Ice Phoenix

by Sulin Young

  “What? How did that happen?”

  “A roaming satellite picked up the signal in Sector Five. It was en route to Sector Three, where it was finally picked up and relayed directly to Kuldor. The message was brief and requested another ship.”

  The queen’s eyes bored into Terrana’s. “So,” she said in a hard tone, still speaking to Headmistress Marl, “if she really can traverse the In-Between, whatever she saw in Si Ren Da will be vital for the rescue mission we send out.”

  She took a step closer to Terrana. “Terrana, I will ask you again — did the others who tried to take the pendant, succeed?”

  Terrana wiped her tears and shook her head. “I don’t know. The little man was the last to have it, but he and Baneyon were caught in the explosion. I woke up after that. I don’t know if Baneyon is still alive.”

  “Baneyon doesn’t die so easily,” said Headmistress Marl quickly. “He has Quempa with him.”

  “Quempa?” Terrana gave the headmistress a searching look, desperate for any hope of Baneyon being alive.

  “The little man who was with him,” answered Headmistress Marl.

  “Do you know how many enemies they faced?” asked the queen.

  “I saw five,” replied Terrana. “They were really strong. Two of them tried to kill the little man because he had the pendant, and one of them used lightning. It came out from his fingers. The other one — he was blond — burned the L-Master’s legs and arms off. She screamed like the man who died in my other dream. “

  “What other dream?” Headmistress Marl asked sharply. Terrana blanched. Suddenly, both the headmistress and the queen looked terrifying as they loomed over her, demanding answers.

  Headmistress Marl’s face softened. “I’m sorry, Terrana. I know this must be really hard for you, but we need to know what you saw. It may be the only thing that can save Baneyon’s life.”

  Baneyon. Once more Terrana saw the ship explode and the flames consume him. Her heart constricted. Baneyon couldn’t die. He couldn’t leave her here by herself. He was the solid rock in her universe, keeping her together when her old world had fallen apart. He had taken care of her, fussed over her, and became the family that she had so desperately needed. There was no way she could lose him. A distant look glazed over her eyes as she recalled her dream.

  “Felix,” she said. “His name was Felix and I saw the shadows burn him.”

  “Dear Dartkala,” whispered Headmistress Marl. The blood had drained from her face. “You saw Master Jingo die, and you didn’t tell anyone?”

  “I wanted to tell Baneyon,” cried Terrana, “but I couldn’t reach him! And then there was no time afterwards because he had to leave. I thought it was just a nightmare.” She hugged herself and began to rock back and forth, struggling to rid herself of the memories.

  Headmistress Marl fell to her knees, taking hold of Terrana’s hands. “Terrana, you could always have come to me. What you saw …” the headmistress paused as she tried to find words that would comfort the traumatised child. Finding none, she drew in a breath and continued, “You don’t have to hide it from me.”

  “I know that now,” whimpered Terrana.

  “We must inform the others,” the queen said. She turned to Prince Gil Ra Im. “Ra Im, please wait with Terrana in the other room.”

  The prince gave his mother a searching look but did not question her. He walked to Terrana and offered his hand. She didn’t take it but scrambled out of the pod, doing her best to avoid his gaze. The prince turned and walked out of the room, and she followed.

  The queen removed a tiny device from her jacket collar and tossed it into the air, where it levitated. Eight clear projections of the other Imeldors appeared in the room. Grandmaster Deitrux, Kuldor, Lady Skiss, Master Morix, Lady Anrath, Tirath Wayne, Kiaten Titik, and Drummik stood around, their faces serious.

  The queen wasted no time. “I trust Kuldor has informed you about the most recent developments? That the girl has seen Baneyon and the others on Si Ren Da?”

  “Yes, Your Highness,” answered the grandmaster. “What else has she told you?”

  “Quempa and his team are in trouble,” the queen answered. “They managed to retrieve the pendant but were ambushed by the demons. The last she saw was the ship exploding, engulfing both Baneyon and Quempa. At this point it is difficult to tell if they are still alive.”

