Daniel Taylor and the Scepter of Power (11 page)

James suddenly clutched his head and collapsed.

“Dad!” Daniel grabbed him by the arm and tried to drag him behind a pillar.

“He’s trying to get into my head. Now that I’m not wearing the amulet, it might just work,” his father said quietly, his voice brimming with pain.

“I’ll give it back to you!” Daniel was about to pull the amulet out from under his shirt, but James stopped him. “He must not get you on their side again! If the eye of Horus isn’t directly touching your skin, you won’t be sufficiently protected.”

“But he can’t be allowed to get the scepter, either,” Daniel whispered. After all, his father was the only person who knew where it was.

“The glove!” Mike called over to them.

James held his hand to his forehead. It seemed to help him fight off Xandros’ mental manipulation; he managed to stand up and stagger backward, Daniel at his side.

His face distorted with anger, Xandros turned to Mike. It was clear that Blondie would pay for his words. Marla stepped in front of him, and Xandros, still in his Daniel-form, smirked. “Do you really think you can stop me?”

Daniel didn’t think — he just acted. He hurled another energy sphere at the Overlord, hitting him on the shoulder, but no damage could be seen, not even a hole in his robe.

“You dare!” Roaring, Xandros spun around, and before Daniel knew what was happening, a fireball was flying through the air — not at him, but at his father! Of course, Xandros still needed him to activate the scepter, but he needed James as well, the only person who knew its whereabouts!

The shot missed its target. It had only been meant as a warning. James reacted in a flash. He reached out his arm so that the fireball landed in his hand, the gloved one. Having caught the blazing weapon like a baseball, James crushed it. He could have hurled the sphere back at Xandros, but he might have hit Vanessa instead.

James hastily clapped his hand on his thigh. “Damn it,” he hissed. The glove was smoking, and a big hole had appeared in the metallic fabric. It was ruined.

Daniel pushed his father behind the column. “I have to surrender to him.”

“No!” James tried to hold him back, but this time Daniel was faster. He pulled out the eye of Horus. When the amulet wasn’t touching his skin, the demons could see him and he’d no longer be protected from mental attacks. Daniel hoped that the medallion would continue to amplify his power.

The others stirred and muttered to each other as Daniel appeared.

“Ah, there’s my grandson.” Xandros, who still looked just like Daniel, grinned and walked over to him. The leash restraining Vanessa lengthened. She remained standing by the throne as though rooted in place, her eyes wide with panic.

Daniel didn’t retreat.

“You’ll join me, then?”

“Never!” Daniel cried, raising his arms. Sparks and small bolts of lightning flashed between his fingertips, much like a high-voltage generator.

Xandros was still grinning, and the demon looked so much like Daniel’s own reflection that he actually felt inhibitions about attacking.
That’s Xandros
, he told himself, trying to concentrate on the old man behind the false image. But the Overlord was also his grandfather.
That doesn’t matter
—
I’ll still fight against him!

“Let Vanessa go,” Daniel commanded, his voice steady.

Xandros roared with laughter. “You’re setting conditions, worm?”

Suddenly Daniel was seized by a stabbing headache — Xandros was trying to penetrate his mind!

The pain was so intense that tears welled up in his eyes. Daniel wavered.

“The power of the eye of Horus is strong,” Xandros hissed, “but I’m stronger.”

The amulet on his shirt was so hot that it almost burned Daniel as he grasped it. He immediately became invisible again. Unfortunately, James had already run out from his hiding place and cried, “Xandros!” An energy sphere flew toward the Overlord, but it exploded in the air a meter before it reached him.

Xandros laughed again as the others gasped at the drama unfurling before their eyes. “Can’t you do any better than that, watcher?” The Overlord raised his hands, and Daniel sought refuge. He hid behind the pillar, his heart racing. Damn it, what should he do now? He had to get to Vanessa and create a portal. But then what would become of James, Marla, and Blondie?

His father was cowering on his knees. Without the amulet, he was a sitting duck for the demons! Xandros was obviously attempting to penetrate his mind, as James was pressing his hands against his temples in pain.

Xandros must never learn where the scepter was hidden, never! Daniel knew that the Overlord wouldn’t kill him — the demon still needed him — so he ran back and positioned himself in front of his father.

