“This star used to represent something special,” I said to Naymeer. “Something bigger than all of us. This star said Halla. But you took it and made it into something small and hateful. You feel good about that?”
Naymeer lifted an eyebrow and said, “What makes you think that star ever represented anything other than the pursuit of perfection that is Ravinia?”
I wanted to hit the guy. Especially if he was right. I didn’t want to believe that the star was put at all the gates solely to mark the way for Saint Dane’s crusade. That would have been too horrifying to even think of. So I didn’t. I pulled open the door and motioned for Alder to take him into the root cellar.
“We’ll all travel together,” I said as I stepped into the mouth of the flume. “I don’t want to risk this guy getting away and—”
The flume came to life.
It began to crack and writhe as light appeared in the deep distance. I shot a look to Alder. I wasn’t sure why. He didn’t have any more answers than I did.
“This is my lucky day,” Naymeer said with a confident grin. “It looks as if I’m to be receiving additional guests.”
I jumped out of the flume and stood with Alder and Naymeer, our backs to the far wall. The gray stones of the flume turned to crystal. A shadow appeared. A tall shadow. A single Traveler had arrived. He walked slowly from the depths of the flume and stood with the light at his back.
The light didn’t disappear. That meant only one thing.
“I’m honored that you’ve all come to greet my return,” Saint Dane said. “I trust you’re getting acquainted.”
“We’re taking him out of here,” I shouted.
Saint Dane laughed. “Why would you do that? You wouldn’t want him to miss all the fun, would you?”
“Let’s go,” I growled to Alder, taking his arm and pulling him toward the flume. I didn’t care if Saint Dane was there. I was ready to bowl him over. We had to get Naymeer away from Second Earth. We had to change the future.
It was going to be harder than I thought. More shadows appeared from deep within the flume, walking toward us in two military-like lines.
Alder and I stopped short. “Dados,” he declared.
They all wore the red-shirt uniforms of Naymeer’s guardians. Naymeer was right. It was going to be a lot more difficult leaving the house than it had been getting in.
We weren’t ready to give up. I spotted the two dado-killing rods that we had brought from Denduron. They were still on the dirt floor where we had dropped them when we were Tasered on our arrival.
“Let him go,” I commanded Alder, while diving to the ground and grabbing the rods.
Alder pushed Naymeer away. I tossed him a weapon.
Saint Dane stood in the center of the flume with his legs apart and his arms folded. He wasn’t about to move.
“Must you always be so difficult, Pendragon?” he asked, bored.
“Uh, yeah” was my answer, and the fight was on.
The dados jogged past Saint Dane on either side of the demon, headed for us. I dropped my rod down to my waist, ready to use it like a prod. I nailed the first dado in line, instantly feeling his power going out. I pulled the weapon back and jabbed again at the second. They didn’t know what hit them. Wherever these dados came from, it wasn’t Quillan. They knew nothing about the power of these weapons. We had a chance.
Naymeer ran from the root cellar. I didn’t care. We had to get out of there and go to Third Earth, where we could figure out another plan of attack. Alder took out the dados one by one. The bodies were piling up, but more red shirts marched from the depths of the flume. Many more.
I heard Alder gasp. He’d been hit. I wasn’t sure by what. A Taser? The butt of a gun? He staggered. I went to him to try and keep the dados off him. It was the last move I made. There were too many of them. As soon as I jumped to Alder’s defense, I felt a sharp shot to the back of my head. I fell forward, dropping the weapon. Alder was already flat out. I was on my knees, about to join him. I took another shot to the side of my head and went down, hard. The last thing I remember seeing was Saint Dane’s smiling face looking down at me.
“Always the hard way,” he said, shaking his head.
JOURNAL #36
(CONTINUED)
SECOND EARTH
How are you feeling?”
It was a deep voice that sounded vaguely familiar. How was I feeling? I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.
“Like I was hit by a bus,” I croaked. Of course, I’d never actually been hit by a bus, but I was pretty sure that this was what it would feel like. I struggled to pull myself out of the dark pit of the unconscious, knowing that when I got out, I wouldn’t want to be where I found myself. I opened my eyes. At least I think I did. It was hard to tell, because everything was black.
“Alder?” I asked.
“He is fine,” came the deep voice.
Who was that? Why did he sound so familiar? I blinked. It didn’t change anything, other than to make my head hurt. I decided not to blink anymore. I was lying out flat on something soft. At least somebody had tried to make me comfortable. Good for them, whoever they were.
“Over here, Pendragon,” the voice said.
The third time was the charm. I recognized the voice. I wanted to be unconscious again. I looked toward my feet to see him standing over me, lit by a small lamp near the end of the couch I was on. The light hit him from below, like when you hold a flashlight under your chin to look all spooky. But Saint Dane didn’t really need any lighting effects to help with his creep appeal. He loomed over me like a vulture, his bald head in shadow caused by the light of the single bulb.
“Welcome back,” he said warmly, as if he actually meant it. “I was afraid you’d miss the festivities. Close your eyes; I’ll put some lights on.”
