Chapter 18

Alan could hear Hopix calling him. Damn, she was so far away! Fighting with every fiber of his being, Alan started to claw his way to the surface. Finally, he opened his eyes, seeing a look of love and worry on Hopix’s face.

“Alan, my love, you need to drink this. You are far too weak, please, my love.” Hopix held a cup with a foul-smelling brew in it. ‘I’ve smelled that before,’ Alan thought. ‘When was it? Ah yes, back when he’d been on the Fairixie’s sister world.’ Alan tried to drink it as fast as he could, again not realizing that one couldn’t swallow the concoction as fast as he was trying. Coughing and sputtering, Alan was gasping for breath as the foul odor of it surrounded him.

Barely in a whisper, Alan told Hopix, “My god, woman, it’s still as bad as it was before!” Hopix smiled. Alan complaining meant that the brew was already coursing through his body, helping to strengthen it.

“Alan, please don’t go off alone like that again. I was assigned to help you for a reason. You might have quite a lot of knowledge, but you don’t know it all.” Hopix admonished him, her slender hand on her hip as she gently wiped the excess from his mouth.

Again, starting in a whisper but growing stronger, Alan told her, “Hopix, my love, I realize this, but you have to realize that if I was to lose you, I might go insane, or worse, kill everything in my way ‘til I calmed. I do not want to put you in harm’s way like that.”

“Alan Glanto! If you weren’t as weak as you were right now, I might have to, as you humans say on your planet, kick your ass!” Alan could swear there was steam coming from Hopix’s ears.

Holding his arms and hands up in protection, Alan didn’t doubt she could kick his ass! There was no way that he could ever hurt her. “My love, I was only thinking of protecting you. I...” Alan started.

Hopix stood up with now both her hands on her hips, a look of anger that actually had Alan shaking. “I was YOUR guardian BEFORE you became as powerful as you have. I am a lot older than you, I have been dealing with dark mages far longer than you think. Shut me out of doing MY JOB again, and YOU will find out just how weak I am NOT!” Alan was staring at Hopix with a new respect for her in his eyes.

“I promise you I will not exclude you ever again, my dear.” Alan told her, a slight smile on his face. “You can stop right now, old man. I am sure Glimmer will have quite an earful for you when we return.”

Merlin had tried not to, truly he had, but he’d finally started to laugh. It was hard to tell who was fiercer, Hopix or Alan, though at the moment, it appeared to be Hopix.

Hopix turned and coldly stared at Merlin, who started into an even harder laughing fit. “I will deal with both of you later!” Hopix growled as she marched out of the room.

“To answer your question, yes, Glimmer was that fierce, always in her love, her compassion, and yes, also her temper. I am surprised this is the first time you have seen it. At least you know what to expect. I was caught off guard the first time after I was married to Glimmer.” Merlin told Alan, who was watching as Hopix’s form retreated into the other room.

“I have to ask you, Merlin. You have survived a long time with little or no power. I used the porta sphere to get nine of the last seventeen. I also got one that was trying to draw me to another reality; that leaves seven. I am afraid that these last seven won’t band together nor attack when another is fighting me. With all the tricks you have, I need help getting them. I want this over, so I can take you and Hopix back home to the Fairixie world.” Alan told Merlin, feeling he was almost at the end of his rope with these idiots on this world.

“I do have a few tricks, but I think there are a few things that I need for you to learn. But the way you are right now, almost the entire planet can feel you coming. I think that is where we need to start, then I can possibly help you with a few things that might help.” Merlin smiled. It had been a long time since he’d had anything like a student. It felt good, damn good!

Alan gave an exasperated yell as he’d failed again to do exactly what Merlin had shown him. “Damn it, Merlin! I have been full tilt the whole time I have been doing this. How in the hell do you expect me to tune it down?”

“Son, I am into the high levels now, and I can do this, so I know it’s possible. Here’s something that might help. Take a deep breath, and as you let it out, feel the power decrease in you. That’s it, another breath. Let your body relax, let all the tension flow out of you. As you do this, you’ll feel your power levels start to drop. There you go, better, better. See? It wasn’t that hard now, was it?” Merlin told Alan with a huge smile.

Alan’s eyes snapped open. His levels were so low it was unreal. Staying as calm as he could, Alan could feel his levels even out, but they stayed low. “This is amazing. I never thought I could make them this low.”

