“Oh, yes. The lure of the big win is simply too much to resist. Greed, Pendragon.”
My thoughts went back to that arcade, where the guy beat the video game and was reunited with a little kid. I wondered if he had bet with the life of that kid. I felt sick to my stomach.
“I’d like to say you’ve already lost Quillan,” Saint Dane said, trying to sound sympathetic. I know he wasn’t. “But I’m afraid that isn’t entirely true. Quillan never had a chance. The territory will crumble and when it does, I’ll be here to help them rebuild. I have wonderful plans. You have to admit that the people here have made a horrible mess of things. Under my guidance Quillan will once again become strong. Even you have to admit they need help. I can give it to them, Pendragon. I can help all the territories. What’s happening here on Quillan isn’t unique. Time and again it’s been proved that the people of the territories are incapable of guiding their own destinies. All I want to do is help. Is that so bad?”
He said this last with a gleam in his eye that made me want to punch him. I think I would have, if I thought it would do any good.
“Why did you bring me here?” I asked.
The demon walked back to the window and gazed out at the grim city. “I want to see how strong you really are, and the only way to do that is to see you lose.”
“I thought the territory was already lost.”
“Not the territory, fool!” Saint Dane snapped. “You!” He lost his cool for a second, but quickly regained it. “I’ll admit, I’m surprised by how you’ve disrupted my plans on so many of the other territories. Press said you would be strong, but I had no idea just how resourceful you could be. Bravo! If I were being perfectly honest, I’d have to say I thought you would have given up by now. But that’s not the case, is it?”
“No, it isn’t,” I said.
Saint Dane was actually complimenting me, and admitting his own failures. How weird was that?
“I have a proposition for you,” he said. “I know you don’t have to compete in the Quillan games. I’m sure you’d find a way to escape from those Veego and LaBerge buffoons. But I’d like you to compete in this extravaganza they call the Grand X.”
“Really?” I said sarcastically. “Is that all? Why sure! I’d do anything for you, old pal!”
Saint Dane laughed. “Will it be that simple?”
“In your dreams.”
“I thought not.” He chuckled.
“Then what’s the point?”
“The point is I want you to lose!” he snarled.
The guy’s emotions changed on a dime. I never knew when he was going to laugh, or get all angry and try to beat me into jelly. “You’ve gotten strong, Pendragon,” he said through clenched teeth. “Not just in your resolve, but physically. You’ve become a force that I’ve grown weary of dealing with,”
“And you know you can’t beat me,” I said, getting cocky. “We found that out in the cavern on Zadaa, didn’t we?”
“Perhaps,” he said. “But I believe your intensity in battling me was fueled by the emotion you felt over the death of your friend Loor. I’m not so sure you could beat me again.”
“Want to find out?” I asked. If this was turning into a macho contest, I didn’t want to lose. Saint Dane stared right into my eyes. I didn’t blink. For a moment I thought I saw the image of this
Mr. Kayto dude waver, as if Saint Dane was losing his grip on the illusion and turning back into his normal self. Was he going to attack me again? I did a quick mental inventory of the room from memory, thinking about what I could grab as a weapon.
“That may happen someday,” Saint Dane said, backing off. “But not here. Not now.” The moment passed. “I’m offering you a challenge, Pendragon. If you should triumph, which I don’t believe you will, then you’ll be stronger and more confident than ever. Perhaps as a champion you might even be able to do some good for this miserable territory. Who knows? You have the charisma to do that.”
“But if I lose, I might die,” I said. “Sorry, the upside isn’t worth it.”
“Ahhh, but that’s where my offer comes in,” Saint Dane said. “What is it that you want most, Pendragon? Other than defeating me, of course. What is the one thing you want that would make the risk worthwhile?”
“Something you can’t give me,” I said.
“Which is?”
I debated about telling him the truth. Why should I expose my deepest feelings to my enemy? It might only give him more ammunition to use against me.
Before I had the chance to say another word, he said, “I’ll tell you. You want to see your family again.”
That’s exactly what I wanted. I suppose I shouldn’t have been so surprised that he knew. He was evil, not a dope.
“Can you do that?” I asked, my voice cracking.
“No,” he said. “But I can offer you the next best thing.”
I couldn’t imagine what the next best thing could be, but I wasn’t going anywhere until he told me.
“If you compete,” he said, “I will reveal to you the true nature of the Travelers.”
It felt like the room had suddenly closed in around me. I couldn’t breathe. My ears rang and my head got light. Did I hear right? Was Saint Dane offering up the holy grail? The demon slowly walked toward me.
“Certainly you must be wondering why all of this has been happening to you,” he said. “I have the answers you’re looking for, Pendragon. How far are you willing to go to get them?”
I must have worn the total shock on my face, because Saint Dane laughed.
“Tempting, isn’t it?” he said with a chuckle. “Make no mistake, I want you to lose. I want you humiliated. I want you to give up your futile quest and leave me be. I’m admitting that to you. I’m willing to do what Press would have done, but never got the chance.”
“Because you killed him,” I said.
“Yes, I killed him,” Saint Dane said. “But he promised you’d be together again, didn’t he? Wouldn’t you like to know how that is possible?”
I nearly fell over. Seriously. Saint Dane’s words made me dizzy. The idea that he would reveal who I really was and why I was chosen to be a Traveler seemed impossible. Was it worth it? This wasn’t just about losing some dumb game. If I played, I could be killed. But if I survived I’d have answers to the questions that had haunted me since the moment I sat on the back of Uncle Press’s motorcycle, headed for my first trip through the flume. I had done everything that was asked of me. I had saved territories. I had suffered through the deaths of friends. I’d risked my life more times than I could count. I had done all of that on faith in the idea that it was the way it was meant to be. And now Saint Dane was offering me the chance to discover the one answer that was beyond my grasp. Learning the truth would give me the strength to keep going, and possibly be the final nail in his coffin. The question was, was I willing to risk my life to get it?
“Yeah, it’s tempting,” I said in a small voice. I couldn’t lie.
“Of course it is,” Saint Dane said. “I wouldn’t believe you if you said otherwise.”
“But I can’t do it,” I said.
Saint Dane didn’t react. He must have expected I’d say that. “Yes, you can,” he said. “And I believe you will. But not out of curiosity.”
“Then why?” I asked.
Saint Dane took a step closer to me and hissed, “Because after all of your success against me, you are starting to believe you can’t lose. Admit it. You’re beginning to feel invincible. aren’t you? Especially after Loor cheated death. That’s why I’m making this offer, Pendragon. You can lose. You will lose. In fact, you’ve already lost.”
“How do you figure that?” I asked.
“Because I’ve just put you in a no-win situation. If you accept my offer, you will be defeated and quite possibly killed. But if you decline, then you’ll show me that your confidence isn’t as strong as I suspected. It means you doubt yourself, and that’s just as important to me as seeing you beaten at the Quillan games. So you see, either way I win. That’s why I’m on Quillan, Pendragon. That’s why I lured you here. Now, how are you going to handle this? Hmmm?
(CONTINUED)
