Martin King and the Prison of Ice (Martin King Series) (17 page)

Slater shook
his head sadly. “Look at him, Darcy. He’s dead.”

Agamon had
walked up to them. He took one of Darcy’s arms, and Slater took the other. They
began to lead her away. Falcon watched Martin’s corpse sadly.

But as he
watched, Martin’s skin began to glow.

“Look!” he
shouted. “Look!”

Darcy broke
free from the aliens and turned around. She ran back to her boyfriend, but kept
a safe distance. The glow around Martin became brighter.

Please
, thought Darcy desperately,
please don’t be dead. Stay alive—for
me. Stay alive…

The glow
vanished. Darcy knelt down next to Martin. He still wasn’t moving, but the
blood had vanished, and his bones didn’t seem to be broken anymore. Then his
eyes flicked open.

“Darcy,” he
said.

He leapt to his
feet, filled with a sudden energy. Darcy kissed him.

“I can’t
believe it,” said Slater. “I didn’t think you would be able to rejuvenate
yourself.”

“I did,” said
Mulciber. He put a hand on Martin’s shoulder. “I did a scan of you when you
were inside my ship. I knew that you had the capability to rejuvenate. I’m so
proud of you—I knew you would want to be a champion.”

“Where
did
you get the idea to volunteer as a champion?” said Falcon, narrowing his eyes.

“There was this
book in your ship,” said Martin, “I was flicking through it, and—”

Darcy turned on
Mulciber. “You left that book under his seat on purpose, didn’t you? You knew
he’d volunteer.”

Mulciber
nodded. “Yes, I did. I implanted the translation key into Martin’s brain so he
would be able to read it.” He turned his neck. The Axis Council were sitting on
their flaming horses in front of their troops. “And it’s not over yet.”

“I’ll go back
up there,” said Martin. “I can carry on fighting.”

“No!” Darcy
shouted.

“You do not
need to fight anymore,” said Falcon. “I will volunteer to take your  place.”

He took the
sword from Martin’s grasp and weighed it in his hands.

“That will not
be necessary.”

They all turned
to see who had spoken. It was a large golden soldier. It was even bigger than
Diagoras and twice as wide. Enormous muscles rippled beneath the golden flesh.
Martin could hardly believe it. It was Abaddon.

“I apologise
for the delay,” said Abaddon. His voice was surprisingly clear and gentle. “I
received your message, Martin, and I travelled to Earth as quickly as
possible.”

They watched,
awestruck, as the golden soldier marched over to the members of the Axis
Council, carrying a golden sword.

“I volunteer as
champion,”  said Abaddon.

Aurora King stood up and ran
towards Martin when she saw him coming. Martin hugged his mum.

“I’m sorry,”
said Martin. “I just didn’t want anything to happen to you or the others.”

“It’s all
right,” she said. “I blame your grandfather, not you. I found out what he did—leaving
that book for you to find.” She sighed. “He was always so obsessed with members
of the King family being heroes.”

“Don’t blame
him,” said Martin. “I’m glad he did it. And it’s worked out for the best,
because now Abaddon is our champion. We can’t lose.”

Aurora looked
less certain. “Abaddon is definitely a legend,” she admitted, “but Axis Lord
technology is much more advanced now. It is still possible that Abaddon will
lose.”

“Well, we’ll just
have to hope,” said Martin.

There was a
cheer and a round of applause as the soldiers noticed Martin’s arrival. Levanté
clapped him on the back.

“Well fought!”
he said.

Martin grinned.
“Thanks.”

He walked over
to Darcy and Tommy and sat on the snow with them. Martin had never felt so vital,
so alive. He remembered how full of energy Slater had been after his
rejuvenation.

“I’m still mad
with you,” said Darcy.

He grinned.
“I’d be mad if you weren’t.”

Martin looked
over at the rest of the soldiers.

Several video
screens appeared again. Abaddon was standing on the raised white platform,
opposite Diagoras. The Axis Lord was wearing a new suit of armour, and was back
in his original form.

“Let the battle
begin!” shouted Nymon.

They all
watched the screens. For a few seconds, neither Abaddon nor Diagoras moved.
Finally, Diagoras took a step toward the golden solider; he swung his
axe—Abaddon gently took hold of the axe and ripped it from his grasp.

