Robert woke the next morning before Vornur had touched him. It was almost as though he could hear the thoughts of the Roduran telling him it was time.
"Come," Vornur said when he saw that Robert was already awake. "It is time to meet the Skellians."
Robert stood, careful of the low ceiling. To his surprise Vornur did not lead him toward the morning light, but back into the cave. He expected to hit a wall, but a doorway stood where there had been none before. Robert followed Vornur deep into the mountain through corridors dimly lit by small torches. On occasion there were other corridors leading off the one they followed, but few. After a lengthy walk they came into a large chamber. A great table stood in the room. Seated on the far side of it were four Skellians. Robert took a moment to look at them. They were dressed in dark robes with hoods pulled back. Their faces seemed almost human. Almost. Their skin was pale from living underground for so long, and their eyes were unnaturally large.
"I am Mer-Vetang," said one in the middle. "I am the oldest of the deep forest Skellians. Please eat and sit down."
Robert moved to where she had motioned and found a small buffet set out. He gathered some fruit and meat on a plate, then poured himself some drink into the same sort of clay cup he had been given when first he had arrived on Andar. He moved to the table and sat down. Vornur came and sat next to him.
"Forgive our poor fare," Mer-Vetang said graciously. "This is not as we would have liked to present to one such as you. In better times we would honor you properly."
Not knowing exactly how to respond, Robert nodded. He picked up some fruit and began chewing.
"This is Ger-Koth," Mer-Vetang said, indicating the Skellian on her left. "And these are Dar-Ven and Sur-Lal."
"Why have you brought me here?" Robert asked.
"You speak with little respect," Mer-Vetang shot back, the cordiality in her voice replaced by ice. "You have learned nothing of how to treat your superiors."
Perhaps he should have been more respectful, but after having given up two years of his life and fought the previous day for his life, he was a little upset.
"You have brought me from my world through trickery, kept me in a cave, and pitted me against other races to fight or die," Robert answered with more anger than he thought he had truly felt. "More than that, you have done the same with others, all of which have died before me. Do you call yourself my superior when you have sentenced others to death and perhaps me as well?"
Mer-Vetang stood up and the anger in her face was tangible. The lights in the chamber grew brighter and for a moment Robert could see Mer-Vetang as she might have been, a proud, tall Skellian of great beauty and power. The effect, if not terrifying, was certainly frightening. Robert shrunk in his seat.
"You will speak with the respect due the Skellians, Outworlder!" Mer-Vetang said loudly, her voice echoing in the cavern.
Whatever the Skellians had become, they still seemed to wield some power. Robert was immediately sorry to have provoked her. Apparently he still had much to learn about the races of Andar.
He was about to respond with an apology when another Skellian entered the chamber and rushed up to Mer-Vetang. Robert could not see if it was a male or female, as it had its hood pulled over its head. The Skellian whispered in Mer-Vetang's ear. Mer-Vetang's countenance immediately changed and she seemed, if not slightly cowed, at least more than a little disturbed.
"Yes, of course," Robert heard Mer-Vetang whisper.
Mer-Vetang sat down. The four Skellians leaned in toward each other and whispered among themselves, ignoring Robert. Robert went back to his breakfast, keeping one eye on the Skellians.
"Keep your courage," Vornur whispered to him. "There is nothing to fear from the Skellians."
"Are you certain?" Robert asked. "That was no trick I just saw."
"They still have power, but it is not as it once was. Have courage. You will need it far more than just here."
Robert nodded up at Vornur. Of course, having just witnessed what he had, he wondered what Vornur meant. There was some power the Skellians still had, and he had no idea how great it was. All he knew was that it was greater than what he had.
Robert's thoughts were halted when a creature began to enter the chamber. He thought it was at first a snail-like creature similar to the one he had fought the day before, but then he saw that it had no shell. It was also enormous.
"Stand," Vornur said, rising. "She is the first."
Robert stood up silently while the Pozeran continued to enter the chamber. Several minutes later when she had finally made her way in, she began to rise. Robert could only compare the motion to a snake about to strike, but that image was hard to reconcile with the slug he saw before him. That it, or she, was more than just a giant slug was obvious. Something emanated from her that seemed to fill the room. Robert felt himself trembling and noticed that even the Skellians were standing and looked very uncomfortable. The Pozeran continued to rise until half of her body was off the ground and she stood more than a foot taller than Robert.
