Sovereignty

by Pars001

©Copyright 2015 Pars001

Chapter 1

I apologize for missing that detail. Let me correct that for you while preserving the parentheses as requested. Here's the revised version:

It had really been a bad day for Alan; his wife had kicked him out of the house, literally kicking his rear end as he left, slamming the door in his face. Only an hour before that, he received a call that his job had laid him off. The fact that he'd withdrawn most of the money from the bank account was about the only good thing that had happened so far this day. Trudging down the street, he'd already tried the few friends he had to see if he could stay with them for a few days; each had no time for him, no space, or hell just laughed at him. Well, so much for those three friends. Sighing, Alan headed toward the cheap section of town; might as well get a cheap room for a few days. He just hoped he could find another job soon; starving wasn't something he really wanted to try.

Checking in, Alan made his way to the room, damn he was tired, and the bitch had really drained him of energy with this last fight. Laying down, sleep took him almost as fast as his head hit the pillow, something that just didn't happen to him the last few months. Usually Alan didn't dream; he thought it had something to do with stress he wasn't sure, this time though, almost as soon as his eyes were closed the dream started. He was floating, where he wasn't sure, it was warm, it was peaceful something Alan wasn't accustomed to, in fact it was too comfortable. Then just as suddenly he was standing on the ground, well he thought it was ground he wasn't sure it had a yellowish tint to it like sand but this felt like he was standing on a sponge.

Wait Alan thought this is a dream I shouldn't be able to feel and... ? What was that god awful smell? Covering his nose as best he could Alan stepped forward almost sinking into the soft ... ground? Fuck this shit he thought, this should be solid when I walk on it, rising he was now on top of the ground. Huh? What the fuck just happened? Walking for a few minutes almost choking, Alan thought the air was so putrid it needed to clear up so he could breathe better and like before the air was suddenly clean, clear and sweet smelling. Ok, what the fuck is going on? A noise drew him to a clump of small purple ... ugh he guessed bushes, on the other side, what could only be describe as a spiked black ball with eyes, was flinging an energy whip like weapon at a group of docile, pink, slug like creatures. The thing was these pink creatures had six legs and almost human like faces. Alan was about to turn and leave when he heard a single word in his mind, help!

The thought had been tinged with pain and suffering of a type Alan couldn't even begin to imagine. Turning back Alan was starting to get angry, stepping through the bushes, Alan faced the spiked ball which had stopped its whipping, you have to imagine Alan was 6' 2", the spike ball was almost as tall and about 4 feet across. Alan heard it think at him who are you? It is a crime to interfere in the emperor's business.

Alan could almost feel venom from the thoughts. I know not of who this emperor is but you won't hurt them any more Alan thought.

Ah a Slimtori lover huh? the ball thought, raising the whip it was about to strike, when Alan he held up his hand, the ball froze then shook, NO! not a Trictatori! I beg your forgiveness lord! I was only following orders! I beseech you not to kill this unworthy soul!

Alan was a little unsettled and didn't move, in a flash the spike ball drew back the whip aiming for Alan.

What happened next was talked about for days among the Slimtori. As the whip traveled toward Alan, it suddenly stopped and reversed course, striking the spike ball. The screams Alan 'heard' almost brought a smile to his face. The whip repeatedly struck the spiked ball until there were no longer any sounds or thoughts from it, then the black shell cracked and an odd purple fluid began to slowly ooze from it. Alan couldn't feel any remorse about it; he'd given it a chance. It was strange, though; he had thought only moments before that if the ball attacked, he hoped the whip would beat the creature to death. The largest of the pink creatures slowly walked over to Alan, bowing, it thought to him, we wish to thank you, great Trictatori, your intervention has saved all our lives; he was about to beat us all to death.

Why didn't you fight back? You are many; he was but one. It would have been simple for you all to overpower him, uh, it, Alan thought, stumbling over his words.

The pink Slimtori looked at Alan with a strange look, Fight? What is this fight? We know nothing of this; we are storytellers and record keepers, the emperor is rounding all of my race up to extinguish us.

If you don't fight or even know what it is, then what harm could you be to him? Alan asked, now curious.

As I have said, we are record keepers. Centuries ago, there was a bold seer who foresaw the defeat of the emperor by a strange and extremely powerful Trictatori, so powerful in fact that he could exist in two planes at the same time. It was said that though not as powerful in the dream and spirit plane, he was still a force too powerful to be defeated by normal means.

