Maia and the Xifarian Conspiracy (The Lightbound Saga Book 1) (22 page)

They hold a million relics

Ones that could build worlds

Others that could destroy all

Seek one that lives amidst the ruins

“The path of the light? Could that be the Gate of the Rising Sun?” Kusha had said right away, and the rest of the team had agreed.

While that first line seemed to resolve effortlessly, making sense of the rest turned out to be tricky. Maia and Nafi labored on gathering the next-to-impossible-to-find information on the interior of the Seliban Temple.

On the night of their meeting with Miir, the group trudged along the corridors laden with all their wares, a little anxious but also looking forward to Miir’s assessment of their work. Among the goods were maps for the route to the temple-fortress, a few more of the interior, and some models of Pedes modified to better handle the atmosphere of the volcanic fields. It was not until they were halfway across the Hall of Spires that Nafi wailed in despair.

“Maia, we forgot the Book of Treasures,” she cried, and Maia screeched to a halt.

The
Book of Treasures
was one of the most worn-out manuscripts they had discovered at the Archival Center. It was a miracle that they managed to check it out, thanks to an apprentice at the center who was confused about lending rules for the participants of the Initiative. Its front cover had not survived the ages, so no one knew its real name. Out of reverence for the enormous amount of information on the Seliban Temple that was housed in every nook and cranny of the decrepit book, Nafi had ceremoniously named it the
Book of Treasures
. She kept it in an airtight wrapper, and then locked it inside her bureau drawer for safekeeping.

According to the
Book of Treasures
, the Seliban Temple was used to house artifacts of immense value over the times mostly due to its inaccessible location. The two girls worked late every night to make a catalog of things that could qualify as the relic, as well as the means and methods to retrieve them, all with the guidance of the prized volume.

“We need to get it in case he wants to look at something,” Nafi said, dropping the maps she was carrying on top of Ren’s pile. “You guys get started. I’ll go get the book.”

“I’ll come with you,” Maia said.

Maia and Nafi sped across the Hall of Spires as the others made their way to the Snoso. It was not too long before they were rushing back, the precious book tucked safely under Nafi’s arm. Maia thought how good it was to have these meetings so late when the corridors were free of lounging students. They would surely have knocked a few down had it been normal hours when the whole place buzzed with activity. At that precise thought, their luck ran out.

Just past the alleyway into the Hall of Spires, Nafi crashed headlong into someone. Maia’s heart sank when she saw Karhann sprawled on the ground, fuming at Nafi, who fumbled next to him. Scattered around them were broken pieces of what seemed to have been an intricate model of the volcanic fields of Quadrant 8. Never too far away from Karhann, Loriine had appeared from behind the columns. She pounced on Nafi and pulled her up by the collar, her eyes shining.

Maia stepped toward the girls, thinking of ways to make Loriine let go of Nafi when a small package lying next to Karhann caught her eye. The
Book of Treasures
had slipped out of Nafi’s hand and lay vulnerable on the floor. She lunged forward and grabbed it before Karhann or Loriine could get a whiff of it.

“What is that thing?” Karhann hissed at Maia as he stood up and dusted himself. “And why are you hiding it?”

“It’s just a book, nothing special,” Maia backed away a few steps.

“And yet, you had to pounce on it,” Loriine simpered. She held Nafi in a steady grip against a spire, the other fist raised threateningly. Nafi’s eyes flashed with anger, but she did not speak a word.

“Karhann, I think we should teach these kids a lesson once and for all,” Loriine said. “They’ve been harassing us for too long.”

Maia took another step back, clutching the book tighter as Karhann strode forward, then another and another, until she felt the cold, hard surface of a spire behind her. It would be a futile effort, throwing a punch or a kick at a boy who was not only bigger and possibly stronger, but who was also furious at them for destroying his handiwork. Even so, she had to defend herself, her friend, the book, and her team’s chance of winning the finals. Her fist curled, her sight set on his jawline, when someone stepped out from the darkness behind Loriine.

“Let them go, Karhann.” Yoome’s impassive voice was unmistakable.

As Karhann whirled back to face his teammate, Maia took a few swift steps away from him. Yoome stood next to Loriine and Nafi, flanked by Baecca and the pasty-faced boy whose name Maia could never remember.

“Yoome, don’t tell me that you want to protect the tots. Look at what they’ve done to our model,” Loriine snarled.

“I am not protecting anyone but us. I am trying to not have ourselves disqualified,” Yoome said. “And we were done with that model anyway.”

Karhann hesitated. Loriine fumed, sensing the sudden reversal, and tightened the grip on Nafi’s throat.

“Miir won’t like this if we tell him,” Nafi squeaked as she tried to break away from Loriine’s hold.

