Suten quietly congratulated himself. This was the perfect place to hide.
Already worshipped by the indigenous human population, he could remain here undisturbed. He needed to rest for some time; it had been a long journey, over twelve light years across the coldness of space. Here, he could absorb energy from the heat of the midday sun—and it was very hot. He began to make plans for his takeover of this small planet. All he needed now was time to replenish his strength. He laughed out loud as he recalled the moment of his escape from his prison of two thousand years. It had actually been very easy, he thought. The guards had grown slow and lethargic; they had made mistakes. He knew they would—after all, he had nothing but time to wait.
Glemm had picked up the trail at last. It had taken a while, but he knew that somewhere there would be evidence of the vast expenditure of magical energy required to transport his old enemy away from this place. How could they have let him escape, he wondered. He called upon the elemental forces to begin the chase. He would have to be careful—Suten was dangerous. He would have no qualms about starting a full-scale elemental battle wherever he was, regardless of the cost to his surroundings.
Glemm remembered how an entire solar system had been destroyed prior to Suten’s capture. That was why he had been imprisoned for the rest of his existence. The trail led to a small blue-green planet, the third of nine orbiting a yellow star. Suten was bound to be somewhere in the hotter regions. Fire had always been his favourite elemental force—it was more destructive than the others. This was not going to be easy. Direct confrontation would be disastrous for all life forms on the planet. No, there had to be another way. Glemm needed an agent, someone he could guide to defeat Suten without arousing too much suspicion. Who would be the best choice? Certainly not a human—they were far too stupid and clumsy. They couldn’t find their way out of a paper bag. The sort of hero required needed to be smart, cunning, fast, and willing to travel.
Glemm began his search near the northern polar ice cap. There were few suitable candidates here. He could feel Suten’s evil magic even this far north—he didn’t have long. Many of the less intelligent creatures were already behaving aggressively towards one another, on a path to certain self-destruction. Where was the hero he needed? Walruses? Too slow. Peskimons? Too stupid. He focused on a small igloo and heard the distant sound of music. He had chanced upon the home of one Cool Coyote. He couldn’t risk direct contact—his materialisation would almost certainly be detected by the rejuvenated Suten. He would have to help the hero in more subtle ways…
