Deathstalker 05 - Deathstalker Destiny

archetypes said in their joined voice. "You dare not.
    Destroy us, and you kill millions of espers all across the Empire."
    "They're right," said Diana. "The Mater Mundi is an unconscious gestalt. The espers honestly don't know what they've been doing."
    "Then we'll just have to send them a wake-up call," said Owen.
    The four Maze minds slid effortlessly together, like interlocking pieces of a single puzzle, fusing into a single will far greater than anything they had ever achieved separately. Diana and her companions were swept up into it, a small but vital part carried along by the sheer power being wielded. The Mater Mundi archetypes raised their joined voice in a horrified scream as they realized what their enemy intended. They struck out with all their power, and it glanced harmlessly away; no match for the greater energies of more than human minds.
    That united will spoke in a Voice that could not be ignored, thundering through all the undermind, saying to every esper on every world in the Empire: WAKE UP!
    And they did. In that moment every esper everywhere became aware of the Mater
    Mundi; what it was and what it had done. They understood, and forgave, and with an instant sane and compassionate decision the espers enveloped the Mater Mundi and superseded it, to become a single completely conscious gestalt mind.
    Conscious, awake and aware, and determined to put things right. The Mater Mundi archetypes snapped out of existence, no longer needed or tolerated, replaced by a single figure that was both male and female, shining so brightly it would have blinded a normal human being. The concerted will that had opposed it broke apart, and everyone was back in his or her own head again.
    "The Mater Mundi is no more," said the shining figure, in a warm comforting voice. "We have moved beyond that."
    "Good," said Hazel. "So; what will you do now?"
    "We're not sure," said the gestalt. "But you've given us a lot to think about."
    It turned its blazing gaze on Diana and her companions. "You have done so much for us, but we can do nothing for you. You cannot ever be a part of what we have become. You've progressed too far, in different directions. You are no longer merely espers."
    "Ah hell," said Diana Vertue. "I've always been my own person."
    The gestalt figure vanished, and everyone relaxed a little. Investigator Topaz sniffed loudly.
    "Typical. We can bring our people to the Promised Land, but…"
    "You wouldn't know what to do in a paradise anyway," said Mary.
    "True," said Topaz. "Time to go, I think. If you've quite finished with us, Vertue. Some of us have got jobs to go to when we wake up."
    And one by one they disappeared, going back to their own lives and the waking world, until only Diana and the four Maze people were left on her tiny island.
    "Well," said Diana. "That was interesting. Maybe some day all Humanity will be
    part of some great gestalt. United by the backbrain and the undermind. Maybe some day… all life…"
    "Maybe," said Owen kindly. He looked out over the ocean. "This is… a very restful place. I always knew it was here, but I never got around to visiting.
    Always something that needed doing. You know how it is. But there are…
    possibilities here…"
    "Right," said Hazel. "I get the feeling the sea of dreams is separate from Time.
    All times are one, here. Past, present, and future are just directions as far as dreams are concerned. Maybe my passing through this place explains the dreams I've been having…"
    "I have a plan to defeat the Shub," said Diana diffidently. "It came to me suddenly, just now. This is the place of inspiration, after all. I'm going to need your old Family Standing, sir Deathstalker."
    "My castle?" said Owen. "It's yours. But don't ask us to help. Hazel and I still need to go back into the Darkvoid."
    "And Ruby and I have unfinished business," said Jack Random. "Maybe afterwards…"
    "Yes," said Ruby Journey. "Maybe. Afterwards."
    They shared a brief smile, and then the Maze figures were gone. Diana sighed.
    "So; once more alone against impossible odds. But this time, I have a plan."
    And then she woke up.

Chapter 5
    Even Legends Die
    The mighty human Empire had spread its seed across hundreds of worlds for hundreds of years, great and glorious, bestriding the scattered stars like a colossus. Its power and influence had shaped the destinies of both human and
    alien species, and many species that had dared to stand against the expanding Empire no longer existed. And