Part 6
ENTER THE WANDERERS

I marched into the thick of battle straight toward the behemoth.  A few of
the reptiles challenged me as I made my way through the sea of dead and
living, but they barely slowed me down.  Instead I simply added their hewn
corpses to the piles already growing on the once elegant marble floors,
the floors that were now bloodstained and carbon scoured from the raging
battle.  All around me the sounds of death and battle echoed in my ears.
The giant had not noticed me yet, I watched as he used one of my fellow
solders, still living as he was, to club through the lines of our army.
With his eyes glowing red from infrared cybernetic implants, the monster's body
was taunt and glistening from his sweat mixed with the blood of his
victims. I drew near just as he crushed a former guild-brother of mine in a
one handed bear hug.

"Beware demon I come for thee!" I shouted at him above the din.  He
looked around trying to find the source of the voice, then he spotted me.  His
lips parting in a bloody fanged grin, he obviously liked being called a demon.
All around us the battle had lessened slightly.  Members of both sides after
finishing off one opponent, instead of moving on to another stood still to gape
at the spectacle before them: a huge blood-soaked monster standing across a sea
of bodies from a white knight holding a sword blazing with magical fire.

The great head tilted backwards in roaring maniacal laughter. "Petty mortal
dares defy mine strength, eh?" A voice to match the gargantuan frame
bellowed forth the insult. "Me thinks that he has not heard of Lotarg the
Procyian, eh? I shall teach him, eh?  Me thinks I will kill him I will."
After the first roaring laughter the room had fallen silent.  All the
battle was forgotten, all attention was on the two of us. The giant aimed
his massive weapon at me and fired. The blast lifted my body off the
ground, if it hadn't been for the magical suit that encased me I surely
would have perished.  As it was, I landed a few meters away skidding to a
halt beneath a pile of corpses. The great beast roared forth again as the
Procyian army gave a mighty cheer and the Fierrans all cringed. The
celebration was cut short however. From amidst the pile of carcasses that
had hid me, I leapt up in a ball of flame that I released.  Rising up on my
white sheathed wings surrounded by flame I must have looked like some sort
of avenging angel, for a wave of fear passed over the entire Procyian army.
The giant included.

I flew fast, my pearl-covered wings slicing the air as I went.  Approaching
the behemoth, I swung my sword severing his arm and causing the giant to
drop his cannon.  He screamed in pain and anger, the red eyes glowing more
brightly as I alighted in front of him. The monster's blood crackled and
fizzed, boiling in the unnatural heat of my blade.  He was grasping the
severed end of his arm, which was now spouting the bile that flowed through
his veins.

"You cannot hurt me, mammal!  I am immortal, no assault can render this
flesh!" He spat blood but was obviously not ready to give up his fight yet.
"I will tear your pathetic corpse between my teeth as a victory snack!"
With that,he flung himself at me.  I simply braced myself and the imbecilic
giant impaled himself on my outstretched blade.  Not seeming to notice his
new wound he picked me up in a mammoth bearhug, the same that had sent many
of my comrades to their demise. I however, did not squash like a pea in his
grip as most did.  I had often cursed the fact that my breast-plate was
only one piece instead of two, but now I was glad that the pearl did not
give under his strength.

I slowly grinned at him in a taunting smile, I could see the muscles in his
arms tense as he gave his entire strength to the effort of crushing me.  I
felt the sickening crack as the behemoth's ribs broke under his own
constant pressure.  I figured it was time to end this fight.  So from the
midst of the deathgrip, still smiling, I addressed the slobbering face in
front of me.

"I swear on an oath, beast, that in the place of The Tigress, I: Gar
Lunarfang, shall destroy you.  Today demon, you die!"  With that I inhaled,
and as I exhaled my breath ignited, engulfing the giant head in a bright
blue flame. The monster released me, leaving me to dangle by my sword still
entombed in his flesh.  As long as my breath would hold I continued the
inferno.  I watched as slowly the scales blackened and peeled, falling away
to reveal the red flesh underneath.  This flesh darkened as well but just
as my breath expired I managed to squeak out a comment.

"Now you stupid pussbag, you die!"  Hoisting myself by my sword I
spread my wings and rose before him, then folding my wings I plummeted down.
My sword disunited the halves of his body.  Without so much as a death scream
he fell.  My blade crackled and sparked for a second more, then quieted as The
Tigress' power left me.