I am new here; what is a Trictatori? I do not recognize that word, Alan asked, feeling a little stupid.

A Trictatori is you, one who can manipulate air, fire, water, make things they need from other things, the large Slimtori said.

Alan thought for a moment. It sounded like they were talking about the Sorcerers and Wizards of old, but... he wasn't... he couldn't... Thinking a moment, he knew that the Slimtori were starving, almost on the brink of passing out. Waving his arm, he thought of a feast for those there, all their favorite food; poof, it was there. All the Slimtori bowed low as they went to eat.

Okay, this was getting weird. Walking to the large Slimtori, he asked if there was a safe place they could go to, yes, but it is so far away; I am sure even with this food, most of us wouldn't make it, it sadly thought.

I can get you there when you are finished; I will take you there, Alan thought.

You are Trictatori; why would you help lowly creatures like us? it asked, confusion in its thoughts.

It is the way I am, alright? The Slimtori just nodded and went back to eating.

After they had all been transferred, Alan looked around the thick-walled building; there was a lot of destruction. Waving his hands, the walls were like new, better even, as Alan had strengthened them over a thousand times stronger. Almost all the Slimtori were amazed, having never seen a Trictatori this close.

Alan was about to go; he'd felt a tug every hour for some time now and knew he was about to wake up.

Damn, this was a sweet dream. Just for fun, since none of this was really real, he told all the Slimtori that if they had need of him again, just call him. When they asked what his name was, he responded, "Alan." There was a collective gasp in all the thoughts he heard. Then he heard them all say "A-la-n" just as he was pulled back, then awoke to the phone ringing.

Damn, that was a sweet dream! Shit, with powers like those, he could do so much damn good in the world, but not in this world. Good shit never happened here. Setting out, he started looking for another job, stopping anywhere they might hire him. Sighing, he headed back to his room; a lot of prospects but nothing solid yet.

Tired beyond belief, Alan hit the shower, almost falling asleep in it. Laying down again, he was out as soon as his head hit the pillow. Just like the night before, he landed in almost the same spot. The sound of many feet drew his attention, that and the sound of several whips again. Not even needing to look, his anger grew. Stepping through the bushes again, he saw that the visitors were examining the body of the ball creature. The visitors included a few more of the spike ball creatures, a few creatures that looked like cucumbers with hair, ten legs, and four eyes, and above all these was a two-legged, almost rat-like creature, hairless and whiskerless.

You! Did you see what happened here? one of the cucumbers demanded, a scowl on its almost face.

Alan just stood there, his arms crossed. The rat creature glanced his way and immediately flicked her whip at the cucumber creature.

Your Majesty, we cannot allow such... it started.

You will shut your mouth and pay respect to the Trictatori, the rat-like leader's thoughts almost seemed like a shout. Suddenly all the creatures were on guard, though many were also shaking.

This useless creature attempted to use his whip on me, a bad mistake, Alan thought forcefully, looking at all twenty of the guards with the rat creature. He'd missed the walking snake creatures plus more of the pink Slimtori he'd met the day before.

You will speak with respect to the daughter of the emperor, you sho... the cucumber creature began to gag and choke, then it split into four parts, its grey body fluids spewing everywhere. All ten of the snake creatures attacked, chanting and spitting. Alan pushed all that they sent back at them, each screaming as it died. The spike balls were the next to die; they tried to roll over Alan, who simply moved, motioning his hand down upon his other hand, and all the spike balls were at once flattened, crushed beyond recognition.

Now then, if you are through playing, release the Slimtori NOW! Or the next one I crush will be you, and there is nothing they can do, Alan said to the emperor's daughter, indicating what was left of her guards. I suggest that you go home and don't return to this area again. It is under my protection, and believe me, I won't hesitate to kill ALL that come here! the last Alan said as he made a choking motion with his hand, and the Princess was choking, unable to catch her breath. I hope we understand each other.

The Princess threw dagger-like looks at Alan, sucking in air as soon as Alan released her. This is not over; you may be powerful, but no one can withstand the entire army. Turning his back to her, the Princess started to choke again. The last of her guards all rushed Alan. Waving his hand, time slowed as Alan walked up to each and, to the Princess's horror, he split then resplit each of her last guards. Walking right up to her, he looked straight into her eyes, that was the last warning, walking to the Slimtori, he released them, then the Princess, remember, Alan thought to her as he whisked the Slimtori away.

