"I don't know why you're mad at me," retorted Xander. "I'm not the one who lowered your curfew."
Regan wondered if he really believed that.
Xander went back to perusing the textbook. "Ah, the Omegas. The magnificent four. The true offspring of the Tormada. I suppose they've taught you that Octavia could control the oceans and that Drohnus breathed fire? Did you know that someone once told me that Calan could read minds? I wonder why he didn't read the mind of the assassin that killed him? Perhaps he was wearing a special hat."
"So, you don't believe in the Omegas?" asked Regan.
"Do I believe that there have been some Tormada children that have sprung from their mother's womb instead of the river? Yes. Do I believe that they had some magical powers that surpassed all other Tormada? No. They were great Tormada whose legends were enhanced solely because their eyes were two different colors. That's it."
"And what about Hyperion?" asked Regan.
"What about Hyperion?" replied Xander.
"There are rumors that he created the sun shield..."
Xander looked at Regan sideways for a few moments. Then his wry smile returned. "Well I can tell you for a fact that those rumors are false... because I created the sun shield."
"Oh really," said Regan.
"Yes, your devilishly bright sun was giving me headaches, so I decided to build the shield. It was nothing really."
"I had no idea you were such a skilled machinist," Regan replied.
"There are a lot of things that you don't know about me..." As he said this, Xander slowly approached Regan like an animal stalking his prey. Regan leaned back against the kitchen counter, unable to escape. Xander placed his hands on the counter on either side of the girl then leaned down to look at her. Regan could not meet his gaze.
"You know," said Xander, "you're quite pretty for a torman..."
Regan continued to avoid his eyes. Xander's advance was not entirely unexpected, but it was the first time that he had been this overt.
"Do you know how many women back in Gartol would die for a chance to be alone with me in their kitchen? And yet here you sit like some nervous little girl. But I know you better than that. Look at me, Regan."
Regan refused to look up. She felt incredibly... hot. She began to sweat all over.
"Regan, look at me," Xander repeated. His face was only inches from her own.
Regan lifted her head. When her eyes met his, Xander jumped back. Regan saw in the face of the Gartune something that she had never seen before: shock. Utter bewilderment.
Just then, Loras and Tinko burst into the kitchen. Seeing the Gartune hovering possessively over his sister reignited the fire inside of Loras. He immediately rushed to Regan's side. Aided by his newfound strength, he easily pushed Xander out of the way. The prince stumbled backwards, dumbfounded. His gaze went to Loras, then back to Regan, then back to Loras again. Loras didn't wait for the prince to regain his composure. He grabbed Regan by the wrist and dragged her out of the house with Tinko running close behind.
Loras was still grabbing his sister by the wrist as he raced down the street.
"Loras, wait!" Regan yelled between breaths. "What is going on?!"
Loras turned and looked at his sister. It was the first time that she had gotten a good look at him since he had charged into the kitchen. Regan immediately stopped running. Something about her brother was different.
"Loras... your eyes," she whispered. "You're a—"
"No," Loras stopped her, "we're."
Loras turned his sister toward the window of a nearby building. There, staring back at her, were two sets of glowing yellow eyes.
"But… how can this be?" she exclaimed.
"I don't know, but we need to get out of the street. Two Gartune sentries already know about me, and now that Xander knows about you it won't be long until there is a city-wide search for us."
"Where do we go?" asked Regan.
"I... have... an idea," said Tinko breathlessly as he finally caught up to the twins. "We need to go find Professor Lucan. He'll know what to do."
Nobody offered any better suggestions, so they sped off toward their professor's house. Already, Loras could feel his powers growing within him as he ran faster than he ever had before. Three times he and Regan had to stop and wait for Tinko to catch up before they reached Lucan's house.
Thwap, thwap, thwap. Loras pounded on his teacher’s door.
"Professor!" he yelled as loudly as he possibly dared. He did not have to wait long for a response. Lucan cracked open the door just enough to peer outside.
"What are you three do—" Lucan stopped himself mid-sentence when he looked into the faces of Loras and Regan. The professor showed only a second of shock before he ushered his students into his house.