What a courteous guy! He didn’t want me to be uncomfortable when he flicked on the lights. How thoughtful. I’d have thanked him, if I hadn’t wanted to hurt him.
Saint Dane walked slowly to a wall panel and turned a dimmer switch. The room slowly grew brighter, and I got a view of the space. It looked like the waiting room at a doctor’s office. I didn’t think for a second that Saint Dane would have taken me to a doctor. There were a couple of couches and chairs with tables. One whole wall was covered by heavy red drapes that were probably blocking a window. I was lying on a couch along one wall. My head hurt. I wasn’t sure if I had been knocked out by getting hit or being Tasered. Probably both. Bottom line was, I felt like, well, like I had been hit by a bus.
Saint Dane walked toward me. Except for the fact that he had lost his gray hair when his head caught fire a while back, the guy hadn’t changed a bit since the day I’d first seen him. He still stood tall and ramrod straight. He still wore that black suit. He still had those blue-white eyes that burned into my head whenever he looked my way. He still made my skin crawl.
“Can I ask you a question?” I said groggily.
“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.”
“How many of those suits do you have? Do you like, send them to the laundry, or just toss ’em out and put on a new one when it gets all gamey?”
Saint Dane chuckled. I amused him.
“Does it matter?” he asked.
“It was a joke, idiot.” On top of everything else wrong with him, Saint Dane didn’t have much of a sense of humor. Except when I amused him. Which happened a lot, I’m sorry to say.
“I’m glad to see that you’re in a good mood. You should be. Our struggle has finally come to an end. Perhaps we should celebrate.”
“Perhaps you should bite me.”
Saint Dane cocked his head, confused. “I’m afraid I don’t understand that remark, but I’ll assume it’s a provocation. There’s no need for hostility between us anymore, Pendragon.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
He sat down in a chair across from me. I tried to sit up, but decided my aching head preferred that I stay on my back. What the heck.
I didn’t need to be polite to this guy.
“You’ll soon learn that I speak the truth,” Saint Dane said calmly. “The Convergence is well under way. The territories are becoming one. All is as I anticipated it would be. Our duel is complete.”
“You keep talking as if this were a contest between us,” I said.
“It is. It was.”
“Then why didn’t somebody tell me that from the beginning? You can’t have a competition when only one side knows the rules.”
“It was the only way,” Saint Dane explained. “This has been a battle to determine the future of Halla. Though not in the conventional sense. If you were to have understood the stakes from the beginning, it would not have been a fair demonstration.”
“Demonstration of what?”
“The quest for control of Halla was never about armies or physical strength or even technology. It was about a battle between two basic, philosophical differences. It was about determining which is the more effective way to play out one’s destiny. By chance or by design. I, of course, believe in design. You and your sort prefer to let fate lead you where it may. If you knew that issue was at the core of our struggle, you would not have had a fair chance to prove your philosophy.”
I finally sat up. I didn’t care that my head was being pounded by a sledgehammer. “What philosophy? I don’t have any philosophy.”
“But you do. At every turn you have made choices based on the belief that the people of Halla know what is best for them. Correct?”
I didn’t answer.
“Press told you that the territories should never be mixed. Each culture, each society, each world, each individual should be given the chance to live its own destiny without interference. Am I wrong?”
“No.”
“Of course not. And I have proved time and again that the people of Halla will consistently make the wrong choices.”
“Because you’ve pushed them into making the wrong choices,” I exclaimed.
“Only to prove my point. Do you honestly think the battles we’ve been through are the only cases of misery in the history of Halla? Pendragon! I know you are still just a boy, but certainly you know that each world has its own legacy of violence and strife that has nothing whatsoever to do with me. I didn’t invent conflict. Quite the opposite. I’m trying to end it.”
My head hurt, and not just because I had been beaten up.
“So what?” I exclaimed. “What’s the point? Let’s pretend you’re not lying. Again. Let’s say that everything that’s happened between us was all some huge philosophical debate that used the people of Halla as pawns. Why? Who are we trying to prove something to? Who’s running this, Saint Dane? What’s the prize? If this war is truly over, then it won’t make any difference if you let me know what’s going on.”
Saint Dane blinked. I saw it. He didn’t answer right away either. It was the best possible response I could have hoped for.
I smiled.
“It’s not over, is it?”
“It was over when you quit, Pendragon,” he spat at me. “It was the ultimate display of weakness. You are incapable of making difficult decisions. You flinch in the face of adversity. Your so-called morals have been your downfall. When you buried the flume on Ibara, it opened the door for the Convergence.”
“But it isn’t over, is it?” I said, goading him.
Saint Dane’s face grew dark. His eyes flared. He stood quickly and strode to the panel with the dimmer switch. He hit another button. The red drapes that covered the one wall parted automatically. I struggled to stand and look at what was being revealed. There was a long glass window, but it didn’t look outside. I had heard all about this place from Mark and Courtney and Patrick, but seeing it was still a shock. Hearing about it and seeing it for myself were two different animals. I couldn’t breathe.
