by G Sauvé
Jonn is tough, but even he can’t recover from a direct hit to the face. He crumbles, blood squirting from his nostrils. It doesn’t take a medical genius to figure out he’s unconscious.
Angry Dude glances at me and considers his next move. I suspect he’s wondering whether or not he has enough time to take me out before Jonn comes to. He finally takes a step toward me but stops when the downed soldier grunts. He glances at the grey-haired man, hesitates for a moment, then drops his improvised club and runs off, vanishing into the jungle.
I hesitate for a moment, then hurry to Jonn’s side.
“Are you okay?” I ask. He’s just coming to, and he’s still a little woozy, so I have to help him up.
“What happened?” he groans, ignoring my question. He wipes his nose with the back of his hand and seems surprised when it comes back bloody. His eyes widen with comprehension when the fog of recent unconsciousness evaporates.
“Where is he?” He jumps up and glances around, but Angry Dude is long gone.
“He got away.”
Jonn takes a moment to recover from his unplanned nap.
“Who was that?” I ask after a while.
My companion doesn’t answer, so I repeat the question.
“His name is Arko. He used to be part of the team, but he betrayed us and led us into a trap. Kara almost died. Since then, it’s been Kara and me against Avalon and him.”
I can’t believe it. Kara almost died. Is that why she’s so selfless? Did her near-death experience change her or has she always been this caring?
“What team?” I ask.
“Arko, Kara, and Me. Our job is… was to capture Avalon before she could change the past. We failed. I used to think it was because of Arko, but now I’m not so sure.”
I can tell Jonn blames himself for believing his friend betrayed them, so I decide to distract him with another question.
“What’s a mind jacker?”
“It’s an Atlantean mind-control device. It’s illegal.”
Jonn retrieves his knife and returns it to its sheath.
“Let’s go,” he says and heads off.
“Where are we going?” I ask as I hurry after him.
“Back to the village. Kara needs to know what happened.” After a short pause, he adds, “It’s time for us to go after Avalon.”
Memory 34
A rkania. King. Avalon,” says Kara. “What does that mean?”
“We don’t know,” I admit.
“What we do know is that Avalon is responsible for the plague,” says Jonn. It’s the third time he’s mentioned it.
A heavy silence settles upon us as Jonn and I wait for Kara to process everything we’ve just told her.
“Maybe Arkania is the king Arko told you about,” offers Kara.
It makes sense. At least I think it does, but Korri disagrees.
“Arkania isn’t a king,” he says. “It’s a city.”
“Korri says it’s—” I begin, but I stop when I realize something.
Korri just spoke.
We’ve spent the past two weeks together, yet this is the first time I hear him speak. Up until just now, I thought he was mute.
“Y-you can speak?” I finally blurt out.
Korri chuckles.
“Yes,” he says in a voice that seems to belong to a man ten times his size. The words come out soft and soothing, like the low rumbling of a roaring fire.
“You can speak,” I repeat, stunned.
Korri chuckles again in that soft, deep tone of his. I can’t believe it. Given his small stature and shy personality, I assumed he was a child. I guess I was wrong. It seems as though there are many things I was wrong about, and Jonn isn’t above pointing it out.
“What the drowned, Won’t? Why didn’t you tell us he can talk?”
“I didn’t know,” I shoot back. I consider asking him to stop calling me “Won’t,” but now doesn’t seem like the right time.
I take a moment to process the implications of my recent discovery. Korri may have waited until now to speak, yet he heard every single word I uttered since my friends and I arrived. Given everything we discussed, there’s no doubt in my mind Korri knows enough to crucify us. The only question is…
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
Korri shrugs.
“I like you. I can tell you’re trying to do the right thing.” He gives me a big smile. “That’s why I’ve decided to help you.”
I think back to the first thing he said.
“You said Arkania is a city. Do you know where it is?”
“Of course. I’ve been there dozens of times.”
