Sonora: And The Eye of the Titans

by T. S. Hall

  “And how do you get it back out?” Allora asked.

  Mr. Swan placed his hand on the wall again. “Do the same combination with your hand,” he said, twisting his hand the same way as before. “You can even do it away from the wall, but you have to make sure to spark it while you are doing the combination.” The orb slowly melted out of the wall when he was done. “This is serious business, Allora, you need to protect this orb with your life. I can’t describe to you how important it is to our struggle. Everyone needs to stay sharp, okay?”

  They all nodded in acknowledgment.

  Mr. Swan knew he had to start preparing them for what they were inevitably going to face, and the four teens would have to grow up faster than most. The Sonoran rebellion was relying on them to lead the onslaught of Titan aggression that had plagued their past, and now they had the one tool to shift the balance of their campaign.

  As Mr. Swan watched them leave his classroom, he thought back to the night that had sent him to Earth. The painful memory had always lingered in the back of his mind, just at it had in the minds of all who had witnessed the atrocities of that evening and thereafter. Mr. Swan watched as Allora looked back and smiled before she left. He knew the outcome of the future lay in the hands of his star pupil, and guilt engulfed him when he noticed the innocence still glowing on Allora’s face. He had set her destiny in motion, and there was no stopping the coming events.

  Tanner, Dax, and Katie went ahead, stopping in the lobby in front of Kim.

  “Allora,” A voice whispered. It was soft, yet powerful. She hesitated, knowing its source. Pulling the round object from her jacket pocket, she stared at the misty eye swirling inside. Suddenly, microscopic pores opened up on the surface of the obsidian orb, and a cloud of purple smoke exploded outward, like an aerosol spray. Allora was engulfed by the cloud, and coughed uncontrollably, dropping the orb back into her pocket. The cloud of purple mist evaporated quickly. She stumbled, falling against the locker, blinking profusely as her vision clouded. Her steps were lumbered as she moved forward.

  “So then, you’ll go to prom with me?” Kim asked.

  Tanner looked back and forth, unable to answer. Truthfully, he didn’t really want to go with her. Not until Dax shoved him in the shoulder did he blurt out, “Uh… sure.”

  Allora’s mind faded. The gas was moving through her body, effecting her nervous system.

  Kim stood with a big, sappy, victorious grin on her face, like a candidate who’d just won an election, and then left after giving Tanner a kiss on the cheek.

  “What is going on?” Allora asked, holding her head against the tide of pain that pulsated with each thought.

  “What was I supposed to say?” Tanner said defensively. “She cornered me.”

  “I think I’m going to be sick,” Allora responded, not even comprehending anything because of the excruciating pain that filled her body.

  Dax jumped in to his friend’s defense. “Personally, I’m happy for him. I’m just pissed she didn’t ask me first.”

  “Seriously?” Katie said. “That girl is crazy, don’t you guys see that?”

  “Prom really isn’t really that big of a deal,” Tanner said.

  “This is wrong,” Allora responded, staggering out of the school.

  “I don’t understand why you’re so mad at me,” Tanner said, unaware of Allora’s predicament.

  Dax shook his head. “Man, I’ll never figure women out. They make less sense than those red-eyed goons we ran away from the other day.”

  “Maybe that’s because you have the emotional capacity of a robot,” Katie said to her brother.

  “Allora, wait, let’s talk about this,” Tanner said, following her out the main double doors into an empty parking lot. Dax and Katie weren’t far behind. The gas completely consumed Allora’s cells, her body seized up, and she collapsed, falling hard to the concrete.

  Twenty-Two

  FEVER

  The rain was heavy, falling in a torrent in the spring air. Allora glanced around. Her vision was hazy, but clearing. The forest was familiar, yet strange. Her clothes were the same, yet soaked. It was mid-day, yet the area was dark and eerie. The cold crept in like the coming of a fog. The wind came up from the ground, like a vent on a city street.

  She walked forward, listening intently to the constant drumbeat of the rain dripping down from the canopy. Her heart was beating faster as the trees closed in, slowly lowering their branches.