"You are the outworlder?" the Pozeran asked.
She spoke slowly, and her voice was smooth and deep. That she spoke in the language of Andar did not surprise him as much as that she spoke at all.
Robert bowed in response, thinking it was simply appropriate to the Pozeran.
"Yes, I am," he replied.
Slowly the Pozeran turned to face the Skellians. They seemed even smaller next to the thick-bodied creature, and he could see both Dar-Ven and Sur-Lal almost fearful under her gaze.
"Have you told him why you have brought him here?" the Pozeran asked.
Mer-Vetang, though uncomfortable, looked defiant. She bowed just slightly to the creature.
"That is the purpose of this council," she answered, her voice still strong.
"Would you tell him all he should know?" the Pozeran continued, her voice growing louder. "Would you tell him of the others who have come before him and failed? Would you tell him what you would do should he succeed? Would you tell him of the Korisheray?"
At the last word Robert felt a shudder go through him and absolute silence fell on the chamber. Robert looked at the Skellians whose heads were all bowed, even Mer-Vetang's. He looked at Vornur who stood motionless, saying nothing.
"I ask, First Pozeran," Robert finally said when no one spoke for almost a minute. "Please tell me."
Robert looked around the chamber. The Skellians would not look up and meet his gaze. He looked pleadingly at the Pozeran.
"Speak," the Pozeran commanded.
Mer-Vetang looked up as if some force made her do so. She looked first at the Pozeran with venom in her eyes, the rage of the impotent. Then she turned to Robert. He felt himself taken aback by her look. There was a boiling rage in her countenance that chilled his blood. In a low voice she began to speak.
"Long ago on Andar, the races lived in balance. That is not to say that we did not fight and war, but there was a balance that was maintained so that all the races lived and thrived to their own degree. Then, several thousand years ago, the Skellians, as the strongest and most beautiful race, decided that we should rule the others. We abandoned balance and conquered Andar. We chose a path of peace. And for thousands of years we did rule and peace settled on all of Andar. A peace that Andar has not enjoyed since. Our precedent did not go unnoticed. While we ruled, others planned and plotted. Our peace was not what they wanted. A thousand years ago a dar-Skellian who called himself Kor-Etath raised an army and with it overthrew us. Any Skellian who dared show his face above ground was killed. We went underground. A thousand years of darkness has changed us from what we were to what we are. But we will not live in fear of our extinction. We called on others to help us in our fight, to bring peace back to Andar."
"How many others?" Robert interrupted. "How many others before me?"
"We did not give up," Mer-Vetang stated with an edge in her voice. "We fought back. We sent many of our own to challenge Kor-Etath. My husband, my son, the fathers of all those you see here today. They all fought...and died. Who knows how many? A thousand? Two thousand? Then we looked for help from somewhere else. Our race no longer had the strength to overcome Kor-Etath. We began to bring in outworlders, like yourself. Nine other outworlders before yourself have we brought here. Two of them died during The Contest. The others succeeded and went on to face Kor-Etath." She paused. "He killed them all."
There was a long silence in the room. Now that Robert knew what had happened to the other seven who had survived The Contest, he wondered what his victory the previous day meant. Was he just the next to face Kor-Etath and be killed by him?
"Tell him all," commanded the Pozeran.
Mer-Vetang looked at the Pozeran like an angry child who had no real recourse, then looked back at Robert.
"Six of them he fought and killed with the sword. The seventh, the last one before we summoned you, managed to wound him. In his rage, Kor-Etath released his magic, the Korisheray, the Deathbringer."
"And that is who you would have me fight?" asked Robert incredulously. "You would send me to my death at the hands of a man who has only been wounded once in a thousand years?!"
"What else would you have us do?" Ger-Koth spoke up loudly. "Do you believe that we would have done what we have done if there was any other way? Kor-Etath will kill us all, all Skellians, in time. That is no mystery to us. Neither is it a mystery to all who were at The Contest. The entire world of Andar is but moments from death or domination! We sent for the others, and you, to try to live. Would you not do the same? Would you not try to save your family? Would you not try to save your kind from extinction? Would you not try to save your world?"
