Ice Phoenix (31 page)

"Proof," she cried. "What proof do you have to make those claims?" She could feel everyone's eyes on her, regarding her with both pity and curiosity.

"You wear it around your neck," the voices murmured sadly.

Terrana froze. With a trembling hand, she reached under her
cardigan and tugged at the leather thong around her neck. Miraculously, it had survived her fiery outburst on Si Ren Da, just as it had survived the fire in Fiji. It came off easily and she raised it so that she could stare at the black pearl that Puddy had given to her. It was the only keepsake of her life and family in Fiji. A single black teardrop.

"Dear Dartkala," whispered Grandmaster Deitrux, his tone bordering between shock and amazement. "
You
had Skra's pendant all this time!" At his words, everyone shuffled closer to Terrana.

Raimus craned his neck to get a better look at the pearl and his eyes widened when he saw it. "That's not the one we retrieved in Si Ren Da. It looked less like a teardrop and more like a brain."

The voices sighed.

"What is it?" Grandmaster Deitrux asked sharply.

"The pendant you saw back in Si Ren Da was Namasar's."

"What?" cried everyone
in unison.

The voices almost seemed to take a deep breath before continuing,
"It appears that Skra did return with Namasar's pendant, only no one knew, including us. What we do know, however, was that when Namasar died in Skra's arms, the shape of her pendant changed.
That
is the tear that Skra cried. Terrana has been wearing Skra's sorrow her entire life."

"Stop it! Just stop it!"
screamed Terrana, her hands over her ears as she tried to shut out the world. She hadn't believed that her life could have regressed from disastrous to catastrophic, but somehow it had gone beyond that. Until now, she had not accepted the truth of Baneyon's death, and she still didn't want to, but she could see in the Imeldors' eyes that they had accepted it. 

The shock from admitting the truth numbed her. E
very cell in her body ached to grieve for him, but she wasn't even allowed to do that.

"
You are liars! Every single one of you!
My name is Terrana Lee and I am
human
!
"

"Terrana."
Lorn went to her side but she shoved him away roughly.

"Get away from me!" she snarled. She turned and ran, disappearing through the trees that lined the edge of the embankment. Prince Gil Ra Im stood up. He and Lorn
looked at each other. They hesitated only a second before running after her.

"Let the children be," said the voices, as the adults also prepared to give chase. "They are safe on this planet."

"Why does she have Skra's pendant?" asked Quempa angrily. "How did you know?"

"We
didn't know she possessed the pendant until she arrived here. The pendant does not prove that she is Dartkala's child, we
know
she is. But it may be proof of the hope that Skra had foreseen. It is the only reason why she possesses the pendant. Skra would have ensured that it found its way to the right person. And if Skra's pendant is with her, then ..."

Everyone steeled themselves, preparing to hear the worst.

"The child has an extremely powerful guardian, someone who is able to conceal her qi. He or she probably gave her the pendant and hid her away in the thirteenth sector."

"Dear Dartkala," said
Grandmaster Deitrux, looking very worried. "Is it even possible that someone exists who can tame the power of a feiyed child? As witnesses to what she did in Si Ren Da, her qi is not something which can be concealed. Who or
what
are we dealing with?"

"We do not know. We can only surmise that when you removed the child from Sector Thirteen, you separated her from her guardian. Rest assured, he or she will come for her."

"We had no idea she had a guardian when we rescued her from Sector Thirteen. All we knew was that, unlike the other inhabitants of that world, she had qi. We did not leave her on that planet because we did not want the humans to discover her abilities. Anyway, her parents and brother were dead, and we thought she would be happier on a planet where everyone had qi. As she began displaying her powers, I began to suspect that someone had been hiding her in Sector Thirteen, but I did not know why.  Discovering she is feiyed is a complete shock, and knowing she is our only hope against the Dream Walker saddens me greatly."

"Was the family's death accidental?"

Grandmaster Deitrux turned cold. "We are unsure. It could have been the child herself who started the fire that killed them, or it could have been the sea creature she befriended."

"We saw nothing of a sea creature when we read her mind."

