Token (Token Chronicles)

by Ryan Gressett

“Where have you been? We have been searching for you day and night for over a week! Do you realize how much trouble I got in for letting you leave?”

  It’s Nayze.

  “Nayze. Nayze. I have to find my mother. Where is she?”

  “I think she is in headquarters, but Kincaid, there is something you need to know. Something about the Melee.”

  “Is Benja alive?” I ask.

  “Yes, he won, Kincaid.”

  “So Hadley is still in Silon?”

  “As far as I know, but there is something else. When Benja won, the Token Silon chose from Ridian as his prize was Cydnee. You know her. She was not going to go there without a fight.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She planned to assassinate him. She didn’t clear it with anyone. We may be in trouble.”

  That must be what the Grodarian troops were talking about. Cydnee must have been successful in killing Silon. But what happened to the rest of his Tokens. Hadley, Yency. Benja has won his freedom now. Surely he is nowhere near there. I recollect myself.

  “We are in trouble. It is time to mobilize. The time is now, I need you start to gathering all the troops on the main floor. I will meet up with you after I speak with her. Go!”

  We both take off, each of us with separate missions.

  I reach the base floor forcefully pushing other Rebel soldiers out of my way. When I finally reach the door to the headquarters, I don’t hesitate. I turn the doorknob and bust through.

  “Mom, we have to talk. We are in trouble,” I say almost out of breath.

  The headquarters is not filled with its normal ensemble of Generals, Captains, and other leaders. Instead there are only two people there.

  I can see my mother seated at the head of the long meeting table staring back at me with a shocked expression on her face. Sitting on the table with her back turned to me is another girl. A girl with long blond curls. She turns around and her beautiful emerald green eyes widen. I am speechless. Hadley.

  Chapter 18

  Everything slows down. The world ceases to exist. There are no problems. Cromus is not bearing down on our position. Cydnee did not assassinate Silon. All that matters is she is here. I can hear nothing. I can see nothing else but her beautiful face. I begin to slowly move closer to her. Neither of us has said a word. Just as I am about to reach out to her, she jerks back and stands behind my mother as if she were afraid of me. I am confused.

  I look to my mother, but she cannot look me in the eyes.

  “Sgt. Merk, could you come in and take Ms. Hadley to her quarters? Thank you.”

  The sergeant comes in and escorts Hadley out. Hadley doesn’t even look back at me as she leaves the room. Something is wrong.

  “What is happening?” I ask my mother. “How is she here?”

  “Well, I am sure you know by now, but your friend Benja won the Melee. When Silon selected his Token from our camp, he chose Cydnee. She killed him, Kincaid. The Silon camp was in chaos. Most of the Grodarian soldiers were killed as well. Almost all of the Tokens escaped. We had someone hack into the tracking chip database, and we located Hadley, removed her chip, and brought her back here for you. I told you we would get her back safe.”

  “Something is not right though. She looked at me as if she had no idea who I was.”

  “I am afraid there is something we left out when we told you about Silon. I didn’t want you to unnecessarily worry at first, but it appears it’s too late.”

  “Too late? What do you mean it’s too late?”

  “Silon, in order to gain complete obedience from some of his newly acquired Tokens, has a device that erases their memories. If I had to guess, she was resistant when she first arrived in Silon, and rather than kill her, he chose this method instead. But she doesn’t know who you are anymore. All the memories you may have shared with her back on your Island are gone.”

  “It can’t be. If I could just talk to her, I know I could remind her. She has to know who I am. She just has to.”

  “I am sorry, son. I’m afraid it is irreversible.”

  My legs begin to feel weak. My head is spinning. I collapse to the floor devastated. The woman I have chosen to spend my life with, the woman I have fought so hard to get back to for months, doesn’t even know my name anymore. How is this possible?

  Nayze comes running inside the headquarters room.

  “The soldiers are all assembled Kincaid.”

  “What do you mean assembled? I called no such meeting,” my mother inquires.

  “Kincaid told me to. You mean you haven’t told her yet, Kincaid?”

  “Told me what?” my mother asks me.

  In a zombie like state, I robotically reply, “It’s Cromus. He suspects Ridian is going to rebel. He knows we were behind the Silon assassination. He is sending scouts and troops out here looking for our camp. They know I exist now.”

  “Oh, no. We don’t have much time.”

  “I killed most of them. I let one go to scare the other troops.”

  “Killed them? Killed them how?”

  “I have my abilities now. I have been perfecting them this past week in the solitude of the forest.”

  “Is he okay?” Nayze asks my mother.

  “Thank you, for the news, Nayze. We will be out shortly. Could you please leave us alone for a few minutes?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Son, you have to tell me everything you know. We won’t have much time if you killed those soldiers.”

  “There is nothing else.”

  “You have your abilities, now?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you ready to lead the army? We need you to be focused.”

  I can barely even speak. My whole world has fallen apart. The reason I have worked so hard is for her. All for nothing.

  My mother slaps me across the face.

  “Snap out of it. We need you now. I know you are upset, but we have to prepare, or we will be destroyed.”

  “I have to talk to her.”

