Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 23:30:51 -0500
From: Rhaven <rhaven2002@hotmail.com>
Subject: Star Child Chapter Fourteen

This is a story of full fiction, no robot or fantasy creatures were
harmed in its creation

I am glad to announce that my website had finally been UPDATED, with
Star Child artwork, the story and a SNEAK PEEK of Star Child 2.

Take a look: www.rhavenlore.com


Star Child

Return to Thrae


CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Ash was hesitant to follow the group of Ellers through the solid wall
of ice. When someone goes to this kind of extreme to locate you, it
always meant bad news. However, Ash figured that since he had appeared
in Thrae, all he has known was bad news. Otto held his hand firmly as
they faded beyond the ice walls of the caverns. Ash didn't have to
open his eyes to know they were no longer in the caverns. The warm air
hit him like a furnace. After hours in the dark ice caves, freezing,
being back outside in the warmth was almost more than Ash could
handle. His body shivered as the warm air thawed him.

"Prince Asrais, if you could follow me please. The Grand Master needs
to speak with you immediately." Nazarus said quickly. The six other
Ellers split up and walked to separate areas of the large encampment.
Ellers were all around him, separated into warrior groups as far as
Ash could figure out. Ellers with swords and shields, Ellers on
horseback, Ellers with bow and arrows and even a small group of Ellers
meditating. Ash had never seen so many naked people in his life; an
army of nude Ellers didn't look that impressive to him.

"Where are we?" Ash whispered to Otto as they approached a large tent.
Otto pointed to the horizon towards the mountains in the distance.

"That is the Maelstrom Mountains."

Ash moaned and drooped his shoulders. After all they had gone through,
they had come full circle.  They were still days away from finding the
blade of the Star Child and reuniting with Puck and Dango.

Nazarus led Ash and Otto into the tent. Sitting on large overstuffed
pillows were an Eller and a human boy. The boy was sprawled across
three pillows and snoring quietly.

"Please come in." The Eller whispered. "Forgive my young friend; he
has had a long journey." The Eller gestured for Otto and Ash to have a
seat.

"I will see you later Prince Asrais, Otto." Nazarus said with a bow.
"I must organize my men."

"Of course Nazarus, thank you for fetching our young prince." The
Eller on the pillows smiled and returned his attention to Otto and
Ash. "I am Grand Master Ochen, and I presume you are eager to learn
why I have searched you out."

"Very eager and curious, Grand Master." Otto answered bluntly,
remaining on his feet. Ash moved closer to his tall friend, if Otto
refused to sit down, then so did he.

"Our sleeping boy here is Liam Ember from the now destroyed House of
Cigam. He and others had gathered together in hope to defeat Prime."
Ochen leaned over and ran his fingers through Liam's hair. "Liam
risked his life to find me. to warn me." Ochen shook his head as if
trying to rid himself of feelings. "I. I refused to help; I refused to
offer assistance in this great evil. And because of my conceit and
ignorance. thousands of humans perished."

"That's horrible." Ash said without thinking and instantly felt
ashamed for saying it aloud.

"Yes, young Prince it is horrible." Ochen said apparently not insulted
by Ash's comment. "We have never asked or needed the help from humans;
after all, it was they who made us slaves. However, it is time to put
aside our differences. It is time for Thrae to be united, for us to
stand together in this time of turmoil." Grand Master Ochen stood and
stepped in front of Ash. "The Rose Konig Clan pledges its complete
loyalty to you Prince Asrais. Together we will stop Prime's mad plan
and bring peace back to Salvane."

"Th.thank you." Ash said blushing. "Could you help us get to the
Sememman Sea? We need to find the other half of the Star Child." Ash
held up the hilt. "It's really important we get there before Prime
does."

"Yes." Ochen stuttered as he stared at the perfectly white handle. "It
has been centuries since I have seen the Star Child. If you can tell
us where the blade is, my army will take you."

