The Final Battle
ALODAR panted up to the deserted firepit. Screams echoed across the valley, but he turned his back so that he could concentrate. He lit a fire and thrust the end of the exotic wire into the heat. Impatiently he waited for ignition.
Several minutes passed but, although the coil grew painfully hot, the silvery-gray luster did not change. 'I expected as much,' Alodar muttered to himself. 'Despite his great prowess, Handar never worked with any substance that required more than an open flame. He did not consider that kindling the gateway to a demon prince would take a bit more effort.'
He dropped the wire and quickly pushed some of the larger bricks, still warm to the touch, into the form of a crude anthanor. He stuffed kindling in its base, started a second blaze, and blew air through the chamber with a piece of hose until the stones glowed cherry red. Cautiously he inserted the end of the coil. Almost instantly, it ignited. Squinting at the intense spot of flame as it raced around the loops, he willed his adversary to come forth.
For an instant, nothing happened. Then the ground shook in a great spasm that crashed together the stones of the pit. The wind howled, and the sky grew suddenly dark. The air above his head exploded in a shower of imp light, and hundreds of shrieking voices bombarded his ears with sound. More devils burst forth with sizes and shapes that spanned the descriptions of the sagas. Spitting fire, roaring the wind, throwing sheets of hail and ice, and quaking the ground they shredded the elements.
Finally, with a flash of blinding light and a clap of thunder, a last figure stepped forth from the fire. Then all was quiet. Alodar stared with surprise. The form confronting him was not a stooped djinn or a towering hulk such as Balthazar. Barely his own height and with straw-pale hair pulled back over a smooth brow flecked with gold, the demon prince glowered through eyes half closed under long curving lashes. His face was thin and delicate with an upturned nose, thin lips, and ears barely pointed. Rather than the coarse and hairy nakedness of his kindred, he wore a flowing gown of deepest sea green which covered all his slender body except for the tips of his fingers. A prince of demonkind, Alodar thought, but without a close look he would pass for the ruler of some exotic and far- away realm of men.
'So you seek a prince of my kind,' a voice tinkled from slightly parted lips. 'Your folly only makes possible a little sooner what would be my pleasure in a short time to come.' He waved one draped arm across the valley. 'The end of the battle is but minutes away, and soon an entire mortal kingdom will be mine. With the name of Elezar on every being's lips, enough of my minions will come forth that the resistance to passage will vanish. Any of my kind then will journey freely between the realms.'
Alodar braced himself as he tried to hold in focus the plan he had constructed the night before. He felt his face tighten into a grim mask, hiding the small kernel of self-doubt he harbored inside.
'Submit,' he commanded with a throat suddenly dry. 'Submit to him who ordered you forth.'
Elezar threw back his head in a human gesture and his laugh jingled skyward. 'Such impertinence and bluster! You mortals think that because the browbeating of a hapless imp or simple devil is successful, you are more than a match for any of our realm. Look at me. How closely do I resemble the lesser ones over which I hold sway? The ratio of their power to mine is no greater than that of a toad to yours.'
'The relative strengths of our wills cannot be decided by words alone,' Alodar said, 'no matter how glibly spoken.' He paused and then continued with a rush. 'I have been chosen as the one to bring you to submission. Show me the reason that this is not so.'
Elezar's finely penciled brows raised slightly. 'The question is not who is the stronger. Only the means by which I will demonstrate it to you.' He studied Alodar for a moment in silence. 'No doubt you have met the mild annoyances of the lesser sprites. Tell me, if you can, how what they do compares to this?'
Three of Elezar's long fingers undulated in a complex gesture. Suddenly Alodar felt an itching rash break out on his back and spread over his limbs. Involuntarily he raked one hand across his thigh and reached frantically between his shoulder blades with the other. Down the small of his back he gouged, along both legs and across his chest. Wherever he touched, the itch seemed to increase with maddening intensity, driving his uncontrolled flailing into a frenzy.
