There had been chaos on the field. In that chaos, Aahz got cut off, behind enemy lines. I wouldn't have known this, perhaps, except that Andy returned with the news.
I had changed Gus's appearance to look like a dragon, and it occured to me I had better try to get the controlling crystal for the REAL big dragon, when dussenly BOTH dragons dissapeeared. Thjen Gus suddenly appeared beside me.
"That was weird!" said Gus. "It was like a voice in my head said "Go back where you came from," and I had to obey. The next thing I know, I'm back here. Well, I' think we've won round two."
"Then round trhee is about to start," said Andy, changing back into his usual Troilus form. "The dragon disappeared; and Gus finds himself back here, but not by his own will. I think Isstvan has arrived, and Aahz is behind enemy lines, cut off by the fires!"
"Andy, can you do a constraining spell?" I asked.
"Maybe. But I'd have to have Gus or you deliver the smoke bomb, and I don't think it will be strong enough for Isstvan, unless you know where I can get some burnt Imp ash."
"Brockhurst!" I roared.
"Don't look at ME!" said Brockhurst, the half-Imp.
"No, no! I'm not asking you to make the ultimate sacrifice. But climb a tree or something and see if you can spot Isstvan. You're the only one that's seen him and knows what he looks like."
Brockhurst did as I commanded. "Bad news, boss," he announced. "They've got Aahz, and they're about to throw him into one of the fires!"
"OH NO!" I yelled. "Aahz doesn't have air powers, and if he charded off without the D-hopper, or if he lost it, he c ould get burned to a crisp!" I called for our air power. "Gus! You're the only one that can get through the fires and what's left of the enemy troops. You've gotta save Aahz!"
"NO!" said Ajax. "You need somebody small and quick. That's a job for the Gremlin! Fortunately, he's right here." Turning to the Gremlin that seemed to have appeared as if on cue, at least I hadn't seen him for some time, Ajax spoke in a language I couldn't begin to duplicate. "He's agreeed to help," Ajax announced as a blue blur streaded towards Aahz.
"I can't see him!" Brockhurst announced.
"The Gremlin?"
"No, Aahz. I'm afraid we may be to late!"
Now I was furious. I'd already lost one teacher-mentor to Isstvan; I was NOT going to lose another without a fight! "Listen up," I announced to my troops. "I'm going to try throwing a spell, and I need yhou to tell me what you see."
I focused my miknd on tghe grass where I'd last seen Aahz. "You guys want to burn Purrfects? Try THESE!" I was thinking.
"Whoa!" said Ajax. "Where'd THEY come from?"
"Tell me what you see! I'm casting the disguise spell. I figured if somebody can make himself look like a bush or a tree, why not make the blades of grass look like an army? Is it working?"
"Yeah!" saikd Andy. "It looks like a whole army of Purrfects is rising out of the the burning grass, or just beyond it."
After several cries of surprise, anre more cries to attack, the troops let fly a barrage of javelins at the grass in front of them. This, of course, had no effect on the phantom foe.
"That's great," said Andy, "but you'll have to make them move, or somebody is going to get wise."
"I found him, boss!" shouted Brock from his perch.
"Aahz?"
"No, Isstvan. Just look for the big Devo -- remember he's part Giant."
"I see him," I said; "and I have an idea."
If I could throw a disguise spell a distance and transform a field of grass, focus on ONE individual should be easy, and I was so angry I was LOADED with energy!Revenge would be sweet, if it worked.
The soldiers saw just ONE Purrfect now, and it was Isstvan. Well they weren't afraid of ONE Purrfect, they knew that sort of Puurfect could be caught. How he'd managed to escape and dusguise himself as their commander they didn't know, but they didn't care. They seized him, overpowerd him, tied him, and threw him into the fire. Just to be sure, Gus dropped Andy's bag with the contraining spell ingredients. There were some pretty hideous noises, and Isstvan was no more!
"Like I said," I repeated to my troops. "Fight fire with fire!"
"That should do it," said Gus. "They've no reason to fight now. Except, maybe that Antonio will keep on."
"I think he left with the dragon," said Andy. "I haven't seen him since. If he is around, he knows that with Isstvan dead, he's not going to get paid to keep fighting. If he's a mercenary, that's all he'll care about."
"So what's next?" asked Ajax.
"I don't know what I'm going to do, without Aahz."
"You rang?" a familiar voce called.
"AAHZ?" my voice was joined by several others.
"How did you escape?" I asked. "And what took you so long?"
"I had charged out after your dragon," Aahz began, "and to try to protect you from the enemy dragon. I probably didn't even think about the D-hopper maybe I dropped it. Anyway, I got cut off from you guys, caught, and I couldn't zap out! So as I was wishing I was back on Purr, the Gremlin showed up and whisked me home. And, once there, I dscovered I had ALL my powers. I guess just getting back home restored them, or maybe that spell was only temporary. Anyway, when I found I could teleport, I headed back here, but all that took awhile."
WE explained the situation to Aahz, and he decided to stay and debrief the former enemy. and thought he'd set up shop as the new Wizard of Id, since the job was now vacant. We paid our our company, who would go back to Deville, and home from there, exept for Andy, would would take be back to D'Bois to train for the GAYM, the Gallactic Alliance of Young Magicians.
And so, the battle came to an end, and so does this story.