The Lost City of Faar

ZADAA

It was a training exercise,” Loor explained. “All warriors must take part. It is good experience to teach fighting as one, and as a team.” For all of the mayhem she just went through, Loor came out fairly intact. Nothing broken, only a few bruises.

“Seemed more like football with weapons to me,” I countered.

Both Loor and Spader gave me blank stares. They had no idea what I meant. That was okay. It didn’t matter.

The three of us walked along the streets of the desert city, which Loor told us was called Xhaxhu (pronounced Zha-ZHOO). It was the capital city of Zadaa.

Spader walked behind us with his head down, listening to everything we said. Unlike the other people of Zadaa, he was able to understand her because she was a Traveler. Understanding everyone else would come in time, just as it did for me. I wished that Loor could have seen him the way he was when I first got to Cloral. She would have loved that guy. But as I wrote before, Spader had changed. Okay, he was pretty freaked out about our trip to Zadaa; can’t blame him for that. The death of his father had turned him inside out. I could only hope that at some point he would deal with his anger and become his old self again.

“Why did you come to Zadaa, Pendragon?” asked Loor.

“Two reasons,” I said. “Uncle Press and I think we know what Saint Dane is up to on Cloral and we could use your help, big time. The other reason is…”

I looked back at Spader, debating about how much I should blurt out in front of him. I decided it was time to jump in with both feet.

“The other reason is that Spader’s father was the Traveler from Cloral. He’s dead. Now Spader is the Traveler. The problem is, he has no clue… about anything. I’ve got to get him up to speed and I need your help to do it.”

I looked back to Spader. He had stopped walking and was now staring right at me with confusion and what I thought might be a little bit of fear. I had just hit him with a boatload of information that didn’t compute. Nothing I had just said made any sense to him. That was pretty obvious. Loor turned to him and said, “Tell me what you will remember most about your father.”

Spader shot her a look. The question surprised him, but he wanted to answer. He looked down, remembering. He then looked back to Loor and said, “He was a great man, a great teacher, and I loved him.” I think he was holding back a ton of emotion.

Loor touched him on the shoulder and said, “Then you will make a great Traveler. Come with me.”

She turned and continued walking. Spader looked to me and I saw that the confusion was still there, but the fear was gone. I knew at that moment that coming to see Loor was the best move I could have made.

Loor took us to her home. The large building was made of the same brown sandstone that all the structures were made of here on Zadaa. It was all on one level, with wooden floors and a thatched roof. The place was big, too. There were many rooms where others lived, like some big, sandy apartment building. Judging from the other muscle-types who were hanging out, I figured this must have been some kind of warrior dormitory. Loor’s space had two rooms — one main room where the cooking was done and another that was a bedroom. The furniture was woven, like wicker. There were a few low chairs and a bed that were plain and simple. A community bathroom outside the apartment had a trough of running water for drinking and washing. Another trough of water that was the sewer ran underground. The place was crude, but efficient.

The three of us sat in the main room and Loor actually cooked for us. She baked three loaves of very tasty bread and we had crunchy fresh vegetables to go with it. She also gave us a sweet drink that was made from the sap of a tree. It reminded me of coconut. Uncle Press would have loved this. I wondered what he was doing just then, and if he was safe from the raiders on Cloral. But there was nothing I could do about that now, so I tried not to worry.

As we ate, Loor told us about her life as a warrior in training. She was part of the military here on Zadaa. The apartment she lived in was given to her by the military and she could live there for as long as she served. Because she was so young, she was pretty much a low-level soldier. But she hoped to someday become a leader. I had no doubt she would.

When we finished eating and cleaning up, we all sat there staring at one another. There was a very big issue hanging in the room and I had no idea how to attack it. Spader did it for me. He had been listening silently to our conversation and finally decided it was time to speak.

“You called me a Traveler,” he said, breaking the ice. “What does that mean?”

Loor took the lead. She calmly explained to Spader how every territory had a Traveler who could fly through the flumes. She told him how each territory was about to reach a critical turning point and how it was the job of the Travelers to do all they could to make sure the outcome would keep the territory peaceful. To fail would mean the territory would fall into chaos. She also told him of Saint Dane, the evil Traveler who was working to do the opposite. His goal was to push the territories into bedlam.

This is where I jumped in. I told Spader that Saint Dane could change the way he looked. On Cloral, he was the pirate Zy Roder. Uncle Press and I felt sure that he was responsible for poisoning the crops. I said how a bad food supply on Cloral would cause a civil war when people fought over the food that was still safe — just the kind of thing Saint Dane would love.