Robert found himself nodding. It seemed that it had not been out of malice that they had done what they did. It was desperation, the desperation of a race who could see the end of its days. Yes, if he could have, he would have done the same thing. Though he wanted to think he would have done it differently.
"And should he defeat Kor-Etath?" cut in the voice of the Pozeran. "What would become of the Skellians if Kor-Etath should at last fall?"
"We would take our place once more as rulers of Andar," Mer-Vetang said quickly and with pride. "We would bring back the peace that Andar enjoyed for so long."
"Then you have learned nothing," the Pozeran said acidly. "You are little better than Kor-Etath."
"We are not of his kind!" shouted Mer-Vetang rising to her feet, the lights again growing brighter and the image of her former self again briefly visible.
"And how are you different, rulers of Andar?" asked the Pozeran, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
The image of Mer-Vetang receded and Robert saw her once again as the small creature who hid in caves, fearful of being seen and slain.
"We seek only peace," said Mer-Vetang quietly. "Peace, and life. Only what any of the other races seek."
"And rule," the Pozeran filled in, silencing Mer-Vetang.
For several moments there was no sound in the chamber. The tension became overbearing. Robert looked from one race to another. From his learning Robert knew that the Pozeran had come far to speak to them. This issue was important to her and her kind. As Ger-Koth had said, it was probably of great importance to all of Andar. Vornur, the Roduran, had also left his own race to lend aid. And before him sat the Skellians, who for a thousand years had fought and died in vain attempts to regain a place of prominence in their own world. That they claimed to seek peace seemed superficial compared to what they really wanted, power. Amid them all he stood, an outworlder, asked to win a fight that was not his on a planet that was not his home. And yet, it truly was the same as he, or any other race, would have done. Right or wrong, the Skellians had given him something to fight for. Still, as he had witnessed, to put the Skellians, and Mer-Vetang, in control of Andar seemed, as the Pozeran had said, to replace one cruel ruler with another.
"I will fight Kor-Etath," Robert said at last.
All eyes turned to him. The Skellians looked happy and relieved. Neither the Pozeran nor Vornur showed any emotion.
"But I must know all I can of Kor-Etath and the Korisheray. If he can be wounded he can be killed, though I do not know how I will stand against him and his magic."
"There is but one way to beat the Korisheray," the Pozeran stated.
Mer-Vetang laughed softly.
"I know that of which you speak," she said. "I have not forgotten. No one has seen that since before we ruled. If it ever existed at all. Myth and legend."
"It exists," the Pozeran replied. "The Jewel of Andar is only hidden, away from the hands of Skellians, dar-Skellians, and any other who would seek to rule Andar."
"What is the Jewel of Andar?" Robert asked. "Where can I find it?"
"The Jewel is in a dead city deep within the forest of Gundoon."
"No one goes to Gundoon," Dar-Ven said softly.
"Even Kor-Etath would not go there," Sur-Lal echoed.
"That is why the Jewel has been safe for these many thousands of years. If you wish to end the rule of Kor-Etath, the outworlder must go there and bring back the Jewel. There is no other way."
"Vornur," Robert began, turning to his friend, "can I get there?"
"As you have been told, the way is dangerous even for one like Kor-Etath. Or-Pozeran would not have come all this way if it were not at least possible." Vornur paused. "Outworlder, there is little chance for any of the races of Andar if the Skellians fall. And there is little chance for you if you do not have the Jewel. Kor-Etath can be killed, but there is no way to defeat the Korisheray without the Jewel."
"Then I must go. Can you show me the way?"
"I will go with you, Outworlder."
Robert turned to the Skellians and the Pozeran.
"I am not of your world," he stated. "I have been brought here to face an enemy that was not my own. I would ask to be sent back to my world, but in the time I have been here I have become more like you than I am to my former self. I will journey with Vornur to seek the Jewel of Andar and face Kor-Etath in battle. But hear me now, Skellians, I will NOT let you rule Andar if I should defeat him. You will live as the other races, in the balance that was here before your arrogance set you on this path that may very well end in your own destruction."
