Meridias

  Dust before the Wind

  Elunduil and Joel had spent the morning training. Well Joel trained and Elunduil watched amusedly as Joel struggled. He noted that Joel had marginally improved over the other day but knew not to expect too much. It would take quite some time before Joel managed to reach the same level as himself. Although something in the back of his mind was bothering him. Wasn’t this a flashback? A sneeze brought Elunduil back to his senses. “Allergies?” he asked and Joel shook his head. “No, something tickled my nose.” Elunduil nodded in response. Joel resumed making sparks in the air until he decided he was too tired to continue. Elunduil frowned to himself as he was escorted out of the room. Joel hadn’t seemed like he was too weary to go on and knowing him he would go until he couldn’t go no more, so why had he called it quits?

  When he was back in his cell he spent time mulling over what his friends were up to. He hoped Mr. Elden was able to get his data on The General sent out into the world so that he and Joel would be set free. While he was thinking he heard a tap on the cell door. He looked up to see Joel peering through the small window on the door. He heard a click and the door swayed out and Joel stepped inside the threshold. He waved a hand at Elunduil as a guard closed door was closed behind him. “Hi, Mage,” he greeted. Elunduil sensed something was going on.

  “What brings you to my slice of paradise?” he said dryly. Joel looked back towards the cell door. “Explosions!” He says excitedly.

  “Come again?” Elunduil says and then a loud boom and tremor shakes the room. “So how are we getting out of the door?” Elunduil asks without missing beat. Joel chuckles and places a small bomb on the door. He presses a button and jumps back. Elunduil stands up as the bomb detonates and leaves a smoldering hole where the door’s locking mechanism was. Joel then tugs the door open. “Let’s go!” he says enthusiastically.

  Elunduil starts to walk towards the door then pauses and frowns. “What’s the matter?” Joel asks. “I just thought that it would be harder for them if they didn’t recognize me,” Elunduil says. “Well we don’t have time to disguise you! Come on!” Joel says impatiently. Elunduil takes a deep breath. Somewhere in his mind the knowledge Desert Blue gave to him coursed like lightning into his mind. As he walks forward his body blurs and his features twist. The next thing he knows he is down an all fours staring up at Joel. “Aw, look at the little doggie woggie!” Joel’s gushing annoys Elunduil who growls at Joel. “Okay fine I’ll stop teasing you!” Elunduil barks and darts out into the hallway.

  It was strange being an animal. His senses felt sharper and he was hairy all over. The only odd thing was the fact that his mental capabilities were still the same. Joel darts out of the cell and glances at Elunduil. He’s become some kind of wolf with dark gray hair and black paws. Joel glances back at the guard slumped against the wall. He feels no pity for the man. He turns and leads Elunduil out through the hole in the wall. They have to escape to the outside before the soldiers reach them! “This way, Mage!” he says and waves a hand for Elunduil to follow him.

  They run down a long corridor towards the exit to the building. Joel hears the constant sound of paws behind him as they hurry along and quickly explains the situation. General Titus is aiming to bring in Alicia and the others and he is breaking Elunduil out to stop it from The General. They pause at the end of the hallway and Joel quietly creeps up the corner and peers around the hall. He sees armed men standing by the exit and turns to Elunduil. “Well maybe we can get by them since you’re like this,” he suggests. Elunduil whines. “What? Speak English!” Elunduil makes an annoyed growl and shakes his head up towards the ceiling. Joel looks up and spots a camera. “Oh, I see you’re saying they know I broke you out. Shoot we’ll have to find another way.”

  Joel and Elunduil quickly go back up the corridor. Joel knows that there won’t be any back doors out of the facility, but now that General Titus has mobilized the troops it will only be a matter of time before they are caught. He suddenly feels a tug and is pulled to a stop. “What?” he complains and turns back to Elunduil who was sniffing the air. He growls and waves his head to a side corridor. “Are there guys coming?” Joel asks and Elunduil nods. Joel looks around for an escape. There aren’t any side rooms they can duck into. “If only I had some C4. I could just blow a hole over here and we’d be outside.” Joel’s frustrated comment gives Elunduil an idea.

