by B. R. Miller
“It is foretold.”
“And how exactly am I to do that?” I ask.
“There will be a battle between you and the Rave leader, Ruan.”
“Ruan…” I mutter to myself. “And have I met Ruan?”
“No,” Taume begins, “not yet, but soon you will.”
“And this battle, he dies?”
Once again, Taume nods.
“And I survive?”
“The future is not written in stone. What has been foreseen can be undone.”
“So I die,” I say, hanging my head.
“Do not dwell on what has yet to happen. Focus your thoughts on the present. For it is in the present that you truly live.”
“Funny,” I say, “I always thought it is in the past that you truly live.”
Skinner lets out a crooked smile. I sit there in silence wondering about this foreseen future of mine. I didn’t ask for it. Yet here I am, walking out what has been seen. It makes me wonder what else Taume is not telling us.
“It is time,” Taume calmly says.
“Time for what?” Skinner asks.
“Time for you to go back.”
“Will we see you again?” I ask dreading the answer.
“Our paths will cross again at a later time,” she begin. “For now, you must focus on surviving. The lives of millions of Gorans are resting on the fact that you survive.”
I look at Skinner who is already looking at me with worry in his eyes.
“Stay strong. And never forget who you are.”
A gentle wind picks up and I stretch my arms out in it, letting it envelope me. I raise my head to the sky and notice the cherry blossom branches swaying back and forth gently. One by one, the blossoms begin to fall. Soon, we are wrapped in a waterfall of blossoms as the wind begins to pick up. In just a few moments, swirling white and pink blossoms are all I see. They seem to form a tunnel over our heads, tornado like. Then I close my eyes. The wind suddenly stops so I open them back up and all I see is a rock walls lit by torches. I look around and there’s Skinner sitting on the ground next to me, eyes closed. I try to move over to him to wake him up but I find that my hands are bound behind my back. Looking over at Skinner, I see that his are as well.
“Skinner!” I yell.
Skinner stirs a little bit then opens his eyes and instantly shuffles his feet at the sight of us bound in a cave.
“Where are we?” he begins. “What happened?”
I just shake my head and look at him as if to tell him that I had no clue where we are or how we got here.
~*~
I pushed through the huge, white double doors and walk down a long hallway lined with cubicles. People were running around carrying papers and delivering coffee. I find the lone office off the end of the long room and walk in. A middle aged bald man is sitting at a cluttered desk sorting through papers.
“Tristan,” he begins, “please, sit down.”
I took the seat closest to the door and rested my head on my hand. “CO, this better be good because I was in the middle of a very pleasant sleep.”
“Listen,” CO says, “I know that you’ve been through a lot, with the passing of David and all. But it’s time you move on. You can’t keep living in the past.”
“I don’t want to move on. To move on would be to forget.”
“No, Tristan. Moving on is honoring David. Do you really think he would be pleased with who you are today?”
“I am fine.”
“Come on, Tristan. We both know that’s a lie. In the past few months, how many missions have you gone on?”
“None.”
“That’s right, none. Now I said you can take as long as you need to grieve his passing but it’s been three months, Tristan. It’s time you got your life together.”
I stand up and begin walking to the door. “I’m not going to sit here and listen to this.”
“Well I’m not asking.”
I stop in the door way and pause a moment. “Is that an order?”
“Yes.”
I close the door and retake my seat.
“Now I want you to be a member of this team again. No more of this lone wolf stuff.” CO pauses and sits back in his chair. “I’ve arranged for a new partner for you.”
“No! I don’t want a new fresh-out-of-training recruit!”
“Well, lucky for you, he’s not. He, too, recently lost his partner and is going through the same stuff that you are going through.”
“So, what? You thought we could help each other? Have a little pow wow and discuss our feelings?”
“No, I thought that if anybody can relate to what you’re going through, it would be him.”
A knock on the door draws my attention to it.
“Come in,” CO says.
