The Soldiers of Halla

by D. J. MacHale

  Courtney kept her eyes down on the valley. If she was scared, she didn’t show it.

  Kasha said, “You said something about a surprise?”

  “Yeah,” Courtney replied. “Now or never.”

  The klees clambered over the fallen dados effortlessly. After all, they were cats. They dropped to all fours and continued moving forward. It was almost as if they had practiced this maneuver. The first ones over the pile of dead dados advanced several yards and then stopped, waiting for the others to make their way over and assemble. It was hard to tell how many were there. Five hundred? A thousand? More? The army had been cut down considerably, but there were still plenty of living klees left to do some damage.

  “What’s going to happen?” I asked, my voice cracking.

  “This isn’t the Black Water you knew, Bobby,” Courtney explained, sounding way too calm for the situation. “Much of the change has to do with the Yanks, who helped the gars advance. It was clear that if the klees ever decided to attack, the gars wouldn’t stand a chance. So they had to come up with unexpected ways to defend themselves. Creating the radio cannons was one of those ways.”

  “But there’s another, right?” I asked hopefully.

  “The theory is there,” Courtney answered. “We weren’t able to fully test it, for reasons that will become obvious, so I guess you’d call this a ‘trial by fire.’ It’s either going to work, or Black Water is done.”

  The remaining klees assembled beyond the mass of dado bodies. Several klees on zenzens rode to the front of the pack. I figured these must be the officers. They had been lying back, safely waiting for this moment. Now they were about to lead the charge into Black Water. One officer rode to the front of the klees, raised his arm as a signal, and motioned for the waterfall. Moving as one, the mass of klees began to make their way toward Black Water.

  “Are gars guarding the waterfall?” I asked.

  “No,” Courtney answered. “The tunnel doesn’t offer any position to attack from. Gars are waiting on the far side, but we’re hoping the klees don’t make it that far.”

  Kasha asked, “So you will try to stop them before they reach the tunnel?”

  “That’s the idea,” Courtney answered.

  We all looked down over the edge as the re-formed but smaller klee army marched toward the waterfall. I glanced up into the mountains on our side of the valley. Were there guns up there? Were the gars going to roll rocks down onto the klees? What was going to happen?

  Courtney lifted her link cube. The command to launch the counterattack was hers to give. “All units, prepare to release,” she ordered.

  I watched her scanning the scene below, calculating. I glanced to Kasha. Kasha shrugged. She didn’t have any better idea of what was about to happen than I did.

  Courtney looked to us and said, “If we’re lucky, this is going to get ugly.”

  She brought the link cube to her mouth and gave the order. “Three…two…one…release!”

  “Release what?” I asked.

  My answer came in the form of a high, shrill whistle. It was soon joined by another. And another. Soon the piercing whistle sound filled the valley, echoing off the stone face of the surrounding mountains. Looking at the klees, I saw that the sound didn’t affect them at all. They continued their march.

  “It didn’t work,” Boon fretted. “They aren’t stopping.”

  “Hang on,” Courtney said with patience.

  Whatever was supposed to happen wasn’t happening. The whistle sound continued, growing in pitch and in volume. I felt bad for any stray dogs that might have been wandering around. Not that there were any dogs on Eelong.

  That’s when I remembered. I had heard a whistle like that before. On Eelong. There may not have been dogs on this territory, but there were other animals. Was it possible? Was this the final defense that the gars had pinned their hopes on?

  A second later they struck. The forest that surrounded the base of the mountains came to life. Leaping from the dark confines of the trees were…tangs. Hundreds of them. They had appeared from nowhere, and they looked pissed. The klee officer held up his hand to signal his soldiers, but they already knew. They were surrounded by a ring of angry tangs. The first line of klees stopped, which meant the rest of the army bunched up behind them. In seconds the klee army had gone from a tight, formidable force, to a group of confused cats. Obviously, they hadn’t expected this, which is exactly what the gars had been counting on.

  Courtney glanced back at me with a sly smile and said, “We stopped battling tangs and learned how to train them.”