Diagoras looked
astonished. He cowered as the golden soldier began to step closer towards him…

“Stop!” Nymon
shouted. “Stop!”

They couldn’t
see Nymon; his army was on the other side of the raised platform. The Battle
Stage began to quickly descend, and Diagoras scrambled from it.

“There will be
a slight change of rules,” came Nymon’s voice. “The right of both armies to
fight by champion has been revoked. We will engage in normal ground combat.”

“He can’t do
that!” roared Agamon.

Martin, Darcy
and Tommy stood up. The golden soldier stepped backwards to join the army. Now
the two armies faced each other again.

The other Axis
Lords sat on their fiery horses, raising their guns for an attack. It had all
been for nothing—he had died for nothing. There was still going to be a normal
battle after all…

Nymon raised an
arm. He seemed to be about to give his troops the signal to begin the attack.

But then two
figures appeared between the two armies, wearing dark suits and black shoes.
Martin squinted, hardly able to believe what he was seeing. But it was.

It was XO5 and
the Wheelmaster.

“He looks like
you,” Levanté whispered.

Martin nodded.
“Yeah. Long story.”

Nobody else
spoke. XO5 and the Wheelmaster just walked up and down on the snow, taking in
their surroundings. Finally, the Wheelmaster raised his hand.

“All gather,”
he said.

They all heard
his voice. Both sides of the army quickly made their way over to the two
figures. The 200 soldiers stood around XO5 and the Wheelmaster, keeping a
respectful distance.

“Do you know
who I am?” said the Wheelmaster.

Nymon bowed.
“You are the Wheelmaster. All Axis Lords are taught how to recognise you.” He
pointed at the snow. “No footprints.”

“Very good,”
said the Wheelmaster. “We do not have any actual physical presence here, so we do
not leave any visible mark upon the planet.”

“We are here
because you are all in danger,” said XO5. “I don’t really help people, as a
rule, but this is different.”

Martin frowned.
“What do you mean?”

The two beings
of almost infinite power turned to face Martin.

“Martin, hello
again,” said XO5.

“We haven’t
actually met,” said the Wheelmaster. “Please, step forward.”

Martin pushed
his way through the other soldiers and stepped nervously in front of XO5 and
the Wheelmaster. The Wheelmaster stretched out a hand, and Martin shook it. It
felt strange—he could feel the hand… and yet he couldn’t. It was like shaking
hands with a ghost.

“I owe you my
existence,” said the Wheelmaster.

It was weird.
The Wheelmaster looked just like Martin. And yet he didn’t. An immense power
seemed to radiate from him. It was terrifying.

The Wheelmaster
turned to the crowd of soldiers. “There will be no battle here today. There is
a greater evil coming. Humans and Axis Lords must fight alongside one another
against the coming danger. Because I will not be able to help you.”

“I don’t
understand,” said Martin. “What danger? And why can’t you help?”

“XO5 is not the
source of this particular evil,” explained the Wheelmaster. “I’m sorry, but
your parents will beget the darkness.”

“That’s what
everyone keeps saying,” said Martin.

The Wheelmaster
sighed. “I think it’s time you heard both of the Custodian’s prophecies in
full.” He clicked his fingers and two scrolls appeared in his right hand. “The
Custodian is famous for producing two particular prophecies—both of which
involve the immediate future.”

The Wheelmaster
unrolled the first scroll and began to read to the 200 assembled soldiers.

“
In the year
of the Silver Dragon, a new empire will rise from disarray. Valdragor Slater,
Mulciber King, Agamon VII, Falcon Salamaz, and four humans will rule the
empire, and it will grow to outshine even the mighty empire of the Axis Lords.
”

Falcon breathed
out slowly. “Why did the Axis Lords keep this a secret from us?”

XO5 laughed.
“They were scared. They thought that if they hid the prophecy away it would
never come true.”

The Wheelmaster
unrolled the second scroll. “The second prophecy is more alarming,” he said,
and began to read.

“
In the
presence of Martin King and Darcy Williams, the entire universe shall cease to
exist. Charles King and Aurora King, the bringers of darkness, will wilfully
cause the destruction of the whole of creation.
”

Martin glanced
at his mum. She had become pale.

“The whole
universe is threatened,” said XO5. “Your parents—Charles and Aurora King—will
destroy the entire universe. And we cannot stop them.”

“We would never
do such a thing!” Aurora said.

