Renegade Rising

by J.C. Fiske

Chapter 16: The Final Exam

  Perry was quite vague about how difficult his class would be…at least Gisbo thought so. If it weren’t for Rolce, Gisbo would have never had made it thus far.

  There were a few things Gisbo was fine at of course, such as learning the historical records of the ancient Elekai’ warriors and writing book reports, but this was all right brain work. The left brain work featuring battle formations, physics and all sorts of other technical things made Gisbo’s head spin. He was absolutely hopeless when it came to such things and immensely thankful for Rolce’s help, not to mention the homework he was able to copy. But all in all, Perry’s class was the only class Gisbo had ever even slightly enjoyed, aside from all the boring facts and figures.

  As the end of their time with Perry was approaching, the brilliant teacher began to ask the class if there was anything else they would like to know. For the first time in his life, Gisbo found himself raising his hand.

  “What can you tell us about Drakearon?” Gisbo asked the stunned Instructor Perry. Whether it was due to the large amount of subject matter that had to be covered or whether it was simply a touchy subject, Perry had glossed over the Great Veil War and focused more on ancient history. Gisbo and Rolce had been wondering about it ever since their conversation with Falcon and Purah.

  “Well . . . ” he paused for a moment, choosing his next words carefully. “As I mentioned before, Drakearon started the democratic uprising in Flaria and rose to power. From there, he and his followers continued on to Naforia in the hopes of conquering and uniting the world, but long before he could carry out his plans, Drakearon was defeated by Vadid the Valiant.”

  “But didn’t he have some kind of special power?” Rolce interrupted. Perry had not mentioned it to them in class, so he peered cautiously at Rolce, wondering how much he knew, questioning whether he should answer.

  “Yes, he did. It is well known that Drakearon massacred many Flarians who stood in the way of his rise to power, but in doing so he somehow absorbed their powers for himself. Many believe that he made a deal with the Dragon, the other immortal entity opposite the Phoenix, that enabled him to do this. During this same period, Drakearon discovered that he could also . . .” Perry hesitated, with a concerned look. “ . . . share his blood with another, giving birth to a new power. Through these transfusions, he created strong, addicted servants and, for the first time on Thera, a new evil, a true evil was born. It became known from that day as the Drakeness.”

  “But, that sounds awful! Who in their right minds would want to become a slave to Drakearon, let alone anyone? Also, it doesn’t fit. Why would Drakeron want help in his quest to topple Vadid if he could do it himself?” Rolce asked.

  “A good question and one that is easily answered. You see, his dreams of becoming warlord weren’t enough to keep him satisfied and if you would allow me to pause for a moment, I believe I have given you an inaccurate mental image of this wicked man. We call what he was evil nowadays and the wise back then saw him as evil too, but evil, in and of itself, is not stupid. Rarely does it take the form of something hideous or disgusting. On the contrary, evil is usually tantalizing, even beautiful,” Perry continued. The class was silent while they pondered this thought.

  “You probably visualize Drakearon as some hideously ugly dark king, but your imaginations couldn’t be more wrong. I knew him back then. Visualize to yourself what the most beautiful angelic being would look like and you will have a better picture of Drakearon, only it would be diminished by actually seeing the man in person.

  “He was well-liked, passionate, gentle, with flowing blonde hair that cascaded down his back and women seemed to flock to his side from his sheer beauty, so much so that the title of ‘god’ was often dropped about him, and he began to take it to heart. He even began wearing a mask over his face in his later days, not to protect it, no; he was so full of vanity that he felt the mere mortals around him were not privileged enough to gaze upon him. Becoming a god became his obsession and how could one be a god without worshipers? So Drakearon surrounded himself with the weak and easily manipulated. Even I was deceived, until I saw him for what he truly was . . . a tyrant with violence in his heart, using false promises of peace and equality to conquer a foolish world,” Perry finished. He peered at the bewildered looks on the young Renegas' faces, realizing he had gotten caught up in his story, a story they were not meant to hear yet.

  “Psh, guy sounds like a fairy ass if you ask me,” Gisbo said, crossing his arms, and breaking the tension as some of the class erupted into laughter while others shot disapproving looks. Perry sighed.

