One Last Chance

She bent down mechanically over the young man and examined him. He was wearing the armor of a full Dragonslayer, which was odd, as there were only a few Dragonslayers and he didn't look like one of the ones Alyssa had heard of. As far as she knew, all of them had been dead by the time she was sent on her mission. He had blonde hair and was fairly handsome, if a bit pale. While he seemed to be weakened, he didn't seem injured at all.

The young man began to stir and looked up with her with troubled dark brown eyes. "Who... who are you?" he said, faltering and uncertain.

"I'm Alyssa," she said, still somewhat numb. "Who are you? Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I don't know..." The man laughed bitterly. "You should be dead. Everyone is dead. Killed by that stick-figure demon thing?"

Alyssa clenched her jaw angrily. "That thing killed everyone here, but we're still alive. We can stop it if we just find a wizard--"

"No! It didn't just destroy a few towns, it destroyed everything. I saw it. I don't know how, but--" He shook his head.

"You're delusional," said Alyssa. "We need to get help for you, right now." She put her arm under him and helped him up. He managed to come shakily to his feet. "What's your name?" Alyssa asked.

The man shook his head again. "Don't remember. Don't remember anything. Just death. Everything's dead." Alyssa gasped. Because at that moment, she had felt a strange crackling over him, and even seen a purple spark around him.

Deep in the Calamari Desert, reality screamed as Happyman teleported in, the three skeleton brides he'd stolen still by his side. Its pit-black eyes were filled with joy at his latest kill. After having destroyed that last universe, he remembered that he hadn't managed to destroy this one because Yanni had driven him off or something. Well, this time things would be different. This time, he would show this universe what he was made of. He would burn everything to the ground, devour all his enemies, hear the lamentations of their women, and leave the universe less than dust.

But first, he'd have to get some beer. He hadn't had anything in the last few months except warm Fresca. That really sucked. He teleported elsewhere to take up his never- ending quest for beer and mayhem.

Sage Vigoro shed a tear as he looked into the Mystic Oracle in the depths of his laboratory. The terrible Abomination that he had so narrowly driven out not long ago had returned, and the wish scroll that was the only thing that could stop him was no longer usable by Vigoro. There was no wizard more powerful than him in this world, and it would take too long to find a suitable one from another world. For a moment, it had seemed as if this would be the end of his world. He would survive though. He always survived. He was an Eternal Champion.

But then, he had seen another distortion in reality in the south of the Great Kingdom. Apparently, a being of power from another universe Happyman had destroyed had been dragged in his temporal wake. This being seemed to have enough latent power to challenge Happyman himself. And yet this being's power could prove as much of a curse as a blessing. Sage Vigoro had kept himself sequestered in this out-of-the-way universe for centuries upon centuries, but he knew from the Mystic Oracle of Ariophi that throughout the multiverse the Office of Evil was marshalling their forces. He had even heard rumors that the Shadows were stirring. Surely a being with power as great as this new arrival's would draw them down like vultures to a kill.

He realized then that his young apprentice had shuffled into the room without him noticing. He smiled faintly. He couldn't have asked for a better apprentice than Luna. She was studious, intelligent, inquisitive, and thoroughly devoted to the Art. On the other hand, she was also sometimes cold and distant, and had as little skill for dealing with people as she had great skill with magic. Still, she had proven herself worthy to carry on Vigoro's knowledge when he in the end tired of this world too.

He stared into the oracle one last time, concentrating the full powers of his mind. He sent out a psychic message to his old friends and fellow Elder Champions Morganna Wordeni and Rugen, knowing full well that it could be years before they recieved it. He wanted to send one final message to Eleanor, but knew that he would not be able to think of anything to say.

"Master? Are you well?" said Luna. For a moment, Vigoro simply said nothing, overwhelmed with sadness that he was once again being drawn into the great and terrible conflict. Eternal life was a burden which not everyone was meant to bear. This kind of battle was for those who had proven they could, such as Morganna and Rugen, and for the younger Champions who had been appointed to deal with the Randall Flagg mess, not him. What if the Offices took notice of this battle and decided to press him into service once more? Or worse, what if they pressed Luna into service, as they had Eleanor's apprentice? But he knew that he could not let his adopted world fall before Happyman.

He turned to Luna. "No, I am not well," he said. "Happyman has returned. You may recall how narrowly I defeated him the last time, and at what great cost." The look on her face showed that she did indeed--she had only narrowly managed to correct the alteration made to his matrix by the unleashed chaos energy which had turned him into a duplicate of some terrible musician from a parallel Terra. "But there is hope, Luna. Another being of power has dragged in from another world in his temporal wake, one who may be able to stop him. But we are not the only ones who are interested in. We have to reach him, before darker forces do."

1. Vigoro and Luna set out to find the new arrival...
2. Alyssa and the new arrival fight for their lives in the demon-haunted land...
3. Happyman searches for a beer in the shadow-city of Walants, legendary hive of scum and villainy...

Add New Option

Go Back

View Forward Story Tree
View Back Story Tree

Display All 2 Links to this Episode