"Strong words, Outworlder," said Mer-Vetang in a voice that more resembled her esteemed position of days long past. "And will you enforce this balance with your own power?"
"I do not want to rule over you or any other race on Andar," Robert answered back, staring her in the eyes even though it made his knees weak. "But know this. If I can defeat Kor-Etath, then I will defeat any others who would not seek balance. If need be, I will do what Kor-Etath would have done."
"You would do this alone?" Mer-Vetang sneered.
"He will not be alone," the Pozeran intoned.
When there was no response from the Skellians, Robert took a final bite of food, then excused himself to begin. Vornur followed after him.
"You have sent him to his death," Mer-Vetang said to the Pozeran after a moment.
"You summoned him to his death when you brought him here, Skellian," the Pozeran answered. "Just as you did all the others before him. I have given him a chance. That chance is yours as well."
"It is not even a fool's chance," Mer-Vetang countered. "Kor-Etath knows of the Jewel, yet in a thousand years he has not chanced to seek it. How can this Outworlder gain something that a foe more powerful than he has refused to attempt?"
"You forget one thing, Skellian," the Pozeran said slowly. "You have brought nine outworlders to this world, but have yet to give them a reason to face and defeat Kor-Etath. You have given them skills, but not secrets. Already are things in motion that will give this one a reason to defeat Kor-Etath. If all goes as it should, the Jewel of Andar will be only symbolic."
"And if all does not go as it should?" asked Ger-Koth.
"It is the end of the Skellians," the Pozeran replied. "And perhaps the end of us all. I have given us all a chance. The only chance we have left."
"But you have not given him all secrets," Sur-Lal said gently. "The Jewel of Andar, if it still exists, is guarded."
"That he must learn on his own," the Pozeran said, lowering her body to the floor.
Back in the cave Robert had come to call home, he strapped on his sword, a dagger, put a quiver of arrows and a bow on his back, then lifted a skin pouch of water over his shoulder. Vornur was similarly attired.
"I do not recall reading much of Gundoon," Robert said as the two walked out of the cave into the light. "I know it lies to the north of here, but I know nothing of its story or why it is such a feared place. Who lives there, or lived there, that would keep Kor-Etath from even trying to go there?"
"Much of the knowledge of Gundoon was lost when the Skellians ruled. They refused to let books be written to educate the races. Books that were found were either taken or destroyed. Knowledge was passed on by word of mouth only. What is known is that Gundoon was the only region on Andar that was never subjected to the rule of the Skellians. The forest there is dark and the creatures of it are said to be mighty and vicious. Very few who have ever gone to the forests have ever returned. They speak of trees that move, creatures that cannot be struck by sword or arrow, and a mist that travels the ground at night and devours anything it touches."
"Why did you not tell me this before I said I would go?"
"Outworlder, one day you must face Kor-Etath whether you would desire it or not. He will have it no other way. He has known of you all this time and has waited only so that he may face you as he did the other. It is all but certain that Kor-Etath will defeat you as you are this day. The Korisheray is a magic that can only be defeated by another magic. Trees, creatures, and mists are physical things that can be defeated. Which would you rather face?"
"Then why did I fight in The Contest yesterday? Why have you trained me if I have no chance?"
"There is always a chance. The Pozeran has told you more than any others, including the one before you who wounded Kor-Etath."
"But she hasn't told me everything, has she? Like you, she has kept some things to herself."
It almost wasn't a question.
"Even as you say," Vornur answered at last.
"And even knowing less than I probably should, you believe it is possible?"
"I journey with you, Outworlder."
Robert looked at Vornur and gave a little snort of resignation.
"What of this jewel? What is it?"
"That is also lost. It has only been said that a thing of such power would be clearly recognized when it is found."
"This just keeps getting better and better," Robert said as he looked into the sky at the twin suns. "A fight against a man who has only been wounded once in a thousand years, a forest full of vicious creatures, and a magical jewel that no one can identify. Is there anything you have not told me? Should I be looking for fire from the sky as well?"
Vornur only looked at him. Robert shook his head. Irony and sarcasm were apparently lacking in Rodurans as well.
"Let's be off," Robert said. "The sooner we begin, the sooner we can return."