  “And this is why nobody is asking you, Renega Gisbo,” Perry said, to which much laughter followed.

  Before the Renegas knew it, Perry’s final exam was upon them and Gisbo did not know how on Thera he was going to pass it. However, one morning a small glimmer of hope appeared on the horizon, when Perry made a shocking announcement that there may or may not be a final exam.

  “Now don’t get too excited. 'May' is a very open response. All of you may be taking it and none of you may be taking it. Everything depends on your synergies and your ability to apply all that you have learned from this class in a hands-on situation. I understand completely that there are some who relish in the fact of me blabbing and take notes with fervor. I also understand that there are those hands-on learners who’d rather DO what I say. For you, and you know who you are, now will be your chance. I have arranged a sort of . . . physical test. Should you pass, you will have no need to prove yourself to me on the written exam and you will receive your second notch. The rules are actually quite simple and we will begin momentarily,” Perry said with a rare smile.

  “As in, right now?” Crass asked.

  “Yes, Crass, that is what momentarily means. Now, I wonder if any of you noticed why there were hardly any Renegades attending to their shops this morning on your way here? That is because they too are participating in this little event. Well, to be more honest, they're trying to prevent you from passing!” Perry said, with another smile of anticipation.

  “So let's get down to business, shall we? I will give each of your synergies a rolled piece of paper containing a message. Your job will be to escort this message to Cheiftain Narroway himself. Should you deliver it successfully to our chieftain, you will pass,” Perry said.

  “Yeah right, there’s got to be a catch to all this,” Knob said to nobody in particular.

  “Oh, but of course, Renega Knob. Nearly every Renegade and Renegara have hidden themselves across the grounds of Heaven's Shelter. They will be allowed to use 'full attributes,' meaning they WILL be allowed to use Elekai’ on you, as well as any other tactics, to try and stop you from completing your mission.” The eyes of every Renega expanded upon hearing full attributes. As Perry continued, they hung on his every word.

  “There is one rule to all of this and that is of course, no lethal force. This is, after all, a training exercise. Other than that, anything else is allowed. I am sure there are many Renegaras out there who would love to inflict as much pain as possible on you lot, so I’d especially try not to run into any of them. Should you and your synergy get caught, you will be bound and escorted away until the game comes to an end,” Perry said. All Gisbo could picture was Ranto. He and Rolce had the smallest synergy after all and Ranto had a funny way of weighing contests in his favor. No doubt the chieftain's son would come looking for them first.

  “Wait now, there is one other thing I forgot to mention, although if you were caught it would be evident. Should any Renegade or Renegara read your message, the game is instantly over for you. You must keep that message safe above all else and deliver it into Narroway’s hands; it is destined for his and your eyes only. All the grounds will be open for you to try to transport the message to him and you may use any means necessary to try to make your delivery, whether it be brute force, stealth or pure wit; it is up to you. Narroway will be waiting in his room in the top of the tower behind Vadid’s statu
e. As soon as I distribute these parchments, the game will begin,” Perry said. The Renegas thoughts raced, pondering the best course of action.

  “Remember, when you walk out that door, you will not be entering Heaven’s Shelter. The familiar place you know and love is gone, replaced with an enemy territory. You will work within your synergies only; talking must cease when the parchments are in your hands. Whichever synergies successfully deliver their message will immediately receive their bands and be allowed to skip their finals. Apply ALL that you have learned from me, as well as Roarie. Come and receive your messages and good luck to you all!” Perry exclaimed as one by one, each synergy walked up to receive their scrolls.

  Gisbo and Rolce were the last to hold their scroll in their hands, the only synergy left in the room. Gisbo didn’t quite know what to do with himself. He wasn’t one for planning things out ahead of time. He waited to see what course of action Rolce would take as his friend opened their note, read it to himself and winced in concentration.

  “So, what is that genius brain of yours cooking up? Rolce, you realize what this means if we get it to the chieftain right? We don’t have to take our stupid exams!” Gisbo yelled, only to cringe as he saw Perry glare at him.

  “I was actually looking forward to the exams . . .” Rolce said. Gisbo’s face contorted in exasperation as he grabbed Rolce by the collar and pulled his face into his own, whispering so Perry wouldn’t hear him.