The door slowly opens and in walks tall, built young man, not much older than myself.
“I’m sorry,” he begins, “was this a bad time?”
“No!” CO shouts standing up and walking over to the young man. “Tristan, I want you to meet your new partner, Skinner.”
~*~
I quickly examine the area we are being held in. We must be in the rear of the cave as there is only one entrance and exit. The torches cast eerie shadows on the walls and the rope we are bound with is coarse and tight. I close my eyes and try to picture the ends of the rope. The two ends begin to lift up and wiggle around. I try to imagine them untying themselves but without being able to see them, it fails.
Then we hear yelling coming from the other end of the cave. As it grows louder, we are able to distinguish that it is in fact not English.
“What is that?” Skinner asks.
I listen intently, closing my eyes again to focus. “Rave.”
A group of four Raves come around the corner, two of them carrying torches and the other two carrying heavy Rave weaponry. They stop in front of us and begin taunting us in their language. While I do not know what they say, based on their tones I had a pretty good idea. Then we hear a loud yell coming from down the cave. The four Raves stop the taunting and take a few steps back. Two of them exchange nervous glares. An average height and build man enters the room but his cloak did not have the mist trailing off of it. His goatee stood out from the other hairless Raves and his bald head glistened in the torch light. He slowly walked up to both us, making piercing eye contact.
“I…am…Ruan,” the obvious leader of the Raves said slowly and in an unsettling tone.
I glare at him, not blinking, trying to intimidate him or at least show him that I am not afraid of him. “Do you know how many Raves I’ve killed,” I say in my deepest of tones.
Ruan lets out a disconcerting smile then leans forward so he’s only inches away from my face. “Do you know how many Gorans I’ve killed?” He leans back then walks over to Skinner as if inspecting him. “Your kind are weak. They plead for their death and when I grant them their last wish, they cower.”
“Your coat?” Skinner asks. “How come there’s no mist?”
Ruan’s smile disappears and then stands tall. He rubs his fingers through his goatee then says, “Because I am not Rave. I have the luxury of passing as both Rave and Goran.”
“If you’re not Rave,” Skinner begins, “then what are you? Human?”
“Goran,” I say as if to myself. “You’re Goran, aren’t you?”
“I no longer identify with the people I was born into.”
“Why would you want to fight against us?” I ask. “We’re your people.”
“I have no people!”
“You can’t deny who you are!” I yell back.
Skinner shoots me a look that tells me that I should stop, that I’m escalating further than they should be.
“If you are Goran,” Skinner begins, “do you have abilities as well?”
Ruan stretches out his arm to his left. The torch hanging on the wall begins to rattle and shake. Soon, it flies off the wall and rest gently in Ruan’s hand.
“There is so m
uch more that I can do,” Ruan says mockingly. “Now, which one of you is Tristan?”
Neither Skinner nor I answer him. Ruan walks over to Skinner and leans forward, getting inches away from his face. Skinner keeps eye contact with him for as long as he can then looks away.
“Apparently not you,” Ruan says standing back up. “The Tristan I hear about is fearless, brave and powerful.”
Ruan walks over to me and stands in front of me. I look at him with a piercing gaze. I will not stand down and let this man play mind games with me.
I utter the words that my soul tells me to say. “One of these days,” I begin, “I will kill you.”
“Ah, yes, dear prince, the prophecy. You see, I too know of the prophecy for you; how you will bring back peace and prosperity will begin.” Ruan laughs manically. “And I’m sure you’ve heard what the seers have seen.”
I glare at him as if saying try me.
“Oh? You haven’t been told? Well, you see, it has been seen that there will be a great battle between the Raves and, well, as you would say, our kind. Yes, it is true. You do kill me. But not without taking one fatal blow. You die, Tristan, alone, scared and cowardly.”
I make a fist and do everything in my power to break the rope binding my hands so I can punch him hard across the face.
