“What the HELL was that thing?”
“A tamed demon, out for a stroll,” Dan pressed his hand against his chest. The bitter frost of the creature's touch remained strong. Ice that refused to thaw. “Let’s get out of here, I need to see my wizard… my teacher, we can drop you home after we visit my place.”
“That’s fair,” Kast calmed his face. “But I’d like a better explanation about that… creature.”
“You can ask Merlyn, once we get to Garnib,” Dan shrugged as he walked up the ramp. “He’s the one to ask about Etrigan.”
“Alright,” Master Kast nodded. “I hope he has a good explanation for such a dark presence in the force.”
“Are we really going with this guy…” Etain wrinkled her nose. “He’s definitely up to no good!”
“Do what you want,” Dan trembled, positioned at the top of the ramp. The icey lump expanded, pressed against the inside of his ribs like a tumour. “But I need to get a move on.”
Pain lanced though his limbs, daggers that slid under his skin. Kast lept next to him, even as Ultron gripped his arm.
“Are you alright?” The Jedi Master leaned in, concerned.
“I’ll be fine… but we’d better get going.”
“Don’t play any tricks,” Etain joined them on the ship as the ramp closed. “I’ll be watching you!”
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Space ruptured and the scout ship appeared above Garnib, locked on course for home. Ultron piloted the vessel himself, sensors locked on his master. He’d fallen unconscious as soon as he reached the bridge, hand clutched to his chest.
The A.I. was not trained for emergency first aid, but his knowledge was enough to compensate. A pair of his drones kept the boy’s heart active, while another funnelled air into his lungs.
What happens to us, if he dies…
He didn’t want to know. A burst of speed that tested the ships limits, and they were there. An unsteady impact that brought debris into the air. Ultron rose, hand gripped on Dan’s collar. His thrusters engaged, a burst of blue that left a pair of startled Jedi behind.
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“What about us…” Etain hollered after the A.I. “Hey!”
Her words went unanswered. Ultron sped free of the ship and into the fortress, met by an entangled batch of drones.
“Unhand me, mechanical devil!” Merlin bashed the head from one of Ultron’s drones. “What’s this?”
“He was injured by ghosts…” Ultron tossed Dan’s unconscious form to the Wizard. “Your demon killed them, but it was too late.”
“Not too late.” Merlyn frowned, hand pressed to Dan’s heart. “But it’s close…”
A bright blue light enveloped the room, sourced from the Wizard’s crooked frame. It wrapped Dan’s body in a layer of luminous dew. The young kryptonian coughed, black sludge on his lips.
“This is a powerful curse, the world wants him dead,” Merlyn sat back as Dan stilled into a deep sleep. “We’ll have to be far more careful, his body is strong, but his soul…” A frown touched his face. “It’s better than average, stronger than even Anakin’s, but it doesn’t grow like his body.”
“DAN!” May pushed past the clustered drones, face awash with concern. “What happened, Ultron, I thought this was supposed to be a quick stop!”
“A spiritual attack,” Ultron backed away, his head bowed. “My talents are more in line with the physical.”
“He’ll be fine now, little miss,” Merlyn patted May’s head. “But we need to rethink our priorities!”
“How so…” May brushed off the old man’s hand. “I think we’ve done well so far.”
“Indeed we have, but we’ve forgotten a key point in your families defences,” The Wizard nodded as he drew a pipe from the air. “The weakness of your souls will be a point of attack from all those who use magic.”
“Someone attacked his soul?” May knelt next to Dan, hand pressed to his forehead. “Are you sure he’s alright?”
“He’ll be fine after a bit of sleep,” Merlyn smiled. “But the two of you are going to start attending my classes with young Anakin. You both need to learn to defend yourselves from magic, or this adventure will end far quicker than I’d prefer!”
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Space hung above him, suspended on the back of a mighty beast. It stood, pressed to the sky like a Titan, a gentle hum in the air around it. The tension of its muscles strained against the load. Below it gathered a cluster of children, behemoths in their own right.
Dan lay at their feet, ignored by the giants as they bellowed to the skies. He sat on a sea of bones, an ocean that extended to the horizon. Mouth open, a shout pushed free. His voice had no grip on the air, less than a whisper. The heavens condensed further, inevitable, despite the figures' efforts.
A deep rooted flame filled his heart. He wouldn’t die here, separated from his family. Heaven could fall, he was a child of the sun! Red light spilled from his eyes, a beam of defiance that rippled against the stars.
The giant tilted his head, shadowed face turned to Dan. Rumbled words curbed the air like a hurricane, lost in the sheer volume of noise. Dan bent in the wind, tendons strained to the limit. The light of a thousand falling suns bathed his skin and the beam grew.
I won't give up… I won’t fail, not again!
The giant spoke again, this time in a softer tone, enough that he could hear.
“Wake up, you idiot! You’ll burn the whole place down around us!”
Wake up…
The giant leaned down, a face that was the sky. Mouth opened, it shouted a cataclysm of air, a devastation wrought by the words of his wife.
“WAKE UP DAN!”
The world collapsed and Dan woke. Pinned to a bed, face held to the sky by a pair of drones, he blinked in confusion. A hole opened along his line of sight, a melted path through the crystal that exposed the sky.
“That was a dream…” Dan tapped at the drones. “You can let me go now, thanks.”
“DAN!” May launched herself at his groggy form. “You’re alright!”