"Now remember," cautioned Kazyr, "you must keep the ivory charm hanging around your neck. Should it be removed, you will be dead again, as if I had never given it to you."
Ghaleon nodded slowly, still adjusting once again to the confines of a mortal body.
"And you still can be killed by the normal means," added Kazyr. "If that happens, someone must remove the chain and then place it back around your neck for you to be restored again. Of course, I doubt that will be necessary for someone of your power. You will age normally from this point on and for all appearances, it's as if you never died."
"Except that I'm alive several centuries later," Ghaleon snorted. "I don't suppose you have any idea how long I've been dead. I'd like to get my bearing on where I am in time."
"It's been several millennia, that much I can tell," replied Kazyr.
"Great. Then what's the point of being alive?"
"Perhaps to right the wrongs that may have been left unfinished."
As the pair sat near Ghaleon's tomb, the former Magic Emperor thought of Vane. Had it ever been restored to flight? He decided he would like to see Vane fly once again. Perhaps he really could start his life over. It's been so long that if he got out of his heavy armor and thick clothes, he could possibly fit in with the ordinary people and no one would recognize him. His knowledge of geography and cities was rudimentary and no doubt outdated, but he was certain he could pick up enough to get by. Ghaleon had crossed the Rubicon long ago, but now as he traveled further past that river, the landscape was finally looking brighter.
"We'd better get you to the tower," Ghaleon said. "But that's as far as our bargain will take us. I'll get you to the top of the Star Tower and no more. From what I remember, there's a chamber there that has a device that will take you to the Blue Star."
"I'm grateful for your help," Kazyr politely replied.
"Yeah, sure," Ghaleon mumbled absentmindedly.
Ghaleon stood up and brushed some of the ancient dust off of his body. And then in a stronger voice he said, "Stand next to me. I'll teleport us to the base of the tower."
Kazyr smiled. "We powerful wizards never walk anymore once we learn to teleport, eh?"
Ghaleon returned Kazyr's smile with a scowl. "Well, if you really want to take in the scenery that badly we could walk. But you're the one in such a hurry."
Kazyr chuckled. "Hey I was just joking. Anyway, as you were. Let's get to that tower."
Deep in space, something moved, something thought, something willed . Its consciousness unfurled like the landscape of a dream. Most of what it pondered was beyond the comprehension of god and mortal alike, but if any of the two were able to witness it now, they would know that its desires could not, would not , be stopped; and to fight it would be even less than foolish.
"Master," echoed a voice from the face of the moon who's planet held the larger entity's current attention. "You called?"
The entity thought, and its servant's mind ached from the force of its desires.
"Yes, I shall dispose of them as you wish," its servant groaned. "The rebirth shall begin in accordance with your plans." Its servant paused. "Yes, of course, you have nothing to fear. Nothing shall stand in your way. I'll dispose of the champions myself if I must." The entity thought again. "Yes, my lord," said its servant. "I would lay down my life at your behest."
The consciousness of the entity's quickened and whirled as if sucking in upon itself, but its servant could tell that it was pleased.
"I shall go now," its servant stated.
And the entity did not care when the contact was broken.
"Here we are," Ghaleon said simply.
Kazyr gazed up at the crystalline tower and decided it was a lovely piece of work. The carvings that dotted its surface had been traced with care, although the millennia had dulled them with age.
"I'm almost surprised its still standing," Ghaleon added.
Kazyr turned to Ghaleon. "Why?"
The other wizard shrugged. "At the time of my second death--yes, I have died twice--this world, Lunar, was about to be destroyed by a godlike being called Zophar. Since this world is still here, I assume Zophar was defeated. However Zophar had ties to the Blue Star above us, and in fact one of the people who was fighting against him was the princess of the Blue Star. I thought Zophar might have tried destroying anything even remotely connected to the Blue Star in hopes of weakening her either magically or mentally."
"Well, I'm glad he didn't," Kazyr said, unable to think of anything else. But he mildly wondered that if Zophar had won, would his ship still have been shot out of the sky? Neither Lunar nor the Blue Star would have existed anymore. But Kazyr chided himself for thinking that way. Remnants of the overlord's power must have still been in him, and he made a note to be more careful about his thoughts.
