If he used psychic power to hisown end, he was no different from a black magician, even if hisintention was good. He moved into the center of his being where hewas calm and at peace, letting go of any remaining anger ortrepidation.
Samrat Condor set the magician onthe board beside Michio and the magician immediately disappeared andreappeared on another place on the board. Samrat Condor looked up,narrowing his eyes as if reevaluating his opponent.
Michio tried to move the playingpiece of himself out of the circle of magicians but couldn’t liftit from the board. The desire to use psychic force raged within him.He visualized the Inner Master and sent him an inner message. “I surrender my will to you, Master Bakka; of myself, I can donothing.”
Samrat Condor placed anothermagician on the edge of the circle surrounding Michio. The playingpiece instantly disappeared, reappearing in a new location on theboard. Michio grasped the figurine of himself once more. This time hewas able to move one space, but the spells of the remaining sorcerersprevented him from going further than the edge of the circle.
Samrat Condor moved the piecerepresenting himself directly in front of Michio.
“Checkmate! You and planetBorko are my prize.”
Michio felt the raw edge of poweronce again. He fought against the desire to use it, knowing love wasstronger than power, nothing could stand against love. His heartseemed to be surrounded by iron hands that were squeezing it shut. Hecouldn’t feel love; he couldn’t feel the essence of life flowingthrough him. A gray fog filled his vision blocking out all else.
He thought of Toemeka and thebinding around his heart fell away. Light filled his vision andSpirit flowed through him once more.
“Michio,”Toemeka said telepathically, materializing beside him. “You’renot alone.”
“No!” Michio exclaimed.“Return to your body. You can’t help me!”
“I already have.” Toemekapicked the figurine of herself off the board and placed it alongsidehim. “You are my heart and Soul.” She reached out and clasped hiscold hand with her smaller, warm one. The board configuration changedagain. When it stopped moving, Michio saw he and Toemeka were safelyaway from Samrat Condor and his magicians. A playing piece depictingMaster Jadock stood beside them. Samrat Condor’s depleted fleet wasno longer part of the battle.
A loud roaring exploded inMichio’s head and he found himself back in a black void, his handstill tightly clasping Toemeka’s. He reentered his body with asharp jerk and opened his eyes.
Toemeka was no longer with himand in his hand was the austra stone. “Thank you, Toemeka, mylove,” he said softly. He was shaken by the psychic game. SamratCondor almost gained possession of his Soul. If Toemeka hadn’tcome, he would’ve been trapped and Condor would’ve won the war
His heart expanded and filledwith gratitude for the golden thread linking him and Toemeka.
30
King Zanton’s Revenge
Enraged, King Zanton slammed hisfist into the viewport on the command ship. Haklute fighters hadflown deeper and deeper into Jaiparian air space, shooting downWinged Warriors. Raptor starships followed and it appeared they’dwon when, all at once, a fleet of Jaiparian starships surrounded thestarships. The Raptor starships attempted retreat. Two were shot downand the rest ordered their fighters aboard and left Borko territory.
“Why did Samrat Condor send sofew starships?” Zanton asked. “He said he’d send a wholefleet.”
“A fleet was headed this way,but the Coalition figured out some way to divert most of the ships,”Seetva said. “We underestimated our enemy.”
“The Raptor starships shouldstay and fight.”
“They are too badlyoutnumbered. Ever since General Fenian joined the dogfighting, thingshave gone against us.”
Zanton stared at her in surprise.“Fenian joined the dogfighting?!”
“His ship was unmarked, ofcourse. But the battle took a distinctive turn when he joined and thefighting was always heaviest, wherever he was. Moreover, we heardradio communications to Cruiser, which is reportedly his call sign.He fights as a leader, encouraging his men and dogfighting with adetermination to win that ordinary pilots don’t have. We tried toshoot down his ship, but his pilots protected him.”
“Why would he expose himself tosuch danger?”
Seetva gave him a crooked smile.“It’s a brilliant move for the combat pilots’ morale.”
“I should’ve killed him whenwe dueled!” Zanton frowned as an idea came to him. “We might yetbe able to turn things to our advantage. Perhaps we can lose thebattle and still win the war. Order our fighters to return to theirmother ships. Once all their fighters are aboard, the starships areto break formation and fly back to Haklute.”
“What’s your plan? Once ourstarships break formation ourship will be left undefended. With only three hundred men aboard thisship, we can’t stand against a Jaiparian starship.”
“My plan is to capture GeneralFenian.”
Seetva slid her tongue over herlower lip. “I’d enjoy another try at breaking him.”
“He’s not your plaything. I’mgoing to kill him,” Zanton snapped, annoyed with her ongoinginterest in Fenian.
Coalition and Borko shipsfollowed the retreating Haklute fighters until all of them weredestroyed or aboard their mother ships. The Haklute starships thenmade a hasty, disorganized retreat for home.
As Erling watched the retreat, hesaw the Haklute command ship was left unguarded. Sure King Zanton wason that ship, Erling realized this was his chance to capture him.Erling launched a full-scale attack, sweeping over the command shipwith his squadron’s remaining ten ships. The command ship returnedfire. Erling transferred most of his ship’s power to theoscillator, so it could take out the command ship’s shields.
Laser beams bounced off hisshield as he drew closer and his squadron started firing at theHaklute command ship to divert some of the laser beams. On hiscomputer monitor, Erling watched the green line that represented thefront shield. It held firm, but one of the side shields disappeared.
Moments later, one of his WingedWarriors exploded in a red ball of energy. Erling’s heart wrenched.He felt responsible for all his teammates’ lives. His squadron flewout of range of the laser beams and he assessed the damage to hisCoalition ship. His shield had taken a series of hits and wouldn’thold up to many more.
Speaking into his mic, he said,“On the next pass, Onolyn, destroy the
