The Changeling Princess (44 page)

CHAPTER 76

“What did you find out?” asked Wade when I entered our room.

“
A lot of things,” I said as I morphed into Janis French. “You should see the money bin they have here. It holds about a zillion gold ohms and a huge collection of jeweled artifacts. There’s no doubt that Subaza and Nardo are the richest people on the planet.”

“
And the most vicious, too. What else did you find out?”

“
Nardo’s got the hots for the Changeling Princess,” I said teasingly.

“
That just goes to show he’s got good taste. Did you find out anything about the portal to our universe?”

“
That’s the best part. I saw the portal, but it’s also the doorway to another universe called Bazaro. Bazaro is filled with evil winged creatures that want to invade this world. Vadraza have the same problem we have on earth.”

“
That’s really weird. How do they keep the creatures out?” asked Wade.

The Queen uses the power of the crystal to seal the entrance, but the seal will be broken once she dies. That
’s Nardo’s problem. He wants to be king, but he can’t kill his sister without inviting an invasion from the Bazaro universe.”

“
It doesn’t sound like there’s any brotherly and sisterly love in their family,” said Wade.

“
Not an ounce,” I said disgustingly. “Nardo would kill his sister in a heartbeat just to become king. The Queen’s control of the portal is the only thing that’s holding her brother at bay. It looks like we’ll have to get rid of the siblings and then faceoff against the Bazaro creatures the minute the portal is opened.”

“
What about the Demons in this kingdom?” asked Wade “Do you think they’ll fight the Bazaro creatures?”

“
No,” I said. “Demons are basically cowards and they’ll head for the hills as fast as they can.”

“
This is a really twist of fate. In order to free our world, we have to destroy the siblings and then we’ll be forced to destroy a whole new set of invaders.”

“
No one said it was going to be easy, Wade.”

“
Oh, I’m not backing down. We can get the ball rolling tomorrow morning at breakfast. I’m going to challenge Nardo to a duel to protect the honor of my wife.”

“
That’s a good idea. The Queen will come to his aid and then she’ll have to face the Changeling Princess.”

“
I was just thinking,” said Wade. “If we have to battle creatures from another world, I’d like another black robe like the one you made before.”

“
I’ll get right to work on it, but we also need to sharpen our swords. Remember how Nardo’s skin turned green when he was struck by a sword. Nardo’s skin is protected by the crystal and our swords will need a super sharp edge for penetration. I think the siblings are in for quite a surprise.”

I was slightly apprehensive when I finally went to bed that night. I kept telling myself that I was doing the right thing no matter what the odds were. And there
’s no one I’d rather have fighting at my side than Wade.

*
* *

Wade was wearing his black robe with red dragons at breakfast the next morning. It was a really strange atmosphere. Benzer was sitting next to the Queen and they were feeding grapes to each other. They were both acting like long lost lovers as they laughed and planted kisses on each other
’s cheeks. I had no idea where Benzer’s wife was. Knowing how vicious the Queen was, Carla had probably been taken away somewhere in chains. Wade looked determined as he stood up and faced Nardo.

“
We are guests in your home, but you treat my wife like a common harlot. I am offended.”

Nardo was enraged.
“Who are you to talk to me that way,” he said with a sneer as he rose to his feet. “You are nothing but a common mortal and I am a god. If I want your wife, I will take her. She can provide me with many pleasures and you have no say-so in the matter.”

“
I challenge you to a duel, Nardo. Face me with sword and shield or admit that you are a coward.”

“
I accept your challenge foolish man. Everyone will assemble in the courtyard at once.”

The courtyard was an immense area bordered with trees, plants and flowers. The Queen was surrounded by her guards and I was standing off to the side. Wade brandished his sword back and forth to loosen up his muscles.

I watched as Wade and Nardo walked toward each other. Suddenly, Nardo increased his height to twelve feet tall. Wade stepped back, increasing his height to match Nardo.

Nardo rushed toward Wade, attacking with a vengeance. Wade backed up momentarily, countering every move that Nardo could come up with. When Wade went on offense, I sensed the Queen
’s fear as she watched her brother trying frantically to defend himself. When Wade made a deep cut across Nardo’s side, the Queen gasped at the sight of blood.

Nardo screamed in pain and threw down his sword and shield. He was challenging Wade to fight him bare handed. Wade accepted the challenge and dropped his sword and shield. Nardo was skilled in Greek wrestling, but he couldn
’t complete against Wade. Wade had inherited the Ivarr’s skills of Greek wrestling and he was an expert in Judo.

Nardo lost his temper when he found himself being tossed all over the place. When he realized he couldn
’t defeat Wade, he stood up straight and growled, slowly transforming into a scaled monster with the head of a lizard. Wade backed up and quickly picked up his sword. He looked determined as he took a defensive stance and waited for Nardo to attack.

Nardo made a quick lunge toward Wade with his jaws opened wide. It was the last step he would ever take. Wade stepped to one side and cut Nardo
’s head off with a single slice of his sword. Everyone watched as Nardo’s headless body fell to the ground. The silence was broken by the Queen’s ear piercing scream. “Nooooooooooooooooo.”

The Queen
’s eyes were on fire as she glared at Wade. The Queen armed herself with a sword and shield. She increased her height to forty feet and looked down at Wade. “I will squish you like the bug you are and then I will feed you to my pets.”

I morphed into the Changeling Princess and matched the Queen
’s height. The Queen looked puzzled when she saw my sword and shield.

“
This is not possible,” the Queen said. “The only explanation is that you are an Ivarr.”