  “Don’t say that! Don’t say it again. Please, Rolce. You’re my only hope of getting this band. If we don’t make it to Narroway, I'm a goner. This exam is cumulative! I’d have to remember everything! I’m lucky if I remember to put my pants on in the morning! Damn it, Rolce, how am I supposed to remember everything from an entire term? Do you know what finals stand for, Rolce? Do you?” Gisbo said as he began explaining each letter.

  “Freakin A! I Never Actually Learned this Sh…” Gisbo trailed off as he felt Perry’s eyes on him. “But yeah, you get the idea. Please Rolce, we have to win, please! Please! Please!” Gisbo begged. Rolce just smiled.

  “Hm ok, what’s the plan then?” Rolce asked, clearly enjoying Gisbo’s torment.

  “I say, hmm, oh! I know! We break into a run, as fast as we can, beat up everyone in our path, get to the tower and we win!” Gisbo said with an excited smile.

  “That brain of yours is simply amazing, you know that?” Rolce said, shaking his head in disbelief at Gisbo’s doltish answer until his pal burst out in a fresh flood of begging, “Please, please, PLEASE” rising in volume until Rolce finally stopped him.

  “Ok! Ok! Take it easy! I had no intention of blowing this. I’ve formulated a plan, but I can’t tell you. You just have to do everything I say, all right? I don’t want you screwing anything up,” Rolce said, pointing his finger at a beaming Gisbo.

  “You got it! Anything!” Gisbo said with a toothy grin.

  “Good. Now I want you to sit over there and don’t do anything for a little while. Can you handle that?” Rolce asked. Gisbo muttered something rude under his breath as he went and sat himself down. Rolce extracted a writing utensil, grabbed another piece of paper, cracked his knuckles and went to work.

  Gisbo sat, bored stiff, as he watched Rolce go about his writing. Just when Gisbo was about to nod off, Rolce finished, wearing a confident smile.

  “Done, now follow me!” Rolce said as he breezed out of the schoolhouse with Gisbo trotting behind.

  Outside, everything seemed ominously quiet. Perry was right, this no longer felt like Heaven’s Shelter. Both boys noticed tracks in the thin blanket of snow that went left, right, and straight, showing the different paths each synergy took.

  “Okay, there are a couple ways to do this. I would rather go the route of not getting caught; makes it easier, so I say we take the stealth route for now. Also, since we waited for everyone to leave first, we can follow their tracks and take notice of any signs of a scuffle, changing routes at the first sign of danger. If only I could summon Harpie! She could fly overhead and scout the area for us. Ah well,” Rolce sighed. “Ready?” Rolce said. Gisbo nodded.

  “Good, but first we need to do something,” Rolce said as he reached into his pocket for the scroll and quickly tore the message into bits until it wasn’t readable anymore. Gisbo’s mouth fell open.

  “Are you nuts?! What did you do that for?” he demanded. Rolce smiled knowingly.

  “Just trust me. Come on, let’s go this way. We’ll have better luck in the woods,” Rolce said as he strode off down the left path to find shelter.

  The boys crawled on their bellies, lifting arm over arm and pushing themselves forward with their feet through some thick bushes. They were doing quite well for themselves, following alongside footprints to the left of them, and didn't come across any signs of struggle, until they heard a commotion nearby.

  “Let me go! You can’t!” Grandfield's voice subsided in muffled grunts as he was gagged. Gisbo and Rolce spread aside the bush and saw Grandfield, Shaved and Knob all tightly bound. Gamba and his synergy stood over them, laughing together at their captives.

  “How do they expect us to get this message to Narroway against people using Elekai’? It's impossible!” Knob screamed with rage before he too was gagged by one of Gamba’s friends. Gisbo and Rolce looked at each other in the bush.

  “One synergy down. Can we help them?” Gisbo asked.

  “Unfortunately no. See, Gamba is already holding their message, that's game over for them. Besides, Knob was right. We can’t go up against somebody using Elekai’,” Rolce said with a smirk that added, “I know something you don’t know.” Gisbo hated it. The boys watched as Gamba and his crew dragged their captives away and silence fell over the snowy landscape once more.

