm. A name." He chuckled. "I haven't had to use one of those in a long time." Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "Call me Zeke. I always like that name."
"All right, Zeke," said Lorene. "What exactly do you do here?"
He gave the elf a smile. "I guess I am the groundskeeper of sorts. I live here and watch over everything. I make sure that dimensions stay where they belong, and that certain things don't get out of control. Very rarely do I actually involve myself with what goes on in individual dimensions."
"Like now," finished Cole.
Zeke snapped his fingers. "Exactly! If things are not set right on the Blue Star and Lunar the very fabric of time and space could unravel." A frown replaced his smile. "After all, it was my fault that the Demon Dragonmaster slipped through."
Cole lunged forward and grabbed the old man's robe. "What!?"
Zeke, however, remained calm. "Well, it was like this. After Ziatoch tampered with the Eye of the Universe everything started to go out of whack. That damned dragon was actually going to wipe out everything and attempt to rebuild it all. Needless to say, after your victory I had the task of resetting all the dimensions back into their rightful places."
"Wait," interrupted Lorene. "You're saying that dimensions were on the verge of merging?"
"Yes," replied Zeke. "I had to make sure that all those doors you saw out there remained closed off from each other. Trust me. You wouldn't like it if the Nine Hells suddenly appeared in your backyard. Demons everywhere causing nothing but trouble." He started shaking his head.
"What does this have to do with the Demon Dragonmaster?" demanded Cole.
"Well," began Zeke. "While I was busy closing off dimensions, I wasn't watching the space-time flow. The Demon Dragonmaster managed a spell that allowed him and his followers to cross over from an alternate reality."
Cole released the old man and took a couple steps back. "So, that's it." He lifted his gaze back to Zeke. "Why did he come to my world?"
"To find the Chaos," answered Zeke simply.
"What's the Chaos?" asked Vaul.
Zeke chuckled. "Well, that's the name we've given it. It's been such a long time, that nobody can actually remember what it was originally called." He turned and walked back to his chair. "I guess I have a few minutes to tell you about this. Althena could explain it, but it'll be a little while before you see her again." He sat down in the chair and folded his hands.
"Long ago before time was time, the gods ruled over everything. Like everything else that exists, there were two sides to the gods. Good and Evil. Both existed to balance the other and create harmony in space-time. Dimensions and times shift, but both of these forces are always struggling. Evil attacks, and Good always defends. Eventually, the gods of Evil, Zophar among them, believed that they could create the ultimate weapon against the gods of Good. After all, they were gods. So, they set about creating the perfect weapon that if completed would eradicate all the gods of Good.
"It took eons, but in the end the Evil gods completed this weapon. Unfortunately, they did too good a job. This entity, or the Chaos, soon realized that it was more powerful than all its masters combined. So, the Chaos took it upon itself to kill all the gods in every dimension. Seeing their mistake, Evil sided with Good temporarily to save itself and everything it strove to control. After all, what fun is there in ruling nothing?
"A war raged for what seemed forever. The Chaos, however, was too strong. Many gods lost their powers and had their immortal souls cast into Oblivion. Chaos raged through dimension after dimension eradicating everything and leaving absolutely nothing behind. Finally, it arrived in the dimension containing your worlds. It sensed the power of Althena and attacked the Blue Star without remorse. Althena, though, had been preparing for this eventuality.
"The Goddess aligned all of her Tribes to face this threat. Seeing itself all alone, the Chaos created its own minions to face those of Althena. Thus, the Demon Dragons were created. The two forces clashed sending shock waves all across the universe. In the end, Althena succeeded in tricking the Chaos. Seeing that she could not actually destroy the monstrosity, the Goddess devised a way of trapping the Chaos in a pocket dimension forever. After a fierce battle where most of her creations were lost, Althena succeeded in sealing the Chaos in an object known as the Orb of Infinity. Thus it was that the Chaos would be trapped for eternity.
