by Travis Hall
“So then what is the scroll?” Allora asked.
“It is a memory orb, comprised of the exact path that you need to follow in order to stop this from ever happening again. You must choose to go down this path, though. And do not make this choice lightly. This path is not going to be easy. It will test you physically, mentally, and even emotionally. You will most certainly die.”
“That’s not exactly a very good sales pitch,” Allora said jokingly.
“This is no joke,” Noah said sternly. “If you decide to take in the scroll’s memory, you must follow it to the end. The fates of both worlds rest in the keeper of the scroll.”
“Talk about pressure,” Allora said to herself. She thought about the faces of those in the city of Alexandria. She thought about the billions of humans on Earth who would die, including the people back home in Sandy.
“All right, I’m ready.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded, and the image of Noah burst into pure light. Then she felt a sharp pressure against her forehead, and it felt like she had been electrocuted. Millions of images passed through her mind. Voices echoed, drowning each other out from clarity, followed by a throbbing headache like she’d never felt before. She blinked rapidly, trying to focus on something. Three blurry faces emerged. The muffled sound of her friends’ voices was comforting, but the pain in her head was too intense to focus on anything they were saying.
“Allora…,” Katie said, the muffled sound becoming clearer.
Then a dim red light filled the entire ship, followed by a siren.
“What the hell just happened?” Tanner asked, looking around.
“I don’t know, but this time I promise you it wasn’t my fault,” Dax said.
Allora moaned and got onto her elbow, still holding her head as the pain slowly decreased in intensity.
The AI got onto the intercom and said, “Please evacuate to one of the life pods in the aft of the ship. This is not a drill.”
“Aft? What is that?” Dax asked.
“The rear of the ship, you ding-dong,” Katie said, helping Allora to her feet. “Come on, girly. We’ve gotta get out of here.”
“What about the scroll?” Tanner asked, scanning the room further.
“I got it,” Allora mumbled while being dragged on the shoulders of Tanner and Dax through the corridors of the ship. On the sides were arrows pointing to the back. “I got the scroll.”
“How?” Tanner asked, Allora’s left arm draped over his shoulder.
“Trust me. I got it.”
The ship shuddered, knocking them into the wall as they stumbled through the corridor toward a glowing doorway. They all entered a small room with eight seats arranged in a circle. They sat down and buckled themselves in as the metal door shut, enclosing them in the capsule. Then the interior shook and rocketed upward. They held on and screamed as the escape pod hit the top of the cave, bursting through it, and then fell back down. Booster rockets ignited just before they crashed into the ground, burning the green turf below. After the pod hit the ground above the cavern, they unfastened the belts and got up from the seats. The door was slightly stuck, so they all pushed on it.
“Put your shoulder into it,” Dax said, straining to force it open.
Allora pressed a round button on the side, which slid the door open automatically, sending Tanner, Dax, and Katie out of the pod and onto the green turf ground. Allora jumped down and looked out on a sea of shocked faces staring at them from rowed seating in the middle of the Sandy High School football field. She had completely forgotten about graduation. Allora simply waved awkwardly, standing in front of the smoking escape pod.
“Will everyone give a round of applause for our valedictorian, Allora Sona,” Principal Winters said, which was following by a single person clapping. Everyone else was too shocked to move.
chapter
TWENTY-SIX
Graduation
Allora slowly walked up to the podium, wondering what she was going to say. The people in the audience still had their mouths open, staring with wide eyes.
“I had an entire speech planned out about how we are going to go out there and change the world, but I think that this calls for something a bit more honest,” Allora said, thinking about how little time she had to get everyone out of the city. “In truth, I am an alien from a world called Sonora, linked to Earth through portals, and I was told this by an eight-foot Sasquatch, two giants, a platoon of gnomes, and a jellyfish man that lives in the Salmon River.”
The student body erupted with laughter. Principal Winters rushed to the podium and pulled Allora aside.
“What in the world do you think you’re doing?”
