Diamond Justice

“Fifty-two seconds.” Sweat dripped from Stein’s nose. Aegis was convinced the man was suffering from mind control. If Stein was himself a meta-human intellect, his behavior was the strangest Aegis had ever encountered. Perhaps he could convince Stein to grant them more time. If that failed, perhaps he could convince Stein to speak with Dreah. “B-before you ask, Mr. Diogenes. No. I n-never l-leave the house. M-Mike could you come in here, please? Our...our guests should be leaving.” Telepathy, Aegis told himself. It must be some form of telepathy. “No, you only have forty-five seconds left. No more time. I-I am not reading your-your mind either. One th-thousand six hundred twenty-one.” The door next to Paragon opened again and the butler came in. The temperature of the room dropped noticeably. Sword in hand, Paragon turned to face the man. As he stared into the man’s dark eyes, he couldn’t shake the feeling that they knew each other. The hair along his neck began to rise as his breath formed a cloud in the air before him. Carol stopped scanning the books and stood up next to Aegis. “You’ve muttered several numbers, Mr. Stein. What is one-thousand six hundred twenty-one?” Stein didn’t turn to face them. Something outside the window had his attention as he rubbed his twitching right hand and mumbled, “One-thousand six hundred twenty-o...one to one t-that you won’t l-leea-leave. Thirty-five seconds.” “Mr. Stein...” “No! Ms. Estingdale...you may not return later! Take the books and go, nothing more! Please! Please, go,” he pleaded. Carol held the books to her chest and glanced at Aegis. Aegis looked at Stein and then at the butler. The tension across the shoulders of Paragon told him they were in danger. “Only Child on sight in t-minus ten seconds,” said Kahori over the commlink. Aegis tried to ignore her. He was at a loss. Stein was responding to his thoughts quicker than they occurred; yet, Stein denied reading his mind. “Seven, six, five...” Aegis wished Kahori would shut up. “Drop it, Control!” Envoy interrupted and the commlink went silent. For a few seconds Stein stood before the window, gripping the curtain tightly. It shook in his hand and dust rained down on him. Suddenly he stopped shaking and mumbling. He simply stared out the window. His mouth fell open and he choked as spittle dripped from the corner of his mouth. “Mm...mm..” He stammered as he stumbled backward. The curtain ripped loose in his hands and the sudden freedom sent Stein tumbling over backward. Stacks of books toppled over and scattered across the floor as the curtain blanketed him. Scrambling away from the window, Stein mumbled incoherently. Terror was etched on his face and tears streamed from his eyes as spittle sprayed from his mouth in every direction. The falling books only caused him to panic more. Aegis leaped to his side and grabbed at the man’s wrists. Stein fought against him and struggled to crawl away from the window. Glancing up, Aegis saw Slipstream through the swaying curtain. The metal warrior stood before the house with dark energy leaking from his large black eyes. “V-v-vvvallo... mihi,” Stein stammered. Spittle sprayed from his mouth with each word. “Vallo m-mihi!” Metal shrieked from behind the wall of books. Crash! As if desperate for freedom from eons of sleep, the Minotaur statue burst from the wall of books. As it moved, metal creaked and groaned and mountains of books were sent flying in every direction. Screaming, Carol dropped to her knees and threw her hands over her head to shield herself from the books. Ignoring his own peril, Aegis leaped in front of Carol to protect her. Paragon desperately wanted to turn to his friends but forced himself to ignore the books pelting him. Fearing the man before him was the greater threat, he kept his eyes locked on him. The butler also ignored the chaos enveloping the room and kept his eyes locked on Paragon. The massive Bull glanced only briefly around the room before settling his metal eyes on Aegis. Even the movement of its eyes echoed through the room as they rolled inside its metal skull. Aegis stood over Carol and held the shield up to protect them. Metal creaked and groaned as the Bull swung its massive axe at Aegis. Clang! Crash! The window shattered and Aegis hurtled past Envoy. “Some negotiator you are,” she mumbled. Energy leaped from Envoy’s extended hand and the building’s wall disintegrated. Easing forward, she peered into the darkness and barely dodged the Bull’s deadly horns as it charged through the opening she had created. Slipstream didn’t bother moving and the Bull’s massive hooves trampled the large metal man into the ground. The sounds of battle behind him gnawed at Paragon’s gut. Unfortunately, he knew Aegis and the others would have to handle it because what was before him was far more dangerous. The horror that would be brought on the team if he failed to hold it at bay would be far worse than anything the Bull could do. “It has been a long time, knight,” said Mike. The air around them grew colder with each word. Frost formed on Paragon’s sword. “I would not have expected to find you here,” he replied as calmly as he could. Carol pushed books aside and looked up. Behind her the Bull dominated the hole in the wall as it swung its massive axe at Envoy. She darted around the creature like an annoying mosquito stinging the metal beast with blasts of energy that left glowing red patches were they hit it. Turning back to the room, Carol saw Stein babbling and crying as he crawled out of the room. He knocked over even more books as he fled. Carol raised her hand and three glowing pink lights floated in the air in front of her. A moment later, a small faerie materialized out of each of the glowing lights. Their song of admiration for her sounded like a thousand tiny bells. Pointing at Stein, she waved for them to follow him. They spiraled around her head and then darted after Stein as they giggled loudly and playfully. They left a trail of glowing pink sparkles suspended in the air to mark their path out of the room. Noticing the fog of her breathing for the first time, Carol looked up in time to hear Paragon’s next words. They caused fear to grip her heart. “Winter Eagle,” said Paragon. Careful not to slip on the frost-covered floor, he took a step backward. “Why are you here, monster?” He raised his sword higher in defense. His wings flexed behind him to better balance him on the slippery floor. A glowing white light quickly spread from his sword up his arm and over his body. Once it had enveloped him completely, it flashed and was gone. Paragon stood before Winter Eagle wearing a suit of medieval plate mail. The steel armor was magically enchanted like his sword. It had a slight blue tint to it and covered him from his shoulders to his feet. He had chosen to forego the helmet and his golden locks fell loosely around his metal-clad shoulders. His wings extended outward behind him and caught the rays of the sun. To Carol, he looked like the archangel Michael with the light of Heaven shining down upon him while he faced down the Prince of Hell. Winter Eagle took a step forward and Paragon took a step back. The man circled around the hero but stopped when he saw Carol lying under the books. She was visibly shaking and Winter Eagle could taste the fear in her heart. The air grew even colder as he spoke, “You know that no enchantment can stop the power of my touch. Your magical armor will not protect you.” “It doesn’t have to,” replied Paragon. “My sword will do that.” To emphasize his words, he gripped the sword tightly with both hands and leveled it in Winter Eagle’s direction. Winter Eagle glanced briefly at him, smirked, and then looked back at Carol. “My business with the old man is none of your concern. Although I must thank him for giving me the opportunity to final