The effect on the battle was amazing,  both armies had been watching
intently.  But now the Fierrans erupted in roars and war-cries while the
Procyians rapidly tapped their teleporter beacons.  Like a crowd of
fireflies their glowing particles floated up from the ground toward the
domed ceiling of the room.  The Tigress, sensing the imminent escape and
the renewed safety of her guests, moved her magic barrier to the roof,
reflecting the  dissipating particles back to the floor.  A very startled
group of reptiles solidified in the midst of our guards.

Now all in one place we could see that the invasion party had been
significantly diminished, and although we were still outnumbered we would
have no problem dispatching this group. The ambassador stepped forth, his
eyes full of terror and loathing, even from where I stood I could smell the
fear emanating from him.

"What mockery is this that you make of us? You possess not the technology
to contain our teleportations!"  A brilliant flash erupted from the midst
of the group of lizards vaporizing most of them and temporarily blinding
the rest.

"T'was not science that contained you, son of Procyon."  A regal voice
proclaimed from the midst of the light.  The light and smoke cleared a
moment later, revealing a group of six strangers clothed in hooded capes
which hid their appearances from direct inspection. The blade of my
sword blazed with an almost blinding light, a silent testimony to the power
contained in this group. Their leader (at least he was the one doing all
the talking) wore a cloak like the others, except instead of brown leather his
was a shimmering grey velvet tied with a gold clasp.

"What devils have you aligned yourself with, you hellcats!  What other
force besides science and spirit could contain us here?"  The ambassador
was silenced by some unseen hand, and before my eyes his body started
levitating, his hands to his throat in a sign of choking.  Just as it
seemed he would last no longer, he fell to the floor gasping.

"Now, if there are no more interruptions I think we should get down to the
business at hand." The leader of the six was talking again. "If The
Tigress has no objections I think we can let you go now, you've been humiliated
long enough."  The Tigress nodded and instantly the barrier was removed,
the grateful Procyians once again tapped their teleporters, this time ascending
through the roof unmolested.  After they had left, the leader of the new group
of visitors walked slowly toward The Tigress.  She too walked out to him and
they met in the middle of the room amidst the thousands of corpses.

My mouth gaped.  The Tigress upon coming to a stand in front of the cloaked
figure, dropped to one knee and bowed in reverence to him. The sight of our
High Ruler of our entire planet bowing before a creature who was no taller
than five feet made everyone in the room give an audible gasp.  This was
followed by a short intake of breath as the stranger pulled back his hood
revealing the head of a grey wolf.

"Oh dear Valian, High Magus of the Wanderer's Guild.  I, High Tigress of
the world of Fierras welcome you and thank you for responding to my call."
The wolf in front of her seemed to think nothing of the fact that this was
the ruler of an entire race bowing before him.

"Rise dearest Tigress, I accept your welcome and ask, how could we of the
Wanderer's Guild refuse the request of one who almost joined our ranks as
a sister?"  The wolf, Valian, raised The Tigress by her paws and stood
before her.

"I should introduce you to my daughter, and then there is the story of my
mother and... Oh there is so much to tell."  Over the next hour or so The
Tigress introduced almost everyone present, including myself.  I also
learned much of The Tigress' history as well.  It seems that this Valian
was the one who had taught her magic, and she had hoped to join the
Wanderer's Guild someday but had been prevented from it by her mother's
death and her appointment to the throne.  After hearing all that she had to
tell Valian beckoned to his companions.

"These are my current students (the five removed their hoods),
unfortunately I cannot tell you their names at this time or in this
company."  The group was an odd assortment of two cats, a dog, a horse, and
some sort of generic furry creature. The Tigress was still observing them
when she next addressed the visitor.

"Has SpRark sent you to help us in our fight?"  Her voice was hopeful, but
I think she was only guessing.

"No, we are here solely to deliver a gift from him."  Valian gestured beside
him and a large crate materialized there. "In it is a standard
warp drive.  I will not tell you how it works, your scientists must come
about that knowledge on their own, but the Arch Magus has seen that this
could be all you would need in this battle."

"Come and dine with us."  The Tigress implored. "Now that those vile
lizards have been vanquished, we can clear this mess from the table and
send for the chefs to prepare some real food."  The six wanderers were all
too welcome to join us, although they insisted we leave the stench of
battle behind us and move to another room.

After the meal (which I enjoyed immensely better than my earlier one), I
was escorting the High Cub through the dim halls of the palace toward the
open air walkway to her royal apartment.  J'arehk walked close behind me
walking with the High Cub, when we reached the final walkway before coming
outside into the sun. I contemplated the upcoming battles that we would
find our world locked in, but now with the wanderer's gift we would be able
to fight this menace on their own turf: the vast war ground of outerspace.
With this last thought a smile crossed my face as I stepped forwards into
the neverending sun...