Blaymore was on the other side of the room by the time the four foot long metal spikes erupted from Hax's body. The blue-cloacked assassin dropped into a crouching position... prepared to make a move in the blink of an eye.

But what move?

Despite a mind that was thinking a hundred times faster than any normal human, Blaymore STILL had no idea of how to defeat Hax. Any attempt at physical combat would rapidly deteriorate into a contest to see which gave out first... Blaymore's speed or Hax's apparently limitless control over his own indestructible metal body. Even if Blaymore somehow won such a contest, he would still have to deal with the otherworldly shadow that possessed Hax... a shadow that was not only immortal, but could force its way back onto this plane if someone here so much as THOUGHT about it.

"Not good," Blaymore whispered.

"Oh, don't tell me you're running away already!" Hax squealed with delight. The shadow clearly enjoyed possessing such a powerful body. Unfortunately, the shadow's idea of enjoyment usually meant that a lot of people were going to die. Looking like a giant metal porcupine, Hax held his arms out at his sides and approached Blaymore. "C'mere and give me a hug for old times sake... what do you say, hmm?"

"You're insane," said Blaymore.

"Why? Because I like killing people? But its such a FUN sport! No wonder you do it so much... You're as addicted as I am!"

"I don't kill innocents."

"Really? But aren't YOU the same man who was going to sacrifice poor Henna just a few moments ago? Maybe I should bring her up here and tell her all about it. I'm sure she'd get a kick out of that. Then I'd have to kill her, of course. Just for fun."

"You'll kill no one this day."

"Oh, STOP with the heroic cliches! I'm going to kill EVERYONE I can find and there's not a DAMN thing I can do about it! It's been a loooong time since I've had a body with this much promise. Why... I do believe that its even more powerful than yours."

"I've beaten you before. I'll do it again."

"Do you know what your mistake was? Hmmm? Compassion. You tried to save the 'innocents,' and that wasted effort cost you a golden opportunity to be rid of me before it came to this. You should've just KILLED everyone when you first got here."

"You would've enjoyed that, wouldn't you? Me doing your dirty work?"

"Why, yes... I would have enjoyed that very much. Almost as much as THIS-"

Hax pointed at Blaymore, and Hax's left arm elongated into a huge pointed lance. The lance drew sparks from the enchanted wall behind where Blaymore had stood... but the assassin was already out of harm's way.

"You didn't honestly expect to catch me with that, did you?" said Blaymore, who was standing against the opposite wall.

"Actually, no." said Hax. He withdrew the lance, and as his left arm returned to a normal shape, his right arm became a giant piston that attempted to flatten Blaymore against the wall. The movement was nearly instantaneous, which meant that Blaymore still had plenty of time to step out of the way before the piston even got close to him. "Still as quick as ever," said Hax as the piston shortened and became an arm once more. "Too bad that the only thing that speed of yours is good for is running. Try running from this-"

Once again, an array of sharp spikes exploded out from Hax's body like the springing of a deadly trap.

Despite the speed of the attack, Blaymore had more than enough time to twist, turn, and maneuver between the spikes as they raced past him and drew more sparks from the wall.

But he didn't have time to save the other occupants of the room.

One spike smashed through Hax's desk... where it encountered the brain-dead doctor, Berwick, who was hiding behind it. It impaled the old man through the chest, killing him instantly. Another spike struck out at a downward angle and caught the unconscious guardsman Sev in the back, pinning him to the floor like a butterfly in a display case. Dwar caught a non-fatal spike through the shoulder, but his mind was too far gone to even realize he'd been injured. Dwar just grunted and mumbled incoherently... which was exactly what he was doing before.

Blaymore lodged himself between a set of spikes and remained motionless, waiting to see what the madman would do next.

"I suppose it wasn't a total loss," said Hax. He looked down at Sev's body and watched it twitch as the life drained from it. "What an idiot."

"You've taken more lives. Are you happy now?"

"Incredibly happy," Hax said with a smile.

"But I'm still alive."

"Only because I didn't choose to fill this room with so many spikes that you couldn't avoid them all. You're no threat to me, little speeding blue man. You can't hurt me. You can't stop me."

"I'll find a way."

"Okay... here."

The spikes retracted and merged into Hax's body. Hax folded his mighty arms across his broad chest and looked down at Blaymore.

"Take your best shot," he said.