"She had a dolphin for a friend, Ancient Ones. It's been with her since her birth and we suspected the dolphin may have been feiyed."

"We did not see a dolphin in her mind
," the voices stressed again. They seemed flustered now, worried even.

"Also, the dolphin has appeared twice
to her in Pa Gumpina. On one occasion, the girl transformed and we believed it was because of the mammal's presence."

"And yet there was no dolphin in Si Ren Da, was there?"

"No, Ancient Ones."

"The
child needs her guardian. It is highly possible that this dolphin is her guardian."

"Forgive me for interrupting, but why did you ask if the family's death was accidental?" asked the grandmaster. He was levitating now
, and in order to hear him properly, the others had to follow suit.

"It is vital to establish how this girl's family died.
Were they murdered
, is the real question. You must realise, the girl is young and vulnerable at this stage of her development, and if someone wants to kill her, this would be the time for them to strike. Our fear is that the Dream Walker has learned of her existence, and if he has, rest assured he will stop at nothing to destroy her if he ever gets free."

"But you don't believe he knows, do you?" said the grandmaster
.

"No."

"Then let's get back to who started the fire, and why. I don't think it was Terrana or her guardian — that does not make sense.  It must have been someone who knew about Terrana and wanted to destroy her — the fire was meant to kill Terrana, not her family. So, who could have known about Terrana's powers and also knew where to find her?"

"We do not know. Our discovery of her existence came as a surprise, even to us."

"The bottom line is that we must protect Terrana," said Raimus, rubbing his stomach thoughtfully.

"She is the best hope our worlds have against the Dream Walker if he ever escapes. If she perishes, so will everything else. She must be nurtured, trained
, and protected."

"We are running out of time then," said Kuldor. "Nashim has met Terrana and he will be looking into her background. If he discovers who she is and reaches the Dream Walker
..."

"We will not allow that to happen," added Quempa quickly. "There's still a chance we can stop Nashim. After all, we have Skra's pendant. We have the means to pass through the
Voron Cloud."

"And we will send our best weavers and lacers into the cloud
, where they will restore the lacing to hold the Dream Walker for all eternity," finished the grandmaster.

Kuldor shook his head. "There's a problem with that plan. Nashim is most likely on his way to the Dream Walker now. He has the tonien
and
Namasar's pendant. We don't have the tonien, which means we cannot find our way to the Dream Walker."

The stream gurgled loudly and a
strong wind blew across the blue grass. "Our systems indicate that he has not been able to unlock the tonien. He has no advantage over you," said the voices.

"Could you run that by us again?" said Raimus, cheekily cupping his hand to his ear. "Unlock the tonien did you say?"

"The tonien requires three keys. The first key is a generated algorithm requiring a password spoken in our tongue. The password itself is a combination of sounds, digits, and words that only an authorised Kartathian knows. The second key is an Olden Kartath puzzle based on Kartathian logic. The third key is physical. It still remains here with us in Olden Kartath."

"Damn you!" blurted Raimus, turning red in the face. "You could have told us
that from the very beginning! If I wasn't already missing a heart, I'd throw one at you, you heartless bastards!"

The voices went silent.

"Raimus, you must keep calm," chided the grandmaster. "We need the Kartathians' help. Without it, our worlds may well perish at the hands of the Valpuri and the Dream Walker."

Raimus inhaled deeply. "I'm sorry, Grandmaster Deitrux. You are right." He looked at the pods hanging from the tree tops.

"Please accept my
heartfelt
apology, Ancient Ones. My words were uttered in anger, and I'm afraid I caved in to the pressure of these dire circumstances. I am thoroughly ashamed of myself."

The voices seemed to accept his apology,
because they resumed speaking. "Even without the tonien, the Valpuri can still find their way to the Dream Walker. It will take them longer using only the pendant, and it is not certain that they will find him in their lifetime. You can track the Valpuri using Skra's pendant. You can still stop them."

"Then we must leave immediately," said Grandmaster Deitrux. "But before we do, you must show us how to activate the pendant."

