Chapter 5

Alan couldn’t move; he almost dared not to breathe. He knew she’d gone home; he knew she’d been homesick for centuries. What the hell was she doing back here? His mouth must have been hanging open because Hopix started to laugh. “Have you missed me that much, Alan?” Hopix giggled.

“I thought you were gone for good! When I took you home, I felt the longing in you to stay there.” Hanging his head, Alan whispered, “I thought you’d be happier there than here with me. Alright! Yes, damn it! I missed you that bad, okay?”

Hopix couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. Alan had missed her? Why? She was just a simple Fairixie, trying to do her job for the council, to save as many as she could before Alan was either tired of the job or was killed. Just the fact that he’d freed her planet, plus saved what was left of her family, she would devote the rest of her life to him.

“Alan,” she breathed out, trying to control her shaky breath, “I am here to help you. Many things that are wrong were my fault, such as the one that had taken my planet.” Here she hung her head. She couldn’t tell him yet; if he wasn’t ready, she’d lose him forever. She’d waited far too long to allow that to happen. “I am hoping that we can set right so many wrongs that were done by the recruits that I tried to train.” Again she hung her head.

“Hopix,” Alan started. “I am more than willing to help you and accept your help. We’re a team and a damn good team at that.”

Hopix had been hoping he would say something like that, but it was still too soon for her to say anything. If she lost him right as they were getting started, she’d never recover. She’d been researching this at home the whole time after her grandfather had said what he had, or she’d have been back a hell of a lot sooner.

“I hope so, Alan. As I said, there is so much to do yet; we have barely scratched the surface,” Hopix almost whispered.

Alan was still slightly in shock. Not only had Hopix come back, but she still wanted to work with him. Hell, he still felt he was the worst mage that any of them had ever seen.

“Alan, you really have to stop thinking like that! You are truly a rare find of a mage; you are accomplishing things that haven’t been seen in thousands of years.”

Again, Alan was a little shocked. He didn’t think that his thoughts were that strong. Was Hopix actually a mind reader or was she more sensitive than most?

Hopix had to bite her lip. Damn it! Her and her big mouth! She wasn’t used to being this excited. As a matter of fact, she wasn’t this used to being as confident in her abilities as she was now. She looked at Alan, a feeling of pride growing in her chest, something else she wasn’t used to. What Alan had said was true; at first, she had wanted to stay home with her mother and sister. God, she had missed them for so long. Now, thanks to Alan, she had a family again, another thing that she could never truly repay him for.

“I went over a report of your last job; you did extremely well, Alan,” Hopix said.

“I don’t know how you think I did well; it took Queen Glimmer and your people to convince them to let me help them, not exactly a glowing review,” Alan replied.

“No, but you have to think of it this way,” started Hopix. “You wasted no time and found a solution within minutes of thinking of it. To me and I’m sure to them, you are definitely a hero. Your quick thinking saved them even more suffering.”

Extremely pissed off that they were now trying to kill him, Hopix noticed that he was glowing brighter than ever before. But how? This planet always dampened all magic; it had for centuries! Yelling “no,” the fireball bounced back at the woman. Screaming, she tried to stop it, then hold it. Finally, she cursed Alan, telling him he was a dead man. He was only one man; they would kill him soon. “You can try, but right now I have a count of twenty-three to nothing. You make twenty-four. Bye, bitch!” Alan said as the fireball engulfed the woman, then was gone as soon as her screams stopped.

Taking a deep breath, Alan tried to calm down, still not noticing his skin was glowing an intense reddish-blue color. Hopix was startled. She had to contact the council as soon as she could. In all the thousands of years she’d been doing this, she’d never seen a human express his power visually while on earth. Smiling, she thought it had to be Alan. He was the most unusual human she’d ever met, or ... shaking her head, no! He couldn’t be! There was no way! Sighing, she could see she would have to take another trip home, too. Things were starting to get stranger by the moment.

They’d both just gotten into his room when the light council contacted them. “Alan, please forgive us, but we have a case that we need you on. It appears that this planet is about to die. It has been drained to the point that the core has started to destabilize. It also appears to be the same one you met on the last planet. Do you think you are rested enough to face him?”

Alan thought for a moment, feeling the strength he had. “I believe I am, though not as strong as his brother, he is still powerful enough to harm a great many,” Alan replied.

“Good, please leave at once,” the council ordered.

Alan lay down, Hopix flying to his side. “Be careful, Alan. This one is far smarter than his brother, plus I feel that he will have many escape plans.”

Alan nodded. Lying down, he closed his eyes and reached out for a planet like the council had described. Within moments, he was there. The sky was dark, the air foul. Reaching out, Alan found the source of all the planet’s distress.

Again, Alan felt the same entity that he had on the Tribocs’ planet. Reaching deep, Alan powered up as much as he could, his anger also building. Releasing it, he sent as big a fist-shaped charge at the entity as he could. He felt the other crumple from the onslaught, almost all the energy fleeing back into the planet.

Appearing next to the again lizard-shaped magic user, Alan reached in, crushing his shape-shifting ability. The lizard creature screamed, looking at Alan. Again, Alan crushed two, then three, and then a fourth ability before the lizard’s eyes got huge, and he flashed out. “Damn it! Hopix had warned me, but I was so anxious to stop him I let him escape. At least he can never do this again, nor feed off others, but the other two abilities...” Alan was unsure of. Alan reached out, feeling all the beings on the planet close to death, freezing all of it. Alan tried to accelerate the energy feeding back into the planet. Finally, the planet started to feel more like it should.

Releasing all the life was harder than he thought. Within moments, a massive amount of green fuzzy life forms were crowded around him. Alan, though tired, had to make this planet safe. Extending, he first protected the core, then the beings.

They all stared at Alan with wide eyes. Then they all bowed. “We thank you, Tranzarie. No other has ever shown the caring and compassion that you have. If you ever have need of us, you forever have an ally and friend in all of us,” the leader said.

“May I ask what you call yourselves?” Alan asked, feeling a little stupid asking but had been taught if you didn’t know, ask. There was always power in knowledge.

“Yes, Tranzarie, we are called Trembly,” the leader replied. “We will raise an effigy to you so that all will know that we are not alone, that at least one being cares for us.”

“I do not like to be praised as a god that I am not. At present, I am trying to stop many with power like me who think they are,” Alan explained.

“Yes, we have sensed this. Take this,” the leader handed a box to Alan ... which fell through his hand. Again, there were a great many gasps. Many withdrew in awe. “You ... aren’t really here, are you?” “No, I am still on my planet. Though I do wish to help as many as I can, I am not always truly there,” Alan said.

The leader bowed, “we respect your wishes, Tranzarie. When you can, we would greatly love a chance to actually meet you. When you depart, this will follow you and be near you. It has a great many more benefits than just travel. Please be well, Tranzarie.”