Ghaleon peered quizzically at Kazyr, but the white-haired mage wasn't paying attention to him. The former Magic Emperor clasped the ivory chip of his charm and toyed with it, still surprised at the power the simple-looking thing possessed. Kazyr was definitely an oddity. If only such magic was known on Lunar back when he was young! Then perhaps none of his mistakes would have been committed. Dyne could have been restored to life. But the consequences of such magic would be great, and Ghaleon doubted Kazyr would use such power lightly. He was beginning to find it odd that Kazyr would grant such a gift to him, even for as much help as he was receiving.
"Shall we go in?" asked the white-haired mage.
"I'm only waiting on you," Ghaleon coldly replied.
Kazyr smirked in other wizard's direction, giving Ghaleon the impression that he was purposely trying to be overfriendly.
"Hmph. I guess you're expecting me to lead," huffed Ghaleon.
"You're the one who said it would be dangerous for me in there. If you got ahead, perhaps you could spot the traps that would hurt me before they go off."
"I never said anything about traps hurting you," Ghaleon retorted. "Monsters. Monsters guard all ancient and abandoned places. The Star Tower is no exception. They fight hard to keep out intruders. And since these guard the path to the Blue Star, they'll fight doubly hard to make certain you do not reach the top."
Kazyr stared up the great height of the tower. "Perhaps we could fly up then, bypassing all the monsters."
"No," replied Ghaleon. "There are no windows, and I think you'll find the walls of this tower impervious to even your magic, so there's no way you could break through. After all, a goddess created this place. All of the Blue Star and Lunar once bent to her will. She was the creator. And what she created, she could guide and shape as she wished."
"And you fought against her," Kazyr said softly, recalling the images he had seen on Ghaleon's coffin.
Ghaleon stiffened and looked away. "Yes, I did," and his voice was regretful. "But the past is gone, and I repaid my debt to her when I aided the defeat of Zophar.
"Anyway," Ghaleon turned back to face Kazyr, "we've got work to do now. I've got to get you to the top of this tower, and you've got to get on your way before something else shoots you out of the sky."
A puzzled look crossed Ghaleon's face. "Speaking of which, how was it again that you came here?"
"A beam of light came from the surface of the Blue Star and struck my ship," Kazyr replied. He pulled out the miniaturized prism from his pouch and held it out on his upturned palm so that Ghaleon could view it. "My ship was going to crash one way or another, either on the Blue Star or Lunar, and... I chose Lunar. After I landed, my ship shrunk, having been magical in original anyway. And as you can see"--Kazyr traced a long crack down the length of the prism with the index finger of his free hand--"this part has been shattered; chipped. That's where the damage occurred."
"One thing I don't get though," Ghaleon murmured, "is why you came to Lunar. You obviously want to go to the Blue Star so you can find out what hurt your ship. But you landed here instead."
Kazyr's face seemed to blanken. "I really don't know. I thought the Blue Star would be dangerous since it hurt my ship. And something just seemed right about landing on Lunar. Maybe I was just to shaken up by the shock."
"Possibly," Ghaleon conceded. "But it's just as well. Let's get this over with. You've already have given me enough to worry about, wizard."
Ghaleon strode into the tower, his long cloak billowing behind me.
Kazyr sighed, feeling wistful that Ghaleon wasn't a bit more friendly towards him. After all, shouldn't they be peers in magic? He was probably older than Ghaleon for crying out loud! He'd spent more time living at any rate, but he also felt that Ghaleon was probably the wiser of the two. Kazyr shook his head, put his prism back in his pouch, and ambled in after him.
"By Althena!" Ghaleon cursed. "What creatures are these?"
Kazyr ducked a long-armed swipe and hurled a fireball at the offending humanoid. But the creature merely opened its huge maw and swallowed the magic. It burped, and then spat the fireball back at Kazyr.
The white-haired mage swiftly uttered an incantation and dispelled the magic before it could strike him.
However the creature was more than happy to spit a second fireball, a mirror image of the first, at the wizard.
"Ghaleon! I thought you knew about things like these!"
"I've never seen anything on Lunar like these atrocities," Ghaleon growled. "And if magic won't work on them, we'll just have to resort to cruder means."
"Cruder?" Kazyr echoed.
The obese creatures shuffled forward on their stumpy legs, dragging their spindly long arms after them.
"Cruder," Ghaleon affirmed.
The former Magic Emperor reached for the hilt concealed behind his cloak and pulled out a mighty long sword. The blade gleamed cruelly in the magic light as lavender mist issued from it for a moment.
Kazyr blanched.
