Leonora was livid with fury.

“Keisha grabbed at a straw, Minister, and he has no power whatsoever to change the course of this war,” she nearly spat out her words, only remembering at the last second to adopt a subservient tone. Minister Prete had killed others for far less than a disrespectful tone.

“Yet, this ‘straw’ has drawn the resistance to him like moths throwing themselves upon a candle,” the tall man stated calmly.

Prete towered over the slight figure of Leonora. Although he stood absolutely still and made no threatening moves, menace rolled off him in nearly tangible waves. His telepathic powers were so formidable that it took him no effort at all to usurp anybody’s mind and compel them to do his bidding. His exposed robotic right arm marked him as a Cyborg who was proud to be an amalgam of machine and man.

“Leonora,” Prete now said in a whisper, narrowing his black-orbed eyes to slits, “it has been a year since this ‘lightbringer’ of Keisha’s had arrived on Gidigidi. Why have you not yet captured him?”

“Minister Prete, he has the protection of the Mystics. They warn him every time I come close to seizing him. I promise though that next time…”

“Enough!” Prete suddenly barked, his voice enhanced by the machine half of his body. The intensity of his shout caused the windows to rattle; a number of decorative items displayed on the shelves around the circular room crashed to the floor, broken beyond repair.

“This Offworlder has made of a mockery of you, and more importantly: of me. Enough of this cat and mouse game, of you chasing your tail like a berserk jaguar. You will apprehend him within a fortnight, or your life is forfeit.”

“Minister!” Leonora exclaimed in confirmation, saluting him with a hand clapped to her heart. She spun on her heel and unhurriedly left the chamber. Inside, she was a volcanic mountain exploding in gouts of lava.

“Minister Prete, do you think Leonora has it within her to succeed? Since her return from Earth, her prowess as assassin seems to have been … dulled.” The woman who spoke was Minister Chau, the only Minister who had Prete’s ear, and his bed.

Prete turned to his lover with a smile that sent shivers of dreadful delight down her metallic spine. “Chau, she either captures the Offworlder, or dies. All that matters to us is that the Lightbringer is stopped. I care not how it is done; as long as his light is extinguished,” Prete stated, highly amused by his witty pun.

“Ah, I see. You mean for me to have the contingency plan put in motion. It will be done, my Lord.”

Cole was still incredulous a year after having arrived on the world of Gidigidi that some latent and hitherto unsuspected power within him had manifested spectacularly the second he had popped into existence on the world.

“Who would ever have suspected that I would literally be a beacon of light?” he asked Connie who was happily snuggling against the tall, black man. “The irony of a lighthouse keeper using light to battle darkness is just too priceless,” he added, chuckling in amusement.

“I always knew there was more to you. It wasn’t your looks that drew me to you, you know?” Connie commented with an arched eyebrow and a mischievous grin on her beautiful face.

“Shut it, you. I know you craved my body. Little hussy.”

“But you love this hussy, don’t ya?”

A discreet chime announced that a visitor had arrived at the house the Mystics had given Cole. The house was ensconced in a glade that nestled in a verdant forest. Despite the civil war raging on Gidigidi, the world’s forests were largely miraculously unscathed.

The house looked like an enormous, perfectly-shaped pearl. The top half of the “pearl” rested above ground; this comprised the living areas: lounge, entertainment area, kitchen. The main and guest bedrooms, as well as the bathrooms were located in the bottom half of the “pearl”, below ground. There was also an underground exit that led to a network of tunnels that ran underneath the forest, connecting houses, recreational parks, convenience kiosks and other areas for leisure activity. The air underground was artificial but breathable; the entire underground complex was as bright as day.

Connie rose lithely, donning her fighter’s gear swiftly. Cole never took his off except at the very end of the day. This afternoon’s siesta had been a rare moment of peace.

“Can only be one person at the door. Keisha,” Connie and Cole said the woman’s name in unison.

“Apologies for bothering you at home, Cole,” Keisha said after she had been let inside, “but we’ve just had word that Minister Prete has set his Ultimate Weapon in motion.”

The very sound of it sent ripples of apprehension through Cole, but he didn’t despair.

“Haven’t we fought and faced down everything he has thus far thrown at us? All he accomplishes with each new strategy is to bring more citizens into our camp, fighting for a worthy cause. This ‘Ultimate Weapon’ could very well announce his death knell.”