"Something is wrong." Otto interrupted, lifting his axe high in
defense.

"Grand Master." Yelled an Eller as he raced into the tent. "Prime's
warriors. they are approaching.

"Prime's warriors?" Liam Ember screamed, drawn out of his deep slumber
by the loud voice of the Eller. "We . we have to get out of here?"

"Calm yourself Liam." Ochen turned his attention to the Eller soldier.
"How many robots are approaching?"

The soldier looked uncomfortably around the tent. "I think all of
them."



Puck forced himself to stay awake. He was thrown across the horse like
an old saddlebag. Every bump and jolt from the horse sent searing
bolts of pain through his body. The only satisfaction he had was the
fact that Fylgiar had been severely injured, by Dango's hand he
presumed. Puck kept his thoughts on Dango in the back of his mind. He
knew something horribly had happened to his long time lover. However,
if he let those thoughts in, he would be consumed by them. All Puck
knew was that Fylgiar would die at his hands, no matter if it took him
a lifetime.

"Maybe you should rest." The robot boy said.

"I'll fucking rest once this is all over with." Fylgiar barked.

"That time is at hand."

Puck strained to see who the new voice belong to, but couldn't see
pass Fylgiar's knee. However, in the end it didn't matter, Fylgiar
knew the intruder, knew him and by the tension in his voice, hated
him.

"Prime." Fylgiar growled. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Your job, I believe." Prime said casually. "You were ordered to find
the Prince, but I see all that you have gathered is one less eye and a
deplorable Eller."

"I." Fylgiar's anger was so strong it made it hard for him to speak.
"I am doing my job." He said slowly, his injured eye throbbing as he
spoke. "So Aero, I see you are still following this maniac."

Aero looked down at his feet. "If you had just done your job
correctly, then we wouldn't have to be here." Lord Aero said sounding
almost sad.

"Boy bring the Eller aboard my chariot. He may be important in my
final goal." Prime ordered.

"Boy." Fylgiar was shocked as he watched Boy remove Puck off the horse
and carry him over to the insane Autonoid. "Boy what. what are you
doing?"

"I'm sorry Fyl, I have to do this." Boy said simply.

"You don't have to do anything that freak says!" Yelled Fylgiar,
throwing his hand over his missing eye as it started bleeding again.

Puck groaned as he hit the metal floor of the hovering chariot. Lying
on his back, he stared up at the demonic robot. Prime, the master of
all this destruction, the murderer of King Verloren and half the human
race. Puck could end all this horror now, if only he could get the
Neurochoker off. Years ago, Puck had been sent to Earth as watcher and
protector of Prince Asrais. For all he knew, Ash was never meant to
return to his home world, but Prime happened and Puck returned with
his young ward. From that moment of ignorant decision, Puck had
screwed everything up. For all he knew, all his friends were already
dead. The fate of Thrae rested in his bonded hands.

"Don't worry about your little robot; I'll take good care of him."
Prime said smiling. "But I would hate to think of you getting lonely
here in the woods." Prime helped Boy climb onto the chariot and then
turned his attention to Lord Aero. "I think you have spied enough Lord
Aero."

Prime waved his hand and from the back of the chariot came a terror
filled scream. Aero stumbled away from the now visible Grem. The
reptilian boy fell off the back of the chariot, his flesh bubbling off
the bones.

"Grem." Aero whispered the name, he didn't feel grief from the boy
dying, Grem was nothing more than a tool to him. Aero felt grief from
being discovered.

"Did you truly believe this little slime could spy on me? You are an
idiot Aero. A would be conqueror, with a singularity of thought.
Sadly, that is what blinds you. Even I a machine, have more of an
imagination than you ever will. Time to say goodbye." Prime lunged
forward and slammed his fist into Aero's stomach. The man howled as he
flew thirty feet through the forest.

Fylgiar would have laughed at Aero's misfortune, but he still was in
shock as he watched Boy fly away with Prime.