The Slimtori were thanking him again; those from before were happy to see old friends they hadn't seen in what they called deysims. They were all discussing what had happened; most of those here knew different parts of the old seer's story. Alan had started to feel small twinges that were now moving up into small pulls. Damn, it wouldn't be long now. Sighing, Alan made sure they had enough food and space as he had to enlarge the place a little. Alan was starting to walk out, not wanting to vanish in front of the pink creatures, frightening them, when a young Slimtori came to Alan, I wanted to offer you this gift, for saving our lives and those today, It said as it handed a small box to Alan. There was a huge gasp then silence when the box fell through his hand.

It is you! The seer said he would not try to hide but would be hidden; you are here but you are not! The large Slimtori from the day before thought. ALL the Slimtori bowed to Alan, but this didn't go over well; Alan did NOT want to be worshiped.

With that, Alan walked out and almost immediately vanished, awakening in his room again. He was almost as tired as he had been when he'd laid down. This fucking dream was wearing him out; rather than go out, he laid back down, falling asleep again within seconds. A vision, you might say, appeared before him.

"Hello, Alan," it said. Funny, but she looked familiar. "Yes, Alan, I get that a lot, or rather I used to before mankind forgot its magical roots. You have the strongest concentration of magic in you than anyone else on earth."

"What the fuck are you talking about? Damn, these dreams are getting worse and worse," Alan said, a little irritated.

"Oh, I am real, but the only way to talk to you is through your dreams. Look, when you wake up, you'll have the little box the Slimtori gave you. Open it when you are ready to actually go TO their planet, okay?" With that, the little fairy, sprite, or whatever the hell she was, kissed his cheek and was gone. The rest of the day, Alan slept with no dreams, no interruptions; ten hours later, he awoke to the sun starting to set.

Alan was a little disoriented for a moment, sitting up, he searched the room for anything familiar. Sadly, he realized he was in just a cheap hotel room. Rubbing his eyes, he realized he'd got nothing done that day. Shit! Well, he was exhausted; you can't look if you're dead. Sitting up, he at first didn't notice the little box that was sitting beside his bed on the nightstand. Getting up, he went out to get a bite to eat, hoping he didn't run into the bitch of a wife of his; that'd really make for a wonderful fucking day. Returning to his room, he sat to watch a little TV when he noticed the little box from his dream sitting on the nightstand.

Thinking, he tried to remember what the little woman in his dream had said. Open when I was ready for what? Damn it! He hated the fact that he couldn't remember; it was bad enough the fucking box was here in the first place.

It was an hour later, after watching the boob tube, that it hit Alan that he'd ACTUALLY killed all those creatures. Running to the bathroom, he began to vomit uncontrollably; he'd never taken a life before, not even a fly, and now here he'd killed over thirty or forty beings. Okay, even though they were extremely evil and he HAD given many of them a chance to give up and move on, which they had refused, still, it didn't sit right with him. Slapping his face, he called himself a pussy, knowing that they would have killed HIM with no regrets, no remorse, a hell of a lot quicker than he had them.

Still sitting in his chair, Alan heard a little voice say, "Hey, idiot, for one so powerful, you sure are forgetful. Open it if you are ready to ACTUALLY go to the Slimtori's planet."

Looking around, he didn't see anyone, but he swore that was the voice of the little woman from his dream. Sighing, he wasn't sure he WAS ready to actually go there; the thing was, though, if he didn't, the creatures would be killed when they were found. Reaching for the box, he made sure he had all he wanted to take with him, then cracked the box open. Instantly, he was back on the planet, though this time he was actually there. Well, the odor had improved a lot since the last time he was here. Looking around, he started to curse. What the hell was up? Why the fuck did he always wind up in THIS spot? Alan was about to think his way to where the Slimtori he'd rescued when he heard an even larger sound of movement past the bushes.

Wrapping his arms around himself, Alan formed an invisible physical shield, then another magical shield. Stepping out, he was met by a huge multitude of troops-or so he guessed you could call them that. To Alan, they were laughable at best. There had to be at least two or three hundred black spike balls, one hundred cucumber-like things, another two hundred of the snakes, and it looked like they had a new creature that resembled a combination of a walrus, complete with tusks, a scorpion, and what seemed like dragonfly wings; they had at least a hundred of these.

You there, Trictatori, you have disrespected the emperor and the royal family. Give up now, and we will kill you quickly, a tall rat creature in the front screamed at Alan.