Loor finished by saying how she and I still didn’t understand why we had been selected to be Travelers, or who it was that chose us. But the job we were given was an important one. She said how the battles with Saint Dane weren’t only about each territory, they were about all of Halla. She explained that Halla was everything — all territories, all people, and all time. Saint Dane’s ultimate goal was to control Halla. The only thing standing in his way were the Travelers. That would be us.

Spader listened intently. This was some serious stuff we were laying on him. I had no idea how he would react.

“So?” I asked. “What are you thinking?”

I could tell he was trying to put this puzzle together in his head but was having trouble getting all the pieces to fit.

“This is… this is a lot,” he said.

Yeah, no kidding.

“I’m sorry, mates,” he added. “I’m an aquaneer. I know boats, I know water, I know how to fix them and have some fun along the way. That’s pretty much what my life’s about. But now you’re telling me I’ve got to be responsible for the future of everything? Hobey, I’m not the best choice for that particular job.”

“Tell me about it,” I threw in. “Neither am I!”

Loor stood up and took something out of a wicker basket near the fireplace.

“Do you think your father was someone worthy of being a Traveler?” she asked Spader.

“Absolutely,” Spader shot back without hesitation.

Loor handed Spader the item she pulled from the basket. I saw that it was a piece of green paper that was folded in two. It looked like the same kind of paper I was used to writing my Cloral journals on. Spader opened it up to reveal that it was a drawing. Actually, it washalfof a drawing. It looked as if it had been ripped in two and this was the left half.

The drawing was in black ink. There was a solid, horizontal line about a third of the way up from the bottom. Below this line there was another line that started at the bottom near the lower left-hand side and curved up until it hit the right edge of the page, making a quarter of a circle. Above the horizontal line were a bunch of dots sprayed around in no particular pattern. In the upper right-hand corner were a series of five symbols. It looked like they continued on to the right half of the page that had been torn away.

I had no idea what this half drawing meant, until I noticed something that rocked me. In the upper left-hand corner of the page was a round symbol. It was the exact same symbol with the interlocking letters that was on the note Spader’s father had left for him. I looked to Spader in shock. Spader’s eyes were fixed on the paper. Finally, after an eternity, he whispered,

“Faar.”

“Far?” I shot back, my pulse rate spiking through the roof. “Far what?” I looked to Loor and demanded, “Where did you get this?”

“My mother was a Traveler,” she said calmly. “She knew Spader’s father.”

Whoa! Major twist.

“Before I knew of my destiny,” Loor continued, “she returned from one of her travels with this drawing. She told me of a man whom she admired greatly. She said he knew answers when most did not yet know the questions. He had risked his life many times over to find the information on this page. He said it was important to the future of Cloral. But he feared it might be found by those with evil intent. That is why he tore it in two and gave half to my mother. Your father said that his time was growing short, and that his son would carry on his work. He asked my mother to pass this on to his son when he came looking for it. My mother is now dead, Spader. It is my duty to give this to you.”

This was incredible. The web of Travelers was truly interconnected.

“This is the same symbol your father left you,” I said to Spader. “If you know what it means, you gotta tell us!”

Spader stood up and paced. Things were happening too fast for him.

“It’s a tall tale,” he said nervously. “A children’s story.”

“What is?” I insisted.

“Faar!” he snapped back. “It’s a legend. Everybody knows it.”

“We don’t,” I said.

“Then I’ll tell you,” he continued. “The symbol represents a mythical city called Faar that was built on the only dry land that existed on Cloral. It was supposed to be this amazing place full of scholars and music and scientists and art, like some kind of perfect place. But there was a tum-tigger of a disaster and this perfect place sank into the sea. The elders of the city saw the disaster coming and prepared for it. Somehow they saved the city, even though it sank into the ocean. The legend says the people of Faar will always live down below the water, secretly protecting all those who live on the habitats above.”

“It was destroyed?” asked Loor.

“It sank, I didn’t say it was destroyed,” Spader said.

“Why didn’t you tell us this when you saw the symbol on Magorran?” I asked.

“Because it’s a fable. It was a bedtime story my father used to tell me. I thought he was giving me the symbol so I’d remember our time together. I didn’t think it meant anything more than that! I still don’t!”