“It is rumoured to be a weapon of such destructive force that he had a tough time convincing the other Ministers to approve the unleashing of it. The Mystics’ Prophecy has revealed that this evil weapon is the very reason we need you. You are the counter strike to it,” Keisha revealed.

“And what guarantee is there that Cole will vanquish it? That he will survive and come out unscathed?” Connie asked, her body tense as a tightly strung bow.

“The Mystics see only as far as a future in which Cole faces the Ultimate Weapon. The outcome of that battle, and even the nature of the Ultimate Weapon, is obscured to them, despite innumerable attempts to rip aside the shroud of concealment.”

“Does anybody know what this weapon looks like? Has anyone ever seen it?” Cole asked.

“No, unfortunately not. The only fact the Mystics could glean about the weapon from their vision is that it is unlike anything our world has witnessed. It has the potential of mass destruction, and the fallout of it can last for decades,” Keisha revealed in a sombre tone.

“Unlike anything your world has witnessed … mass destruction … fallout that can last for decades. That sounds an awful lot to me like an atomic bomb,” Connie ventured, shrugging and looking at Cole for affirmation.

“I agree, it does. But how could a world as technologically advanced as Gidigidi not know about atomic weapons?”

“Well,” Connie drawled, “perhaps this world took a different path to ours when it came to developing weapons of war? After all, we have none of the weapons they have here, yet Earth is also fairly advanced, technologically.”

“You may have a point,” Cole conceded, “but I’m still not convinced that this ‘Ultimate Weapon’ is an atomic bomb. Even if it is, would Prete truly be so maniacal that he would be prepared to lay waste to and devastate vast regions of Gidigidi in an effort to be victorious? Would he honestly be happy with a Pyrrhic victory rather than lose?”

“To Minister Prete, winning is all that matters,” Keisha stated. “He has already caused the deaths of thousands, but it bothers him not. He wants to be the Potentate, invested with global power to rule all of Gidigidi.”

“Then he is indeed megalomaniacal; he needs to be toppled and stripped of his power. His insatiable lust for power has been allowed to continue for too long. He must be ended,” Cole stated in such a decisive, steely tone that Connie looked at him anew.

In the year they had been guests on this world, Cole had gone from being self-doubting and hesitant about his ordained role to a man determined, resolved, fearless and decisive. Connie barely recognised the former lighthouse keeper, but she rejoiced at the transformation. She welcomed how Cole had stepped into and accepted his role as Lightbringer.

“So … what do you propose we do?” she asked Cole, already knowing what he would say.

“Why, there’s only one thing to do,” he said.

“Storm his palace?” Connie asked at the same time as Cole said, “Take the fight to him!”

Keisha smiled like a proud parent. “Exactly what the Mystics had foretold you would do.”

Leonora had finally discovered where the Lightbringer lived when he was not travelling to the battle zones, fighting side-by-side with the rebel scum. She grinned malevolently, incongruously granting her merciless face the strange beauty of death. The girl-woman revelled in anticipation of the bloodbath she meant to unleash.

“Today, neither you nor Keisha shall escape me, Lightbringer,” Leonora hissed softly to herself. With curt hand gestures, she ordered her company of seven hired mercenaries to deploy, indicating that they were to surround the circular house and its environs to prevent any form of escape. Then she strolled leisurely, arrogantly to the front entrance. In one swift movement, she unholstered her blaster and fired point-blank at the door, instantly vaporising it. Seconds later, her goons smashed through the windows and back entrance of the house. Leonora was the first to reach the lounge though where to her unbridled ecstasy she found the Lightbringer standing next to Keisha and the other Offworlder.

“Leonora. I should have known you would find this place. I suppose you got the location by torturing one of our supporters?” Keisha asked the threatening assassin.

“You call it torture; I call it a blissful way to glean information from a recalcitrant citizen,” Leonora jested tactlessly. “But enough of the small talk. Time to die, Lightbringer.”

“How predictable. So very much like a villain to use such a blasé line as ‘time to die’. You are truly a walking cliché, aren’t you?” Connie unexpectedly said. Leonora’s light complexion instantly turned a furious scarlet, but before she could spit a retort, Cole stepped forward to face her.

“You’re right, Leonora. It is indeed time to die, but it’s you and your hirelings who will be doing the dying today.”