For a fraction of a second, Blaymore thought about it. Then he realized how incredibly stupid... and fatal... that would have been. Hax had been right, the only reason that Blaymore wasn't dead now was because the shadow thought it more entertaining to toy with him first. Blaymore didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.

"What's the matter?" said Hax. "Afraid?"

"No. Just not stupid."

"Heh, heh, heh... so you REALIZE that you can't stop me. Good. Now let's move on to phase two."

"But I won't let you hurt anyone else."

"Oh, shut up."

Hax walked over to the building's front door. He ran his huge, metallic fingers over its surface. His hand stopped at a knot in the wood.

"Do you know what THIS is?" he said.

Blaymore watched, unsure of what was about to happen.

"THIS is an escape tunnel. You see, Hax is... ahem... WAS so paranoid that he wouldn't risk being trapped in this building with the rest of you. So he had Sorrins put a tiny hole in the force field... right here in this door. It's barely big enough for an insect. But for Hax, that's plenty.

As it had done several times before, Hax's body 'melted' into a metallic liquid that formed a silvery pool by the door. Then, like a waterfall in reverse, it rushed up the wall and began squirted out of the building through the tiny hole in the door.

Hax's body re-formed on the outside. He knocked lightly on the door he'd just passed through.

"Now you behave in there while I'm out here killing people," he said. "Hmmm... where should I begin. Oh YES... with the mage that's trying to erase everyone's memories! Naughty, naughty, naughty..."

Hax walked away, leaving Blaymore still trapped in the town guard building.

"A hole," he sighed. "There was a hole in the door."

"What's going ON up there!" came a woman's cry from the dungeon. It was Henna. "Is it finished! Is it gone!"

"Yes, its gone," Blaymore replied. "But not in a GOOD way."

"Can we come out?"

"In a moment. I'm about to get us out of here!" Blaymore grabbed Sev's discarded sword. It was a strong, sturdy weapon that Sev wouldn't be needing any longer. "All this time I thought I was trapped," he said to himself. "... and there was a damned HOLE in the door!"

Grasping the sword tightly, Blaymore started to run in a wide circle around the perimeter of the room. His movements began at his normal speed... making him a blue blur to the unenchanted eye. But they quickly increased as he added more and more speed. He ran faster. Faster.

The friction of his rapidly increasing speed drove smoke from the wooden floor. The wind of his passing battered everything in the room like a miniature tornado. In seconds he was moving so fast that he wasn't even a blur any more... he couldn't be seen at all. Wind and smoke filled the room as he ran faster still...

Hole in the door, he thought. Any idiot knows that putting a hole in a magical field creates a weakness that can be exploited...

Blaymore altered his path as he continued to speed up. His circular path became a ellipse, and the ellipse narrowed until Blaymore ended up running straight for the door... but only took a few steps before drawing back with one arm and hurling Sev's sword at the tiny wood-knot that marked the door's weak point.

The sword flew straight as an arrow, but with hundreds of times more speed. The point struck the tiny aperture and sank in as if the door were made of soft butter. The violent penetration shattered the magical force field that secured the building...

zzZZ-BOOOOM!

A single bolt of lightning shot across the room, narrowly missing Blaymore. The thunderclap followed an instant later as door vanished in an incredible explosion. The blast threw sparks and charred, chipped wood into the room with such force that the larger chunks bounced off of several walls before they came to rest. All the walls of the building pulsed bright green as the magical shockwaves rippled through the structure. Smaller sparks leapt from the corners of the room and left deep scorch marks along the floor, walls and ceiling. It took several seconds for the violent magic to wind down... leaving a town guard building without a magical force-field, and without a front door. In fact, half of the front wall was now a smoking hole.

Blaymore stood in front of it, smoke pouring from his own boots.

"Note to self:" he said. "Next time I'm trapped in an enchanted building... check for holes."

Blaymore ran back into the building and opened the door to the dungeon. Henna and Ronce stumbled out. Ronce was barely conscious from his earlier near-encounter with the shadow. Henna was supporting him, but she was clearly too weak to carry him anywhere.

"What was-" she started.

"The town's mage. Where is he?" said Blaymore.

"His house is down that road," Henna pointed to the road running past the building they were in. "Just past the town square. You can't miss it."

"I'm sure I won't," said Blaymore. "It'll be the building where all the screaming is coming from..."