Daniel heard James exhale behind him, but then he ordered his son to get out of the line of fire. Xandros glared at them and pushed Daniel aside with a wave of his hand. He fell heavily onto his shoulder, and a stabbing pain shot down his arm. He carefully tried to move it. The arm still worked, but it hurt like hell.

Panting for breath, he watched Xandros press a hand against his father’s forehead. James writhed on the floor and tried in vain to push Xandros’ arm away.

A sly grin spread across the Overlord’s Daniel-face. “The Statue of Liberty?” He laughed uproariously. “A very suitable place for the Scepter of Power, the tool with which I will subjugate your world.” He concentrated again, attempting to discover exactly where the artifact was hidden. Meanwhile, there was movement among the other group in the room. Obron, Antheus, and Sirina all ran to the nearest wall. They clearly wanted to create a portal that would take them directly to Liberty Island, off the coast of New York.

Xandros made a gesture, and they all froze in place as though their feet were glued to the floor.

“Don’t bother, you traitors,” he hissed. “I’ll get it myself. I’m about to find out its exact location.”

“No!” Marla broke away from Mike and rushed toward Xandros. She hadn’t been included in his charm, so she was free to move. She pushed the Overlord’s hand away and threw herself in front of James.

She looked at Xandros fearfully. He came so close to her that their noses almost touched. He stared at her, boring into her mind, and she held her hands to her head. Xandros shook his head and tsked to himself before taking a deep breath. Then he blew a poisonous green cloud into her face. The tendrils of gas found their way into Marla’s nose and mouth.

She wheezed and grabbed her throat, and then all the muscles in her body seemed to relax at once. She fell toward James, who caught her and held her close.

“What have you done to her?” he yelled at Xandros, who merely shrugged, took a step back, and looked down at them with detached interest.

Daniel felt a stab in his heart as he saw Marla twitch in James’ arms. Mike stood motionless, evidently not knowing whether he should try to help Marla or flee from the room. His hands were balled into fists, and his chin was trembling.

Marla gasped for air, groaning. When she coughed, she spat up blood; dark-red rivers of blood also flowed from her nose, eyes, and ears.

With a tired smile, Xandros looked at Marla and said, “Greet my daughter for me.”

“No!” Obron roared. “You can’t kill her; she’ll destroy you! Kitana put a curse on Marla that will kill anyone who tries to take her life!”

Xandros smirked. “Oh, Obron, you’ve kept your secret from us for so long — I’m really impressed by you! — that you almost believe it yourself. But I know now that the curse only affects you, not the rest of us, as you would have had us believe. Your daughter just told me so herself. She’ll die slowly and painfully, so you have plenty of time to say goodbye to her.”

His legs still stuck in place, Obron abruptly turned his torso around and hurled a wall of blue energy at Xandros.

It struck the Overlord with a primeval force, knocking him off his feet and pushing him across the hall. He lost his grasp on Vanessa’s leash, and it instantly dissolved, along with the chain around her neck. Daniel was relieved to see her take refuge behind the Overlord’s throne. The other demons were free to move again, but instead of trying to create a portal, they opened fire on Xandros.

Daniel had thought that Antheus would oppose Obron. But to his surprise, he was also targeting Xandros, his own father. It seemed to Daniel that they had all suddenly realized that they could only overthrow the Overlord by working together.

“I knew it!” Xandros cried. “You maggots!”

Everything happened very fast. The three demons were able to combine their forces, but Xandros had to divide his efforts. He simultaneously hurled fireballs in several directions at once.

Daniel gave his all. Thanks to his powers, aided by the amulet, his shoulder healed itself. He didn’t know whether he was on the side of “good” or “evil” — at the moment, it didn’t really matter. The main thing was that he could fight.

It was a strange feeling to fight against himself. Xandros’ form changed from time to time. When James was about to hurl an energy sphere, the Overlord made himself look like Marla, only older. He had transformed himself into Kitana! Xandros probably thought this tactic would affect their aim. In fact, it required a great deal of effort to ignore the illusion. When Xandros made himself look like Vanessa, Daniel had to glance over toward the throne to make sure that the real Vanessa was still hiding there. She was huddled behind the throne, shaking. Mike was with her as well; when the battle began, he had grabbed Marla under the arms and dragged her behind the massive chair.