Somewhat pissed, Alan gave them an ultimatum, I suggest that you give up now before all of you are destroyed. I am far stronger than you think, and I won't hesitate, not anymore, Alan thought to the ten rat-like creatures in the front.

Each started to laugh-that is, until Alan snapped his fingers, and the first rat creature fell over dead, its neck snapped in two.

At that moment, half of the snake creatures started to chant and spit. Alan calmly sent everything they sent at him back at the front of the army. Within moments, all the spike creatures were on fire and dying. This time, all two hundred of the snakes started in-hmm, Alan thought, this ought to be interesting-bouncing everything off before it even got within ten feet. Alan was starting to get pissed again, making a slashing motion; half the snake's heads separated from their bodies.

Do we continue this, or do you wish to give up? You've lost part of your troops; don't sacrifice the rest, Alan thought as forcefully as he could. Again, the rat creatures laughed, sending the cucumber creatures out. Alan sighed and snapped his fingers again; two more of the rat creatures' necks snapped as massive panic erupted in their camp. Still, the cucumber things attacked. Alan wiped his head and rubbed his hands together, watching as all the advancing cucumber things suddenly dropped, all of them boiling in their own juices.

You've lost well over half your troops and three of your generals. Give up! Alan wished they had a little sense; god, he hated warmongers. Snapping his fingers again, four of the remaining eight rat creatures keeled over, their necks now broken. The last of the troops weren't too sure now. The last of the snakes were still chanting; the dragonfly creatures took off toward Alan. Sighing, he made a scissor motion with his fingers as all of the dragonfly creatures crashed, all but two bursting as they hit the ground. With that, the snakes fled; the last four rat creatures advanced upon Alan-well, one did; the other three died before they even got within ten feet. Alan felt something familiar about this last one, though he wasn't sure.

You fought well, Trictatori Alan, better than I thought you would, but this battle is between you and I, the last rat creature said as it advanced through all Alan's shields.

Your energy feels human. Yes, I see it now: you let the power corrupt you, you stayed here in this place, Alan said, startled to find another almost human here.

You might say that. I became trapped here. I lost the crystal to travel home. The Slimtori refused to make another; they said I knew where it was and refused to remember. After a few years, I didn't care. That was 5000 of your years ago. Then that piss ant seer saw you killing me, as if. Your power won't work on me as mine is the same, the large rat creature said.

Alan knew differently, blasting the sword from the hands of the rat emperor. For an hour and a half, they blasted away at each other. Though he'd taken a few hits and actually been wounded, Alan had inflicted far more damage. Alan's arms were bleeding, there was a gash on his left thigh, a deep cut on his right leg, and his right shoulder was also bleeding. The emperor was faring much worse, with almost every inch of his body oozing blood from cuts.

Alan was tired, and he saw that the emperor was too. "This has to end soon; one mistake and I'll have him," Alan thought. Not long after that, Alan saw his chance and cut the emperor's throat. The emperor's mouth opened, he saluted, and then fell over dead. Alan had to move; thinking of the Slimtori he'd rescued, he made it halfway there. "Shit," he thought, "I might not make it." Trying again, he made it to the outer wall. Not sure he could make it around to the front, he drew a door and walked through the wall. The same young Slimtori who had given him the box caught him as he fell. There was excited talk as the Slimtori all gathered around Alan. Alan thought he heard them discussing how to heal him and a few strange ideas before the world went black.

Alan awoke in his cheap room. When he tried to move, he was extremely sore. "What the hell?" Holding up both arms, he saw that they were covered with cuts and gashes. The strange thing, though, was that as he watched, they actually healed in front of his eyes. "Damn," he thought, "I should have been healed by now." A little voice spoke next to his ear, "You would have been, but you took a beating in the battle; a little sleep does wonders," the voice drifted to his other ear, "you should be up in no time."

Alan turned his head and caught a translucent outline of the little woman from his dream.

"Damn, it's about time I was able to see you." "Not yet, but you will one day. Now, we've got a lot to talk about. When you're healed, how'd you like a job?" the little woman asked.

Alan smiled; that sounded like a damn good idea to him.

Chapter 2

Alan awoke the next day with a start. After the past week, it seemed he was starting to lose touch with reality a bit. Looking at the date on his calendar, reality hit home even harder. What the heck? According to the calendar, almost a whole week had passed. A moment later, a knock came from the door of the room he was in. Looking out, he shook his head. Oh great, it was that manager.

