Unknown

by Paul Kelly

  Elijah paced quickly through the Drum, his gaze darting suspiciously around the hallway. He’d hoped for sign posts or something. A sign like ‘Security System Here, Please Turn This Way to Free Captured Slaves’ would be real useful right now. He continued pacing down the never ending corridor, looking for signs every time he passed a junction. Then he saw the bodies. Three Guardians, he guessed, although their long grey robes were different to the chainmail vests the Guardians usually clanked about in. He didn’t think the Future Storm had sent anyone else, but hey, security guards for a security system? It fit pretty well. He turned down the corridor, stepping over broken chunks of rock and around a huge, wooden door. The first thing he saw when he entered the room was the girl who had captured him. She stood over a pillar, one arm straining towards a huge glowing power shard which floated just above the pillar in the centre of the room. The power shard, that’s what controlled this Island’s Security System. If he took that, The Future Storm would be free to begin their attack and free his sister. He began to run towards it.

  “Stop!” roared the girl. It was only now that Elijah noticed the strain on her face as she seemed to try to fight against some invisible force, one arm pulling the other one back as it strained for the power shard. Skylanders. Elijah had always suspected that if you left them alone long enough they would begin to fight themselves. But something about the panic and terror in the girl’s eyes stayed Elijah’s hand. He followed her gaze. And then jumped a mile through the roof. Behind him, stood the ugliest creature he’d ever seen. He was pretty sure it was human, a man even, but his face had become so ancient and withered by the passing of the ages it looked like one giant wrinkle. One eye seemed to squint at Elijah. That wasn’t what was so hideous though. Elijah had seen old, it was natural, normal, nothing wrong with that. It was the body the head was planted on, young and athletic, even slightly tanned. The combination looked like some particularly mean spirited child had decided to play attack of the killer mutants with his little sister’s doll set.

  “I wasn’t expecting you,” said the man, his eyes narrowing. “You who will break the Wyvern’s wings.”

  “OK…” replied Elijah. He didn’t really have much to say to that.

  “You are a danger to us all,” tutted the man. “You will destroy this world.”

  The surety in the man’s tone sent a shiver down Elijah’s spine. The man’s eyes stared intensely at him, they were yellowed and bloodshot and he seemed to be wrestling with some internal struggle. Then he straightened and spread his arms wide, encompassing the whole room, seeming to have come to some sort of a decision.

  “But never mind that,” he smiled, a terrifying action that peeled several layers of skin back across his face. “You have come for a reason, no doubt.”

  “Yeah…” replied Elijah uncertainly, staring at the power shard with a great deal more nervousness than he had before.

  “Don’t do it,” grunted the girl through gritted teeth, even as her own fingers inched ever closer to it.

  Elijah looked at the girl, then he looked at the man. It wasn’t hard to see who was the villain here. The girl may have captured him and tried to get his tongue cut out once before… but she had also let him go once before. Plus she didn’t look like a cross between an athlete on a special herbal remedy and a skeleton. But none of that mattered. Because somewhere, on this Island, Truth was suffering in a mine and this power shard was the key to setting her free. He reached out a hand and grabbed it.

  The effect was immediate. The wail of the Siren sliced through the air, beating Elijah’s ear drums into a pulp.

  “You fool!” roared the girl. “What have you done?!”

  “I’ve no idea!” shouted Elijah.

  “Thank you!” howled the old man in glee. “You have granted me the freedom I have craved for so long. I know it must seem terribly ungrateful, but regrettably I must now kill you, Elijah.”

  Elijah barely had a second to register that the creepy old man knew his name and then he was flying across the room. He fell, every sensitive part of his body contriving to bounce across the carpet floor as he did so. He groaned and sat up, staring at the old man who looked at him with undisguised hatred.

  “Unfortunately, you are not part of the plan.” he said.

  Elijah didn’t know what plan the old man had but he didn’t like it. He shook his head, rage filling him. The timeline flickered in front of his eyes and he turned, preparing to take hold of it and throw it at the old man, but instead the girl stood before him, her eyes wide, terrified.

