Out of This World Read online

  Zachary looked at Hirth to see if he would challenge this statement, but he remained silent.

  “And your people now have a deep knowledge of this thing you call science,” continued Wyland. “And my intuition tells me that this gives you a huge added boost. We tap into scientific principles without knowing what they are, or how we do it. But you would know how to best take advantage of these principles. This could well make your magic more potent than any we have ever seen.”

  “Very good, Wyland,” said Hirth. “You are exactly right. If these humans ever get off Earth and discover their potential in the realm of magic, they could be unstoppable.”

  Wyland nodded. “So you’re intent on destroying the portals emerging on Earth, not because these children failed. But because they succeeded too well. They performed too brilliantly. Seeing these kids in action has you more afraid than ever. And you were able to convince the Council to side with you on this.”

  “The potential danger from these humans is beyond imagination,” said Hirth. “You know I’m right. What is that infallible intuition of yours telling you?”

  Wyland tilted back his head and closed his eyes for almost a minute. Finally, he frowned deeply and shook his head. “I don’t know. Right now, my intuition on this subject is a blank.”

  “Too bad,” said Hirth. “It would have been nice to have someone as talented as you side with us on this.” He shrugged. “But so be it. I’m off to the Grand Council to power up the crystal that will destroy Earth’s portals. And while I’m at it, we can determine what we should do with this human family. If they should live in a prison for the rest of their lives, or be executed. I’ll be back in twenty or thirty minutes with a verdict, just before I isolate Earth forever.”

  A large black crystal emerged from one of Hirth’s many pockets and began spinning by his head. “As for me,” he said with a cruel gleam in his eye. “I’m going to recommend execution.”

  And with this said, the red-robed alien vanished into thin air.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Escape

  “I’m so sorry this has happened,” said Wyland. “I want you to know that most of the people of Orum are very decent. We’ve been the most powerful species in this section of the universe for many generations, and we’ve never sought to conquer others. Unlike this upstart species coming our way. I’m afraid Hirth has a cruel side. And he seems to have had an irrational reaction to your species, and has poisoned the Council against you.”

  “As great as it would be to discuss this right now,” said Zachary, “in case you didn’t hear, unless we do something, we probably only have twenty or thirty minutes left to live. So let’s get out of here and figure out a way to defeat this guy. And stop him from destroying California.”

  “Impossible,” said Wyland simply. “No one has ever escaped from this type of prison.”

  “Really?” said Zachary in amazement. “Wow, maybe we humans really could kick your buts,” he added with just the hint of a smile. Wyland had said that while living things couldn’t pass the invisible barrier, everything else could. It was time to test this out. Zachary flicked a tiny pebble at the barrier and watched it pass right through, as easily as did the air. His smile spread into a wide grin. “Well, watch carefully, because you’re about to see your first escape.”

  Zachary turned to his sister. “I need you to gather rocks as quickly as you can and put them in a pile next to me. About the size of my hand would be good. But I need as many as you can get.”

  Jenna smiled as his plan became obvious to her, and she rushed off to find stones.

  Wyland, on the other hand, wore a blank expression. “How will small stones help you?” he asked.

  “You said all we need to do is move that crystal, right?” he said, pointing to the crystal still sitting on top of a large boulder fifty feet away.

  “Right. But I’ve already told you. We can’t reach it, and my magic won’t work at all. So moving it is impossible.”

  Zachary shook his head. “Wow, magic really does spoil you. You really can’t think of any other way to move that crystal?”

  Wyland’s brow furrowed in concentration, but he finally shook his head no, just as Jenna returned and deposited an armful of stones by her brother.

  Zachary picked up one of the rocks, took careful aim, and fired it at the crystal. After a second or two of flight, Zachary’s missile crashed into the large boulder on which the crystal was sitting, missing the target by several feet. He quickly picked up another and launched it at the crystal once again. There was no time to waste.

  Wyland’s eyes widened. Zachary guessed the alien was suddenly wondering how the people of Orum, so spoiled by being able to move things with their minds and shoot beams of energy, had never once thought of using their arms to launch an object at something to get it to move.

  “I’m just warming up,” explained Zachary as he threw another stone, missing the crystal once again. He picked up another as Jenna deposited ten more in the pile beside him. “We have a sport back home we call baseball—and I’m not trying to brag or anything—but I’m really good at it.”

  Zachary rifled another stone at the crystal, but it curved away at the last instant, missing by inches. If he had a few baseballs, he would have hit it by now, but the stones were odd shapes and weights and didn’t fly perfectly straight.

  On his eleventh try he hit the crystal dead center and it shot off the boulder into the woods, shattering as it did so.

  A slow smile spread over Wyland’s face and he floated five feet into the air. He caught Zachary’s eye and shook his head in wonder. “That did the trick quite nicely. Thank you,” he said happily. “But boy do I feel stupid,” he added.

  Zachary was about to say, you should, when he caught himself. “Nah, you just aren’t used to thinking that way,” he said instead, realizing as he did that it was perfectly true. “Believe me, if things were reversed—if we were on Earth and my arms were tied—I’d never think of using magic to move a distant object.”

