The Adventures of Goldfish and Geneva

The World of Magic (Part 5)

When the elves arrived in Staghorn, just to the edge of the chasm. They were slightly disorientated. Teleportation was a rare event on Stormm and few were ever unaffected by the sensations it created. This momentary disorientation gave de Winter's armies to train their weapons on them. The elves looked about, waiting to see who would make the first move. Before anyone could react, Dave appeared between them. He and de Winter had prepared for this moment since he had the plan.
"Elven people - Darkfleet is dead. Acknowledge me as your new leader."
"Never," cried one of them. "We know that he is dead, killed by Skurm of the Orcs. We cut off his head and feasted on his bones. I am leader now, for I am the son of Darkfleet I am Gazar!"
"Gazar, son of Darkfleet. It may have been Skurm's power signature that killed him, but the blast came from me. By your own laws and the magics of Stormm, I AM your leader." This rattled the elves, slightly, but Gazar stood firm.
"We have heard of your powers and we have seen the destruction you wrought on our camp. Know that when you left the fires began to die out. Your sorcery killed dozens of orcs and elves. This has disturbed the dwarves and so cannot concentrate on closing the chasm. You have done well to get this far by yourself, but we will never acknowledge you as leader." The elven race shouted in agreement. Gazar came forward to Dave, who motioned for the human warriors to stay their weapons. "In your eyes you have the magic," he said and stepped away. "But I will reclaim it by killing you!" He drew his sword and leapt at Dave, who had been waiting for it. It was time to put the plan in action.
:::Now!::: Gazar disappeared and reappeared ten feet above the ground. He cushioned his fall by generating a darkness field which protected him. He landed on it with a bump. The other elves were silent. "Next time Gazar, you will be teleported over the chasm and released. You are a dark elf. Your powers cannot save you from that height, as the fall itself will kill you. How long do you think you will fall?"
"I do not care, for I will never acknowledge you!" he stood up and with a knife stabbed Dave in the stomach. He wound was a grievous one and Dave fell to the floor, badly injured. With the energy and strength that remained in him, he grabbed the metals in the elf's body and threw him down the chasm himself. The elf screamed as he fell. Jo raced over to Dave and bathed him in her healing field.
:::Do you think the plan worked?::: she asked.
:::Possibly::: he replied, and stood up, a little off balance. The elven race before him were amazed that he could survive such a wound and bowed before him.
"Hail, Goldfish, Lord of the Elven!" they chanted and bowed before him.
:::It worked. Tell de Winter his men can stand down. I will order the elven to stop fighting and to live at peace with the humans until I say otherwise:::
:::Yes, Commander!::: replied Jo and went to tell the Lord Avatarr the good news.
"I just hope that the other races are this easy to deal with," he said to himself, knowing that for the first time since they'd arrived on Stormm, they'd gotten lucky. Whether they stayed that way was another matter.

