Day Thirty - Flight of the Prince

SpaceWizards
(Another SpaceWizards Action/Adventure Mystery)

Past unanswered questions are about to be answered. At least they are when it comes to the SpaceGem keys and the Space between Space where the SpaceFireBreathers have been living. It’s also where Horrald has been living. Something happened in the Space between Space, and Horrald got trapped there. He needed the SpaceWizards to get himself out of there. Now he’s out, and he is after a Prince learned who he was. But why? That’s what the SpaceWizards want to know. The SpaceWizards are about to find all that out the hard way, in battle. A battle that started with Evon learning who he really is. And it ends with the SpaceWizards returning Evon to his home planet. Along the way, they will get those questions answered. This is their story. But it’s being remembered by Stavon for a reason.

“Flight of the Prince”

A Short Story

Remembered By

Stavon

     Fire engulfed Evon making him a fireball in human form. Evon started screaming. A small black opening in the fire where his head and mouth should appear. Out of that opening sparks of fire shot out as Evon continued yelling. Evon stopped shouting a few minutes later. The fire slowly disappeared. When it was gone Evon just stood there. His form and clothing didn’t appear to be just on fire.

     Evon looked up at one of about fifteen FireBreathers flying around in the sky above them. That FireBreather suddenly stopped flying and looked back at Evon. Why did you do that, Gorna?

     It was the fastest way to save you from the dead, thought Gorna. I thought about killing them. But you were closer.

     So, you tried to kill me instead. Evon smiled sheepishly.

     I knew you would survive my attack. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done that the first time we meet. True, I almost did it then too. But you saved yourself by talking to me.

     Gorna suddenly turned her head away from Evon and shot a string of fire out of her mouth. It struck one of the dead that just shot a Fire Ball at Evon. She turned back toward Evon and shot another string at Evon. But only a few feet out of its mouth she drew the fire back into her mouth.

     Another Fire Ball struck the one sent by the dead about halfway between the dead and Evon. They both exploded when the two Fire Balls struck each other. Stavon ran up and stood in front of Evon. The other six SpaceWizards got on either side of Stavon and formed a semi-circle around Evon. Three pointed their palms up at Gorna. And the other four pointed theirs at about twenty of the dead using a nearby Wooded Area to protect them.

     “Why did that FireBreather just try to kill you?” Stavon asked Evon.

     “Gorna didn’t try to kill me. She only did it to protect me from the dead.”

     The other six SpaceWizards looked at Evon too. But it was Mairon who spoke first. “How do you know her name? And How do you know she is a she?”

     “It’s because she told me her name. I am a FireBreather Communicator.”

     Are you okay? Do you need my help again? Gorna asked.

     I’m okay. These are the SpaceWizards that I told you about who would help up get rid of the dead after me.

     Stavon looked up at Gorna. You were just thinking to her, weren’t you?

     Evon looked at Stavon in shock too. How do you know that? Are you also a FireBreather Communicator?

     I don’t know that. Didn’t think I was a FireBreather Communicator. But maybe I am.

     There’s only one way to find out if you are one of us. Try to contact Gorna.

     Stavon looked up at Gorna. Can you hear what I’m trying to think to you?

     Before Gorna could respond, the dead started firing Fire Balls at the SpaceWizards. The four SpaceWizards facing the dead fired several Fire Balls of their own. A few seconds later the other three SpaceWizards joined them in their fight against the dead. All the Fire Balls from both sides exploded about halfway between the two.

     The dead immediately started another attack of Fire Balls. But before the SpaceWizards could respond fire sticks from above started hitting the Wooded Area. They looked up at the FireBreathers and saw five of them flying down toward the Wooded Area firing the strings of fire at the dead. Just before hitting the top of those trees they soared back up into the sky so another five FireBreathers could start their attack.

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     The dead are all gone now. But they will be back soon. And a lot more than a couple of hundred, thought Gorna.

     Gorna continued a few seconds later. Now that the SpaceWizards are here it’s going to be a hundred times worse.

     We have protected the inhabitants of this planet as best we could. But Horrald has created at least a million dead here on Iling. And they are all going to be coming after you.

     What do you want us to do, Evon? Gorna asked.

     Evon was looking up at Gorna. Now he was looking at the SpaceWizards, especially Stavon. I’ll be okay now that the SpaceWizards are here. Thanks for all your protection until they got here.

     A few seconds later Evon continued. You can leave now. But stay close by just in case I need you.

     Do you want us to start Plan Two? Gorna asked.

     Yes, I do. But now I want you to provide for the spaceWizards too.

     Stavon looked at Evon in shock. Then he looked up at Gorna as she flew away with the other FireBreathers. And then back at Evon. I just heard what you and Gorna have been thinking to each other. What is Plan Two? And what does it have to do with us?

     “Let’s go into my residence. We have a lot to talk about.” Evon led the way to a residence about a hundred feet behind them.

     A few seconds later they were in a Living Area. “Please sit down.” The SpaceWizards did.

     “What’s going on here? Why where those dead trying to kill you?” Mairon asked.

