Ulicoth sat up and slowly got off the bed. He stood up. John noticed he was hunched over slightly, and his hood covered the top of his face just as Delsani’s had done when he appeared at the Stark residence. Ulicoth was wearing cherry red robes. On his chest holding his robes together was a broach. It was the Symbol of Salith and was exactly the same in shape and colour as on the scarlet flag. He was also wearing a ring on his left index finger. It was silver and looked like the skull of a Lore warrior. The old Wizard-Elf’s face and hands had bulging purple veins and were wrinkled and bony, and his skin was chalky white.

Ulicoth was now looking at the energy in John’s hands.

“You will not need those,” he told the Wizard King.

“I think I’ll hold onto them for now,” replied John firmly.

“Don’t be rude, John. After all, you are my guest.”

“Guest,” John snorted.

“Do you really think that you would’ve got this far without my help?” asked Ulicoth. His voice had suddenly changed; now it was cold and menacing. “After all, it was I who told Kilamen to go down to join my army and kill as many of the attacking force as she liked. She loves the smell of the fear that comes from a battle, though she likes killing even more. And it was I who saved you from the Valcota in the forest. It was I that took away the protection spell on the balcony, or you would have been blown to tiny little pieces as soon as you touched it. And I am the one allowing most of your friends to live. One word from me is all it would take for the rest of my army to show themselves and destroy them all and end this foolish, pitiful, and predictable attack.”

“What do you mean the rest of your army?” asked John.

“I have spent over six hundred long years building the largest, strongest force that this world or any other has known. And you and your idiotic Wizard’s Council thought that you could build an army to match it in just two.”

“So why wait?” asked John.

“Because of you,” said Ulicoth. “You are the one that I need to help me.”

“I’ll never help you.”

“Come now, John. You are being rude again. I only have your best interests at heart,” said Ulicoth. The Dark Wizard-Elf had again changed his voice. Once more it sounded kind.

“That’s strange. In all of the things I’ve read of you, in none have I ever read of you having a heart,” said John. If the King could spit poison, each word surely would have had enough to kill instantly.

“There is heart of body and heart of mind, and I do have both, despite what history says, or rather doesn’t say, though it is also true that I usually use the former and never the latter. But we, John, we are kin. There are only a few of our kind left. We need to work together to protect ourselves from those who would sooner see us all dead than let us have even a fraction of power in this world. Why not disperse the energy and sit down?” implied Ulicoth.

The light from the energy in John’s hand began to dim until finally it disappeared.

“Good,” said Ulicoth. “Now sit down.”

“STOP IT!” shouted John.

“Stop what?” asked Ulicoth, with a large smile on his face.

“Stop trying to control me.”

“I see that your will is stronger than I thought. That’s very good.”

“Not for you,” said the King.

“You have but one chance to join us,” said Ulicoth. He now held out his hand.

“No! I won’t, and do you want to know why?” asked the Wizard King forcefully. “Trust, trust is needed, and how could I ever trust you? After all, you’re the reason there are only a few of our kind left, or did you forget that little fact?”

“I warn you, this will be the only chance you’ll have, so do not be a fool, John. Take my hand and let the last three Wizard-Elves claim this world, for who could stand against us? Join us, Jastark. Join your family.”

John usually liked to hear his Wizard name, but this time he was repulsed with the way it seemed to slide off the Dark Lord’s slimy tongue. For the first time in his life, he hated the way it sounded. John could see that Ulicoth was now slumping over a little. His right hand was still outstretched, and his other hand was pressed against his chest. And if the King listened hard enough, he could hear a slight wheezing coming from the form that was his enemy.

“No,” he said. “I already said I wouldn’t help you.”

“Yes,” said Ulicoth, “You did say that, but what about your brother or sister, John. Doesn’t it matter what he or she thinks or wants?”

“What brother or sister? I don’t have a brother or a sister!”

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“Oh, but you do. You see, when a Wizard-Elf is born. There is not just one; there are two. Two minds, two souls, in one body. I once had a sibling, and Kilamen has a sister. One gets control of the body, and the other gets to spend most of, or maybe even all of their lives trapped inside their own mind. So I ask you, does that sound fair to you, that your sibling should stay trapped while you get to make all the decisions? Decisions like whether to live or die,” said Ulicoth. “Why not ask what he or she wants, for a change. All you have to do is close your eyes and empty your mind of all thought, and you‘ll finally be able to hear for yourself.”

John felt light-headed and had begun to close his eyes.

“Yes, that’s it. That’s all you have to do.”

But John’s eyes shot back open again.

“NO!” he shouted. “I’M NOT GOING TO PLAY YOUR STUPID GAMES ANYMORE!’

“Are you not even the slightest bit curious?” asked Ulicoth tactfully.

“I was at first, but I’m willing to bet that whoever your sibling was and Kilamen’s sister is. They were the first ones in control of your bodies. And since you are both evil, that means my brother or sister, if I even have one, is as sick and twisted as both of you,” said John.

“I’m stunned, for I think that’s the first time since you have returned to this world that you’ve used your brain. But I must confess I’m also delighted, as now I know that you and your sick and twisted sibling have potential,” said Ulicoth.