“There is an army heading this way,” Allora said. The crowd was now whispering loudly. “We need to get everyone out of here right now.”
“Where is your mother?”
“Not really sure,” Allora said, going back to the mic. “There is an extraterrestrial army heading this way, and they will destroy everything and everyone.”
Again, the audience erupted with laughter. There was only one way Allora knew that would convince the masses. She focused, closed her eyes, absorbed the surrounding hadrons, and created two purple balls of energy within her palms. There was a collective scream, followed by a stampede of people running over each other to leave the area.
“Well, that worked,” Katie said, walking up to the podium.
“What are you doing?” Principal Winters asked, swinging her arms in an erratic manner.
The armband started to blink red. Allora pressed the activation button, which pulled up an image of a large dragon-class cruiser coming out of the clouds at the perimeter. A flurry of yellow streaks shot out from the perimeter defenses, exploding on the invisible shield ten feet from the hull of the ship. There were two more blinking lights on the south and east sides of the perimeter, followed by three more.
“That’s what she was thinking,” Tanner said.
“Where is Milly?” Principal Winters asked.
“Right here,” a female voice said, coming from the gym. Milly was followed by Sheriff Newton, Mr. Ferris, Mrs. Ferris, Maureen, Jarrod, Aunt Lizzy, Mr. Swan, Sumatra, and Sas. “I thought that I told you to stay at Sas’s cave.”
“I’m old enough to make my own decisions,” Allora replied.
“You are seriously a pain in the—”
“We have no time for arguing,” Sumatra interrupted as he approached the podium. “We’ve got to get everyone out of the town before those cruisers get through the outer defenses.”
“They are going to keep the port inhibitors active to keep us isolated,” Mr. Swan said.
“They’re going to come here first,” Allora said.
“How do you know this?” Sumatra asked.
“Because they are looking for the scroll, and it was right underneath us,” Allora answered, pointing to the crashed escape pod still smoking on the turf.
“Do you have it?” Mr. Swan asked excitedly.
“Yes. The scroll was a memory orb,” Allora said, smiling slightly, still reeling from the pounding headache. “It’s all up here now.”
“Do you know what you’ve just done?” Milly said, looking petrified. “You just plastered a large target on yourself. Salazar will do anything to get what you’ve just put inside your head.”
“Like I didn’t already have a target on my back,” Allora said unflinchingly.
“We’ve got to get you out of here then,” Milly said, grabbing her forearm.
“No,” Allora said, whipping away her arm. “I’m not going to allow these people to get slaughtered. We leave now, and everyone in this town is dead. If we concentrate the fight at the school, it might allow the civilians to get far enough away.”
“Well, I’m in,” Katie said, wrapping her arm around Allora’s shoulder.
“I always did like a good fight,” Dax added.
“Could you use a few more bodies?” It was Yeti, followed by Abe r
ight behind her. “I heard that this is where all the fun was.”
“Oh yeah, taking on an entire fleet of cruisers and Salazar’s royal guard,” Abe said sarcastically. “That sounds like loads of fun.”
Milly scanned the group, feeling anxious about their chances.
“Well, if we’re going to have any chance of survival, we need to keep the fight to the ground,” Milly said, compiling a mental list of every military tactic that she had learned over the many years of war. “Ferris, I need both of you to concoct a large batch of fog glue from that batch of dead ice that you ordered and release it above the school.” Mr. and Mrs. Ferris left right away at their orders, knowing that they didn’t have much time. “Swan and Sumatra, I need you to retrieve the counterattack defensive prototypes that you’ve been working on and set them up in the woods around the school.” They nodded, got on their skippers, and took off toward Mr. Swan’s house. “Sas, Yeti, Abe, I need you three to get the gnomes and giants and bring them here. They will be more useful fighting here than at the perimeter.” The warlocks nodded and launched themselves east toward the mountain. “Newt and Winters, I need you to lock down the school as best as you can and gather as much weaponry as you can. Lizzy, May, I need you to take the kids into the gym and stay there. You are the last defense against infiltration.”
