Drop capsules carrying enemy soldiers fell from the sky like a thick rain, millions of them. More than half of these were probably decoys. John wove destructive concentric circles of red around himself, containing elements of fire, wind, earth and light, and let them expand outwards. Whatever the red light touched immediately burned. The drop capsules exploded as they made contact, resulting in a glorious spectacle of light. They must have looked like shooting stars from the ground below.

John’s enemies had destroyed all his satellites, so there was no longer any root way access. John had no way of contacting his loyal ground troops. They would have to act on their own. They would know what to do. He flew below the enemy starships and wove a gravitational ball in their midst, so dense that it sucked in everything around it. The ships collided with each other and broke apart as they got sucked into the gravitational ball.

John wove light and darkness, laying them down in an intricate framework of yin and yang. Opposites meeting together like this greatly increased the destructive power of his weaves. He called this weave Dark Light. He had made up the weave on the spot. He released it and the ships coming at him from a distance instantly disintegrated.

John flew to the dwarf fleet and wrapped aura on his glaive’s edge, extending it upwards and outwards until it was as big as a battle ship. He went into the middle of the dwarf’s formation and swung his glaive all around him, cleaving through metal.

Ten small figures emerged from the Atar fleet. Four immortal spell weavers hurled fireballs and dark lightning at him while the six martial artists tried to fly into range. Their feeble weaves could not hurt John. He let them fizzle out on his aura shield, looking at his approaching foes carefully. Ovin the Destroyer was leading them.

“Go back,” John said to them, manipulating aura to carry his words. “You are no match for me, Ovin. You will die here if you come any closer.”

Ovin continued his advance. “I know that this is a losing battle,” he said to John. “You’ve really grown up, kid.”

“If you know you’re going to lose then why come? It’s suicide.”

“Professional ethics,” he said. “Ovin either fulfills his contracts or dies on the job.”

John laughed bitterly. “Very well. Have it your own way then.”

He waited for some of them to change their minds, but they all kept advancing together. John then weaved a Beam of Balance. It killed everyone except Ovin. That man was too strong, but the Beam had hurt him. One of his arms was dangling uselessly at his side, and it looked like his legs couldn’t move. Ovin still relentlessly pushed forward.

John twirled his glaive while Ovin drew his sword. Ovin struck, but John easily defended himself. This was too one sided to be called a battle. John, with the power of a star within him, was too strong. Ovin would never be able to get past his aura shield.

“This galaxy needs you,” John said to Ovin. “It’s better that you live.” He still thought highly of Ovin and didn’t want to kill him.

“Spare me your words,” Ovin growled. “Just fight!”

John defended himself with ease while Ovin went all out. Ovin’s massive projection behind him was beginning to lose energy. It flickered every now and then. Flames formed on Ovin’s sword. Was this his ultimate move? John strengthened his aura shield. Ovin flew forward rapidly and thrust his sword at John’s head. The sword shattered John’s aura shield and nicked his forehead. John hastily flew backwards. He was always getting overconfident in fights, and that cost him. Would he ever learn?

That move had drained Ovin of all his energy. He was barely holding on to consciousness, moving mostly on reflex as John tested him with his glaive.

“Go back Ovin,” John kicked him towards one of the Atar capital ships. “You’ve lost.” Ovin had lost all consciousness now and couldn’t fight back.

John watched the Atar capital ship pick up Ovin’s body, and then escape into hyperspace along with the rest of its fleet. He did not know why he decided to let them go. Perhaps it was because Ovin was the first martial artist to really impress him. Maybe he wanted to make it easier for the Empress to avoid a diplomatic tangle with Atar when she came out of the waygate. Whatever it was, John had not yet had his fill of revenge.

“Pular,” he roared. “I’m coming.” He had downloaded a star map earlier and learned how to find his position in the galaxy by looking at the stars around him. It was a simple matter to find his way to Pular’s planet. The star Tipius of Pular’s home system was marked in bright red on the star map.

It took one week at maximum speed to reach Pular’s home world. He hovered over Pular’s palace and shouted, “Pular. Come out here you miserable scum.” He destroyed one of the Palace’s many domes to punctuate his summons.

“My Lord, my Lord,” a smartly dressed man came running. “The Duke is not at home. He has gone to Tanis.”

John cursed and then flew to Tanis. His rage was beginning to abate now. Revenge was a dish best served cold. He had been too hot tempered to think and had wasted his time going to Pular’s planet. He wouldn’t make this mistake again.

He reached Tanis and walked into the palace. Pular’s soldiers tried to stop him, but were easily cut down. John could hear the screams echo throughout the building, announcing his presence. He walked into the throne room and found Pular seated there, with many nobles standing before him.

Guards came into the room at that moment and fired at John. John phased in front of them and swung his glaive, cutting their bodies into two.

“Lord John,” Pular said, backing away. “Surely there is no need for this. We can come to an arrangement. This was all just politics.”

“You killed my friends,” John roared.

“This is just how the game is played.”

“Game?” John laughed. “This whole thing was a game to you? Peoples’ lives, gone just like that?”

“You killed most of the people. You’ve already won. If you want the throne you can have it. I’ll see to it that there’s no opposition.”

“I don’t want the throne. I want your life.” John swung his glave and separated Pular’s head from his body. The rest of the nobles watched on in silence.

