by Renee Duke
She then returned to the subject of our upcoming trek through hostile surroundings. “Until our strength returns, we cannot offer you as much protection as before, but there is something you can take with you to warn you of approaching danger, such as a bog, and make you unappealing to Chorathase’s predatory species.”
“Even taiskels?” I inquired.
“Even taiskels.” She waved a leaf upwards. “Break off the ends of some of the stalactites. Choose from among the smallest of those which glow. Keep them with you in a secure place and you will be assured a safe journey, as well as the strength to make it.”
We did as she said, each of us tucking a little piece of stalactite into the chambers of our belts. Challa and Kadi didn’t have belts in which to put any kind of talisman, but according to Azmx, they just had to be near someone who did. And since one of us would be carrying Kadi, and another holding very tightly to the hand of the impetuous Challa, any benefits the things had to offer would be extended to them.
A vitzi led us to the tunnel. It was quite narrow and the opening in the side of the mountain as small as advertised, but except for Kirsty — who is by no means fat but is built more substantially than the rest of us — we got through it quite easily.
The last to go through, she found it a bit snug.
“Och! Crivvens! I think I’m stuck.”
“Speak quietly,” Jip warned as I went to help her free our friend. “Drazok is on the other side of the mountain, but he might have sound sensors in place.”
Kirsty was almost out when she suddenly gave another, even louder, “Och!”, accompanied by Kadi’s name.
Irritated, I started to reproach her. “Jip just said to be qui—”
“Kadi,” she whispered, frantically pointing down the path.
But Arlyne and Simon were already running.
I’d put Kadi down to help Kirsty, and something along the path must have caught his attention, because he was making his way along it as fast as his hands and knees would take him. Delighted with his newly-acquired skill, he looked happier than he had for days.
“Great,” I muttered, grabbing Challa before she could follow. “Now you start to crawl.”
“Azmx won’t let him fall off the mountain,” Challa said confidently.
“Shh,” Jip implored.
Arlyne and Simon both got to him at the same time. When Arlyne snatched him up, he soon let it be known he did not appreciate having his first venture into independent mobility curtailed.
And I’d thought Challa had a temper!
Even she looked shaken by her small sibling’s outpouring of rage and reached for my hand as Jip moved in to quell it with her Vorlan calming technique. It worked, though, and as soon as Kirsty had been extricated we made our way to the natural bridge as quietly as we could. I didn’t, upon reflection, really think any kind of sensors were likely to function in Chorathase but agreed it was better not to take chances.
From the next mountain we could see the wasteland we’d been told to make for, but first had to get down to the river so it could guide us there. After filling our water bottles, we went inland a bit but again kept the river in sight and followed it as instructed. The little pieces of stalactite proved as effective as Azmx said they would and, with increased stamina, no air cars in pursuit of us, nothing trying to devour us, and early warning of anything else that was out to get us, we made good time. By late afternoon we reached the wasteland and, much to our surprise — and, okay, joy and relief — saw the last escape pod from the space zoomer sitting in the dirt. Nate and Leo had got out after all.
They weren’t there, of course, having been close enough to the recreational zone to have been spotted and picked up by a rescue patrol.
We went on in high spirits but, for me, they didn’t last. Even though the boundary posts were just beyond the lone mountain, and there was a good chance we might get to them before nightfall, I started to feel nervous.
“It can’t be this easy,” I declared when we stopped at the base of the mountain to take a short break.
“And why not?” Kirsty wanted to know.
“It just can’t.”
“Och, you’re just a cynic, Meda.”
“Maybe not,” said Simon, pointing back the way we’d come.
An air car was making for us. The same air car that had chased us before.
Jip was already holding Kadi, so Kirsty snatched up Challa and we ran for the mountain. It didn’t have a lot of vegetation but the path up it was both narrow and winding, and tall outcroppings made it difficult for the men in the air car to get a clear shot at us. They kept trying though, forcing us further and further up the mountain until, a little more than halfway up, the path suddenly widened, and we found ourselves on a stretch with no cover. Seeing their chance, Drazok’s men closed in, but the pilot came at us too fast and lost control. The air car slammed into the side of the mountain and then hurtled to the ground.