With only two opposing armies left on the other side of the chasm, the armies of Staghorn were feeling cheerful. The main, driving force behind the armies - the elven race - were out of the battle, thanks to the luck of Dave Goldfish, and his partnership with his wife Jo Geneva. This would have struck a major blow against the enemy and that could only be a good thing. However the chasm was closing and the gap was getting shorter. This was of no consequence yet as the orcish were fighting amongst themselves to decide who their new leader would be. They were involved in various trials of power, which in turn was distracting the dwarves so the closing of the gap was slow and the attacks from energy blasts were not forthcoming. Dave, Jo and Lord de Winter took this opportunity to get some rest. Jo had teleported the elven race to the other side of the planet and if they rebelled against Dave then they would at least take no further part in this battle. In the Avatarr's Fortress grounds, Dockleaf and the other trees were getting used to their new location, having been moved when Jo created the chasm. They talked amongst themselves about the events that had happened so far and so quickly. It had been five days since Dave and Jo had arrived on Storm, and it was two days since the start of the War.
"So in less than a week, these two people have travelled here from another dimension, destroyed the balance of power between the races, started a war and conquered the elven?" asked one tree.
"Yes, time hasn't exactly flown by hasn't it?" remarked Dockleaf. "In all of my thousand years, there has never been anything like this. It's incredible that two people should disrupt so much, but it has occurred. The magics preserve us if any of there friends ever come here."
"Or worse, their enemies. If these two are here and don't mean to cause trouble, what will trouble makers do?" asked another tree.
"This is true," said Dockleaf. "But these two are attempting to undo the damage they have done, and by all accounts I think they can."
"So does the Avatarr, but I'm not so sure."
"Ah, yes," said Dockleaf, "but you've only been alive for three hundred years. You have yet to learn of the wisdom of the trees." The others fell silent. This discussion was, for now at least, over.
De Winter, Dave and Jo were also having a discussion. The knife wound he had taken had hurt him a lot and whilst the healing field had healed the wound he had lost a lot of blood and wasn't yet at fighting fitness. Jo kept him in a healing field for five minutes each hour to speed up the process, but he needed to rest. He told de Winter about himself, the avatarr and how his default state was to be a cosmic being. When the Lord Avatarr had told the Gathering to restore Dave, it did and gave him back his cosmic powers. In return Jo and de Winter told Dave the powers of the races, which Dave had suspected already but it had to be confirmed. He also suspected he had another problem, but that would have to wait until the end of the War, and he kept it from Jo.
"So," he said, stretching out in front of a log fire in the library, "the Orcs leader is decided by who is the most powerful."
"Without killing anyone, yes," said de Winter. "Even the orcish do not kill each other - yet," he added.
"So what we need is someone to challenge them and beat all who challenge," said Jo.
"Precisely," said Dave. "But this time it can't be me. I am feeling better. Thanks, sweetheart."
:::No problem:::
"But I am not fit enough to start a full scale assault on the orcs."
"It wouldn't have to be full scale. If we wait until they have all been defeated by the last one standing, someone could challenge him. There would be no-one else left. The orcs don't do this because whilst they are powerful, they are not exactly smart. That has always been the province of their leader - a gift to him from the magic of Stormm."
"This magic is very selective," said Dave. "I thought you said it would be distributed equally."
"Equally between the races. The Five have always had special gifts given to them by Stormm and used to receive it via the Gathering. However since that magic is now spread out, the planet itself is the focus of it all. As it has made the Five equal, then the battle between us is now more focused than it ever was. My magics come form my knowledge of the books of the original Avatarr. The Gathering gave me the ability to translate the codes that he used to encrypt them. The powers in there gave me control over the other races. The faerie had substantial power as well, only theirs was over creation. They could alter reality when they combined their minds, but they only ever did it the once, to change the colours of Ganymede and Staghorn on the map of Stormm from yellow and violet to silver and gold. This had the side effect of turning the sky green, and combining the seasonal climates so they were one."
"But the sky is red," said Jo.
"Yes", explained de Winter. "It is my belief that nature is changing back the climate of Stormm. The primary colours of light are red, green and blue. We were originally blue, it went green and it is now red. The change to red occurred over five hundred years after the faerie altered the map. In a hundred years or so, the sky should be blue again. The seasonal climates are slowly altering too. At least it has stopped snowing when the sun was out. It only happens like that for 3 months instead of the full twelve."
"Just a minute," said Dave. "There were Five. Now there is Three, with a battle for the Fourth. What happened to the Fifth?"
"The faerie magic had a unique way of choosing it's member of the Five. It chose them after searching for the most likely candidate. The magic now will be doing a planetary sweep as the faerie have gone from the face of Stormm." He became silent.
"This is interesting. Now what about the dwarves? How do they choose their leader?" asked Dave.
"It is by right of succession. No magic, no fighting, just straight linear progression. All the dwarves are related - don't ask, we don't have time - so there is a specific path of succession."
"It's that simple?"
"Yes. Nothing we can do."
"So, we might be able to get control of the orcs, if we're lucky someone on our side will get the power of the faerie, and the dwarves are out of our hands. If it came down to a straight fight between humans and dwarves, would we win?"
"It would be difficult, but yes. We would have a good chance."
"Right," said Jo. "So who will take on the orcish 'leader'?"
"I will," said de Winter.
"Are you sure you can do this?" asked Dave.
"I am the Lord Avatarr. I can do this. I have to do this."
"Very well. We shall go to the enemy camp, and watch the battle for leadership," said Dave. "Then you shall challenge the last one standing." He stood up, and so did the others. "Ready, Lord Avatarr?"
"I am ready, Elven Lord."
"That's going to take some getting used to," said Jo.
"Yes, it will. However we will only tell certain people back home. I have an image to think of. Let's go, hon." Jo nodded and teleported them over and they arrived in time to see an orc and a cyclops fighting, the rest of the orcish on the floor badly beaten.
"When their new leader appears, they will all be instantly healed by him, if he desires, and so they will be bound to his service. This is the main reason they trust each other so implicitly," said de Winter. They watched as the orc fired bolt after bolt of fire from his eyes, whilst the cyclops projected a blast from his hands. The blast instantly made things brittle, though not frozen, so there was a lot of shattered orcs limbs about. Soon the cyclops had the upper hand and got the orc with a blast to the legs. The orc stood perfectly still. The slightest movement would shatter his legs. He fired at the cyclops keeping him at bay, until the cyclops picked up a pebble and threw it at the legs. It connected and shattered them. The orc fell with a scream and blacked out in pain. The cyclops stood up and cried out:
"I am victorious! I claim the power for my own, in accordance with the laws of magic!" The Lord Avatarr stepped out.
"I don't think so!" he cried. "I challenge you in accordance with the laws of magic!"
"The magics will not permit this!" shouted the cyclops.
"Then why have they not responded," scorned de Winter. "Stand ready!" he said and assumed a battle stance.
"So eager to die!" laughed the cyclops and echoed the stance.
:::What does he mean by die?::: asked Jo.
:::I think because de Winter is not of the orcs, the cyclops doesn't have to and won't let him live after the battle ends::: responded Dave.
:::Do you think de Winter knows this?:::
:::He must do or else why do this? Unless.... Uh oh:::
:::Unless what?:::
:::I have a really bad feeling I know why he's doing this:::
:::What do you mean?::: asked Jo as she watched de Winter and the cyclops battle each other, neither one doing the other damage.
:::I mean, he didn't want us to battle him. If he wins he will control the orcish and the humans. I control the elves. He doesn't want us to take control, which is understandable, and he's risking his life to do so:::
:::But if he dies?:::
:::Then we have a problem::: responded Dave and Jo sensed the concern in his thoughts. :::If he dies, this war is over. The death of good will be complete and Stormm will surely be destroyed!:::