  I thought back to when I had been treed by the tang, when I first got back to Eelong. That thing was just as vicious as any tang I had ever seen, and I had no doubt it would have ripped me apart if it hadn’t been for the gar that called him off—with a whistle. The gar had petted the snout of the subdued beast. The carnivorous lizard had become as docile as my dog, Marley. From that one event I had learned that the gars could calm the tangs. From what I saw below, they could also fire them up.

  The klees turned outward to defend themselves. They raised their weapons to protect against the rampage. It was too little, too late. The vicious tangs descended on the klees like a swarm of hungry locusts. There was a bloodlust going on that actually turned my stomach. Courtney’s prediction came true. It got ugly. I couldn’t watch. Looking to Kasha and Boon, I saw that they had to turn away as well. These were their brothers down there. As misguided as they may have been, these soldiers were still klees. Saint Dane’s influence put them on a violent path, and that violence was now being turned back on them. They were slaughtered. There was no other word for it. I heard the tortured screams of the cats as they desperately tried to fend off the tangs, or to flee. The tangs were merciless. I was grateful to be as far away as we were, because I couldn’t imagine hearing the sounds of tearing flesh. And chewing. And death.

  Some klees escaped. The officers on zenzens were the first to bolt. They galloped back toward the newly cut gap and out of the valley as fast as their zenzens would take them. A few were hunted down before their zenzens got up to speed. The tangs leaped at them and took them down violently. Several stragglers managed to escape. A running klee was faster than a running tang. I can’t judge how many got away, but it wasn’t many. The rest fell to the teeth and talons.

  The battle didn’t last long. The event was swift and violent. Within minutes hundreds of klee bodies lay in their own blood, being devoured by tangs. I guess that’s justice for you. The klees came to eat the gars, and instead, they found themselves on the menu.

  Kasha’s voice quivered when she said, “I do not know if I should be repulsed…or thrilled.”

  Another whistle sounded. Different pitch. Different frequency. The trained tangs instantly gathered together and trotted back into the forest from where they’d come, looking suddenly docile…and satiated. In minutes, all that was left of the massive klee assault on Black Water was a gap blown into the mountains, seven destroyed gigs, a pile of fried dados, and the bodies of hundreds of half-eaten klees.

  The attack had been an absolute and total failure.

  Courtney pulled the earpiece from her ear and turned to me. The relief on her face was obvious. “Guess it worked.”

  It was over. The klees had come knocking and the gars shut the door. The four of us hurried back for the elevator and descended quickly into Black Water. When we exited the elevator tunnel, we witnessed a scene of total joy. It was pandemonium. This was a war they had been preparing for for a long time. It had ended in complete victory. The four of us stood at the mouth of the tunnel, looking down the slope into the village. We didn’t join the celebration. That would have been tricky, considering Boon and Kasha were klees. We had to make do with witnessing it from afar.

  The village was in an uproar. People cheered. Music played over loudspeakers. Gars hugged Yanks. People were kissing. The radio cannons that minutes before had been set to protect the first ring of buildings were
laid down, and their shooters were dancing joyously. It was an outpouring of positive emotion like I had never seen before. It reminded me of when we had prevented the klees from poisoning Black Water so many years before…times twenty.

  I could only imagine the positive spirit that was flooding into Solara.

  The gars had been living under the threat of the klees for a long time. I had no doubt that with this battle, the klees would think twice before attacking again. For the Yanks, the exiles, this was a moment of victory for them as well. They had to know the connection between Ravinia and the klees. They saw the flags and the uniforms as clearly as I did. It didn’t matter that they were being worn by cats. It was Ravinia, the people who had banished them from their own home. I hoped they got some satisfaction in having struck a blow back at them.

  Courtney put her arms around me. The two of us stood there, holding each other, enjoying the celebration.

  “Unbelievable,” I said.

  “No, it isn’t,” she replied. “It’s proof that Ravinia isn’t all-powerful.”

  There was something about those words that struck a note with me. It was a thought I couldn’t fully grab on to, but it started me thinking. The gars and the Yanks had proven that Ravinia wasn’t all-powerful. Interesting.

  “Shorty?” came a familiar voice.

