Mind Games

By Benjamin Allen

Do you ever feel like you’re living the same day over and over again? Every three years our University of the Seven Suns along with hundreds of other psionic schools from across the Eternium compete in a giant resource contest within the ringworlds surrounding the Dyson Sphere of Partikan. It was pretty fun until I started waking up at the beginning of the contest without knowing why. No one else seemed to know what I was talking about so I was on my own in figuring out how to break the cycle. The truth turned out to be more sinister and dangerous than I ever would have imagined.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Benjamin Allen
• Release date: Dec 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005510176

Benjamin Allen

Benjamin Allen is a writer, podcaster, and French Horn restoration artist from North Texas. He has been writing for over fifteen years, and has trained and worked in some of the top musical instrument repair facilities in the southern United States. Ben lives with his wife in Fort Worth.

Book preview

Mind Games

A Novel

By Benjamin Allen

Smashwords Edition

First American Edition

ISBN: 9781005510176

Copyright © 2022 Benjamin Allen, EK Publishing Media. All Rights Reserved.

This is the second tale in the Hell-Sword Series

Read Book One: The Last Necromancer

Read Book Two: Dreadnaut

Listen to the Apocalypse Theater Podcast!

EK Publishing Media.Com

This eBook is licensed for the personal enjoyment of interested readers. This eBook may not be re-sold for profit, but may be loaned at the purchaser’s discretion. This eBook may be reproduced, copied, and distributed for non-commercial purposes provided the eBook remains in its complete original form and all due credit goes to the original author, Benjamin Allen. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

For Suyoung, Always

Disclaimer

This novel does not promise a happy ending. Heroes and villains may frequently be misconstrued. Antagonists won’t antagonize. Protagonists will often run away screaming. Nothing in this book has occurred within this universe save for the pages between your fingers or the words being read into your ears.

This was not written with the intent to aggravate or participate in any assault upon your beliefs. This story has been written under the prospect that all ideas are true and equal, that all philosophies and views of life shared or held solely to an enlightened individual are so. You may find yourself uncomfortable with the ideas expressed, but rest assured that none of this has really happened. And if it did, you wouldn’t be able to remember it anyway.

References to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.

Table Of Contents

— Chapter One —

An Interview Gone Awry

— Chapter Two —

First Day of the Blitz

— Chapter Three —

Day Two of the Blitz

— Chapter Four —

Déjà Vu

— Chapter Five —

The Curse of Saturon

— Chapter Six —

Beyond the Blitz

— Chapter Seven —

The Time-Stopping Thief

— Chapter Eight —

To Meet One’s Maker

— Chapter Nine —

Explode Your Way Out

— Chapter Ten —

Where Monsters Roam

— Chapter Eleven —

Life Back to Normal

Chapter One

An Interview Gone Awry

If you’ve never galloped through a burning city on horseback before, you don’t know what you’re missing. I charged on my gray stallion between the soldiers of Ygsal. They wore faded yellow colors and carried their white and yellow flags as they invaded the great city of Peronius. Most of the city was on fire. I heard women screaming as men gathered the citizens to do whatever unspeakable horrors they had planned. I had to block out those screams because I wasn’t here to be a hero. I was here to be selfish and finish my summer quest that I had waited until the last day before school started to complete. I could single-handedly defeat this invading army, but it was Peronius’s fate to fall on this rainy afternoon.

My horse’s hooves splashed between the broken cobblestones of the city as the downpour washed the blood of Peronius’s defeated army through the streets. Houses and buildings blazed as I directed my horse between mounds of bodies, up the ramparts toward the castle. I reached the castle steps and jumped off my horse as dozens of guards barred the front door of the building. I raised my hand and sent the lot of them sprawling in all directions. I telekinetically tore the castle doors from their hinges and threw them aside as the crossbar behind it fell and clapped into the wall of the doorway.

I marched into the castle, walked past the pike in the central hall with King Peronius’s bloodied glowering face mounted upon it, and bypassed the Ygsal forces. A group of soldiers were trying to strip Peronius’s wife and daughter of their clothing as the fallen king’s son and heir was failing to fight them off. I sorted them out with a few spells that left Ygsal’s men stuck in ice as I grabbed Theodore Peronius’s wrist and tugged him away from his family.

I know this hard, but we can’t save your sister and mother. I said to Theodore. The last three members of Peronius’s family heard what I said and gaped at me in horror. Theodore looked at his wrist in my hand and was about to pull away when I shook my head. Sorry.