My heart leaps. There may yet be hope for us to return to our respective times.
“Can you tell us how to reach it?”
“Of course.”
I can’t believe it. Moments before I was feeling hopeless, now I’m overflowing with optimism.
“What’s wrong?” asks Jonn. “Do you need to use the bathroom?”
I roll my eyes. Only the grey-haired soldier would mistake excitement for an impending bowel movement. Still, I take a moment to tell him and Kara what I just learned.
“So, Arkania is a city?” says Kara.
I nod.
“Given what Arko told you,” continues Kara, “it’s safe to assume the king of the city is somehow involved in Avalon’s plan for this time.”
“What are we waiting for?” asks Jonn. “Let’s go!”
Kara rolls her eyes.
“We can’t leave now. There’s still much we don’t know.”
“She’s right,” agrees Korri once I’ve translated Kara’s words.
“What do you mean?”
“Arkania is much bigger than our village, and the journey there is dangerous. You’ll need my help if you are to reach your destination in one piece.”
“Are you sure?” I ask.
Korri nods.
“He’s so brave,” says Kara once I’ve brought her and her father up to speed.
“How long will the trip take?” asks Jonn.
“A week,” reveals Korri once I’ve repeated Jonn’s question.
“What?” I yelp. “How far is it?”
“It’s not that far,” admits the korrigan, “but many obstacles stand between us and Arkania.”
“What kind of obstacles?”
“Let’s just say death by dinosaurs is not the worst way to go.”
“Is there a way to shorten the trip?” asks Kara once I translate Korri’s foreboding warning.
“We could use the kaars,” suggests the dark-skinned korrigan.
The name sounds familiar, but it takes a moment before I remember what the priest told me about the feathered dinosaurs before he fell ill. Thinking of him brings a tear to my eye. I didn’t know him very well, but he was one of the few korrigans who tried to help us. And now he’s dying.
“What’s going on?” asks Jonn, tired of being left out of the conversation.
“Korri says there’s a way for us to reach Arkania in just under three days,” I explain once I’ve asked a few follow-up questions.
“Ah,” says Jonn. “That’s more like it. Now, we need a plan.”
Coming up with a travel strategy we all agree with takes a while, but we finally reach a consensus. We’ll spend the rest of the day gathering supplies and leave first thing in the morning.
“It’s a good plan,” admits Korri once I share the details of our strategy with him, “but it won’t work.”
“Why not?” I ask.
“I overheard the others talking. They blame your friends for what happened to our leader. They won’t stop you from leaving because they believe you’re their saviour, but they plan on sacrificing your friends to Korrigana.”
“What? That’s insa—” I begin, but the last few words die in my throat when a series of shouts reaches my ears.
“What’s that?” asks Jonn.
Korri doesn’t understand the grey-haired soldier’s question, y
et still answers it.
“It’s the korrigans. They’re coming for your friends.”
Memory 35
W hat’s wrong?” asks Kara. She has to yell to be heard over the cacophony of angry cries that come from outside the cavern.
“What’s that noise?” wonders Jonn.
I ignore them and focus on Korri.
“Is there another way out of here?” I ask.
He hesitates, then nods.
“Follow me,” he says. Moments later, he’s scurrying away.
“Where’s he going?” asks Jonn.
“There’s no time to explain,” I say. “Follow me.”
We hurry after Korri. The cavern is narrow but deep. Deeper and deeper we travel until we’re progressing in near total darkness.
“I can’t see a thing,” complains Jonn.
“Ow!” says Kara. “That was my foot.”
“Sorry.”
I roll my eyes and keep going. I keep my arms outstretched, but they never touch the walls. It’s not until I hear the crunching of leaves beneath my feet that I realize we’re no longer inside the cavern.
I look around. Tall, dark shapes. Rustling leaves. Twinkling stars. That can only mean one thing.
It’s night.
