Deathstalker 07 - Deathstalker Return

build it to human specifications, so it doesn't have human limitations. We'll send you back to Mistport, past the Pale Horizon, and you'll appear there just as Owen breathes his last. And then you'll do what you have to do, because the Maze has already changed you, even if you haven't realized it yet. You will collect Owen's consciousness, or his soul if you prefer, at the moment of his death, and hold it safe within you. Only a Maze-altered Deathstalker could do this. You then go to the warehouse, reunite the soul with its body, and it will repair itself. And Owen Deathstalker will live again. When you're done, the Maze will bring you back here again. I won't be here; my part in this is over. Which is just as well, as the whole business freaks me out."
    Roland smiled suddenly at Lewis. "Say your good-byes now, Lewis. Because you won't be able to later."
    "All right," said Lewis. "Good-bye."
    "Good-bye, son." Roland took Lewis in his arms and hugged him briefly. "Never doubt that your father was always very proud of you."
    He disappeared, leaving Lewis with empty arms and the puzzled feeling that the alien had been trying to tell him something. Then the light at the heart of the Maze changed suddenly, Lewis felt the world shift under him, and he saw a whole new direction he could travel in. He let go of the present, and fell back into time.
    The universe blurred around him, all the colors at once, like running through a rainbow. The colors were vivid, overwhelming, intense almost beyond bearing. Lewis could hear a million voices all speaking at once, and he burst out of the rainbow into the deep dark sea of space. Planets whirled around him, and he saw the stars turn slowly in their endless dance, sparks of hope in the long night. Lewis supposed he should be feeling scared, or awed, but he was too busy concentrating on where he was going. He was going to save Owen Deathstalker.
    Lewis materialized in a Mistport back alley. The cold hit him like a fist, as all his sensations returned to him. He leaned against a nearby wall to steady himself, breathing hard as though he'd just run a long race.
    And then he heard the baying of the animals as they took Owen down, and Lewis forced himself away from the wall. He lurched unsteadily through mist-choked alleys, following the sounds of battle, and got there just in time to see Owen die again. Lewis hid in the shadows, and reached out with his mind, almost instinctively. One Deathstalker, calling to another. And Owen heard him.
    Hazel?
    No, Owen. But I'm family.
    He gathered Owen's fading mind to him, held it safe while the body died, and then jumped a little forward, in space and time. In a moment he was back in the gloomy warehouse of the body banks. The place was deserted, the only light radiating from the ranks of refrigerated tanks. Lewis walked over to one particular body bank, swept a layer of frost from the transparent lid with his hand, and looked inside.
    Owen's dead body stared sightlessly back at him, the death wounds still livid. The automated knives and saws hadn't started their work yet. And somehow it was the easiest thing in the world for Lewis to take the soul that had been entrusted to him, and tenderly put it back where it belonged.
    A blast of light filled the tank, and Lewis staggered back, temporarily dazzled. He heard a door slam open behind him, and spun round, blinking his eyes furiously to clear them. Two armed guards came rushing towards him, determined to protect their merchandise. Lewis smiled savagely, and went to meet them sword in hand. He killed them both, cutting them to pieces with cold, vicious skill. Because he hadn't been able to punish the animals who killed Owen, and someone had to pay. The fight was quickly over, and Lewis turned his back on the twitching bodies to look at the refrigerated tank again. A fierce light was blazing up through the transparent lid. The steel sides burst apart, and the lid blew up into the air. And Owen Deathstalker rose up out of the ruins of the body bank like some ancient King rising from his tomb.
    He stepped regally out of the wreckage, shaking off the last of the frost from his bare skin, disregarding it like the cold of death he'd just escaped. He stood tall and proud, breathing deeply, every bit as impressive as Lewis had always known he would be. There werent even any scars on Owen's body to show where the dozens of wounds had been. He turned his dark gaze on Lewis, who immediately sank to one knee