Fzz-pop.

Theodore Peronius and I stood in the middle of a placid field about seventy-five miles north. I had one port for that quest and it was to group teleport the fallen king’s son away from harm so that he could live on in solitude and rebuild an army to take back the city in thirty-six years.

W–Wait, Theodore breathed heavily as he patted his chest. No…NO! My family! He turned to me. The wind billowed my black travel cloak over my jeans, T-shirt, and tennis shoes as I met his gaze. A green circle had appeared on the back of my hand, indicating that I had completed my quest successfully.

I could only rescue one person from the city of Peronius. There was no time for debate. I said.

But, they’ll be tormented! He protested. They’re going to—

I’m sorry, Theodore. I said. You need to travel north and change your name.

I’ve never left the city walls before. I don’t even know how to ride a horse. Theodore whined.

You’re going to have to learn a lot in a very short period of time. I said. There’s a man named Benito Carlson in Pitsing who’s going to give you a job where you can start making money and gathering troops. You must take back Peronius at all cost.

Why have you doomed my family? Theodore asked.

Me? I stared at him. Some people just can’t understand when someone’s doing them a favor.

Yes, by rescuing me and not my sister and mother, that makes you responsible for their fate. He stated.

Forget about them. I said coldly. Go north, build your army.

Before the arrogant prick could say anything else, I ported back to the castle. Fzz-pop. Sorry guys, I forgot my horse. I raised my hands as the Ygsal troops were breaking free of my previous ice spell. I stood between them and Peronius’s wife and daughter.

A plethora of soldiers exploded from the front doors of the burning castle as I and the two women in their travel garb escaped from the castle. We hurried to the city stables and retrieved several horses. I led Peronius’s wife and daughter through the mayhem, launching troops backward telekinetically as we came to a halt in the center square of the city. If I killed any of them my principal would lose her shit. Hundreds of troops in light yellow had us surrounded. I saw archers on the buildings and defensive ramparts. There were at least fifty men holding the front gate to the city.

I sighed and rubbed my hand together. Let’s see if this one works. ‘Keul’da!’ I tossed a ball of green light into the air. Everyone gasped as I rode for the gate with the two women on their horses following my lead. Behind us, swords and arrows and everything else made of metal magnetically flew into the center green light energy. The troops were aghast to realize they were suddenly defenseless as we barreled between them. I telekinetically flicked soldiers out of the way as we galloped across the drawbridge out into the field where we met with the road.

I called more rain to wash out our pursuers as the Ygsal troops mounted an offensive party to retrieve us. Yeah, I had enough power to do this forever, but time is something I didn’t have. With my last summer quest complete, I just wanted to relax before I had to go back to school tomorrow. What can I say? I’m a world-class procrastinator when it comes to summer homework.

I kept the women shielded from the rain with an ‘oo’san’ umbrella aura. I had learned from my best friend, Harriet, how to use our aura to give friends or other members of our party certain group spells. Whatever I did for myself could be channeled across the group effectively for simpler spells. It was pretty cool, but required concentration.

The army lost us and we were free and clear to move south-west to the nearby church city of Marigold. I left the women in one of the many monasteries so they could be cared for properly under different names before porting myself home. Fzz-pop.

I sighed and sat on the edge of my bed as a purple light fluttered into being from behind my ear. "Nice work, Elgar, said Jo, my faerie roommate, guidance counselor, and social media aficionado. You have an interview with Lauren Stratta at two-thirty."

So much for enjoying my last day of summer. I said and swapped into some pajamas to get into meditation position on the floor. I yawned and felt my mind center on my breath. A few minutes later, I breathed out and appeared in my timeless world. Yes, in addition to being able to teleport most places and change clothes on a whim, we psionics are capable of creating a timeless universe based on the residual memory of our known reality and astrally project our mind into that universe. After that, we’re free to study at our own pace, practice spells, or in my case: sleep.

I got up from my meditating form and lay on the bed to scroll through the conical holographic display of my MIDAS—Magical Interface Display and Archives System. It appeared as a cone of holographic light from my palm. All my homework was finished and my spells were in good standing under the ‘Spells’ tab of my interface. In my social media feeds for Flutter and Magebook, I couldn’t post anything while time was still frozen in reality, but sometimes I scanned through to see if anything new was happening. I saw a selfie 360 of my best friend Harriet. She had her dyed blue hair done up in a tower and wore an Iron Maiden shirt that she had tucked into a pair of black denim shorts. She wore her favorite Converse shoes that had been worn to thin fabric.

