(Dutch: De Doder van Eriban) (part 6)
Art by Don Lawrence; script by Martin Lodewijk
Storm and Nomad race toward the royal box with the guardsmen on their heels. They effectively take the ruler hostage to get his attention. They are surprised to find young Tilio there--and even more surprised and he reveals himself to actually be Renter!
Storm tells Renter they've got him beat. One false move and they'll kill the ruler, depriving the young assassin of the ability to complete his graduation assignment. Renter, however, reveals a surprise:
Ember has been drugged and put into the Barsaman game!
Storm snatched two shields from the guards and improbably uses them as improvised "snowshoes" to cross the molten floor of the arena. He gets there just in time to catch Ember. His shoes begin to sink quicker with more weight, so Nomad is forced to relinquish the captive royal to help Storm out.
Renter takes over threatening the ruler to keep the guards at bay. One of teh guests in the bos has a surprise of his own. He removes his mask, revealing himself to be Renter's teacher. He delivers another revelation:
The royal family realizes this is the son stolen from them. Renter is in utter disbelief, but ultimately he can't bring himself to kill his father. His teacher reports Renter has failed his graduation exercise. As a horrified Renter is embraced by his mother, the teacher leaves. Storm, Nomad, and Ember make their escape, aided by both the turmoil in the royal box and the turmoil in the stadium caused by the escaped prisoners. The Barsaman games are suspended indefinitely.
They make it back to the ship. To their surprise, Renter is there waiting. He tells them he sent Tilio away with some money. Renter trained all his young life to be an assassin. He doesn't know what to do with himself now. He asks our heroes to place him in the regeneration capsule and set him adrift, where he can dream, maybe to the end of time.
THE END
1 comment:
Ah yes, Storm walking on lava! At the moment I'm posting a list of bloopers on a Facebook fanpage of Ember (like I did last year on tumblr), but this is one of those moments where one can forget Storm is doing something impossible just because it looks so amazing. But of course, given that lava has a temperature between 700-1200 °C, Storm should have died trying.
Also, pity how Tilio has been cast aside at the end of the story. Why would he need Renter's money when the success of chess is making him rich already?
Anyway... like I said before, the next story is my favourite, so I'm looking forward to the next post. :)
Post a Comment