The window overlooked a huge room that seemed to me like a cathedral. Or a big theater. There were multiple rows of green seats all facing the same direction, with a center aisle dividing them. It was exactly as my friends had described it. It wasn’t a cathedral. It wasn’t a theater. Roughly ten yards in front of the seats, was the flume.
“Look familiar?” Saint Dane asked. “This is the flume that was unearthed next to the subway tracks in the Bronx. It’s now the Conclave of Ravinia.”
The room we were in was some kind of private viewing area that overlooked the seats from a level above. To the rear of the huge space was a wide staircase. I saw people coming down and filling up the rows. They could have been arriving for a church service. Or a movie. Or a school play. There were all kinds of people. All races. All ages. I saw families with little kids and people who arrived alone. They all seemed to be dressed pretty well. Some had what looked like traditional costumes from other countries, and some even wore military uniforms. They filed in quickly and quietly. Several of the red-shirt guards were stationed around, leading people to their seats like ushers. They didn’t have guns. I wondered if the people knew they were robots.
There were two flags on stands up front, one on either side of the flume. There was an American flag and a red flag that had the star symbol on it. Saint Dane and I stood there, looking down at the growing crowd. He let me take in the scene for a few minutes before speaking again.
“This conclave is the prototype,” he explained. “The first. It will be repeated throughout Halla. I will admit to you, though the end result was never in doubt, events did not play out precisely as I anticipated.”
“So what’s different?” I asked.
“I fully expected you to become the leader of Ravinia.”
I laughed. “Me? You thought I was going to be like that guy Naymeer?”
Saint Dane nodded. “How many times have I asked you to join me? I felt certain that eventually you would see reason and take your place at the forefront of this movement. I was wrong. It was not meant to be. I’m not sure if I should commend you, or pity you.”
“There was zero chance of that happening.”
“Apparently. And so the honor went to Naymeer. He is now the Traveler from Second Earth and the leader of a revolution. Your loss.”
“What’s this all about?” I asked, gesturing to the rapidly filling space below. “What are they doing here?”
“Naymeer was given the key to Halla,” Saint Dane answered, pointing to the Traveler ring on my finger. “A key you have as well, but Naymeer was not afraid to use it for more meaningful pursuits than sending mail. He opened the door for the chosen. The Ravinians. They will be the leaders of a new Halla. The same will happen on each and every world. The truth of the grander existence of man will be revealed to those who are worthy of leading the way. Those people down there are the first. Many more are joining every day, from all over the world. They are not necessarily people of wealth or power, but they share a common philosophy. They do not tolerate anything less than absolute perfection.”
“There’s no such thing as perfection,” I countered.
His eyes flared. His lips curled into a smirk. “Not yet.”
I wanted to hit the guy.
“Weakness will not be tolerated. On any level. The advancement of our societies will be the singular goal. It is all about the greater good. There will be no room for pity or second-guessing.”
“And no room for humanity,” I added.
“Humanity is nothing more than an acceptance of failure. We do not accept failure. The goal is too great.”
“And what exactly is that goal?” I asked.
“Utopia.”
I had to let that sink in. Saint Dane really believed he was working to create an ideal Halla. Trouble was, there was no place in that ideal world for most of the people already in it.
“What about Third Earth?” I asked. “You destroyed an ideal society. That’s not exactly Utopia.”
“It is no longer about territories, Pendragon. There were ten territories but only seven worlds in Halla. Each will have to be torn down and stripped of its prior imperf
ections before it can be allowed to truly flourish. What happens on Earth is simply part of that process.”
“Do those people down there know that they’re setting something in motion that will lead to the ruin of their own society?” I asked.
Saint Dane chuckled. I was amusing him again.
“They know sacrifices must be made. They accept that. Part of their strength is the ability to make difficult choices. That’s why it was so important to reveal the true nature of Halla. They understand there is life beyond the few meager years they will spend here. They are working to create a perfect, eternal life for themselves as citizens of Halla. The same will happen on each world. It will begin with conclaves such as this. The strong will join together to unify Halla. There will no longer be barriers.”
Things were becoming clear to me, and totally overwhelming. The Convergence was going to create a single, unified Halla that was under the control of Saint Dane. For the first time, I was beginning to see how it might be possible.
“You know you’re a total hypocrite,” I said.
“And how is that?”
“You’ve based your whole philosophy on the fact that the people of the territories make dumb, selfish choices that hurt them in the long run. Yet that’s exactly what you’re taking advantage of. You’re tempting these people with the promise of some kind of perfect existence. Aren’t those people down there being just as selfish as anybody else? I guess that means you think it’s okay to be selfish, so long as it helps you get what you want.”
“There is a difference,” Saint Dane replied. “Yes, I’ve influenced these people through Naymeer. I’ve tempted them. I’ve given them hope for a better world. But in this case, the choice was mine, and I am correct. If Halla is to flourish, my way is the only way. These people simply recognize that fact.”
I looked at the demon, who was keeping his eyes on the people as they filed in. The room was nearly full.
“Then what have you proved?” I asked. “Only that people will always try to make a better life for themselves.”
Raven Rise Page 40