     Evon didn’t say anything for several minutes. He just paced in front of the SpaceWizards. Suddenly he stopped his pacing and faced them. “It all started about three months ago when the dead showed up and tried to kill me. I contacted Gorna immediately. Within a few minutes, she showed up with three other FireBreathers and killed the dead.”

     “The dead have been trying to kill me ever since then. It’s usually about ten to twenty-five of them. But lately, about the last month, it has been a lot more.”

     “About two months ago something happened like it did today. Gorna shot a Fire String at me to protect me. When the fire disappeared, I remembered who I was.”

     Evon didn’t say anything for several more minutes. “I am Prince Evon. And I come from the planet of Wilgram.”

     “My family exiled me here about fifty years ago because I am the oldest. And they wanted to rule Wilgram instead of me.”

     “They sent me here because it was the closed human world. That way I could blend in with everyone else without them getting suspicious of me.”

     “It was just over two years later I discovered I was a FireBreather Communicator. I was out gathering food in a nearby Wooded Area when I saw Gorna. She was about to kill me. When I begged her not to through thought, that’s when I discovered I could think to FireBreathers.”

     “The inhabitants of Iling feared the FireBreathers. But over the next few years, I convinced them that it was better to be good than bad. And they have been protecting them ever since then. At least they were until Horrald, and the dead showed up. As soon as they did, I contacted you for help.”

     “How did you know who to contact for help?” Yena asked.

     “Almost everyone on Iling has heard of Horrald. And they also know that you are the SpaceWizard to contact if he shows up.”

     “Are you a Wizard or a SpaceWizard?” Angoria asked.

     “No, I’m not. That’s why I don’t understand why Horrald is trying to kill me?”

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     “What are we going to do, Mairon?” Pacill asked. “It’s only a matter of time before the dead come back here to attack. And now that they know we are here it’s going to be a whole lot harder to stop them.”

     It was a few hours later. The near darkness shining through the windows said that. That, and now all eight of them were in the Eating Area eating. “Gorna and I were talking about that before we came inside and I told you about myself. I told him to get Plan Two ready.”

     “What is Plan Two?” Stavon asked.

     “I might look human, and I am human, but I’m not a human from this planet. What I mean I age a lot slower than the humans here do. And every five to ten years I have had to move from one place or another. As soon as someone noticed I don’t look any older, I would move.”

     “When Horrald and the dead showed up I’ve had to move every few days. The FireBreathers have been helping me to do that. I call it Plan Two.”

     “That explains why you do it,” said Jacci. “But not how or when you do it.”

     Evon looked out the window. “We will do it in a few hours. It’s best to do it in the middle of the night. That way no one will see us doing it.”

     “The FireBreathers will come and pick us up. And then they will fly us anywhere I want to them to go. It’s usually to a place like this one. There are hundreds of them all over Iling.”

     “So, where are we going to be flying to this time?” Mairon asked.

     “That depends on where your spaceship is at. Is it on Iling or is it in orbit around it?”

     A few hours later Evon and the SpaceWizards wherein an open area with a Wooded Area surrounding it. It wasn’t very big. Barely big enough for a small residence with no room to spare. But it was big enough for a FireBreather to fly down and pick someone up. One at a time Evon and the SpaceWizards got picked up. And within a minute they were all heading toward the sky.

     Evon led the others. He was sitting on the neck of one of the FireBreathers. So were the SpaceWizards. It didn’t appear as though any of them was holding on to anything. Their legs were dangling over the sides too. Most of the time they soared up into the sky. But every so often a FireBreather would twist, or turn, or fly upside down. And whoever was on their neck didn’t fall off or even lose their balance.

     About fifteen later they soared off Iling and headed for the SpaceWizards spaceship. Just after they left Iling, Mairon mumbled something, and a few seconds later the spaceship appeared. Then Mairon mumbled something else. And all eight of them disappeared from the FireBreathers.

     The SpaceWizards and Evon appeared in the Control Chamber a few seconds later. Mairon appeared in the control chair while the others in the chairs behind them. They all looked up at the main viewscreen just as the FireBreathers returned to Iling. A few seconds later they saw their spaceship turn and move away from Iling.

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     “Okay, so now that we are away from Iling can you tell us where we are headed?” Mairon asked after he swiveled around in his chair to face the others.

     “My home planet of Wilgram. When the dead first started trying to kill me, I wondered why they were doing that. Then after I remembered who I was, I realized it must have been my family that sent them. And I want to know why.”

     The other SpaceWizards surrounded Evon. Pacill and Jacci sat in front of him. Borrele and Stavon sat behind him. While Yena and Angoria sat on both sides of him. “It’s probably because Wilgram has been taken over by Horrald,” said Borrele. “You family had no choice but to tell Horrald where you were at.”

     “I thought that might have happened. But it doesn’t explain why they sent Horrald and the dead to Iling to kill me.”

     No one said anything for several minutes. It was Yena who broke the silence. “Maybe it’s because you are the oldest. And Horrald is afraid that you might return to Wilgram someday and take it back from your family.”