Vornur started off into the forest, heading north. Robert walked after him. He had hoped for a cheer or words of encouragement from the Roduran or even from the Skellians behind him who he was trying to save, though he knew that was not in Vornur's character and did not seem to be in the character of the Skellians either. Still, it would have helped.
"Stuck between a rock and a hard place," he mumbled in English.
* * * * * * * * * * *
They traveled almost at a fast jog for the first two days, catching what they needed to eat and sleeping as little as possible. Vornur impressed on Robert the need for haste as the last champions had fought Kor-Etath within days of The Contest. When he did not show up in that time to face Kor-Etath, he would realize something was amiss and would react. The journey to Gundoon was at best 10 days away, then 10 days back, plus whatever time would be needed to recover the Jewel of Andar. It would take at least 21 days, and there was no way of knowing if Kor-Etath would wait that long.
On the evening of the second day they sat beneath some trees resting and eating the last bits of a large rodent they had shot with an arrow.
"Why have the races not allied themselves to defeat Kor-Etath?" Robert asked. "Surely one man could not stand against an entire world."
"There have been but two ruling races in several thousand years, Outworlder, the Skellians and Kor-Etath of the dar-Skellians. That is a long time for races to accustom themselves to being ruled. Kor-Etath did not wage his war on all races. His coming was hailed by all races who had grown tired of the rule of the Skellians and had been aroused by his words. Many are the races that fought alongside him, including most of those with whom you fought. When he first sat on the throne, he demanded but little of all races. It was a great change from what had been before. A welcome change. When he asked for more, they gave more, telling themselves it was his due and that it was still far less than the Skellians had demanded. The one before you, from your world, had used a phrase that total power corrupts totally-"
"Absolute power corrupts absolutely," Robert corrected.
"Yes. When he asked for more they gave him more. Then he asked for their people, their men and women. That is when there was resistance. He assembled his armies of dar-Skellians and marched on those who denied him. No one helped, thinking it was only this race or that race. But it came to them all, one by one, and by the time each race realized it, there was no other race to help them. It has only been the Skellians who gave him no tribute, instead retreating to the caves and underground, fighting against him and those with him as best they are now able. They are not what they once were, but they are the only resistance, and the other races have come to look to them for help and the only way to defeat Kor-Etath. That is how The Contest began. Every four years it is held and each champion faces Kor-Etath. It has been going for over a hundred years now."
"A hundred years," Robert repeated softly. “Then I take it The Contest at first included no outworlders?”
“It is as you say. For many long years they sought a champion from one of their own.”
"How is it that he lives so long and has not grown weak? There is no record of that in the books you gave me to read."
"The Skellians and their descendants, the dar-Skellians, are beings not entirely physical. They are possessed of a magic that is in their essence and gives them unnaturally long life. But...they are still mortal."
"I'm glad you added that," Robert grinned. "My candle of hope burns low enough as it is."
"As do all of them," Vornur replied.
Robert found himself looking at the Roduran in surprise. It was the first bit of admission he had heard from the Roduran in two years. The fact that it was tinged with emotion of near desperation made it less of an occasion than it might otherwise have been, but it was something.
The next morning they arrived at a large river. Vornur explained that this river marked the halfway point of their journey through the forest and that three days beyond it would find them out on the Great Plains of Andar, a vast area of flat land and small plants. Best of all, travel on the plains was relatively free of danger. Only small animals lived there and a few creatures of flight that preyed on them, none of which was a threat to them because of their size.
They were refilling their flasks when a faint sound came to Robert's ears. He paused to listen. Vornur also paused.
"There is a struggle," Vornur said.
Robert capped his flask and began to run in the direction. Vornur took to the air and flew ahead. A few moments later around a bend in the river the struggle came in sight. On the bank of the river perhaps another 50 yards ahead Robert could make out the shapes of perhaps six or seven of Andar's race of giant, semi-intelligent fish, the Argullians. They were moving around something on the bank that was struggling against them. Robert remembered from his readings that this race lived almost entirely in water, but could drag themselves out onto land and even live out of the water for short periods of time. Their front fins, which were almost useless for swimming, worked similar to tentacles, wrapping around their prey and allowing them to drag it back into the water to drown where they would devour it. They lived in schools of 20-30 and would eat any aquatic animal they could catch -- or any land animal they could subdue. What Robert was witness to was simple feeding behavior.
