somebody was standing over me, watching. Unlike the many caregivers who came and went, this person didn’t move. He kind of hovered there, as if waiting for me to say something. It gave me enough of an uneasy feeling that I willed myself to crawl from the darkness where I had been living. When I focused, I was surprised to see Rellin, the chief miner of the Milago. But something wasn’t right. He was wearing the armor of a Bedoowan knight. Stranger still, this armor had bright yellow stripes on both arms. It looked like a fancy-dress version of the familiar black armor.
“Welcome back, Pendragon!” Rellin exclaimed warmly. “I was afraid we had lost you.”
Rellin sat down on the cot next to me. I did my best to focus on him.
“I want to hear about your adventure,” he exclaimed. “Did the tak serve you well?”
It took me a few seconds to understand what he was asking. When I came to Denduron with Siry, I told Rellin that we needed to unearth more tak to help a tribe on the other side of the mountain. I didn’t mention that the people happened to be on the other side of the mountain… on a territory called Ibara.
“Yes” was the only answer I gave him. I didn’t want to tell him just how effective the tak had been.
“I am glad,” he said with a smile. “And I am glad that you have returned to us.”
“There’s going to be a war?” I asked.
Rellin smiled. He actually smiled. You’d think that somebody on the verge of war would be kind of, oh I don’t know, nervous? Sober? Tense? Not Rellin. The idea of going into battle made his eyes sparkle.
“The Lowsee are threatening our very existence by hoarding triptyte,” he explained. “Without it, our village would go dark. And all because they are greedy for glaze. What is more important? Light or wealth? They have chosen wealth. They will suffer for it.”
“You’re going to use tak on them,” I said softly.
“We are going to destroy them!” Rellin exclaimed, jumping to his feet. “We have given them every chance to make a fair arrangement for their triptyte. They have proven to be greedy and shortsighted. We have broken off discussions and will now speak with our swords…and with tak.”
Most of what he was saying didn’t matter to me. It was all just a lot of blah blah blah. The bottom line was what mattered. The Bedoowan had tak and they were using it to attack another tribe. After that…what? Would the Bedoowan and the Milago become the aggressive force that Uncle Press feared? What would that mean to the rest of Denduron? Was the territory going to be ruled by fear and aggression? Was this what Saint Dane wanted? Was the territory going to be laid waste like Veelox? Was this going to be the future of every territory? My head hurt worse now than when I had first been brought to the hospital.
“I’d like to see Alder,” I said.
Rellin scowled. “Alder has been imprisoned.”
I wanted to jump up and scream, “Why?” but forced myself to keep calm. I had already learned that lesson.
“You are not a Bedoowan,” Rellin explained. “The fact that you left to help another tribe was your choice. Alder did not have that choice, yet he deserted us. Still, that would not have been enough to imprison him.”
“Then why?”
“He tried to destroy our tak mine,” Rellin answered. “I do not know why. He would not answer me. I am sorry to say that Alder has been branded a traitor. For his actions he has been sentenced to death.”
My head swam. Things were happening fast, but they were all too clear. Alder must have returned to find exactly what I found, and tried to destroy the tak. He failed, and now he was going to be executed for doing his job as a Traveler. My job. I should have been here. This was my fault too. Halla was crashing down around me in every possible way.
“I am sorry, Pendragon,” Rellin said. “I know that Alder was your friend. I believed he was my friend as well. I suppose we do not always know everything about our friends.”
“When?” I gasped.
“Tomorrow morning. It is the last official duty I will attend to before leaving to lead the attack on the Lowsee. I would not expect you to be there. I understand how difficult this must be for you.” Rellin knelt down by me and took my arm. “Do not dwell on the negative. Did you know that I am now king?”
“Uhhh, no.”
“Kagan and I were married. Our union has brought the Milago and the Bedoowan together. We are now a single, mighty tribe that will soon rule all of Denduron. You are here at the start of a glorious new era. Revel in it. When the history of our world is written, you will hold a place of honor. When the battle is complete, we will talk again about what role you wish to play in our new tribe. You have earned that right, Pendragon.”
He smiled and left. I didn’t feel much like reveling. I didn’t feel very honorable. I didn’t want any part of his new tribe. I felt I had done everything wrong since the moment I left home as a Traveler. As I lay there on that cot, alone, in pain, I felt as if everything were lost. Denduron would only be the beginning. Stories like the one I’d just heard from Rellin would play out across Halla. I don’t believe it’s possible to feel any lower than I felt at that moment. All the sacrifices the Travelers had made were for nothing. Saint Dane had won. It would have been so easy for me to roll over and close my eyes. All I wanted was to go back to sleep and hopefully never wake up. There was only one thing that stopped me from doing it.
Alder.
He was still alive. I may have lost Denduron. I may have lost Halla. There was no way I would let my friend die. It had nothing to do with Saint Dane. It was about saving Alder. It was all I had left. Of course, that meant I actually had to stand up and move. Not an easy thing. I threw my legs over, sat up, and immediately puked. All over the floor. Nobody saw. Nobody cared. Least of all, me. I wasn’t going to let a little thing like uncontrollable nausea stop me. I wiped my mouth on my sleeve, stood up, and puked again. I was a mess. I didn’t know if it was from my injuries or the blood loss or from whatever medicine they were giving me. I was a step above worthless. I struggled to put on the leather clothes I’d found at the flume. It took forever, since I was doing it with only one arm. My pounding head and weak stomach didn’t help. The pain that tore through my shoulder and chest made it nearly impossible to dress. But I didn’t give up. After a grueling twenty minutes, I was ready to stagger out of the hospital.
Next to the cot was the dado-killing weapon I’d used as a crutch on my way down the mountain. I still needed it. With every muscle in my body screaming in pain, I bent over to pick it up. It was worth the effort. I needed the heavy stick for balance. I held it close to my side and started limping for the door…
Just as the Bedoowan knight-nurse walked in.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, surprised.
She tried to force me to sit back down. I don’t know how, but I didn’t let her.
“Listen,” I said. “My friend is going to be executed tomorrow. I have to see him.”
“You are not well enough to move.”
“You’re a knight,” I shot back. “What would you do if your friend were going to die in the morning? Would you lie down and nurse your wounds?”
I saw her eyes soften. “No,” she said softly. “I know Alder. I do not understand his actions.”
“Doesn’t matter,” I said quickly. “He’s my friend and I’m going to see him before he dies.”
The girl nodded. She understood.
“Where is he?” I demanded.
“There is a stockade near the ruins of the Bedoowan castle,” she explained. “That is where he is being kept and where the execution will take place.”
“Thank you,” I said. I meant it too. I pulled away from her and staggered toward the door.
“Pendragon?” she called. “Alder was a good knight. Why would he betray his own tribe?”
“That’s exactly why,” I answered. “Because he is a good knight.”
I left her with that totally confusing explanation. Alder did what he had to do. He knew the tak had sent the tribes down a destructive path, and he risked his own life to stop it. It may have been too late to save Denduron, but there was no way in hell I was going to let Alder die. I limped out of the hut to see that the hospital was on the edge of the Milago village. The town had been rebuilt since the tak-mine explosion. It was the beginning of a new society. Thanks to me, it was a society that had chosen the path of war and aggression instead of peace and growth. I looked out toward the ocean, where I knew the Bedoowan castle had once been cut into the bluffs. Several stone huts had been erected along the old path. Alder was in one of them.
The suns were setting. It was cold. The village was surprisingly quiet. Most of the people I saw walking
