The dygo rolled easily across the snow, making deep tracks. Siry was mostly silent, taking in the awesome view of the majestic, snow-capped mountains that surrounded us. It really was a beautiful territory. Rugged, but beautiful. He only made one comment during our descent to the Milago village.
“Am I crazy?” he asked as he looked up at the sky.
“No,” I chuckled. “There are three suns.”
Siry blinked and sat back in his seat. The guy was dazed. When he set out with the Jakills to learn the truth, he had no idea what he was getting himself into.
As we got lower, the snow gave way to grass. I stopped the dygo, and we got out to survey the scene. We stood high above the valley, looking down on the new Milago village. My last view of this place had shown nothing but devastation. The explosion of the mines destroyed the Bedoowan castle and tore apart the countryside. Much of the Milago village had been destroyed as well. Now there was no sign of destruction. Just the opposite. The Milago huts were rebuilt better than before. They looked larger and sturdier. The dirt paths that wound between them now looked more organized and solid. It looked like they were paved. Beyond the village I saw the vast farmland that fed the population. It looked rich with crops. It looked perfect.
There was something else that made me smile. It was late in the day. The three suns were sinking low on the horizon. Down in the village, street lights winked to life. When I had been there before, the Milago didn’t have lights. They didn’t have power of any sort. It wasn’t until I entered the Bedoowan castle that I realized the territory was more advanced than I originally thought. The Bedoowan had been keeping the Milago in the dark ages. Literally. I was thrilled to see that the Bedoowan were now sharing their knowledge. The Milago village was alive.
“Let’s get down before it’s too dark,” I said.
We climbed back into the dygo and continued our journey. My thoughts went ahead to the next step. It would be the most difficult of all. I didn’t want to see Alder, for the same reasons I hadn’t wanted to run into Loor. I didn’t want him coming back to Ibara. Unfortunately, on Denduron we were going to need his help.
I found a dense stand of pine-looking trees and pulled the dygo beneath them. “We’ll walk the rest of the way. Don’t want to panic anybody.”
We got out of the sphere and covered it up quickly with branches and leaves. It wasn’t a very good job of camouflage, but it was the best we could do.
“We need to find the Traveler,” I said, and led him down toward the village.
I didn’t think anyone would recognize me. It had been a couple of years, and I wasn’t the same scared little kid who left there after the destruction of the Bedoowan castle. I was still fairly scared, but I wasn’t so little anymore. Siry and I walked through the streets of the busy village without getting any second looks. The community was thriving now. It was no longer the kind of place where everybody knew everybody else. The huts had become houses. The streets were no longer muddy, and lights made the place warm and inviting. It was nothing like the village I had left in ruins. Except for one thing. Along one street was an open square that, at first, looked like a park. A low, black fence surrounded a grassy clearing, where I could easily imagine people stopping for a picnic. But it wasn’t a park. It was a memorial. In the center of the square was a wide ring of stones that I recognized as the entrance to one of the old glaze mines. It was on this stone platform where Saint Dane conducted his sadistic Transfer ceremony, where a miner was chosen and weighed against the day’s haul of glaze. If the glaze didn’t weigh as much as the miner, the miner was tossed to his death inside the mine shaft. It seemed this stone structure was left there as a memorial, and a reminder.
We asked a villager where we might find the camp of the Bedoowan knights. I figured that was as good a place as any to look for Alder. The villager directed us to the bluffs overlooking the ocean, where the Bedoowan castle once stood. I knew the way. We made it through the village and across a grassy field, then we saw the glow of lights up ahead. I explained to Siry that before the battle, the grassy bluff went straight out to the ocean. From on top you’d never know that a massive castle was built into the cliff below. When the mines were destroyed the immense castle fell into the sea, taking much of the land above with it.
As we walked closer, we saw that the lights were coming from the destroyed foundation of the castle-city. It had become the compound of the Bedoowan knights. A set of ancient stone steps led down to a large, open area that I recognized as the ruins of the arena where we battled the quig beasts. The memory gave me a chill. I never thought I’d see this place again.
Siry and I stood on the edge of the ruins, looking down on what looked like some kind of game. Several knights were gathered around a circle, watching two other knights wrestle. It wasn’t an angry competition. The knights cheered and cajoled the two combatants. It looked like a bunch of guys having fun. It was an odd feeling. When I was there before, they were the bad guys. Not anymore.
“Care to place a wager?” came a voice from behind us.
I didn’t have to turn around to know who it was.
“Only if you were the one fighting,” I said. “I only bet on a sure thing.”
I was suddenly swept up in a bear hug. If I didn’t know better I’d think he was trying to crush me. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“Hello, Pendragon,” Alder said warmly.
“Man, I am glad to see you,” I replied.
Alder let go and backed off. I’d forgotten what a big guy he was. Though I’d grown a few inches, he still towered over me. His brown hair had grown longer and nearly touched his shoulders. He wore light leathers, similar to ours, rather than the heavy, black leather armor of a Bedoowan knight. He must have been off duty. As I’ve written before, Alder was a trained knight, but his aggressive side only came out in battle. He was actually a gentle guy who always had a smile.