“But, what if your father was trying to tell you something?” I said, attempting to keep my mouth from running ahead of my brain. “What if this is more than a children’s story? What if your father discovered that Faar really exists?”

“That’s impossible!” scoffed Spader.

“But if it isn’t,” I continued while holding up the half page. “This could be a map. Orhalfa map. Your father might have discovered Faar.”

“But Faar isn’t real!” he shouted back at me.

“But if it is,” added Loor, “it would be just the kind of thing Saint Dane would want to destroy especially if it is important to the people of Cloral.”

“Saint Dane!” shouted Spader. He was really worked up now. All the input over the last few days had finally gotten to him. “I don’t know about territories or Travelers or Halla or flumes or any of that scutty-do magic, but there’s one thing you’ve said that makes sense. If this Saint Dane is responsible for poisoning the people of Magorran, then I don’t carewhyhe did it. He killed my father and I’m going to pay for that. Pendragon, take me back to Cloral, now!”

This was going badly. After all we told Spader about being a Traveler and the mission we were on, there was only one thing he took away from it. He wanted revenge on Saint Dane.

I jumped up and said, “You don’t get it. Saint Dane isn’t just some guy you get even with. The dude is like… evil. And he has powers — more than you can imagine. He’d kill you before you even know you’re in trouble.”

“He couldn’t be tougher than Loor!” countered Spader. “She’s a warrior. She could come with us and use some of those natty weapons on him.”

“It doesn’t work like that,” I said, trying not to get too frustrated. “You can’t bring things from one territory to the next. We learned that the hard way.”

“Fine!” he shouted. “There are plenty of weapons on Cloral. Let’s just go after him!”

“You can’t go after him!” I shouted back. “One on one, you’ll be dead meat!”

“Then I’ll be dead meat,” said Spader with finality. “But I can’t let my father’s death go unavenged — no matter how big and bad this guy is. Take me backnow"

I had to think fast. Spader was out of control. I had to diffuse this situation, fast, before he did something dumb.

“No,” I said with as much force as I could generate. “I’m tired and I’ll never find the gate in the dark. If you want to go back on your own, knock yourself out. I’m not going back until tomorrow.”

I sat down, picked up my coconut drink, and tried to act casual. It was a major-league bluff and I could only hope that Spader wouldn’t go looking for the gate by himself. I didn’t think he could find it, but you never knew. He stood with his feet firmly planted and his fists balled, weighing his options. Finally he said, “All right. We go back tomorrow. But then I’m going after Saint Dane whether you’re with me or not.”

With that he stormed out. I started to go after him but Loor put a hand on my shoulder.

“Let him walk alone,” she said. “He needs to calm down.”

I sat back down and dropped my coconut drink. Ihatedcoconut.

“Well, that couldn’t have gone any worse,” I said with a false laugh.

“He has spirit,” said Loor.

“Yeah, tell me about it. But if he goes after Saint Dane — “

“You must control him, Pendragon. You know as well as I that Saint Dane will kill him. I do not mean to sound uncaring, but he is no help to us dead.”

“I get it. Between the two of us we can — “

“No,” she said firmly. “I cannot go to Cloral with you.”

That wasnotwhat I wanted to hear.

“What do you mean?” I asked incredulously. “We’re Travelers. We help each other. You know ‘the way it was meant to be/ and all that stuff. Don’t bail on me now!”

“I have not yet found the turning point on Zadaa. But there is growing tension between the Batu and the Rokador. I want to try and stop the trouble before it grows worse. If I am successful then it will be one less battle we have to worry about in the future.”

“Yeah, but what about the battle I’m fighting right now?”

“Your mission now is to control a passionate new Traveler and to solve the mystery of Faar. Think, Pendragon. You are better suited to that task than I. I would simply batter Spader senseless until he was unable to chase Saint Dane.”

Good point. Diplomacy wasn’t high on Loor’s skill list.

“When you need a warrior,” she added, “I will be there. You know that.”

Of course she was right. Loor was always ready to fight, even if fighting wasn’t the smartest way to go. I didn’t need the responsibility of controllingtwohotheads. Putting it another way, if she was the brawn of this team, then I was the brains. It was time to start using them.

“Is it possible?” I asked. “Could Spader’s father have found a lost city?”

“After what we have been through,” said Loor, “do you still think anything is impossible?”

The two of us looked to each other and shared a moment of unspoken understanding. We had been through a lot together and we knew there was much more to come. No, nothing was impossible in this new life of ours. The easiest thing to do was accept it.