"By the way." Prime said as they flew above the trees. "I'd start
running. Woods are going to become very crowded here soon."

"What the fuck does that mean?" Fylgiar screamed at the parting
chariot. "Mother fucker!"

With a fuming shake of his head, Fylgiar approached the moaning Lord
Aero. Sprawled out across a thorny bush the Lord looked more angry
than hurt.

"I will not lose this way." Lord Aero grunted as he pulled himself out
of the bush. "Prime thinks he has won. He has won nothing. Nothing!
Fylgiar, you know where they are headed right?"

Fylgiar shook his head again and turned away from the Lord.

"Aero, you are truly an idiot." Fylgiar walked back to his horse and
pulled on its ear. A panel hissed its way out of the back of the horse
's neck. "Prime is a machine; he doesn't do things without reason."

Lord Aero stumbled over to Fylgiar, brushing off the dirt and leaves
as he tried to walk.

"What the hell are you babbling about Fylgiar? And where the hell did
you find a mechanical horse?"

"The horse found me." Fylgiar said simply, as he tapped a button on
the illuminated panel. "Prime should have killed us both. Even you
must admit he could have done that easily. So why didn't he?"

"He. didn't need to kill us." Aero swallowed hard and nervously looked
around. "So what do you believe was his reasoning in sparing us?"

Fylgiar frowned at the image that was displayed across the panel.
"Prime has left us here alive, because it appears he's called in his
warriors."

"What do you mean?" Aero pushed his way in front of the panel and
wrinkled up his nose at all the blinking lights. "What the hell am I
looking at here?"

"Prime has all his robots coming our way. The monitor is picking up.
10,000, no 20,000 robots."

"We.we need to get out of here!" Aero almost screamed, it took all his
courage not to go running off into the woods hysterically.

"Can you cast spells?" Fylgiar asked calmly, although he was in
excruciating pain.

"Spells? I am Lord of Misset; of course I can cast spells."

"The horse can travel at high speeds, but I'm not sure it can keep us
ahead of the robots. Our only chance if the robots catch up with us
will be magic." Fylgiar closed the panel on the horse and climbed into
the saddle. Aero managed to climb behind Fylgiar after several tries.

"You do know that magic has no affect on the robots, right?" Lord Aero
said rudely.

"It all depends on which spell you cast." Fylgiar said as he kicked
the horse into top speed. "Prime's robots aren't what they seem."



Otto grabbed up Ash, before the boy could say a word.

"We need to get out of here now." Otto yelled above the ear-piercing
roar that filled the air. They could hear and feel the ground shake
from the advancing robots, though they were still miles away. It was a
terrifying experience, like knowing that a disaster was approaching,
but having no way of hiding from it. Ash looked around at the chaos,
Ellers attempting to get organized, prepared for the approaching
attack, but Ash could see the fear in their eyes. It was the same fear
he felt.

"Liam follow us." Ash yelled trying to get the terrified boy's
attention.

"Prince Asrais, we will try to delay the robots so that you may
escape." Grand Master Ochen said quickly. "You must stop Prime from
getting the Star Child."

"Can't you just teleport everyone there? I. I don't want anyone to get
killed." Ash said twisting around in Otto's hold so that he could see
Grand Master Ochen.

"I'm afraid not Prince Asrais. The spell we used to get you here takes
too long." Ochen looked towards the horizon. "I don't believe."