"Unfortunately, Evil always makes the same mistakes. During the battle for the Blue Star, Althena had been forced to enlist the aide of her most hated enemy, Zophar. Being the nearest god to her realm, he was the only one who could provide enough power to battle the Chaos. Seeing his own fate tied to the successful defeat of the Chaos, the dark god agreed to help the Goddess. However, when the Chaos was imprisoned in the Orb, Zophar was quick to decide that through the Orb the Chaos could be controlled. So he devised something that could attach itself to the Orb, allowing a host to take on the powers of the Chaos without releasing it.
"Althena was quick to learn of this plot. Seeing only disaster, she banished the Orb to a forgotten planet with her most trusted Tribe to guard it. To keep this planet from Zophar, she siphoned off her power into eight keys that she then used to open a rift in space-time. Althena took the entire planet and placed it in the in-between of the in-between. Not even I can get to this place without the keys."
"The Demon Dragonmaster has come here looking for the keys to release the Chaos," whispered Cole. "Why not just do it in his own reality?"
Zeke nodded. "He could have. But in his search for it, Kole destroyed most of his world with the Eye of the Universe , and the keys in the process."
"So he came here to take our versions of the keys," concluded Lorene.
"Correct, my little elf," complimented Zeke. The old man rose to look Cole in the eyes. "And if you don't get yourself back to full strength soon, he will find them all and become something a billion times worse than Ziatoch or Zophar."
Cole thinned his eyes at Zeke. "How am I supposed to do that? I can't even use my Dragon Magic anymore, and the Dragon Armor along with the Goddess's Sword won't work with me either."
"Why that's very simple, Cole," replied the old man. "You must find the things you have lost."
"That was what Damion first told me," whispered Cole.
"And the Avenger was correct." Zeke folded his arms and began to circle the trio. "It takes certain things to be a Dragonmaster, my boy. Among them are several key attributes. The ability to be in touch with one's emotions, and then be able to control said emotions in order to gain a new level of clarity. However, it usually takes something special to awaken such an ability in a would be Dragonmaster."
"And what does it take?" asked Vaul.
Zeke gave them a sly smile. "The most common catalyst is usually Love. Many Dragonmasters have used Love for a person or life in general to attain this level of power and clarity." He raised a gray eyebrow at Cole. "Just like you did, Cole."
Cole looked at him quizzically. "What are you saying?"
Zeke reached out and tapped Cole between the eyes with his right index finger. "Don't you remember? It was because of Leeta that you were able to reach your calm center. When she admitted her feelings for you, you were able to defeat your inner demons."
Cole looked back at the old man before him with a combination of fear and awe in his eyes. "How do you know all that?"
Zeke shrugged. "There's not much to do around here except watch things. Your little fight with Ziatoch was the most entertaining and interesting at the time. Unfortunately, it seems that my mistake has affected you the most."
"So what do I do now?" asked Cole in a lost voice.
The old man slapped him on the back. "You keep doing what you were doing, Dragonmaster. You find that Love so that you can regain your focus and save the world!" He started laughing loudly. "Now, follow me. Let's get you back on the road." Zeke walked to the door and opened it.
The other three turned around to follow. Cole was surprised when he saw that the hall they had entered from was no longer there. Instead there was a large room beyond that looked to be some sort of museum exhibit. Zeke beckoned them to follow after him. Cole followed first with Lorene and Vaul close behind. The room itself seemed to be the size of the entire Governor's Mansion in Meribia. The walls were decorated with paintings and tapestries depicting ancient scenes, crests, runes, and some were even blank. Display podiums surrounded them at every turn. Suits of armor, entire jewelry collections, sculptures, scrolls, weapons, and other artifacts dazzled the trio.
Cole stopped for a moment to stare at one sword in particular. Hovering tip down above a green marble podium, the weapon was one of the most beautiful swords the green eyed warrior had ever seen. The double edged blade extended three feet and shone with a silvery brilliance that belied immense power. The guard was a delicately carved gold bar that was simple, yet elegant at the same time. Smooth brown leather spiraled around the grip to a pommel set with a small, emerald green gem.