“Hmm,” Ruan says, “anger. Not very prince-like.”
A lone Rave comes rushing into the cave carrying a torch. He approaches Ruan then stops and catches his breath.
“What is it?” Ruan asks obviously annoyed.
The Rave begins to tell him something in the Rave native tongue.
“There’s three of them?”
The Rave nods and I look at Skinner who looks back at me. We both know that that is Amille coming to our rescue.
“Bring them,” Ruan says turning and walking towards the entrance of the cave. “They’ll want to see their friends die.”
The two Raves carrying torches approach Skinner and myself and help us to our feet. They then lead us down the cave with the two armed Raves tailing us closely. We walk about fifty yards through the tunnels making various turns. Then we make one final turn and we are in the opening of the cave. Ruan is standing there, his feet shoulder width apart and his arms hanging down ready for a fight. I look out the cave and notice that we are about twenty yards above the canyon floor. Then I spot them: three men, dressed in military issued camouflage coming towards us from the east. The moon shines brightly this night, illuminating the rocks and the gentle stream below but also the guns carried by Amille, Fletcher and Cooly.
Four Raves approach the opening of the cave and take a knee. They aim their weapons at our un-expecting friends. A fifth Rave comes up from behind and hands Ruan a very large weapon of some sorts which resembled a rocket launcher. Ruan takes aim. Skinner looks at me as if saying that we need to do something. I quickly run a checklist of my options. My hands are tied, we have no weapons and we are obviously out manned. This may just be a fair fight.
I open my hands and place my palms on the cold, hard ground. Then I summon up all the energy I can. This is going to hurt. I release the energy through my hands and I am sent flying through the air. I tuck my head and head straight for Ruan. My head collides with the back of his sending him to the floor but not before he is able to fire his weapon. A ball of white light soars from the gun and glides through the air, impacting the far mountain side. I land on my stomach a few feet away with my head instantly throbbing. Skinner then releases one of his strong energy pulses which sends the remaining Raves flying through the air, some hitting the walls of the cave and others tumbling down the side of the mountain.
I scoot myself over to the edge of the opening of the cave and peer down the mountain side. Amille, Fletcher, and Cooly begin making their way towards us, guns blazing. While the other Raves begin recovering from Skinner’s pulse, Ruan gets to his feet and walks over to me. He stretches out a hand over top of me and slowly I begin to rise. I keep rising until my feet are dangling in the air several feet above the ground.
“I could kill you now,” Ruan said angrily. “But this is not how it has to be done.”
Then Skinner comes up from behind and rams into Ruan’s side, ending his concentration on me which makes me fall to the ground, hard. Skinner scrambles to his knees but Ruan quickly brings his arm up and around making contact with the side of Skinner’s face. Skinner falls on to his back and I jump on Ruan. We roll around and then we come to the edge of the cliff. Ruan is sitting on my stomach with his hand around my neck, my head dangling over the edge. I look behind me and see Amille rushing towards me. Then Amille fires his weapon and a lone bullet collides with Ruan’s shoulder. Ruan stammers back and I catch my breath. Then Ruan thrust his hands towards the ground and instantly he ascend high into the night sky.
Amiller, Fletcher and Cooly storm the cave entrance and shoot the remaining Raves, silencing their mist forever. Fletcher rushes over to me and flips me over onto my stomach, untying my arms from behind my back. Cooly does the same for Skinner.
“Amille!” Cooly says. “Skinner is going to need stitches.”
I look over at Skinner and sure enough he has a wide gash across his forehead with blood oozing down his face.
“No, he won’t,” Amille begins. “Bring him up here.”
With that I see a lone figure enter the cave. His silhouette is familiar to me but I can’t place how or where. Then the figure steps into the light and low and behold, Patty stands there with a smile stretched across his face.
“Hey boys!” Patty says.