  “Now what?” said Jenna. “Hirth won’t be gone for long.”

  “We need a plan, and we need one fast,” said Zachary. “What keeps our parents in a zombie state?” he asked Wyland. “Is it another of these crystals pointing in their direction?”

  The short alien nodded.

  “If we toss the crystal away, how long until they come out of the trance?” asked Zachary.

  “Immediately,” replied Wyland.

  “Can you stop Hirth from closing our portals?” asked Jenna.

  Wyland thought about this. “When he comes back, he’ll have a yellow crystal with him, energized with magic from the entire Grand Council. He’ll use this to close down the one active portal between our worlds and destroy the thousands about to emerge. Which will also destroy your California. I can’t open or move portals, as you know, but with this crystal I can block the one active portal from being used.”

  “So if you had this yellow crystal,” said Zachary, “we could go to Earth and make sure no one else could ever follow.” He paused. “If we did that, could Hirth or the Council still destroy the emerging portals? Or would they have to be on Earth to do it?”

  “They’d have to at least travel to Earth to place the crystal.”

  “Any way to prevent this active portal from being used without the yellow crystal?”

  Wyland frowned. “Not a chance,” he said. “And that’s the problem. Hirth’s magic is stronger than mine. I’d be lucky to hold him off for even a short time. But I’d have to defeat him to take the yellow crystal, and that’s not going to happen.”

  “Maybe that’s true if you fight him alone,” said Jenna. “But what if we work as a team? Maybe we can distract and weaken him enough for you to win.”

  “I think Jenna’s right,” said her brother. “It’s the best chance we’ve got. The only chance. We have to get the yellow crystal from Hirth to save California. It’s as simple as that. Which means we can’t run. We have
to stay here and throw everything we’ve got at him.”

  Jenna sighed. “Then you’d better sprint as fast as you can, Zack, and revive Mom and Dad. You’re a lot faster than me, and we’ll need all the help we can get.”

  “I agree,” said Zachary. “I’ll be back as soon as possible,” he added, and without wasting another second he raced off toward their parents.

  “Stop!” shouted Wyland at the top of his lungs.

  Zachary screeched to a halt, fifteen feet away.

  “My intuition is telling me we’ll have a better chance of surviving if Jenna gets your parents,” said the short alien, his blue robe shimmering in the light. “I don’t know why.”

  Zachary considered this, but only for an instant. He wasn’t about to bet against Wyland’s intuition. Not now. “Jenna, go!” he shouted to his sister.

  Jenna nodded, and without another word sprinted off through the woods in the direction of her parents.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Battle

  Both Wyland and Zachary prepared for battle in their own way. Zachary hurriedly gathered rocks and set up piles of them behind dozens of trees and boulders, while Wyland levitated nearby, with four crystals of different colors spinning around him.

  Five minutes after Zachary’s preparations were complete, Hirth reappeared in a flash of light, thirty feet away, hovering above the ground.

  He looked very much like a glowing, furless Ewok, yet he somehow throbbed with power, and Zachary felt terror rise up within him even greater than the terror he had felt when facing the mighty Grull. Even that all-powerful predator would have been no match for Hirth, harmless though his appearance might be.

  The moment Hirth saw Wyland floating in the air, a look of astonishment came over his face. “How did you escape?” he demanded.

  Zachary could barely breathe and felt himself trembling, but he knew he had to buy at least another five minutes before Jenna would return with their parents. With his mom and dad’s memories erased, he wasn’t sure how much use they would be, but the more people fighting Hirth the better chance they would have. Millions of lives were hanging in the balance.

  Wyland was about to reply when Zachary jumped in ahead of him. “You were right to be afraid of us, Hirth!” he called out as loudly and confidently as he could manage. “Your crystal may have stopped Wyland’s magic, but mine is far more potent. I was able to use it to escape your pathetic prison.” He paused for effect. “Now give me the yellow crystal and I’ll let you leave here alive.”

  Hirth threw back his head and laughed. “Good try, Zachary. But I’ve seen you bluff before. I don’t know how you escaped, but one of my talents is the ability to tell when someone has used magic recently. And you haven’t. So forgive me for not quaking in my boots.”

  “Don’t do this, Hirth,” pleaded Wyland. “The humans can still be our allies.”

  “Are you kidding? Do you think the ease with which these human kids escaped my prison makes me less worried about their potential? Now I’m even more convinced they’re too dangerous to let loose on Orum. We have to isolate their world now. While we still can.”

  “Let’s talk about this,” said Zachary. “I get why you’re worried. How about this? How about if I volunteer to do more testing? To prove to you that we aren’t a threat?”

  Hirth looked around suspiciously. “Where is the girl?” he said. After a few seconds of thought he added, “She’s off to free your parents, isn’t she? And you’re trying to stall me until she does.”

  Hirth shook his head in contempt. “Stall all you want, it won’t do you any good. And neither will your parents. Maybe with years of practice they could challenge me. Maybe. But right now an Orum infant has stronger control of magic than they do. I can flick them away like insects. Speaking of which . . .” he added, and without warning a transparent bolt of energy shot toward Wyland at great speed, warping the air around it.