  They continued along their course at a decent pace until both boys were severely drenched and their knees and elbows were beginning to blister from chafing against their wet, icy clothes. They found shelter together in another bush and decided to take a brief break.

  “This better be worth it, Rolce, I’m trusting you with my life here,” Gisbo said through tired breaths.

  “Oh believe me, we are absolutely fine. I’ve planned for everything,” Rolce boasted, only to hear an unexpected voice ring out from above.

  “Oh have you now?” Ernie said, as the boys froze at the sight of their bosses sitting in the tree above them, drinking steaming cups of coffee, clearly enjoying themselves. Gisbo and Rolce flashed sheepish grins as Dave and Ernie dropped from their tree. Gisbo couldn’t imagine how two old farts like them had even managed to climb up there in the first place.

  “Your message, please, we’d hate to stun two of our favorite employees now,” Dave said, outstretching a huge hand, beckoning with his fingers. Rolce simply smiled, reached into one of his pockets, and pulled out the other piece of paper he had been writing on in the schoolhouse. He thrust it forward. Ernie and Dave both opened the message and their smiles subsided into frowns.

  “What do you call this?” Dave asked, eyeing Rolce suspiciously.

  “It is our message of course,” Rolce answered. Dave’s blue eyes twinkled with pride.

  “Well, I’ll be a monkey’s pappy! Glad to have such a smart employee crunching numbers for us at the shop. Well, since we can’t read it, then I guess we never saw it, eh? Well done, boys. Now go get this to Narroway. Renegades will admire your cleverness, but those Renegaras won’t. There's a slew of them just up ahead so you better head north, directly toward the tower. Don’t worry, the commons are empty. Nobody expected a straight on approach,” Dave said. Gisbo sighed.

  “See! My idea was great! Can I hold the message?” Gisbo asked.

  “No,” Rolce ordered. Dave and Ernie gave them both encouraging grins and handed Rolce back the parchment.

  Dave and Ernie waved goodbye and proceeded to search for another tree to sit comfortably in. Gisbo was more confused than ever as he raised his voice to ask what had transpired. Rolce only waved his hand and shook his head, motioning for
Gisbo to follow him.

  The boys managed to snake their way forward through the bushes once again, until they spotted the commons. Rolce grinned in glee to find it deserted, with the front door of the tower in plain view. Gisbo playfully punched Rolce's bicep, he was so pleased at their good fortune.

  “You want to make a break for it?” Gisbo asked. Rolce nodded. They were gearing up to sprint when they heard a loud WHOOSH behind them. They spun around in concern, desperately wishing to see anyone but Ranto. Tough luck. His big frame loomed over them, flashing a fist covered in spiked brass knuckles, aglow in fiery red.

  “How goes it, kids?” Ranto taunted with an ironic wink.

  “Up yours!” Gisbo snarled. In a flash he was on his feet, rearing back for a punch despite Rolce’s warning. Gisbo’s swing flew true, hitting Ranto right in the face. He thought he might come out on top until something felt terribly wrong. Suddenly, his entire body was wracked with pain and, before he could register what was happening, he shot backward. Gisbo’s body hit the snow like a plow, leaving a long trail of green grass in the wake of his painful slide. He grabbed his fist, screeched like a wild animal as his knuckles pulsated, glowing red for a few moments, then quickly turned to four neat bruises. Ranto shook his head in disbelief.

  “Idiot! Please explain to him what just happened, Rolce. I don’t have the patience for it,” Ranto scowled in absolute disgust at Gisbo’s stupidity.

  “Gisbo, I tried to warn you! Don’t you remember what Perry said? If you strike against somebody whose essence is fully powered and yours isn’t, the physical damage is instantly rebounded back on you. We won’t be able to hurt him as long as his essence is powered up,” Rolce admonished with a defeated sigh.

  “That’s more like it.” Ranto said. Gisbo rose to his shaky feet, cracked several joints and dusted himself off.

  “Well, good to know I hit pretty hard at least,” Gisbo said aloud, not at all phased.

  “You’re pathetic,” Ranto chimed in, rolling his eyes.