And suddenly, Cole’s entire body blazed like a radiant white star. Without hesitation, he raised his hands and cast a ray of pure light at the man behind Keisha, incinerating him in a millisecond. The other six men opened fire indiscriminately, focusing mostly on Cole. Miraculously, every bullet was absorbed by the light emanating from Cole. Those shots aimed at Keisha and Connie went wide of their marks, as the chimera used her telekinetic powers to divert the projectiles.

Leonora swiftly leaped at Cole, catching the Lightbringer off-guard. She fell on top of him, causing both of them to land heavily on the floor. Quick as a striking serpent, Leonora was off Cole and up on her feet, sending a well-aimed kick at Cole’s abdomen as he still lay on the floor. At the very last second, Cole blocked the kick, catching hold of Leonora’s foot and yanking hard on it. It unbalanced the assassin who once again went down. This time, it was Cole who was up first and towering over the supine woman.

Keisha had made short work of the mercenaries; using her powers, she had forced the men to turn their guns on each other. Nevertheless, one of the bullets had found its mark. Connie was lying prone on the floor, a small pool of blood under her revealing that the woman had been shot. Keisha rushed over to Connie and gently turned her over on to her back.

“I’m fine,” the plucky woman said, even managing a smile, “it’s only a flesh wound.”

Ignoring Connie’s protests, Keisha expertly examined the wound. To her relief, the bullet had gone straight through the fleshy part of Connie’s left side, hitting no vital organs.

“I’m sorry. I thought I had sent all the bullets awry.”

“What are you apologising for? You were amazing. If you weren’t here, I’m sure I would be a cold corpse right now!”

“The Lightbringer … I think he has bested Leonora.”

Cole looked down at the waif-like assassin and wondered what had turned her into the cruel killer she was. He steeled himself for what he knew he had to do, but his naturally kind nature wanted to extend some mercy to the woman.

“Surrender, and I’ll spare your life. You don’t need to die for ideals that are not even your own.”

“If you don’t kill me, Light Warrior, Prete will. Returning to him as a failure is a death sentence in itself. Get it over with and end me.”

“Join us, become part of the right side, for a change. Fight to restore your world! Help us overthrow this insane, power-hungry despot!”

“Regrettably, that is not an option. Nobody in your camp would ever trust me, and rightfully so. My reputation is not a favourable one, Light Warrior, as you are well aware.”

While Leonora was speaking to Cole, she unobtrusively reached inside a side pocket of her pants for a last ditch attempt at killing him. He was unaware that she had a concealed kretch, a slim blade that could slice through anything as if it were gossamer. She meant to cut Cole in half.

“People change, Leonora. I will convince everyone that you deserve a chance. You don’t need to do this.”

In a blur of speed, Leonora ripped the kretch from her pants, swinging her arm around at Cole’s waist in a desperate lunge to slice him in half, as she had done to the obnoxious islander back on Earth. Purely instinctively, Cole threw up his right hand, a beam of light blasting from his palm to obliterate the blade and Leonora’s hand. Pointing his left fist at the intractable assassin, he vibrated a pulse of light at her face.

Just before the shaft of light turned Leonora’s head to a pulp, she said in pure hatred, “Mother…”

“Was she calling on her mom at the end? Seriously?” Connie, who had limped over to Cole with Keisha’s assistance, asked in disbelief.

“I kinda think she was trying to complete another word, Connie,” Cole replied.

“Aah, I get you,” said Connie.

“You had no choice, Lightbringer. It was either you or her,” Keisha said in an attempt to soften the guilt she knew was plaguing Cole. “You did the right thing.”

“I know, but I still wish she had given herself and us a chance.”

“And I wish for a Big Mac and fries, but neither of us is gonna get our wish, are we? So let’s move on already,” ever practical Connie stated.

“The Mystics would have been alerted by this attack. We can go with the rescue team and their craft the Mystics would have already dispatched to travel to Prete’s Palace. Time is running out for all of us.”

As the rescue team landed outside the damaged pearl house, Connie turned to Cole and asked cheekily, “Did I hear Leonora call you Light Warrior? I like it,” she added before hooking her arm through his.

“Let’s just hope I’m enough of a warrior of light to extinguish Prete’s fiery flame of injustice.”

Image: JR Korpa (www.unsplash.com)