Simon, Arlyne, and I knelt and peered over the edge. No one climbed out of the smouldering wreckage. If the men inside had survived, they were in no shape to come after us.
The others had stayed back, with Jip holding on to Challa, and Kirsty to Kadi, who now crawled off at speed every time he was set down. Hurrying over to them, we were just about to give them a report on the crash when a second, smaller, air car swooped down from a hidden spot behind the mountain.
Much to our dismay, this part of the path was roomy enough for it to land on, and land it did. Moments later, Drazok stepped out of it with a liquidator pointed straight at us. “Try to run and I will fire above you and bring a good part of this mountain down on your heads.” Then, without turning around, he spoke to the pilot, who was still inside. “Return to the Zguri’s mountain and pick up your comrade. You can come for me later, when I have finished my business here.”
“You do not require assistance, Your Highness?”
“To deal with these meddlesome children and our illustrious monarch’s small, and so satisfyingly helpless, progeny? Most assuredly not. The pleasure of bringing about their long-overdue demise shall be all mine.”
“As you wish, Your Highness.”
“Surprised to see me?” Drazok inquired as the air car departed. “Sound reverberates in the mountains. I was listening for the approach of rescue patrols, but instead heard the shrieks of an irate infant. Though disappointed you had escaped, I assumed you would make for the nearest point at which you could enter the safe confines of the recreational zone. I gave you time to get tantalizingly close and then followed, leaving but one man guarding the Zguri’s cave. I didn’t think any more would be required. Plants would not be able to get out the same way you did. However that was.”
“Trade secret,” I said.
“They should be close to their end by now. As you are to yours. I quite enjoyed watching you being chivvied up here from my hiding place above. The crash was unfortunate. I regret it. Just as I regret the loss of the men who fell prey to the local plant life, but they were all loyal fellows, and prepared to die in my service. By the way, did you find it strange to hear me addressed as, ‘Your Highness?’”
“No,” I replied. “We know you’re of the House of Jexl and have designs on the Supreme Rulership. Designs you’ve always had. Even back when you were supposedly trying to put Prince Mardis on the throne.”
“A mere formality. I knew he had no desire for it. Had I succeeded in making him Supreme Ruler, I would have relieved him of the burden by revealing my royal heritage and persuading him to abdicate, naming me his chosen successor. A simple enough task.”
Knowing the prince could be commanding when he wanted to, I seriously doubted that, but let Drazok keep his delusions.
“Shortly afterwards, an accident would have been arranged. Just as insurance. And another for the High Prince and his family, lest people try to rise in their favour.” He gave a thin smile. “It goes without saying my claim to the throne would have met with opposition, but I’m sure the common
herd could have been appeased by my marrying into the revered House of Beom and giving them other little royal heirs to adore. The Princess Dalara would have been a good choice. She has proved herself fruitful, and her husband could easily have been removed from my path.”
“She’d have died first,” I said. I’d only met her twice but was pretty sure of the statement.
“Oh, I think not. She would have wanted to remain alive to protect her offspring. The child’s seven, I believe. Still of an age to be prone to mishap.” He laughed. “Or perhaps I would have waited a few years and taken her as my bride.”
Kirsty stared at him. “You’re insane. Outright, certifiably, insane. I dinna think you were before. No. Before you were just an everyday, run-of-the-mill, black-hearted villain, but now? Well, now I’m for telling you, you’re insane.”
“I assure you I am not. But if I were, is it any wonder? Spending my days tilling the soil like the peasants of old and at night crawling into a miserable den even an animal would eschew?”
“Even that was too good for you,” Simon said contemptuously.
Drazok’s free hand shot out, delivering a blow that knocked my brother to the ground.
