“Sybil Leek,” said I. “The once well-known British ‘witch’ and 'psychic’ who appeared in numerous media interviews and published a couple of books during the mid to late twentieth century.”
“That’s who once owned the amulet that was stolen from Cotherman’s Antique Shop?” enquired Millie Drake.
“Quite so,” I affirmed, “although neither the shop’s owner nor the police seem to be aware of this. It was simply listed as stolen along with a description. It was only our rather specialised computer system that recognised it as having once belonged to the late Sybil Leek, hmmm?”
We were in our secret headquarters, located as it is within the golden trapezoidal roof of a certain downtown skyscraper, the inside of which contains our electronic equipment along with a plethora of strange artefacts that we have collected during our storied career as investigators of the occult and paranormal.
I was clad in my usual finery, including a frilled poet shirt, purple velvet suit, and jungle boots. My panama hat and one of my favourite opera capes hung from a near by hallstand.
My companion, Miss Millie Drake, is an exquisitely beautiful young lady; petite and perfect with luxurious chestnut hair, enchanting violet eyes, and sun kissed skin. The purple dress she wore only served to highlight the wonders of her slender teenage figure.
Also with us was Kit-10, our mobile personal computer that resembles nothing more or less than a small mechanical cat, who was busy at the moment with a systems upgrade.
“But if nobody knew what it was,” wondered Millie, “why would someone steal it? The police report says nothing else was taken from the shop.”
“That is quite a mystery, love,” I pondered. “The thief could only be someone with the ability and intent to detect the presence of occult powers.”
“So the amulet actually does have some supernatural power, Daniel?”
“Quite likely. You see, during her career as a practicing witch, Sybil Leek did manage to contact a certain residue of the extraterrestrial beings known as the Righ.”
“Oh my goodness! Weren’t they Celtic gods?”
“Quite so, my dear Mills. The Righ -- an immensely powerful alien race who came to Earth on a research mission -- were indeed the first rulers of the ancient British Isles, and played a large part in what became the mythology of its people.”
Just then, we were interrupted by a beeping sound coming from one of the computer banks.
“Spires of Daemonia!” I swore. “Our systems have managed to detect energy of the type once utilised by the Righ coming from within the City! It appears someone has indeed activated the Amulet of Sybil Leek. The power is emanating from… Riverside Park!”
“Gosh, Daniel!” exclaimed Millie Drake. “We need to get over there and stop them right away!”
“Come along then, Millie,” said I whilst fetching my hat and cloak. “We are going on a witch hunt!” …
My name is Doctor Daniel Rumanos. I carry within my blood the heritage of the mysterious Watchers of Algol, the most intellectually advanced race in all of the known galaxies, whose technology is so sophisticated it appears as magic to lesser beings.
Whilst most Algolites live in elitist seclusion from the rest of the Universe, I am an operative for an organisation known as the KOSMIKOS. I protect Earth from all manner of menace. I am -- The Daemon-Star!!! …
That very night, in a secluded area amongst the trees of the aforesaid Riverside Park, an utterly grotesque ritual was underway. It was being conducted by a man clad in a black vestment robe. He appeared to be of middle years, his face still showing definite signs of handsome distinction despite being marred with the signs of lifetimes of extreme unhallowed wickedness. His hair was long and dark, and his face decorated with a thin moustache and goatee. Most of all, his pale eyes shone with an absolute hypnotic glare as he stood behind the black draped altar.
“I do summon you,” he intoned, his voice tinged with utter madness. “I do summon you forth, O spirits of the Righ to make yourselves manifest here tonight. In the name of the goddess and god I do summon you.”
With this, a strange glow began to emanate from the amulet upon the altar; an amulet of pewter on which was carven a pentagram and a series of Celtic knot designs. It was a glow of eldritch black and red that grew more and more in intensity with each passing moment.
"I do summon you,” continued the evil celebrant. “I -- Magister Don Wingus of Algol -- do summon you!” …
Millie Drake and I entered the precincts of Riverside Park, located as it is on the west side of Manhattan, lit only by a few distant street lamps and the leprous light of the full Moon.
“So Daniel,” Millie said softly, “can we find out exactly where the Amulet of Sybil Leek is?”
“Hmmm,” I pondered. “It should be possible to do so.”
I reached into my jacket pocket and took out the transonic mezuzah, then utilising it to scan the area.
“By the Stellar Trinity!” I swore upon looking at the resultant readings before returning the device to my pocket. “The Amulet is indeed present, and the powers of the Righ are already being powerfully evoked! Come along, my dear Mills, we need to hurry!”
We started out in the direction from which the transonic had ascertained the power to be coming forth, but soon encountered an horror indeed.