That’s good. The darkness will keep the korrigans from knowing we escaped. Unfortunately, it will also make it difficult for us to orient ourselves. As if to prove my point, Jonn slams into me.
“Watch it,” I snap, though I regret it as soon as the words leave my lips. Fortunately, Jonn doesn’t seem to care.
“Where’s Kara?” he asks.
“I’m here.”
Now that we’re all here, it’s time to come up with a plan.
“Any suggestions?” I ask.
“We should fight,” says Jonn.
“We can’t take on an entire village,” says Kara.
“Maybe you can’t, but I’m pretty sure I can,” retorts the soldier.
I can almost hear Kara rolling her eyes.
“Korri?” I say. “Any suggestions?”
“We should return to the cave. We can spend the night there, and in the morning we’ll sneak over to the kaar pen and make away with them.”
“Isn’t that risky?” I ask.
“The cavern is sacred,” explains Korri. “They won’t dare venture into it. They’ll peek in, and when they see you’re not there, they’ll leave. We should be safe as long as we remain in the depths of the cavern.”
I translate his proposal, and we all agree it’s the most logical strategy. Mere minutes later we’re back in the cavern, settling in for what will undoubtedly be a long, uncomfortable night. Against all odds, I pass out mere seconds after resting my tired body on the hard floor and let the exhaustion of the day wash over me.
I wake to someone’s hand pressed firmly against my mouth. My eyes fly open and my adrenaline level spikes, but I soon calm down when I see Jonn’s face hovering before mine. His index finger stands by his lips, indicating the need to be quiet. Feeling the now familiar heat of a shift growing within me, I nod to indicate I understand.
Jonn releases me, and the heat recedes. I breathe a sigh of relief as I sit up and glance around. Both Kara and Korri are already awake. They look worried.
“What’s wrong?” I ask in a soft whisper.
“They entered the cave,” reveals Korri.
“I thought you said they wouldn’t do that.”
“I heard them talking,” he says. “Our leader is dead.”
A heavy silence follows the revelation. I didn’t know the priest that well, but I still feel guilty. After all, he put all of his trust in me. And I did nothing.
“It’s not your fault,” says Kara once I’ve told her and Jonn what I just learned.
I don’t know what to say, so I focus on the matter at hand.
“What should we do?”
“Follow me,” says Korri. He stands and tiptoes toward the exit. My friends and I follow. Before long we’re standing in the middle of the jungle.
The sun has only just risen, but already the air is warm. It will be a hot, sweaty day.
“What’s the plan?” asks Kara.
“I will gather supplies for the journey,” reveals Korri once I’ve translated my friend’s question. “Meanwhile, you sneak over to the kaar pen. We’ll meet there.”
“What if I can’t find it?” I ask.
“Don’t worry,” says the small korrigan. “Go that way”—he points right—“until you reach a lili tree, then turn left.”
“What’s a lili?”
“Do you remember those red fruit we ate last week? Those were lilis.”
He turns to leave but stops after a few steps.
“We will need all the food we can get. Pick as many lilis as you can.”
Moments later, he vanishes into the jungle.
“Follow me,” I tell my friends as I head in the direction Korri indicated. We travel for a full minute before I begin questioning my skills as a leader. I’m just about to admit my incompetence when we reach a tree with a pale trunk, dark leaves, and red fruit.
“Fill your pockets,” I tell my friends.
We spend the next five minutes stuffing both our pockets—and our faces—with the tasty fruit. By the time we set off again, I’m feeling bloated, but I ignore the pain and lead my friends through the jungle. Within minutes, we have reached our destination.
The kaar pen stands next to the jungle. We watch from the safety of the treeline as the prehistoric beasts go about their business.
Kaars are tall—roughly two metres in height—and rather peculiar in appearance. Their heads, tails, and underbellies are that of a dinosaur and come equipped with a layer of thick, red scales. Their back, talons, and wings would seem more fitting on giant blue parrots but somehow fit with the rest of their bodies in a mismatched sort of way. They’re both freaky-looking and beautiful.
