I ran to the machine and pulled the rifle from its dead grasp. It was perfect. I had no doubt that this gun would ignite the tak, and from a decent distance away, too. Without waiting another second I ran back through the tunnel toward the mountain, stopping when I reached the abandoned bow. Looking ahead, there was no sign of Siry. More explosions went off. The time was growing near. Was it too soon? I turned back to face the end of the tunnel, and the tak. I saw the two crates far in the distance. It was incredible to think of the power those two small crates contained. How intense would the explosion be? How much damage would it do? I knew it would obliterate whatever dados were overhead. My fear was what it might do to the good guys. To Alder. To Rayne.
The explosions above grew more furious. Was it time? Should I wait? There was no way I could know for sure, and I was too nervous to wait any longer. It was time for the big boom. I raised the rifle and put the tak crates in my sight. My plan was to fire, drop the gun, and run like hell. If the tak didn’t go off, I’d come back and do it again. And again, until ignition. I’d never fired one of those guns, but I knew how to fire rifles at home. I was good. I could shoot. Confidence was high. I took one last deep breath and lined up the bottom crate. Things were about to change forever.
I pulled the trigger.
Click. Nothing happened. I pulled it again. And again. The weapon was no good. Either it was out of ammunition or it was damaged from the battle.
“Oh… so… close,” came a voice from behind me.
My stomach dropped. I felt dizzy. How could it be?
“Like I’ve always said,” the voice said. “Defeat is the worst when it comes at the very moment you think you’ve won.”
I turned slowly to face him. Saint Dane stood in the center of the tunnel, staring at me with his demon blue eyes.
“And you really did think you’d won, didn’t you?” he asked with glee.
(CONTINUED)
IBARA
“This moment is particularly satisfying, Pendragon,” Saint Dane sneered with his superior attitude. “I knew you’d eventually come down from your righteous pedestal and get yourself… how should I say it?… dirty. You’ve finally realized the only way to save Halla is to make it one. It’s what I’ve been saying all along. The true glory of Halla will come with unity. Only then can the ultimate victory be achieved.”
“Victory?” I asked. “Victory over what? You talk about saving Halla and breaking down walls between territories, but… why? What’s the point?”
“Surely you must have some idea by now,” the demon asked, amused.
Explosions rumbled above. This wasn’t the time to be interrogating Saint Dane, but he was saying things I hadn’t heard before.
“You said you were trying to prove the people of the territories weren’t capable of guiding their own destiny. Who are you trying to prove it to?”
“You’re getting warmer,” he teased.
My mind raced. I was closer to the truth than ever before, and it scared the hell out of me. More than the tak arrows exploding above.
“What happens after the Convergence?” I demanded. “If you have your way and the territories fall under your influence, what then? Is that it? Is that the whole point? You become the king of all territories?”
He chuckled. “Something like that.”
“Then who’s the king now?” I asked flat-out.
Saint Dane took a step closer to me. I could feel the chill coming off him. I didn’t move. “And now you finally see the truth,” he hissed.
“I don’t see anything. What truth?”
His eyes were locked on mine. When he spoke, it was with a seething intensity that I had never seen from him. “There is a new order coming, Pendragon. Halla is only the beginning.”
I nearly fainted. Could that be true? There was something greater than Halla? How could that be? I did all that I could to keep my voice from cracking and said, “I’m going to stop you. Right here, right now.”
Saint Dane sneered. “There are a few thousand dados above us who might take issue with that.”
“This isn’t about armies,” I said with total confidence. “Or weapons. It’s about right and wrong. No matter how you twist it, your way is wrong.”
Explosions pounded above. The tunnel shuddered.
“No,” Saint Dane said. “It is about armies and weapons. And fear. And strength. Fear is my greatest weapon. Halla will be my strength. That is the way it was meant to be, because it is the way I will make it.”
There was only one thing to do. I turned and ran. Not away from Saint Dane. I ran toward the tak. I had to detonate it. I didn’t get far. The demon tackled me from behind. After all the battles. All the mysteries and miseries. The territories lost and those that were saved. The deaths and the resurrections. It had come down to this. A fight between Saint Dane and me. I scrambled to get loose, but he held me tightly in his cold hands.
“Time is not your friend, Pendragon,” he hissed. “They cannot hold the dados back much longer.”
I drove my elbow into his nose. He screamed in pain. Man, it felt good. I wanted him to hurt. He reeled back. I broke loose. I only got a few steps before he grabbed me again, and threw me against the wall. He was fast. Inhumanly fast. I hit so hard that I broke stones loose from the tunnel. They fell on my head and rolled at my feet.
The tunnel rumbled under the explosions that were now coming quickly. I had to get to the tak. Alder wouldn’t be able to keep the dados pinned for long. I picked up a stone and faked throwing it at Saint Dane. He threw his hands up in defense, and I attacked. I launched myself at him feet first, my body parallel to the ground. Both feet hit him square in the chest, knocking him back into the side of the tunnel. He grunted, but bounced off the wall and came right at me. I didn’t expect that. He was just so fast. He grabbed me in a bear hug and wrestled me to the ground. He was strong, too. I couldn’t break loose. In seconds I was on my back with Saint Dane sitting on my chest. His knees pinned my arms. I tried to kick, but had no leverage. I was trapped.
The guy’s eyes were on fire. He was out of control. From somewhere he pulled out a three-clawed tang knife. I only glimpsed it for a second before he brought it down and held it to my neck. He stared down at me, breathing hard, a touch of spittle dripping from his mouth. The red scars on his bald head pulsed with blood… or whatever it was that ran through his veins.
“Are you so misguided that you are ready to die for your beliefs?” he spat.
I fought to get away, but he pressed harder. The pressure from the knife was choking me.
“You’ve lost, Pendragon,” he hissed with more than a touch of insanity. “You no longer matter.”
I was going to die. I wasn’t afraid. I really wasn’t. I believed what I’d told Siry. And I believed what Saint Dane had told me. Travelers were illusions, and in some twisted way, I wanted to know what that meant.
“Ahhhhh!” came a wild scream.
Saint Dane was knocked off me as if he’d been hit by a speeding car. He flew over my head and rolled on the ground, along with the driving force that slammed into him…
Siry.
“Hurry!” he screamed at me as he wrestled with the demon Traveler.
Siry had no idea how to fight. It didn’t matter. He was unstoppable. Saint Dane tried to pull away from him, but Siry tied him up long enough for me to stand and see something resting on top of the abandoned bow. Siry had brought back three tak arrows.
Explosions shook the tunnel. It was time. I ran for the bow. Saint Dane wouldn’t be held back for long. I’d be lucky to get off one shot. It had to count. I grabbed one of the arrows with my right hand and the bow with the other. I hadn’t shot a bow and arrow in a long time, but I didn’t think it would matter. That was the thing about tak, you didn’t have to hit the bull’s-eyes. Close was close enough.
Moving quickly but carefully, I stood up straight, my left shoulder facing down the tunnel. I nocked the arrow onto the string. I had to stay focused. There would only be one chance. A fumble now would be disastrous.