Still catching my breath, I am unable to talk but I am able to smile. Patty walks over to Skinner and kneels in front of him. He then places a hand over Skinner’s gash and soon the blood pooling down his face begins to retreat to the wound. A few more moments go by and Patty brings his hand down by his side. Where a three inch gash once was, is now freshly healed skin, unable to tell that there was any injury at all.
“Thanks,” Skinner utters.
Patty just smiles at him the stands up and walks over to me. He sees my hands around my neck and still trying to catch my breath. He slowly pulls my hands away and places a hand on my neck. A cool sensation radiates from his hand and soon my neck feels better then before. I sit up and extend my hand. Patty shakes it and smiles.
“Amille?” Skinner asks. “What happened? Why did it take so long for you guys to come?”
Amille sighs. “There were complications. When we first got word that the mission turned south, we tried to leave but General Thomas would not allow any personnel to go into the hot zone without backup. Needless to say, after a few hours of waiting we just snuck out. Which is why we need to get moving. We are no longer welcome here. If we are found, there is a chance we will be court martialed.”
I scammer to my feet and walk over to Skinner and help him up. Amille gathers the Rave weapons and hands them to Cooly. Then we leave the cave. As we’re walking down the mountain side, a million things pass through my head. Ruan. Goran? What happened to him that would make him hate us so much? After all this, for some strange reason, I felt pity for him. But the fact remains that one day, I would have to kill him. But for now, I’m just thankful that it wasn’t today.
We followed the stream heading east for a few hours. The coolness of night sunk in deep and I shivered most of the time. Eventually, Amille led us to another cave, this one eerily similar to the one that Skinner and I were just held in. Amille and Fletcher went in first to make sure it was uninhabited. I stare at the stars and I’m suddenly homesick. Cooly approaches and stares up there with me.
“You know,” he begins, “when I was a kid, I went from foster home to foster home. But for some reason, no matter where I went, I always felt homesick. I learned that there was always one thing that made me feel better, not so homesick.”
“And what was that?”
“God.”
I shrug it off and give a little laugh.
“I’m serious!” Cooly s
aid in a jolly manner. “Once I found Him, I longed no more. He became my best friend and when I didn’t know what to do, I turned to Him.” Cooly turns and looks at me. “Just know that you are truly never really alone.”
With that, Cooly walks away towards the cave. I’m left there with my thoughts and the stars.
“It’s clear,” Amille says from the entrance of the cave.
One by one, Skinner, Patty, then myself walk up to the cave. We each take a set in a half circle on the floor. Fletcher comes in with a bundle of wood. He sets it up in the middle of the floor and ignites it. Soon, we have a roaring fire which send away every ounce of coldness away. In the distance we hear booms.
“The military bombing the mountains,” Amille says. “Looking for Bin Laden.”
Cooly then pulls out his iPod and a mini boom box and sets it up on the floor of the cave.
“Only a few minutes of battery power left,” Cooly says. “But maybe, just maybe, we have enough to listen to one song.”
Cooly flips through his playlist and clicks play. A ukulele begins and soon a Hawaiian man begins singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow. As the song plays and the distant booms grow louder and louder, I concentrate on what the man is singing. He sings of a place somewhere over the rainbow where you will find him. And I think of my family living back in Iowa. If they only knew where I was. I wish that they could find me somewhere over the rainbow.
As the last echoes of the song ring out, we all sit there in silence and just watch the flames dance long into the night.
Chapter Eight
The next morning, we left the cave and covered our tracks to make it look like we were never there. We hiked through the mountains for a good part of the day until we came to a small airfield. At this airfield, a cargo plane is sitting on the tarmac waiting for us. Skinner, Patty and myself wait in the bushes while Amille, Fletcher and Cooly clear the tarmac and the plane. After a few moments, Amille waves to us that it’s all clear. Once on board, we all sleep.
Turbulence wakes me up and I sit up, looking around I remember where I am. Amille sits up from his slouching position in his seat and grips his gun. “We should be about there.”