"You know how to use that thing?" the white-haired wizard asked, even as Ghaleon began hewing a way past the creatures and up the stairs.
"What does it look like?" Ghaleon snapped back. He cleaved the arms off of one of the abominations that dared to get to close to him.
"What am I supposed to do?" Kazyr hurried after Ghaleon, feeling worse than helpless.
"Keep yourself out of trouble," was the reply.
Kazyr thought a moment. Perhaps his magic couldn't directly hurt the creatures, but what if the magic did something to indirectly effect them. He thought of something briefly and for a moment the eyes of the silver wolfÕs head amulet around his neck flared with life. But then he shook his head. There was another way. He would not allow himself to be helpless in front of Ghaleon.
Ghaleon dodged a blow that would have struck his arm, but caught his cloak instead, tearing a long slit through it. The pointy-eared man glowered and rammed the offending beast through. He quickly yanked his blade out of the fatty flesh in time to block the claws of another creature.
"What in Zophar's name do you think you're doing?" he demanded of Kazyr, now hearing the white-haired mage's quiet incantations.
Kazyr didn't reply; thoroughly absorbed in his magic. So Ghaleon moved to provide more cover for Kazyr so that whatever he was trying to cast wouldn't be disturbed.
The white-haired mage delicately whipped out what looked like a multi-colored piece of cloth from his pouch and snapped it through the air in front of him. More arcane words followed, and Kazyr's blue eyes focused on the monsters behind him and down the staircase. His wrist give the cloth a sudden twist and material rippled into place, becoming a rigid and flat, square piece of cloth. Kazyr uttered a final word and hurled the cloth down in front of him and Ghaleon.
The cloth sailed like a brick, enlarging and graying as it went. It landed on end and grew until it filled the entire corridor. The cloth took on the consistency of metal, and the fevered banging on the newly formed wall could be heard from the other side. But Ghaleon doubted they would be able to break through. So he turned his attention back to the few remaining on their side of the wall.
"I should have thought to do that earlier," muttered Kazyr. "Nice trick that thing," he added, referring to the stunt he just pulled.
"Yes," Ghaleon agreed, retrieving his sword from the last of the obese atrocities. "By the way, what kind of artifact was that thing you used?"
"Oh, that?" Kazyr asked, gesturing to the newly formed wall of steel. "It was a handkerchief. Nothing special."
Kazyr's alteration magic proved to be increasingly more useful as the two battled their way through every floor of the Star Tower. Ghaleon was impressed by Kazyr's ability to find non-violent ways to use his magic since most wizardly magic on Lunar was directed to either hurt the enemy, or aid one's self. Lunarian magic was for the most part combat related, yet what Kazyr was doing didn't necessarily fall into the categories of either offense or defense, and indeed might have been just as useful in building a house as halting their enemies.
Finally, the pair darted through a circular chamber and entered a room which had a large green crystal suspended at the opposite end.
"This looks like it," Ghaleon panted. "I think we're at the top of the tower now." He glanced back and heard the angry scrabbling of the magic-eating creatures behind them. "Well, I've fulfilled my part of the bargain now."
"Yes," began Kazyr, "I suppose you ha-"
"I see you have arrived," a voice cut him off.
The shadows of the room darkened for an instant, and then an eight foot tall metallic warrior stood before them.
"The Star Dragon," murmured Ghaleon.
The bickering of the monsters behind the pair became louder.
Kazyr hurriedly riffled through his pouch and pulled out a block of wood. It wasn't what he was looking for, but it was something none the less. He threw it at the doorway they had just passed through and caused it to enlarge into a massive barricade they would allow nothing to pass through. It was a quicker spell than the transmutation he pulled on the handkerchief earlier.
"You shouldn't have done that," chided the Star Dragon. And his glowing eyes flared a brilliant yellow. "They are welcome here, unlike yourselves."
"Those creatures are unlike anything I've even seen on Lunar," said Ghaleon. "I've never seen anything that could capture our magic and then use it against us. It was no mere reflection spell, but a genuine stealing of our abilities, for they could use what they captured repeatedly."
"That's because they are not from Lunar," replied the Star Dragon. His eyes narrowed, and the glow around them intensified.
"Then why are they welcome here?" Ghaleon demanded.
"They have a mission to perform. And getting rid of you seems to be the goal."
The Star Dragon reached over his shoulder, and hilt of a massive great sword popped into his hands. He swung it down in front of him and took a stance between the two visitors and the green crystal.
