Chapter 24 The Machine Returns
author: Veyanne - yellow , Overlord - red , Blackguard - violet
Meanwhile.....
But first an intermezzo.
There are machines and then there's the overlord. No longer human, yet very different from any kind of machine we normally encounter. No cogs, no wheels, no strings or wires. The metal (of a kind that doesn't belong on our planet) simply reshapes itself into what is necessary. Although the overlord is not a shape shifter, he can alter his appearance well enough to be able to walk, fight and act in any way necessary. Every second parts of him eliminate themselves to be reborn in a slightly different position. It was actually a kind of time jump made by the metal particles themselves. Each change was actually a shift in time-lines, but so subtle, that it didn't really affect anything else but the position and movement of the cyborg-body. One drawback was that it cost an enormous amount of energy. But the overlord had no concerns about that. The energy was a gift and he stopped worrying about the price a long time ago. And the cost was completely outweighed by the benefits: this kind of move-time-shifting made him almost completely invulnerable.
But the overlord never thought about this. He merely was and his mind was almost blank. He was all action and no thought. There wasn't any need for thought anymore. The human remains inside him were only there to link him to energy source and they were well hidden, protected and shielded from any kind of intrusion.
The machine had followed the trails blindly. His senses gave him an almost full story of what had been going on at the locations he passed. He could smell out the Blackguard half-demon, the Witch queen, the Temptress and the children. He sensed very well what was going on and it gave him the urge to hurry.
One tiny thought was enough to double the use of energy and bring his complete boy out of phase with the rest of time. The machine kept walking in his slow and ominous pace. In this state he had no need to hurry, since there was no movement anywhere. When he finally arrived at the scene of the crime, all figures were frozen solid, caught between two breaths. He looked at the smoldering remains of the Temptress, the grieving little boy at the other end and the shimmering figure of the girl, right at the moment of her departure. He aimed his senses at her and retrieved the knowledge of where she was projecting herself and stored that information for later use. After that he looked at the others, the women, th shaman and finally the Witch-queen herself. He could easily kill all of them and they would never find out. Instead he walked over to the boy and stopped next to him. Then he shifted back to normal time again and waited, statue-like, threatening.
Kendra blinked when the large machine of death suddenly appeared out of nowhere. She immediately knew what had happened, but it still caught her by surprise, since she didn't see it coming. She should have though. With squinting eyes she assessed the situation. He was clearly not here to kill them. He could have done that already. So when Ilsa and Kiri jumped and started to circle the machine to attack, she waved them back. The machine only gave a single message: do not harm this boy. That was all.
Blackguard had retired to his chambers. He was tired, drained and in no condition to do anything other than sleep. He hated that. It was yet another example of his human frailties, something he wished he could live without. But there was no way possible to separate the demon from the man.
He still seethed with anger at Kendra's murder of the Temptress. He was still angry at the Shaman for pulling back Thenna's soul. And he worried about what they were doing to her at this moment. Hopefully, with his teachings, she would manage to escape. Or failing that, hopefully cause Kendra a hell of a lot of problems.
But such thoughts were for later, when he was able to deal with the situation at hand. He had to sleep and replenish his energies. Sleep came very quickly, he was tired.
Kendra looked around for the girl and discovered she was gone. The girl was always surprising her and that pleased her. So much power already. Kendra closed her eyes and tried to link with the girl, to find out where she was. Her eyes quickly opened again: she could find her. The connection was gone. In frustration the Witch-queen growled and hit the wall. She had been so close and now it all started again.
"Blackguard must have severed the soul-bond.", Kendra hissed in her mind, "He must have had help."
She'd lost a powerful student. That wasn't good. But it did release her from her obligations. She was no longer Thenna's master.
"Blackguard can have her.", Kendra thought, conceding, "He'll only teach her the ways of a coward."
Thenna dropped to the floor of her mother's chambers. She had miscalculated the jump, and had materialised some 5 feet in the air. As she brushed the dust from her clothes, she wondered what she could do now.
She had gotten away from that terrible Kendra, but was forced to leave Henos behind. She didn't want to do that, but when she had opened her eyes and seen Kendra and the Shaman there, she just panicked and "jumped". She had to figure out a way to get her brother back, but part of her wondered if this was possible. She remembered how he looked when that horrid machine touched him. It wasn't her father, it couldn't be! And without wanting to, all the tension, all the pain of the past few days came crashing down on her in that one moment and she started to cry.
Great sobs wracked her body, as the pain poured out of her and when she was done she just sat there, hugged her knees to her chest and sniffled.
For the first time in her life, she felt totally and completely alone.
It was a terrible feeling. She just wanted to fade away, to melt into the shadows and disappear.
And she did.
Meanwhile, back in the catacombs....
The Witch Queen turned to look at the overlord. He looked like he was completely a robot now. She listened for his heartbeat. She could hear it. It was very feint but it was there. Somewhere inside that thing there was a part of the overlord that was still living. The thought sickened her.
Did he still have human feelings? She would have to test it. She sauntered up to the machine. She swung her hips. She moved slowly.
"I loved killing your men.", she put emphasis on every word. She drove her point home. "The burning bodies littering the hall. The twisted metal. The smell of smoke and burning flesh in the air."