  “Run,” A voice whispered. The old and raspy voice was the same voice she heard in the hallway at school.

  Planting her back foot, she sprinted through the brush, swiping aggressively at the branches that tried to lasso her limbs. The rain beat back against her face. From the ground, skeletal hands sprung up, grasping at her ankles as she ran. From the foliage, numerous large spider-like creatures crawled down, just like the one from the ape caves. Baykok broke with the mud, pulling from the ground to join the pursuit. The downpour of rain increased, accumulating in puddles, and slowing her pace. Fear consumed her as the puddles turned to a river. From behind, a rushing wave of water barreled through the forest. Her arms swung wildly as she trudged through the deepening river.

  She glanced behind as the cresting wave crashed down, spinning her body wildly. Bubbles blew from her mouth, forced out from the impact. A light shone from her right. Without breath, she scrambled toward the light, pulling frantically at the heavy water. Just about to break from depths, the surface froze. Her hands searched hysterically, trying to find a hole. Her mind was dropping from consciousness. Instinctively, her hands burst with fire, melting the ice above. She sprang with her last strength, and erupted from the depths, coughing and vomiting the liquid she had swallowed.

  Sharp, pointed teeth bit down on her torso and limbs, pulling her from the water. The world spun around, and gravity switched, dragging her down through piles of snakes. She tried to scream, but her throat was still sore from almost drowning. The emotional anxiety caused her entire body to convulse.

  * * *

  “She’s having a seizure!” Milly yelled, trying to hold onto her daughter’s body as it shook.

  Aunt May rushed into the room, holding a grey bottle. She squeezed her niece’s cheeks as Milly tried to hold her wrists tightly against the mattress. Dax, Tanner, and Katie burst into the room, and helped to control Allora’s other limbs. Aunt May poured the substance from the grey bottle down the throat, and closed the mouth, holding her nose and under the chin. Allora’s body stopped shaking, and eased back down into the bed.

  “The Talman juice will help with the seizures, but her fever is at one hundred and eight degrees,” Aunt May instructed. “Any more than that and she could run the risk of serious brain damage.”

  “What could have caused this?” Milly asked.

  “It doesn’t seem to be a normal flu. She could have been poisoned or exposed to some sort of bio weapon. You know we used a few in the Rebel Wars.”

  “Did you three see Allora with or around anyone that might have done this?”

  They shook their heads in unison.

  “We need Ferris on this one,” Milly instructed, staring down at her daughter’s pale face.

  “I’ll be right back,” Aunt May said, leaving the room.

  * * *

  The sunlight glinted off the window of a tall skyscraper, blinding Allora as she sat alone on a park bench. Raising her hand to shield the light, she could see the surrounding landscape. A lush green park encircled by towering buildings. Kids were pushing others on a swing set, dogs were running for tennis balls, and a woman was shaking a small stuffed bear in front of her baby who was lying in a stroller next to her. The air was a mix of hot dogs, exhaust, and bark dust.

  Across the playground and through the grassy field, a man stood staring her way. Allora squinted in the sunlight, noticing the familiarity of the distant man.

  “Uncle Ben,” Allora said softly, standing up from the bench.

  Just then, the ground shook a
s she ran through the playground. Allora stumbled, catching her hand on the metal swing post, watching the surrounding skyscrapers sway in the sky. Cars honked and crashed into each other. A water main burst, showering the streets. The earthquake grew in strength, shattering windows in the buildings. Glass rained down onto the streets, and screams echoed into the park. The ground beneath Allora lifted and split apart. She hung onto the metal beam as the ground shifted, leaning to one side.

  Allora tried to plant her feet to get leverage to jump across the opening chasm, but the angle and shifting dirt was slippery. All she could do was watch the carnage and chaos. Buildings collapsed under the extreme vibration, fire exploded from broken gas lines, and water filled the streets as the sea crested over the ports.