  “Get out of the way you stupid Seer, get out of the way!” she screamed. Elijah dived to his left and the wall behind him exploded inwards, shards flying out like a thousand arrows.

  “What in the unknown name of the Islands?” he muttered. The girl’s face was terrified, her movement’s jerky and constrained. He glanced across at the old man who was smiling thinly.

  “It’s not me!” the girl shouted. “He’s doing it, I don’t know how, but he’s doing it!”

  Elijah turned towards the old man, preparing to release all his strength. And then he was flung back, his body skidding across the cold floor. He rose groggily.

  “Your foolishness would cost us the world,” growled the old man at the centre of the room. “I will protect this world from the madness of your kind.”

  “You stupid Seer, run!” shouted the girl. Elijah flung himself to one side as suddenly the wall exploded inwards, huge chunks of marble falling to crush where he had lay.

  Elijah growled in rage. He would kill this man. He mightn’t have had any great love for the girl currently beating the living crap out of him but at least when she attacked him, she did it herself. But the old man wasn’t even looking at him. Well that was just rude. Instead, he stared out the window, at a sky that had just turned white.

  Chapter 13 – Xanthius

  Sybil stared out the window, Hesther’s words screeching through her mind. ‘Beware the meeting. Beware when the sky turns white for then your loyalties shall be tested.’ Well, it was a little late for that now. Outside, thousands of Wyverns flew towards them, their great, leathery wings blocking out the sun. Sybil stared in awe. She hadn’t even known that many Wyverns existed. Around her, the beat of the Pulse screamed in pain. That was the only word for it. The Pulse itself was suffering. Behind her, she could hear the sound of dozens of Guardians sprinting towards them. It was time to go. She turned towards the only exit and began running towards the Guardians.

  “You will stay here,” Tommen snarled and Sybil froze instantly, her limbs bound by her own Pulse. Then the ground began to shake. Tommen and Sybil both fell to the floor and Sybil was free. She rolled across the ground and rose to her feet. Outside, the Wyverns had begun glowing with a soft, brilliant white light, their crystal structures seeming to meld together in the evening sky. Sybil sprinted towards the exit, using the Pulse to fling away the first few Guardians that burst through the door. But there were too many of them. Sybil felt a sharp thump to her head as if she had just been punched. She snarled at the Guardian who was inexpertly trying to wield the Pulse. Scum like her shouldn’t even be allowed near it. Shouting in fury, she flung the Pulse at the Guardian, rotating the Pulse faster and faster through the air until it burse into a pillar of fire. The flames engulfed the Guardian and she went down screaming. But still they came, pouring through the door towards her. Sybil kicked the first that reached her, still trying to destroy those behind him with the Pulse. But the kick had no effect on the Guardian’s thick chainmail. He grabbed her wrist. Sybil tried to pull it away, but suddenly he had her, locking her arms behind her, he kicked her legs out from under her. She fell to the ground with a crash, the Guardian pinning her. She felt suffocated beneath his sweaty chainmail and she struggled desperately. Then she felt the weight lift off her, the Guardian screaming as he was flung away from her by crystal claws. She looked up and saw the face of her rescuer. It was the Seer from before, glowin
g brightly atop a Wyvern.

  “Get on!!” he shouted at her. Sybil stared. He was a Seer, a harbinger of death, of destruction. She looked back at the Guardians who were sprinting towards her, then at Tommen. She looked too long. Suddenly, she felt Tommen seize control of her body, she opened her mouth to shout a warning, but the Seer already seemed to know. He stared at Tommen, intense hatred filling his eyes. And then the Seer was talking almost too fast to hear, but throughout the babble, one phrase could be heard again and again. “The Bridge will open!” he roared. “The Bridge will open! The Bridge will open!” Tommen screamed, his robes turning to dust around him, his skin melting off his bones. Sybil didn’t stick around to watch his horrific demise. She jumped on top of the Wyvern’s back and turned to the Seer.

  “Let’s go!” she shouted.