  We all turned quickly to see a tall, dark-skinned man standing near the mouth of the cave. It was Gunny. He was still wearing the dark suit, white shirt, and tie that was his normal outfit on First Earth. He seemed totally out of place here on Eelong. The tall, soft-spoken man walked over to us, and in his usual calm, soft voice said, “Morning, Kasha. Boon. Hello there, young lady.” He said this last to Courtney. “You’re growing up more beautiful than I imagined.”

  “Good to see you, Gunny.”

  Gunny looked down at the celebration and asked, “What happened?”

  “The klees attacked and the gars turned them back,” I answered. “It was incredible.”

  “Seems so,” Gunny said as he viewed the celebration with a smile. “And the exiles? Elli said they were here.”

  “They are,” Courtney answered. “They helped save Black Water.”

  Gunny nodded knowingly. “That explains a lot.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  Gunny turned to us and said, “Bobby, Kasha, it’s time you came back to Solara.”

  “Why? What’s happened?” Kasha asked.

  “You’ve got to see it for yourself. Solara has changed. I’m guessing it has something to do with what just happened here. I don’t know how to describe it, but you two better get back.”

  I couldn’t imagine what Gunny was talking about, but I knew that if he came looking for us, it was important. It was time to go.

  I looked to Courtney and said, “You just kicked some serious ass.”

  “Pretty cool, aye?” Courtney wasn’t one for false modesty. She turned serious and added, “But this was just the warm-up, wasn’t it?”

  I hadn’t wanted to kill the celebration by reminding everyone of Saint Dane’s plan. There were several thousand dados on Third Earth waiting to get their own shot at Black Water.

  “Try not to think about it right now,” I answered. “Enjoy this.”

  Courtney nodded. She knew their victory was going to be short-lived.

  Kasha gave Boon a hug. “Thank you.”

  “I’m not sure what I should do now,” Boon said. “I’m not going back to Leeandra, and I can’t stay here. I’m the enemy, remember?”

  “Stay,” Courtney said quickly. “You aren’t one of them. This is your home now. Nothing’s going to happen to you. I’ll make sure of it.”

  Boon looked sick. I felt bad for the guy. He was caught between two lives.

  “I’m serious, Boon. You’ll be okay,” Courtney assured him.

  Boon nodded, but still looked nervous.

  “What are we going to see, Gunny?” I asked. I wanted a little bit of a preview before being hit with another surprise.

  “I can’t exactly say for sure,” the old man said. “What I’m hoping is that you’re going to see the future.”

  With that mysterious comment, Gunny, Kasha, and I took a step back.

  And returned to Solara.

  JOURNAL #37

  34

  Solara had changed.

  Dramatically. At first I thought we were in the wrong place. Had we somehow taken a wrong turn through time and space?

  Kasha was just as confused.

  “Pendragon?” was all she said, but I knew what she meant. Where the heck were we?

  I looked at Gunny.

  My tall friend gave me a warm smile. “Amazing, isn’t it?”

  It’s hard to explain this, since Solara wasn’t like any other place I’d ever been. There weren’t buildings or roads or much else that you’d think of to define a location. Solara was the beginning of Halla. It was the crossroads for the spirit of man, and the spirit of man didn’t exactly need a normal house to live in. When we were all there before, right after the destruction of the flumes, Solara was a vast wasteland of dark matter. Though I sensed the spirits around me, it felt dead. Or dying. What we learned was that the last of the positive spirit in Halla was being kept alive by the exiles. When the Travelers had gathered there earlier, it wasn’t looking so hot for the good guys.

  Now I saw life. Actual life. Kasha, Gunny, and I stepped into a pretty meadow covered with green grass. We were surrounded by rolling hills. I wondered if the grass had grown out of the gray rock that we had all seen before, or if the rock had actually transformed. The meadow was dotted with flowers. Solara had become a bright, beautiful place.

  The only thing I recognized from our previous visit was overhead. The sky was still dark and filled with stars. Bright, colorful clouds continued to roll by. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but it seemed like there were more brilliant clouds than we had seen before. Since there was no sun, it felt as though light from these brilliant clouds was what made Solara so bright.