"They have a dar-Skellian," Vornur shouted from above him.
A dar-Skellian! Robert could not repress a sense of obligation. He was not of Andar and was no relation, distant or otherwise, to any of its races, yet the similarities in a foreign world were enough for him. Having not seen another human in two years, this dar-Skellian was family.
As Robert ran he could see that the dar-Skellian had a sword and was not defenseless, but the fact that the dar-Skellian was not standing was disconcerting. That meant that one or two had its legs and that it was only a matter of time before numbers won out. He ran as fast as he could and drew his sword.
By the time he arrived, six more Argullians had come from the river and were swarming about the shore, using their medial and back fins to move along the shore and their front fins to lash out and grab. Vornur was already engaged, wielding his sword against the light blue fish. Three Argullians lay dead and two more were wounded, flopping back toward the river. Robert didn't hesitate as he ran up to the melee and struck at the Argullian nearest him savagely, cleaving a gash a foot deep into its head. He was momentarily disconcerted by its almost human-like cry of pain and distress as it flopped away from him toward the river. As another grabbed his legs with its fins, he forgot his initial distress and engaged it with a slash first at its fins and then its body. A moment later he and Vornur had hacked away at the two Argullians holding the dar-Skellian's legs, forcing them to let go. Freed, the dar-Skellian stood up and Robert noticed with great surprise that it was a woman.
The three fought for only a moment longer before the Argullians retreated into the river. Five of their number lay dead on the shore, and a sixth floated belly-up with the current, drifting downriver. Given the wounds that Vornur, Robert, and the dar-Skellian had inflicted, another three or four Argullians would likely be dead before the sun set.
Robert turned to ask the dar-Skellian if she were okay. The words stuck in his throat. She was dressed in a tunic and pants like he was, though her pants had been ripped in enough places to show her toned legs. She was almost as tall as Robert with long, flowing brown hair. Even though her eyes were typical of dar-Skellians in being pure white with no pupil or iris, Robert could not help but find her beautiful.
"Why do you stare?" she asked.
Her voice was low and deep, but not masculine, and Robert thought it was the most beautiful sound he'd heard in his life. Then her words struck him and he blushed as he turned away.
"I'm sorry," he said softly. "You are the first dar-Skellian I have met."
She laughed, and Robert looked up to see her smiling at him.
"You must be from the northern Skellians to have not seen a dar-Skellian before. It is said that they have not interacted with the other races for generations. Is such true?"
"I would not know," Robert answered. "I'm not a Skellian. I am not of this world. I am an outworlder."
Her smile faded and her eyes narrowed just a little as she looked more closely at Robert.
"And yet you have the look of a Skellian," she said softly. "It is true, as they said but a few years ago. Another race from the stars that is like and unalike."
She approached closer to Robert and began to look him over carefully as if she were looking for something on him markedly different from either herself or the Skellians. As she did, Robert found himself staring at her face. He looked into her eyes and found himself lost in them, realizing they held expression just as if there was color in them.
"Why do you look at me like that?" she asked, her voice almost a whisper. "And what manner of spell do you cast in doing so that I do not want you to stop?"
Robert was attracted to her, having not seen another of his kind, especially a woman, in over two years. Her manner and eyes made it known that his attention was not unwelcome. This was his time to say something suave or witty, to woo her with the magic of his words.
"Um, nothing," he said at last. "I don't know any spells."
The moment vanished as she turned her face from his. He thought he saw a bit of red come to her cheeks, but he was not sure.
"You are a Roduran," she said as she turned to Vornur. "How is it that you travel with this outworlder?"
"At this time I am no longer of my race. We are of the same now, he and I. How is it that you come to be by this river alone? You have no bow or spear for hunting. You are two days' travel from any dwelling."
"We are all the same," she answered simply.
"Why?" Robert asked.
She turned to Robert. An involuntary gasp escaped him at her beauty.
"I cannot lie to you," she said softly. "Nor would I want to. I came of age two days ago. My parents l