"We will tell only you, Grandmaster Deitrux."

The grandmaster suddenly went still, and he remained frozen for several minutes as the voices spoke directly into his head. When it was over, the voices spoke
aloud again. "There is one more thing you need to know."

Raimus groaned and shook his head. "Why do I get the feeling it's not going to be good?"

"The Valpuri have been known to travel with certain creatures called wrails. If your planet has the misfortune to host them, it will be destroyed in a matter of days. Do not hesitate to eradicate them when you see them."

"What are they?" asked Quempa.

"Creatures from the Valpuri world. They are transported in eggs and lie dormant until they are needed. They are extremely difficult to kill; in a sense they are feiyed. They can survive if they are cast into Dartkala, but unlike true feiyed creatures, they cannot traverse the In-Between. Instead, they lie dormant until they come across any planet or asteroid capable of supporting them."

"Sounds wonderful," muttered Raimus.

"We will return you to your ship now and bid you a safe journey. The fate of our worlds rests in your hands."

The gate spat out the ship as if it was a rotten morsel it had chewed on, and vanished right after. For a few minutes, the ship floated in silence before all its systems came on and it began moving of its own volition. It continued on its way, harbouring its anxious occupants
.

Inside the cockpit, Grandmaster Deitrux and Kuldor monitored the glowing pendant, both growing
more nervous by the minute as they observed no change in its colour.

"Are you certain that's the right colour?" Kuldor asked for the fifth time, rubbing his hands anxiously.

"Blue is cold, red is hot," replied the grandmaster. "Really, Kuldor, it can't get much simpler than that!"

"It's not too much to hope you could be wrong," muttered Kuldor.

"Believe me, I wish I were!"

They both sighed and stared at the pendant again, their chins resting on their hands. Grandmaster Deitrux had activated the pendant upon leaving Olden Kartath, in the hope that it would reveal Nashim's whereabouts. The pendant had lit up without any hiccups; the only problem was
, it was leading them in Pa Gumpina's direction.

"I don't understand!" growled Kuldor. "Why hasn't he gone
to the Dream Walker? I'd have expected him to be in the Voron Cloud by now!"

Grandmaster Deitrux did not say anything
, but remained deep in thought.

However, Kuldor was not quite ready to stay quiet. "The phoenix blade is gone too. The Ancients must have taken it."

"Thieves," muttered Grandmaster Deitrux. "Not even the oldest, hardened race can resist the pull of velassium."

Back in Minda Yerra, sitting morosely by the lake and watching Kazu play with Niku, Mikin sighed heavily. While the antics of Terrana's kitten amused him as he watched it boss Niku around, Mikin worried for his missing friends. It loomed over him like an ever present shadow, and somehow he couldn't help but feel that all the recent happenings were linked to their disappearance. Three weeks had passed since Terrana and Lorn had flown off with the prince, and no one had heard from them.

"Everything all right?"

The big, hairy Bagruth sat down next to him, and he was not alone. Bindal appeared on Mikin's right and she, too, sat promptly on the ground.

"Not really," answered Mikin, flapping his ears. His trunk rubbed his arm gently before it slid it across a tiny, hexagonal cube lying
on his lap. It was a burnished bronze colour and was no larger than a golf ball.

"What do you have there?" asked Bindal, a little too brightly.

Mikin glanced down at his cube, realising that it was still projecting images of grotesque, evil-looking creatures real enough to materialise. He reached out to deactivate it, but Bagruth glimpsed the images and snatched the cube from his hands.

"Hey!" Mikin barked in surprise.

"These are images of the alien creatures that have invaded Pa Gumpina!" cried Bagruth, sliding his hand over the projections. "How is it you have them?"

"What?" Bindal peered over Mikin's arm. She yelped as the one of the creatures lumbered towards her and she jumped back.

"Mikin, where did you get these from? The whole planet's in mayhem over the appearance of these creatures, no one knows where they came from and here you are, sitting down with information about them!"

"I wasn't sure," Mikin
answered in his defence. "Until the police drone caught this particular one." He pointed to a lizard-like creature with a wide wing span. "And then I recalled seeing it somewhere before, so I dug it up."