“I’m afraid you
will,” said the Wheelmaster.

“But you both
have unlimited power,” said Martin, looking at the two figures. “Why can’t you
stop it?”

“We don’t fully
understand,” said the Wheelmaster. “All is not yet clear.”

“Then how do
you
know
the universe will be destroyed?” said Darcy.

“We can see the
future, if we both agree to do so,” said the Wheelmaster. “But when we try to see
past a certain point in time, we cannot. There is only emptiness. We even know
the exact date. The universe will end on the 25
^th
December next
year.”

“Christmas
Day,” said Tommy.

“Forgive me,
Lord,” said Nymon, looking at the Wheelmaster. “But can you not change the
course of events?”

The Wheelmaster
shook his head. “Remember—the Axis Lords once created an object that could
circumvent both of our powers—the Isis Crystal.”

“The Isis
Crystal was destroyed,” said Martin.

XO5 nodded.
“Yes, but it proved that some things
can
be more powerful than us. The
prophecy is unclear and indistinct, but we know that we can do nothing to stop
it.”

Martin
swallowed. He still couldn’t quite bring himself to believe that his parents
would ever try to wipe out the universe. Surely it was all a big mistake? But
the Wheelmaster’s face was grave.

“In simple terms,”
said the Wheelmaster, “XO5 and I exist
outside
the bounds of creation.
But the danger comes from
inside
your universe. If anyone can stop it,
they must work from the inside.” He smiled at Martin. “And if anyone can save
the universe, I believe that it will be you.”

Martin nodded
quietly.

“Now,” said the
Wheelmaster. “Remember what I said. There is to be no more fighting here.” He
turned to Nymon. “Go back to Hope, and leave the Earth alone. Remove the
satellite so that the Axis Lord prisoners can leave if they wish. No matter
what you do, you cannot stop the rise of the new empire.”

Nymon bowed his
head. “Yes, Lord.”

The Wheelmaster
took one more look around the snowy island; then he and XO5 vanished.

“All of my
soldiers please return to Hope,” said Nymon, defeated.

The enemy
soldiers walked quickly back to their flaming horses, and climbed onto them.
The Axis Lords rode off back into the clouds, and then they were gone.

Martin was standing in a dark
field with Laser Wolf and his parents. It had been two weeks since the battle,
and Martin almost felt normal again. He still had more energy than before;
Mulciber had said that an Axis Lord’s second body is always stronger than the
first.

Laser Wolf’s
new ship, the
Prestige
, was parked in the field. His parents were going
to travel with Laser Wolf to the planet Vortus to do some shopping, and then
take a long tour of the five galaxies. They had been apart for so many years,
and they needed to get to know each other again.

The stars were
starting to appear over the ship.

“You’re sure
you’ll be OK getting back?” said Martin’s mum.

“I’ll be fine,”
said Martin, grinning. “Flying is the safest way to travel, you know.”

Martin’s dad
clapped a hand on his shoulder. “I never said—” He paused. “I never said how
proud I was of you. On the Battle Island, I mean, volunteering to be the
Earth’s champion. Your mum told me everything that happened. You were so
brave.”

“Thanks, dad.”

Laser Wolf
smiled. “Martin had already saved the world once before. I wouldn’t have
expected any less.”

The Axis Lord
flicked a switch on his pocket watch; the door of the
Prestige
began to
open.

“We’ll be back
before you know it,” said Aurora. “I love you, Martin.”

“I love you
too, mum.”

Martin hugged
his parents and shook hands with Laser Wolf. Then the Axis Lord, the Axis Lady,
and the human stepped inside the
Prestige
. Martin watched as the ship
rose into the air and shot off towards the stars.

He paused for a
moment, standing in the dark field. Every time he thought the Earth was safe,
something seemed to happen to make everything more complicated. But he was
still convinced that his parents would never do anything to harm the universe.
They were good people.

He sighed, and
started to rise into the air. He turned around, trying to get his bearings.
When he had settled on his direction, he increased his speed and flew off back
home.

*

Martin, Darcy and Tommy had been
invited to a very important conference by Mulciber. Tommy had managed to bring
Fire Opal along. They didn’t know the exact reason for the conference, but
Mulciber had said that the political future of the entire planet was at stake.

They were all
sitting in Martin’s flat, waiting for a car to pick them up. Eventually, the
doorbell rang, and the four friends left the flat. They were shown into a large
black car; when they got inside they realised that the windows were darkened so
they couldn’t see where they were going.

