Deathstalker 07 - Deathstalker Return

and bowed his head to his revered ancestor.
    "Welcome back, Lord Deathstalker. I am your kinsman, Lewis, of Virimonde. And I have come a very long way, to bring you back."
    "Good for you," said Owen. "Now please get up. I've never liked being knelt to, especially by a kinsman. I don't suppose you brought any spare clothes with you, did you, Lewis? I'm freezing my nuts off, here."
    Lewis blinked a few times, and then scrambled to his feet. He took a heavy cloak from one of the dead guards, and wrapped it round Owen's shoulders.
    "Thank you," said Owen. "Now, I think you have a lot to tell me, kinsman. Starting very definitely with why I'm not dead after all."
    "It was the Maze," said Lewis. "It sent me back through time, with the power to rescue and restore you."
    "I should bloody well think so too," said Owen. "It was the Maze that got me into this mess in the first place, when it stranded me here. You didn't happen to encounter a certain shape-changing alien along the way, did you… Yes, I thought so. This has his fingerprints all over it." He stopped, and studied Lewis thoughtfully. "Can't say I recognize you, Lewis. Are you kin to David? Never really got to know his branch of the Family."
    "No… Sir Owen." Lewis hesitated, and then decided to just go with the truth, because he really didn't feel up to breaking it slowly and gently. "David is dead, long dead, and all his line with him. A lot of time has passed since your… death, Sir Owen. King Robert and Queen Constance raised a cousin branch to take over as Clan Deathstalker, and my father Roland is its current head."
    "Just call me Owen, please. How much time has passed, since my battle with the Recreated?"
    Lewis met Owen's gaze squarely. "It's been two hundred years, Owen. I am the first to have reached the heart of the Madness Maze in two centuries."
    Owen didn't flinch, but his lips formed the name Hazel… "Why did the Maze send you back for me, after so long?"
    "Because you're needed."
    Owen smiled sourly. "That always was the problem. But how can I be needed, after so long?
    Lionstone's dead, Shub had a revelation, and I defeated the Recreated. What's left?"
    "The Terror," said Lewis. "The Terror has come to the Empire, and threatens the existence of Humanity.
    We've already lost two planets to it."
    "Oh, hell," Owen said tiredly. "It's always bloody something, isn't it? Look, can't you handle it? You're a Deathstalker. Why does it always have to be me? I died once for Humanity. I shouldn't have to do it again. I need a rest. Dying really takes it out of you, you know."
    Lewis looked at Owen uncertainly, taken aback. This querulous, annoyed tone wasn't at all what he'd expected from the blessed Owen. He fumbled for a reply. Owen saw the look on Lewis's face, and chuckled suddenly.
    "You've been listening to the stories about me, haven't you? Never believe what you see in the docudramas. If I did half the things I'm supposed to have done, I'd need to be twenty men. And I certainly never saw myself as any kind of hero. Just a man who knew his duty. The right man in the right place at the right time. If it hadn't been me, it would have been someone else… Oh, hell, let's get out of here. I'll do what I can. I always do. Two hundred years… Be interesting to see what you've done in my absence. Maze, I know you're listening. Bring us back. Now."
    Power flared up around Owen and Lewis, and time poured past them. And then they were back, at the heart of the Madness Maze. There was no sign of Roland anywhere, or any of the alien's other shapes.
    Owen walked over and looked at the baby, still sleeping peacefully in the shining crystal.
    "Looks like I'm not going to be allowed to ask any awkward questions of our shape-changing friend,"
    said Owen. "Ah, well. I've no doubt there will be other occasions…" He looked sharply at Lewis. Who's waiting for me, out there?"
    "Some new friends, and one old one."
    Owen smiled suddenly. "Then we'd better not keep them waiting."
    They walked out of the Maze together, side by side. The corridors still branched and turned, but the way out was always clear. As they neared the entrance, Lewis looked at Owen.
    "I don't feel any different. I thought I would, once I'd been through the Maze."
    "It's a slow process," said Owen. "Maybe because if it all happened at once, you'd go crazy trying to cope with it. Trust me, you'll start noticing things soon enough."
    Lewis and Owen Deathstalker walked out of the Madness Maze, and