Loor slept in her bedroom that night and I stretched out on the floor of the main room. She gave me a rough blanket and left an extra in case Spader came back. I’m happy to write that a few hours later, he did. He entered the apartment and lay down in front of the fire. I didn’t say anything because I had no idea what kind of mood he was in. The last thing I wanted was to set him off again.

“Pendragon, you awake?” Spader whispered.

“Yeah.”

“You’re right, mate. I don’t know all the rules of this game yet. Hobey, I don’t even know what the game is. I’m willing to listen to what you think is best.”

Whew, that was a relief. Now I could sleep.

“But you have to know something,” he added. “I will learn from you. I will try and understand what it means to be a Traveler. But if I have a chance to hurt Saint Dane, I’m going to take it.”

“That’s the whole point, Spader,” I said. “We all want to put Saint Dane out of business. But we’ve got to be smart about it. This might sound cold, but there is more at stake here than getting revenge for your father.”

“But he was myfather, Pendragon!” he said with emotion. “How can I look past that?”

I didn’t sit up. I didn’t raise my voice. I answered Spader as calmly as possible.

“You’re not the only one who’s been hurt here. Both my parents and my sister are gone. Loor’s mother was killed. We both watched as Saint Dane’s men shot her full of arrows. It hadn’t been easy but we’ve been able to look past it. You’d better have the guts to do it too.”

Spader didn’t respond. I think I nailed him right between the eyes. Yes, we had all lost loved ones. Spader didn’t have a monopoly on that particular horror. I could only hope that he now understood that the only hope we had of defeating Saint Dane was by fighting the larger battle, together.

I was too exhausted to think anymore. It had been an incredibly long day. I needed to sleep, so that’s what I did.

We all got up before the sun. Loor started a fire and cooked us more of that incredible bread, along with a half dozen eggs. At least I thought they were eggs. They were green and looked more like something you would see in a Dr. Seuss book than on a menu at Denny’s. Still, they were good and I was starving. We needed to eat every chance we had because we couldn’t be sure where our next meal would come from.

It was now time to get going. Spader stood before Loor and said, “Thank you for helping me understand, and for holding my father’s note. I guess we’ll see each other again.”

“We will,” she said. Then added, “Trust Pendragon. He is the light we all need to follow.”

That caught me by surprise. What did she mean by that? It sounded like a compliment, but it also sounded like she was expecting way too much from me. Spader looked to me and I’ll bet he was wondering the same thing. He then nodded and left us alone.

“What was that about the light and the following?” I asked her.

She scoffed, saying, “I wanted to make sure Spader listened to you. That is all.”

Oh. Okay. That was cool. I guess.

“When you need me,” she added, “I will be there.”

“Thanks for helping with Spader,” I said. “I was lost there for a while.”

“Your instincts are good, Pendragon,” she said. “Someday you will realize that.”

I nodded and backed out of the room. This was the second time I had to say good-bye to Loor, and it wasn’t any easier. Still, I knew where to find her if need be.

Spader and I walked back toward the gate without saying much. I had to concentrate in order to retrace our steps through the city. It helped that my ring was doing a hot-cold thing to help guide us. With only a few wrong turns, we finally found the building with the ramp that led down to the underground river.

I really wanted to avoid running into that guy who worked the knob-and-lever gizmo. I didn’t want to have to answer any more questions. But as luck would have it, the guy was there again, still checking his plans, still spinning his controls. What a boring job. We tried to sneak by without being noticed but -

“Are you lost again?” he said without looking at us.

“No,” I said with authority. “Just passing through.”

“Do you believe me now?” he asked.

“Uh… about what?”

“About the Batu. They are liars and barbarians. I hope you found that so-called friend of yours and told them I said so.”

Loor was right. There was definitely bad blood between the Rokador and the Batu. I hoped she had luck in diffusing it.

“Yeah,” I lied. “Thanks for the advice.”

The man didn’t say another word. I motioned to Spader and we continued on through the tunnel that led to the waterfall. Once we had gotten away from the roar of the water, Spader said, “I understood.”

“What do you mean?”

“The guy back there. When he first started talking it sounded like: ‘Shshaa shashaaa shashaaa’ or something. But then all of a sudden he started making sense. I understood what he said about the Rokador and the Batu. What happened?”

I had to smile. “What happened is that you’re becoming a Traveler.”

Next stop, Cloral.