De Winter and the cyclops fought each other well, though neither one could gain an advantage. The cyclops' blasts narrowly missed de Winter, whose spells did little to slow his opponent down.
"This is incredible," said Jo. "They've been at it like this for two or three hours."
"I know," said Dave. "If someone doesn't do something soon I'm going to help de Winter out."
"D, it's his fight. If he doesn't want us to have the leadership of the orcish race, it's his call. It's his planet after all."
"I never asked to be leader of the elven."
"True, but to quote Blaquesmith 'what is, is.'"
"Played. However, this is getting interesting. Look!" De Winter had the cyclops on the floor wounded. One of his spells had connected with the cyclops blast and rebounded it to the beast. "Why didn't he do that earlier?"
"Maybe those sort of spells take time," suggested Jo. De Winter was about to administer the coup de grace, when the cyclops hit him with a block of wood. "Is that cheating?" asked Jo as de Winter staggered back.
"I don't think so, but it wasn't nice all the same," replied Dave. The cyclops pulled himself up and fired a blast at the Lord Avatarr who was too stunned to register it. The blast hit him dead on and he became brittle instantly. He began to wobble, unsteadily. Dave looked at Jo, who looked at Dave. They nodded at each other, not even needing to check the plan over in their minds. Jo teleported them over to de Winter, who had just toppled over. Dave moved to catch him but wasn't quick enough and de Winter lost both his arms before Dave caught him. The Lord Avatarr, didn't even scream. He looked at Dave and shut his eyes, blacking out with the pain. The cyclops laughed.
"Out of the way, human!"
"You've defeated him," said Dave. "Leave it at that!"
"I will crush him and all who beside him!" he shouted back and primed his blast at Dave.
"I don't think so!" shouted Jo, catching the cyclops attention.
"What?" he cried, scarcely believing what was happening.
"I challenge you!" she responded.
"Jo! No!" cried Dave.
"Accepted," laughed the cylops and turned to face her.
"Good," she said and turned from him and walked away. Both Dave and the cyclops were perplexed at this, until the rock landed on the cyclops, crushing him as it fell. "Tosser." Dave shrugged and shook his head.
"Should have seen that coming," he commented, chiding his lack of faith in his wife. Then he felt himself being teleported out and back to Staghorn. Jo was there and stood a distance from him. Dave knew what was to happen and kept his distance as Stormm's magic cascaded down on her. Then it stopped and Jo walked over to Dave.
"Hey, Elven Lord," she said.
"Hey yourself, Orcish Queen," he replied.
"My official title is actually the Orcish Warlord," she said. "But Orcish Queen will do for now." She turned to de Winter.
"Can your healing field save him?"
"I don't know. I think I may be too late. Dave, I think he's dying."
"Damn. What about the orcish?"
"They are no longer a threat to this planet," she said. "I have placed them all underground, and refused to let them heal yet. Because of the magic they will not die, but they will no longer threaten anyone."
"Jo, I have an idea," said Dave. "Let's go home, through the portal - with de Winter, then bring him back. It should, in theory, cure him."
"Good thinking. Let's do it." They pointed their gauntlets away from them and pressed the red button. Jo's gauntlet fired forth the portal, but Dave's spluttered and died.
"I though it might do that," he said. Using it in the battle with Darkfleet had damaged it somehow and he could not go home without it.
"Dave!" cried Jo. "The portal's only big enough for me and de Winter."
"Don't worry, sweetheart. Just bring back the Professor. She'll be able to fix it." Jo nodded and took de Winter through the portal. The portal then closed and Dave was left alone. "At least, I hope she'll be able to fix it," he said to the air. Then there was a earthpounding crunch. The dwarves had closed the chasm and had crossed over to do battle. Dave raced over to the human army, hoping he could hold them off until Jo returned.