Kendra stopped at leaned her head back, running her fingers through her hair and giving the overlord a good long look at her shapely, sensuous body, "It made me cum."
She writhed in front of him and looked seductively into the machine's face. The overlord made no movement at all.
"It was good, but not like when I killed you.", she turned away from him, giving him a good look at the rest of her.
Then she glanced over her shoulder at him, "Do you remember that day? I'll never forget it."
The Witch Queen pulled out her red sword, "My blade, this one, cut your body to pieces. Your blood was everywhere, on my blade, on the ground, all over my body, in my hair..."
"I loved it.", she hissed, "Revenge was sweet."
The cyborg didn't flinch.
"They took what was left of you and put it in that machine.", Kendra pointed her blade at his chest. "They must have taken away part of your mind too. I didn't leave it undamaged."
"Maybe you've forgotten everything. How I defeated you. How you suffered. The pain and humiliation.", she worked hard on his ego. "But as long as you can hear, you never would have forgotten this."
The Witch Queen held her sword above her head. She leaned her head back. She let out a ear shattering victory cry. The only people who had ever heard it were the dying on the battlefield.
The sound rang through the overlord's metal brain. Nothing. It didn't feel a thing.
Kendra stopped and looked at the machine once again. It hadn't moved.
She knew that the overlord was finally dead.
She sighed and looked at the boy. At least he was safe in her hands now. She didn't worry about the overlord anymore. It was clear he was now only a dumb machine sent here to protect the boy and she wasn't intended on harming him. He would come along easy enough.
"I swore an oath that I would kill you if you laid a hand on the boy.", Kendra stared into the cyborg's eyes. "Understand that I will honor my word."
She shouted her orders to the other two women to try and locate the girl again. She would not give up so easily.
"Ilsa! Kiri! Did you see where the girl went?"
"No, my Queen.", the said in unison.
"Jinx.", Kiri said and pointed her finger at Ilsa.
Kendra ignored Kiri's silly antics.
"If you see her, capture her. Use whatever force necessary.", Kendra explained slowly and clearly, "She will lead us to Blackguard. And then we will kill him."
"But now we must return home.", Kendra began to cast a spell.
Thenna slipped through the shadows, marvelling at this new ability of hers. It was as if all the shadows in the world were connected, by projecting yourself from one, into another you could litterally move anywhere you wanted, provided there was darkness of course.
She stepped from one to another as easily as a person would walk down the street. There was no apparent force guiding her, no rhyme or reason to her destination but eventually she happend upon a wall of impenetrable darkness.
It felt cold to the touch, but a different cold from those of the shadows. And what's more it felt familiar. It was almost...comforting. She had to see what was on the other side of this wall, but she didn't know how to get in.
Then a word came unbidden to her lips, it was one she had never heard, never even known and as soon as she spoke it, she forgot it. But a doorway did open before her and she walked fearlessly in.
Henos stared at the giant cyborg next to him. "Father?"
The cyborg remained silent.
"Oh, sweet goddess.", said Kiri, "That's your father?"
Henos stared at the unmoving robot.
Kiri knelt in front of the child.
"My father was like that. He never said anything.", Henos eye's turned toward Kiri. "It didn't mean he didn't love me."
The words sunk in. Henos felt a little better.
"Now come on kiddo. We're going to teach you all about sex. Oops. I mean the black arts.", Kiri grinned.
Henos smiled a little, but only on the inside.
The Witch Queen felt the connection to her homeland. She poured magic through it. The connection grew stronger but her homeland was far away. It took most of her strength to open the portal. In time a large black oval appeared on the wall before her.
"Go, now!", Kendra called out.
Kiri took Henos' hand and pulled him toward to black oval. He was scared. She reassured him. The overlord lumbered toward the oval beside him. Henos felt safer between them both. He walked toward the oval. The shaman followed behind. His mind felt like it was on fire. He struggled to keep up appearances. He didn't want Kendra to know what had happened. He didn't want to be punished. Ilsa followed and finally the Witch Queen stepped through. The portal closed behind them.
On the other side Henos saw the stone walls of the underground city again. He felt afraid. This was a bad place. He had so many unpleasant memories and his sister wasn't there to make him feel better. He didn't know where Thenna had gone. Everything had happened so fast. He was still confused. He searched his mind for something to hold on to. Then he remembered what his mother had told him..."Be a good student Henos. I know you can. Make me proud of you. OK? Everything is going to be all right."
He knew that she loved him and that she would never lie to him. He felt like everything was going to be alright. Slowly his playful mood returned.
Henos looked over at Kiri's baggy pants. She was holding them up with her hand.
"Your pants look funny", he said.
Ilsa snickered.
"Oh, don't YOU start with me now.", Kiri moaned.
"No. No. They look good on you. Honest", Ilsa joined in with just a hint of sarcasm.
"They do not!", Kiri protested, "You guys. I swear."
Ilsa turned away and covered her mouth.
Henos looked up at Kiri and laughed, "I like you." he said between giggles.
"I... Oh, Aww, that's sweet.", Kiri looked at him and smiled again, "I like you too Henos."
"It's the pants.", Ilsa took another shot at Kiri, "He likes the pants."
"Oh, puh-lease..."