But not just then. Alder’s expression was dark. “I wish I could say the same. I saw the machine, Pendragon. Many of us did. I do not know how to explain that to my people. Why would you bring such a thing from another territory?”
“To save Halla” was my answer.
He was upset. I understood. I had to explain myself. After introducing Siry, the three of us sat on the rim of the old arena, and I brought Alder up to speed. I didn’t hold anything back. He listened to everything I had to say. It was for Siry’s benefit too. My plan for battling Saint Dane on Ibara went against everything we knew to be right, but it was the only way. When I finally told Alder why we had come to Denduron, I felt as if I’d hit him in the gut. He didn’t say anything for a long while. He sat looking down at his comrades, who were laughing and having a great time. I felt bad. If we hadn’t been there, Alder probably would have been down there with them. That wasn’t the way it was meant to be. He was a Traveler.
He finally took a tired breath and said, “By doing what you ask, we could harm the future of Denduron as well. Have you thought of that?”
“I have. But this isn’t just about Veelox, Alder. It’s about Halla. If Saint Dane overruns Ibara, you may soon be facing an army of dados right here.”
“What you are asking is dangerous,” Alder said gravely. “We cannot do it alone.”
“Can you get help?” I asked.
“People remember you, Pendragon. They remember how you helped save the Milago from the tyranny of the Bedoowan. The only person they revere more is Press. But he is not here, is he?”
Again I got the feeling that Uncle Press would not have approved of what we were doing. But as Alder said, he wasn’t there. It was my show now.
“I can get people to help you,” he said. “There is only one condition.”
“Name it.”
“You must take me to Ibara.”
“No way,” I shouted, and jumped up. “I won’t risk your life. Not again. Twice was twice too many.”
“Pendragon,” Alder said calmly. “This is not a negotiation. My p
lace is with you, battling Saint Dane. Why would you refuse that, unless you question what it is you are doing?”
“Of course I question what I’m doing,” I shouted back. “I’m trying to figure it out as I go along. If something happens to me, to us, what will happen to the Travelers? It’s why I didn’t contact Loor. If three of us don’t make it through this battle, and with Gunny and Spader trapped on Eelong, that would only leave Patrick, Loor, Aja, and Elli from Quillan. They would need you, Alder. We can’t risk it.”
“If this battle is as important as you say,” Alder said calmly, “it would not matter how many Travelers were left. The war would be over.”
“Agreed, but I don’t want you to be part of this.”
“Why?” Alder asked. “What is the real reason? Is it because you fear I will be hurt? Or because you have doubts about what you are doing?”
“I don’t have doubts,” I said adamantly.
“Then my position is not negotiable,” Alder said with finality.
I was stuck. I tried desperately to think of another reason for him to stay home, but came up blank.
“I kind of like the idea of him coming along,” Siry added.
“Fine,” I finally blurted out. “You’re in. I’m against it, but you’re in.”
Alder said, “Or maybe you could say that you are happy I will be there to help.”
“Yeah, that too.”
I realized I was sounding pretty ungrateful. Alder was putting himself on the line for me again. He was a good friend and Traveler. I shouldn’t have been so angry.
“I’m sorry, Alder,” I said, softening. “I’m glad you’re going to help us. I just don’t want anything to happen to you.”
Alder stood and put a hand on my shoulder, saying, “From what you tell me, the best way to make sure nothing happens to any of us is to beat Saint Dane on Ibara.”
It was getting late. We needed rest. Alder found us comfortable beds in the knights’ quarters in the castle ruins. It kind of creeped me out to be back in that castle, considering I was the one who blew it up in the first place. Sleeping was tough. The task ahead was going to be difficult and dangerous. I’m not talking about the battle with Saint Dane. I’m talking about the task on Denduron.
Alder got up early the next morning to make preparations. By the time Siry and I woke up and got something to eat, Alder had already gathered a group of twenty volunteers from the Milago village. We met them in the clearing between the village and the castle ruins. I recognized some of the men. The biggest difference from when I was there before was that they looked healthy now. Back then, all the men had the same gray look of death, from working in the mines and breathing the poisonous fumes that were emitted when glaze was torn from the rock. Now they looked strong and well fed. I felt bad for what I was about to ask them to do.
Leading these volunteers was a man I remembered well. It was Rellin, the chief miner and leader of the revolution against the Bedoowan. He was now the leader of the Milago. He was as powerful and confident a leader as I remembered. The one thing missing was the anger he once held. He was now at peace with his world. I hoped I wasn’t going to disrupt that too much.
“You’ve grown up, Pendragon,” he said while giving me a warm hug.
“I can’t believe what I see here,” I said to the man. “It’s a whole new village.”
“It is, in great part thanks to you and Press. I was sorry to hear of his passing.”
I nodded in appreciation.
“In his memory, and because of the part you played in creating a new world for us, we are willing to do what you ask,” Rellin said. “There will be danger. Do you understand that?”
