Pendragon - The Soldiers Of Halla Part 31

"I'm sorry" was all I managed to say.

We sat that way for several minutes. Elli didn't cry, but she accepted whatever small comfort I could offer. I was ready to stay that way for as long as she needed.

It wasn't long. The troubled woman pulled away and looked at me with weary eyes. Through the tears, came a smile. "She came back to me."

"Yes, she did," I said, trying not to cry myself.

Elli wiped her tears, straightened up, and in a voice that was far stronger than I could have imagined, gave me an order. "Don't let her death be for nothing."

It was exactly what I wanted to hear.

I stood up and backed away from her.

"Go to Solara," I said. "Tell them what we've learned."

"And what will you do?"

We'd had so much thrown at us in the last few moments. The implications were huge. There was so much to digest. So much to try and understand. As confusing as it all may have been, I knew that we were a big step closer to finding the answers we needed.

The next step was clear.

After having been denied access for years by the tragic destruction of a flume, it was time to go back to the jungle. To the klees. To the gars.

To the tangs.

"I'm going to Eelong," I said. And stepped off Third Earth.

Chapter 27.

The jungles of Eelong. Yikes.

I never thought I'd see them again. Not after what happened the last time I'd been there. The flume collapsed, killing Kasha and trapping Gunny and Spader on that twisted territory where cats called klees were the dominant species. The destruction of the flume happened because non-Travelers weren't supposed to use them. But they did. Mark and Courtney went to Eelong and brought along the critical piece of information that allowed us to defeat Saint Dane there. But each time they traveled, they weakened the flume, until it crumbled on us. Mark, Courtney, and I got out just in time. Kasha didn't. She was killed by the tumbling gray rocks.

Of course, that was ancient history. As Saint Dane's dark spirit grew, the flumes became open highways. Anybody was able to use them. That is, of course, until they all exploded. Once again, the rules changed. After the destruction, Spader and Gunny left Eelong and moved on to Solara with the rest of the Travelers. Including Kasha. Her body died on Eelong but her spirit lived on.

Now Kasha was back in the game. As with all the Travelers, she was sent to her home territory in order to search for the exiles. My first task on returning to Eelong was to find her. Actually, that was my second task. My first task was to stay alive and not get sent back to Solara. That wasn't going to be easy.

There was no way of knowing when I had been sent there and how much time had pa.s.sed since I'd been there the last time. I found myself standing in a section of jungle that was so thick the overhead canopy of foliage blocked out most of the light. It could have been night for all I knew. That's how dark it was. There wasn't a regular sun that gave Eelong light. It was a distinct band that spread from horizon to horizon and traveled across the sky each day. It gave off heat, too. Lots of it. Eelong was a hot, humid place. It was that intense heat that told me it was daytime, in spite of the lack-o-light. It didn't help that I was still wearing the dark red Ravinian guard uniform. It was pretty heavy and I started sweating right away. In seconds the uniform was sticking to me like a wet suit.

I had no idea which way to go. I hoped to land near Black Water, but if I remembered correctly, there were miles of open, barren land leading to the mountains where the gar stronghold was hidden. The dense jungle I landed in was much more like the area that surrounded the klee village of Leeandra. I did a three-sixty and saw nothing but jungle. I wasn't even on a path. For whatever reason, the spirits of Solara had plunked me down in no-man's-land. Or no-gar's-land. Or whatever.

I picked an arbitrary direction and was about to walk when I heard a rustle coming from the undergrowth not far away, followed by the faint crack of a branch. I snapped to attention. All it took was that one little sound to instantly bring back another memory of Eelong.

Tangs. They were raptorlike dinosaur creatures that roamed the jungles in search of meat. Any meat. The last thing I needed was to square off against one of those bad boys. I listened. Had I heard a creature scrambling in the bushes? Or was it the natural rustle of the jungle? Just in case, I backed away from where the sound had come from. I tried to move quietly, which isn't easy when you're walking on thick snarls of roots and vines.

I sensed movement. Ten yards to my right. It was fleeting, but it was there. Something in the bush had definitely made the noise. Was it a tang? Or a monkey or any other creature that didn't look at me and immediately think "snack"? As much as dying wouldn't be the end of it all for me, getting shredded by a tang's three-p.r.o.nged talons or chewed by its razor teeth would not have been a pleasant way to get shipped back to Solara. I could blast off of Eelong before that happened, but then I'd be wasting more spirit.