"I know you're in there! I got that receipt you wanted!" she shouted.

Opening the door, Alan put on his best face. The rotund, white-haired, short older woman stood there with her arms crossed. "Yes, ma'am," Alan told her. "Had a late night last night so..."

She held her hand up to stop him. "Look, I don't care, okay? Just pay each week, then we got no problems. Just remember the rules: no drugs, no loud music, and no sneaking in partners for a few days, or you're out."

Shutting the door, Alan could only shake his head. His light brown hair was longer than he remembered it being. Rubbing his eyes to clear his vision better, he also noticed that he was sporting a week's growth of beard. What the heck was going on?

Suddenly, a female-like voice sounded in his right ear, almost a whisper. "I am sorry, Alan. I think I healed you far too much here." A light touch at his forehead opened a floodgate of memories.

Suddenly, Alan's eyes flew wide. What!? It hadn't been a dream? "Where are you? I could see your outline last time; now I'm getting nothing."

"As I said," the whispering voice started again, "I am afraid I healed you far too much; it affected your power as well as your memory. I am endeavoring to remedy this."

Alan's head was already hurting like crazy. After the little voice said that it had healed him too much, and then he'd felt a light touch to his forehead.

"Again, I apologize, Alan. I was afraid that the council had me recruit you too soon. As fast as you healed, though, before I got to you, I can now see that they weren't wrong." Alan turned his head and stared where the voice had been; all he saw was a shimmering, like the heat waves you could see on a hot day.

"There, now then, down to business. I was sent to recruit you; you are the first in almost 500 years to show that you have the power," the voice said. "I have been..."

"Wait," Alan interrupted her, "Who are you? I'm a little tired of you knowing me, but I know nothing of you."

He almost felt a palpable shock then his head was flooded with tons of information. "Oh, shoot! AAAA!!!" Alan almost screamed as his head began to throb. "Are you trying to kill me? Good grief!" Falling on the bed, Alan thought the pain would pass; no dice as the pain increased until his brown eyes rolled back in his head.

Floating in another dream-like scape, Alan looked at a sprite or pixie that fluttered in front of him.

"So your name is Hopix, and you are my guide? No, that's not right; you're my watchdog, ah!" Alan said. Darn, he thought, I don't know whether to be insulted or complimented.

"There's no insult intended, as I told you yesterday, we are offering you a job," Hopix said.

"I don't understand. If this... council is so powerful, why can't they attend to their mistakes?" Alan asked.

"True, they are a powerful council, but they can't interfere. They can advance any with the power, but after they decide they want to use their power, the council has no say. You see, they offer the job; you can reject or accept. Reject after the power is instilled, and you can do most what you want off Earth. Accept, and the council asks you to stop other mistakes that have run other worlds and systems to almost ruin," Hopix said, taking a breath. "Almost all your needs will be met, though there are a few they can do nothing about; I am sure you know which ones I am talking about."

Alan nodded; as always, he worked his butt off and got really nothing he needed in return, and that he definitely needed.

Hopix's eyes grew wide, then she blushed. She had to teach Alan to stop broadcasting his thoughts so strongly.

"I don't mean to hurry you, Alan, but the council needs an answer. We have another that needs taking care of; he is almost as bad as the last," Hopix said, a small shiver running through her body.

"How long before they have to have an answer?" Alan said, noticing that Hopix was still shaking badly.

"Soon, before the day is finished," she whispered out. "Alan, I hope you accept; this case is somewhat personal to me, so I would also owe you much." With that, Alan was back in his room.

Alan noticed that most of the pain was gone. Good, at least he'd be able to function while he made a decision. Locking up, he decided to visit his wife; maybe she'd have a change of heart.

Knocking at the door, she snatched the door open. "What the heck do you want? I thought you left! After what you said, I'm not sure I..."

"After what I said," he shouted, "I think your memory is playing tricks on you. You're the one who kicked ME out, you're the one who said you didn't need, want, or love me. Let us not forget it was YOU that slammed the door, not me. I can see I wasted my time coming here."

A smirk crossed her face. "A waste, yes, that's what I'd call you! A waste of my time all these years. You're a loser that won't amount to anything. I'll have your stuff outside in a day or two." With that, she slammed the door even harder in his face. Alan could hear her laughing on the other side of it.