  “Oh yeah? Well this pathetic guy right here creamed you in the eating contest on his first day here an’ embarrassed you in front of all your Renegara buddies! You’ve been sore ever since!” Gisbo shouted back. Ranto closed his eyes and chuckled before replying.

  “Absolutely meaningless, I really don’t understand why people get so down about losing in sports or competitions like eating for example. Sure it's fun, sure it feels great to 'taste' victory, but in the end none of those things matter. You face opponents to find out two simple things: your worth and who is better,” Ranto said, taking a pause to enjoy Gisbo’s growing rage.

  “Take clash for instance. I know many who live their lives by it. They call it a passion and for what? Little do they realize that it doesn’t matter how many points you score, all it means is you are good at scoring points in a silly game, that is all. When it comes right down to it, the best can only be determined by how well one fights. One body against another, spilling themselves in glorious conflict using Elekai’, reflexes, strategy, strength, speed; all that you are against all that somebody else is. A straight-out fight to the point of unconsciousness or death determines outright who is better. Nothing else. You may have beaten me in a silly eating competition, Gizzy, but don’t you see now? It doesn’t matter! In the grand scheme of things, you are nothing and the day you learn Elekai’ you will be just that, nothing. That is why I’m going to let you go win your silly game, for that’s all it is. Go ahead, no tricks,” Ranto challenged as he pointed to the door. Gisbo stood staring at Ranto with unmitigated hatred.

  “Ya? Well in that case, let's cut to the chase. Take those stupid knuckles off and fight like real men do,” Gisbo challenged.

  “You mean fight like uncivilized, unintelligent people do? Please, I’m practically a Renegade prince. Elekai’ is a part of every one us, as close and useful as an arm or a leg. You want me to just throw all that away and come down to the level of brainlessly throwing fists? Come down from the dinner table, get on all fours, and fight the begging mutt? Never! As I said before, Gizzy, I want worthy competition. Now we both know you have no chance of passing Perry’s exam, so I want you to go win your contest for one reason,” Ranto said, a slight smirk stretching across his face. “When you get your band, I want you to always look down at your arm knowing full well, for the rest of your life, that you wouldn’t be a Renegara if it weren’t for me,”

  Ranto said, his smirk turning into an evil smile. Gisbo shook with utter fury, unable to think of anything to say. Ranto laughed.

  “Brain not working again? Such a waste; you want to hit me so badly I can taste your animosity in the air. Don’t worry yourself, kid, I may like having worthy foes, but I also love crushing the weak. I’ll be back for you, Gisbo. Do train hard . . .” Ranto said with glee as he turned and walked away without looking back.

  “Don’t listen to him. He may say it didn’t matter to him, but you embarrassed him. He’s obviously still sore about it,” Rolce reasoned, trying to calm his friend.

  “He’s obviously a giant nut sack that needs kicking . . .” Gisbo said, staring off into the distance.

  “Well, maybe a little of that too,” Rolce admitted.

  “I swear to IAM, as soon as I learn Elekai’, I’m gonna’ kill that kid. I don’t care if he is Narroway’s son! Lets see how smooth princey boy talks when he’s swallowing his own teeth,” Gisbo raged as he punched a nearby tree, not even caring that he split open his damaged knuckles.

  “Control yourself, his time will come. Now let's go pass your exams!” Rolce encouraged with a friendly smile. This, at least, caused Gisbo to wipe the scowl off his face. They made their way in a sprint to the tower entrance. Luckily no one else saw them.

  “Why so quiet?” Gisbo wondered.

  “Nobody expected a Renega to make it this far. Everyone who uses Elekai’ is practically invincible to those who can’t use it, like us. This is why Perry said we need to use ALL that we learned. Don’t worry, I’ll explain inside, but what do we do with this door? There’s no handle to open it,” Rolce asked. Gisbo smiled.

  “Well, at least I’m good for something! I’ve been here before. How funny, with all that planning, Rolce, and in the end you need me to open the door. Why don’t you say please, huh?” Gisbo taunted.

  “Fine, don’t open it. I can pass the exam and get mine later. Your choice, I mean…” Rolce said, folding his arms. Gisbo’s eyes turned the size of saucers.