Suddenly the sounds of yelling filled the campsite. Over the ridge,
Ellers stumbled back as four robots raced passed them. The robots were
bombarded with energy balls, lightening bolts, and spheres of blinding
light and other magical attacks as they made their way easily through
the campsite. Otto quickly pushed Ash behind him and readied his axe.
The robots ignored the Ellers; as if they were nothing more than
inanimate items. It was obvious that Otto and Ash were their true
target. The robots didn't bother defending against all the magical
attacks, they ran over any Eller not quick enough to get out of their
way. To Ash's surprise, Otto didn't wait for the robots to reach them,
the Autonoid rushed forward raising his axe high. With his first
swing, Otto did what all the spells from the Eller's had failed to do,
the robot exploded in an eruption of metal and wires. However, before
Otto could swing again, the three remaining jumped on him. Ash watched
the attack in horror, feeling completely helpless. He was relieved to
see Nazarus join the fight wielding a strange jagged sword. The naked
Eller managed to slice off one robot's arm. The robot stopped its
attack and looked at its missing limb, looked around as if looking for
its attacker. Nazarus held up his sword ready for the counter attack,
but the robot returned its attention to Otto.

"We have to get out of here!" Liam screamed, tugging hard on Ash's
arm.

"I can't leave." Ash yanked his arm free of the hysterical boy's grip.
"I've got to save Otto."

Ash started running towards Otto, but another hand grabbed him before
he could take a step. Ash swung at the person without even thinking,
but Grand Master Ochen ducked away from the blow easily.

"You cannot help your friend. We must get you out of here now." Ochen
pointed to the horizon. Ash with gritted teeth reluctantly turned to
where the Eller pointed. It looked like flood water of yellow,
thousands of robots rushed over the ridge. Ash looked out on the
battlefield; it was a sight no one should ever witness. Wave after
wave of robots rushed forward, ignoring the Ellers, but nonetheless
killing them in their mindless march.

"Nazarus!" Otto yelled as he hit one of the robots attacking him.
"Nazarus, get Ash out of here now!"

Nazarus nodded grudgingly and left Otto to his attackers, but suddenly
stopped when the Autonoid screamed. One of the robots had dug his
fingers into Otto's shoulder.

"Get out. of here!" Otto screamed. Nazarus raced over to Ash and
grabbed his hand.

"Grand Master we have to leave now." Nazarus yelled.

"Take Prince Asrais and Liam. I will try to hindrance these robots."
Ochen wrinkled up his face and stared over at Otto. The three robots
attacking the Autonoid suddenly backed away. Otto stood and stretched
his arms serenely.

"Otto. Otto!" Ash yelled to his friend.

The Autonoid smiled a wicked grin. The horde of robots gathered behind
Otto, with his insane grin.

"Otto. Nazarus what's wrong with Otto?" Ash said forcing back tears.

"I think he's been taken over." Ochen answered. "Go now Nazarus, I
will slow them down."

"Taken over? OTTO!" Ash screamed. "Otto please!" But Otto didn't move,
he only wave his arms forward, the robots instantly obeyed his silent
command and started their march.

"We are going to die." Liam wept. Nazarus took hold of the crying
boys. "Get ready I'm going to cast a Tempus spell."

Before Nazarus could complete his spell, a robot leapt onto Liam's
back. Nazarus pushed Ash out of the way, as they both fell forward.
Ash didn't need Nazarus's help in avoiding the attacking robots, the
boy quickly sprang to his feet and dodged another advancing robot.
Everywhere Ash looked there were hundreds of robots racing towards
him. The Ellers tried to slow them down, but again the robots ignored
them completely, as if the nude boys didn't exist. Ash jumped out of
the way, as another robot tried to grab him, without thinking, knocked
away a mechanical hand with the Star Child hilt. There was a flash of
light and the robot faded from existence.

"What the hell?" Ash muttered to himself, as he stared awkwardly at
the white hilt. He didn't have time to figure out what had happened as
he was quickly surrounded by robots. Ash suddenly heard the boy Liam
scream. Ash swung the hilt around him, several more robots vanished.
It opened enough room for Ash to roll passed them to where Liam lay on
the ground. The boy was covered in blood and not moving, at first
sight Ash was afraid Liam was dead. The boy moaned weakly and Ash
leaned over him, waving the hilt around to keep the robots off them.

"Liam. Liam can you hear me?" Ash screamed in the boy's ear. "Liam you
have to wake up!"