  She stared at the young women clutching her crying baby. The fear in her face broke Allora’s soul. The sound of concrete splitting drowned out the constant rumbling of the earth. The skyscraper was splitting near the top, and dropping down onto the playground. Allora could avoid it, but the woman with the baby wouldn’t make it. Allora pushed off from the slanted slab, leapt over the crevice and rolled on the bark dust toward the park bench just as the building was a few feet from crashing to the ground. She put her arm up, focused hadrons, and created a shield above herself and the woman.

  The weight and pressure was overwhelming. The ground beneath cracked and she broke through it, falling into a dark abyss. The woman and baby were gone. She was alone, falling through a never ending tunnel. Shifting her weight, she moved through the air toward the side of the tunnel. Below, a distant orange glow appeared, giving some light to the tunnel. As she got closer to the side, shapes formed. They were differing dead faces with closed eyelids. Allora dropped her legs, moving away from the tunnel’s sides as the eyes popped open, and hands sprang forward, trying to grasp her falling body.

  Then, the walls of the tunnel closed in. The only escape was the orange glow beneath. She tucked her chin to her chest, hugged her sides with her arms, and dove head first. Heat hit her face as the orange circle grew. The tunnel was collapsing, and dead hands got closer. Allora’s body burst into a purple fire as it rocketing toward the lava below. She hit the fingertips of the dead hands as she sprung from the bottom of the tunnel into an open cavern of magma.

  * * *

  “Oh Zeus, she’s crashing!” Milly yelled, feeling the faint pulse on her daughter’s wrist and watching Allora struggle to breath.

  Mrs. Ferris rushed into the room, pulled up the girl’s shirt, and placed three round stickers on her chest. Suddenly, her body raised up from the bed and dropped back down. Tanner’s fist pulsated with frustration, watching helplessly from the corner of the room. Mrs. Ferris pulled a vial and a needle from her brown medical bag. Placing the needle into the main vein in her arm, she injected the greyish fluid into her system. Then, she pulled back the girl’s eyelids to see small purple veins throughout the sclera and iris of the eye. After checking the pulse and temperature, she grabbed an old leather bound book from her bag.

  “Carpetalius Mothkramaticalus,” Mrs. Ferris said, closing the dusty tome. “Also known as Serpent’s Sight. Nasty stuff. It contains a certain hallucinogens that’ll test the minds strength. Learned about it in my PhD program at Titanis University. Comes from venom of an extinct ground snake in the upper mountains of Avalon.”

  “Is there a cure or antidote of some kind?” Aunt May asked.

  “Not that I’m aware of,” Mrs. Ferris responded. “I believe that the only cure is time, and Allora’s ability to overcome her own fears.”

  “How did she get exposed to it then?” Milly asked.

  “Unless someone synthesized the formula, which I doubt because of the extreme complexity, she’d have to have been exposed to something older. An artifact most likely. This stuff was used as a way of keeping ancient artifacts from being found by unworthy suitors. Excalibur, holy grail, and numerous other items were imbued with the stuff.”

  Tanner and Dax had slipped out of the room upon hearing their science teacher’s explanation.

  “We have to tell them,” Tanner insisted.

  “Would something like The Eye of the Titans have this same stuff imbued in it?” Milly asked, stepping backward into the hallway, staring down the two boys.

  “Busted,” Dax said.

  “Get me Swan right now!” Milly demanded.

  * * *

  The fire was immense. It scorched Allora’s clothes, burning intensely and shearing off scraps of fabric as her body continued to fall toward the lava. She closed her eyes and turned around, giving into the inevitable. The fire gave her strength though, and she felt the power of the flames filling her cells with energy. She focused the force together internally, held it for a few seconds, opened her eyes, and released the energy outward. A shockwave burst from her naked body with the strength of a nuclear explosion. All of the rock and magma was dissolved, leaving Allora to fall onto a field.

  Suddenly, she was now in a tight black battle suit, kneeling in front of a masked men with a hooded black cloak. In her hands were two katana swords. She got to her feet and waited in the dark mist of the night. The masked hooded man pulled a sword from a sheath attached to his back. Allora ran forward, swinging around with her two swords. Steel met as the swords connected. Sparks dropped to the damp field, and the sounds of clanking metal echoed into the void of the dream.

