Hanna, the Barberian, and the Quest Into the Four Portals

(Adamis):

Last time in our tale, we became mystery solving sleuths; just another distraction from the true mystery that awaited us: "How many portals did Virga make, and do ANY TRULY lead back to her capture...?"

Earth 3094 had been a battleground of savagery, super-science, and sorcery every since its rebirth. The people knew of this fate by now and the wisest ones didn't even venture out anymore if the stench of combat was near. However, not everyone was so wise. A triad of heroes, a barbarian, a creature, and a sorceress faced down their known nemesis as he stood atop the high ground of a tall cliff. Nonetheless, even the wizard whom had contended with this company of heroes before was flanked by his own unknown allies as his aces in the deck in the shapes of a warlord and a wizardress. Besides that, one of the Wizard, Double-Face's, new friends had come with another stranger bearing a gilded hatchet and standing in the trenches behind the heroes.

As the human stranger in the trenches with the heroic trio inspected his hatchet, the motion was caught by the barbaric leader.

"AMBUSH!" he bellowed, lunging at the strange man at the same moment that the newcomer had been inspecting his weapon.

"No!" the sorceress answered, building up a shield to repel the magic attack. "I don't think that..."

The crash announced that the sorceress, Princess Ariana's, warning would have gone unnoticed. As Sundar, the Barbarian, covered the stranger, Booka, the Lox, gave a primal shout and raised a boulder.

"Booka, no!" Ariana cried.

"Yes, my friend; you would strike me with this newcomer!" Sundar warned, pinning the axe-man to the ground. "Speak now, stranger; do you serve the wicked warlord or wizardress who accompany Double-Face this night?"

"No; of course not!" the other man answered, freeing his legs long enough to kick Sundar off of him. "I am Galthar of a far away realm called Shannathar. This is my Gilded Axe; and the warlord, Forkhat, is the enemy of all of my people.

Galthar finally rose up and raised his Gilded Axe. Sumnar, in turn, removed a sword handle from his gauntlet before cracking the empty blade at the ground and summoning a blade of energy.

"Then, you are the enemy of my enemy's new associate." Sundar grunted.

"In my book, that makes us friends!" Galthar added.

Booka grunted an agreement and Ariana dropped her magic shield where the powerful Lox could hurl the boulder at the clifftop. As the projectile struck the cliff's underside, the villains scattered for a moment. However, Double-Face and Virga soon recovered enough to continue their magic assaults as Forkhat saw his opportunity to enter the trench.

"Continue to distract them!" Forkhat ordered. "I intend to surprise my enemy!"

"Your plan holds merit, friend." Double-Face's gentle face applauded him.

Forkhat would have moved save for the sound of grinding gears.

"...but you lose track of who runs things in Earth 3094!" the wizard's far angrier visage added.

Forkhat almost argued the point when a portal opened up in the sky again.

"More allies?" Forkhat demanded. "They had best be my military forces as we agreed before, Wizard!"

"That portal is not mine!" Double-Face shouted back angrily.

"Well, well;" Virga sneered of her handiwork as she prepped her magic bolts for the others, "look who finally found me through any multitude of portals!"

************************

There was a loud war cry and a female barbarian, lady creature, and sorcerer descended into the trenches. This time, even the princess, Ariana, had seen enough and, by unspoken agreement, she and Booka covered the new arrivals.

"There are too many new faces in Earth 3094!" Ariana bellowed. "Identify yourselves now; you have ten seconds to make me believe you!"

"Earth?" Hanna answered, rising up and withdrawing her restored fabulous Ruby Spears. "What is this Earth; and what of AltEarth, 3090, our land?"

"An alternate Earth, from four years back in time?" Ariana demanded.

Booka shook his head and gave a grunt that was answered by Ungah's own.

"You'll have to do better than that!" she added, prepping a spell.

Just then, another spell flew overhead and knocked Ungah and Hanna to the ground. It would have done the same to Ariana if Adamis hadn't been facing the correct way and knocked her to safety of his own accord.

"Forget it." Ariana declared from her place on the ground. "That witch up there convinced me. I am Ariana."

"Adamis," Adamis answered from his place on top of her to cover her, "and if she hadn't, then I'd have a lot of apologizing to do for our current position."

With that, the sorcerer clumsily got back up and scooped Ariana back to her feet.

"Excuse me, Ariana." he added, clasping his hands together and generating a magic bolt. "You all continue to tend to the trench. This little disturbance should be handled magically."

Within moments, Ariana held an orb of her own magic energy.

"Princess Ariana." she amended. "I don't stand down from aiding in a direct attack because of the whims of commoners."

"Prince Adamis." Adamis amended back, clasping his hand in hers. "And in that case, let's combine our efforts."

A combined magic blast from the trenches erupted into the air and resulted in another spiral. That spiral was enough to helplessly sweep off Forkhat.

"That rube of a warmonger!" Virga spat, prepping her magic again.

Nonetheless, Double-Face tapped her on a shoulder.

"You invoked the arrival of more heroes?" Double-Face demanded. "And for a PRANK?"

"Well..." Virga answered.

Suddenly, she was shoved from the cliff face into the trenches. Hanna gave a barbarian war cry and lunged to intercept her falling form. That yell was echoed by Sundar and Booka and Ungah managed to give him a mighty boost to catch Double-Face unawares on his own peak.

Even as Hanna caught Virga midfall, her mystic Ruby Spears glistened and glowed from their places on her back. Soon, Virga was spirited away from Earth.

"Gone again!" Hanna barked.

Ungah growled in consternation of the results.

"But still as winless here as she is back home." Adamis insisted.

Finally, Sundar entered the trench once more, having driven off Double-Face.

"I for one am glad to see her go." the barbarian barked, deactivating his sword and sheathing it back to his armlet. "The wizards of my place are trouble enough!"

"You and I agree there!" Hanna, the Barberian, declared.

"Your rods; they glow like jewels!" Sundar boomed.

"My Ruby Spears." Hanna amanded. "And your sword, it hums with the power of the sun itself!"

The two warriors grinned at one another, then exchanged a token of modest comradery.

Ungah gave a bark that caused the pair of warriors to separate.

"This is all well and good." Adamis declared. "But...though it does pain me to go, Ariana,...we can't have Virga and far more superior wizards running rampant in AltEarth uncontested."

"You do speak truly; and Galthar was already sent back to his proper place when Forkhat was." Ariana agreed. "You will come back and visit me...us...on occasion; you...all of you?"

"I don't think that either of our magics could keep me away!" Adamis blurted back.

With that, he generated his own portal.

"Back to AltEarth, friends?" he asked.

Ungah grunted in response and lifted Adamis to get both of them through that much faster.

"Be well, Ariana, Booka, and friend Sundar!" Hanna called as she stepped one foot through the portal.

"Good journey, Hanna, the Barberian!" Sundar added.

Booka gave a war cry of acknowledgment. Ariana could only nod at the thought of their new friends.

"We will see them again." she vowed.

"Indeed we will." Sundar added. "New threats requiring a conjoined effort are still out there somewhere. Ariana, Booka, RIDE...!"

With that, the proper heroes of a reborn, dystopian Earth galloped away from the site of their latest victory...