  He goes up to the wall to their left. If this leads them outside then… He sees an image in his mind of a pale blue light that turns whatever it touches to dust. He lowers the front of his torso down and gathers his energy. He rears up and then a blue light appears from his mouth and envelopes the wall in front of it. Joel recognizes the jet-blue magic and stares in awe as the wall crumbles away. When the spell is done Elunduil looks up to Joel and lets out a wheeze before he jumps out into the desert sun. “Was that a laugh?” Joel says as his mind catches up to him and he follows Elunduil.

  Joel leads the way along the wall. There are a series of vehicle bays that they are heading towards. Not only could they lose their tail, who had no doubt had found the hole in the building, but it was also a good place for him to shine. There are many vehicles and traps set up here that they can use to escape if they are cornered. His main goal is to commandeer one of the tanks so that he can blow a hole through the entrance gate. If he can do that then Elunduil can escape in the confusion.

  They hear shouts behind them. “This way!” Joel calls out to Elunduil and they dart between the vehicle bays. On one of their turns they see a group of soldiers running towards them. “Take this!” Joel shouts. He flips on his conduit’s and a moment later a large cannister of gas explodes and knocks the men back. “Ha, ha, ha!” Joel laughs dramatically. Elunduil barks. “Oh, right let’s go!” Joel says as he hears more shouts in the distance. Darn now more of them will come!

  They double back the way they came and then take a different path. They almost run into another group of soldiers and have to double back and take another path. They quickly run into a snag as the path they take leads to a dead end with a crate blocking their path. Joel starts to double back but stops when a familiar face appears around the corner. “So, this is where you went off to Joel,” the man says in a calm voice. His brown eyes flicker over to the gray wolf whose amber eyes stare back with eerie intelligence.

  Joel gulps. Draxus hadn’t been a part of their plan. He is pretty sure the man is loyal to The General. “I heard that you broke out a prisoner, but I see just you and this wolf. Where is the prisoner?” Draxus asks sternly. Joel gulps. Was there any way out of this?

  “Er, well I can’t say,” Joel replies. Draxus’ eyes narrow.

  “I see, well then why have you broken them out? What’s your goal?” Joel looks to Elunduil who nods back. “To put an end to The General’s reign, and to stop him from capturing the rest of my friends.” Draxus looks surprised and his mouth opens slightly. There is a shout back the way he’d come from and he looks towards the sound.

  He has a torn look on his face that surprises Joel. He seems to reach some kind of decision and nods. He steps past the corner towards the approaching footsteps. “I saw them go that way a moment ago!” The footsteps pause and after a moment they can be heard going the other way. “Go!” Draxus whispers as he glances over his shoulder to where Joel and Elunduil are. They quickly dart down the opposite path leaving Draxus alone to his thoughts. He isn’t sure but after what he’s seen in the other world he has a hunch that the wolf is the prisoner in question. He takes a breath and runs to catch up with the squad that he’d sent the other way. “I can at least buy you some time,” he murmurs to himself as he runs.

  Joel tries to open the doors to the vehicle bays as he and Elunduil run. “Come on, one of these has to be open!” Joel grumbles as he desperately shakes the doorknob. They keep running along the backside of the base until they are near the corner of the wall. Joel rounds the corner and sees a group of men coming their way. “Ah, crud!” Joel exclaims as they s
pot him and he backpedals around the corner. “Run, Mage!” he calls out as he goes back the way they came.

  They pass by another squad and soon find themselves back at the crate. Joel looks around. “Mage, if you can blast through the wall you can escape! There’s a vehicle waiting by the airstrip if you can get to it!” Elunduil lets out a low grumble and looks at the wall. He can blast through it but it will leave him exhausted. He looks up at midday sky. If only he can fly. He glances back to Joel. It seems as if he meant to buy him time to escape. He suddenly has an idea. If he can become a wolf than he can probably become a bird! It will be a lot faster to fly over the wall than to destroy it.

  He hears shouts from nearby. Joel’s head turns towards the noise. “They’re coming Mage! It’s now or never!” Elunduil feels a mixture of sadness and trepidation. He doesn’t like that he will have to leave Joel behind but he doesn’t have a choice! Besides he doesn’t think that Joel came up with this plan on his own. Someone had to have helped him, and if that was the case then he would probably be fine. Elunduil looks to the sky and yearns to take flight. The knowledge given to him shoots like lightning in his mind and he lets out a loud cry.