For over two minutes, he spun about on the ground in a tight ball, kicking up dust. Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the feeling slipped away.
'Or perhaps you have dealt with demons of fear,' Elezar continued.
Alodar felt a paralyzing chill race down his spine. His chest muscles cramped and he gasped for breath. He looked up wide-eyed at Elezar and threw his hands across his face. Thoughts of searing thirst, smashed bone, and ragged lungs ripped from his chest flashed through his mind. Nothing mattered but escape. His intent, his reason for being there, his plan to cope, all vanished with a brain-numbing jolt. He tried to rise on wobbly legs, but the trembling muscles would not respond.
'And the strong emotions manipulated by my lesser minions are not the only ones for which I am your master.' Elezar shrugged. 'I can crumble you as well with ones more subtle, with gut-burning rushes of anxiety, the muscle-knotting barriers of frustration, the will-sapping blanket of despair.'
Alodar tried to stop the swirl of his thoughts and bring them back under his control. Unlike the projections of the other imps and devils, the brutal force of Elezar's onslaught had raced through his mind undiminished by any feeble resistance he could offer. Like a scrap of paper in a storm, his will was blown about with no volition of its own. There was no way he or any other wizard could tope to stand for more than an instant against a prince of demons. It was foolish even to try. Alodar felt his spirits sag. With a trembling lip he choked out a sob.
It was a problem without solution, a task that could not be done. Alodar's head throbbed with the impossibility and the muscles of his neck strained in painful contractions. His left cheek began to twitch and his hand shook uncontrollably.
Alodar's stomach churned and his thoughts cut through his mind like a spray of stinging acid. Submission seemed a minor price to pay if it would end the uncertainty and give him even a moment of peace. Alodar lifted his eyes upwards and opened his mouth to speak.
The demon cut him off. 'Even with those, it is hatchling's play. I choose to use instead the means that will give me the most satisfaction.' He gestured a final time and Alodar felt the intense feelings evaporate away.
'You have tasted my might,' Elezar continued, 'and now know well what easily can be your lot if I choose to inflict it.'
He stopped and parted his thin lips in a twisted smile. 'I want your submission as a gift, freely given. Under no duress, with your thoughts completely your own. You mortals pride yourself on your logic, on how you can sort through the facts and conditions to the conclusion that is inescapable. In the end you will be mine, if you choose to resist or not. Is it not better to minimize the discomfort if the final result is the same? I will give you a few moments. I want your decision based on the cold light of your clearest reason. Contemplate it in the pavilion I erect for you here. In the meantime I will amuse myself with reports of the battle.'
A momentary burst of light dazzled Alodar's eyes. When he could see again he found himself in a domelike cage. Iridescent struts crisscrossed and joined in a complex web that rose from the ground on all sides and met in a point over his head. He looked for Elezar and found him standing some five feet away, conversing in rasping tones with two hovering devils.
Alodar slumped to the ground. For a moment he sat in stunned silence. The validity of the demon's logic was overwhelming. There was no way for a wizard to struggle against him. Despite his slight form, Elezar could not be resisted.
Alodar blinked and sat upright. He pulled into focus dim outlines splattered about in his mind. He breathed deeply to steady himself and remembered the sketchy plan that the demon had so viciously dashed away.
Alodar grabbed at the two bars nearest and felt them yield to his touch, stretching like rubber away from his body. He changed his grip and forced the bars apart; but as he did, two adjacent ones contracted closer together. He could not enlarge the opening. He rose to a crouch and felt the pressure of the webbing on his back. Straining with his legs, he forced himself to a standing position, but no spar ripped or parted.
He withdrew a small knife from one of his pockets and vigorously sawed at the strut nearest. His eyes widened with surprise as the blade grated across a surface suddenly hard and unyielding. Even though it retained a soft and malleable texture under his hand, the line of contact with his knife seemed like the strongest steel.
Alodar turned slowly to examine the intricately woven net, frowning as he caught hints of a subtle symmetry.
