Deathstalker 06 - Deathstalker Legacy

has ever known. His legend always said he would return in the hour of the Empire's greatest need. And we on Virimonde have never believed the blessed Owen was dead. He cannot die.
    He passed through the Madness Maze, and moved beyond his humanity, becoming something finer and more glorious. He was our savior in Lionstone's time, and can be again. We must call out to him with one great voice, implore his help and pray for his return!"
    "This is getting needlessly messianic," said Lewis, but his voice was lost in an outburst of mass shouting and cheering and stamping of feet from the House. The honorable Members loved the idea; not least because it didn't actually require them to do anything. Let the blessed Owen save Humanity, as he had
    two centuries before. The cheering and applauding went on for some time, an almost religious hysteria taking over the House, as though they'd just been tossed a lifeline by God herself. Du Bois smiled benevolently about him. Douglas's face remained impassive, but Lewis was scowling openly, his ugly face dark and disturbed. Jesamine looked at him worriedly. He still had his gun in his hand. Douglas waited patiently for the din to die down, and when it didn't, he gestured to Lewis, who immediately raised his disrupter. Du Bois fell back a step, and the acclamation of the House broke off raggedly, as the honorable Members got ready to duck again.
    "Unfortunately," Douglas said calmly, "all the records concerning Owen Deathstalker's final fate, whatever it might have been, are lost to us. Destroyed two hundred years ago by Robert and Constance and the Parliament of that time, for reasons that no doubt seemed good to them. As to the others who passed through the Madness Maze and became superhuman; we know Jack Random and Ruby Journey are dead, killed in the last great confrontation with Shub before their awakening. Diana Vertue brought the bodies home in what was left of the old Deathstalker Standing, and now Jack and Ruby lie in state in the Victory Gardens behind this House. Buried in heroes' graves, with statues raised to their honored memory. You're welcome to pray for their return, but I wouldn't expect an early reply. Tobias Moon remains on Lachrymae Christi, a hermit, whom no one has seen in over a century. We will of course try to reach him, but according to the legends his abilities were nothing compared to Owen's. And then there's Captain Silence. Who also disappeared a century ago, his fate as much a mystery as the blessed Owen's.
    "Honorable Members; we should remember that Owen Deathstalker left us, at the hour of his greatest triumph, and no one knows why, or where he went. The heroes of old ... are gone, all of them. I say to this House; we cannot just sit back and wait for the blessed Owen to show up again, to save the day one more time! Legends are legends, we must deal with facts. Worlds are in danger. We must make preparations to defend ourselves!"
    "Of course," said du Bois, his voice the very epitome of calm and reason. "But Owen knew of the Terror. He knew it was coming, and he seemed to know how it might be defeated. So; while we raise the armies of Humanity to stand ready to hold back the Terror, I say we send out our greatest heroes to search for Owen Deathstalker! Send out the Paragons on their greatest and noblest Quest; to find the beloved Owen and bring him home!"
    This time the cheering and shouting and massed applause all but shook the great chamber on its foundations. The House really liked the sound of this idea. Douglas considered the matter, and found he did too, for all sorts of practical reasons. Send the Paragons out on a Quest. Even beyond the Parade, it would help repair their image, while getting them away from the general population long enough for everyone to forget the excesses of the Neuman riot. And who knew . . . they might just find Owen.
    Douglas ran this by Lewis, who nodded slowly in agreement.
    ''Do you want me to join the Quest?" he said carefully. "I am his descendant, even if not directly. I am a Deathstalker."
    "You're not a Paragon anymore," said Douglas. "You're my Champion. But yes, Lewis, I think you should go. As a Deathstalker."
    And because it's a really good way to get rid of me, thought Lewis, not really all that bitterly. Send me off on a Quest, away from Jesamine. He knows I'll go, if he asks. Because I'm a Deathstalker, and I know my duty. Because he's a King, and my friend. Oh Jesamine; I finally found you, and now I have