The Rivers of Zadaa

by D. J. MacHale

  I don’t mean to sound so sorry for myself. I think you guys know that writing this all down helps me sort it out in my own head. I wish it would help me find some real answers. So far those have been few and far between. All I can do is look ahead, and keep searching.

  I’ve got to tell you what brought me to this point. I suppose I should stop whining about my own pathetic state of mind and be grateful that I’m still around to write at all. I’ve got to reset my head, back to where it was only a short while ago, so I can get this all down. I finished my last journal when Loor and I were hiding with Teek, the Tiggen guard. The fuse was lit. There was about to be an invasion that would determine the future of Kidik, the Batu, the Rokador…and the entire territory of Zadaa.

  We were safely hidden in a remote room deep below the main building on Kidik Island. No Tiggen guard would look for us there, and if the Batu attacked and the water was released, we would survive. Hopefully. Teek was off trying to get more information about the elite’s plan. That left Loor and me to regroup and plot our next move.

  “We’ve got a couple of choices,” I said. “We can warn the Batu that they’re headed into a trap and hope they back off—”

  “It is too late for that,” Loor interjected. “They were preparing to attack when we left Xhaxhu.”

  “Okay. Then we can try to convince the Rokador elite that by wiping out the Batu, they would doom the rest of their tribe, because killing the Ghee warriors would leave them exposed to attack by the cannibal tribes of Zadaa.”

  “That is not likely either,” Loor said. “Their hatred and fear of the Batu runs too deep.”

  “I agree,” I said. “Which leaves us with the third option.”

  “And what is that?” Loor asked.

  I hated to say what I was about to say. It went against all we had been doing to defeat Saint Dane, and against my nature. It definitely went against Loor’s nature, but it seemed to be the only choice.

  “We can leave,” I said.

  Loor shot me a surprised look. “Leave? I do not understand.”

  “I think Saint Dane has won,” I said. “I don’t know how we can stop this.”

  “You are suggesting we abandon Zadaa and allow the territory to crumble?” Loor asked.

  I didn’t answer right away because that’s exactly what I was suggesting, and it sounded rotten. This was tough. We were talking about Loor’s home.

  “I’m sorry, Loor,” I said. “But we have to look at the big picture. We’ve already lost Kasha. Spader and Gunny are trapped on Eelong. The battle here on Zadaa is going to happen—”

  “It will not be a battle; it will be a mass execution,” Loor said coldly.

  “You’re right,” I said. “But whatever happens here on Zadaa, you and I must survive to continue the fight against Saint Dane. We have to think of all of Halla, not just one territory.”

  Loor showed no emotion. She looked me square in the eyes. I wanted to be able to read her mind to know what she was thinking. Or maybe I didn’t. She might not have had such a hot opinion of me just then.

  “I understand, Pendragon,” she said calmly. “Protecting all of Halla is of more importance than saving one territory. Your decision is a wise one. I will get you back to the flume.”

  “Good,” I said, though I wasn’t happy about it. “I know how you must feel—”

  “I am sure you do,” Loor interrupted. “That is why I know you will understand when I say that I cannot leave Zadaa.”

  “Why?” I asked in surprise. “You can’t stop this.”

  “Perhaps not,” she said. “But I could not live with myself if I did not try. I agree that losing you would be a crushing blow in the fight against Saint Dane. I, on the other hand, would not be missed.”

  “You are so wrong—”

  “Please, Pendragon. My mind is made up. Perhaps I can stop some of the Batu from descending into the underground. Saving even a few lives would be worth the effort. Whoever is left alive will be needed to defend Xhaxhu from the marauders.”

  I knew it was useless to argue.

  “Come,” Loor said. “We must not waste more time.”

  I felt like a coward. Though my brain told me it was the right move, my heart wasn’t so sure. I had never given up before. I guarantee Loor had never given up. Ever. She wasn’t giving up now, either. I didn’t feel as if I had a choice. I had to force myself to think of all of Halla. Losing a battle wasn’t the same as losing the war. I tried to convince myself that I wasn’t running away, I was running toward the next battle. I hoped that by the time we made it back to the flume, if we made it to the flume, I could convince Loor to leave with me.