“I’m not just going sit and hide,” Allora argued.
“This isn’t a debate,” Milly said sternly.
Aunt May grabbed Allora’s hand and led them to the gym while Milly left to instruct the others on defensive measures. The gym was hot and humid. Allora sat down on the hard wooden bleachers and activated her armband. The cruisers had just taken out the last of the perimeter defenses and were now heading directly for the school. The floating laser images were large and ominous. There were now ten of these vessels. From the edges of the image, small dots appeared, flying at great speed toward the cruisers. Allora zoomed into the outskirts. The dots were F-16s from a nearby air force base. The secret was out, and now the whole of Earth would know of the Sonoran existence. From the interior of the cruisers, skimmers and larger manned aircraft emerged. The dragon-class cruisers fired their own salvo of hadron bursts in front of the drones and aircraft, which took out a few of the F-16s. Missiles shot out toward the cruisers, which were either taken out by the exterior guns or disintegrated against the shield that protected the cruisers. The skimmers shot out hadron bursts, which took out a few aircraft. The F-16s were no match for the advanced weaponry. Numerous fireballs littered the sky. Allora felt helpless, watching these pilots struggle against the onslaught of alien aircraft. They had no chance. The cruisers continued their advance toward the school. Mrs. Ferris came into the gym just as the cruisers were about a mile out.
“You guys want to see the effects of fog glue?”
They all rushed out of the gym to watch as Mr. Ferris was rolling a large grayish orb about five feet in diameter from the front entryway and into the parking lot. Out of her periphery, Allora saw the black shadow of the cruisers blocking out the sun as they inched toward the town of Sandy. Mr. Ferris sparked the orb, causing it to explode upward in a steady stream of fog, like the explosion of a small volcano. Once the funnel of fog got up to about five hundred feet, it spread outward, covering the entire school and surrounding area with fog. It was thick, giving visibility of about twenty feet.
From the cruisers came a laser-light show as they tried to assess the ground beneath them, including the threats that awaited. Allora remembered the ominous dream that she’d had. A flash came into her head of all of the bodies littering the school parking lot. Her heart pounded in her chest in fearful anticipation of what would come through the fog. She felt the warmth of someone holding her right hand and turned to see Tanner.
Sheriff Newton came running up, carrying their weapons, and handed them out.
“Stopped by your house,” he said. “Figured you could use them.”
Allora slung the quiver of arrows around her back and held onto the familiar grip of her bow. Just as Principal Winters gave Tanner his sword, the sound of an explosion reverberated from the edge of the forest. It had begun.
Aunt May ushered everyone into the gym while Sheriff Newton and Principal Winters ran into the fog toward the battle that was commencing all around the school.
“Aunt May, we’ve got to get out there,” Allora protested as she pushed them in through the double doors of the gym and closed the door. “They need as many bodies as possible. We are wasted just sitting here.”
“Allora, I don’t think you understand what we’ve been trying to do here all of this time,” Aunt May explained, peering through the small windows on the double doors. “This entire community was set up to protect you and you alone. That is why your mother was so adamant about getting you out of here. That is why we separated ourselves from the rebellion and Shangri-La. And the only way to truly stop them is in here,” Aunt May said, pointing to Allora’s head, “And here.” She then pointed at Allora’s heart. “If you truly want to protect the ones you love, then you must continue the path that Ben set for you.”
With that, Aunt May went outside the gym to guard the entrance.
“What did she mean by that?” Tanner asked.
“She means that we need to go get the Eye,” Allora responded.
“Where is it?” Katie asked.
“It’s in the hidden spot I created in the back of my locker. I’ve got to go get it.”
“Fine, but we’re going with you,” Tanner demanded.
Allora then noticed Bell. She looked terrified, huddled in the corner. While the others debated how they’d get out of the gym without being noticed, Allora knelt down next to Bell. She gently placed her hands on the frightened girl’s knees. Bell looked up, tears running down her cheeks.
“We’re going to die, aren’t we?” Bell asked.