  As positive as this all seemed, there was also something odd about it. Looking off in the distance, the meadow seemed to go out of focus. The view wasn’t infinite. It ended. We could only see so far, and then the view became blurred. It was as if we were surrounded by a wall of water. There was no way to judge how large this green meadow was, but it didn’t go on forever.

  I looked to Gunny and asked the obvious question: “What happened?”

  “Not sure” was his answer. “Looks pretty good though, doesn’t it?”

  A fourth person joined the party. Uncle Press walked up from the edges of reality. “What happened on Eelong?” he asked with excitement in his voice.

  I was used to Uncle Press having all the answers. It was strange to be the one getting him up to speed. As we spoke, one by one the other Travelers appeared and joined us. First Elli, then Siry, Spader, Patrick, Aja, Alder, and finally Loor.

  “An army of klee attacked Black Water,” I explained. “Most of them were dados, which meant that Saint Dane had a hand in it. Bottom line? The gars kicked butt.”

  “And the exiles?” he asked cautiously.

  “Safe,” Kasha answered. “If not for their help, the gars would have been wiped out.”

  Siry asked, “So it’s true? The exiles are on Eelong?”

  “Every one of ’em” was my answer. I walked to Elli and held her hands. “Because of Nevva. She sent them there. She wanted Eelong to survive and sent those people there to help keep it alive. She saved their lives, Elli. As much as she agreed with Saint Dane, she didn’t buy into his vision entirely.”

  I looked back to the group and added, “Saint Dane made a mistake, but it wasn’t that he chose to exile the people from Second Earth. He wanted them killed from the beginning.”

  Siry asked, “So what did he do wrong?”

  “He believed that Nevva was as evil as he was.”

  I saw tears well up in Elli’s eyes. “You didn’t lose your daughter,” I s
aid softly. “She just took a bad detour.”

  Elli gave me a rare smile. It was a beautiful thing.

  Uncle Press looked around, still trying to piece together what it all meant.

  “This is a rejuvenation,” he said, thinking out loud. “No question. There was an infusion of positive spirit into Solara like I haven’t seen in a long while.”

  Loor asked, “Is this what Solara normally looks like?”

  “Yes and no,” he answered. “Solara is seen differently through the eyes of every spirit. I think this meadow is an appealing place for all of us, so that’s what we’re seeing.”

  I took a closer look at our surroundings. The feeling of life and spirit was almost electric. I sensed more images on the corners of my vision. Lights moved about. Other images seemed to be actual people. Did I see my parents? I thought so, but it was fleeting. The sky crackled with light and energy and color. Where before Solara felt as if it were out of gas, it now looked alive. I can only speak for myself, but looking around at the other Travelers, I thought they all felt the same as I did. We had new life. And with it, maybe some hope.

  “So is that it?” Aja asked. “Was that Saint Dane’s last attack?”

  “It might be,” Patrick offered somewhat sheepishly. “The tide may have turned.”

  “Is that possible?” Alder said hopefully. “Has Solara been reborn?”

  “No,” Uncle Press said flatly. That single, definitive word echoed across the strange meadow. It was like the air had come out of a very big balloon.

  Aja countered, “But you said that—”

  “I said that Solara was rejuvenated, I didn’t say it was complete. Look around. How far can you see?”

  “Not very,” Spader admitted.

  “This is one tiny speck of Solara,” Uncle Press continued. “Beyond this, nothing has changed. Think of it this way—the gas tank was almost empty and a few ounces were pumped in. It won’t be long before that gas is burned, and we’re back where we started.”

  “What’s a gas tank?” Siry asked.

  I stepped away from the group to gaze out at what Solara had become. Or at least, what this tiny section of Solara had become. I tried to focus on the blurred edges of this small oasis, imagining what was beyond the veil. What had happened to Solara was positive. No doubt. It was due to the victory on Eelong. I didn’t doubt that, either. An idea had been tickling the edges of my brain for a while. At first it seemed like fantasy, but as each new event unfolded, the possibility of it becoming a reality grew stronger. I had been afraid to share it with the others, because the time never seemed right. As we stood together in that rejuvenated spot of Solara, after all I had seen, I realized that my fantasy idea might just be the only chance we had at making this small victory permanent.