  “We don’t have the time.”

  “Then we are going to make time! I have to know for sure.”

  “Fine. But we must hurry.”

  We both go running out of headquarters and make our way to the living quarters. I can see Sgt. Merk up ahead standing guard at a door. I run ahead of my mother and reach the door. The Sgt. stops me from entering, and I hear my mother yell from behind, “It’s okay. Let him in.”

  When I throw the door open, she is sitting on the edge of her bed with her hands resting quietly in her lap. She looks up at me, but I don’t know if she recognizes me. She only looks afraid.

  “Please, don’t be scared. My name is Kincaid. Do you know who I am?”

  She is about to answer, but I cut her off.

  “Please, just wait before you answer.”

  I drop to one knee and gently grab her left hand clasping it between both of my own.

  “When I first saw you getting off the transport back on our Island, the whole world seemed to stop. You were the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. You took my breath away, you are the girl who took my breath away, please remember. I was always too nervous to talk to you, and that day out in the District, when I was left alone to suffer in pain, you never left my side. You stayed with me the whole time. And our first kiss.”

  I fight back the tears begging to escape, but they are inevitable. As they start to flow, my voice begins to break. I try to recollect myself and finish.

  “And our first kiss when you kissed me that next morning, I knew. I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. Remember the wedding I was going to give you if we ever found our freedom. Please, Hadley, remember. Please, remember me. I love you.”

  She is gazing back at me her eyes beginning to brim with water, tears begin to roll down her cheeks over her dimples. She knows. She knows who I am.

  “Kincaid… I am so sorry. I don’t remember you. I don’t know who you are.”

  I break down. I cannot stop
myself. I can feel someone’s hands lift me from my underarms dragging me out of her room. He stands me up against the wall outside the hallway.

  My mother is only inches away from my face now.

  “You are going to have to be strong. The Rebellion is relying on you. Hadley may not have her memory, but as long as Cromus and the Grodarian Federation are in control, more people like her are going to suffer. More children are going to be sold to the Hawk Islands to become Tokens. You can put an end to it all.”

  I angrily look back at them, my eyes red from frustration and pain.

  “They will pay for what has happened to her. I will make them all pay.”

  “The troops, they are waiting for you. They are waiting for their leader. Show them that you are finally here ready to take them into a new world.”

  Yes, I will show them. They will rally around me. Cromus, the entire Grodarian Federation, the Elitists, the Hawk Islands will all be destroyed and dismantled. The nation will belong to the people again. After we win, I will dedicate my life to getting Hadley to fall in love with me again.

  I don’t say anything else to them. I just stand up and begin making my way to the central floor of the base where the troops are gathered. I march my way through to the front of the crowd and stand on the lifted platform.

  “My fellow soldiers,” I announce. “The time for action has come upon us. Cromus has sent his soldier puppets out here looking for us. He knows we are about to rebel, but fear not. We will be victorious because we are the side fighting for good. We are fighting for change. We are fighting for freedom. No army can stop us. We will no longer allow Cromus and Grodar to deprive the citizens of this great nation of the basic necessities. We will not allow our people to starve out in the middle of the streets. We will not allow for those in need of medical attention to be turned away. We will not stand for children to be sold to Islands to become toys for the Elitists to play with. We will not stand for it. We can begin a new nation. A nation of freedom. A nation where you are given all the opportunities you can think of. A nation that is ruled by the people, not a soulless dictator and his select rich friends. We will restore our country to prominence. We have the power to decide, all we have to do is win. There is no victory without sacrifice, gentlemen. We have all sacrificed so much already, but I am asking for a little bit more. We will fight to our last dying breath. We will leave this country to be free for our children, our children’s children. When you leave this world, you can die knowing you left the world a better place than when you entered. And that is something to be proud of.”

  The crowd begins to explode in cheers and war cries.

  “What are we fighting for?!” I scream to the crowd.

  “FREEDOM!” they yell back.

  “What? I can’t hear you.”

  “FREEDOM! FREEDOM! FREEDOM!”

  While they are chanting, I draw from the flames of the fire-lit torches and create a giant fireball and send it hurdling to the back of the caverns. It strikes the wall and explodes sending a rock shower over the crowd. I stop all the rocks in mid-air demonstrating my control and power to my soldiers.

  “To a new Knav! To a new nation!”

  Chapter 19

  Island 3

  Token: Nayze

  I was supposed to be tasked for the Hub City mission with Kincaid. It was the plan all along, but he decided I should go back with Rogan and Butler to help liberate Island 3. I fervently disagreed with his decision. I desperately wanted to be one of the men to watch as Cromus and the Grodarian Federation fell from power. Kincaid took me aside after his speech and told me about Hadley. He told me about how his powers work. He is only able to control them when he is calm and centered. His state of mind is anything but stable right now. I am afraid he may be going on a suicide mission. At his mother’s encouragement, he asked for all of the troops assigned to raid the capital to be reassigned. There was no arguing against him. Kincaid didn’t want to risk hurting any of our own troops, and I have never seen such determination in him. After all those months of searching for Hadley, and he finds her without her memory of him intact. I would not want to be standing in his way. I know he will not fail. I only hope the rest of us are as successful.

