Ice Phoenix (22 page)

"The fish feels pain," said a cold voice.

"Oh? I thought it was a frog of some sort," said another.

"Who cares what they look like?" said someone else. "Does it have the pendant?"

As the dust settled, L-Master Ana found herself staring into the eyes of a demon for the very first time. He towered above her, fair and godly, with flowing locks and perfectly chiselled face. If he hadn't posed such a danger to her, and if she were to be objective, L-Master Ana would have admitted that she was looking at nature's perfect warrior.

A pair of elongated incisors flashed wickedly as the demon smiled at her. There were five demons, wearing strange armour that covered sections of their arms, chests, and legs. Forged from a material she did not recognise, the armour seemed to be a living organism that flowed continuously over their bodies.

The demons were bipedal. One could easily have been mistaken for a Pophusian like Baneyon, and they had something else in common — their eyes glowed.

"So fish woman, where's the pendant?" asked her captor. The pressure on her neck reduced a little.

"Since you blew up the barrier, ask the dogs you trapped behind!" L-Master Ana felt her shoulder dislocate and grunted in pain. She couldn't return to her body even if she wanted to — the demons' presence disrupted her qi and she could not control it.

The demon grinned. "That's right," he said, reading her thoughts. "With your qi running around in your astral body, it doesn't take much for me to control it."

To prove his words, the demon put both his hands around her neck. L-Master Ana felt a pain unlike anything she had ever experienced. She screamed in agony. Her hands blackened and turned to ash before her very eyes, stopping at the elbows.

"Ah — found it!" The demon reached behind her head and removed the pendant from under the fold of her fin. He paraded it in the air, where its darkness seemed to absorb the surrounding light.

"Is this it, Nashim?"

L-Master Ana shook uncontrollably as another demon stepped forwards. His face was hidden beneath his cowl, and as he reached for the pendant, she noticed a series of strange markings covering his entire arm, right down to his fingers. From the manner in which the others deferred to him, there was no doubt that he was their leader.

"Kill the fish," he said.

"With pleasure," replied the blond demon. He turned to her, his red eyes glowing with malice. L-Master Ana struggled against his hold but escape was useless. Realising she was about to die, she kicked out as hard as she could and caught him in the stomach. He didn't even flinch.

"Guess we'll start with your legs," he said, grinning nastily. Almost immediately, L-Master Ana felt her legs burn. She screamed horribly as they turned to ash and fell away.

L-Master Anna collapsed and was slipping into oblivion when the ground beside her suddenly exploded. Her eyes flickered open as her captor and the other demons were flung back by an invisible force, and she let out a cry of relief as she saw Quempa
Pillidux burst through the rubble. The area around him writhed angrily, and a belt of mud lashed out and wrapped around the blond demon's neck. He was pulled forwards onto a spear that had risen from the ground. However, the demon's armour protected him, and the spear failed to penetrate.

"Get out of here, Ana," Quempa said tersely.

"Thank you," she whispered. She closed her eyes and vanished from the lair.

Quempa had initially been hiding outside the cave, preparing to snatch the pendant off the dratkaar that L-Master Ana would have sent through. However, when he saw the demons destroying the barrier and realised both Ana and the pendant had been captured, Quempa had been forced to improvise.

He dashed towards the cloaked demon, snatching the pendant from its open hand. He didn't stop moving as he spread his wings and took flight. Aided by qi-infused wind, Quempa sped into the air like a bullet. Behind him, the demons gave chase.

Dark clouds raced through the sky and Quempa glimpsed lightning. He had a really bad feeling. Flying as fast as he could, he headed towards a jagged mountain range ahead of him.
Mire's Point.

Hurry, Quempa!
The ship's about to leave.
It was Baneyon.

On my way.
The demons are right behind me.

Lightning bore down on Quempa. He swerved just in time and it struck the ground instead. The blond demon appeared above him and Quempa was too slow to react. Powerful legs hammered down into his shoulders and Quempa felt his right shoulder dislocate.

Another kick fractured his jaw and sent him flying back. Quempa's whole world spun crazily. He managed to stop himself in midair, and rested a moment on all fours before climbing to his feet. His wings no longer fluttered; they had been torn during the attack. He was relying solely on qi to remain in the air. He faced the demon, his eyes steely with determination.

"You are strong for a little dog,"
sneered the demon.

