Ice Phoenix (26 page)

"Dragoth's found them, and they are in trouble!" Prince Gil Ra Im shouted over his shoulder. Dragoth had entered Si Ren
Da's atmosphere in an almost vertical dive and was flying straight towards Baneyon's team. As Dragoth plummeted, the protective shield the faar had wrapped around his passengers disintegrated, and Terrana, Lorn, and the prince were exposed to the planet's hot atmospheric winds.

"Where are they?" Terrana shouted back, craning her neck as much as she could over the prince's shoulder to try and catch a glimpse of Baneyon.

"West of us! Dragoth says that Eindz, Lady Anrath's faar, is wounded. I'll need to drop the both of you at that peak there." He pointed to a nearby pinnacle that jutted from the mountain range up ahead. It was the same one Terrana had seen in her dream. Mire's Point.

"That's the least you could do after dragging us here," growled Lorn. He was still simmering, furious that the prince had instructed his faar to escape Minda Yerra with him and Terrana still on board. The ride had made them both sick because they were not used to the effects of the transformation necessary for their bodies to survive the In-Between.

The prince ignored him. "We are nearly low enough. You should be able to manage the jump."

"What? No, wait! You want us to jump off Dragoth right now in the middle of the sky?" Terrana yelped. The memory of Dartkala's Arrow was still fresh in her mind.

"No arguments from you!" snapped Lorn. He grabbed her by the waist, pulling her close.

"Don't scream," the prince warned. "We mustn't alert anyone to our presence."

Terrana didn't even get the chance. Lorn covered her mouth and leaned heavily to the side. They slid off Dragoth into emptiness, plunging towards the mountains at bloodcurdling speed. Dragoth and the prince sped towards the Imeldors.

Dragoth, the dratkaars are too many. You'll not be able to fly once you land. You'll also be weakened.

We will race to the top, Prince Gil Ra Im. There, we can all fly.

The prince drew a long, thin sword from a sheath that had been attached to Dragoth's side. It was an elegant sword, and despite the lack of engraving and decor, one could tell that it had been forged by a master sword smith.

As they neared Baneyon and the others, Dragoth unleashed his first attack. Long, deadly needles shot from his mane, straight towards the dratkaars. Laced with qi, the needles did not halt at penetration but forged on through their target until they exited naturally or their qi wore off. Because the dratkaars had the ability to nullify qi, the needles would, at the most, only slow them down.

Baneyon and Quempa were back to back, fighting off the hell dogs as they continued to charge at the Imeldors mercilessly. Raimus was using his weight, combined with his bulk, to ram into the dratkaars so they would lose their footing. Then he would be able to slide a short dagger through their eyes and into their brains.

Lady Anrath, Lady Fless, and L-Master Ana struggled atop the faar, kicking, punching, and cutting through the dratkaars that leapt at them. Eindz, Lady Anrath's faar, was bleeding badly. The dratkaars had attacked him in full force, and many of his scales had been ripped from his body. But the majestic faar fought back, taking down six dratkaars at a time as they leapt onto him. He ploughed on furiously, forcing a bloody path through the gnashing beasts.

Everyone blinked in surprise as the dratkaars fell back suddenly, yelping and whining. Their surprise turned to amazement when Dragoth and the prince ploughed into the dratkaars, pushing them back. Dragoth tore the dratkaars off Eindz's flanks, tossing them high into the air.

"Get on!" the prince shouted to Baneyon. Without hesitating, Baneyon flung Quempa onto the faar and he and Raimus quickly mounted behind the prince. Then, leading the charge, Dragoth cleared a path for them up the mountain. As they raced up, the wounds on Eindz's body began to heal.

"His qi is returning," said Raimus, staring at Eindz in surprise. "How's that possible?"

"The faars are stronger together," explained the prince. "It takes about ten dratkaars to neutralise their qi, but when the faars are together, the effect lessens."

"So, if Nisa, the queen's faar, were here, they'd be …" Baneyon trailed off.

