Day Thirty-One - Fallen Warrior

SpaceWizards
(Another SpaceWizards Action/Adventure Mystery)

It’s obvious what a Fallen Warrior is. Fallen warriors are warriors that have died in battle. That’s what happened to this team of SpaceWizards. When they started taking on Horrald over thirty thousand years ago, there were only four SpaceWizards doing it. But it was getting harder to defeat him. Over the next few years, five more SpaceWizards joined them. They were nine of them when they finally defeated him. But two sacrificed themselves to save the other SpaceWizards and to stop Horrald. Now that the team is back together every year on the day of their sacrifice they come to where it happened. And every year Horrald shows up to try to destroy them. He’s after the seven SpaceWizards most of all. But he also tries to destroy Lonc and Ovvia. This is the story about why Horrald keeps trying to kill Lonc and Ovvia too.

“Fallen Warrior”

A Short Story

Remembered By

Jacci

     About two hundred electrical strings and about twenty-five Fire Balls were shot at the SpaceWizards below. Horrald and ten of the dead hovered in the sky above the SpaceWizards. They pointed their fingers at them and shot their strings. Then they shot the Fire Balls out of their palms a few seconds later.

     Mairon stood in front of a Death House. He faced three of the six other SpaceWizards. The other three had their backs to the other three. They were scanning in front of them or the sky above. Pacill and Borrele slowly scanned all around them. It was Yena who was scanning the sky.

     Jacci brought her arm up to block the sun hitting her face. Incoming death.

     Pacill and Borrele shielded their eyes from the sun as they looked up at the sky. Yena, Stavon, and Angoria had to turn around before they shielded their eyes and looked up. Mairon didn’t need to shield anything. He was standing in a small covered entryway. The entrance to that Death House right behind him.

     Mairon mumbled something. And a few seconds later a wall about two feet thick shot out of the ground stopping the Fire Balls and electrical strings as they started hitting. The electrical strings started to disappear a half inch at a time. And the Fire Balls exploded as soon as they touched it. That wall was almost completely destroyed by the time that attack ended.

     The SpaceWizards countered-attacked admittedly. Pacill, Borrele, and Jacci started firing electrical strings. Yena, Stavon, and Angoria began shooting one Fire Ball after another at Horrald and the dead. Mairon fired them both. One hand fired the strings while the other shot the strings.

     About half the balls and strings were aimed at Horrald. The rest headed for the dead. Horrald easily slapped the strings away and clapped the Fire Balls. Most of the balls he did one at a time. But a lot he did two or three at the same time. Horrald also slapped some of the balls. They either hit another ball or some of the string. Some of the strings he slapped were slapped into other strings.

     Horrald and the SpaceWizards just stared at each other for several minutes after the counter-attack. Mairon continuously mumbled something as he mumbled something else. There are only eight of the dead left. We need all of our combined firepower to stop Horrald. So, we need to take them out first. You take them out while I provide protection against Horrald stopping you.

     Pacill, Borrele, and Jacci attacked the four dead on one side of Horrald. Yena, Stavon, and Angoria took out the other four. Mairon continuously fired at Horrald. All they shot was one Fire Ball after another. Horrald easily took out his balls. Most he just slapped into each other. But some he hit the ones aimed at the dead. But the results were the same. It distracted Horrald. One after another the dead got saved.

     The SpaceWizards didn’t hesitate. They started firing multiple Fire Balls and electrical strings at Horrald. Horrald could slap or clap all of the away or into each other. But he did most of them. The few that got through to him only pushed him back a little or sideways slightly. This isn’t a fair fight, thought Horrald. It’s seven against one.

     That’s not what you thought a few minutes ago when it was eleven to seven, thought Angoria. Now all of a sudden it unfair.

     That is because I had the advantage. But now I don’t. Horrald did say anything for several seconds. I will be back when the advantage is in my favor again. A few seconds later Horrald disappeared.

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     Mairon stood before the other six SpaceWizards. They were still standing in their same rows as before, but now they were all facing Mairon. “We are here today to honor our fellow SpaceWizards, Lonc and Ovvia. It was on this day that they sacrificed themselves to save us and stop Horrald. Without their sacrifice, we probably wouldn’t have stopped Horrald when we did.”

     After taking a deep breath, Mairon continued. “A Fallen Warrior isn’t anything new. Unfortunately, it happens all the time in wars. But this is different because we lost two when there was only nine of us to defeat Horrald.”

     A few seconds later Mairon continued. “When we first started there were only four of us against Horrald, his Followers, and his dead. And he was winning most of the time. We knew we needed help to defeat him. Over the next few years, we got that help one at a time from the other five of you.”