  We left the small room and moved quickly through the labyrinth of underground tunnels, looking for the way to the surface of Kidik Island. We no longer feared running into a Tiggen guard. We knew there weren’t many left. Our plan was to get back to the beach, take the boat to the city of Kidik, and drive the dygo back to the flume. My biggest fear was that we would run into the first wave of Ghee warriors, and the show would be over. All we could do was keep moving, and hoping.

  We finally popped out of the underground in a familiar area. We were on the ground level of the vast cemetery where most of the Rokador population was buried. Seeing all those white markers with the small flame burning on each was a gut-wrenching sight. It was hard to grasp the concept that so many had died—and so many more were soon to follow. The two of us stood looking out over the sea of death, humbled and sad.

  “Why?” Loor asked. “Why is any of this happening?”

  She didn’t expect an answer. She knew I didn’t have one. There was only one person who could answer that question. As it turned out, he was standing right behind us.

  “Not guilty,” Saint Dane said.

  Loor and I both whipped around quickly, pulling out our weapons.

  Saint Dane was alone. He stood there with his arms out, showing that he wasn’t armed and not interested in fighting. “Please, there is no need for violence,” he said. He circled around us, walking to the edge of the cemetery. He looked out over the thousands of markers with a small smile. I hated this guy.

  “Such a tragedy,” he said.

  “Yeah, right, like you care,” I said.

  “Correct. I don’t care,” Saint Dane said. “The tragedy is that I had nothing to do with it.”

  Loor took an angry step toward him. I held her back.

  “You’re saying you didn’t prevent these people from using the cure until it was too late?” I asked. “I don’t believe you.”

  “It’s true,” he said. “The virus was a natural occurrence. I simply used the event to my advantage. It was the turning point on Zadaa…that, and the death of Pelle a Zinj. Thank you, by the way, for delivering him to the assassin. Without your help, the Batu may never have decided to attack. It was a nice little piece of insurance.”

  I could feel Loor’s anger radiate from her like heat. I kept a hand on her shoulder to calm her.

  “We know the plan,” I said. “We heard your performance at the—”

  “At the banquet with the elite, yes, I know,” Saint Dane said. “I felt your beady little eyes staring at me through the hole in the floor, like rats. I thought I was quite remarkable, didn’t you?”

  His arrogance was pissing me off, but I couldn’t let him get to me.

  “I don’t get it,” I said. “What’s different this time? Why haven’t you taken on a disguise?”

  “Because I didn’t need to,” he said casually. He turned to face us. His expression grew dark. “And because I wanted you to see how simple it is for me to control these creatures. To me, that’s what Zadaa is about, Pendragon. A demonstration. I wanted you to see, firsthand, how weak the people of the territories are. How stupid. How their emotions control their actions. You believe they have noble aspirations? That they would make sacrifices for the greater good? That they care for anyone or anything outside their selfish little orbits? I say the people of the te
rritories are no better than common animals. Dangle raw meat in front of a starving rodent and he will kill his own to get it. That’s who you’re working so hard to defend, my misguided friend. You are surrounded by fear, greed, and envy. The Batu, the Rokador—all of them. The Milago and Bedoowan of Denduron. The arrogant agronomers of Cloral, those criminals on First Earth, the klee and gars of Eelong, and the escapists on Veelox. None of them seek the truth. None are willing to suffer or sacrifice for others. They all fear someone else will get more than they have, or they might experience pain, or their lives will be less than what they feel they deserve. You think you’re fighting me, Pendragon? You’re not. You’re fighting the nature of the very people you think you’re helping. All I’ve done is give them what they want.”

  “No,” I said. “That’s not what it’s about. Of course people will defend themselves if they’re afraid, but there’s a lot of good in—”

  “Good? What is good?” Saint Dane said dismissively. “It’s easy for people to be good when they’re comfortable and well fed. But that isn’t what this existence is about, Pendragon. It’s about challenges that you conquer, or fall to. Now the people of Zadaa are about to fall, and I will have made my point once again.”