  The masked man thrusted the blade forward, slicing the suit and ripping into Allora’s side. She winced and parried, striking down with one sword and thrusting with the other. The man blocked the first strike and spun around to avoid the second attack. Allora saw an opening, slid past the man as he tried again to thrust forward. She flipped the sword to point backward, and drove the sword into the man’s back, piercing the suit. Then, she swung around and sliced the man’s wrist. He dropped his weapon, and reeled back.

  “Take off your mask,” Allora demanded, pointing a sword toward his face. The man reluctantly pulled off the hood, then the battle mask. “Tanner.”

  Allora’s eyes popped wide, wanting an explanation.

  “You killed me,” Tanner said, pulling his hand from the wound, and placing a palm out to show her the blood. He inched closer. Allora dropped her swords. Before she could react, Tanner pulled a knife from the hidden compartment on his belt, and stabbed her in the gut. She screamed and leaned forward against her attacker.

  “You will fail,” a voice said, this one being female. The blade was pulled from her abdomen, and the attacker stepped back. Allora grabbed her gut, trying to keep pressure on the wound. She looked up to see her own face smirking back at her. “And everyone you care about will die.”

  * * *

  Mr. Swan rushed into the bedroom, breathing heavily.

  “How is she?” He asked, coming around to the end of the bed.

  “How is she?” Milly exclaimed, stepping up from next to the side table. “She’s got an extreme fever and her heart almost stopped, so you tell me what the hell you did!”

  “Milly, I never approved them going down there. They did it on their own.”

  “Only because you kept pushing them after I explicitly told you not to!”

  “This is how it was supposed to happen though. The Eye is meant to test the warrior in the three pillars of life. It tests them physically, emotionally, and mentally. Mind, body, and soul. The worthy shall prevail.”

  “I’m going to kill you!” Milly said lunging across the room, wrapping her hands around Swan’s neck, and knocking them into the armoire, breaking it into pieces.

  * * *

  Allora was shocked. She was staring at herself. So caught up in the moment, she took a deep breath, calming her mind and focusing her thoughts.

  “This is not real,” She said to herself. “You are not real. This wound is not real.”

  She kept repeating the words until the blood stopped gushing, and the apparition of herself faded.

  The sun rose out of the darkness, filling the field with li
ght and expanding till there was nothing but light.

  Allora lifted her head up from the pillow, awakening from the dream. Her fever had dissipated, and the effects of the Serpent’s Sight had dissolved from her cells.

  “What is going on?” Allora asked, confounded by the oddity of her mother strangling her teacher with her friends trying to pull them apart from all directions. Her room was a complete mess.

  Everyone stopped moving, and glanced up. Then, her friends leapt onto the bed, smothering the girl.

  “Told you she’d come through,” Mr. Swan said, receiving a raised eyebrow from Milly as she pulled her hands from his neck.

  “Are you alright?” Milly asked, sitting down in the bed, and checking over her daughter.

  “I’m drenched in sweat, but I’ll be fine,” Allora said, pulling at her clothes.

  “Can you guys give us a minute?” Milly asked, prompting the others to leave the room. “I know about Crater Lake. Do you know how stupid that was?”

  “Mom, I’ve got to follow this path. I know you think I’m crazy, but I know what I’m doing.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I don’t think I’ll ever be sure of anything, but I’ve at least got to try.”

  “Even if you die?” Milly said, gently swiping her daughter’s bangs from her face. “You are more important than you realize. You are the rightful heir to the Titan throne, and if you die, Salazar wins.”

  “If I don’t continue with this path, he’ll win anyways,” Allora said, confidently.

  Twenty-Three

  PROM

  Brushing her long, brown hair in a furious fashion, Allora sat in front of her mirror, dreading the evening’s events. Prom was only hours away, and she’d had to reluctantly settle for Brandon as a date since no one else had asked her. He wasn’t the worst guy in the school, but Allora had definitely had her heart set on walking into the prom on the arm of a suit-clad Tanner. She smiled when she imagined him in a tux, but her smile quickly faded when she thought of Kim hanging all over him during a slow dance.