Incensed, Challa flew at Drazok, pummelling him with her tiny fists. This unexpected attack caught him off guard. He stepped back, tripped over something, and overbalanced, dropping the liquidator as he fell. I leapt forward and kicked it over the edge, barely noticing when it exploded somewhere below.
The blood of the Brents now being up, Arlyne joined the offensive. Grabbing a large rock, she drew it back to her shoulder and stood over Drazok with a far fiercer expression than I would once have thought her capable.
“You move, and I’ll bounce this off your head. No one hits my little brother.”
“You tell him, Sis,” Simon said, getting shakily to his feet. “Way to go. Both of you.”
“And me,” said Challa.
“And you,” Simon agreed.
But Drazok did move. Challa was still close to him and, lunging forward, he seized her and pulled her up against his chest, pinning her in such a way she couldn’t kick, hit, or bite him. (She tried all three.)
Drazok gave Arlyne a cold look. “Going to risk striking this little savage, are you, girl?”
Arlyne shook her head and let go of the rock.
“Good.”
As Drazok struggled to get up, one of his hands slipped enough for Challa to sink her teeth into it. He swore, but didn’t loosen his hold on her until, taking advantage of this distraction, Simon tackled him and knocked him down again. He did drop Challa then, and I yanked her clear of him. Swearing with even greater vigour, Drazok heaved himself up and snatched at Simon, who quickly rolled out of reach. We all then stepped well back from Drazok, Arlyne having retrieved her rock and Kirsty and me in possession of two more.
He glared at us, his face as hard as the mountain at his back.
“Go on, then,” he jeered. “Do you really think I am afraid of a group of rock throwing children? Really think that such a crude form of assault will keep me from exterminating every last one of you?”
“Aye, we do,” said Kirsty. “There are quite a few of us, and you’ve not so much as one of your henchmen with you.”
Drazok smiled. A chilling smile.
“That may be so, my dear, but I learned to be quite self-reliant on Prexath. And prepared for any eventuality.”
In a flash, he pulled another liquidator out from under his tunic and levelled it at us.
“No more talking, my fiendish little foes. No more games. I shall forego the pleasantly anticipated hours of fear and pain I intended to subject you and the royal bratlings to and dispose of you swiftly, here and now.”
But before we could even brace ourselves, a wind suddenly came up from out of nowhere. A strong, swirling wind. A whirlwind; visible, like a mini-tornado. By-passing us, it went straight for Drazok, making an indescribable sound that obliterated any he might have made when slowly, inexorably, it engulfed him, carried him over the edge, and tossed him up, down, and all around, until, suddenly, he was gone.
And not plummeting down to the ground gone.
Just…gone.
The Zguri had got their strength back.
If proof was required, it came moments later.
“Thus ends the House of Jexl,” Azmx’s voice proclaimed.
Then the whirlwind vanished, and everything became quiet.
Very quiet.
Jip bit her lip. “I…I would like to say I am sorry. But I am afraid I am not.”
“Nor me,” said Kirsty. “Me, I’m just thankful Drazok’s been got rid of once and for all.”
“And Sub-Ruler Halid’s sure to be pleased it happened here,” said Simon.
We all looked at him quizzically.
“I’ve seen pictures. This is Zerrix’s Ledge.”
Chapter Twenty-One
A closer look at our surroundings even revealed a sign emblazoned with the words, ‘Zerrix’s Ledge’. Distracted by the necessity of fighting for our lives, we hadn’t noticed it. Suddenly worn-out by the long trek and recent exertions, we sank down beneath it to rest.
I did, however, find the energy to pull a couple of bandages out of my survival satchel and attend to the damage Simon had inflicted on himself when he tackled Drazok, namely a cut forehead, a twisted ankle and a badly gashed knee. (Opposite legs.) Having never aspired to a career in nursing, my ministrations fell far short of professional standards, but I told him they’d do for the time being.
“They’ll have to,” said Kirsty, jumping up. “Look oot there. Drazok’s air car’s coming back. The men in it will be wanting to know where their lord and master’s got to, and I dinna think they’ll like the answer.”