Quempa pushed one foot back and leaned forwards, adopting an attack stance of an ancient martial art that helped focus his qi. The demon he faced was extremely powerful; he sensed a qi-force unlike anything he had ever encountered. Quempa feared it.

"Why do you need the pendant?" he asked, hoping to distract the demon.

The demon smirked. "
Aww, is the little dog talking to me because it's too scared to fight?"

Recalling what Garok had done to L-Master
Ana, Quempa spoke again, hoping to glean some information. "Your qi is different."

The demon leaned back, grinning. "That's right. Our qi is superior to yours. We don't depend on the weak life-force of qi that you rely on."

"Is that so?" said Quempa, surprised by this revelation although he didn't show it.

"Enough talking.
Garok, get the pendant!"

Another demon rose into the air and hovered close to the first. He was dark-skinned, with ebony hair neatly braided and fastened with the same material as that of his armour. He stared at Quempa and hissed.

"This insect has bugged me enough!"

"No, Meldogan, you're wrong. He's more like a flying dog," said Garok.

Meldogan glared at Garok, who quickly fell back. The dark demon then turned to Quempa, his face as black as death. He extended a finger and lightning raced out towards the little Imeldor. The air around Quempa darkened instantly as he wove earth particles into existence. They compressed into a solid wall and the lightning glanced off it harmlessly.

Meldogan smirked. He extended all five fingers, and once more lightning raced with frightening precision towards Quempa. There wasn't even time to blink as they cracked violently against him. Above them, the sky rumbled angrily.

A burst of steam clouded the area where the Imeldor once hovered. The demons waited for it to dissipate, and when it did, Quempa fluttered in front of them, a barrier of earth crumbling around him.

"
Oooh, he's a clever one!" said Garok. "He didn't weave his own earth into existence this time. He used the ground instead."

About twenty metres below, was a hole in the ground large enough to sink a house.

"He's a strong earth weaver," Meldogan reluctantly admitted. "Knowing that the ground would be positively charged, and therefore able to absorb my lightning. Had he woven his own, he would have fried."

"Be careful not to damage the pendant," Garok warned.

"It's impervious to heat — you should know that."

Even though he was some distance away, Quempa overheard the demons' exchange. As much as he wished they would reveal more, he needed to escape. The demons' attacks had sapped his strength considerably, and he was levitating in the air out of sheer bravado.

Moreover, he was concerned by the demon's ability to draw lightning at its whim. The same feat carried out by an Imeldor would have taken several minutes of preparation, and the effort would have been exhausting. Meldogan looked absolutely charged with energy.

Quempa noticed Garok distancing himself from Meldogan, and uneasiness washed over him. It appeared the demon didn't want to be caught up in whatever Meldogan was about to unleash. He was right.

Meldogan erupted into a mass of electricity, turning into a potential lightning bomb. From where he hovered, Quempa could feel the heat scorching his skin, wilting the hairs on his body. If he were to be struck by that much power, there would be nothing left of him, or anything else within a fifty-metre radius. For the first time in his life, Quempa feared he would not return home alive. He braced himself.

When the lightning struck, the entire area lit up in blinding light incinerating everything in its path. Even the sun's temperatures faded in comparison to the lightning that Meldogan unleashed. In the midst of it all, Quempa disappeared.

Seconds passed and the air was filled with the heavy stench of smoke. Levitating almost two hundred metres away from Meldogan, Garok cautiously uncovered his eyes. He searched for Meldogan and spotted him floating in the distance. Garok flew over.

"Did you get the pendant?" he asked. There was no answer. Garok frowned. "Come on Meldogan, this is no time to be holding out. Nashim doesn't like waiting."

Meldagon turned to him with an expression that Garok disliked. Nothing good ever came out of it when he switched to berserker mode.

"The dog's still alive!" Meldogan growled.

Garok was shocked. "He was right on target for your attack!"

"It was a clone. Someone else is with him."

While the two demons looked in vain for the missing Imeldor, high above in the planet's mesosphere and shivering from freezing temperatures, Baneyon and Quempa held onto each other. They stared down at the blackened hole that had once been the planet's surface.

"Dartkala, that was bloody close!" Baneyon shuddered. "Nice work with the clone by the way. It drew the lightning away from us so they didn't see me coming."

"Yes," said Quempa, looking a little singed around the head. Despite his close call with the demons, he still looked calm. "Baneyon, this is bad. The demons are on a whole different level."