Zeke stepped up next to Cole. "You have excellent taste, my boy."
"It's beautiful," breathed Cole. "It reminds me of the Goddess's Sword."
"It should," said Zeke. "It was created by a member of Althena's Goddess Tribe a very long time ago." The old man gently took Cole by the right arm. "Come along, now. This one is not for you. It's meant for another great leader whose time hasn't come around again, yet." Cole reluctantly allowed himself to be pried away.
He was so focused on the sword, that Cole barely realized when Zeke stopped leading. The following sight, though, completely pushed thoughts of the sword out of his mind.
"The Time Runes!"
Hovering over a black pedestal were the three, tear drop shaped Time Runes Cole had spent so much time searching for over two years ago, and then thrown into the Eye of the Universe in order to defeat Ziatoch.
"H... how did they get here?" he stammered. "I threw them into the Eye !"
"Please, Cole," admonished Zeke. "The Time Runes have the power to cleave time and space like a well sharpened sword. Traveling through the Eye was nothing for them. I merely gathered them and brought them here for safe keeping."
Cole reached out to them slowly. They flashed purple, yellow, and white as his right hand neared. "It seems they remember you," commented Zeke.
The green eyed warrior presented his open palm to the Runes. They flashed again and flew to his hand. The power of the Runes nearly overwhelmed him. Each one whispered to him of how he could warp the very world around him. It took all of Cole's willpower to turned aside their temptations.
"So strong," he gasped.
Zeke nodded. "The last time you used them, you were at a pinnacle of your power. They had no chance to tempt you. Now, though, you are not at full strength."
"Why are you giving these to me?" asked the former Dragonmaster.
"I gave you nothing," replied the old man. "I merely reintroduced you. Everything after that was up to you and the Runes."
An idea suddenly occurred to Cole. "Can I open a portal with the Runes that will take me to the Orb of Infinity?"
Zeke shook his head. "I wish it were that easy. Not even the Time Runes can pierce the barriers that Althena placed around the resting place of the Orb. Only the Resurrection Stones can unlock the gate."
Cole's eyes drifted back to his right hand. "Then why have I found these again?"
"Why does anything happen at all?" added Zeke. "All things happen for a reason. I've been around long enough to see that. What causes such things to happen, I don't even know." He walked away from the pedestal back the towards the door. "Come along, you three. Time is a wasting."
Cole looked at his companions for suggestions. Vaul's eyes were wide with awe at having seen the Time Runes he had always heard so much about. Lorene could only give him a shrug. The green eyed warrior looked at his hand once more and dropped the three Runes into one of the pouches on his belt.
"Let's go," he said and followed after Zeke.
They exited the museum like room to find themselves back in the long hallway. The neverending line of wooden doors ran down the two walls with no distinctive marks to identify where each one led. Zeke was slowly making his way down the hall looking over each door. He finally stopped at one on the left side of the hall and nodded.
"Here we go," he announced. "This one will take you to the right place, or as close as I can get you."
Cole was suddenly filled with a sense of nervousness. What he had been seeking for so long was finally about to happen. He was going to find Leeta and bring her back! He was going to see her beautiful face! Hear her sweet voice! Feel her warm embrace!
"Cole?" whispered Lorene. "Are you shaking?"
He managed to crack a smile to the elf. "Maybe a little."
They watched as Zeke turned the brass knob to open the door. All that could been seen beyond the frame was darkness. "Okay, kids. Jump in."
"Oh, no," moaned Vaul. "Not again!" He loosed a small whine as Lorene grabbed him and jumped through the door.
Cole took two slow steps to the edge of the door. He looked back at Zeke once more. "Thanks, Zeke, whoever or whatever you are."
Zeke gave him a warm smile. "It's the least I can do, Dragonmaster. Good luck, till we meet again."
Cole nodded once and jumped in.