We all got up and made ready to run, but then Jip said, “Wait. That is not Drazok’s air car. It is a much bigger one.”
“Och, it could still be one of his.”
But it wasn’t.
“Stay there,” a voice boomed from the loudspeaker. “We are coming for you.”
Chief Rupin’s voice. And the we pertained to him and Mr. Skoko.
The air car landed in the same spot Drazok’s had, albeit with barely enough room. We hurried — in Simon’s case, hobbled — towards it as soon as the doors opened.
Both men jumped out to greet us.
To the end of his days, Mr. Skoko will claim the smile I saw on his face was only for Challa and Kadi, but I’m not so sure about that. The luggage chute incident — something our guardians later made all of us, not just Kirsty and Simon, apologize to him for — must have still rankled greatly, but he was quite gentle when he re-did Simon’s bandages on the way to the palace. More so, Simon assured me, than I’d been.
Chief Rupin did more than smile. He swept Challa up and held her high.
“Have your little feet kicked any more bad men, my warrior princess?”
“No, but she had a grand go at Drazok with her wee hands,” said Kirsty.
“I bited him, too,” said Challa.
“Excellent. The Order of Royal Guardsmen must give thought to taking females into its ranks. You would make a splendid addition.”
Lowering Challa to chest level, the chief turned his attention to Simon. “And the wounded soldier, here. What did you do?”
“He made the bad man fall down and drop me,” Challa answered before Simon could. “Everyone else was going to throw rocks at him. Except Jip. She had to hold Kadi.”
“Valiant deeds performed by all, then. I take it you ran into Drazok up here. What happened to him?”
“That’s a long story,” I said, figuring he’d have to understand about the Zguri first.
“Then it will keep. Mr. Skoko and I were at the base camp working with a Ralgonian search device he thought might be able to overcome the impediments most such devices suffer in Chorathase. It only arrived this afternoon, but we judged there to be enough hours of daylight left for at least a few tries. Great was our relief when it
confirmed four Terran life forms, one Vorlan life form, and two small Cholarian life forms in the area.”
“So, it worked? It told you where we were?”
Mr. Skoko frowned, clearly less pleased with its performance than Chief Rupin had been. “Not as quickly or as precisely as it should have. For a time, the readings kept getting distorted. It only established your exact position about half an hour ago.”
Around the time Drazok had shown up — making me wonder if it was the searching device, or the Zguri, that had led Mr. Skoko and Chief Rupin to us.
But I didn’t really care. All that mattered was, we’d been found.
“It’s impossible to search Chorathase at night,” said Chief Rupin, “but search cars never give up until they absolutely have to. Several people were still out looking when I informed them of your location. All were eager to rush to your rescue, but as we were but minutes away from you, I thought it more sensible for us to pick you up and take you straight to the palace, where we will now, with great pleasure, convey you.”
On the way, he told us a little of what had been happening over the last few days. Finding us had been everyone’s top priority, but a war, however short, has political consequences, and the after-effects of the one between AUP and the Zaidus system’s independent planets had had to be dealt with. Mostly by Verim and other members of the Supreme Council, Taz being out in an air car with Trithox most of the time.
As soon as they heard AUP ships had fired on us, every independent planet not already formally allied with Cholar declared itself so, including the traditionally neutral Vorla and Borel.
AUP didn’t do as well in the ally department. Its pet planet, Lurgos, vowed to go on fighting in its corner, and so, a little less enthusiastically, did Shavo and Orec, but that was about it. Cholarians aren’t the only ones to whom using children for political gain is repugnant and that attack tipped the scales. Jorthoa and Quorl recalled the ships they had dispatched and, along with Yaix, and all the other AUP-planets that had been ignoring AUP’s call to arms, officially refused to come out and play. This lack of support should have made the Directorate break off hostilities, but its members were too desperate. They saw the annexation of Cholar as their only chance to gain back what they considered to be rightfully theirs — the benefits to be reaped from control of an AUP on its way back to becoming the great power it had once been.