In addition to having a small crush on Harriet, my chest was now filled with an annoying concoction of defensiveness and jealousy since she had obtained a boyfriend over the summer break. When she told me after we met up, my heart immediately shattered. I could see it on my face in my timeline video feed, and I could also see that she saw it on my face. I’d always thought Harriet was one of the prettiest girls in school, but she was older by two years. It’s not that big a difference in the scheme of life, but when you’re a teenager two years is like two decades.

I closed my MIDAS and took a nap for a few hours before returning to the real world. When I opened my eyes to the color of true reality—at least what I’m familiar with as true reality—I stretched and got up from my seat. The weight of your body is one of the harder things to deal with when coming back after long periods in the timeless world. You don’t have to deal with muscle cramps or regular aches and pains that pop up throughout daily life.

I grabbed some food and swapped into some church casual clothing before porting to Gramburg. Fzz-pop. I used my alterations ability to change my face to look like someone who had been in a terrible accident that scarred my complexion. That usually kept the paparazzi at bay. I found the studio flat where I was supposed to meet with Lauren Stratta. The receptionist looked at me like I was out of my mind before I realized that I was still maintaining my off-putting facade. When my face returned to normal, the lady lost it.

Oh my God, I can’t believe I’m actually meeting King Elgar! The blonde receptionist girl fanned out.

Just Elgar, please. I said, again wishing I could find the person who made that stupid name go viral.

360 hug! I held up two fingers and gave my cheesy photo grin as the girl raised her MIDAS over us. Awesome! Thanks Elgar! She swooned.

She sent me into the studio where I met with Lauren Stratta. She was a famous talk-show psionic with her own Magecast program, The Merlin’s Beard Magecast that had over 240 billion psionic listeners across the Eternium. It was mostly discussions about psionic controversies and current events. Jo had warned me not to do it because Lauren Stratta was heavily biased toward the holy spectrum, but I figured it would go okay. Lauren had curly dyed red hair and large black glasses over her discerning blue eyes. She wore a navy blue dress and matching pointed boots.

Afternoon. I nodded to her as I entered.

Good afternoon, Elgar, it’s wonderful to see you. She said without moving as her makeup person finished powdering her face. Do you need any water or anything?

I was going to say no, but a bottle of water flew into my hand from a cooler against the wall. Thanks.

We’ll just set up in that next room over there. If you could go sit down, I’ll be in shortly. Lauren said.

I thanked her and stepped onto the comfortable set where there were glowing orbs floating in each corner shining lights upon two stools opposite to one another. The stools stood upon an expensive red Persian rug with an ornate gold and black patterned design rounding the borders, and a gold fringe cut on each end. I climbed onto the stool and waited a few minutes until Lauren entered and sat opposite to me. A tall woman with long brown hair and thick black-rimmed glasses materialized a plastic chair and sat on the outskirts of the room where there was little light.

This is Chloe Rodriguez, she’s my on-the-fly researcher and fact checker while we chat. Is that okay?

Of course. I have my fact checker with me too. I laughed nervously, thinking about Jo who had made clear she wanted no part of this discussion.

That is interesting, said Lauren, I was going to ask you about her. Is there a reason you’ve tricked this faerie into serving as basically a mother figure in your life?

What? I glared at her. Jo isn’t—

Oh, so we’re on a first name basis with royalty from a miniscule kingdom in the eleventh universe? Why do they call you King Elgar? Lauren jabbed. She had seemed so kind when I first talked to her.

My name is Elgar Centrifeous King. I said clearly. Some individual started calling me King Elgar and the stupid name went viral. Don’t ask me why people think it’s funny. I don’t think it is, but it’s become so consistent that I don’t bother correcting people anymore.

Are you the incarnate of evil? Lauren tapped her lips as she fixed her blue eyes upon me.

I don’t—

"The Bible states interrupted Lauren, that the antichrist would be an attractive figure born of darkness who denies the Lord and holds himself above all others."

I mean, I don’t—are you calling me attractive? I blushed.

No. Lauren shook her head.

Look, I’m not evil and I try not to use dark magic unless I have no choice. I said. Otherwise, I’ve had to continue my study of the scriptures like any other holy student. I’m just a normal kid who happens to react poorly during a crisis.