"We've got to fight him?" asked Kazyr.
"My, aren't you bright," Ghaleon snapped as the Star Dragon lunged to attack.
Ghaleon raised his sword to parry, and strained to hold his ground as his blade absorbed the momentum of the Star Dragon's charge. He darted to the side, allowing his opponent's force to slide past him as he whirled into a better position with the crystal to his back. The former Magic Emperor did not fail to notice that Kazyr had followed him and saw now trying to get closer to the crystal.
"Ghaleon, how do I use this thing to get to the Blue Star?" asked the white-haired mage, as his partner hurriedly blocked one of the Star Dragon's leaps. The giant warrior had tried landing a mile high dropping attack on Kazyr.
"What are you asking me for?" Ghaleon returned with a growl. "I'm busy enough as it is and I don't know how to use it. I just know it's possible."
"What?! Then what the heck did we come here for? This is no good to me if I can't use it!"
"It's the only way I know of. Take it or leave it!"
The swords again rung from the repeated clashes between Ghaleon and the Star Dragon. Neither seemed to be getting the upper hand, which was beginning to worry Ghaleon. By rights, the Star Dragon should be powerful, but not this powerful. Ghaleon had easily faced the normal blue, black, red, and white dragons without a problem, but this guardian was oppressively difficult; not that Ghaleon would allow himself to be killed by such an opponent.
Ghaleon grimaced as a strike bypassed his defenses and bit into his shoulder. His arm went numb from the shock, but he forced himself to keep hold of his sword.
Kazyr saw things weren't going well, and he reached into his bottomless pouch for something to help Ghaleon with. The Star Dragon was of this world, perhaps magic would work against him even if it hadn't against the other creatures.
"Mee-tar-LA!" Kazyr shouted, pointing an oaken wand at the Star Dragon.
The Star Dragon's sword dulled.
"Was that all you could do?" asked Ghaleon, blocking another blow. "So now he's just going to club me to death instead of skewering me!"
"Sorry. This wand is very unpredictable. But sometimes it's very handy."
Kazyr shoved the oaken wand back into his pouch and his hand closed around another object. This one was vibrating. Kazyr pulled it out, and the shattered prism he held glowed and throbbed with a green light.
"What in the?" he gasped.
His prism glowed and hummed. And an answering hum resonated from the larger crystal in the chamber. The room began to light up, crystals all along the walls and ceiling began to shimmer and shake.
"It's powering up!" shouted Ghaleon over the loud humming. The large green crystal glowed. "The way to the Blue Star is open!"
Ghaleon slid his sword into its sheath and a ball of sparkling blackness formed between his hands. "You'd better go. I'll hold off the Star Dragon long enough for you to get through!" With that, he thrust his arms forward, allowing the ball to dissolve into immense bolts of lavender lightning that dashed from his hands and struck the Star Dragon. "Dragon Cannon!"
Kazyr nodded his thanks although he knew Ghaleon was not watching him. "I am in your debt, Ghaleon."
Then he leaped into the light, allowing himself to become absorbed by it.
Ghaleon glanced back to make sure that the wizard as gone, and then gave his full attention to the staggering Star Dragon. "Now that he's gone, I have some questions for you."
"Like what?" snarled the warrior, regaining his composure.
"What's this concern over guarding the way to the Blue Star? Colonization had already started. Yet the way is now closed. Why has travel stopped? I'm certain the two of us were not the only ones you've tried to drive off."
"Your hunch is correct," the Star Dragon acknowledged in a mocking tone. "Everything is following the plan. The mistakes of Althena will be corrected. Is that not what you have wanted, Ghaleon?"
"My concerns over Althena's actions have been healed, Star Dragon. Come now, why are you attacking us? I doubt your concern is solely because of a wandering alien wizard who happened to crash land on our world."
"I am following the Maker's plans."
"The Maker?" Ghaleon shifted his position, moving closer to the large glowing crystal. Things were suddenly sounding much bigger than Kazyr's simple idea of finding out what hurt his ship, fixing his problem, and then going on his merry way. "Who's the Maker?"
The Star Dragon snarled. "You'll find out when you see him." An aqua aura surrounded the Star Dragon's hands. "As they say, 'Prepare to meet your Maker!'" And the flames burst from his palms towards Ghaleon.
Ghaleon thought quickly, turned, and leapt into the blinding crystal's light. A split second later the artifact was destroyed by the enchanted flames.