Blaymore vanished.


---


"Almost got it," said Sorrins. The town's mage stood over a crowded workbench, waving his glowing hands over a large yellow gemstone. The stone glimmered with a dull light which pulsed brighter every time Sorrins's hands passed over it.

"Just hurry up, Sorrins," said Elric... the last remaining town guardsman.

"Don't rush me... these gems are made to hold just one enchantment. Trying to CHANGE that enchantment is delicate business. One slip and I'll shatter the damn thing. It'll take months to create another one."

"Be careful and be quick," said Elric. "Please."

"I wish I knew what this was all about," said Sorrins. The yellow gemstone's glow doubled as Sorrins altered the movement of his hands slightly. "I'm not sure I agree with creating a stone to erase memories."

"I don't think I want to know," said Elric.

"Well... if we DID know, I'm sure we wouldn't remember it for very long. This stone is almost done."

"Do you think he intends to use it on US?"

"I don't know. Be quiet for a moment will you, this part of the spell is rather intricate."

Sorrins began mumbling arcane words as he gestured wildly in the air above the gemstone. The magical energy in the room increased, making both Sorrins's and Elric's hair stand on end. The stone's yellow hue wavered and turned perfectly clear for an instant... and then it darkened to a rich deep blue.

"Done," said Sorrins. "Well almost... I suppose I should clean some of the smudges off..." Sorrins began wiping the gem with a soft, clean cloth.

Someone knocked on the door.

"eh? Get that will you, Elric?"

Elric left the room and went to the front door. He yanked it open, and outside was Ben, the town blacksmith. For some reason, Ben was holding a sword.

"Elric? What are you doing here?"

"Emergency," said Elric.

"What sort of emergency?"

"Uhhh... I don't know."

"Is Sorrins here? He was enchanting one of my shields. It's a matched set to go with this sword, and I was wondering if he could enchant the sword too- URRRRK!!"

A giant metal spike burst from Ben's chest, spraying blood and gore all over Elric.

"AAAAHHH!" Elric stepped back and instinctively drew his sword. Ben had been impaled from behind, and Elric watched as the metal spike withdrew, shortened, and formed a rather large arm... Hax's arm.

"Hello there, Elric," said Hax. He stepped over Ben's body and entered Sorrins' home.

"You- You- You killed Ben!"

"You killed Ben, SIR!" Hax corrected.

"How COULD you!?"

"What? You didn't see it? Here, let me show you again-"

Hax reached out and grabbed Elric with both hands. Elric didn't even have time to TRY and run. Hax held him by the shoulders and lifted him into the air so that Elric's chest was even with his own.

"AAAAHHH! SORRINS HELLLP!"

Sorrins appeared around the corner...

"Now what's all this noise about-"

"HEEELLL-"

A giant spike jutted from Hax's chest, penetrated Elric's body and burst out through the guardsman's back... carrying his heart with it.

"...urk..."

Then Hax pulled his hands in opposite directions, ripping Elric's body into two roughly equal halves.

ssSHLUCKT!

"Dear GODS!" Sorrins shoved the glowing gem into one of his pockets and quickly cast a spell. White lightning burst from his fingertips and blasted Hax back out into the street. The huge metal behemoth hit the ground hard, but started getting up immediately.

"Hax, what the hell's the MATTER WITH YOU!" Sorrins's yelled as he stepped of his house.

"heh, heh, heh..." Hax chuckled. "That almost tickled."

He was getting to his feet when Sorrins blasted him again. The second blast knocked Hax even further out into the street... where a number of townspeople saw him and began to gather around.

"Oh, LOOK! More corpses!" Hax laughed.

A third blast knocked Hax across the street, where he slammed into a building. The building shuddered, and a huge crack ran up the wall from where Hax had hit it. The building's occupants immediately ran out to see what was going on.

"BACK INSIDE!" Sorrins yelled. "HE'S GONE MAD!"

A few people realized the danger and ran, but most only took a few steps back and continued to watch.

Hax stood up.

"Now what?" he said. "You going to blast me THROUGH the building?"

"Actually, yes!

Sorrins gestured again, but Hax had had enough of Sorrins's lightning. Hax's metal body widened, and a giant hole formed in the middle of it. The lightning passed through the hole and finished demolishing the building behind Hax, while Hax himself was already counterattacking. He reached for Sorrins with one huge hand, which elongated and grew to an incredible size.