"Get in here immediately! Quick – before anyone sees you."
After they had passed through his doorway, Lucan looked around outside before locking the door. He then doused the lamp that he had been holding and ushered the teens through the dark house in silence. When they reached the basement, Lucan relit the lamp and addressed the twins in a hushed whisper.
"Has anyone seen you? Does anyone know?" he asked.
"Yes," answered Loras, "two Gartune sentries found me about twenty minutes ago. I attacked them and they ran off."
"And what about you?" Lucan now looked at Regan. "Has anyone seen you?"
Regan looked down at her feet. Loras could not bring himself to tell on his sister so Tinko revealed the bad news.
"Xander," said Tinko. "Xander has seen her. It wasn't more than ten minutes ago."
Lucan's jaw dropped but he did not ask how or why the Gartune prince had seen the girl.
"Then we haven't a minute to lose," said Lucan as he walked toward the basement door. "You three stay here and stay quiet! I'll be back as soon as I can."
"But, Professor, where are you going?" asked Regan frantically.
"To get help," and with that he shut the door to the basement and left Loras, Regan and Tinko in the dark.
The basement was mostly empty, with the exception of a few pieces of dust-covered furniture. Two small windows at the top of the far wall let a small amount of streetlight into the room. Loras walked over to one of the windows and pulled it open a crack. The window screeched in resistance.
"Stop it – they'll hear us!" whispered Regan. Loras put up his hands and mouthed a silent "I know" to his sister. He then walked over to a couch that looked like it hadn't been sat on in many years. He wiped off the cushions, sending a cloud of dust floating into the air. Some of the particles caught the faint, orange light coming in from the windows. They began to sparkle as they swam in small circles, falling to the ground. Loras plopped onto the couch, stretched his arms behind his head and closed his eyes.
A few moments later, Tinko wiped off the other side of the couch and sat himself down. The couch groaned and Tinko winced as a spring popped beneath him. He looked at Regan, who was still standing alone in the middle of the basement. She seemed to be deciding whether or not to join them on the couch. Tinko patted the spot between himself and Loras. A small cloud of dust rose from the cushion and he stifled a cough. Regan couldn't help but smile at her friend as she crossed the room and sat down between the two boys.
As they sat in silence, Regan looked at her brother. His head rested comfortably on the back of the couch. His eyes were closed and there was a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth.
Loras could feel his sister staring at him and he opened his eyes.
"What?" he asked her.
"How can you possibly sleep at a time like this?" she asked.
"He's well-practiced," interjected Tinko.
"I wasn't sleeping, I was just... thinking..." said Loras.
Regan leaned her head back to match her brother and stared at the ceiling. "This is probably the best day of your life," she said with a sigh.
"I don't think hiding from a bunch of Gartune in the basement of Professor Lucan's ho
use would qualify as the best day of my life," replied Loras.
"You know what I mean."
"It's definitely... different," said Loras. He lifted his hand in the darkness and inspected it as if it were someone else's. "I feel like the inside of me is fighting with my skin, trying to get out."
"I feel like I'm going to throw up," said Regan. "Everything is spinning."
"Oh, don't worry, that's not just you," said Tinko. "Maybe I'm about to receive my light too. Are my eyes glowing?"
The twins both smiled, their eyes two sets of glowing embers in the darkness.
"No, Tink," said Loras. "I always took you for more of a metal guy than a floater."
"I swear, if I turn into a Gartune, the two of you have my permission to throw me over the cliff," said Tinko.
"We're not that strong yet. Maybe in a couple of weeks we'll be able to lift you," said Loras.
"If we're still alive by then," muttered Regan.
The three teens sat in uncomfortable silence for a minute as the weight of Regan's words began to sink in. The darkness of the room became thicker. Tinko began to squirm. Suddenly, he thought of something.
"Oh, hey guys," said Tinko. The twins looked up. "Happy real birthday. Sorry, but I'm not getting you another present."
"You didn't get me a present three weeks ago," said Loras.