John flew back to Fi. He reached John City where people had begun to rebuild the city. Abzulon was in charge of the entire operation. With both John and Aystrana away, he was the highest ranking person.

“You’re back,” Abzulon shouted with joy. “Thank the Sky God.”

“Have they fixed the waygate yet?”

“We tried everything. It can only be repaired from the other side. Will they ever come back?”

“I’m sure they will,” said John. “Prince Taromi and his men are ingenious craftsmen and must have studied the waygate in all these years. I’ll go and try to bring back Sor Al to examine it. Maybe she’ll have some new ideas. Get me a ship. It’s uncomfortable to fly on my own.”

“You’re leaving already?” Abzulon asked, downcast.

“Don’t worry. You’re doing well. I’m leaving Fi in your capable hands”

A few hours later, John boarded a small single seated ship and headed for Kumra. He tried to sleep during the trip, but couldn’t do so. He eventually found himself in a trance, only half awake. He saw the Sleeping Goddess Inashta. It had been some time since they talked. John had been too busy and had forgotten all about her.

She looked at him and stamped her feet, her clothes changing form every second.

“It’s about time,” she said. “Do you know how long I’ve waited?”

“Sorry about that,” said John. “I had some issues to take care of.”

“I know,” said Inashta. “I heard that it went badly for you. Humans cannot be trusted.”

“Elves are no better,” John remembering Alutien.

“They are worse,” Inashta agreed. “Hmm...It’s nearly time I woke up. You’re heading for Kumra? Take a little detour. The perfect place to wake me up is on Eral.”

“But you haven’t taught me how to make clones of myself yet.” said John. “It would make my search for Earth much easier.”

“I’ll teach you that after I wake up. Our lessons will be so much easier then, my brave and trusted champion.” She smiled at him, beaming innocence and joy.

John diverted his course to Eral, the capital planet of the Elves. He had made a promise to Inashta and he meant to keep it. He owed her. He wouldn’t be alive if it were not for her help.

A month later John reached Eral. It was a world full of life. Unlike the elven city Kumra, where the streets were nearly deserted, the capital city of Eral was full of pedestrian traffic. John docked his ship. He wanted to finish this as quickly as possible. It was urgent that he find a way to fix the waygate. The Empire of Oor would collapse if its rightful ruler went missing. It would be mired in civil war.

After he relaxed a little, he fell into a trance and allowed Inashta to direct him. She led him through the city, to a spot that was near the center. It was just in front of the building where the Council of the Elves held their meetings.

“This spot will do,” she smiled. “Now do what I say precisely. There’s no room for error.”

Elves looked at John curiously as he weaved. A realm master passing by tried to stop him, but John had set up a boundary around him that nobody could break. Soon, a crowd gathered around John. More and more elves were trying to break his space barrier.

John followed Inashta’s instructions and finished many hours later towards noon. A big tear in the air above him opened, and Ir, the god of war, stepped out with shield and spear.

“You dare summon me like this, little human?” Ir roared.

John just swung his glaive in response.

“Arrogant,” Ir said. “You will die because of it.”

John and Ir clashed several times, the aura around John’s glaive transforming it into a giant weapon. It was very big. The elves who had surrounded John ran away as the battle field grew larger and larger. Buildings crumbled as their weapons touched each other, and the ground trembled as they moved around. Gravity was affected, little pebbles flying upwards due to the vast amounts of aura in the area. Thunderclouds gathered above, brought in by the sudden pressure difference, and it began to rain. Because of the gravitational anomaly the fight had created it was a very peculiar rainfall. Drops flew upwards as soon as they fell a certain distance.

“You are too strong to be an ordinary human,” Ir said, as they parted from each other. “What are you? Can it be? The fabled Blue Lightning Body?”

“You have good eyes,” John ran forward to meet Ir again. Ir parried desperately.

“Wait! Only my sister knows the secret of this physique. Human, we are both being tricked.”

John feinted to the left, struck to the right and weaved lightning to crash on Ir from above. Ir parried his blow, but the lightning hit. This was an opening. John immediately plunged his glaive into Ir’s side. Ir groaned as he stumbled away. Golden blood sprayed out of his wound.

“No!” Ir screamed. “I cannot hold her back. She is coming. You don’t know what you’ve unleashed.”

John ran forward to engage in combat once again. Ir threw his hands up and a massive vortex formed. He flung it at John. “You are powerful, but I am a god.”

John felt himself being sucked into the vortex. He couldn’t break free. Then, a tear appeared in the air and Inashta walked out. She was as big as her brother Ir, towering over the buildings.

“Inashta,” John shouted, “Help me.”

She smiled at John and waved her hand, “bye bye.”

John got sucked into the vortex and then there was darkness. He tried everything to escape the darkness but had no success. There were elements and aether within this space, but no matter how many light elements he weaved, he still could not see.

The Laws of this place were different from the real universe. John traveled into his realm where he could craft his own Laws. At least he could see there. Months and years must have passed. He experimented with the Laws within the Dark but could find no way of breaking out of his prison. Inashta had betrayed him. He should have seen it coming. She had discarded him when he was no longer needed. Now that she was awake and free, she had no need for a champion. Their relationship had meant nothing from the start.

John stayed in his prison, losing track of time. He learned more about the Laws and began to manipulate them with greater ease. He never gave up, even though he had little success. When he felt hopeless despair, he meditated and soon got back his drive. Sooner or later, he would get out.