“
At you service my Queen,” I said with a smile. “Let’s find out if your fighting skills are any better than your brothers were.”

The Queen was smiling as she launched a pair of energy bolts directly at my midsection. I decided to be a show off and lowered my shield. The Queen
’s smile disappeared when the energy bolts bounced harmlessly off my midsection.

The Queen lunged forward with her sword, but her attack was easily beaten back. The Queen was excellent with a sword, but she was no match for an Ivarr. I could see the desperation in her eyes as she continued backing up, trying in to defend herself from my vicious attack. When I drew blood with my sword, the Queen almost went into shock.

The air was crackling as the Queen muttered some words I’d never heard before. Suddenly, a pair of electric Demons appeared that she had been summed. They began throwing lightning bolts in my direction, but they weren’t any more powerful than the Queen’s energy bolts.

I directed a burst of cold frigid air directly at the Demons, freezing them in their tracks. Then I released a pair of powerful energy bolts and blew them into a million pieces. I had figured out that the electric Demons were similar to the Heat Demons.

The Queen dropped her sword and shield and morphed into a huge insect. It looked like a praying mantas with overgrown wings. The insect began fluttering from side to side, using its spiked forelegs like swords as it began an amazingly quick frontal assault. I bobbed and weaved like a boxer and then I went on offense. The Queen’s scream filled the air when I cut off both of her forelegs.

The Queen morphed again and turned into a dragon. She had six heads and an exceptional long tail that was sharpened like a sword. The Queen never knew what hit her when I began spinning like a tornado. With my outstretched sword, I severed all six heads from her body before she could react. Just like her brother, she died on the spot and collapsed to the ground. The battle had lasted less than five minutes.

I watched as the palace guards scurried quickly out of the courtyard. Wade was wearing an unusually big smile when I morphed back to my normal height.

“
That was really cool, Janis. The Changeling Princess is invincible.”

“
I appreciate the compliment, but we have another problem.”

“
Yeah, I can hear the noise from the garden. We’d better go to the portal as fast as we can.”

* * *

This portal was about forty feet in diameter, about one fifth the size of the one that was used to invade Earth. Nevertheless, we were going to have our hands full. We were waiting anxiously when I heard a familiar voice behind me.

“
You don’t think we’re going to let you fight this battle by yourself, do you?”

I turned around to see Princess Meea and hundreds of fairies armed with wands. Standing next to Meea was Borgof and Yolla from the Zema Clan. A hundred Clan warriors were mixed in with the fairies, armed with the swords and shields that Wade and I had made for them.

“
How did you know the portal was about to open?” I asked excitedly.

“
I have been monitoring your travels,” said Princess Meea. “I’ve had my fairy army practicing their war skills, just in case they were needed. The intruders are about to find out just how powerful fairy dust can be.”

“
How did you get here so fast?” asked Wade

“
The Enchanted Forest is on a different plane of existence. We can travel great distances in a relatively short time.”

“
We ready to fight,” yelled Borgof. “We defend our world from evil.”

“
Yolla ready to kick some butt,” she screamed. Her voice was filled with anticipation and her eyes sparkled at the thought of going into battle. Yolla was a born warrior.

“
I want everyone to stand back from the portal,” I shouted out. “Wade will be our first line of defense. He will use his power to control the elements.”

Wade increased his height to eighteen feet and raised his hands to the sky. Everyone was watching as the sky turned dark. The wind was swirling and suddenly there was a full-fledged tornado directly in front of the portal.

“This unreal,” shouted Yolla. “Wade is great Wizard.”

The portal was spinning faster and faster and the ground began shaking. This was a sure sign that the portal was about to open. The next thing I knew, the Bazaro creatures were flying out of the portal like bees out of a bee
’s nest. The first wave of creatures flew directly into the tornado.

The winged creatures were covered with scales and they had huge heads. They were five foot tall, extremely muscular and their bodies resembles ancient gargoyle statues. They were awful looking and I suspected that their favorite snack was rotting flesh. Each of the creatures was armed with a sword and a shield.

The second wave of creatures tried to fly around the tornado. Most of them were caught in the strong winds, but a lot of them got away.

It was then that I got my first glimpse of the power of fairy dust. The energy from their wands was so powerful that the evil creatures were dissolved on the spot. The fairies were also extremely quick. The creatures had high powered heat beams, but trying to hit a fairy was like trying to catch a fly with your feet.

The Zema Clan had their hands full fighting the creatures on the ground. They used their shields to ward off the heat blasts and then killed the creatures with the special swords we had made for them. Yolla was surrounded by a pile of dead creatures as she continued slicing her way through the attackers.

The creatures were still coming out of the portal, so I morphed to my maximum height of eighty feet. I readied my sword and flew directly into the oncoming swarm of creatures. As I had done with the portal opening on Earth, I used my sword like a buzz saw and filled the sky with blood. We kept the creatures confined to the area of the palace, but the oncoming hordes were never ending.

It seemed as if the Sun had suddenly disappeared when a large shadow darkened the sky. I looked upward and saw that the entire sky was filled with dragons. I sensed that every able bodied dragon from the Island of Kazanza had made the trip.

The dragons flew directly into the next swarm of creatures flying out of the portal. The creatures had no defense against the wall of flames that came shooting out of the dragon
’s mouths. Any creature that managed to avoid the flames was caught in the dragon’s massive jaws.

The battle was raging at a feverish pitch, but we were holding our own. I couldn
’t help smiling as I saw the fairies flying back and forth between the battle and the palace. I assumed they were using the crystal to replenish the power of their magic wands.