I saw another flash of movement, quicker this time. Whatever it was, was hiding from me. That meant it wasn't a friend. I hoped it was just as scared as I was and was hoping I'd go away and leave it alone. I took another step a and heard a low grumble. Grumbling was bad. Klees didn't grumble. I suppose a gar would grumble a if it was trying to sound like a freakin' tang! As much as I wanted to step off Eelong and be anywhere else, I knew there had to be a reason why I was dumped in that particular spot. I was going to have to gut it out for as long as possible.

Ooh, gut it out. Bad choice of words. I forced myself to relax. After all, odds were that it wasn't a tang and I was totally safe. With renewed confidence I boldly walked in the other directiona .

And was immediately attacked by the tang. So much for playing the odds. The beast leaped from the bushes with its mouth open and its claws up. I had no way to defend myself. All I could do was run. I took off through the jungle, crashing through dense foliage that pulled at my legs, trying to slow me down. I felt as if I were clearing a path for the tang, making it a lot easier for it to follow me than for me to get away. I didn't look back to see how close it was, that would have slowed me down. I had to judge distance from the sound of its breathing and the sharp crunching that came each time its taloned feet hit the ground. 1 dodged around a few small trees, taking a winding route that I hoped would be hard to follow. Tangs weren't all that agile. If we'd been out in the open, it would have gotten me for sure. The one hope I had was to duck and dodge through the undergrowth until I lost it.

The plan wasn't working. I was being all cagey by changing direction every few feet, depending on how dense the foliage was. The tang didn't care. It blasted straight ahead, tearing through any vines in its way. I didn't have that particular ability. Though I was able to stay ahead of the monster by confusing it, I soon realized that losing it wasn't going to happen. This was his jungle. He knew how to navigate it much better than I did. I was going to run out of gas long before the tang did. Worse, I was stumbling more than running. The footing wasn't exactly solid. At any second I expected to catch my ankle on a vine, take a header, and it would be lunchtime. I didn't want to give up and leave though. At least, not right away. But it was beginning to look as if I would have to step off Eelong before the tang stepped on me.

I spotted a gnarled tree about thirty yards ahead. It had a thick vinelike root wrapped around the trunk that would make for easy climbing. For me, that is. Tangs didn't climb. I thought that if I could get enough distance between me and the beast, it would give me the few seconds I'd need to scramble up the tree and be out of reach. I had to go for it. Though I was almost out of gas, I dug down and poured on speed. The tang howled. They weren't exactly smart lizards, but I got the feeling that this one knew exactly what I was going to do. Which meant it was going to do all it could to munch me before I got the chance. Which meant it started crashing through the jungle faster. Which meant I had to pick up the pace. Which meant I had to stop a.n.a.lyzing things, put my head down, and motor. It was time for a full-on sprint. I lifted my knees, hoping not to trip on the undergrowth. The jungle grew less dense, which is probably why I could see the tree. It stood in the center of a small clearing. So close.

I stopped worrying about the tang and locked my eyes on the tree to figure out the quickest climbing route. I knew I'd only have a few seconds to climb high enough to be out of reach. Most tangs were about seven feet tall. They stood on two legs, but their arms weren't all that long. I figured I needed to climb at least ten feet before I'd be out of snapping distance.

Only a few more yards to go. I knew I'd get to the tree before the tang got to me, but could I climb fast enough? There was no room for caution. I had to pick a route and more or less run up the tree. If I stopped to search for the next best hand- or foothold, I'd be done. I had to climb without thinking. With one last burst of energy, I jumped the last few feet and landed with my right foot on one of the curls of vine. It was thick and already had a sh.e.l.l of bark. That was gooda"it meant that it was solid and wouldn't give way. I scrambled up the tree, climbing the swirling vine like a living ladder.

The tang bellowed. Angrily. I kept expecting to feel the sting of its jaws as they clamped on to my foot. I wondered if I should imagine my feet turning to smoke the way I had when Saint Dane attacked me with the silver weapon. How would that work? If my feet disappeared, would I tumble down into tang teeth? Then again, if I waited too long, the tang might chew off my feet anyway. In the end, I stopped thinking and kept climbing. The tree shook as the tang hit it. I nearly lost my grip, but that didn't stop me from groping my way higher. I heard the scratch of claws on bark. I figured the tang must be desperately raking at the tree. I had the fleeting thought that maybe tangs had learned how to climb since I'd been there. But since I felt no pain from an attack, I was confident that its feet were still on the ground a and mine were safe.