     “That can’t be the answer as to why,” said Mairon. “Horrald wouldn’t have sent his dead or created more of the dead to kill you. He would want to do it himself so that you would become part of his army.”

     Once again, no one said anything for several minutes until Jacci broke the silence. “Unless Horrald didn’t kill your family. They might be Horrald’s Followers. If that’s true, then they would want you dead for fear of you coming back to Wilgram someday.”

     “I thought of that too. But I don’t think that’s why either,” said Mairon. “There’s only one way for us to find out what really happened to your family and Wilgram. And that to go there.”

     Mairon swiveled around in his chair to face the viewscreen and started tapping the controls in front of him. A few seconds later he turned back around to Evon and the other SpaceWizards. “We should be there in about two weeks.”

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     “We will be in orbit around Wilgram in about an hour,” said Borrele. “I think everyone in the Control Chamber when we get there.”

     Within a few minutes, the other six SpaceWizards and Evon arrived. Mairon took over the control chair while everyone returned to chairs they sat in just under two weeks ago. “I already started scanning the planet of Wilgram. We should know what’s going on down there before we get into orbit around it.”

     Almost an hour later the SpaceWizard’s spaceship entered orbit around Wilgram. A few seconds after it had done it, it disappeared. The SpaceWizards and Evon saw it disappear on the viewscreen. Mairon tapped a button on his controls. An image of Wilgram appeared on the viewscreen in planet form. It also appeared on the Mini Monitors that the other Six SpaceWizards had.

     A series of about fifty images started appearing on the viewscreen and the Mini Monitors for a few seconds per image. “There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with this planet,” said Mairon after looking at all the images. “It doesn’t look like a planet that has been taken over by Horrald.”

     “I’m not surprised about that. I didn’t think it would be.” Evon mumbled a couple of things. A few seconds later he disappeared.

     Mairon looked shocked after he swiveled around in his chair. So, did the other six SpaceWizards who were looking at where Evon sat only a few seconds ago. “What’s going on here.”

     The voice of Evon echoed throughout the Control Chamber. “I’m still here. I just struck myself to make it harder for you to find me.”

     “I lied to you about a few things.” Evon’s voice continued a few seconds later. “One of those lies is that I am a Wizard. But I’m not a SpaceWizard. I’m what most of you would call a Wizard Pretender. I only learned a little bit of Wizardry. Just enough to get my planet back.”

     “Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t ask for your help just so you would bring me here undetected by my people. The dead really were trying to kill me. But I did lie about not know why they were doing it.”

     A few seconds later Evon continued. “Ever since Horrald returned from his deep sleep he has been living in the Space between Space. That has been very hard for him to do since you sent the SpaceFireBreathers there. He tried to get rid of them only to get himself trapped in there instead.”

     “That’s why he sent you the SpaceGem keys. He knew that either you would find your way out of the Space between Space or you would be trapped in there with him forever. Either way, he would win. But Horrald figured you would find your way out. And you did. So, did he.”

     “Horrald is still living in the Space between Space. But now he can come and go whenever he wants to. His only problem is the SpaceFireBreathers. He still wants to use them in his fight against you and to take over the universe. That’s where I come in.”

     “That’s another lie I told you. I’m not a FireBreather Communicator. I am a FireBreather Controller. Horrald found that out when he did try to take over Wilgram. When he did, he approached me about joining him. I refused. That’s when he sent the dead to kill me.”

     “Why didn’t he just kill you and make you one of his dead?” Angoria asked.

     “It’s because he couldn’t. I told him if he did I would lose all my controlling powers. And that wouldn’t help him. He didn’t believe me. But he couldn’t take the chance I wasn’t telling him the truth.”

     “Horrald tried to persuade me for several months. He even offered to help me get my planet back. That’s when I realized I didn’t need his help to do that. I have SpaceFirebreathers to do that for me.”

     “That’s right, that’s another lie I told you. They aren’t FireBreathers. The ones on Iling are SpaceFireBrethers. And they have been following us at an unseeable distance ever since we left Iling.”

     “True, I could have just flown them back to Wilgram. But they would have detected me before I got there. And they would have killed a lot of them. I still would probably have won my little war against my family. But it’s was a lot easier to do it this way. Besides I thought that you had a right to know about Horrald and your SpaceFireBreathers.”

     “When I wouldn’t join him, Horrald got mad. That’s when he started trying to kill me. It was also when I came up with my plan to take back my planet. After all, my family isn’t the evil one. I am.”

     After about a minute of silence, Stavon pointed at the viewscreen, “Look.” The other six SpaceWizards looked up at the viewscreen too. They saw about a hundred SpaceFireBreathers fly past them headed for the planet of Wilgram. Evon sat on the lead SpaceFireBreather.

     “Should we go after him?” Borrele asked. “It might not be too late to stop him.”

     “No, we shouldn’t. We have a bigger problem to deal with right now,” said Mairon. “What are we going to do with the SpaceFireBreathers we placed in the Space between Space?”

Word Count = 3,036