  “CHIEFTAIN NARROWAYS DOMAIN!” Gisbo interrupted, cupping both hands to his mouth in a scream. The black doors swung open and Gisbo and Rolce entered the elevator. Just as before, it lurched in every direction and shot much higher than Purah’s office. Finally, the doors opened, showing a surprised Chieftain Narroway seated at his desk. The place was absolutely huge, with broad, tinted windows encircling the room, so all of Heaven’s Shelter could be viewed. Narroway jumped from his chair as he quickly shuffled the boys out of the elevator.

  “Well done, my boys! Welcome! Welcome! Please say you have the message and this isn’t just a friendly visit?” Narroway said excitedly. Rolce fished out the message and handed it to Narroway, whose smile increased ten fold before he broke out in a loud guffaw.

  “Oh, you two amaze me! Simply brilliant. Come now, sit down, talk me through your procedures and make yourself at home! Don’t feel bashful, sit anywhere you wish! My father’s office is your office!” Narroway said as Gisbo and Rolce grabbed some chairs by the fireplace.

  “This was Vadid’s office?” Gisbo asked as he surveyed the room, especially impressed by the view.

  “Yup, I left it just as it was from the day he, well, disappeared,” Narroway said, a little saddened, but he quickly changed his tone. “Never mind all that! Tell me everything!” Narroway said, looking at Gisbo.

  “Well, I knew how the elevator worked. You’ll want to talk to this guy,” Gisbo said, cocking a thumb in Rolce’s direction. Narroway quickly shifted his attention.

  “Thanks. All
I did was put everything I learned into perspective. First thing I thought of, as I was telling Gisbo earlier, was that there was no way we were going to get past an area filled with people who knew Elekai’. It was literally impossible and that was the point of it all. On top of that, we had to deliver a message that couldn’t be read by the enemy. If it were read, we’d be eliminated. The message itself was way too long to be memorized in such a short amount of time, even by me,” Rolce said as he paused to take in Narroway’s interested, yet proud face.

  “Go on, my boy.” Narroway said with glee. Rolce, beaming, continued.

  “So, the only option would be to encode the message, letter by letter. If we were caught, our captors wouldn’t be able to read the message or figure out the coding. If someone caught us, all they would see were a series of numbers and letters that only I knew the meaning to. A total of twenty six, one for each letter of the alphabet, all designed in a way that I could recognize every letter and change it when need be. As an example, for the letter “B” I drew two circles together, horizontally, so they would remind me of binoculars or . . .” Rolce started.

  “Boobs?” Gisbo interrupted. Narroway was trying not to chuckle, but Rolce didn’t notice, being deep in his explanation.

  “ . . . an altered form of the letter. No need for memory, just impulse. If this were a real combat mission, they probably could have figured out the coding given enough time as it is quite simple. And if they couldn’t, well, I’d probably be tortured to spit out the key. But this was a training exercise and nobody would resort to such cruelty among friends.”

  “Very good, Rolce.” Narroway praised.

  “Thank you, sir. I also knew we wouldn’t have problems with Renegades finding us, they’d simply laugh and go on to find others; it was the Renegaras that worried me and were the only real threat. Just to spite us, they could have tied us up for the remainder of the time limit, not allowing us to win due to their rivalry with us. The only logical thing to do was encode the original message on new paper, destroy the original, and snake our way through stealthily to our destination, where I would decode the message for you on the spot. Still, it was good that Gisbo knew how to work the elevator. All would have been lost if we couldn’t get to your office,” Rolce finished, winking at his friend. Narroway stood up and slowly clapped his hands.

  “Well done, my boy, Moordin and Falcon will be so proud when they hear the news! I was hoping you’d make it through. Perry informed me that only you two stayed behind and simply assumed what you were up to. He will be quite impressed to know two of his students made it to me. I’ll go send for him immediately, but first you need to recite the message to me, Rolce,” Narroway said. Rolce proceeded to unravel his message and requested a new sheet of paper, which Narroway gladly provided. In no time at all, it was complete and thrust to Narroway, who read it front and back. When he was satisfied, the chieftain nodded his approval.