  “They won’t die so easily,” Master Drummik interjected.

  “My thoughts exactly,” replied the queen. “We need to send a rescue team immediately.”

  “It takes at least two days for our fastest ship to reach Sector Five from Pa Gumpina,” said Master Drummik. “Let’s hope we are not too late. Kuldor told us the message from Baneyon was three days old. We’ve already lost a lot of time.”

  “Then I have no choice but to go myself,” the queen said. “We cannot allow the pendant to fall into the demons’ hands.”

  “I am not far from you,” said Lady Anrath. “I too will go.”

  None of the others were surprised. She barely left the queen’s side. Like the queen, Lady Anrath was Swivan, but her colouring — dark skin and fair hair — was the exact opposite of the woman she served.

  “How long will it take you to reach Si Ren Da, Your Highness?” asked the grandmaster.

  “A day’s ride. The faars are swift and will protect Lady Anrath and me. But we will not be able to hold the demons off for long.”

  “Your Highness, you would have to wait at least another day before help arrives,” said Kiaten Titik. “The faars are swifter than any ship, and it would be better if more of us went with you. Please consider making an exception and allow us to ride the faars this one time.”

  “The exception is not mine to make, Master Titik,” the queen said in a cold voice. “The faars are not pets. They do not obey me. They do not tolerate outsiders, and once they enter the In-Between I cannot ensure your protection.”

  “Her Highness is right, Master Titik,” said the grandmaster. “If you value your life, you will not insist on riding the faars. They have been known to abandon certain riders in the In-Between. The closest people to Sector Five are Kuldor and I. I believe we can make it to Si Ren Da in a day and a half. Until then, Her Highness and Lady Anrath will have to hold out with the others until we arrive.”

  “What about the rest of us?” Kiaten Titik asked.

  “Continue gathering information on the war, the demons, and the Dream Walker. It is absolutely vital that we learn as much as we can about the enemy. Lady Skiss, please inform the L-Council that the first team has run into trouble in Si Ren Da and a few of us have left to rescue them. Do not mention anything about the girl and … speak only of the distress signal that Baneyon sent.”

  The liquid blob that was Lady Skiss gave some appearance of a nod. The grandmaster glanced at the queen.

  “Ride well and stay safe, Your Highness.”

  “Thank you, Grandmaster Deitrux.”

  The images of all eight Imeldors vanished from the room. Queen Julere plucked the tiny device from the air and tucked it beneath her collar.

  Waiting in the next room, Terrana sniffed for the umpteenth time until the prince leaned forwards and offered her some tissues. They were sitting in the headmistress’s pristine kitchen, facing each other across the table, not saying a word.

  “Thanks,” she said in small voice. The silence descended again, and she avoided looking at him directly. Keeping her eyes downcast, she brought the tissues to her nose discretely. Then she blew for all she was worth, shattering the silence. The prince flinched and leaned back.

  “Are you going to stare at the floor forever?” he asked, after she had emptied her nostrils.

  Terrana turned red. She hadn’t seen or spoken to him since the day he had fished her out of the lake, completely naked. And, of course, she couldn’t forget that she had tried to kill him. Or that she had thrown up on him twice — well, twice more.

  She ignored his comment and continued staring at the f
loor, allowing herself to descend into a world of darkness, hurt, and confusion. Her daily life seemed like a dream, a land of the blessed, and she struggled to swim to it every day. Otherwise, she would drown in the memories of her family’s death while the evil eyes of her dark alter ego watched her. The only thing that kept her afloat was the memory of seeing Puddy. Knowing that the dolphin had tried to reach out to her in the lake, that he hadn’t abandoned her, flooded her with dangerous hope that they would be together again. She should have felt better about this glimmer of hope, but instead, she felt worse.