I finally got to a horizontal branch where I could stop safely. Clutching the trunk, I looked down to see the enraged tang jumping and swiping its talons, trying to get me. It was futile. I was out of reach. Strings of s...o...b..r flew from its mouth as it whipped its head back and forth angrily. Poor guy must have had his heart all set on some Bobby-burger. I stood on that branch, spent, trying to catch my breath. I had dodged being eviscerated, but to what end? I was stuck up in a tree. If the tang thought it through for a couple of seconds, he'd realize that all he had to do was relax and hang out. I'd have to come down eventually. I felt I had done the right thing, but if I couldn't get down from that tree, it was all for nothing. I looked higher, hoping to see some way of crawling along branches to another tree. I remembered the elaborate, intertwining tree system that I'd seen in other parts of Eelong, but this tree wasn't part of that. As I said, it was in the middle of a clearing. The only place to go from there was down. Down wasn't a good option. Not with Toothy waiting for me.

As I looked at the monster, wondering how the heck I was going to get past that thing, another creature emerged from the jungle. I expected to see another tang or two showing up for the picnic. That would have clinched it. I would have to leave the territory and hope that when I came back, I wouldn't land in the middle of team tang again. But it wasn't another tang. It was a gar. A human-looking guy. His hair was long, and he was dressed in roughly cut leathers. I'm not exactly sure how to describe this, but as much as he looked rough around the edges, he wasn't as primitive looking as the gars I had seen in the jungle on my last visit. The leather clothes he wore seemed to be made better than that. And though his hair was long, it wasn't all crazy like some wild jungle guy.

Still, he was a gar. Tangs ate gars. I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't want to let the tang know that he had another option for lunch. The gar had come out of the jungle on the opposite side of the tree from the tang and was walking straight for it. He had no clue what was on the other side. I figured I had to take the chance.

"Hey!" I called out. "Run! There's a tang down there!"

The guy looked up at me and jumped with surprise. I guess he didn't expect to see a gar up in the tree, wearing a red outfit. But I wasn't his problem. He had a lot more to worry about on the ground.

"There's a tang down there!" I called.

The guy stared at me like I was some freak giant red bird.

"Don't you understand?" I called. "There's a tang! Get out of here!"

The guy didn't seem worried at all. While keeping his eyes on me, he reached to his neck and grabbed something that was on a leather strap. He raised it to his lips and blew. A high-pitched, almost inaudible whistle followed. What was this guy doing? If anything, he was only going to let the tang know that somebody was around. I had the brief hope that the tang would react to the whistle the same way the quigs did on Denduron, and fall over in brain-drilling pain. A quick look back to the tang showed me something else entirely.

The beast wasn't in pain. Far from it. A second before, it had been leaping and grabbing at the air, desperate to get at me. Now it was totally relaxed and sitting down on its bottom like an obedient dog. Its entire att.i.tude had changed. It went from sixty to zero in the time it took for the sound of the whistle to reach its ears. Or whatever it was it heard through.

The gar put away the whistle and rounded the tree toward the tang. I thought that as soon as the tang caught sight of the guy, he'd get all s...o...b..red and bothered again.

"Look out!" I screamed at the guy.

He ignored me and walked around the tree. I cringed, waiting for the bloodbath. But the gar walked right up to the tang and petted him on its long snout a like a dog. I knew that when I came back to Eelong I was going to see changes, but I never imagined this one. Tangs were the scourge of the jungle. They were feared by both the klees and the gars. They were mindless, predatory beasts. But here a gar was petting a tang as casually as if it were, well, a pet. I half expected the gar to give him a "Good boy!" and throw him a treat. Of course, the only treat a tang would like is somebody's foot, so I didn't think that would happen. At least, I hoped it wouldn't.

As I stood there with my mouth open in shock, the gar looked up to me and called, "Who are you?"

I didn't get the chance to answer. A loud snarl echoed through the jungle. There was a klee around. The gar didn't wait for my answer. No sooner did he hear the snarl than he took off running. As he went, he blew on his whistle again. The tang trotted after him obediently. What the h.e.l.l? Things had definitely changed since I had been to Eelong.

I was now faced with another challenge. Klees ate gars too. I was a gar. I knew they had upheld Edict Forty-six, which forbids klees to hunt and eat gars, but after seeing the change in the whole tang and gar relationship, I didn't want to a.s.sume anything about what the relationship between klees and gars had become. But what was I supposed to do? I was stuck up in a freakin' tree. I could have climbed down, but there was no way I could outrun a cat. I stood there, frozen, hoping that the klee was more interested in the gar on the ground than the gar in the tree. Me.