“The glove!” Blondie called out to James. “You can turn it inside out!”

James pulled the silvery fabric onto his other hand; now the hole was on the back of his hand, not his palm. He created a layer of light energy around it, and the next time he caught a fireball and hurled it back at Xandros, the fabric remained intact. James’ powers were like a protective shield. Where had Blondie obtained this odd weapon?

Xandros groaned and screamed until he seemed to run out of steam; then he simply fired at them indiscriminately as he absorbed their attacks. Even Sirina participated actively in the fight, throwing the knives hidden in her fan at the Overlord. The paper-thin blades broke through Xandros’ defenses and lodged deep into his body.

Surprisingly, other than Obron, Antheus was the most committed to the struggle. Daniel could clearly see how much he wanted to destroy his father in order to take his rightful place on the throne. The two members of the High Council scored the most hits, despite bleeding from numerous wounds that closed up slowly. How powerful they were! Daniel probably wouldn’t survive a single fireball attack.

He was wearing the eye of Horus against his chest and was therefore invisible to the demons again. Like a shadow, he flitted as close to Xandros as possible, landing hits on his back and sides. Even though they didn’t do much damage, they distracted Xandros so much that he spun around, allowing the others to attack him from behind, where he was most vulnerable. The back of the demon’s neck seemed to be a particularly weak spot, as the missiles were mostly aimed there, so Daniel also concentrated on Xandros’ head. No one had told him about this weakness, which confirmed Daniel’s belief that they had never intended to make him Overlord.

The fact that they were all ganging up on Xandros, with James using the demon’s own energy balls against him, weakened the Overlord’s powers enormously. Xandros began to stagger, his energy balls became smaller, and his false image flickered.

Daniel, in contrast, felt stronger as the battle raged on. Although he sensed his powers fading, his missiles grew larger and his mind more powerful. The eye of Horus was maximizing his abilities.

“You maggots!” Xandros croaked. “You pathetic bastards!” His illusion flickered one last time, and then the old man came into view. Rage sparked within his coal-black eyes. He turned his gaze to his son Antheus, who was leaning his hands on his knees and breathing heavily. Xandros careened toward him, hands raised. “I always knew that you would betray me!” He launched himself toward Antheus, whose robe immediately caught fire.

“Aaaargh!” Sirina let out a blood-curdling scream that dislodged the dust from the ceiling. With an elegant gesture, she opened her fan, its metal slats gleaming. She hurled it at the Overlord, and it sliced halfway through his neck.

“You, my son, will never take my place!” Gurgling and gasping, he released his grip on Antheus, who was now completely enveloped in flames. The demon cast one last glance at Sirina before he melted like wax.

Sirina screamed like a fury, but merely stood there, staring at the smoldering pile that had once been Antheus.

Xandros staggered backward and tore the fan out of his throat. Obron, who had only observed the father-son scene up to that point, allowed him no time to regenerate — he gave his father-in-law everything he had left.

Energy spheres flew toward the Overlord from all directions. James and Daniel joined forces by linking arms so that James could also benefit from the power of the amulet.

As their missiles hit Xandros, a blazing column of light erupted from his screaming mouth. His skin ripped open, and the light pushed outward, tearing him apart from the inside. The only thing that remained of him was his robe, which hung for a second in mid-air and then fell to the floor.

It was over.

Panting, Obron, Sirina, James, and Daniel walked over to the robe. They stared at the smoking bundle at their feet.

Daniel took a deep breath and then coughed — the smoke and the smell of burnt flesh scratched at his lungs. His pounding heart seemed ready to burst out of his chest.

Xandros … his grandfather … had been destroyed. Daniel could scarcely believe it. They had actually defeated him!

Out of the corner of his eye, Daniel saw James hurry over to Marla — and Sirina slinking away, her dress in tatters. She had taken a beating. They all had. Was Sirina leaving to mourn for Antheus?

Daniel watched her go. She created a portal on the wall of the hall that clearly led to the base of the Statue of Liberty — in the distance, Daniel could see the New York skyline.