Forget it, Alan thought. I really have nothing here to keep me, not even our children. I'm sure she's already poisoned their minds against me also.

Alan trudged his way back to the motel. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice the man that was trying to follow him. Alan was almost back to the other side of town when the man caught up to him.

"Hello, Alan," the man smiled, a smile that Alan could see was only a feigned attempt to gain his confidence. "We have a proposition for you. You're a hard man to find."

Looking at the man's extended hand to shake, Alan decided to ignore the gesture. "What do you want?" Alan said, a smirk on his face. This man was oozing an almost palpable evil.

"As I said, we have a proposition for you. Work for us, and we can grant you everything you want. Your wife would love you unconditionally, so would your children. We can make sure that everything you want is granted." The man chuckled a little sinisterly.

Alan stopped. WHAT!? Looking at the man, Alan was suddenly angry, more angry than he'd been in a long, long time. Alan didn't even notice that his hands were starting to glow or the fact that the man was slowly backing up.

"For your darn information," Alan shouted, knocking the man off his feet, "I don't want anything to do with that woman anymore! Second, there is nothing that you," here Alan noticed that the man's ears were bleeding, causing him to pause for a second. "Nothing you can give me that will make up for the insult you just gave me! Be gone!" The man groaned as Alan reached out to push him away from himself, surprised when his hand went through the man! "What the heck?!" With that, the image of the man exploded then was gone.

Storming back to his room, Alan lay down and was out almost immediately. Hopix appeared seconds later in his dream.

"I wish I could have warned you about them sooner," she said. "That was an agent of chaos, one of their better ones. He thought he could turn you easily as he had the others. I am glad he was wrong. So, Alan, do you have an answer? The council awaits."

"Yeah," Alan replied. "There's nothing here for me now that I can see. Tell them I accept."

"That's good, we've got another assignment for you," came a voice behind him. Alan turned to see a gnome-like creature sitting at a table. "You do this one, and I think you'll have a lot more than thanks from the council," the gnome creature said, nodding toward Hopix, who was trying to hold back her terror and joy that Alan was taking this assignment to her home planet. "I'll leave you to it." With that, he was gone.

"Your home planet? And just when were you going to tell me?"

"I could not until you accepted the assignment; I am not allowed to sway your decision about anything before you decided whether or not you would join." Tears fell unashamedly from her eyes. "It was my fault that the human who rules my planet with an iron fist is there. You see, I recruited him. I never foresaw the evil he possessed."

Alan's heart was finally starting to soften in regards to Hopix. "Alright, let's go."

Within seconds, Alan was standing on a piece of blackened ground. "This isn't right," he thought. Slowly, the ground turned back to its original colors-blues, greens, and oranges. Sighing, Alan decided he'd have to get used to the fact that not everywhere would even be close to what Earth was. Within minutes, the blackened ground was replaced with a myriad of colors as far as he could see. Better, he thought.

Suddenly, there was a rumbling sound. Turning, Alan saw what appeared to be rolling storm clouds. Reaching out, Alan saw it was a cluster of beings like Hopix. Alan brought all his defenses up fully as they swooped in and commenced to dive-bomb him; that is until the leader of the cluster stopped within a few feet of him.

"You!" she screamed. "So you are here to stop me? HA! As if! I have had centuries to perfect ALL my skills."

Alan reached out, feeling the being was being controlled, making a scissors cutting motion. The little being screamed then looked around confused.

"Where am I?" Looking at Alan, her eyes grew large. "Please protect me," she pleaded. Alan pulled her inside of his shield, feeling that she was freed from the others' influence.

"I suggest that you prepare for me. You want to act like a witch? Then I will strike you down like the witch you are!" The little being at his shoulder's eyes grew even larger.

"But you don't realize who that is," she said, flying to get behind him then fell through his shoulder. Bowing low, she said, "I didn't realize that you were a mazey also. I apologize. I await your orders, master."

Alan's mouth hung open. Master?! What the heck?! "Yes, I have them all trained!" she laughed evilly. "If it's a fight you want, then come for me. We'll see who is the strongest to rule this planet."

"I," spat out Alan in disgust, "do not want to rule this planet. I am here to free it from you!"

"In your darn dreams, lap dog of the council." The woman sent a huge bolt of fire at him. Damn, he thought, is that all they have? Geez! Turning it back, he sent it back through the portal it had appeared from. There was the sound of mass panic from the portal, a scream, then it closed. All the little beings were suddenly shaking their heads and looking around confused.