“Yes, I do,” I said. “I wouldn’t be asking for help if it weren’t so incredibly important.”
“And what makes it so?” he asked.
I knew I’d have to answer that question at some point. I couldn’t tell Rellin the whole truth, of course. But he deserved to know some form of it.
“There is a village a long way from here that needs my help. Like the Milago, they are in danger of being destroyed by a powerful, evil force. I am trying my best to help them.”
“You are quite the adventurer, Pendragon,” Rellin said. “It is a noble but dangerous calling to become involved in such conflicts.”
He pretty much nailed that one square on the freakin’ head.
“Yes, but it’s the right thing to do,” I said.
“Then for you and your noble calling, I will send my men back down into the mines in search of tak.”
“Thank you,” I said sincerely.
These were brave guys. I wished I could tell them how they would be mining the tak to protect their own future as well.
Rellin said, “You understand the veins of tak were buried deep below the ground. It will take much effort to uncover them.”
“Not as much as you think,” I declared.
I led Rellin and the miners to the dygo. Siry walked alongside me.
“What’s so special about tak?” he whispered.
“It’s a natural substance they discovered while mining for glaze. It’s a soft, red dirt you can roll into balls, like clay.”
“What is it, poison?”
“It’s an incredibly powerful explosive. A tiny dot could blow one of those huts off the face of Denduron. The miners were going to use it against the Bedoowan, but it would have changed the evolution of the society. With tak, the Milago would have become warriors. After defeating the Bedoowan, Rellin was going to try and conquer other areas of Denduron. This peaceful village would have become a city of warriors. They never got the chance. After the explosion the tak mines were buried too deep for them to get to.”
“Except with a dygo,” Siry said.
“Exactly. I want to blow Saint Dane back to wherever it was he came from. With a weapon like tak, we’ve got a chance against his army. Without it…” I didn’t finish the sentence.
Siry said, “But once we dig a tunnel, won’t the Milago be able to keep mining it?”
“No, this is a different place,” I said quickly. “They aren’t at war anymore.”
Siry looked troubled. “I just hope we don’t blow the people of Denduron back to where they came from too.”
“We won’t,” I snapped.
Siry didn’t say another word.
Rellin and the twenty miners were in absolute awe of the dygo. No big surprise. I gave them a story about how it came from a city on the far side of the mountains. I knew they had plenty of questions, but I didn’t give them the chance to ask. Siry and I boarded the sphere and rolled toward the castle. There was no way of knowing where a vein of tak might be located. I stopped the machine at a remote spot that wouldn’t interfere with the normal routine of the village. As the miners watched in awe, I engaged the drill and dipped it toward the ground. With a push on the foot pedals, the drill bit into the ground. We were under way.
Digging the mine was simple. Finding tak wasn’t. My plan was to dig several shallow tunnels and have the miners inspect them for tak. If we came up empty, we’d dig a new tunnel. And another and another until we found what we came for. It was a laborious process. We spent several days on Denduron with no luck. We found small deposits of glaze, but the miners didn’t dare dig it out. They had seen enough of the blue gem to last a few hundred lifetimes.
While we dug, other miners constructed crates for us to transport the explosive. The crates were critical. Tak dissolved when mixed with water. Since our entry to Ibara was through a pool of water, the crates needed to be watertight. The miners also built a large, flat sled we could use to drag the tak up and over the mountain. Of course, they didn’t know we were only going halfway.
I was really touched by how hard everyone worked. More and more volunteers joined when they heard who they were working for. Some even volunteered to come with us and help in the fight, but there was no way I could accept that. Eventually there were enough miners to split into shifts, so there was always
someone working during the daylight hours. I felt sure that if there was tak to be found, we would find it.
It was great being with Alder. He gave Siry pointers on fighting. He demonstrated the art of using the long, wooden stave that he and Loor were such experts with. Siry was an eager student, but there was no way to turn him into a fighter in such a short time. It was more for fun, which was almost as important. It had been a long time since we had done anything that was even close to fun.
Watching those two spar with the long staves gave me an idea. After digging a new mine shaft with the dygo, I drove the vehicle back up the mountain to the flume. I didn’t tell the others I was going, because I wasn’t planning on being gone long. I parked outside the cave, entered, and stepped into the flume.
“Quillan,” I announced, and was quickly pulled toward a territory that held nothing but dark memories for me.
I arrived at the gate and quickly changed into the gray, nondescript clothing near the flume. I didn’t run into any of the mechanical spider-quigs. No surprise there. This territory was done. I left the vast warehouse that held the gate to the flume, and climbed up to the incredible gaming arcade that had been my first taste of Quillan. I’m sorry to say that the arcade was rocking. The Quillan games were back, and busier than ever. It hurt to watch.
On the street nothing had changed. I didn’t know how much time had passed by Quillan standards, but the territory looked the same as when I had first seen it. The city streets were jammed with people moving like lifeless zombies. The huge screens on the buildings above showed the same geometric patterns, broken up by the occasional announcement given by a nameless reporter. It killed me. Blok had won. Saint Dane had won. I had failed miserably on Quillan.