"It hurts." Liam groaned and forced one swollen eye open.

"I'm going to get us out of here." Ash said as he pulled Liam up.

"You're not going anywhere."

Ash looked up at the ominously grinning Otto. Ash tried to roll out of
the way, as the big Autonoid reached for him. However, Otto was too
fast for Ash, in an instant, Ash found himself lifted off the ground.
He knew it was hopeless to struggle, Otto had super human strength.
Ash glanced at the hilt and looked back at his dear friend.

"Let me go Otto, please. I don't want to destroy you." Ash threatened,
hoping that Otto had seen the other robots vanish with a touch from
the hilt.

"You hurt me? I have no intention of letting you go. My dear Prince,
you are going to recover the rest of the Star Child."

Ash started to cry, tears rolling softly down his cheeks, he raised
the hilt and slammed it hard into Otto's chest.

"You seriously didn't think that would hurt me did you?" Otto laughed
looked down at the boy in his hands.

"That may not have hurt, but I guarantee this will!" Running passed
the robots, Nazarus appeared, hold his jagged sword high over his
head. The blade streaked down in a flash and Ash fell to the ground.
Ash held in a scream as he stared over to Otto's right arm, severed
above the elbow, the dismembered arm jerked and flexed unnaturally.

"We're going NOW!" Nazarus screamed and pulled Ash to his feet.

"Not without Liam." Ash said quickly, but Nazarus ignored him. The
Eller weaved a complex spell and Ash felt as if he had fallen into
thick syrup. The air hardened around him and everything and everyone
froze. Ash dared to look over at Otto, a statue of absolute rage
painted across his motionless face.

"We have to get Liam." Ash found it hard to speak.

"I'm sorry Prince Asrais, but Liam Ember is dead, there was nothing
you could do." Nazarus said solemnly as he walked Ash through the maze
of robots.

"It was the strangest encounter I have ever experienced." Nazarus
continued talking. "No matter what we did, the robots acted as if we
weren't there."

"I didn't see much of the battle." Ash admitted.

"Only two hundred robots remained to capture you, the rest continued
south." Nazarus walked casually into the woods. Ash suddenly realized
that all his surroundings had become an unfocused blur.

"What's happening?" Ash said looking around, trying not to panic.

"I cast a Tempus spell, we are moving between the heartbeats of the
world." Nazarus explained. Ash nodded as if he understood the Eller
and decided not to ask any more questions.

"We need to head south, to the Sememman Sea. We were supposed to take
the Erland Caverns all the way to a black beach." Ash waited for
Nazarus to comment, but the Eller remained silent. "We need to head
south." Ash started again, but Nazarus gestured for him to be quiet.

"There's the rest of the robots." Nazarus pointed to their left. It
was a swarm of yellow robots as far as Ash could see.

"I think I know the black beach you are talking about." Nazarus said,
finally acknowledging what Ash had said. "It shouldn't take us long to
get there."

Nazarus picked up his pace only to stop completely after a few minutes
of walking.

"Now that is a strange sight." The Eller said almost laughing. Ash
looked and giggled. Two grown men on a horse, but it was the man in
back that made him laugh. It was apparent this person was unhappy
about the ride. He clung tightly to the rider and was in mid scream.

"Who do you think they are?" Ash asked.

"Not sure, but if I didn't know any better I'd say the man in back was
Lord Aero." Nazarus frowned. "No it can't be Lord Aero, why would he
be riding on the back of a horse?" Nazarus laughed again and started
walking again. Ash glanced back at the two men and wondered. If that
was Lord Aero, then he was also searching for the Star Child. The man
with him was heavily armed, Ash had the feeling he should stop them,
that if they continued, it would be more trouble in the end. However,
Ash didn't even know what would happen once they did reach the black
beach. Without Puck, Dango and now Otto with him, he was lost. Ash had
the feeling that he was heading to his doom.