“Well, to you they’re low. To me, they are in the mid-range, but you are getting there. Compared to where you really are, this is a major accomplishment. Now then, let’s work on a few more before we rest, ok?” Alan nodded. He was extremely glad he’d asked Merlin to help.

Two days later, across the planet, two of the remaining seven dark mages received a summons to the home of a third. The third was an ally of the first two and had mentioned a plan to destroy the white mage that couldn’t fail. When the third mentioned a meal of a Fairixie—namely the one with the white mage—they jumped at the chance.

Outside what could only be described as a murky swamp with a tumbling down shack in the middle, the two dark mages appeared. “Trigafor! We are here! Where is this meal that you promised us?” The tallest of the two called. Reaching out, he could feel the third, but something strange was going on. Neither felt any other mage or power anywhere near. Suddenly, Alan appeared with Merlin and Hopix.

“So, I see you came as I asked,” Alan told them as they both discovered that they couldn’t leave, let alone move. Alan waved his hand and the third appeared, a look of extreme anger on its face.

“You are an ass, white mage! Release me! I will eat all of your soul before...” Alan sighed and clapped his hands as the third screamed and was reduced to a mashed puddle of flesh, blood, and bone. Alan was turning toward the first two when one actually broke free of the spell that was holding him.

“Not so fucking powerful, are you, bitch?” The one that got loose snarled, shooting a freeze spell of his own that hit Alan in his left arm. Cursing when the tall, putrid-smelling human-shaped dark mage started to laugh, Alan quickly shot another paralyzing spell toward it. Laughing again, the dark mage sidestepped the spell. Smiling, Alan increased his shield and then shot more spells toward the dark mage. “Damn! Here I thought you were this all-powerful white mage!”

Alan started to smile even bigger, making the dark mage angry. Shaking his head, Alan watched as his first three spells returned. Outraged, the dark mage stopped a moment then whipped around just as the first spell froze him solid. Alan breathed a sigh of relief as the next spell shattered the frozen form.

The last struggled, also breaking free. Though this time, Alan was ready and fried the dark mage as he was making a move toward Alan. Alan shook his arm as he felt the feeling start to return to it.

“Nice move, getting hit to fake the idiot out!” The now-familiar voice of the dark council champion could be heard behind Alan. “I am so ready to fight you! Hurry up and kill the last four, then I can have an actual battle with a worthy opponent. Here, something to keep you warm.” With that, the champion left and sent a fireball at least twelve feet high toward Alan.

Alan felt this was different, so he sent Merlin and Hopix a little way off. Erecting a magical water barrier, Alan knew it wasn’t enough, but it would weaken it enough for him to squash it. As he thought, the barrier cut it by half, then it was moving his way again. Slapping his hands together, Alan felt the fireball hesitate, still trying to reach him. Alan put more and more into it ‘til he was as high as he could go, then he felt the fireball falter and flame out.

Damn, Alan thought, that was exhausting. There was a sudden rush of air, and then the light council was there before him. “You have done a most wonderful job, Alan. Of the 100 dark mages and well over 300 apprentices that were here, there are only four dark mages left. Know this, Alan, though we can now come and go from here freely, we still cannot interfere. We are sorry, but as per the rules that were set down by both you and the dark council, this is all we can do. You should also know that this is all the dark council can also do.” Alan nodded to the leader of the light council, then they were gone.

Both Hopix and Merlin appeared a moment later. Merlin had wanted nothing to do with the council, especially now that he had as much power as he did. “I want to thank you both for coming with me; I think I should go after another if you two are up for it?” Alan told them both.

“Hell yeah, I’m game,” Merlin told Alan.

Hopix was looking Alan over, making sure he was alright. “You sure you shook the entire spell off that the dark mage hit you with?” she asked, looking even harder at his arm, hand, and shoulder.

Alan leaned down to where she was bent, looking at his legs and running her hands up and down them. ‘Damn!’ Alan thought, ‘her touch is about to drive me nuts!’ Grabbing both her hands sent a shock through both of them as Alan pulled her up to his level. “I have already checked myself. I am not seeing any of the energy left on or in me from the dark mage, ok?”

Breathing a sigh of relief, Hopix looked straight into Alan’s eyes, a look of nothing but love there. “I have to make sure, my husband,” she said, reaching over and gently rubbing his crotch. “I have to make sure that you will be able to help me have children! My mom wants to be a grandmother as she has always wanted to be. I have to keep you healthy, my love,” Hopix demurely said.