The Pilgrims of Rayne

IBARA

Siry and I climbed out of the ruins of the tunnel and made our way back toward Tribunal Mountain. A cloud of smoke and sand hung over the village behind us, making it impossible to see what damage the tak bomb had done. One thing I saw right away was that the ground wasn’t the same. The force of the explosion really did act like an earthquake. The shock waves were probably carried along by the tunnel. Whatever. The result was that we couldn’t find the path back to the mountain, because there was no path. At least, it didn’t look much like a path anymore.

“Pendragon!” came a welcome shout.

It was Alder. Alive. He ran to us from out of the swirling dust. It was the most beautiful sight I could have asked for. His big smile beamed through the smoke. When he got to us, we all hugged.

The brave knight from Denduron pulled back and asked, “Hey, did you hear that?”

Siry and I stared at him blankly.

“It was a joke,” Alder said quickly. “You are not the only one with a sense of humor, Pendragon.”

Alder had made a joke. A dumb joke, but a joke.

“Wow,” I laughed. “I guess it’s official. Halla is never going to be the same.”

He gave me a friendly cuff on the shoulder.

“What about the dados?” Siry asked.

“It was difficult holding them back,” Alder answered, his joking finished. “There were more of them in the second wave. Many more. We couldn’t have kept them back much longer.”

“I want to see,” I said.

Alder led us over chunks of debris that had been pushed up from underground. It seemed most of the rocky tunnel was now on the surface. Still, there was so much dust and debris in the air, I couldn’t see more than a few feet ahead of us.

“The archers were heroic,” Alder said as we picked our way through. “I have fought beside warriors who had more skill, but none as brave. Even as the number of dados grew, they did not flinch. I ran between positions, showing them where to direct their arrows to best keep the dados off balance. I could not be everywhere. They quickly learned on their own.”

“So what happened when the tak exploded?” Siry asked.

“I told them that when they felt the ground rumble, that was the sign. When it came, they did not hesitate. They dropped their weapons and ran back. The ground felt as if it were growing under our feet. It threw us forward like a wave, but I do not believe there were any serious injuries. We were lucky.”

“And the dados?” I asked.

He led us to a huge mound of sand and rock that hadn’t been there earlier. The three of us climbed to the top to get a better view of the battlefield. Or what was left of it.

The smoke hung like a spooky haze over all we could see.

When the tropical breeze thinned it enough to make out detail, my mind wouldn’t accept what I was seeing. I thought there must be some mistake.

“It’s gone,” Siry gasped in awe.

The village of Rayne no longer existed. In its place was a mess of destroyed huts and fallen trees. Directly in front of us was a huge blast crater.

“They were directly over the tak,” Alder said. “Thousands of them. Many more pushed up from the rear. I believe they no longer exist. I do not know the word for it.”

“Vaporized,” I said.

“Yes,” Alder agreed. “Those who were not vaporized were blown into small bits. Perhaps some escaped back to the sea, but there could not have been many.”

Siry looked at me, and spoke as if in a daze. “Is it possible? Did we destroy an entire army?”

“That is exactly what we did,” Alder declared. “Ibara is safe.”

I stepped away from them and looked over the remains of the village. Yes, we had won. Against incredible odds. I should have felt like celebrating. I didn’t. I was relieved, sure, but I wasn’t in the mood for throwing any high fives. The battle was over. Saint Dane was defeated. But at what cost? Rayne was destroyed. It would take generations to bring it back. Just as important, the second turning point of Veelox had gone the wrong way. As dramatic as the dado battle was, it was not the turning point. The turning point had been when the Flighters destroyed the pilgrim ships. The rest of Veelox could not be rebuilt for a good long time. To me it felt like a case of winning the battle, but losing the war.

Most troubling of all was knowing what I had to do to win this battle. I had lowered myself to Saint Dane’s level by using technology and elements from other territories. Was it all worth it? Was Ibara a win or a loss? As I stood there looking at the destruction, I wasn’t so sure.

I heard the sound of a sharp caw! overhead. Looking up, I saw a large black bird sailing over the village, as if inspecting the damage. I knew who it was. He had lost his army, but he would fight again. What would his next evil plan be? And the next? And the one after that? Was this war going to continue until he finally found the way to bring about the Convergence that would put Halla under his control? And after that, what? What did he mean by Halla being “the beginning”? What else was out there? It all felt so incredibly hopeless.

As I stood on that mound, surveying the results of a questionable victory, I realized that the battle wasn’t over. There was more to do on Ibara.

“We’ve got to get back to the mountain now,” I said to Alder and Siry.

“Why?” Siry asked. “It’s over!”

“No, it isn’t.”

“What are you saying, Pendragon?” Alder asked.

I looked my friend dead in the eye and said, “We’re going after Saint Dane.”

The three of us ran as quickly as possible through the rubble of Rayne, headed for Tribunal Mountain. We worked our way through the scores of wounded archers to find the last remaining crate of tak. While Alder carried it outside, I instructed Siry to get the remaining dado weapons. Finally, I took a bow from one of the wounded archers, along with two of his arrows.

“What is your plan, Pendragon?” Alder asked me.

“First we get to the flume.”