“My answer is no, I won’t join you Ulicoth,” said the King.

“I am sorry to hear that, John,” said the Dark Lord. He was still holding his hand out, however, a purple energy ball formed in his palm. He threw it past the King and out the open balcony window. It streaked across the dark sky like a shooting star.

Ulicoth lounged at John. They both fell to the floor. John kicked the Dark Wizard-Elf in the stomach, and he slid across the floor and hit the wall opposite. John got back onto his feet, as did Ulicoth. John made to kick him again; however, Ulicoth caught his foot and threw him against the wall. The Wizard King got up. The Dark Wizard-Elf made to hit him again, but John dodged his fist, spun on his heel and struck Ulicoth square in the face with his left elbow.

Ulicoth stumbled, fell and lay stunned for a few moments. John taking this chance lounged at his enemy, but the Dark Wizard-Elf jumped up ready with a kick. However, the Wizard King was again too quick and threw out his leg in retaliation. The soles of their shoes connected flat on, and the two pushed away at the same time. They flipped over and landed with their feet on the ground, both forming energy balls in their hands at the same time. They stood there staring at one another both wondering when the other would move.

But Ulicoth was really trying to stall the fight long enough for Kilamen to join in. In his weakened condition, the Dark Lord was no match for John, and he knew it.

On the battlefield, Kilamen was trying to get only two seconds, for that was all it would take to Phaze back to help her master. But Delsani had told as many as he could that she must not be allowed to do so. Therefore she was now constantly being attacked from all sides.

Delsani himself was wounded after he attacked her. She deflected his curse back at him, and he dispersed it and they fought. He really did better than anyone could have thought, but in the end she was to powerful for him and hit with a gruesome curse that knocked him off his feet and threw him back ten meters. He was seriously wounded; the whole right side of his body was burnt and it was spreading.

As the onsite Curer (doctor), Henkot, was tending to him, a few of the Ves-Guards were there to prevent him from being attacked, though there was little chance of that happening, for Kilamen was being kept busy, and the rest of Ulicoth’s forces had all been pushed back toward the bottom of the mountains. It seemed that the alliance was doing a lot better than they had originally hoped, for now their forces had almost beaten those distasteful creatures back all the way. It seemed that apart from Kilamen, everything was going their way.

Kilamen had almost beaten all of those who had foolishly challenged her. Demala, who was watching from the tree line of the forest saw that if there was ever a time to redeem himself for his past crimes, this was it. He started at a run toward the Wizard-Elf as fast as he could, which was incredibly fast.

Kilamen had now finished with her attackers and had begun to Phaze.

Demala leapt into the air landed on her back and pushed her to the ground before the energy had covered her completely. She rolled along the ground, throwing the Wolf off. Demala quickly came to his senses ran and jumped at her again, not giving her time to react. He put his sharp jaws around her neck and bit down as hard as they would allow and shook her like an old cloth. The large Wolf was obviously stronger than any ordinary Wolf. His strength was only one of the side-effects of the curse; as his speed, jaw strength, and healing abilities were also remarkably better than an average Wolf.

Kilamen punched the Wolf in the stomach. She hit him so hard that he was sent flying through the air, but he landed on his paws. Kilamen jumped back onto her feet and wheeled round and saw him starting to circle her. “What do you think you’re doing?” she asked furiously. She was completely and utterly taken aback. Neither she nor Ulicoth had expected Demala to involve himself in this way.

“I’m doing what I should have done a long time ago,” replied Demala.

“Don’t be an idiot. Do you think that you can make a difference now?” said Kilamen. “You had your chance to change and you chose to help us.”

“It doesn’t matter what you say. Anyone can change at any given time if they really want too, so don’t talk crap to me.”

The Wolf and the Wizard-Elf circled each other while Delsani lay being treated for his injury. However, he was not the only one being tended to, for most of those that had attacked Kilamen were wounded, and the rest were dead or dying. The other Witches were tending to the rest as best they could.

The old Wizard was trying to listen to the conversion as best he could over the cries of the wounded and dying. He was secretly an Anilang and could hear the words of dogs, and as dogs and wolfs are related, so were their languages, so he could understand most of what was being said.

“I wonder what could’ve brought about your new lease on life. Ah, yes. The newly-crowned and soon-to-be-dead Wizard King, Jastark,” Kilamen, spat at the Wolf. “Did you really think you had helped him? Did you think this would somehow make up for your crimes?” she asked smugly.

“I AM JUST DOING WHAT I THINK IS RIGHT!” exclaimed the Wolf.

“If you really care about the outcome of the battle, you must feel very guilty,” said Kilamen.

“What are you talking about?” asked Demala.

“It’s just that it was you who gave your friend the very information that will lead to his death,” laughed the Dark Lady. “Then again, you probably thought you were just lucky. You were in so much of a foolish rush to redeem yourself. You didn’t think the only reason you knew that information was because we needed someone that we could trust to deliver it to him. Thank you, old friend. You did the job just as well as I told Ulicoth you would. He didn’t think that you would come through, but I had no doubt in my mind.”