  “No!” Loor couldn’t take it anymore. She blew past me and attacked Saint Dane. I have to admit, I wanted her to do it. Saint Dane wasn’t fighting me this time. He was taking on the pro. Too bad for him. I wanted Loor to take the demon out. Loor lunged at him with her wooden stave, committing the cardinal sin. She made the first move. Saint Dane easily blocked her attack, reached into his jacket, and pulled out a metal, Tiggen weapon. Before I had a chance to react, he nailed Loor in the chest, sending her crashing to the ground, shaking with pain. I stood there, frozen. I don’t know if it was because of the surprise of the sudden violence, or because I saw Loor beaten.

  “You wanted her to kill me, didn’t you?” he said. “Don’t lie. You wanted her to beat me unmercifully like I beat you. You’re no better than the worthless creatures you’ve dedicated yourself to protecting.”

  I couldn’t move. His words hit me hard. He was right. I wanted Saint Dane to hurt as badly as he hurt me. Had I just proven his point? Was I no better than an animal who only knew to attack when threatened?

  “What are you feeling, Pendragon?” Saint Dane seethed. “How will it make you feel when I touch this weapon to her head, and melt her brain?”

  Saint Dane lowered the metal baton toward Loor. I was too far away to stop him. His white-blue eyes had frozen me in place. Loor was about to die, and I was too far away to stop it.

  From the corner of my eye I saw a sudden flash of silver. An instant later Saint Dane screamed out in pain and dropped his weapon. Sticking from his arm was a silver arrow. I spun quickly to see someone standing on the balcony above us, holding a crossbow.

  “Hello, Mallos,” the guy said. “That is what you called yourself on Denduron, no?”

  It was Alder! Standing next to him were Saangi and Teek.

  Saint Dane clutched his arm, screaming in pain. It didn’t last long. The demon turned into a liquid shadow. The silver arrow dropped from the inky cloud and clattered to the ground. The shadow re-formed itself into the same black bird I had seen flying away from the Manhattan Tower Hotel on First Earth. Saint Dane was about to get away. Again. The bird rose into the air, flapped its wings, and sailed off. We all watched it disappear into the darkness that enveloped Kidik Island.

  “Ahhhh!” A scream of terror came from the balcony above. It was Teek. I guess he wasn’t used to seeing a person turn into a giant crow. Go figure. I glanced up to see him back away from the edge of the balcony in confusion and fear. Alder and Saangi tried to calm him. Good luck. I had no idea what they were going to tell him. But that wasn’t my concern. I ran to Loor. She was no longer shaking, but still looked pretty dazed. I knelt down next to her and put my hand on her shoulder, saying, “Relax. You’re not hurt. It was just a small jolt.”

  “That…is…easy…for…you…to…say,” Loor said through chattering teeth.

  She was going to be okay. I kept my hand on her shoulder, more out of reassurance than anything. Shortly we were joined by Alder, Saangi, and a very nervous-looking Teek who was shaking almost as much as Loor. I stood and hugged Alder. “I can’t believe you’re here,” I said. “Are you all right? When we left, you were barely conscious.”

  “I believe it was the medicine that made me sleep. I feel better now,” he said. He flexed his stiff shoulder and added, “There is some pain, but it did not stop me from taking this from a Tiggen guard.” He held up the multiple-shot crossbow. “Interesting weapon.”

  Loor moved to get up. She was quickly getting her act back together. Saangi helped her sit up.

  “You were to take Alder to the flume,” Loor scolded.

  “Do not blame her, Loor,” Alder said. “I would not leave, not while there was still work to be done.”

  Talk about making me feel guilty. Leaving is exactly what I was about to do.

  “How did you find us?” I asked.

  “It is my duty to help Loor,” Saangi said. “To do that, I did something that will make you angry. Before you left, I copied the map to Kidik. Please forgive me.”

  Loor stared at Saangi in disbelief.

  Saangi kept her eyes to the ground and said, “Once in the underground, we took a dygo and followed the route.”