"Invincible," grunted Lady Anrath, as she kicked a dratkaar in the face. "Nisa is the leader and the most powerful of all the faars. Her presence would greatly boost our chances."

The faars thundered on aggressively, gradually making their way towards an almost vertical hill. As the path became steeper, the faars pulled away from the dratkaars, gaining a short lead.

"Everyone, hold on!" shouted Lady Anrath as they approached the edge of a narrow ridge at the summit. The faars took a flying leap, sailing up and over the ridge. Everyone's stomachs danced in their throats as they plummeted down the other side. The faars' wings spread out and they soon began soaring upwards again, much to everyone's relief. Mire's Point was now only a few minutes away, and they knew they would soon be safe. Qi flooded into them like air to their lungs. The nullifying effect of the dratkaars had been truly devastating.

After Terrana and Lorn had scrambled to their feet after their bumpy landing on Mire's Point, Terrana began scanning the land below. She hopped nervously from one foot to the other, her eyes straining until she saw Baneyon and his team. They looked as small as ants from that height, but she could make out the dratkaars tearing after Baneyon and the others on
the plains. She nearly cried with relief when the prince reached them. His presence seemed to turn the tide, and she clenched her fists anxiously as Baneyon and the other men leapt onto Dragoth.

"They're going to make it!" she cried. "Please let them make it." In her nervousness, she grabbed Lorn's hand and squeezed it, not realising what she was doing. She didn't notice his mouth pressed into a tight line as he observed her, while also keeping an eye out for dratkaars that may have been sneaking up on them.

"They're nearly at the summit!" Terrana leaned a little too far forwards and would have fallen down the slope of Mire's Point had Lorn not pulled her back. She opened her mouth to apologise, but hesitated when she saw how black his face had become. He hadn't said a word since they had landed, and Terrana suddenly felt selfish.

"Lorn …" she said uncertainly. "I'm sorry you got dragged into this. I didn't mean for you and the prince to fight. I just … I had to come for Baneyon. He's my family, Lorn. I can't lose him."

She quivered under his stare, mistaking his hurt and concern for anger, and she felt he must think she was a stupid girl trying to interfere in the affairs of adults. Looking down at the dratkaars, she wondered whether he was right; she didn't know what she could have done to help Baneyon. She couldn't weave anything to save her life, she couldn't fight as well as the others, and she couldn't outrun the dratkaars — which was saying something. Running from dogs was almost a national past time in Fiji; every person at one point or another had run from an angry dog protecting its territory. As the saying goes, 'Once bitten, run faster.'

"Why, Terrana?" Lorn asked, finally. "Why did you run to the prince?"

"Because I knew his mother was coming here," she said guiltily. "She intended to rescue Baneyon and the others. She's here because of me."

Lorn's eyes widened in disbelief.
"That's a little presumptuous, don't you think? Don't you know who his mother is? She's the queen of Sector Six! She's also the most fearsome Imeldor to have ever existed. The cruellest some say. More importantly, how did you know what was happening here? It's not like your guardian would have kept you updated on his whereabouts."

Terrana knew she had to tell him. She didn't want to lie. "I dream things, Lorn.
About real places and people. And when I dream, I'm actually there. That's my ability. That's how the teachers found me. I met Master Drummik in my dream, and he sent Baneyon to fetch me."

She saw how Lorn's face changed and she grew scared. She thought he didn't believe her and that he was distancing himself from her. "Lorn, I'm not lying. I do dream about events as they are happening."

"Then, when they die, do you see that too?" he asked harshly.

Terrana nodded. Lorn's face was unreadable as he stared at her. He pulled his hand away and stepped back.

"They are going to make it," he said without any emotion as he turned to watch the Imeldors and prince racing up the hill. Together, he and Terrana watched as the faars sailed over the ridge. Terrana's heart did a swan dive as the faars plummeted, and her agony was only relieved when she watched their wings spread out and they soared into the sky. They were coming straight to Mire's Point.

Even before they landed, Terrana was already running towards Baneyon, shouting his name. He uttered her name in shock as he dismounted
, then felt her rocketing into him and flinging her arms around him. The warmth and solid feel of his body told her he was alive, and pure relief flooded her. Tears ran down her face.