“Daniel!” cried Millie. “Look out!”
At that very moment, blasting directly to-wards us, was an huge mass of red and black occult energy!!
Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the horrid accumulation of paranormal power vanished.
“By the Eternal Spires!” I swore. “That was Righ energy. Someone has called it forth indeed.”
“But it disappeared, Daniel,” replied my companion. “What happened to it?”
“My dear, that was just a small sample of the power that could be brought forth by someone knowledgeable in the ways of what is called ‘magic’ or ‘witchcraft’. If they succeed in bringing forth the full force of the Righ, then this entire planet is in peril.”
“My gosh. We have to stop them!”
We then continued onwards in our mission, trekking through the darkened city park to-wards the area that my transonic device had indicated from which the Righ energy was emanating. We soon arrived there and beheld a terror indeed. It was a certain person; a person I knew only too well, clad in ebon black and standing behind a satanic altar on which was the Amulet of Sybil Leek. It was him -- the renegade Algolite who has become not only the most dangerous and wanted criminal in all of Time and Space, but also my own most bitter foe.
“You!” I said “Don Wingus. I should have known. So you did escape from the Spear of Achilles.”
“Oh of course, Rumanos,” sneered the evil Wingus, “and now the Amulet of Sybil Leek is mine, and I have used it to bring forth the powers of the Righ -- the very Celtic gods -- powers that I shall use to establish myself as ruler of this world!”
“Wingus, you are utterly mad,” I charged. “You cannot control the powers of the Righ. They are more chaotic than the other pagan deities. They are fitful and erratic.”
“I assure you I am in complete control of the powers,” Wingus rejoined, “as you shall now see!”
With this, an awesome burst of red and black energy came forth from the Amulet directly at Millie Drake and me, accompanied with an eldritch howling.
“Feel the power of the Righ, Doctor and Lady Rumanos!” exulted the villain amidst peals of insane laughter. “Feel the power that I command as it tears your very being to shreds!”
I am wondering, my dear friends and readers, if you can even begin to comprehend the horror, or to understand the utter terror, of what we were then experiencing. There we were, the beautiful Miss Millie Drake and me -- Doctor Daniel Rumanos. There we were, facing the evil occult outlaw known to eternal infamy as Magister Don Wingus. There we were -- as the red and black energies of the ancient Celtic horrors known as the Righ blasted directly at us -- energies now enhanced with the ability to cause pain and even death!
The energies had now reached us, and a feeling of extreme anguish began to envelop Millie Drake and me -- a feeling of suffering and degradation and of pain beyond all normal knowing.
“Feel the power, Rumanos!” repeated Don Wingus. “Feel the power of the Celtic gods that I command! Feel the power that will shred your existence and make me supreme ruler of all!”
Then, from within the pain, I just managed to reach into my pocket and retrieve the transonic mezuzah. I took it out and raised it up to-wards the Amulet from which the energy was radiating.
“An it harm none,” I intoned as a the transonic let forth a strange electronic whirr, “do what thou wilt.”
At this, a most strange and wondrous thing occurred. The swirling Righ energy that had been pummelling Millie and me suddenly changed course, turning about and heading directly to-wards the evil Don Wingus!
“What!” he cried in shock as the powers surrounded him. “Rumanos, what have you done?”
“I simply utilised the old white witchcraft invocation,” I replied, “along with a certain setting of my transonic instrument, to switch the polarisation of the Righ energy’s neutronic stream. You see, Wingus, the Kosmikos knew that it was possible that someone would activate the powers of the Righ some day, and so the time was prepared for.”
“No!” Wingus shouted in outrage as the energies continued to engulf him. “No! You cannot do this to me! I am Magister Don Wingus! I am the rightful ruler of all! I am… ! No ! no! NO!!!”
With this, the Righ energy -- forsooth, the very power of the ancient Celtic “gods” imploded upon the Algolite villain and, within a mere moment, vanished with him. The area of the park was then quiet.
“Daniel, is he gone for good now?” asked Millie Drake.
“So it appears, my dear,” I answered, scanning the area with the transonic before returning it to my jacket. “Both Wingus and the Righ energies have disappeared entirely.”
Dawn was just breaking there in New York City’s Riverside Park as I took the Amulet from the altar and put it safely in my pocket. The sound of birds singing began to fill the air.
“Come along, Millie,” I continued. “It will be safe to return the Amulet of Sybil Leek to the antique shop, but first let us stop by the NYC Hotel Royale, hmmm? They have an excellent breakfast buffet.”
***** DANIEL RUMANOS AND MILLIE DRAKE SHALL RETURN