     “The only good part, if you want to call it that, is that their deaths didn’t make the part of Horrald’s dead. It was Horrald’s Followers that killed them.” A few seconds later Mairon. “That’s enough of me babbling. Does anyone else was to say something?”

     Jacci got up. “I do.” She took Mairon’s place I front of the others, and he took hers.”

     “I’m not surprised,” said Mairon. “You do this every year.”

     “So, do you. Every year you give us the same wording.”

     Jacci just stared at them for about a minute before she began. “Lonc and I were close. As close as a couple could be. In fact, we were Lovers. We were to Become One after we defeated Horrald. But that never happened because of Horrald’s Followers.”

     Fighting back the tears that everyone could see on her angry face, Jacci continued a few seconds later. “As close as Lonc and I we were. Ovvia and I were even closer. We were like family. That’s why I have spent the last thirty thousand years as a SpaceHunter. Only instead of the criminals, I went after the Horrald’s Followers who killed Lonc and Ovvia. And I almost got all of them before Horrald returned.”

     A few seconds later Jacci continued. “Does anyone else want to say something to or about Lonc and Ovvia?” before anyone could respond there was a clap of an electrical discharge. Everyone looked up at the cloudless sky. They saw Horrald had returned with about twenty-five of the dead who now surrounded them. “Why does Horrald keep coming here to try to destroy Lonc and Ovvia?”

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     For about fifteen minutes no one did or said anything. Then suddenly Horrald pointed his palms at the SpaceWizards. Horrald’s dead did the same thing. But before they could start their attack Mairon thought, Wait. Before you try to kill us again, we want to know something. Why do you keep coming here, especially today of all days? And why do you keep trying to destroy Lonc and Ovvia?

     Horrald smiled evilly. That’s actually two questions. A few seconds later Horrald continued. It’s about time that you asked me that. I was starting to wonder if you ever were going to do it.

     A few seconds later Horrald continued. I’m not trying to kill or destroy Lonc and Ovvia. I am going to make them alive again. The reason why I come here when you do is to see your faces when I bring Lonc and Ovvia back to live so that I can kill them and make them part of my army of the dead.

     Tonnie isn’t the only one I have been trying to bring back from the dead. When they were killed, I didn’t do it. So, I need to bring them back from the dead before I can kill them myself.

     The same SpaceGem I used to bring Tonnie back I am going to use on Lonc and Ovvia. True, I could have done that at any time. But I wanted to see your faces when I did it. Then I wanted to see your faces when I make them part of my army.

     Horrald mumbled something. A large SpaceGem appeared in front of him. “That SpaceGem is almost as big as mine,” Yena said very softly to herself.

     A few seconds later the SpaceGem disappeared. That comes later. First, I have to stop you from stopping me this time. Horrald mumbled something, and he kept mumbling it. Seconds later the SpaceWizards floated up above the Death House. Then suddenly they went straight and stiff. Their arms pressing tightly against their sides. The SpaceWizards started squirming. They could move their hands and lower part of their arms. But not their upper arms.

     The SpaceWizards floated to the side of the Death House. Now comes the fun part. Horrald and his dead started shooting at the Death House. Within seconds the top half and most of the bottom half was gone. Inside that Death House, floated two oblong metal boxes.

     Horrald mumbled something. And a few seconds later his SpaceGem appeared again. The SpaceGem started glowing red in its center and blue around it. Then two thin flat beams of light came out of it. Those beams struck the two oblong metal boxes. The boxes disappeared to reveal three wooden cubes in each one.

     Jacci smiled as she mumbled something. Then she started slowly turning in a circle. As she turned the neck of the dead all around Horrald started getting cut clear through. Their bodies had hit the ground seconds before their heads did one after another. Horrald quickly started mumbling something just as the last of the dead fell to the ground. Jacci stopped her turning and now faced Horrald.

     This was all Jacci’s idea, thought Mairon. So, it was only fair that she got to finish it.

     Mairon continued thinking a few seconds later. When you were showing up at this Death House when we were here we know you were up to something like this. So, we moved Lonc and Ovvia to someplace else eight years ago.

     You have been trying to kill Memory Cubes for the last eight years. We have only been pretending to do this every year to find out what you were up to. Now that we know what that is we don’t have to pretend anymore.

     Don’t get us wrong. We will be grieving for them on the day of their death. But it won’t be here today. They died a few weeks from now. Lonc and Ovvia didn’t die instantly. Both fought to stay alive for several weeks before they died.

     The SpaceWizards released their arms from their sides and floated back down to the ground. You didn’t really think that you had us in a Grip spell, did you? Horrald looked at the SpaceWizards in shock. Then at the Death House. A few seconds later he disappeared.

Word Count = 1,771