"Yeah, well I'm definitely not getting you one now," replied Tinko.
In truth, Loras had only received one present for his birthday. It was from his parents. Or at least, that's what the card said. Many years ago, Loras had discovered the truth. The present was from Regan, she’d just written their parents’ names on the card. To keep up appearances, she always gave herself a present as well. Loras had never thought much about it, but it suddenly dawned on him what it must be like to have to give yourself your own birthday present year after year, just so that your brother could have one as well. He turned his head and looked at his sister. For a moment, he thought about holding her hand... but only for a moment.
While they waited for Lucan to return, a massive thunderstorm gathered outside. With the sun shield up, a thunderstorm in Reysa was different than anywhere else on the planet. Usually, nobody knew a storm was near because they couldn't see the sky. Often, the first sign that a storm was present was the thunderous sound of thousands of raindrops pinging off of the metal saucer.
The steadily building rumble of water meeting steel echoed off the walls in Lucan's basement. Tinko scooted closer to his friends and the three teens huddled together as they listened to the storm above.
"They're probably out looking for us by now," said Regan.
"The rain may slow them down some," suggested Tinko. "They'll probably focus their search on the dry zone first."
The "dry zone" was the area that was covered by the sun shield during a rain storm. The shield acted like a giant umbrella. If you were unfortunate enough to be caught directly under the edge of the lower part of the shield, you were pummeled by the deluge of water cascading off of the giant saucer. This wall of water separated the dry zone from the rest of the city. At this time of day, the dry zone was about eight city blocks from where they sat. But the zone moved as the shield moved, and it was heading towards Professor Lucan's house.
After what seemed like longer than thirty minutes, the backdoor of the professor's house creaked open and two sets of soggy boots walked through Lucan's kitchen. When the basement door opened, a soaked Lucan came down the stairs, followed by a much taller figure. The teens shrunk back in fear. As the second figure came closer, it was clear that it was a Tormada. The thought of their professor betraying his own students had never occurred to them. Oh no, thought Loras. They caught him. He’s brought them straight to us!
Their fear turned to confusion as soon as Lucan lit the basement lamp. The stranger was the last person they had expected to see.
"Dario," exclaimed Loras. "This is the help you brought us? He's one of them!"
"Don't be a fool," replied Lucan. "Dario is one of you. Moreover, he's the only one that can get you out of the city."
"Out of the city?" exclaimed Regan. "Where are we to go? None of us has ever left Reysa."
"You're about to," answered Dario. "Right now, the city is being torn apart by Gartune search parties. If you stay here, you will be found within the hour."
"But wait..." said Regan, "Xander... he... he kind of... well, he likes me. Maybe if we went to him he could—"
"Xander is leading the search parties," answered Dario.
Loras and Regan exchanged the same look. Loras could tell his sister had been thinking the same thing as him. Leveraging Regan's relationship with Xander had been their only hope. Now, that hope was gone. The little composure that Regan had desperately clung to melted away.
"I don't understand," she said as she wiped a tear from her eye. "How could this have happened? How could we be...?"
"Reytana?" answered Dario.
"It's my fault," said Lucan. "You weren't supposed to receive your light for a few more days. I forgot to take into account the Solstice year. I'm a damn fool." He shook his head in disgust. “We moved your birthdays back on purpose. We didn’t want anyone associating you with this date.”
“What’s so important about this date?” asked Loras.
“I know,” whispered Tinko. “Today is the eighteenth anniversary of the end of the Eighth Great War,” He looked at his friends excitedly. “You two are two of the Fallen Reytana!”
"Wait..." said Loras. "The meeting tomorrow – the one with our parents. Did they know too?"
"Yes," said Lucan. "We have all known that this day was coming and had a plan, but now..."
Regan and Loras began to simultaneously speak but were cut off.
"There's no time to explain," interjected Dario. "We have to move."
"Here," said Dario to Loras as he handed him an envelope. "You need to take this to a man named Declin. He lives in the city of Woodhaven at the fork of the Aeil River. He can help you."