1 felt the tree shake, as if something had jumped onto a branch above me. Something big. I heard the sound of claws skittering across the bark, gouging into the tree as it made its way along. That was it. I couldn't take it anymore. I was out of there. I pictured Solara in my head and was about to take a step when a "Pendragon?" came a voice from above.

1 stopped and looked up. Standing on a thick branch not five feet from my head was a huge black cat. A panther. A klee. Kasha.

"What are you doing in this tree?" she asked in such a surprised voice that I actually felt kind of foolish standing there.

"Avoiding a tang. Did you know tangs can be tamed?" I asked.

"Not until I came back to Eelong. A lot has changed since we left."

Kasha wore the same dark tunic that she always wore. She was a forager. When I knew her, she and her team would scour the jungle floor for food. Her job was to protect the others from tangs. From what I'd just seen, that wasn't so important anymore.

"How long have you been back?" I asked. She could have landed back there fifteen minutes ago, or fifteen years. Time was becoming increasingly irrelevant.

"Only a day, but I've seen a lot."

I stared at her, waiting for what I hoped would be good news. She knew exactly what I was thinking and added soberly, "I haven't found the exiles."

"It's okay," I said. "I have. At least I know where they are."

Kasha's eyes widened. "That's wonderful! Have you come to bring me back to Solara?"

"Uh, no. They're here, Kasha. They're in Black Water."

Kasha stared at me, stunned. Yes, she was a klee, but I could tell that she was stunned.

"Buta how?" she asked.

"Can we get out of this tree first?"

"Yes, yes of course."

The two of us climbed down. Kasha was much more agile than I was, naturally. I felt a lot more safe with Kasha there. "Where are we?" I asked. "I mean, where on Eelong?" "Not far from Leeandra. I was headed there when I heard the tang attack. I didn't expect to see you here."

"I guess that's why I landed where I did," I said. "To find you."

"Probably, and also because I believe it's important that you see Leeandra."

"Why? Has it changed?" I asked.

Kasha nodded. "You must see it for yourself."

"But we need to get to Black Water," I argued.

"Agreed. But you need to understand the new Eelong. If the exiles are in Black Water, what has happened to Leeandra will affect them."

I was convinced. We would head back to the klee city in the trees. As Kasha led me through the jungle, I filled her in on all that had happened, right up to Nevva's death and her dying words.

Kasha shook her head in dismay. "Black Water. I had no idea."

"What am I gonna see in Leeandra?" I asked. I wanted to be a little prepared at least.

"It's a dangerous place for gars. Far more than when you were here."

Oh. Swell.

"More dangerous than being treated like a slave and being put on the menu?" I asked.

"Yes. Gars no longer live in Leeandra" was her answer. "They were banished."

"But a no," I argued. "There was a whole new cooperation going on between the two races. Gunny and Spader were part of it."

"That was long ago," Kasha answered. "Whatever truce was established was later torn apart."

I couldn't imagine what had happened that could turn things so far the other way. Before I could ask, I had my answer. We were indeed very close to Leeandra. Kasha and I stepped to the edge of the dense jungle to see the giant, wooden wall that protected the city in the trees. It had been erected to keep the tangs away from the klees. That hadn't changed, but there was one distinct difference. I could see up to the top edge of the city wall, high above. Every ten feet or so was a long pole, from which flew a flag. A red flag with a star on it. The Ravinian star.

"The Ravinians control Eelong," Kasha said.

"I should have guessed," I said softly.

"It's been difficult for me," Kasha continued. "They no longer know who I am, so I'm not trusted. In the short time I've been back, I haven't learned much, but there are rumors. Something is about to happen, and I fear it won't go well for the gars."

"We have to find out what it is," I said. "On Eelong the exiles are all gars."

"That's why we must go inside. The answers will be there."

Chapter 28.

In order for us to get inside the walls of Leeandra, I had to die. Sort of.

"Gars are no longer allowed inside the city walls," Kasha explained. "At least, not by their own choice." "What does that mean?" I asked.

Kasha didn't answer. She was nervous. That wasn't like her. At least, it wasn't like the confident Kasha I knew. The two of us crouched in the jungle, just before the clearing that surrounded Leeandra. I'd guess there was a stretch of about fifty yards from where the jungle ended until the big wall that protected the tree city of Leeandra.

"Forgive me, Pendragon," she said. "I've seen things since my return that have been quite disturbing. I'm having trouble understanding it all."

"Tell me," I said.