  Joel is taken aback by the noise and wonders what the heck Elunduil is up to but a moment later he begins to shine with a bright white light. Elunduil’s wolf body is completely enveloped by the light and his form begins to shift. The light becomes brighter, even more so than the sun above and it begins to swirl around Elunduil. Clouds of white and gold rise up around him as his form becomes less wolf and more of something with wings. Joel nods. He understands now that Elunduil is essentially a beacon of light. He turns towards the path. “All right Mage I’ll buy you some time!” he says with a serious look in his eyes as he runs off to intercept the soldiers that are bound to be closing in.

  Joel doesn’t have to go very far before he runs into a squad of soldiers. “Hah! Take explosions!” he shouts. The soldiers look confused for a moment but a nearby Humvee suddenly explodes as the gasoline inside of it combusts. The men are knocked to the ground and a cloud of black smoke rose into the air. Joel cackles and runs off as the men are recovering. He hears them shouting behind him moments later and grins. Good! Come chase me! He thinks. This would keep them off of Elunduil.

  He sees an open door and ducks inside of it. He is greeted with several vehicles and workbenches on the inside of the vehicle bay. “Aw come on, can I get at least one tank?!” he complains as he runs between the Humvees. Still this is a good place for him to draw attention to himself. He sees several cannisters of gasoline and grabs a couple of them. He hears The General’s men coming in through the door and ducks behind one of the Humvees. “Let the fun begin!” He feels incredibly excited but also a little bit afraid. He can get shot if he isn’t careful. He looks towards one of the Humvees in the back near the soldiers that are hunting him.

  With an evil grin he flips his internal switch and makes a spark in the vehicle’s gas tank. The Humvee spurt a burst of flame and is lifted several feet into the air as the gasoline combusts. The soldiers all look towards the explosion and Joel takes that chance to open one of his gas cannisters and tip it over. The gasoline spills across the floor and he shuffles around to another vehicle and hears a gunshot pass right behind him. “Ah, they found me!” Joel mutters annoyedly. “Wait! Hold your fire! It smells like gasoline in here!” One of the men say. Joel pops open his second cannister and dumps it out onto the floor while moving around the back to a different car.

  He tosses the cannister aside. “Welcome to my Hell!” he growls and stands up. The soldiers point their weapons at him but no one dares to fire. Joel looks toward the first puddle of gasoline and a spark flickers on its surface. The pool ignites and flames rose up in the room casting everything in a hue of yellow-orange. The soldiers back away in alarm. Joel makes one of the other Humvees explode and knocks down several soldiers. He ignites the other pool of gasoline and grins evilly through the flames at the soldiers, his visage and the glow of the flames in his eyes giving him an almost demonic look.

  He vanishes by stepping back amidst the smoke and flame and runs for the exit. He thinks he hears one of the men calling out for help over the comms as he exits the building. When he makes it outside he finds several groups of soldiers closing in around the building. “Freeze!” They shout to Joel who stops in his tracks and holds up his hands in defeat. Drat, he’d hoped he wouldn’t have gotten caught so quickly. The men cautiously approach Joel as something else explodes inside the vehicle bay. “Hey, go check out that noise!” Ashblade says as he approaches. A squad of men broke off and rush into the vehicle bay only to run back out a moment later. “There’s a huge fire!” They say.

  “Well get the fire extinguishers then,” Ashblade says with irritation. The men nod and run off leaving Ashblade, a group of soldiers, and Joel. “Well to think that you’d turn traitor. I guess I was wrong about you,” Ashblade says with disappointment. Joel shrugs. He doesn’t have a response. He hears a loud screech behind him and turns to see what it is.

  A brilliant star of white and gold light shoots up into the sky. The light is so blinding that it drowns out the sun’s rays. As the light dims those down below can make out the form of a bird-like creature. It hovers in the air without flapping its wings and as the light completely fades they could see the creature staring down at them. The bird is large, around the size of an adult person, and it is as pure white as a snow-covered field. It has piercing gold eyes that sit on both sides of its large yellow beak. Its wings have golden feathers along the top of its wings and it’s large primary and secondary feathers are translucent and shimmer like diamonds. Its tail appears to be made of streams of golden light that flow serenely from the bird as it hovers in the air.

