Chapter Six

Thundarr and Ariel chase after the creature through the swamplands. Apparently it is too injured to take to the trees, for it's leaving a trail behind that a child could follow. On dry land they find the creature's glowing green blood. In the water the find many freshly broken branches on trees and bushes. It leaves deep tracks in the mud, and there are several places where the creature appears to have fallen down, likely dizzy from shock and blood loss. Even without the sun blazing overhead, the Everglades are hot and humid. Thundarr's skin is slick with sweat, and Ariel's camouflaging mud is washing away in little rivulets of sweat. The barbarian and the sorceress run through the swamp as fast as they can trying to keep up with the creature that has been hunting them. Unfortunately the creature's longer strides and greater speed give it an advantage in this foot race, even with its many injuries. Finally the two companions get to a fairly large stretch of dry ground. Thundarr cuts his way through the heavy underbrush with his Sunsword until he and Ariel get to a large clearing. They stop dead in their tracks at the sight before them. There, in the clearing, is a space ship.

"Lords Of Light!" says Thundarr.

"So that's where it's from," says Ariel, "It came from another planet. It came here to hunt."

"Well let's show it what it's like to be another's prey," says Thundarr.

Just then they hear a horrific howl coming from within the ship.

"Demon dogs!" says Thundarr, "What was that?"

"I guess there's only one way to find out," replies Ariel.

The two of them head over to the ship. Cautiously walking up the metal ramp, they enter the alien space craft. The halls inside the space craft are dark, the only illumination being a mysterious red glow with no discernible source. There's a heavy mist which seems to cling to the floor, and floats about their knees. The air is heavy and warm, causing Thundarr and Ariel to cough in discomfort.

"Now I know why the creature wore the mask," says Ariel, "The air on its home planet is different from ours. It was likely as uncomfortable breathing our air as we are breathing its."

"I care not why it wore a mask," says Thundarr, "So long as it no longer breathes air of any kind. Its own, or ours."

The two of them search the ship, keeping a wary eye out for an ambush. They eventually come upon the creature's trophy room. They see the many skins stretched out in metal frames. They recognize the skins as belonging to moks, carocks, as well as humans and various humanoid mutants. They then see the creature's trophy case, filled with the heads and skulls of various races, both from Earth and elsewhere.

"Demon dogs," says Thundarr, as he looks upon the macabre collection.

"Thundarr, look," says Ariel as she points out one of the trophies.

It is the head of a creature that came to Earth several years ago, to stalk and capture humans. It wrapped them up in cocoons to take back to its home planet to eat later. It was a powerful adversary, but it was helpless against the germs of Ookla's cold. Once infected it was easy to defeat. Apparently this other creature from the stars had hunted and killed the alien arachnid after it had left Earth, or at least another of its kind. There are also the skulls of humans, moks, the reptilian carocks, the rat-like groundlings, man-apes, tiger mutants, hawk mutants, and other creatures even Princess Ariel couldn't identify. There is the head of some creature with a glossy black exoskeleton, with no eyes that Ariel could see, but a mouth full of razor sharp teeth and what looks like a tongue with a second mouth on the end of it. Thundarr recognizes the heads of the silicoids, huge humanoid creatures made of living rock that once served the wizard Gemini. There are also the heads of the various models of battle-droids typically employed by wizards as guards and foot soldiers.

"Ariel," says Thundarr, "Battle-droids."

"That means some of these skulls must be from . . ."

"Wizards," says Thundarr, completing the thought, "Even one of their kind doesn't deserve such a fate."

Princess Ariel sees some of the human skulls are smaller than the others. She picks one up and shows it to Thundarr.

"Look at this," says the sorceress.

"The creature hunts children as well?" asks the barbarian, "Hunting humans for sport is bad enough! But that goes beyond terrible! When Ookla and I hunt for food, we never hunt animals that are too young."

"They may be the skulls of Zek's people," says Ariel, "The valley where their village is located is not far from here."

"And the creature has taken many man-ape trophies," adds Thundarr, "Simius and his people may have returned to the valley after we left."

"But that makes little sense," says Ariel, "The creature seems more interested in dangerous prey. Zek and his tiny people are farmers, not warriors."

"Perhaps they are the skulls of the desert people," suggests Thundarr, referring to the tiny people who dwell beneath the ruins of Saint Louis in The Desert Of Demons, "They are violent and cruel, as well as very cunning. Perhaps this creature has hunted for its prey there."

"Let's hope so," says Ariel. She still has ill feelings towards the desert people for their part in the conflict between the wizards Skellos and Octagon.