When Siry returned with the weapons, we set out for the beach. Moving through the remains of the village was depressing. So many years of work had been destroyed in seconds. By me. I wasn’t proud of myself. We took turns carrying the crate of tak, because it was awkward and heavy. When we got to the beach I was surprised to see that the rocky cliffs that contained the flume were still intact. The power of the explosion hadn’t touched them. The dygo was parked at the mouth of the newly drilled tunnel, right where we’d left it.

I took a moment to look out onto the ocean. The blue-green waters were as calm as ever. It was hard to imagine that not long ago an armada of dados had come across it. It actually gave me hope that at some point, Ibara could be returned to its original beauty. Hopefully the same could be said for the rest of Veelox. It was that hope that convinced me I was about to do the right thing.

“First we’re going to return these things to their own territories,” I said. “Siry, can you drive the dygo?”

“Absolutely!”

“Bring it back to Zadaa. Alder, you bring these weapons back to Quillan. Leave them at the gate. Same thing with the dygo. Leave it at the gate and get out.”

“Does the tak stay?” Siry asked. “Is that how we’re going to get Saint Dane?”

“Yeah,” I said. “The tak stays.”

“Why is this so important, Pendragon?” Alder asked.

“It was bad enough that we brought this here in the first place,” I answered. “I want it gone now. All of it.”

“What about the dados? And the skimmers?” Siry asked. “We’re not going to send all the skimmers back, are we? And it’ll take forever to clean up the dado parts.”

“We didn’t bring those,” I answered quickly. “I want whatever we brought gone.”

Alder and Siry exchanged looks. They thought I was crazy. They weren’t far off.

“All right,” Alder said. “If that is what you feel is right.”

Siry went for the dygo. He was psyched to take it for a spin. As he was about to board, I called, “Siry!” He looked back at me.

“Your father would have been proud of you.”

Siry gave me the kind of warm smile I didn’t think he had in him. He entered the dygo and in no time got it rolling through the tunnel, headed for the flume. Alder and I walked behind him with the tak and the Quillan weapons. Alder kept glancing at me. Something was bothering him. I wasn’t surprised. Alder was a smart guy.

“What are you thinking, Pendragon? You have been strangely quiet since the battle.”

“Just trying to get my head around all that’s happened.”

Siry stopped the dygo short of the break I had drilled through the circular pool that was the mouth of the flume. He held open the hatch and said, “Anybody want to come? This should be fun.”

He suddenly seemed like a normal fifteen-year-old kid.

“Enjoy the ride,” I called out.

He closed the hatch, then opened it back up again and shouted out, “Zadaa!” He looked at me and added, “See? I’m learning. I’ll be right back.”

The flume came to life. The water swirled. I waited until the musical notes were at their loudest, then motioned for him to drive forward. Siry hit the throttle. The dygo rolled up and into the stone circle of water. It leaned forward and seemed to fall into the flume. A moment later it was gone.

“Your turn,” I said to Alder.

The knight picked up the remaining weapons. “What is next?” he asked.

“Like I said, we’re going after Saint Dane.”

Alder nodded but his heart wasn’t in it. He knew something was wrong. “You know I will always be there for you.”

I nodded in thanks, though I swear I almost cried.

“Quillan!” he called out, and the flume came back to life.

I hugged him. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you will think twice before doing something you may regret.”

I didn’t answer that. Alder looked into my eyes. He was searching for some clue as to what I was thinking. I looked away. It killed me. Alder stepped up to the edge of the pool.

“Good-bye, my friend,” he said. The sparkling light filled the cavern, and he was gone.

I didn’t know how much time I had before they would be back, so I moved quickly. I ran for the crate of tak and lugged it into the cavern. I placed the heavy explosives gently in the sand, directly against the stone ring of the flume. Without wasting a second, I scooped up the bow and the tak arrows and sprinted out of the tunnel. When I reached the mouth, I turned back and dropped to one knee.

“Caw!” came the familiar cry from overhead. Looking up, I saw the dark bird circling high above me.

“It’s just you and me now,” I said to myself. Or to him. I looked at my Traveler ring. It was still sparkling. I picked up the arrow, nocked it onto the string, and aimed into the tunnel. I closed my left eye, looking down the length of the arrow shaft until I saw the flume.

“Good-bye, guys,” I whispered. “Good luck.”

I let the arrow fly and dove to the sand. The shaft whistled as it flew into the dark tunnel. There was a small explosion. then a hiss, followed by an eruption. I jumped up and ran toward the ocean, ahead of the fireball that blasted out of the tunnel. The concussion knocked me to the sand. I hit hard, feeling the heat on my back. I lay there, afraid to move. Bits of rock rained down on me. I covered my head in case something bigger than gravel was coming my way. The sound of the immense blast echoed away. I waited. The gravel stopped falling. I cautiously looked up to see what was left of the rocky cliff.

There wasn’t much. What had been a tall, steep cliff face, was now rubble. The tunnel was gone, buried under tons of rock. I looked at my ring. The sparkle was gone. It was once again gray stone. It was the proof I needed.

I had destroyed the flume on Ibara.

Saint Dane was not going to leave this territory.

Neither was I.

(CONTINUED)