"You're alive, you're alive, you're alive," she mumbled into his stomach. "I saw the ship explode and thought you died."

Strong hands pried her loose and she didn't catch Baneyon's grimace. She had brushed against the wound on his thigh where Garok's rings had slashed him. The pain was excruciating.

"Terrana," he said, unable to believe his eyes. "How ... why are you here?" He searched her face, demanding the truth. Suddenly, he noticed Lorn standing a little behind, and his face darkened. "Why are you
both
here?"

"Don't look at me," Lorn
growled, his mood just as dark. "If I had my way, I'd never have come. I was trying to stop her from coming and getting herself killed."

"I came to save you!" Terrana uttered quickly, her face paling slightly as she picked up on Baneyon's changing mood. He looked furious.

"What you did was stupid and you should never have come! I want you to get on the faar and leave this planet immediately!"

"No." She said it with quiet determination, willing herself to look strong. “Not without you.” She had come this far, trying to save  the man she loved like a brother — a much older sometimes grumpy brother certainly, but a brother never the less, and she was not about to leave without him.

She couldn't explain it to him. She didn't want to. Recently, every dream she had where she had traversed the void had resulted in someone's death. The experience weighed on her soul, and whether it was a coincidence or not, she could not take the risk with Baneyon. So standing there before him, she prepared herself mentally for the lashing she knew would come. If it meant that she would be seen as a childish, ignorant girl from Sector Thirteen who had just stepped onto a dangerous planet and endangered her guardian and the rest of his group, then so be it. But she would not leave the planet without him.

The words that left Baneyon's mouth nearly broke her heart.

"When I return to Pophusia, I will relinquish my guardianship of you. If you cannot obey me, then it is clear that I have failed to be a proper guardian. Someone else must replace me."

He bent down so his face was close to hers. Her lower lip trembled as she stared directly into his silver eyes. There was no warmth in them, only hardness and distance.

"You will get on that faar with the boy, and you will return to Minda Yerra. Good people have already died here — what made you so arrogant as to think that you could help?"

Terrana held her ground despite the tears seeping from her eyes. No matter how angry he was, she would not let go of what she believed. "I won't leave," she said. "Not without you."

She saw the muscles around his jaw clench and knew she had angered him terribly. Convincing him not to give her up for adoption was going to be difficult, she thought to herself.

The other Imeldors had just dismounted and were looking at Baneyon with surprise. It was rare that he lost his temper; they could see that his concern for the girl's safety clearly overrode everything else. Lady Fless was standing with Quempa and Raimus, staring keenly at Terrana. "Is she the child from Sector Thirteen?
Baneyon's ward?"

"Right down to the glaring eyes and stubborn jaw," answered Quempa. "Makes you wonder if they are not really related."

"Hey, guys," Lorn shouted suddenly, gazing out towards the plains. "I hate to interrupt, but something's coming this way. Whatever it is, it's fast!"

Everyone rushed to the edge to have a look. In the distance, they made out a small dust storm heading towards them. Behind it followed a sea of dratkaars.

"It's Nisa!" hissed Prince Gil Ra Im when he saw his mother's faar sprinting across the hard, baked plains to the mountains. "My mother must be with her!" Relief flooded him at the thought of seeing his mother again, but as the dust cleared up somewhat, he could see that something was wrong. Blood foamed at Nisa's mouth, and she had gaping wounds across her body. There was no sign of the queen.

"Where is the queen?" muttered Raimus.

It was the question that weighed on everyone's minds, but they didn't have the luxury of dwelling on it. They all heard it; a loud crack in the sky. Then they felt the air rushing away from them; everyone doubled over, gasping and struggling for breath. Baneyon reacted immediately, pulling Terrana close. She was clutching her throat. Then, he raised his hand and wove a barrier that spread from him over the entire group, pulling in the escaping air. He was stunned at how much qi he had to use to create and maintain the shield. Something extremely powerful was sucking out all the air on the planet.