"But where did you get this from, Mikin?" asked Bindal. "It isn't just one or two pages you have here. It's a compilation!"

"My family's always collected books," Mikin mumbled. "Down through the centuries, we've collected anything we could get our hands on. For generations we've always had space pilots in my family."

"Wow,"
said Bindal. "That's amazing."

"So does it say where these creatures come from?" asked Bagruth, being the more pragmatic of the two.

Mikin frowned then. That had been the first thing he had searched for and the explanation he found hadn't made any sense.

"Eggs," he said. "They were brought in as eggs by an alien race, or at least, that's what it says in the book."

He met their incredulous stares. "Yeah, that's what I thought too."

They were distracted by
Niku's thunderous stomping as the gigantic brudisaurius leapt out of the water and galloped up the embankment with a crazed, yet happy look on his face. His tongue lolled to one side and he looked as though he was having a great time. Behind him was Kazu, completely sodden and looking thoroughly vengeful as he chased after Niku.

"One of these days Niku is going to step on Kazu and we'll have to scrape him off his foot," said Mikin.

"It's an unlikely friendship," agreed Bagruth. "I find it uncanny that Kazu can order Niku around like his own personal bodyguard. Did I tell you I caught them the other day heading up the mountains? Niku hates closed-in spaces, but when I found him he was happily winding his way between the trees. And of course, there was Kazu sitting on his head."

"He even sleeps with Niku in the stables!" added Bindal.

"Well, at least they'll be company for each other when we evacuate to
Al-Kalindrome 77
tomorrow afternoon," sighed Mikin. "There won't be much space there for them to run around in."

The air turned gloomy immediately. So much had happened in the last three weeks
, and Pa Gumpina was now in a state of emergency. UWIB had declared it a no-go zone because of the invasion of the alien creatures, and the authorities were having trouble containing them. In fact, the devastating toll on people's lives had resulted in the highest directive issued from the planet's homeland National Defence Council; ES — Eliminate on Sight. The entire planet's troops, from the air force, navy, and land army had been mobilised and were working together to combat this deadly invasion. Lacers and weavers had been recruited also, but despite their best efforts, reports were being leaked that they were facing a losing battle.

The civilian death toll stood at ten thousand and was still rising. The population
s of villages, towns, and cities were being evacuated to the space stations orbiting Sector One, but these were fast running out of room, and now Pa Gumpina was appealing to the UWIB Council to expand its evacuation efforts into the other sectors.

"Your parents were enlisted, weren't they?" said Mikin to Bindal. "Have you heard from them?"

Bindal nodded sadly. Her parents belonged to a research guild and they had been drafted into the military to try to analyse a way of stopping the alien creatures.

"They told me to board the evacuation ship as soon as possible," she said. "They were tired and wouldn't tell me
much of what was going on but ... they looked awful. I've never seen them look so terrified."

"Headmistress Marl has barred all news coverage in school," said Mikin. "I guess she's afraid we might panic."

"But Mikin, we've got to get this information to Headmistress Marl quickly," urged Bindal. "It could help the weavers find a way to stop these creatures!"

"Yes, you should go now,"
agreed Bagruth. "I'll join you once I lock Niku and Kazu down for the night. This could be their last night on this planet."

Mikin silently agreed with them, not seeing the point in withholding his information any longer. If it turned out to be worthless, he was adult enough to deal with the consequences. At least he would have tried. The three of them stood up and Bagruth ran off after Niku, to lead him back into the stables.

"Well, what do we have out here?" said a sneering voice.

Bindal and
Mikin looked up to see Misa and Kalindra approaching. They both groaned. Kalindra had recently been appointed a school prefect and, as part of her responsibilities, she ensured that all the students were in their dormitories before a certain time. It was a rule that had been recently implemented by Headmistress Marl, ever since the appearance of the alien creatures.

"We're just heading in," Mikin mumbled.

Kalindra's cold eyes swept over them, noticing the cube in Mikin's hand. She swept her silver hair behind her shoulder, the slightest frown appearing on her beautiful features.