Just then, Thundarr notices movement reflected in the glassy skull of the alien head. Acting on pure instinct, the barbarian tackles Ariel to the floor a split second before the creature attempts to slash them with its blades. In an instant, Thundarr is back up with his Sunsword in hand. He and the creature attack each other wildly, both parrying the other's attacks. Princess Ariel stands to the side, ready to help Thundarr with her spells, but not daring to just yet for fear of hurting her friend.

As the barbarian and predator are doing battle, the sorceress notices that the creature's severed arm and wounded face are no longer bleeding. The wounds appear to have been cauterized by something. Very likely it was this doctoring that caused the creature to scream the way it did when she and Thundarr first arrived at the ship.

Thundarr is fighting for all he's worth, yet somehow the creature is able to match every strike of his Sunsword. Then things take a turn for the worst for the barbarian. Rather than parrying Thundarr's latest thrust, the creature instead grabs Thundarr by the wrists with its existing hand. Before the blonde barbarian can break free of the creature's grip, it knees Thundarr in the gut, then throws him against the metal wall. Thundarr hits the wall with such force that his Sunsword flies from his hand. Seeking to finish its prey off, the predator slashes at Thundarr's neck in an attempt to decapitate him. At the last possible second, Thundarr dives out of the way and the creature's blades spark as they strike the metal wall. Frantically, the barbarian crawls about on his hands and knees in an attempt to find his Sunsword in the heavy mist. He sees it, just a few feet away. But as he's reaching for it, the predator kicks him in the ribs with enough force to send him flying into the wall. He's not sure, but Thundarr thinks he may have broken a rib.

The creature walks up to Thundarr, raises its blades for the final blow . . . Then is hit by a burst of magical energy. it turns and sees Princess Ariel off to the side, her hands glowing with mystical energy, ready to do battle. The creature takes a couple of steps towards her, and she unleashes a barrage of exploding magical balls of energy. The creature raises its arms in an attempt to shield itself from the unrelenting assault. Princess Ariel doesn't let up. The creature's hide seems highly resistant to her magical attacks, but she can tell that she is in fact hurting the thing. The predator holds its good arm out towards the sorceress, pointing the blades on its bracer right at her. Ariel almost doesn't see the danger until it's too late, but at the last possible instant moves out of the way. The creature fires its blades at her as projectiles. One of them missed her completely, the other cuts deep into her upper arm. Ariel screams in pain and falls to the floor clutching her wounded arm. Before she can even think of moving, the predator is upon her. It grabs her by the throat and lifts her up off the ground one handed, slamming her against the hard metal wall.

Ariel struggles to free herself from the creature's grip, but it's as strong as a mok with an iron grip. She tries to conjure a spell to save herself, but she's quickly blacking out from the lack of oxygen. Just as she thinks all is lost, Thundarr comes up out of the mist, Sunsword in hand, and lops the predator's other arm off at the shoulder. Ariel falls to the floor with the severed arm still clutching her throat. The creature howls in agony as it loses its second arm. Thundarr drives the blade of his Sunsword into the creature's gut, twisting it around, causing the creature even more agony. As he pulls his blade from the predator's gut, it drops down to its knees. It tries desperately to grasp its wounded stomach, though it no longer has any arms to do so. Thundarr raises his Sunsword and then slashes the creature across the neck, decapitating it. The predator's headless body topples over onto the floor, very dead. Thundarr extinguishes the blade of the Sunsword with a thought and attaches it to its usual place on his bracer. Then he helps Ariel up to her feet.

"Are you okay?" he asks her.

"I'll live," she replies with a strained voice, "It's only a flesh wound. It will heal."

"Come," says Thundarr, "We have precious little time. We must make haste if we are to stop the moks and the carocks from going to war."

They walk over to the severed head of the predator and Ariel picks it up, to take to King Korog as evidence of the carocks' innocence. Just as they take a couple of steps towards the hall leading to the exit, three red laser targets mark Thundarr's chest. Then three more mark Ariel's chest. Then another three. Then another three. Then another. And another. And another. Then several creatures like the one Thundarr and Ariel had just fought step out of the mist, deactivating their cloaking devices and aiming their shoulder canons at the barbarian and the sorceress. Another predator deactivates its cloaking device. This one appears to be their leader. It's not wearing a face mask like the others, and is heavily decorated in bones, teeth, and skulls, and has many battle scars all over its body. Thundarr steps protectively in front of Ariel and takes the Sunsword from its bracer, igniting the blade.

"Alright," says the barbarian, "who's next?"

One of the creatures aims its laser target at the severed head in Ariel's hand, then pulls out a short metal cylinder which quickly extends into a long metal javelin. It takes a couple of steps towards to two friends when the leader puts its arm out and blocks the other predator's path. The two of them appear to converse in their own tongue for a moment, then the younger creature puts its javelin away. It goes over to the decapitated body with some of the others of its kind and picks it up. They then carry the body away, like a funeral procession for a noble warrior. They all reactivate their cloaking devices, but not before the young hunter gives Thundarr and Ariel one last look. While it is impossible to tell from under that mask, Thundarr is certain the creature was glaring at them. The leader of these hunters begins to walk away, then stops. Almost as an afterthought, it pulls something from its belt.