  Joel and the soldiers below are taken aback by the appearance of the bird. It was mystical and otherworldly. Never before have they laid eyes on such a strange and wonderous creature. To call it magnificent would be a disservice to the bird as any words said about it would fall short of describing its resplendence. “Is that… Elunduil?” Joel asks in a stupor as he gazes at the bird which glows with a faint white light. The bird screeches a beautiful note that shakes his very soul. It flaps its wings and turns to leave.

  Joel hears a sound behind him and whips about. He sees one of the soldiers holding up his rifle and taking aim at the bird. “No!!!” Joel cries out. Before his mind even registers what he is doing he holds up a hand towards the man and gathers his energy. The man burst into flames and drops to the ground as he tries to roll to put himself out. “Burn, heathen!” Joel shouts angrily. The man cries out in anguish as the flames seared his flesh. Joel falls to his knees and realizes he’s exhausted his magic. He feels forlorn as he realizes that he is still barely capable of anything. The other soldiers surround Joel and one of them forces his hands behind his back.

  The other soldiers managed to finally put the flames out on the soldier Joel attacked and were shouting for a stretcher. Ashblade looked on with a raised brow. Joel might’ve killed, no he would’ve murdered that man had he been stronger. Still he understood why Joel would go so far. He had something to protect. Ashblade would’ve done the same had their roles been reversed. He watched as Joel was dragged away by the men. “Don’t rough him up too much. The General still has use for him,” he called out to the soldiers as they left. He looked back up the sky where the bird had been. Godspeed. He thought before he turned and helped the others with the fire in the vehicle bay.

  Elunduil felt alive. Somehow the magic he’d used before had been restored to him when he’d turned into this form. Thanks to the knowledge from Desert Blue he understood that he was a phoenix, but not just any phoenix. He had become an Aether Phoenix, an elemental creature who drew strength not from food, nor magic but from the other side. A realm where the gods were said to live. He wondered if he’d ever come across this mystical creature in Meridias.

  He turns his attention to the world below. He is far from home. He
can see the mountain range in the distance and aims for it. He has a feeling he can go faster and draws in energy from the other side. He accelerates through and became like a shooting star across the sky. The landscape below slowly changes from desert highlands into the sweeping forest that lay beneath the shadow of Mt. Hood. The Sun slowly starts to dip in the sky. He has to hurry!

  He goes faster. Streaking through the sky like an arrow. He shoots past the mountain and the trees below are a blur of green. The trees give way to a small town and eventually they thin out as he passes over farmland. He sees hills ahead and the tiny houses and buildings of his hometown. Where are his friends? He slows down and surveys the town below. He spots the area where Alicia’s home is. The only car there is her father’s blue SUV. His gaze flicks about until something toward the south of town catches his eye. There is a helicopter flying around an area of homes to the south and there appear to be police cars on the roads below.

  Elunduil flies towards the area to investigate. As he gets closer he sees that the police are surrounding a little blue house with a barn behind it. He sees some black cars that look similar to the one he had been carried away in when The General’s men had captured him at the warehouse. He has no doubt in his mind that the others are down there. He can’t see anyway that they will be able to escape on their own. Where are they though? In the house or in the barn? While mulling over his dilemma Elunduil remembers Angurvadel’s lesson on sensing magic. If he could sense magic then he should also be able to sense life energy.

  Elunduil calms his mind and stretches out his senses. He feels the wind on his feathers and the heat of the slowly setting sun to the west. He’d been able to see magic before though that had been accidental. What will life energy feel like? He feels his heart pulsing in his chest. A pulse? Maybe that was it! He stretches his senses towards the world below. Towards the men and women surrounding the blue house. At first he doesn’t sense anything but then he realizes there is a faint beating that he can barely perceive. The pulses of at least 30 people who are inside and outside of the home. Underlying the pulses he senses a steady energy within these people. It is different from magical energy which is raw and forceful. Life energy is vibrant, like a constant stream of lightning.