Immediately he realized something was wrong. Cole could feel himself being pulled in a thousand different directions. Then he noticed the fire at his right side. Somehow through the blackness, Cole was able to see the combined purple, yellow, and white fire emanating from the pouch he had placed the Time Runes in. The fire exploded, and the green eyed warrior was consumed.
There was nothing but a big light blur. "Where am I?" wondered Cole out loud.
He was on his hands and knees. There was a brisk, chill wind blowing, and he identified the gravel and dirt under his hands as mountainous. Cole carefully rolled back on to his rear and began rubbing his eyes fiercely. It was only a few more moments before his vision finally cleared. His eyes slowly focused on a large, tall object directly in front of him.
"How in the..." he breathed as Lunar's Goddess Tower filled his vision. "But this doesn't exist on the planet anymore..."
The Tower's ivory walls spiraled several hundred feet into the blue sky. The four additional attached towers cast down long shadows that stretched all the way down the mountain. Cole turned around to gaze down at Lunar's green surface.
"Amazing," he breathed.
Forests of trees rustled in the wind, while grassy plains seemed to move with lives of their own. Cole followed the landscape until he could slightly make out what could only be Vane in the distance. Although, this grounded Vane was not the dilapidated one of his time. Even from this distance, he could see the magical splendor of the ancient city.
Certain things started to click in Cole's mind. "If Vane is still on the ground, and it looks like that..." His eyes went wide. "Then that means I'm back during the first Magic Empire." He quickly pulled out the Time Runes. "What have you gotten me into this time?"
Foot steps echoed from behind. Cole spun around just as someone came down the entrance steps of the Tower. He was slightly shocked when a Dragonmaster in full armor was standing several yards away. The Dragonmaster looked back at him with almond shaped green eyes.
Cole's memory started working around this odd situation. "Orin?" he said carefully.
Orin's right hand went to the hilt of the Goddess's Sword. "How do you know my name? Who are you?"
Then it suddenly came back to Cole. He was walking at night with Selene after the victory against the undead army:
"My brother Orin was the Dragonmaster, but he disappeared some time ago after his trial at the Goddess's Tower..."
His memory flashed again, and he was standing in the throne room of Emperor Tanj-Zang facing off with that mad man Fargis:
"You're definitely not a Dragonmaster... Even the elf I killed several months ago was more of one than you... Because of my knowledge from the future, I knew exactly when and where he would be. So I appeared at the right time and disposed of him before he could become a nuisance..."
The pieces suddenly fell together for him. The hairs on the back of Cole's neck started to rise. He started looking around wildly and felt what started to happen next rather than saw it first. There was a swirl of green teleportation magic in the air above. Wearing the armor of his station, the Magic Emperor Tanj-Zang materialized. His long brown hair fell across his spiked shoulder pads, and his same colored mustaches trailed past his chin. His bluish black armor winked in the sunlight.
"Orin! Get down!" warned Cole.
"Tanj-Zang!?" cried the elven Dragonmaster in surprise.
The Magic Emperor raised his gauntleted right hand at Orin. "Let us end this before it has a chance to begin." Green power started to collect around his hand.
"No!" shouted Cole. The green eyed warrior made a mad dash for the elven Dragonmaster with Tanj-Zang's insane laughter echoing in his ears.
The Emperor fired.
Cole dove for Orin.
There was a large explosion, and Cole's senses soon told him that he was falling. He tried to look around, but all he could see was darkness. The only thing he could make out was Orin's body falling beside his. Cole reached out to take hold of Orin, who was completely unconscious.
Need to think of something before we hit the ground! thought Cole frantically.
Then something flew up and hit him on the right cheek. Cole's hand shot up to grab the Pendent that had been hanging around his neck. As his hand clasped the artifact, Cole felt something spark within. A sudden well of strength bubbled forth to surround the warrior in a glow of golden power. The duo's rapid descent came to an instant halt feet from what Cole could make out as the ground.
Just as suddenly as he held this power, it left him. The glow faded, and Cole and Orin dropped to the ground. Completely drained of all his strength, Cole passed out along side Orin.