"Here," it says in raspy sounding human, and it tosses the object to Thundarr and Ariel.

Ariel snatches the object out of the air with her good arm.

"Go," says the leader. Then it turns around and activates its cloaking device, disappearing into the mist.

Princess Ariel looks at what it was that was thrown to her. It is a chrome plated Colt .45 single action Peace Maker with a pearl handle grip and a brass plaque riveted onto the butt of the handle. Ariel looks to see what's written there.

"1894?" she reads out loud.

Just then the whole ship begins to shake.

"Lords Of Light!" says Thundarr, "An earthquake?"

"Worse!" replies Ariel, "The ship is taking off! We have to get out of here! NOW!"

Thundarr and Ariel make a mad dash for the door. As they approach they see that the ramp is rising up. The two of them put their heads down and force themselves to run just a little bit faster. They run up the ramp, ducking to keep from bashing their heads into the doorway, and leap from the space ship. They hit the ground hard, but Ariel gets back to her feet immediately. She grabs Thundarr by the arm and tries to lift him up.

"Come on!" she says, "We have to go! It's not safe here!"

Thundarr knows better than to argue with Ariel, especially when it comes to matters she understands better than he does. He forces himself up to his feet, picks up the predator's head, and starts running towards the trees as fast as he can go. They don't stop running when they reach the trees. Just as they're about to make it to the water, there's a bright light behind them and a burst of intense heat, like nothing either of them had ever experienced before. They both leap into the muddy water of the swamp just as flames go roaring over their backs. As they emerge from the water, they see pure devastation all around them. Most of the trees surrounding the immediate area around the clearing which the alien craft had landed in had simply disintegrated and there was nothing left but ash. The trees that were farther away from the craft are all aflame. The air is heavy with smoke and ash. The barbarian and the sorceress quickly begin their long hike back to the mok kingdom. They can only hope and pray that they will make it there on time.

As the sun rises on the mok Kingdom, King Korog and his warriors are gathered in the courtyard outfitted for war. Ookla is there with the king, asking him to give his friends more time. The king refuses. While he respects Ookla's loyalty to his friends, he cannot take the mok's word that his son was killed by some invisible creature. King Korog demands that the city gates be opened. A group of mok guards rush to do their king's bidding. They remove the heavy bars locking the gates, and push the heavy doors open. When they do, there, standing on the other side, are Thundarr and Princess Ariel. They are battered and bloody, covered in mud and ash, and leaning heavily on each other for support. In one hand, Thundarr is holding what appears to be a severed head. The two of them limp in through the gates.

"King Korog!" says Thundarr, "The carocks are not responsible for the deaths of your son and your warriors!"

He holds up the severed head, showing all who have gathered there just what it was.

"This, is what killed your people!" he says, "A hunter from the stars! He came here to hunt for sport! Ariel and I were inside its space ship! It has been hunting moks, carocks, groundlings, man-apes, humans, even wizards! The one who killed your kin is dead! Others of its kind may come back in the future, and you must be ready for them if they do! But the carocks are innocent of the deaths of your people! This war is unjust! You must offer the carocks peace!"

There are mumblings among the moks as they listen to Thundarr's speech. Finally, King Korog says something to the barbarian, and all the moks cheer.

"What is it?" asks Ariel, "What did he say?"

"He says there will be no war," replies Thundarr.

"Will there be peace between the moks and the carocks?" she asks.

"Doubtful," says Thundarr, "But at least it will not be open warfare."

"Thank goodness for small victories."

Thundarr and Ariel spend the next several days tending their wounds and regaining their strength. The two of them, along with Ookla, are considered heroes of the tribe. They are even made honorary members of the tribe, so that they never need ask permission to stay within their walls again. The three of them tell and retell the story of their hunt for the predator from beyond the stars over and over again. The mok children are especially fond of listening to the story, and continually ask for them to tell it again and again. Eventually, Thundarr and Ariel are well enough to be on the road once more. King Korog has their packs filled with enough provisions and fresh drinking water to last them many days.

"Thank you for your hospitality, my friend," says Thundarr.

King Korog growls something in return, which Ariel recognizes as mok for "You're welcome."

"So long King Korog," says Ariel, "May you always rule wisely, and may your kingdom know nothing but peace and prosperity."

The mok king growls in reply, and Ariel recognizes it as mok for "Thank you."

Thundarr gets his white stallion to rear up. "ARIEL! OOKLA!" he says, "RIIIIIDE!"

And the three of them gallop off towards the rising sun.

THE END