A wolf in sheep’s clothing. Lauren clicked her tongue. Why do you believe women are in need of saving?

What? I asked, genuinely taken aback.

"You typically act on quests involving a female who needs saving more frequently than say someone who is willing to help cleanse a city’s water-supply or rescue a lost child. In fact, even when you’re on a quest that has nothing to do with women at all, you somehow find a way to seek out the damsel in distress. It’s really quite infuriating to any woman who wants to pave her own way in the world. Did it ever occur to you that we might not need your help?"

I was speechless. What kind of a monster cross-analyzes something that I didn’t even know about myself? Look, I don’t intend to help women—not that I don’t want to—I mean, I want to, but not for whatever reason you’ve made up for yourself. At what point do you think I would not help someone in need regardless of gender or ethnicity?

I only point this out after having watched your previous quest feed and how you went out of your way against the will of the universe to rescue the queen and princess of a fallen city. You weren’t supposed to interact with anyone except the prince. Why did you go back after the quest was over to rescue two women?

Because I didn’t want to leave them to an army of men.

It’s happened throughout human history and it will probably happen continuously. Would you have gone back if it was the boy’s uncle and nephew? Lauren asked.

I wrinkled my forehead in quick thought, trying to assess whether or not I would. I don’t know.

Lauren’s eyes widened. You don’t know?

Right. I’ve not been put in the position but I like to think I would. I said. You have to understand that the stakes are different with two men versus two women. The malicious intent of the soldiers toward the men would have just been murder. With women, we both know what would have happened before murder. I wanted to prevent that.

You don’t think men do nasty things to men? She cocked her brow quizzically. What if they just sold them to other family members for ransom?

Again, I don’t know. The prince asked me to save his family, so I did. He gave me this whole ‘their fate is on you’ spiel. You saw the video. Tell me you wouldn’t go in and help someone who asked when you knew you could. I said.

I wouldn’t—men or women. Not for gender reasons, for timeline reasons. Lauren stated. The psionic who predicted your quest only saw one individual living through that experience. What if you changed the events by rescuing those women? What if the prince runs into his mother and sister later? Suddenly, the loss of some buildings and land isn’t enough to justify the lives of him, his family, and his men and war expenses. And yet, somehow all of this is necessary to keep Universe Eleven going.

That’s a fair point. I said.

But there’s something to this damsel in distress criteria that you look for to define meaning, said Lauren.

You couldn’t possibly let me just enjoy helping people in general. I crossed my arms as I looked across to Lauren.

Lauren shook her head. The evidence doesn’t support that. Your first murder—according to your trial statements—was to prevent Manny Finch from murdering a girl named Brenda Mayer. Your second murder was in defense of Laura Ashmore, the pregnant wife of a raging alcoholic. You defeated Ryptose the World Ender only after he attacked your best friend, Christina Harriet. She seems to be the center of your hero complex. Is it that you have strong feelings for this seventeen year old girl, who is unfortunately spoken for according to her Magebook profile?

I wanted to get up and leave, but I didn’t. It’s easy to cross-analyze me when you know everything about me. I’ve listened to your magecast over the last few months and I like it. I haven’t heard a single guest that’s been grilled as hard as me over things that I have little control over.

I’m just pointing out what I see, but have you heard of my interview with Ran Carlisle? You really should go back and listen to that one if you really want to see me in action.

I glanced over and saw Chloe typing on a trial mount. It’s like a keyboard that has a pedestal for your MIDAS stone that lets you type freely with your hands while keeping your MIDAS activated. They were called trial mounts because usually you only saw them in a courtroom. She must have been feeding Lauren information about me on the fly. Occasionally, my face popped up next to some headline and a sped up 360 video clip.

This is a little unfair, don’t you think? I asked.

I thought you said you were going to be using your researcher as well. Lauren recalled.

I wasn’t about to take Jo down in this bloodbath with me—not when Lauren could easily use that as flak against me later. No, she wanted no part of this and I think I know why now. I said jokingly.

Lauren’s expression remained stony. Is there a reason you crave all this attention? I guess that goes hand-in-hand with your need to posture this way to prove your manhood. Do you realize that everything you live and stand for is offensive to so many people?

I took a deep breath and met her blue eyes. Why?

Why? Lauren cocked her brow. You raise people from the dead. You coordinate with the legions of Hell and believe yourself to be above others.