  She couldn’t understand why Baneyon had asked her to forget about Puddy. After everything she had been through, she would have thought that he’d be happy to know her old friend had returned. She loved Baneyon — she knew that now — but promising him she would not see Puddy created an internal conflict which ate her from the inside. She feared she was going to break her promise to Baneyon. Puddy could not have killed her family. He was part of her, part of her soul, and she would have known if he had meant her any harm.

  She forgot the prince was sitting there as she sank deeper into her reverie. Puddy had come to her at a time when she had been a danger to herself and the prince. The thought that she had an evil twin nesting inside of her, just waiting to break out, terrified her. Her alter ego had called herself Terrana, told her that they were the same being, but Terrana refused to believe that. They may look the same, but this twin was not her. Puddy had referred to her alter ego as her ‘powers,’ but Terrana decided to call her T2; the second or other Terrana.

  Every day Terrana asked herself the same question — what if T2 had appeared at the school and not over the lake? Puddy wouldn’t have been able to come to her, and she would have ended up hurting a lot of students. Terrana had never been so scared in her life. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt innocent people. Whatever T2 was, Terrana didn’t believe that she was just a manifestation of her own powers. Powers couldn’t materialise, talk to you, and then lock you away, could they? Puddy had told her to control T2 before T2 controlled her, and Baneyon … she had seen the look in his eyes. He feared something in her.

  Terrana needed to know who she was, why she was born the way she was. She owed it to Archie and her parents. One day, she hoped, she could return home to Fiji, and when she did she would sit by her family’s graves and explain what happened. Her mum would be there, smiling as she scraped the coconuts while listening, and at the end of it, she would flick her ear and tell her, “Terrana, scrape this coconut. We are going to make something good from it.”

  And that’s how her mother was. No matter how bad the situation, she would always say, “We are going to make something good from it.”

  Terrana clung to those words. She didn’t know what she could make yet, but once she knew, she would make something good out of her situation. She would make something good for her family. But the heaviness still clung to her heart, and self-doubt gnawed at her. Her determination to remain strong was being swallowed by depression and fear. Fear of what she was.

  The prince’s voice spilled into her thoughts like cold water. Terrana looked up at him, turned red — again — and then looked away. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you,” she mumbled. It was a miracle that the prince even heard her. He leaned forwards.

  “I said, are you going to stare at the floor forever?”

  “It’s a very unusual floor,” she said quickly. “I’ve never seen one like it before.”

  “Suit yourself. Personally I’d rather look at people — with clothes on.”

  Terrana could have fried an egg on her face. It was that hot. She glanced at him angrily. “You didn’t have to bring that up! I wasn’t myself at the time!”

  The corner of his mouth lifted. Terrana scowled. He was laughing at her! She didn’t realise it then, but his subtle teasing removed some of the darkness in her, pulling her from the hurt and confusion of everything that had happened in the last week.

  “Then perhaps you should explain that to the irritating Daiphus boy who saw us outside your room.” It took a moment for Terrana to realise he was referring to Lorn. She could still recall Lorn’s stunned look when he had seen them outside her room, after returning from the lake. Not knowing what to say, she had avoided him too.

  “Is that your mum outside?” she asked abruptly.

  A glint appeared in the prince’s eyes as he recognised her futile attempt to change the subject, but he went along with it.

  “Yes,” he answered.

  “You look a lot like her. Why are you both here?”

  “We were discussing you before you arrived.”

  Terrana’s eyes widened. “About what?”

  “About how an uncouth girl from Sector Thirteen could not realise that it’s inappropriate to attack the prince of Swiva, especially when she does not have any clothes on.”

  Terrana’s eyes narrowed. He had deliberately let her steer the conversation because he knew it would lead right back to that.

  “That was mean,” she said.

  “Nevertheless, true,” he replied. Terrana opened her mouth to retort but he held out his hand, silencing her. He walked quietly to the door and stood really still. Curious, Terrana shuffled up to him, attempting to peer past him. Almost immediately, his hand came down on her head and pulled her back.