Sorrins vanished an instant before the giant fist could grab him. He reappeared about six yards to the right and immediately cast another spell... this one creating a magical containment sphere around Hax.

"There's no secret exit in THAT one," said Sorrins. "I don't know what's happened to you-"

"Happened to ME?" Hax said. "You should be more concerned about what's going to happen to YOU. Give me the memory stone, mage. Give it to me now and I'll kill you painlessly."

"You're in no position to threaten or harm anyone, Hax. Tell me what's going on. Is it that man we captured last night... the one in the blue cloak? Is he controlling you?"

"OhHoHOO! You make it so easy. But unfortunately I'm tired of the deceptions and subterfuge... I'm into pure CARNAGE now!"

Hax placed his hands on the sides of the magic bubble and shrugged his mighty shoulders. The bubble deformed and warped under his might... and finally it ruptured.

"ARRRRRRGH!!!" Sorrins screamed as the feedback from the circle reached him. It felt like a thousand birds pecking at his brain. He staggered backwards, and saw Hax approaching him. He desperately tried to cast another short-distance teleport, but he was too late. Hax thumped Sorrins across the forehead with his finger, spoiling the mage's spell and dazing him. With one hand, Hax grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up. Sorrins's couldn't breath. He squirmed and twisted in the air like a hooked fish.

"The stone. I know Hax told you to make it. Now WHERE is it!"

Sorrins snuck his hand into his pocket and retrieved the memory-erasing stone. Then he slapped it against Hax's metal forehead.

The stone activated automatically, flashing bright blue as it invaded Hax's mind...

... but nothing else happened.

"Nice stone ya got there," said Hax. "Would've worked on Hax. Unfortunately it won't work on an eternal being like myself."

Hax grasped Sorrins' wrist in a vice-like grip, forcing the stone from his fingertips. It fell to the ground at Hax's feet.

Sorrins still couldn't breath, but then Hax loosened his grip and Sorrins gasped as air flooded into his lungs.

"Can't have you passing out on me," said Hax. He held Sorrins by the throat and by the wrist, but then a THIRD metal appendage sprang from Hax's side. Instead of a hand, the new arm ended in a small, rapidly rotating, razor sharp blade. "Hey," said Hax. "Remember when I said I'd kill you painlessly? I lied." He brought the blade close to Sorrins's crotch. "I'm going to cut you into little tiny pieces and see how long it takes you to die. I think I'll start with this tiny piece right here-"

KA-CLANNNG!

Suddenly, Hax's head wasn't attached to his body anymore. Severed by a powerful blow from some unseen attacker, the head flew several yards before it hit the ground and rolled to a stop. Hax's body released Sorrins, and the mage fell. There was a gust of wind, and the mage vanished before he even hit the ground.

A new head sprang instantly from Hax's headless body. The old one melted into a small puddle of liquid metal and then flowed across the ground to rejoin the central mass of Hax's body.

"Okay, HOW'D you do that!" Hax's new head growled.

"He had help."

Hax looked behind him and saw Sorrins standing not far away. Next to him was Blaymore, who was holding the dead blacksmith's sword. The high-speed contact with Hax's head had ruined the brand new blade, which was now just a twisted hunk of metal. In his other hand, Blaymore held the memory stone. He'd rescued both the stone and the mage in the split second that Hax was distracted by being headless.

"YOU!" Sorrins and Hax both said in disbelief. Sorrins looked unsure as to whether he should try to contain the new threat, continue fighting Hax, or try to save his own skin. Skin-saving seemed like the best option at the moment.

"I'm on your side, mage. In case you haven't noticed, I just saved your life."

"But there's TWO more that you DIDN'T save," Hax pointed at the broken and torn bodies laying in Sorrins doorway. "You were too late. Imagine that... YOU... the fastest man on the planet... too late! HAHAHAHAAA!"

"What's going on? Hax-"

"Is possessed. We have to drive the evil out and destroy it. Then use that memory stone to erase everyone's memories before it can return."

"How do we drive it out."

"We kill Hax."

"Go ahead and TRY!" Hax gloated.

"Well we have a problem," Sorrins said. "Because, as far as I know... Hax can't be killed."

"Somehow I knew you were going to say that."


[To Be Continued]