  “I hope you know the both of you cannot share the secret of what you did to anyone else. Otherwise, how will we be able to have a challenge for next year? I’m sure there are other ways of completing this task, so we will have to see what others come up with in the future! ” Narroway said and the boys agreed. It was then Perry arrived on the scene, followed close behind by Falcon and Moordin. They all gathered round to watch as Perry made his way forward, staff in hand, to face his two young students.

  “Well done, gentlemen. You should know that in all my years of teaching, I have never once passed anyone early. Using reasoning, judgment of your surroundings, foresight into your enemy, and proper battle formation, you went about your mission brilliantly. In this exercise, you have displayed nearly everything I have taught you and applied it to a real life situation. Times like these truly make an instructor proud. Now put out your arm, Rolce, you have earned one of the instructor’s bands and in doing so, have shown yourself to be one of the brightest students I have taught in a long while. You have earned this special mark,” Perry said as he powered up his essence and branded Rolce’s second band upon his skin across his bicep. Rolce stared at it proudly as Moordin gave him a rare wink. Perry then turned his attention to Gisbo, before turning back to look at Falcon.

  “This one belongs to you, I take it?” Perry asked. Falcon chuckled.

  “More or less,” Falcon answered and Perry diverted his eyes back to Gisbo.

  “Something never sat right with me the moment you entered my class, son. I should have known why with this class master over you,” Perry said. “I always pondered how your reasonably acceptable homework never bore fruit in class discussions. I could never prove it of course; for that you're lucky. Nonetheless, you have passed my class, if by nothing more than a massive stroke of luck. Looks like none of us will ever really know how you would fare on my exam, but . . .” Perry said, raising a finger to his chin.

  “Hey, hey! You promised bands to any synergy that passed this thing! You can’t go back on your word!” Gisbo rebutted. A look from Perry was all that was needed to make Gisbo quit while he was ahead.

  “I suppose you got your friend through the doorway. No easy feat,” Perry chided, then paused to allow Gisbo to squirm a bit longer. “And you are correct, I cannot go back on my word. Many firsts have come to pass today; among them, I find myself passing a boy who most likely never once did his homework on his own. You’re a creative one. I’ll give you that much. So, if you would hold out your arm,” Perry said as he powered up his essence.

  For an instant, Gisbo couldn’t help but think of Ranto. He was right of course, whenever Gisbo looked at his arm from this point forward, he would feel a mix of pleasure and fury. Perry finished the design of the band, shaking his head. Gisbo would have taken it for disappointment, but even Perry couldn’t hide the slight grin lurking at the corner of his mouth.

  “I don’t want you getting the wrong idea and thinking our work is finished. You will prove yourself to me before you become a Renegara, that much is certain.” Perry said as the slight grin stretched into a cryptic smile. Perry ruffled Gisbo’s hair, said his goodbyes and was out the door.

  “Ugh, what did he mean by that?” Gisbo wondered aloud. Falcon merely shrugged.

  “Don’t worry about it. Come on, let's go get you and Rolce some dinner to celebrate,” Falcon said. On his way out, Falcon paused by a vibrant picture of Vadid on the wall. He smiled at it in admiration.

  “You believe he’s still out there, don’t you? ” Falcon asked, turning to Narroway.

  “With my father, anything is possible. IAM knows we need him now. It’s no secret that I never wanted to lead, nor wear this goofy outfit,” Narroway joked, standing beside Falcon to gaze at the painting.

  “And that’s why you were meant to,” Moordin said with an encouraging smile.

  “Thanks, old friend. Mind if I join you bunch for dinner?” Narroway asked.

  “When I said let’s go get some dinner, I meant you too!” Falcon said, slapping Narroway across his back.

  “But one question, what did Perry mean, he’s not done with me?” Gisbo asked, a little perturbed.

  “What does it matter? You just passed! You got your second band!” Rolce said happily. Gisbo looked down at his band and this time all was happiness, there were no thoughts of Ranto.

  “Yeah, you're right and, whoa . . . NO MORE SCHOOL!!!” Gisbo yelled as he pumped his fist in the air and ran to the elevator, whooping and jumping with excitement. Then he froze one more time.

  “Uh, don’t tell Perry you saw that,” he said, gulping nervously.

  “Glad you volunteered to treat me to dinner then! I knew you were all right, kid!” Narroway said to a grumbling Gisbo.