“No,” Allora said, staring into Bell’s blue eyes and holding firmly onto her shoulders. “I will not let that happen.”
“You promise?”
“I promise you that I will not let anything happen to you,” Allora said, holding out her pinky. Bell clutched onto it with her own and smiled slightly. “Now I need you to be strong and make sure to stay here while we go grab something.”
“Please don’t leave me,” Bell said, getting up from the ground and running after her sister.
“We’ll be right back. Just stay put, and if anything comes through those doors, I want you to hide.”
Allora could hear the clash of swords and the sporadic explosions of hadron bursts hitting the trees and building outside. The fighting was getting closer. There wasn’t much time. Allora left her sister and went to the emergency exit, where Dax was deactivating the alarm that would notify the others of their escape. Allora took one last look at Bell, whose tear-filled eyes sparkled as she looked like she was silently saying good-bye. Allora felt the pit in her stomach grow. A part of her wanted to take Bell with them, but it was too dangerous.
Allora left the gym and ran after the others as they stepped into the fog. Visibility was minimal, which increased the fear of the unknown. Luckily, they knew the school grounds so well that they could navigate them blindfolded if they had to. Out of the fog came a low growl, like that of a large cat. A smell of rotten fish wafted through the mist, followed by two dim red eyes streaking toward them. Allora pushed the others forward as the teeth of a sphinx chomped down on their heads. The animal’s balance faltered, and it rolled along the concrete, flailing to get its feet underneath itself.
“Go!” Allora screamed as she slipped on some loose rock.
They sprinted to the double doors that led to the school’s basement and barely got inside and slammed the doors shut. Dax grabbed a metal broom and stuck it through the two handles as the sphinx tried in vain to destroy the barricaded doors. They slowly backed up from the shaking door, moving deeper into the dark hallways. They picked up their pace, jogging through the hallway. They stopped after hearing somethin
g moving in the distance.
Backing into a recess near a classroom door, they peered around the corner, squinting in the darkness. A creature slowly revealed itself, crawling along on four feet and sniffing the air like a bloodhound on a scent. Its skin was scaly, dark, and brownish green; it had a body that stretched over eight feet and a thorny tail.
“Dragon,” Dax whispered as they backed into the wooden door.
“I thought that they were supposed to be the size of a large dog,” Allora whispered back.
“Only the ones that are bred to be pets,” Katie answered.
“That does not look like a very friendly pet,” Tanner said.
“What do we do?” Allora asked.
They kept looking at each other while Allora peered around the edge again.
“No,” Katie said, seeing the look in Allora’s eyes as she pulled out an arrow from her quiver. “Nope. No, not happening. Did you see the teeth on that thing?”
“We have no choice,” Allora said. “There’s no time to wait. We’ve got to take that thing out.”
Dax smiled, pulling out his staff.
“Allora, I like you, but you are crazy. You know that?” Katie said.
“And you’re best friends with me, so what does that say about you?” Allora said with a smirk. She turned the corner with the arrow pulled back.
“That I’m even crazier,” Katie said, pulling out her throwing knifes.
The dragon noticed the movement and produced a deep, malicious growl that sent shivers of fear through all four of them. The arrowhead turned purple, and Allora let it loose. It streaked through the dark, trailing a purple glow. From the dragon’s mouth came a stream of fire that completely engulfed the purple missile. The heat was so intense that it disintegrated the arrow, turning it to ash as it hit the nose of the dragon. The creature bellowed an even louder growl as it scurried along the carpet toward the four.
“New plan,” Allora said, backpedaling. “Run!”
The four sprinted through the hallway, turning the corner toward the other side of the school, as the dragon gained on them, hissing at its prey. Ahead of them was a drow elf who was stalking the area for targets. It barely noticed as the four teenagers zipped past it. It smiled but turned blue as it saw the sharp edges of the dragon’s teeth chomp down on it. This gave the four teens enough time to get into a classroom and shut the door. Allora locked the door and fell down against it, the others breathing heavily next to her.