"I have to make sure that she can't do this again," Alan told the little, he guessed you call her a woman with wings, translucent wings, rather skinny like the thirty or forty outside his shields. Funny, their skin was a light green color. Alan had to admit, for green women with wings, they were kind of sexy. Shaking his head, he cleared his thoughts. Not good to be thinking like that. Come to think of it, Hopix's skin was more of a whitish color; he wondered why.

Looking at the being bowed before, he noticed that the others were bowing also. "Stop that right now," Alan said. "I will not be worshipped; I am not a god." Motioning his hand over the one he'd pulled within the confines of his shield, he saw what had been done to them and the reason for their fear. Alan removed everything he found that the woman had placed there, then did the same to the others.

"I've removed all the orders she placed in your minds, and this," he made another motion like placing a hat on his head, "will never let her control you again."

All of the little women blinked; their thoughts clear and their own for the first time in over two thousand years.

"H ... h ... how is this possible?" The one within his shield asked. "You are mazey; your kind does not grant freedom to slaves like us." Here she bowed her head as tears fell freely from her eyes. Just as suddenly, her head snapped up. "You aren't here, yet you are. You hurt the other mazey as if it were nothing!" She started to back away from him. "You have met one of my kind before!" This last in whispered tones. "We thought it was only a story that was told to the young ones to keep them in line and give them false hope. You really are here to help us, not rule us as the previous two did."

Alan was starting to grow uncomfortable; they were all staring at him with huge round eyes.

"I have to return soon. Is there anywhere you can hide? I realize that this many of you together will worry her, but I still want to make sure you are safe for now."

The one within his shield nodded. Dropping his shield, they all slowly came to the other there. "I am Tropix, and I sensed you wanted to know my name. Look deep into my eyes, and you will see the place I was thinking of."

Alan nodded, and they were there within seconds, deep underground. It appeared there were a few of Hopix's kind here; many looked to be close to death. There were several screams as many attempted to flee.

Tropix stepped out and told them all what had transpired, though only a few came out; many were too scared to venture any nearer.

Alan had been looking around, his anger growing more by the second. Several of the injured children had been abandoned by the others fleeing; a little girl looked at Alan, then groaned. Alan's attention turned to her. He could see all the cruel wounds she had. Waving his hands over her body, others watched in amazement as the girl grew healthier then suddenly sat up, a look of astonishment on her face. Flittering her wings, she hugged Alan fiercely, whispering in his ear a truly heartfelt thank you.

All the elders came forward and listened to Tropix as she again explained what had happened on the surface. Many were in shock, though one smiled. "I see you've met Hopix," he stated. "Yes, I can see you have. The last I talked to her, she said she would never stop looking for the one to free us. It appears as if she may have succeeded."

The look of shock now on Alan's face was all the proof the elders needed. Alan started to heal the worst cases first, though one he wasn't sure of. Making a table of food for all of them was another gift they couldn't stop thanking him for.

"I want to save all of the injured, but that one there," Alan pointed to a female decked out in regal clothes laying apart from the others, "I can't seem to do anything for her. She was also too strong for me to enter her thoughts to heal her there."

The elder nodded, looking at the female there. "That is Queen Glimmer. I am afraid that only the freedom of our people will heal her," Sighing, he sadly shook his head. "She took so many injuries trying to save her people. You actually healed those, so she has a much better chance, but as long as we live in terror and are enslaved, she may never wake up."

Alan nodded, looking around, and he thought they needed better protection. Reaching out, he slightly enlarged the area, made better passages to the surface for air. Finally, he struggled to increase the already strong shield. Damn it! He knew he was stronger than this! Putting everything he had into it, he finally had it where he felt it needed to be.

Looking around, he saw that several of the small beings had also added their power to his. Smiling, he felt a hard tug. Shit, already? The elder advanced and handed a small box to him, which of course fell through his hand. Nodding, the next tug yanked him back.

Opening his eyes barely, he saw he was back in his room. Damn, he was tired. Closing his eyes, Hopix was in the dreamscape awaiting him. "Were you successful?" she asked, her voice almost pleading.

"I haven't destroyed her yet," he replied, "though I did manage to free thirty to forty of your people. I took them to an underground area with some others of your people and healed all those hurt, though I was unable to completely heal Queen Glimmer."

That was a preview of Sovereignty. To read the rest purchase the book.

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