I’m so focused on the kaars I don’t notice Korri until he’s standing right before me. He’s struggling beneath the weight of four large satchels, yet he’s beaming.
“How did it go?” I ask.
“Being an outcast has its advantages. They didn’t even notice me filling the bags with supplies.”
Speaking of supplies, our pockets are still overflowing with fresh lilis. Luckily, there’s still some free space in the travel bags, and soon every last lili has been transferred to one of the four satchels.
“What now?” asks Jonn.
“Stay here,” says Korri once I’ve repeated the question.
Korri walks over to the pen, dragging the four heavy satchels behind him. He rolls them underneath the lowest wooden beam, then ducks beneath it. Being small may not always be easy, but it has its advantages.
Korri approaches the nearest kaar. The beast towers above him, yet the korrigan is unafraid. He whistles softly, and the kaar crouches down. Grinning, he grabs one of the satchels and uses the leather straps that dangle from it to attach it to the animal’s body. Once it’s firmly affixed, he moves on to the next one. Before long, four creatures have been readied.
Korri calls us over with a wave of the hand, but we barely make it out of the jungle before a high-pitched cry fills the air.
“There! They’re stealing the kaars!”
I look up to find no less than a dozen korrigans running toward us. They’re still far away, but it’s only a matter of time before they reach us. My friends and I exchange a worried look, then bolt toward the kaar pen.
Kara is the first to reach the fence. She gracefully leaps over it and lands on the other side without displacing a single blade of grass. Jonn is next, though he isn’t quite so graceful. He barrels through the fence, snapping one of the beams and dislodging the others. By the time I reach it, the fence is nothing more than a pile of useless lumber.
“Get on,” urges Korri as he mounts one of the four readied kaars.
Kara leaps onto another with the grace of a ballerina.
Jonn grab
s a kaar and forces it between his legs. The poor beast struggles but somehow manages to lift him.
That leaves only me. I glance at the approaching korrigans and, realizing how close they are, scale the only remaining kaar. I nearly fall off, but somehow manage to grab hold of the creature’s neck. And not a moment too soon.
“Ya!” yells Korri.
Moments later, our mounts snap into action. One second I’m struggling to remain upright; the next I’m holding on for dear life as my kaar dashes from the pen like a bullet leaving the chamber.
Memory 36
T he world speeds past in a blur. I catch mere glimpses of my surroundings. A shocked face here. A desperate evasion attempt there. A high-pitched scream. A dart whistling past my ear. My butt slamming into the back of my kaar as it leaps over the river that flows through the korrigan village.
I brace myself for the landing, but the return to solid ground isn’t as jarring as I expected. In fact, I barely feel it. I suspect it’s because we’re moving so fast gravity no longer has an effect on us.
In mere seconds we reach the end of the village. For a brief moment I fear my life will end with me splattered on a tree trunk, but my mount dodges trees like an Olympic hurdler leaps over hurdles during the 110-metre dash. I keep expecting to be ejected from my seat, but it soon becomes clear kaars were trained for this very purpose. The animal tilts its body every time it turns, thus ensuring that I remain firmly planted on its back. This, combined with the high velocity with which we travel, makes for a surprisingly smooth ride. It feels like I’m travelling on a cloud—a small cloud trapped in a powerful storm, but a cloud nonetheless. It takes a while, but I finally grow accustomed to the peculiar method of travel.
Korri has been leading the way ever since our departure, but now that things have calmed down, he reins in his mount and pulls up next to me.
“Having fun?” he asks.
Had he asked me this a minute ago, I would have answered I was having the worst time of my life, but now that I have mastered the subtle art of kaar riding, I’m quite content.
“Yup,” I say just as Kara catches up to us.
“How do you slow this thing?” she asks. She doesn’t seem worried, merely curious.