  The Seer nodded and the Wyvern ran towards the window, it’s translucent, leathery wings scraping along the tiles as it built up speed. Below them, the floor began to shake even more violently, throwing the Guardians around the room, but the Wyvern deftly kept its footing. Outside, the glow from the other Wyverns was getting brighter and brighter and Sybil had to shield her eyes from the light.

  ‘What was going on?’ she thought in wonder. ‘Wyverns attacking the Skylands?’ It was unfathomable, like being bitten by a door. ‘And why was this one helping them?’ None of this made any sense. The Wyvern’s wings began to beat and Sybil covered her head with her scarf as they crashed through the room’s huge glass window, pieces of glass and lead shattering all around her.The sound of screeching Wyverns filled the night air as they left the Skylands. The Wyvern flew over the clustered beasts and Sybil desperately grabbed the waist of the Seer in front of her. She glanced back towards her home, trying to catch a last glimpse of the only world she had ever known. And then she saw it. The entire Island was a bright, glowing white. It was covered in Wyverns, like lichen growing over a rock. And it was shaking, the Orock skyscrapers wobbling unsteadily, the Drum itself collapsing inwards as its stone structure was cracked by the tremors. Sybil felt a hollow fear deep in the pit of her stomach. What had she done?

  Then the Wyvern suddenly barrelled downwards and Sybil held her breath, feeling her stomach flip over, trying to resist the urge to punish the Wyvern for its incompetent flying abilities. In front of her, her rescuer screamed like a baby. The Wyvern shot downwards, increasing in speed, as if daring her to scream. She clung harder to the Seer in front of her. When they at last reached the ground, Sybil’s hands were clenched so tightly around his waist that he had to pry them loose. Sybil shook slightly as she dismounted and took her first steps into the Earthlands. She stared back at the Skylands, each of the proud islands hovering above her was covered in Wyverns, as if infected by some sort of disease. The Pulse was still there, but it felt distant now, weaker. Suddenly, she felt a flash of pain and she fell to the ground clutching her head. Her nose began bleeding slowly. She groaned. It felt like the Pulse itself was trying to bore into her brain. Then it was gone. She looked up at the Islands above her. The Pulse was gone. Suddenly, there was a flash of light and she heard the Wyverns above her collectively screech, flying out from the islands. Behind her, she heard the one that had rescued her moan in sorrow. The Pulse returned and she knew the security system was back online. The Sky would not fall today. Her home was safe. She brought a finger to her nose, wiping away the blood. It was dark in the night sky. Now it no longer mattered if she was a Seer, now she was an outcast.

  He was going to kill Ash for this. She had known this was coming, she had had to. There had never been any intention of rescuing the slaves. He didn’t know what those Wyverns had been doing but they had not been rescuing people. Everything he’d done had been for nothing! And the attack or whatever it was hadn’t even worked. He wanted to scream in frustration. He turned back around and looked at his new companion. She was pretty, he’d give her that. Why, if it wasn’t for the fact her entire people were set on killing him, he might even like her. As it was, she would just have to settle for a cold, calculating stare.

  “Why are you squinting at me?” she asked brusquely.

  “Why are you always trying to kill me?” retorted Elijah, keeping his face cold and calculated.

  “That… that was Tommen,” the girl answered.

  “Tommen…” Elijah muttered and then realisation struck. “Wait Tommen the Great? Founder of the Skylands, tamer of the Wyverns, that Tommen? I thought he was dead!” Although if there was anyone he was ready to believe was two hundred years old, it was that withered face.

  “Yeah, well so did everyone else,” answered the girl calmly.

  “How….” spluttered Elijah, “how is that even possible?”

  “I don’t know Seer, how is that you have an army of Wyverns?” She said the word with a sneer, as if spitting it out of her mouth.

  “It’s not my army,” answered Elijah absently. “And my name is Elijah not Seer.”

  “And I am Sybil,” replied the girl. “It is done. Names have been exchanged. Now in accordance with the Peace Treaty of Solem, you may grant me shelter.”

  “Not a problem,” replied Elijah. “As soon as you start explaining what is going on.”