"Tell me about it. No one has ever forced me to hide this high up, ever! Dammit, it's so
cold
up here!"

Quempa looked at his friend and his eyes widened. "Baneyon, you have icicles under your nose. Here, allow me." The Donkinongan flicked the largest one off.

"Ow! That hurt!"

"Stop whining."

Baneyon would have said something but he sensed movement from below. "They've found us," he said, his heart sinking.

"So did
they," said Quempa, pointing past him. "The ship's here!"

To their utter relief, a small silver ship came into sight; Master Ferro and Kalum had located the demons' ship and taken control of it, according to plan. Baneyon flew towards it, while the demons gave chase.

Quempa clung to him tightly, relying on his friend to get them there. He prayed that everyone had remembered the plan, and more importantly, would stick to it. He noticed the ice crystals melting around Baneyon's face and alarm bells rang. He plucked a hair from his head and carefully removed the qi barrier meant to protect him from the freezing temperatures of the planet's mesosphere. The hair burned.

"
Get back, Baneyon.
They
set a trap!"

Something flew past them and landed on the ship. Metal crunched as the ship folded in on itself, and Baneyon and Quempa glanced fearfully at the cloaked figure crouching on the ship's prow. Cruel red eyes glittered from under a hood. It stood up, and in a flash, it vanished.

Moments later, the Imeldors were flung back violently as the ship exploded, consuming everything inside. Fire twisted and raged, reaching outwards in its hungry desire for fuel. It caught Baneyon and Quempa, and the two of them disappeared into a writhing mass of flames.

"
Baneyon!
"
Terrana screamed as she tried to pull Baneyon from the writhing flames.
"
Baneyon!
"
She reached out to grab his hand but the blast thrust her violently backwards into the cold darkness. Baneyon and the little person who held on to him had not seen or heard her. She watched in horror as they disappeared into the mighty inferno that scorched the darkness.

She sat up in bed, crying and unable to understand where she was or what she was doing. Her hair tumbled around her tear-streaked face as she sobbed uncontrollably. Next to her, Kazu gave a worried meow.

"It was a dream, just a dream," she mumbled to herself when some sense returned to her. "A nightmare." She hugged herself, burying her head into her knees, and took deep breaths. But no matter how hard she tried, she failed to convince herself. She had felt the flames; she had touched Baneyon's hand, and she had seen the confused look in his eyes. Her own hand burned from being there and ... Terrana gasped and leaned back, looking at her right hand. It was red — and it stung.

"It wasn't a dream," she whispered. She leapt out of bed and hurriedly changed into something decent. The last thing she threw on was the A-line cardigan that Baneyon had bought for her. Kazu meowed and she picked him up. "We're going to see the headmistress!"

She ran out of the room to the elevator chutes. They sped up through the lake, and as soon as they reached the top Terrana sprung out of the puddle and dashed across the lobby.

"Terrana!
Where're you going?"

She looked around in surprise and saw Bagruth running towards her.

"Bagruth! Why are you here?"

"I'm off to the stables. Niku hasn't been feeling well so I need to watch over him. Lorn and Mikin will be there. Why don't you join us?"

Tempting as it sounded, she knew she couldn't. Baneyon was in danger. "I have to see the headmistress."

"At this hour?
It's two a.m.!" Bagruth's eyes widened. "She's probably sleeping. Or wait, maybe she has night classes with the Muskan students. They are nocturnal, you know."

"I'll check her room first. It's important. Could you do me a favour? Can you look after Kazu till I get back? Thanks!"

She thrust an indignant Kazu onto him and raced off, leaving a baffled Bagruth behind. Headmistress Marl's room was right at the top, above the dragon's eyes. Terrana leapt onto the elevator disc that carried her up to the top floor. When she arrived, she sprinted to the only door on that level and hammered it repeatedly. In her panic, she forgot she had to use the intercom.

"Headmistress
Marl, Baneyon's in danger! Please let me in!" She didn't stop banging until it opened.

"What's the meaning of this?" Headmistress
Marl looked furious. She glared at Terrana, but and her anger soon turned to alarm. "Terrana! Why are you here?"

"Headmistress
Marl, Baneyon's in danger!" cried Terrana. "You have to save him! He was in a big fire in the sky. There was this explosion and, and —"

Headmistress
Marl pulled Terrana inside the room, shutting the door. Far from having been asleep, she was dressed in her day clothes. She dragged Terrana to a sofa pod and sat her down.