"
What's that?" She snatched the cube.

"Hey, give that back!" said Mikin angrily. Kalindra tried to access the cube's contents but was thwarted each time she tried to decrypt the password on it.

"Have you been communicating with Lorn on this?" she asked in an accusing tone.

"Of course not!" cried Mikin. "Like I told you before, I have no idea where he is. I'm just as worried about them as you are!"

"Them?" snarled Kalindra, bearing down on him. She shoved Mikin back roughly.

"You didn't have to do that!" cried Bindal.
She tried to go to Mikin's side, but Misa stepped forwards and pushed her back. Both girls were much taller and stronger than either of them, and they didn't stand a chance of defending themselves.

"Let's get this straight
, little elephant," said Kalindra, her eyes blazing angrily. "I don't care about that dirty girl from Sector Thirteen. I'm only concerned for my friend, Lorn, who happened to be with her at the time. No doubt, it was her doing that got him into trouble. If Headmistress Marl so much as tries to expel him, I will drag your sorry little trunk to her, and you will tell her that he didn't have a choice. The prince and Terrana kidnapped him."

"But that's not true," said Mikin. "It's like I said earlier. He got into a fight with the prince and went after them. The
y were trying to get away from —"

"
Shut up
!" barked Misa.

Mikin
shrunk back as Misa stepped up to him. The girl then lifted him into the air, her arms bulging from her daily work-out in Kampu training. She looked as though she wanted to hurl him into the nearest tree, and Mikin was really afraid that she would.

"Put him down," said Kalindra. Misa flashed
her an angry look, but she did as she was told.

"Head to your dormitories now."
Kalindra waved the cube. "I'll hang onto this until you tell me where Lorn went."

Now it was
Bindal's turn to get angry. "You return that to him right now! We were going to see Headmistress Marl before you appeared and we need to show that to her!"

"Why, what does it contain?" Kalindra asked.
Her eyes burned with curiosity.

"Information about the alien creatures!"
Bindal snapped.

Mikin threw her a shocked look. He had refrained from telling them about the creatures in case they didn't believe him and threw the cube away out of spite. At the same time, he couldn't understand Kalindra's concern for Lorn. He knew
that she and Lorn were both from Daiphus, and they had been close friends at one point. However, since Mikin had been at Minda Yerra, he had hardly seen them together, and Lorn never mentioned her. It was only after Lorn's disappearance that Kalindra started to bug them, trying to glean any information about Lorn.

Misa was simpler to understand. Misa hated Terrana
, and because Mikin and Bindal hung out with her, she hated them too. Bindal continued to talk, fully aware of Mikin's concern. However, she knew what she was doing — or so she hoped.

"Mikin's family have been librarians for centuries
," Mikin tried not to let his surprise show through at her obvious lie, "and Mikin's come across some information about the creatures which could change the balance of this invasion. Your parents, like mine, were enlisted to combat them, weren't they? They are directly on the frontline. Don't you want to help them?"

Both Misa and Kalindra went really still. It was true what Bindal had said. Their parents were guild weavers and
, like Bindal, Misa and Kalindra had heard from them recently, so knew how dire the situation was outside the school.

Bindal continued. "Right now, the creatures are in Pa Gumpina. But what if they spread throughout Sector One and arrive on our home planets? We can't afford to let that happen. So please, return the cube to Mikin
, and allow us to see Headmistress Marl."

Kalindra gave her a harsh look. "No," she said.

"What?" Bindal cried angrily.

"Misa and I are coming with you," she said. She had the upper hand and they knew it.

"Fine," said Bindal, shrugging her shoulders in resignation. "But we should go now."

"I saw Headmistress Marl by the lobby," said Kalindra, turning around.
"Follow me." She led the way, taking the path towards the school lobby. They walked quickly and had almost reached their destination when something fat and fluffy pounced on Kalindra's head. As quickly as it landed, it leapt off, using her head for added acceleration. Mikin, Bindal, Kalindra, and Misa watched open-mouthed as Kazu raced away.