"Why can't you help us?" exclaimed Tinko. "You're the governor of Reysa, for god's sake!"
"In name only," said Dario. "There is nothing that I can do for you here. You must go to Woodhaven and find Declin. Give him this letter but do not open it yourself. Nobody but Declin can read its contents. Do you understand?"
"I understand," answered Loras.
"Good. Now it's time to get moving."
"But wait!" cried Tinko, "I still—"
"There's no time!" shouted Dario. "You need to follow me. Now!"
Dario led the group upstairs into Lucan's study. He instructed everyone to stay put while he snuck outside to survey the scene. He returned a few minutes later and declared that the coast was clear, but they had to hurry. Lucan, Loras, Regan and Tinko followed the governor out into the street. The combination of the shield and the storm created an extra layer of darkness in the city. They used this to their advantage as they crept along unnoticed until they reached the edge of the dry zone.
They were about to pass through the wall of water when they saw a Gartune search party emerge on the other side. The leader of the search party stopped his companions when he spied the Reytana through the water wall. As fate would have it, the leader of this particular Gartune search party was Xander.
The two groups stared at each other through the water but did not make a move. Seconds passed. Raindrops dripped off of Regan's stony face as she locked eyes with Xander. This time, there was no bewilderment in his expression.
"Take them," whispered Dario to Lucan. "You know the way. I will hold them off as long as I can." And with that, Dario turned slowly towards the Gartune. He tilted his head slightly toward the ground while staring down his opponents. Sparks began to flicker in his golden eyes until they glowed a fierce yellow. The tired, oft-ridiculed governor that Loras had scorned for years was gone. This new version was a warrior; proud and strong. From underneath his tunic sleeves Dario pulled out two shimmering golden bands which he wrapped
around his forearms. He clenched his fists and the bands began to glow. It had been eighteen years since Dario had worn the Reytana adornments. His eyes seemed to indicate that it had been a long wait. But now it was here – the moment when he could again be a Reytana.
They watched as Dario let out a ferocious yell and jumped through the wall of water. Through the shimmering wall they saw a golden beam emit from Dario's right hand and a bright yellow shield form in his left. The Reytana charged at the group of Gartune at the end of the street. Loras would have stayed to watch the ensuing fight, but Lucan grabbed the teens and pushed them down a side street.
"We will have to take the long way," said Lucan.
Lucan, Loras, Regan and Tinko carefully made their way towards the edge of the city. Lucan stopped them at each corner so that he could peer around and look for soldiers. Twice they had to hide in the shadows as a group of Gartune sentries ran past their location. The trip was maddeningly slow. All the teens wanted to do was run, but the professor would take no chances.
Once they had reached the edge of the city's wall, they came to a narrow doorway. Lucan pushed against the old metal door and its rusted hinges eventually gave way with a loud creak. The teens looked behind them to see if anyone heard, but there was not a soul in sight, so they quickly slipped through the door and through the city wall.
They hadn't taken two steps through the door when Lucan reached out his arm to stop them; if he hadn't, they would have fallen to their deaths. The teens found themselves standing directly on the edge of the cliff. A small path, no more than three feet at its widest, wrapped itself around the mountain. It had been used hundreds of years ago as the only entrance to the city. From a strategic standpoint, it had made the city easier to defend from oncoming invaders. But that was long ago. Now everyone used the lift. No longer needed, the ancient path was left untended and had grown treacherous, especially with the rain pouring down.
"This is how we have to get down?" exclaimed Tinko.
"Won't somebody see us?" asked Regan.
"It's the only way," replied Lucan as he carefully walked to the front of the group and began testing the integrity of the path in front of him with his foot. "Everyone's search efforts are focused in the city or at the lift. Plus, with the rain it will be almost impossible to see us from the ground." He put one hand on the side of the mountain to steady himself and gently tapped the muddy walkway with his foot. Tentatively, he shifted his weight forward. His foot sank slightly in the mud, but the path held. He cautiously took another step. Finally, he turned back to the teens. "It's good. Come on – just be careful."
Hyperion's Shield Page 7