The portal opened and Jo stepped out, dragging de Winter with her. The professor was waiting. It was only a second since Jo and Dave had left.
"What's happened?" she asked. Jo explained in great detail the events of the past few days. De Winter groaned and got up, his arms intact.
"What magic is this?" he asked. "How has this occurred?"
"Welcome to Earth," said Jo. "Your arms are healed here. Now we can go back. Professor, can you come with us? Dave's gauntlet seems to be damaged."
"How is that possible?" asked Professor Stone.
"He had to use it to save his life. That damaged it in some way." The Professor shook her head in disbelief.
"Only he could damage something like that." She reached over to her work bench and picked up her tyools and the remote camera unit they had used for testing the portals. "I'll use the test subject to power the portal for my transport."
"Okay," said Jo. "Let's go back." She pressed the green button. De Winter held on to her but before they stepped through the portal, the professor held her back.
"Wait a minute," she said. "If we go back with this gentleman it'll be like he never left. His arms will be restored to the state they were in when he left."
"But you said we could be healed!" said Jo.
"Only if we are injured and returned to our place of origin. If he was injured over there, he has to be healed over there."
"Damn," said Jo. She looked at de Winter. "We'll sort this out, I promise." He nodded.
"I know you will try. But some things cannot be changed."

Back on Stormm, Dave Goldfish was in the middle of the fight between the dwarves and the humans. Without the Lord Avatarr to lead them, Dave had stepped in, but it was not helping. He could not direct them as well as he would have if he was their leader. His powers over them were limited, and without Jo he could not call in his elven people for aid. The sides were evenly matched, but the dwarves had more direction to their fight and Dave could see them turning the tide of this battle. He looked about the battlefield, fighting of those dwarves that attacked him. His heat powers did not affect them so he was having to attack them with his metallic powers. For some reason he could not affect their physiology and so it was down to simple fighting. They hurled rocks and such at him, which he deflected using the minerals they contained and sent them back to those who had fired them whilst going in with his sword. He wanted to try and find their leader, Thoras. He spotted a well guarded dwarf and decided he was important. He went for him but his guards seemed to know that he was coming. They attacked him with the strength of mountains and he could not take that sort of punishment for long. He knew there was something important that he had forgotten but it would come to him eventually. Hopefully before the human army was over run.

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