“This is
weird,” said Tommy.

“Mulciber said
that the location of the conference is a big secret,” said Martin. “There are
hundreds of political and religious groups that would blow up the conference if
they knew where it was being held.”

“That serious?”
said Darcy. “I wonder what this is all about…”

Martin
shrugged. “I don’t know. Mulciber seems excited about it though. Maybe it’s got
something to do with the Custodian’s prophecy.”

About an hour
later, the car finally stopped, and the driver let Martin and the others out.
They were standing in some sort of underground basement; there were over a
hundred other cars parked nearby—mostly big black saloons.

“Ah, you must
be Martin King and friends,” said a man in a black suit.

A woman dressed
in black stood next to him.

“Forgive me,
but we must search you,” said the man. “Nobody is exempt. I just searched the
King of Swaziland a few moments ago.”

Tommy grinned.
“Don’t worry.”

The man
searched Martin and Tommy and the woman searched Darcy and Fire Opal. Once they
were satisfied, another young man appeared and shook Martin’s hand.

“I will take
your party to the conference now, sir,” said the man.

They were led
up a flight of stairs and along a corridor. The man showed them through a set
of doors. It was a large theatre. There were thousands of seats, and many of
them were occupied by the leaders of every major country in the world. Martin,
Darcy, Tommy and Fire Opal were shown to their seats near the back of the
conference; they sat down.

“Look,” said
Darcy. “
That’s
the President of Russia.”

Martin glanced
around; he recognised many of the faces from the news. Whatever the reason for
the conference, it was certainly of great importance.

Four Axis Lords
and four men stepped onto the theatre stage, and the theatre fell silent. The
men were Agamon, Mulciber, Falcon, Slater, Edward Rice (Britain), Vladimir Kosygin
(Russia), George White (USA), and Liu Jianying (China).

“Thank you all
for coming,” said the Prime Minister. “As you are all aware, this conference is
being televised. It will appear on every major channel in the world
simultaneously.”

Martin noticed
for the first time that dozens of cameras were pointed at the stage.

“Now,” said
Agamon. “Let us be clear on the reason for this conference. During the last two
years, the Earth has faced several dangers. Two years ago, the Earth was under
threat from one of my people—an Axis Lady named Moonstone. She tried to destroy
the Earth after locating a secret weapon called the Isis Crystal. And then last
week mankind faced the most enormous danger in its entire history. My
people—the Axis Lords—visited Earth in order to destroy it completely. You saw
the ships; they were hovering over every country, ready to begin the attack.”

“But the Earth
was saved,” said the US President. “It was saved thanks to the four aliens you
see standing next to me, with the help of a young human who wishes to remain
nameless.”

Darcy squeezed
Martin’s hand.

“The point is,”
said Mulciber. “It has become clear that the Earth is gaining unwanted
attention from alien races. The planet is safe from our people now, but there
is a greater threat coming.” He sighed. “Two people—an Axis Lady and a
human—are prophesied to bring about the end of the universe. In order to
prevent this disaster, the humans and the Axis Lords must work together.”

The conference
went on in much the same way for several hours. The political leaders, who were
wearing microphones, all had their turn to contribute to the conference.

“Quite simply,”
said Mulciber finally. “We are proposing the start of an entirely new way of
ruling. The current system—hundreds of tiny little self-governing countries—is
just not sustainable. If we are to stand any chance of surviving, we need to
become a whole.”

A few heads
nodded. Some of the political leaders, although frightened by the prospect of
destruction, were unconvinced by the proposition. The President of Egypt, in
particular, was very critical of the whole idea.

“So you expect
me,” he said, through his interpreter, “to surrender the sovereignty of my
country in favour of some empire run by aliens?”

“In short,
yes,” said Agamon. “Of course, we have no wish to break up countries. That
would be counterproductive. Regions will still need leaders. For example, you
will remain in charge of Egypt. All countries will simply be bound together by
the new empire.”

A woman, who
Martin guessed was a journalist, raised her hand.

“Excuse me,”
she said, “but I’ve been listening to this whole conference and I’m actually
quite scared by what I’ve been hearing. You’re talking about starting an
empire
?”

“We are,” said
the Prime Minister.

