Read Deathstalker 08 - Deathstalker Coda for Free Online

thoughtfully. “You’ve changed, both of you. Your minds are . . . bigger, more complex. Still pretty unpleasant, though. I feel like I need to take a bath in liquid soap.”
    “We’ve both been through the Madness Maze,” Brett said pointedly. “You just watch yourself, oversoul.”
    “Oh, we will, Brett,” Crow Jane said kindly. “We must have a nice little chat later.”
    “Do lunch!” Joy said suddenly, and everyone jumped. “But I get to choose the menu. Fish, eh? Bastards!”
    “What is he doing here?” Brett said plaintively. “Isn’t the situation complicated enough as it is without bringing a bloody Ecstatic into it?”
    “Weasels,” Joy explained.
    There followed a long and rather confused conversation as people took it in turns to try to explain to Owen what an Ecstatic was, and why, and then why anyone had ever thought they were a good idea in the first place. Joy’s attempts at explaining were particularly unhelpful. Silence finally finished it off by growling Because people are weird, and Owen accepted that.
    “So, the espers are now the oversoul, except for the bad ones, who are ELFs,” Owen said, some time later. “I can’t help thinking things were so much simpler in my day. All right, Crow Jane and Joy, what are you doing here?”
    “We felt your return, Lord Deathstalker,” said Crow Jane. “Like a great voice, crying out in the night. You shine too brightly to look at; that’s why we originally chose to contact you through those two inferior minds.”
    Brett made a rude noise. Everyone ignored him.
    “You must come to Mistworld,” said Crow Jane, now looking at Lewis Deathstalker. “The esper city of New Hope is currently in orbit above Mistworld, and the oversoul wishes to offer its assistance in the war against Finn. We could not face him and his armies alone, but we would make formidable allies.”
    “Mistworld is looking more and more like our best option,” said Lewis. “A solidly defended base for a gathering of allies. Just like the old days, eh, Owen?”
    “You won’t be there,” Joy announced suddenly, walking in circles around the bemused Owen. “I see the past and the future, often more clearly than I see the present, but then, it’s a poor memory that won’t work both ways. I see you, Owen, plunging back into the past, into worlds and Empires long forgotten. And then you’re somewhere else, somewhere outside or inside the universe, and I can’t follow you there. You have a long journey ahead of you, Deathstalker.”
    “Can you tell me how it ends?” said Owen.
    “Journeys end in lovers’ meetings. And then you both wake up, and it was all a dream. Or something like that. Has anyone got any chocolate?”
    They all waited a while, but he had nothing else to say. He just wandered over to one of the robots and tried to unscrew one of its legs. Crow Jane looked back at Owen.
    “Are all the dead coming back, Lord Deathstalker? Will all the legends be returning, to help us in our hour of greatest need?”
    “I doubt it,” Owen said kindly. “Dead is dead. I’m only here through a technicality, because no one else can stop the Terror. This is your war. You have to win it for yourselves, or the victory will mean nothing. This is your time. The past . . . belongs in the past.”
    “Yes,” said Joy, giving up on the robot’s leg. “That’s it exactly. Has everyone got their coat?”
    He and Crow Jane disappeared, and everyone felt a little more at ease. Owen turned to Lewis to make his good-byes, and then stopped as he suddenly noticed the black gold ring on Lewis’s finger. He held out his own hand to show the ring he wore, and the two men held their hands side by side to compare the two rings. They were, of course, identical. Everyone looked on, quietly awed. The black gold ring was famous, as much a part of history and legend as the man who’d worn it.
    “The Family ring,” Lewis said softly. “Sign and symbol of Deathstalker Clan