Wayne Batson - The Final Storm

Robby watched the stone just as he was told. Mallik flexed his massive arms and swung his great hammer down. There was a sound that reminded Robby of the icemaker on his fridge at home, and the stone exploded in a shower of green and yellow sparks!

“That was incredible!” Robby exclaimed. “Your hammer can break rocks?”

“The head of this weapon was forged of murynstil,” Mallik replied. “And my grandsire found a way to flash-temper it to a hard-ness beyond any stone in The Realm.”

“Cool!”

“Well, almost any stone,” Mallik corrected himself. “It takes me several swings to break the blue granite of my homeland, but it eventually shatters.”

“Can you do it again?” Robby asked.

“We really ought to get back,” Mallik said, grinning.

“Please!” Robby said. “C’mon, Mallik. Just one more time.”

“All right,” Mallik conceded at last.

Robby grinned and stood a few paces back as Mallik went over to the large white stone upon which the old Glimpse had been sit-ting. “Now this should please your desires!” Mallik said, and again he hoisted his hammer high. With great strength and terrible force, Mallik slammed the hammer down upon the white stone.

There was a thunderous sound that echoed off the face of Pennath Ador. But this time the stone did not shatter. Mallik’s ham-mer bounced and fell out of his hands. He ran in a tight circle, clutching his hands as if burned.

“GREAT MOONRASCALS!!!” Mallik howled.

“Are you okay?” Robby asked.

“Aye, lad!” Mallik replied, picking up his hammer. “I just must have missed the center with my stroke. It does that sometimes. Now stand back.”

Mallik took a deep breath and brought his hammer crashing down upon the white stone. And again the hammer bounced without so much as a tiny spark. Mallik dropped his hammer and screamed at the mountain. Then he ran back and picked up his hammer for a third try. This time when he lifted his hammer, he brought the head so far back that it almost touched the ground behind him. Mallik’s eyes bulged as he wrenched his body and swung the hammer in a huge arc.

The hammer’s head struck the stone a mighty blow. A sound like a cannon shot bounced off the mountain, and a small chip of white shot into the woods. There had been no spark, but a small lick of fire sprouted on the white stone and danced there for a moment before flickering and going out. Suddenly the top of a small pine tree top-pled over and fell-exactly where the chip of stone had gone.

“Did you see that?” Robby asked.

“Aye, I saw it,” Mallik replied. “I saw it, but I do not believe it!”

“The old Glimpse who was here said this mountain was the very first mountain, that the white stone is powerful.”

“No doubt about that,” Mallik said. He whistled. “Why, this rock here is harder than the blue granite from my…”

Mallik’s voice trailed off, and he stared up suddenly at the mas-sive face of gray, and among that, the huge fields of white stone.

“What?” Robby asked, looking from the white stone by his feet and back to the mountain.

Mallik grabbed Robby by the collar of his tunic. “Hurry! We need to get back to the castle!” And Mallik lumbered off into the pines.

“What?” Robby asked, stumbling after him. “What’s going on?”

“Well-done, Robby!” came Mallik’s voice from up ahead. “You may have just saved the Kingdom of Alleble!”

W hile rushing up the passage from his chamber, Robby turned a corner and ran smack into a young Glimpse maiden. They tum-bled awkwardly to the ground. Clad in his armor, Robby had landed on his back and looked like a turtle.

“Oooh, I knew I should have worn my armor!” the Glimpse said, and she was on her feet immediately, brushing the dust off a long emerald-green gown.

“I’m real sorry about that,” Robby said. “It’s just that I don’t know my way around the castle and-” But when he finally got to his feet and saw her, he forgot what he was about to say. She had extremely long straight black hair that fell in dark locks behind her neck and back. And some draped on either side of her ears.

“Well?” she said, her raven dark eyes smoldering. “Where were you going in such a-” And then it was her turn to be suddenly awestruck. “You, you are not Glimpse-kind,” she said, regaining some composure. “But I feel I have met you be-” She took in a sharp breath and put her hands to her mouth. “Kearn!” she exclaimed with sudden recognition. “Nay, but Kearn’s twin from the Mirror Realm!”

Robby blushed. “That’s me. My name is Robby Pierson.” But then he felt obligated to say, “But I’m not like that Kearn guy.”

“I daresay you are not!” She laughed. “You are a warrior of Alleble now. Well-met, I say! I am Trenna Swiftfoot.” She held out her hand demurely, expecting Robby to kiss it in the manner of a chivalrous knight. Robby took her hand in his and shook it vigor-ously instead.

Trenna drew her hand back and smiled. “And from what I have heard,” she continued, “you are to join me in the ceremony tonight.”

“I am?” Robby looked at her questioningly.

She nodded.

“Oh, righ-ight,” he said.

There was an awkward silent moment. “Do you know the way to the Great Hall? See, that’s why I ran into you-I was lookin’ for it, but got kinda lost.”

“I will lead you,” she said. “Keep up with me, if you can.”

“That shouldn’t be too hard,” Robby replied.

“Oh, really?” Trenna raised an eyebrow, and before Robby knew it, she was gone.

She beat him to the Great Hall-beat him soundly. It was all Robby could do just to keep from losing sight of her and getting lost again. When Robby finally made it to the Great Hall, he was drenched with sweat. Trenna, on the other hand, looked dry and cool. A few Glimpse knights and maidens snickered as they passed by Robby and entered the crowded hall.

“I hope you fight better than you run,” said Nock, who had watched the last leg of their race.

“It’s hard running in all this armor,” Robby said, tugging at the collar of his tunic.

“Oh, making excuses now, are we?” Trenna asked.

“No!” Robby replied curtly. “Well… yeah, I guess I am. I want a rematch.”

“Anytime,” she said, smiling sweetly.

“You two know each other?” Nock asked suspiciously.

“No!” they replied together as if horrified by the notion.

“We, uh, just ran into each other tonight,” Trenna clarified.

Nock’s intense blue eyes scanned them both.

“Robby Pierson, Trenna Swiftfoot, come forward!” Kaliam commanded from inside the hall. The crowd inside became sud-denly quiet. Robby and Trenna walked slowly in, feeling very self-conscious with all eyes trained on them. They met Kaliam in the front of the vast arched room. Robby saw Mallik, Elspeth, Kindle, Lady Merewen, and several other prominent-looking Glimpses-all dressed in shining bright armor.

Kaliam smiled at Robby and Trenna and then turned to the crowd. “Knights and ladies of Alleble, friends from Yewland, Mithegard, and Acacia… we gather here tonight to witness the good confession of not one but two who would join our ranks!”

“Hear, hear!” the crowd cheered.

“Huzzah!” Mallik shouted.

“Ordinarily,” Kaliam went on, turning back to Robby and Trenna, “this ceremony comes at the end of many years of training and education. But now, by King Eliam’s decree in time of war, we perform this with all confidence and surety.”

More cheers.

“And ordinarily, this ceremony is for one warrior at a time. But tonight you both have come. For both of you have been released from a kind of bondage: Trenna, the chains of iron you wore in Baen-Edge; Robby, the invisible chains you wore in the Mirror Realm. But both in bondage manufactured by The Betrayer. On this glorious night we welcome you into an entirely different world where you are free to choose whom you will serve.”