  Wyland moved a crystal to block it, but some of its force got through. The residual energy from the blow sent him reeling backwards, and he crashed to the ground. His crystals dropped to the ground beside him.

  “As I had expected,” said Hirth calmly to his fallen fellow magician, “the Council voted to have the Lane family executed. I was going to take care of this when I returned from Earth.” He shrugged. “But I guess there’s no time like the present.”

  Hirth turned to face Zachary, but as he did so a rock slammed into his arm. He screamed in pain, his crystals momentarily dropping from the air.

  Zachary quickly threw two more stones, but missed Hirth by inches both times, as the magician recovered and his crystals darted up from the ground to rejoin him.

  Hirth was astonished that the human boy could propel stones with such speed and accuracy, making him unexpectedly dangerous, even without the use of magic. The magician glared at Zachary with a blistering rage and teleported to another position in the woods, forty feet from where he had been.

  Zachary hadn’t stopped Hirth, but he had distracted him long enough for Wyland to recover from Hirth’s initial blow, and the short alien had levitated once again. A house-sized wall of smoke shot from a dark green crystal by Wyland’s head and raced toward Hirth like a battering ram. This time it was Hirth who was thrown to the ground.

  Zachary shook his fist triumphantly.

  But this celebration was premature. Hirth recovered almost instantly, sending another invisible beam of force back at Wyland, which distorted the air even more profoundly than had the first.

  This time Wyland was ready and managed to block the entire beam with a dazzling pink crystal.

  Zachary hurled another rock at Hirth from behind a tree, but missed. This time, Hirth responded with a weapon of his own, firing back a bolt of lightning that scorched the sky and missed Zachary’s leg by inches as he dived behind a boulder. Another pile of rocks was waiting there for Zachary and he rose and fired once more at the powerful magician.

  The rock hit Hirth’s forehead dead center!

  At least it should have. But somehow the rock went right through the alien’s head, not troubling him at all.

  Hirth ignored Zachary and turned all of his attention to Wyland, who was firing everything he had at Hirth from multiple crystals. Smoke and light and invisible forces were exchanged between the two magicians in a hellish mask of energy and noise and destruction. Tree branches crashed, the ground shook, and the air between them became a seething, venomous hurricane whose single touch would kill a non-magician in an instant.

  When the smoke cleared, Wyland was on the ground, gasping for breath, and Hirth was hovering ten feet away, looking as though he had barely been touched. “You knew you had no chance against me!” thundered Hirth. “And now you’ve dug your own grave!” He plucked a crystal from the air with his hand and held it toward Wyland, preparing to deliver a death blow.

  Zachary raced toward Hirth, intent on tackling him. When he was seven feet away the alien diverted a small fraction of his magic to create an invisible barrier, exactly like the walls of the prison he had created earlier, and Zachary crashed into it and was thrown painfully to the ground.

  Zachary would have given anything to lie on the ground until he had fully recovered, but he didn’t have that luxury. If he allowed Wyland to be killed, millions of others would follow, including his entire family. He found an extra reserve of energy and will and jumped to his feet, a rock in his hand. “Stop!” he shouted at Hirth, his arm cocked behind his ear. “I can’t miss at this range! Back off or you’ll get a fastball to the head!”

  Hirth just smirked and turned his back to him, focusing all of his attention on Wyland once more.

  Zachary rifled the rock at Hirth’s back, the invisible barrier not impeding it at all.

  It was a perfect throw, but it went right through the alien magician. Zachary wasn’t surprised, since Hirth hadn’t been the slightest bit worried about Zachary or his rocks.

  But what kind of magic was this? How could Hirth make rocks go thr
ough him? Zachary had hit the alien in the arm and had hurt him badly. But by the next rock, Hirth had made some kind of adjustment. But what? What was he missing?

  The answer hit Zachary like a baseball bat to the head.

  Hirth was a master of illusion.

  He could make Zachary see anything he wanted him to see. After he was hit the first time, he had just made sure Zachary always saw him as being in a different place than he really was.

  Energy was pouring from the crystal in Hirth’s hand into Wyland, whose body was convulsing as it did so. The short alien was sprawled on the floor of the woods and his eyes were slowly shutting, as whatever internal magic he was using to survive the onslaught was finally breaking down entirely.

  Zachary’s mind raced. If he didn’t think of something in seconds, Wyland would die, and all would be lost.

  And then he had it! He knew exactly what he had to do.

  He picked up a handful of loose dirt and threw it in a wide spray to the left of Hirth. Without waiting, he picked up a second handful and threw it to his right. The particles of dirt eight feet to Hirth’s right stopped in their flight, as if hitting an invisible, Ewok-sized object, while all other particles to his left and right continued on.

  There you are, Hirth, thought Zachary, grabbing a rock and firing it as hard as he could, eight feet to the right of where he had been fooled into seeing the alien magician.

  The stone slammed into Hirth’s invisible back and sent the crystal in his hand flying. Hirth’s false image eight feet away vanished, and the real Hirth screamed and fell to the ground, now clearly visible.