  Suddenly, he felt an invisible force punch him in the side of the head. He was getting real sick of this Pulse stuff.

  “You shall do as is bound by the Treaties and required of the Sky,” Sybil commanded imperiously.

  Elijah rubbed his head. “That’s not a very nice way to treat someone -”

  “You will obey!” commanded Sybil, although her voice seemed to have lost some of its confidence.

  “I just saved your life! If there’s anyone who’s going to help anyone with anything it’s you going to help me understand what is going on! How is the man who founded the Skylands two centuries ago still alive? And why did he want me to destroy your islands’ security system? And where is my sister?”

  Sybil paled, but didn’t back down. “I could kill you in a second, Seer,” she replied.

  “Oh yeah? And then where would you be? Stuck in the middle of the desert with the Skylands chasing you.”

  Sybil seemed to wrestle with the natural Skylander instinct for being secretive all the time and then she sighed and nodded.

  “I don’t know everything…” she said. “I’m still trying to work it out. But I don’t think anyone back home is going to help me anytime soon. And I guess I can trust you…”

  “Was it the whole, saving your life thing that tipped you off?”

  Sybil frowned at that. “Why did you do that?”

  Elijah swore loudly. “Because you seem to have some sort of idea of what’s going on even if you seem to be incredibly slow to say it!”

  Sybil took the point. “I think Tommen can control people who use the Pulse, that’s why they kept him locked away. But that power shard… that hurt him, because it… repels those closely linked to the Pulse… like the Wyverns, which is why it powers the Security System that keeps them away from the bottom of the Skylands. It’s often been theorised that the Wyverns are linked to the Pulse somehow, as they were both discovered after Tommen founded the Skylands. And if Tommen can control everyone who uses the Pulse,” her eyes widened. “He could use it to take over the whole Skylands.”

  “So let me get this straight. Tommen is like some sort of evil puppet master and the Pulse is like the string he uses to control you. And that giant power shard, it cuts these strings?”

  “A little crude, but yes, that’s it.”

  Elijah held up the large, glowing power shard. “It’s a good thing I have this then.”

  Sybil’s eyes widened. “You kept it? What restarted the security system then?”

  Elijah shrugged, pocketing the shard. “I don’t know and I don’t care. I just hope the Future Storm managed to rescue my sister before it restarted.”

  Sybil frowned. “Your sister?”

  “Little girl, black hair, blue eyes, wearing a
silver pendant. Enslaved in the mines. Ringing any bells?”

  Sybil’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second. “Never heard of her, there are a lot of people enslaved in the mines.” And then very quickly, she added. “Can you take me to the Future Storm?”

  “What do you want to go there for? They’re not exactly your biggest fans.”

  Sybil looked up at the Skylands, the Island they had come from still shaking in the aftermath of the Wyvern attack. When she spoke her voice was desperate. “If the Wyverns destroy the Skylands, it’ll mean death for the Earthlands too. It’ll be another Fall, on a far worse scale. The Future Storm must see that.”

  It was a short walk from the desert to Prazna and an even shorter one to the tavern that marked the entrance to the Future Storm. The barkeep’s eyebrows rose as he saw Elijah.

  “Didn’t expect to see you back here so quickly or so eh… healthily,” he said.

  “You know what I want,” replied Elijah.

  “I’ll have to check with Ash first,” Aon cautioned.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. Do you know what I’ve just been through for Ash’s favourite cause?”

  “Elijah??” an incredulous, shaky voice asked. “You’re alive?”

  Elijah turned to see Solomon pacing towards him, a mug of ale in his hands. “Thank the Voice!” he smiled. “After that flash of light and all the Wyverns going berserk, I thought you were dead for sure!”

  Then a lot of things fell into place for Elijah. The first wild Wyvern he had ever seen had brought him to a weak point unknown to even the Skylanders themselves. When he and Solomon had fallen from the Skylands, he had known a Wyvern would be there. Ignoring all the others of his kind, that same Wyvern had rescued him from the Skylands. That Wyvern hadn’t changed. It had always been the same one. He grabbed Solomon by the shoulders and slammed him back against the bar.