  I had to hand it to Saangi. She never gave up. I said, “I guess it was a good thing we sprang all of those traps.”

  “I did not expect to see an ocean under the ground,” Alder said.

  “Yeah, no kidding,” I shot back. “How did you know enough to cross it?”

  “The city was dead,” Alder explained. “You were nowhere to be found, and we saw lights across the water. We found a boat, followed the lights, and made it as far as this building.”

  “That is when we found Teek,” Saangi said. “He brought us here. I know this is not what you wanted, Loor, but if we had not come…” Saangi didn’t have to finish the sentence. We all knew. If they hadn’t shown up, Saint Dane would have fried Loor.

  “I am not angry, Saangi, I am grateful,” Loor said. “Perhaps you should disobey me more often.”

  Saangi beamed. She had once again proven to be Loor’s guardian angel.

  “I did not really mean that,” Loor added. “But thank you.”

  “Evil spirits!” a voice shouted. We all looked at Teek. He was standing away from the group, looking spooked.

  “Are you okay, Teek?” I asked.

  “Evil s-spirits!” he repeated nervously. “He is an evil spirit! Evil!”

  Teek wasn’t okay. I had to think of something to say that would keep him from going totally insane.

  “He’s no spirit,” I said. “It was a trick. He’s full of tricks to fool people.”

  “He…he transformed! And flew!” Teek chattered.

  “All a trick,” I lied. “But you’re right about one thing: He is evil.”

  Loor got to her feet. She was wobbly, so Saangi had to help her up. “We must get Pendragon to the flume,” she said. “He must be kept safe.”

  “No,” I said. I looked at Loor, then Alder, and Saangi. “Saint Dane thinks he’s proving a point on Zadaa? I can prove one too. We’re seeing this to the end. All of us.”

  “Are you sure?” Loor asked.

  I nodded. I could see her relief.

  “The end may come sooner than you think,” Saangi said.

  “Why’s that?” I asked.

  “That is another reason we had to come,” she answered. “The Batu have entered the underground. The attack has begun.”

  JOURNAL #23

  (CONTINUED)

  ZADAA

  Loor knew the plans for war, as did Saangi. The Ghee had been preparing for this day for a long time. The invasion would be overwhelming.

  “It will begin with dygos,” Loor explained. “Ghee spies have stolen dozens of them, of all sizes. They have
been kept hidden in the desert. The plan is to drive them into the underground and use them as shields against the defenses of the Tiggen guards. Each dygo will be followed by hundreds of warriors. The dygos will break through any resistance, whether it be rock or Tiggen, clearing the way for the Ghee warriors.”

  “How do they know where to go?” I asked. “I mean, isn’t the underground like a huge spiderweb?”

  “It is,” Loor answered. “But there have been scouts. They know the general direction of Kidik. They know this is the seat of power. This is the target. They will travel through the tunnels that take them in the proper direction. If there is no tunnel, they will drill one. The attack will be relentless.”

  “Yeah, until they reach the ocean,” I said.

  “What will happen then?” Alder asked.

  “It’s a trap,” I answered. “The Rokador are going to flood the tunnels and drown every Batu who’s in the underground.”

  Saangi shot me a look of surprise. Alder looked just as stunned. I hated to have to put it so bluntly, but we were way past worrying about tact.

  “That will be thousands of Batu,” Saangi said, her voice suddenly sounding like that of a frightened, little girl.

  “Can they truly do that?” Alder asked.

  I looked to Teek. He still looked shaken, but his senses were returning.

  “What did you find out?” I asked him. “How is this gonna work?”

  Teek answered with no emotion. It was as if he were in a trance. His world was crumbling around him, in more ways than one. “The Kidik Ocean is nothing more than a giant holding tank,” he began. “It is fed from the north by many distant rivers. The engineers control how much water is let in with giant gates. To the south, near the city, there are many small gates that control the flow to the rivers beneath Xhaxhu. Those are the gates that have been closed to choke off the water and create the drought. The plan is to throw all the gates to the north open, allowing the ocean to rise. The engineers have already begun. I can see that the ocean level is far above normal.”