Because of her tears, Terrana didn't see two other people sitting in the room. A glass of water magically appeared in front of her, along with a box of tissues.

"Drink," said the headmistress, offering her the glass. Terrana took it and gulped down the water. She quickly wiped her tears away and blew her nose.

"Okay, now speak," said Headmistress Marl. "You were crying something about Baneyon?"

Terrana sniffed and opened her mouth to spill everything, but snapped it shut when she noticed the two people for the first time. Prince Gil Ra Im sat a little to her right, facing her. Next to him was a very beautiful woman. The prince looked just as startled to see her as she was to see him. Terrana turned beetroot red. The woman noticed her embarrassment and stood up.

"Perhaps a little privacy would be better. We shall be in the next room, Degra." Her voice was rich and smooth. She and the prince left the room.

"Speak, Terrana," said Headmistress Marl. "What happened that you would come screaming to me at this hour?"

Terrana forced the words out quickly. "I saw Baneyon, Headmistress Marl. I saw him on another planet surrounded by dog-like creatures. Baneyon and this little man were flying towards a ship when it, it blew up. "

Tears welled up in her eyes and her lower lip trembled as she struggled not to cry. "It wasn't just a dream I swear! I was there. I tried to save him, but I woke up. I even burnt my hand. You have to believe me!"

She showed her hand to the headmistress.

"Dear Dartkala! That needs to be seen to!" Headmistress Marl gasped. She strode over to a cabinet and pulled out a green pli-gel bandage — Terrana thought she had seen enough of those to last a lifetime. The headmistress returned to her side and very quickly applied it to Terrana's hand. Relief flooded Terrana as the bandage went to work.

In her upset state, she didn't notice the headmistress's hands shaking. Terrana mistook the headmistress's silence for disbelief. "Please, Headmistress Marl, you have to believe me!" she pleaded. "I know it was real. I just know it was! Baneyon said to come to you if I ever had a problem, and I came. You have to help him."

Headmistress Marl reached out and touched her face.

"Terrana," she said softly. "I believe you. But you need to tell me more. Do you know why Baneyon was on another planet?"

Terrana nodded. "He and the other people … they were looking for a pendant. Baneyon found it. More people arrived and tried to take it. Baneyon and the little man tried to escape to a ship but — it blew up!"

"You ... dreamt all this?" If it had been any other person, Headmistress Marl would have disregarded them and sent them running, but she knew Terrana could traverse the In-Between in her sleep. For the hundredth time,
Marl wondered who and what Terrana was. Headmistress Marl required details. "Terrana," she said slowly. "I need you to tell me who was with Baneyon. Did you see them?"

Terrana nodded.
"Two women. Baneyon called them Lady Fless and L-Master Ana. And there were four men. I don't know their names, but one was little and one was really fat with a moustache. I think the other was an L-Master. There was another man, but he was hurt."

"And what about the others who tried to take the pendant?
Did they succeed?" asked someone else.

Terrana jumped. The woman and Prince Gil Ra Im had come back into the room. Headmistress
Marl turned to look at the woman.

"
Your Highness! Did you —"

"Every word," the queen cut in.

Cold, glittering eyes swept over Terrana and she shrunk back in her pod, feeling intimidated. She had been so upset earlier that she had failed to notice the resemblance, but this had to be Prince Gil Ra Im's mother! They had the same startling eyes, blue-black hair, and regal bearing. The queen also looked fearsome, dressed in a black combat outfit.

"Part of her story's been verified, Degra. I just received a message from Kuldor. He received a distress signal from Baneyon minutes ago. The only problem is
it's three days old."

"What? How did that happen?"

"A roaming satellite picked up the signal in Sector Five. It was en route to Sector Three, where it was finally picked up and relayed directly to Kuldor. The message was brief and requested another ship."

The queen's eyes bored into Terrana's. "So," she said in a hard tone, still speaking to Headmistress Marl, "if she really can traverse the In-Between, whatever she saw in Si Ren Da will be vital for the rescue mission we send out."

She took a step closer to Terrana. "Terrana, I will ask you again — did the others who tried to take the pendant, succeed?"

Terrana wiped her tears and shook her head. "I don't know. The little man was the last to have it, but he and Baneyon were caught in the explosion. I woke up after that. I don't know if Baneyon is still alive."