“The people
will never stand for it,” said the journalist. “We aren’t living in the olden
days, you know! Empire is an ugly word.”

Mulciber
smiled. “Thank you for your opinion. But you are wrong.”

“Nonsense,”
said the journalist. “Why do we
need
an empire?”

“Because, in
short, humans are weak,” said Mulciber. “I’m not going to lie to you. You are
all weak, and a terrible darkness is coming. You will need strong Axis Lord
rulership if you stand a chance of survival. It’s a choice between empire or
death.”

The journalist,
silenced, pretended to look over her notes. The conference went on for another
hour.

Finally, the
Prime Minister stepped up to the microphone. He picked up a sheet of paper and
began to read the proposition, which was extremely long. It ended like this:

“
I hereby
agree to transfer full control over my country or territory to the Earth Ruling
Body, which comprises Valdragor Slater, Mulciber King, Agamon VII, Falcon Salamaz,
Edward Rice, Vladimir Kosygin, George White, and Liu Jianying. Once full
control has been transferred, I will remain in charge of my current
territories, subject to the approval of the Earth Ruling Body. I agree that the
full military powers of my country or territory will be at the full disposal of
the Earth Ruling Body.
”

There was
overwhelming support for the proposition. A few leaders insisted on letting
their citizens vote whether or not to become part of the new empire, but
invariably their people ended up supporting the motion. Anything was better
than dying.

And so it came
to pass that the First Great Human-Axis Lord Empire rose from chaos.

Many people
think that revolution has to be blood-spattered. But it’s actually quite easy
to take control of a country without violence—providing you have enough support.
At the most basic level, all you really need is the backing of the military.

Martin glanced
at his friends when the conference had finished. They were all looking slightly
dazed.

“Did I just see
what I think I did?” whispered Tommy.

Martin nodded.
“The world will never be the same again.”

*

The next day, Martin and Darcy
accompanied Tommy and Fire Opal to the airport. They had broken up for a
two-week school holiday, and Tommy had decided to take his wife on a trip to
New Zealand.

They sat in the
airport for a while. The weather was getting colder, and they were all wearing
coats and scarves.

“I hope you
both have a good time,” said Martin. “I kind of wish we could come.”

“Well, next
time we’ll all have to go somewhere,” said Tommy.

Fire Opal’s
eyes were gleaming with excitement. Martin smiled at her.

“Are you
looking forward to it?” he asked.

“Oh, yes!” she
said. “My father’s shown me pictures of New Zealand and it looks like such an
amazing place. It was where those movies were filmed…”

Tommy grinned.
“I made Fire Opal watch
The Lord of the Rings
the other night—all three
films.”

Martin laughed.
“We’ll have to go on a holiday soon, Darcy. Providing your parents are OK with
it.”

“Yeah, that’d
be great,” said Darcy.

When the time
came for the flight, Martin and Darcy hugged both of their friends.

“I’m going to
miss you both,” he said. He grinned at Fire Opal. “Look after Tommy, won’t
you?”

She smiled. “I
will.”

Tommy and Fire
Opal waved goodbye, and went to board their plane. Martin and Darcy left the
airport, hand in hand.

*

Martin and Darcy caught the
train back home. The sky was dark when they got off the train.

“Fancy getting
something to eat?” said Darcy.

Martin nodded.
“Yeah, all right, where do you want to go?”

Darcy shrugged.
“Surprise me.”

The teenagers
walked along the street, their breath turning to mist on the cold air. Martin
looked up at the sky—he was sure he saw a white flash. But there was nothing.
They carried on walking.

“Did you see
that?” said Darcy.

“What?”

She was staring
at the stars. “I thought I just saw a flashing light—in the sky.” She shook her
head. “I’m probably just imagining things.”

“No, look
Darcy!”

They both
looked up. There
was
a flashing light, and it was getting closer. It was
coming from some kind of spaceship.

“It’s coming
for us,” said Martin. “Run!”

They ran as
fast as they could. Martin glanced over his shoulder. The ship was trailing
them, and it was fast. Suddenly, Martin tripped, and he pulled Darcy over with
him. A split-second before they collided with the pavement, a glowing light
appeared all around them.

*

Martin looked around. They had
appeared in some kind of dark chamber. A very attractive woman approached them,
wearing a black lace dress; Martin guessed that she was a Thieron.

“Come with me,”
she said. “The Emperor and Empress will see you now.”