What evidence do you have that I believe myself to be above others? I said.

Your actions and many of the examples I stated before. Lauren said.

So you think Superman is the same way? I asked.

Superman is a fictional character, and yes: there are patriarchal undertones in that hero figure as well. Do you think of yourself as Superman?

No, do you think of yourself as Lois Lane? I asked.

Who said anything about Lois Lane? Lauren asked.

Who said anything about male patriarchy? I asked.

You seem to be angry. Lauren pointed out.

"You seem to be trying to make me angry. What about you? I could tell you exactly what I think and it might offend you, and yet I won’t on the off-chance that this might turn into a halfway coherent conversation. But if making me as uncomfortable as possible is your goal, maybe we should just wrap this up right now."

Lauren didn’t say anything for a few seconds. I’m curious about the relationship between you and Andrew. As the only two of your kind, people are beginning to wonder if you’re trying to resurrect the Necromonic Order that existed before the Juksimburg Act of 1817.

I don’t know anything about that. Andrew’s more interested in his girlfriend than trying to recruit psionics for a holy war he doesn’t agree with. The guy has a newfound relationship with God after that whole dreadnaut experience. I don’t see how all these conspiracy theories can flourish when everyone knows I haven’t seen Andrew all summer.

That we’re aware of. Lauren said suspiciously. We all know there are ways through the shadow arts that allow followers of Satan to organize and communicate with one another.

I didn’t know we could do that. I said. Sounds like you’re more learned in all this than me.

What about your mother? Lauren sat back and clasped her hands over her lap. How does she feel about you being the incarnate of evil?

She thinks it’s just great. I said, crossing my arms. I had literally given up on the whole interview, and Lauren would make headlines tomorrow.

That’s about all I need. I’ll finish with one more question. How do you feel about the coming Interdimensional Blitzkrieg of Hollandorf at your school this year?

I’m excited. I’m a big fan of competition since it lets me exert how much better I am than other people.

As long as you’re honest about it. Lauren shrugged. "Well, there you have it folks. The great King Elgar shows his true colors at last. Thanks for joining me on The Merlin’s Beard Magecast with me, Lauren Stratta."

I didn’t bother saying goodbye. Fzz-pop. I ported back to my bedroom and swapped clothing with my mind into my dark blue pajamas before reclining on my bed. Yeah, we can change clothes on a whim as well.

"Well, that was a disaster." Jo said.

Wasn’t it just? I said, folding my arms behind my head. Is it bad that I’m growing a thick skin toward this oddly aggressive level of discrimination from these people? And don’t say it!

"I told you not to do that interview! She scoffed. I gotta go back to Ganisburg to meet with my mother and brother. I’m sure you can sit in here and fawn over how many girls want you to save them now that Flutter is on fire. See you tomorrow, Elgar." Jo ported away.

I breathed a sigh of relief. It was the first time I’d been alone in months. I probably would have opened Flutter if not for my defiance of Jo’s prediction. Instead, I lay there for a few minutes in thought before I started to drift. That’s the best part about sleep in the real world: it’s a true deep sleep that’s full of dreams and REM cycles. You can’t get that while taking a rest in your timeless world.

I dropped into a deep sleep and slept through the night as usual. And then I had the vision that I had witnessed once before during my previous year at the University of the Seven Suns, except last time I was sitting in a temporal deprivation tank on an alterations foresight quest—a quest to make a quest. It began the same way with my vision moving past hotdog stands with racks of cotton candy standing next to the seller. I was in a hurry as black storm-clouds mounted over the stadium ahead.

I stepped into an arena that had been constructed within the stadium. A bald wizard with red eyes in a strange robe with a high collar appeared before me. There was a flash of purple, and then I woke up. What’s the old adage; your dreams seem scary until you tell them to someone else, then they sound ridiculous?

Yeah, right…ridiculous….

Chapter Two

First Day of the Blitz

Elgar? My mom pushed my door open and looked into my room the moment I opened my eyes from the flash in the dream.

It was light in my room, meaning I was late. I sat up. What time is it?

It’s 7:15 in the morning. She said and left two granola bars and a bottle of water on the shelf before closing the door.

That meant I was fifteen minutes late. I jumped out of bed and swapped into my school clothes. I wore a pair of running shoes, blue jeans, and a long-sleeved gray shirt with a red T-shirt over it. It could get cold on our floating island where the school was located. I threw on my black jacket and zipped