The blistering winds circled around the finely dressed pair in the middle of the barren wasteland of the south. The dark, starry skies cast a deep shade over the landscape. However, a glimmering, bluish glow flickered on their faces from a hole cut in the middle of the air.
“This is the exact spot where we first fell.” Nova commented.
Lady Echidna smiled, “Yes. Little did we know that our fall from grace was the greatest gift they could offer us. This world was so weak, so young, so ripe for expansion.”
“The magic was almost completely gone from this world. They stood no chance with us here.” Nova said.
She laughed, “I know. I wish we could go back and experience that utopia again. But, alas, we cannot.”
A particularly blustery gale crashed into them, and each held tight to their warmer clothing. Nova yelled over the gales, “The cold may not affect us as it does humans, but I still would rather leave this place as soon as possible.”
“I completely agree.” She said and waited a moment as that wind passed. “Now, to set new events into motion.” Reaching out, she went to put her hand into the glimmering hole in the air. An energy barrier rejected her. Pressing her palm into it, it appeared like a thick plastic sheet covering the opening. “Clever, very clever. Whoever came through was no fool.”
Nova put his hand on the barrier as well, “This can only mean that whoever came through is still here. This kind of spell cannot be cast from the other side. We should be leaving.”
“I do not fear any little fool who came through. They are no match for either of us, especially me.” Stepping back, she held a hand up and a black energy blasted the sealing spell.
Nova said, “Are you sure about this? It could have been more than one person, or they could alert BADGE.”
“When did Nova, the ArcBlade, become so worried about trivialities?” She mused, not addressing his concerns at all.
Nova let out a deep sigh and then said, “I can break this. You know I have the power... “
“You will not use that power. I will not allow it. Just stand there and look pretty. I shall take this down and then set our minor distraction into motion.”
Justin stepped out of the lift, with Chase beside him. The Mess hall was repaired and cleaned up after the battle. Several carts rolled by with large cuttings of vines piled in them. The broken floor plates where some vines had grown through were cut out and being repaired by the staff engineers.
“Remind me why I’m going to meet this person in our arboretum and not in the brig?” Justin coldly asked.
Chase said, “Because EB said we can trust him.”
“That’s not exactly a vote of confidence I would trust.” Justin stated.
Chase said, “EB may be silly at times and have questionable judgment about some things. But, if he says someone is trustworthy, I would listen to him. We both know how devoted he is to those he trusts.”
“Still, I’m not dismissing the guards just yet.” Justin walked through the mess directly into the large arboretum that made up most of the central level of the station.
Inside was a world completely different from the sterile, mechanical life of the BADGE space station. It was a grassy, tree filled haven for nature to flourish. Flowers were in bloom, honey bees buzzed about collecting pollen and nectar, and about twenty specially armed BADGE agents stood at attention around the room.
In the middle of the room, sitting on a boulder near a pond, was the Satyr chatting amiably with EB as he let a butterfly land on his outstretched finger.
Justin was halfway across the grassy field when EB noticed him and zipped over. “Great, awesome. You gotta meet this guy. He’s really cool and knows lots about magic and fighting, and is from Yohan. Can you believe that? Yohan!”
“What exactly does that mean?” Justin asked.
The Satyr stood and smiled at Justin, “Yohan is short for Yohan’anon’da, the name of the lands in which my people are from. Specifically, I’m from a region of those lands known as the Shakonohey Valley, west of the land of the Jade Elves.” He stuck his hand out. “Torrik Treeleaf, at your service.”
Justin did not shake his hand. “I’m Acting Director Justin of BADGE. Care to explain why you attacked my station?”
Torrik was unfazed by the unfriendly attitude of Justin. “A few months ago, in our world, we detected an ancient magic, one that once nearly destroyed our world and yours. Our scholars consulted the memory mirrors of Idore and discovered the four keys were active again. The four Eyes of Darkness. One had already been partially activated. They ordered me to come and find the others and bring them back to be sealed away so that The Fallen could never get their hands on them.”
“Are you talking about the Eye of Fenrir?”
Torrik nodded. “That was the first. But it wasn’t what we detected that alerted us. Someone is using dark, shadow magic. A forbidden magic that caused great turmoil many, many years ago. The person behind this, The Queen of Black Magic, was sent away during the first days of our realm just after our kind left this world.”
“Your people came from this world?” Chase asked.
“Yes. Eons ago, this was our world as well. We left, but that is another story. Right now, we know that once in the past, The Queen tried to rise to power here and use that power to break the seal that keeps her from returning to our realm. She needs four elements to do this, the four Eyes of Darkness. A noble hero once sealed away them, one of the original ArcBlades, but that was so long ago and somehow she has escaped. Now, here I am to find the elements and stop her.”
EB hopped around, “See, that is sooo cool. We Vexillians knew of the people of Yohan, but that was a loooong time ago. This whole thing is so amazing, like a real fantasy playing out. We could all play along. Hey! Let’s play some DnD. I’m always a Barbarian. Justin, you can be a Paladin, Chase is a thief, and Torrik is a total Druid. I mean, wouldn’t that be so cool? And... I’ll shut up now.” The burning glare of Justin interrupted EB’s exuberance.
Justin cooled down his irritation and said, “This all sounds pretty fantastic. All I know is that you bypassed a lot of security measures and nearly took out all our defenses. You tell us this story and all I have to believe you is the word of this idiot.”
“HEY!” EB retorted.
Torrik took a casual step toward Justin. “I’m here to help you and my people. From what EB has told me, which he told me a lot while we waited for you to arrive, this world is in grave danger. The Queen is up to something terrible and she has a good friend of yours trapped. I’m the Captain of the Royal Special Service and there’s very little you can do will stop me. I’m only standing here, obliging you, because we have mutual interests and I want to believe you are honorable. But if you decide not to listen to me or believe me, I’ll be on my way... and I don’t need your permission to leave.”
Justin spent a moment sizing him up and then said, “Chase is correct. If EB says you’re trustworthy, then I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. But, don’t take us for weak. You might have bested us before, but you haven’t faced the strongest heroes allied with BADGE.”
“Oh, don’t be a spoilsport. Torrik ain’t gonna start any fights, are ya, buddy?” EB said.
Torrik smiled at the excited little bunny. “No. I’ll do my job and try to stop this catastrophe from happening.”
“Fine.” Justin said, “But while you’re here, I’m in charge. This is our world and BADGE is my responsibility. You’ll work with us and listen to my orders.”
“I will be glad to be part of the team, for now.” Torrik said.
“Good. Chase, find him quarters on the station and then bring him to the briefing room so we can all get on the same page about what’s happening out there.”
“My pleasure.” She smiled coyly at Torrik.
EB noted this and instantly lost his zeal.
Torrik stepped over to her. “Chase, that is an interesting name. I love chasing things.”
She blushed and said, “This way, I’ll show you to the guest quarters.”
EB followed behind them as they walked ahead, muttering to himself the entire way.
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