"Baneyon doesn't die so easily," said Headmistress Marl quickly. "He has Quempa with him."

"Quempa?"
Terrana gave the headmistress a searching look, desperate for any hope of Baneyon being alive.

"The little man who was with him," answered Headmistress Marl.

"Do you know how many enemies they faced?" asked the queen.

"I saw five," replied Terrana. "They were really strong. Two of them tried to kill the little man because he had the pendant, and one of them used lightning. It came out from his fingers. The other one — he was blond
—  burned the L-Master's legs and arms off. She screamed like the man who died in my other dream. "

"What other dream?" Headmistress
Marl asked sharply. Terrana blanched. Suddenly, both the headmistress and the queen looked terrifying as they loomed over her, demanding answers.

Headmistress
Marl's face softened. "I'm sorry, Terrana. I know this must be really hard for you, but we need to know what you saw. It may be the only thing that can save Baneyon's life."

Baneyon.
Once more Terrana saw the ship explode and the flames consume him. Her heart constricted. Baneyon couldn't die. He couldn't leave her here by herself. He was the solid rock in her universe, keeping her together when her old world had fallen apart. He had taken care of her, fussed over her, and became the family that she had so desperately needed. There was no way she could lose him. A distant look glazed over her eyes as she recalled her dream.

"Felix," she said. "His name was Felix and I saw the shadows burn him."

"Dear Dartkala," whispered Headmistress Marl. The blood had drained from her face. "You saw Master Jingo die, and you didn't tell anyone?"

"I wanted to tell Baneyon," cried Terrana, "but I couldn't reach him! And then there was no time afterwards because he had to leave. I thought it was just a nightmare." She hugged herself and began to rock back and forth, struggling to rid herself of the memories.

Headmistress
Marl fell to her knees, taking hold of Terrana's hands. "Terrana, you could always have come to me. What you saw ..." the headmistress paused as she tried to find words  that would comfort the traumatised child. Finding none, she drew in a breath and continued, "You don't have to hide it from me."

"I know that now," whimpered Terrana.

"We must inform the others," the queen said. She turned to Prince Gil Ra Im. "Ra Im, please wait with Terrana in the other room."

The prince gave his mother a searching look but did not question her. He walked to Terrana and offered his hand. She didn't take it but scrambled out of the pod, doing her best to avoid his gaze. The prince turned and walked out of the room, and she followed.

The queen removed a tiny device from her jacket collar and tossed it into the air, where it levitated. Eight clear projections of the other Imeldors appeared in the room. Grandmaster Deitrux, Kuldor, Lady Skiss, Master Morix, Lady Anrath, Tirath Wayne, Kiaten Titik, and Drummik stood around, their faces serious.

The queen wasted no time. "I trust Kuldor has informed you about the most recent developments? That the girl has seen Baneyon and the others on Si Ren Da?"

"Yes, Your Highness," answered the grandmaster. "What else has she told you?"

"Quempa and his team are in trouble," the queen answered. "They managed to retrieve the pendant but were ambushed by the demons. The last she saw was the ship exploding, engulfing both Baneyon and Quempa. At this point it is difficult to tell if they are still alive."

"They won't die so easily," Master Drummik interjected.

"My thoughts exactly," replied the queen. "We need to send a rescue team immediately."

"It takes at least two days for our fastest ship to reach Sector Five from Pa Gumpina," said Master Drummik. "Let's hope we are not too late. Kuldor told us the message from Baneyon was three days old. We've already lost a lot of time."

"Then I have no choice but to go myself," the queen said. "We cannot allow the pendant to fall into the demons' hands."

"I am not far from you," said Lady Anrath. "I too will go."

None of the others were surprised. She barely left the queen's side. Like the queen, Lady Anrath was
Swivan, but her colouring — dark skin and fair hair — was the exact opposite of the woman she served.

"How long will it take you to reach Si Ren Da, Your Highness?" asked the grandmaster.

"A day's ride. The faars are swift and will protect Lady Anrath and me. But we will not be able to hold the demons off for long."

"Your Highness, you would have to wait at least another day before help arrives," said
Kiaten Titik. "The faars are swifter than any ship, and it would be better if more of us went with you. Please consider making an exception and allow us to ride the faars this one time."

"The exception is not mine to make, Master Titik," the queen said in a cold voice. "The faars are not pets. They do not obey me. They do not tolerate outsiders, and once they enter the In-Between I cannot ensure your protection."