  Her eyes could have burned holes through his back, but she bit down on her lip and said nothing. She, too, wanted to hear what the queen and the headmistress were saying, and arguing would not help. Her attempts to eavesdrop on the two women proved futile, but the prince seemed to be having better luck. Suddenly, he pushed her back and she found herself sitting at the table once more.

  The women walked into the kitchen. Terrana ran over to the headmistress.

  “Are you going to send someone to save Baneyon?” she asked.

  Headmistress Marl nodded. “Her Highness is going to Si Ren Da with some others. They’ll do their best to rescue Baneyon and his comrades.”

  The prince looked at his mother sharply, his eyes betraying his emotions. “Your Highness, do you intend to confront the demons?”

  “If I have to,” she answered softly. Something flashed in the prince’s eyes and Terrana was startled to recognise it as pain. Something unsaid was happening between the queen and her son, and Terrana sensed that the prince was angry, although she didn’t understand why.

  The queen spoke, her face betraying no emotion. “You are the prince of Sector Six, Ra Im. You cannot afford to allow your emotions to show.”

  “Her Highness should have protectors accompanying her. I do not understand why she insists on partaking in this suicidal mission when it is only logical and convenient to assign somebody else!”

  The queen’s eyes softened for just a moment. “Young Majesty, you overheard some things that you should not have, and you try to position yourself in my stead when there is no need. There is time for all that, but it is not now.”

  In an unexpected display of emotion, she reached out and stroked her son’s face. “Trust your mother. I will have Nisa and Lady Anrath by my side.”

  Prince Gil Ra Im nodded, although his expression remained stony. The queen turned to Terrana. “I have more questions for you, Terrana. Apart from the five demons, did you see any others?”

  Terrana shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  “Can you control where you go in your dreams?”

  Terrana shook her head miserably. She felt useless, not to mention, responsible for sending the queen away. She wracked her brains to remember anything that would help the queen. Something came back to her.

  “Mire’s Point!” she cried. “I heard Baneyon say they would meet there.”

  The queen’s eyes flashed. “Thank you, Terrana.”

  “And, be careful of the demon with the hood. He felt very bad to me.”

  The queen nodded. “I shall make my leave now.”

  “Journey well, Your Highness,” said Headmistress Marl. She accompanied the
queen to the main room in which Terrana had sat earlier, and up some stairs that disappeared into the ceiling. Terrana guessed it led out to the top of the dragon’s head, where the queen’s faar would be waiting.

  A yawn escaped her, releasing fresh tears, and Terrana realised she was really tired. Since the episode at the lake, sleep hadn’t come easy to her. A painful rap on the head roused her immediately.

  “Ow! Whaccha do that for?” she cried, rubbing her head.

  “Meet me at the stables in half an hour,” the prince whispered fiercely.

  “Huh?”

  But he did not elaborate. Headmistress Marl descended the stairs alone, coming to stand in front of them. She threw them a stern look. “I don’t have to tell the both of you that whatever was discussed in this room stays in this room. Understood?”

  They both nodded.

  27

  Battle

  The time was past noon and the three suns blazed mercilessly upon the baked, rocky planet of Si Ren Da, giving rise to swirling optical illusions that could drown a person within seconds if they were to rely on their eyes only.

  Five demons frantically dashed about the dry, cracked surface of the planet, scouring the earth and rocks for something, anything. There was an air of disbelief about them, mingled with fury and the intent of violent retribution for the humiliation they had suffered. In their frustration, they churned the earth violently in the hope that the pendant would present itself.

  “Meldogan, the dogs are surfacing,” Garok pointed out. Meldogan glanced across the harsh, sun-baked terrain to where the dratkaars were, and growled.

  “If you have time to worry about them, you’re not looking for the pendant!”

  Garok looked nervously at the dogs again. They had begun to appear on the surface since the collapse of the cave and, as far as he could tell, they didn’t look happy. There were hundreds of them, and yet, more were breaking through the ground, nonchalantly shaking off rocks and earth. The explosion must have awakened all the sleeping packs on this barren planet, and they appeared from every direction. Garok had the feeling they were planning something.