  I will find satisfaction in watching the Grods scramble around like rats when we take them by surprise, but we haven’t been told the complete truth about our roles in this mission. When we arrived in Ridian, we were told since we came from the Islands, all of the former Tokens would lead the expeditions to take control of their respective Islands. But neither I, nor any of the other former Tokens from Island 3 are in charge. The leaders in charge of this mission are Jayce and Daylen, and two other gentlemen I have never seen before in Ridian until they stepped onto our transport.

  They can say they are in charge all they want, but nobody knows this Island the way we do. We know where the Grods work in the day. We know where they sleep. We know where to find them. We know how the Grods on our Island think. There is nowhere they can hide that we cannot find them. I look forward to seeing some of my friends still remaining on the Island. I look forward to arming them with a weapon myself and telling them they can fight for their freedom. They can control their own destiny from here on out.

  I lean over and peer down the row of our soldiers for this mission. About thirty in all. It should be plenty to overtake the Island given we will have the element of surprise. Rogan and Butler are seated next to me with their eyes closed trying to psych themselves up for the battle. We are all raring to go. We have been patiently waiting for this moment for a long time. I personally hope I run into Gunnar.

  “Alright, we are getting close to our drop point,” one of our new commanders shouts near the bay doors. “Turn your jumpsuits on.”

  We are borrowing a bit of new technology from Grodar for this mission. The jumpsuits we were all equipped with will allow us to jump from 20,000 ft. and glide to the ground without a parachute. As our arms and legs extend, the special fibers slow down our velocity and allows us to control our direction.

  “Our drop point ETA is 1 minute. Let’s go. Everyone line up,” our commander orders. “Your target is the north side beach. It is far away from where the Grods are normally stationed and we will slowly work our way over to the South side until we have established complete control. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir,” everyone shouts back.

  The bay doors begin to slowly open as the mechanized sound of the gears reverberates throughout the transport.

  “Go, go, go.”

  We all begin to jump out of the ship one by one. When I finally take my leap, the rush of the wind is exhilarating. As we begin to come into closer proximity to the Island, I slow my dive speed down by extending flaps on my arms to control my velocity. I can see North Beach and begin to glide in that direction. I can already start to see my comrades landing regaining their sense of balance. After we have all landed, we begin to make the plan for our avenues of attack.

  I decide to take charge since our apparent leaders will not be able to since they do not know the landscape.

  “Alright, we will split into six teams of five. Butler, you will lead your team into the fields to take over that perimeter. Remember to look out for Zeke as he is our informant for this Island. There should not be many over there, but remember to arm the Tokens you find with your extra weapon. Rogan, you will command the next squad and your goal will be to cross into the District. You should be able to find….”

  A loud shot is fired. Rogan falls over to the ground.

  “Rogan!”

  There is a gaping hole in his midsection. His breaths are wheezing heavily and in seconds, he is gone. When I look up, the rest of our troops have their hands raised to surrender. Emerging from the woods of North Beach is at least quadruple the normal amount of Grods that would normally be stationed here. They are all heavily armed.

  “Drop your weapons,” one of them shouts. Everyone obliges.

  “Damn. That shot was meant for you Na
yze, not Rogan. I suppose I will have more fun keeping you alive than dead though.”

  Gunnar is laughing as he says it. How did they know we were coming? Someone must have tipped them off.

  “But Zeke on the other hand.”

  Zeke is pushed out in front the crowd of the Grods with his hands cuffed. He is sitting on his knees staring at me.

  “Zeke here is a rat. He has been helping the Rebellion all along. Well we can’t have that now, can we?”

  Gunnar fires and Zeke falls over face first into the sand. I look away in anguish.

  “Good work gentlemen. You led them right to us,” Gunnar commends.

  Who is he talking to?

  I turn around and see the two new men on our ship chosen to be this mission’s commanders all have their weapons trained on us too. They betrayed us. I won’t stand for it. They may kill me, but at least I will go out fighting. I pull my secondary weapon from its holster and turn around to fire at them, but when I click the trigger, nothing happens. The weapon isn’t loaded.

  “Don’t be foolish, Nayze,” Jayce says from behind me. “You have lost,” Daylen says with smugness.

  Both of them now have their weapons trained on us too.

  “You two? You two were a part of this? Why?”

  “We were made a substantial offer. I am sorry. It has to be this way,” Jayce replies.

  I turn around to see the giant smirk on Gunnar’s face. I have never been angrier in my life. All we have worked for is ruined because of the betrayal of a few men. Once Kincaid cleans up the capital, he will come back and set us free. I know he will personally enjoy given Gunnar his come uppings.

  Gunnar pulls out a jolting device. I do not know what he plans to do with it. He must not know all of our devices have been fried off of our spinal cords.

  “Welcome back to Island 3,” Gunnar says glaring at all of us.

  He clicks the button and immeasurable amounts of pain are shocked throughout my entire body. As I hit the ground, writhing in agony, the rest of my team is being jolted as well. Something has gone seriously wrong.