Alliance in the Ice - The Guardians of Noindaith

Vindisburg - Soldier Paul

Lars and I were standing in Griesheim's office. I felt like a little schoolboy who had to answer the teacher's questions straight away.

Griesheim stood at the window and looked out, his arms folded, without giving us a glance.

"With the peace agreement between the Eastern Empire and the Western Empire, we have made the people rejoice. An important milestone, so that the power of the demon is no longer nurtured." He turned to us, his finger to his mouth.

He had that look again, as if he was about to start crying. This time he even had a reason for it. "The demon is weakened. But there is still too much suffering, the sick and wounded, the grief over the dead, the devastation. This is still a good source of food for the demon, even if the negative energy is no longer so concentrated. Now it's up to the guardians and your machine, gentlemen, to finish him off."

"We still have a few days' work ahead of us," Lars said. "We won't sleep a wink until Pax is finished."

I thought of Kaya, and I blurted out: "And what about the guards? Have they been found yet?"

"For a while now. You helped keep the demon at bay and made the peace negotiations possible."

"How did they do that?" I asked.

"The Guardians used their abilities to create barriers around the demon. They created safe zones where it could not bother the two warring parties. This ensured a neutral environment for the negotiations, where the delegates could discuss matters without fear of supernatural interference."

I ran my hands over my face. We had been holed up in our workshop while such serious changes had taken place outside. The shooting had stopped and peace had slowly spread. And yet, despite the reassuring news, it felt as if the chaos was only stalling us, only to come crashing down on us again soon afterwards.

I opened my eyes again and Kaya was standing in front of me. I had to rub my eyelids to make sure I wasn't dreaming. A stab went through my heart and I clutched my chest. She was wearing a uniform. She had probably left her fur clothes behind in Lichtenfels. She also wore her hair differently, it was pinned up. She still looked stunning. The sight of her overwhelmed me and awakened feelings that I thought were buried deep inside me.

"Paul, after the fight with the guards, I went with you out of conviction because you helped me escape. I remained loyal to you. But I was completely opposed to your plan to kill the Ostian king. At the crucial moment, my doubts became so great that I could not support you. I had to agree with the other guards. What would have been the point of killing the Ostian king? It would only create more violence! Paul, I didn't want to betray you, but you actually left me no choice!" Red spots appeared on Kaya's cheeks and she looked at me with pleading eyes.

I turned away angrily and stared at the ceiling of the corridor outside Griesheim's office. "You stabbed us in the back! You let me down! You almost got us killed!"

"And otherwise I would have betrayed our traditions, our faith, our values! Paul, we've come back. We want to help! Understand us!"

She put her hand on my arm. Annoyed, I brushed it off.

"I'm sorry, Kaya. I don't have time for you. The machine has to be finished."

She probably didn't realize what she had done to me. When she had come into my life, I had been allowed to hope again. In one fell swoop, she had destroyed this tender seed. The betrayal was irreparable. I pressed my hands to my temples. It was all too much for one human life. As if the war and the demon hadn't been enough, my friend Emil and Kaya, who had become my confidante, betrayed me. Annoyed, I turned to leave. It was time to concentrate on the essentials. The machine wasn't ready yet. This distraction was just what I needed!

Curmudgeon appeared at our factory with his entire entourage.

He looked critically at the machine. "How much longer will you need? The demon is regaining strength in the north and advancing into warmer climes. The guards can barely keep it at bay."

I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand, a wrench in my hand. Lars also crawled out from behind the machine, his face and clothes smeared with oil.

"We're doing what we can," said Eduardo, the project manager, a man with thinning hair and a stocky build. "It will take a few more days."

"What do you need to speed things up? More people?" Curmudgeon's voice sounded shrill.

Eduardo shook his head. "If we need someone, we'll ask at the factory. We also have enough material. We're almost ready. If the machine passes the test, it will be ready for use."

"Then we can destroy the demon?"

Lars sighed, "At least we hope so."

"The hope of the whole country rests on you!" Curmudgeon snarled, probably annoyed that he had to leave the field for us.

With a bright red head, he rushed out of the workshop with his entourage without giving us a second glance.

I looked after him and scratched my head. Like a cornered animal, I thought. But we all were, after all.

Eduardo clapped his hands. "Back to work, men!"

At last, the machine stood ready in front of us. It was the size of a man, its surface of transparent panels reflecting the light from the workshop lamps. A pulsating light radiated from its core. Around this core were complex circuits and components arranged in a harmonious pattern. Every wire, every capacitor and every transistor was carefully placed. In several places there were dials and switches that allowed precise adjustment of the frequencies, a key element in the fight against the demon. The machine was connected to a generator that served as a power source.

Eduardo and the ten men who had helped build the machine stood around Lars and me and watched our every move.

Lars checked the connections to the radio while I attached another cable to one of the circuits.

"That's it, isn't it?" he asked with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

I nodded and stood up. "It's now or never."

We exchanged a look that said more than words ever could. We didn't know how the machine would react. Would it work, or would it immediately shatter into a thousand pieces?

I activated the two electrodes attached to two standing devices to generate negative energy. It actually collected in a faint cloud under the ceiling of the room.

Now I switched on Pax and the machine came to life, a pulsating heart of metal and electricity.

The air vibrated with an energy that could almost be tasted, sweet and metallic on the tongue. Pax began to work, shooting his ion beams in the direction of the cloud of electrons that whirred in the air.

Lars' eyes sparkled with determination as he worked on the controls to adjust the frequency.

"Come on, Pax," I whispered. "Do what we made you for."

The machine rumbled, causing the ground beneath it to vibrate as it shot another jet into the cloud. It twitched and shook. And then, with a final beam that pierced through the darkness like a spear, the electron cloud shrank, flickered and disappeared as if it had never existed.

We had achieved the unthinkable. Lars and I,Eduardo and the men fell into each other's arms, cheered and danced around themachine like madmen. It worked on a small scale. At that moment, we put asidethe fact that the demon was a completely different order of magnitude.