Karhann glared at Nafi, his face livid with rage. “Some nerve you have,” he spat, “threatening us on our own turf. And after you repeatedly bother us like this.”

“Is that Karhann’s cousin Miir you are talking about?” Loriine spewed out a spiteful laugh. “You think he’ll side with you instead of his own family?”

“Just let her go, Loriine.” Yoome’s voice was as cold as ice.

Maia sighed in relief as Loriine released Nafi and pushed her away. She studied the situation, not sure of what their next move could be. Karhann was still close, and if they ran, he could catch up with them in a heartbeat. She decided to wait a bit longer.

Yoome spoke again, her voice laced with an unusual trace of softness. “Karhann, we are not just a strong team, we are the top team. Whether or not we gain by looking at that book, these kids will file a complaint against us. And what then?” She paused for a moment. “We will be robbed of our chance to even compete. Should we take that risk simply because they bumped into us?”

The silence seemed to stretch for ages. Then Karhann nodded.

“Go away,” he whispered.

Maia grabbed Nafi’s arm, turned, and ran. They did not even look at each other until they were inside the Spiral Elevator.

37: Quadrant 8

Miir and the rest of the crew were hunched around a table when the two girls burst in, breathless from running. For a few moments, no one spoke.

“It is about time you arrived,” Miir said finally.

“We ran into Karhann . . . and gang,” Nafi exclaimed as she set the book down on the table. “He was about to grab the Book of Treasures.”

Miir looked at the book and flipped a few pages. “Good job digging this one up—it truly is a treasure,” he remarked.

“Yoome saved us,” Maia piped up.

“Saved you?” Miir’s eyes narrowed. “You mean the two of you could not fight back?”

“We could,” Maia explained, “but it didn’t seem like a sensible choice. The five of them could have easily beaten us, so we waited. And luckily, it worked out in the end. “Of course, if Yoome had not convinced that stuck-up boy, I was ready to break that snout off his face,” she added spiritedly, sitting down at the table next to Nafi. “But then, we did destroy their model completely, even if by accident.”

“Yoome helped you even after you destroyed their model?” Ren’s eyes grew wide. “Something is seriously wrong with that girl.”

“You think she’s strange just because she was nice?” Nafi raised a quizzical eyebrow. “Or are you just mad that she doesn’t think much of you?”

Ren rolled his eyes, shook his head, and looked away.

“Well, congratulations on making their hard work go to waste,” Miir cut into the banter, his tone surprisingly lighthearted. “And I am glad that you had the prudence to wait it out instead of going ballistic. A cool head serves well during combat.”

“We didn’t mean to hurt them in any way,” Maia sighed, saddened to think how much work Karhann must have put into the model, just to have it destroyed by their carelessness.

“They will build another one if they need to, so do not fret over something that was clearly not within your control.” Miir’s sympathetic response startled Maia. He went back to studying the map, possibly not realizing how much his words meant to the two girls, but Maia noticed Nafi’s face brighten and her own heart felt lighter.

The rest of the meeting went without incident. After looking through the calculations for the three routes, Miir picked the course through Faith’s End.

“It should be easy enough to fly a Raptor through the canyon,” he said casually. “I could fly through the Draegen as well. That is without a doubt the shortest path, but—”

“Would be too risky?” Nafi interjected.

“Yes, it might be considered taking excessive risk. We do not want to be penalized for that.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. The discussion moved on to accessories and other equipment. Maia, Kusha, and Nafi were picked to use Cylopedes to find the open gate. Once inside, they would have to find the hangar and open its door to let the Onclioraptor in. Then the team had to locate the relic and bring it back to the academy.

“We have to make good use of the time we gain by flying through the canyon,” Dani said. “Locate the entryway as fast as we can before anyone else shows up.”

“Do not ignore the situation where we might reach after someone else,” Miir added, “in which case, we shall have to try our best to compete with them to find the door first. As long as the door is open, it is up for taking,” he continued. “So if someone else opens the gate and you engage in a duel and win, you can push them out and get in. But as soon as that gate closes, you have to waive your rights to the competition. Any aggression after that would result in a breach of the honor code.”

“And the same rules apply to us if we’re the first group to find the gate, right?” asked Ren. “We won’t be safe until the door is closed behind us.”

Miir nodded. “And that brings us to the subject of the clues.” He looked at the faces that ringed the table. “Have you deciphered the verse?”

“The first few lines seem simple,” Maia started to explain. “We have to follow the light to enter the dark temple, that quite obviously means the Gate of the Rising Sun. Inside, surrounding the bay, are the treasure chambers—rooms that house the relics.”

“We made a list of all the items that can build a world or destroy one,” Nafi added.

“Do you know what we seek?” Miir asked, looking at Maia and Nafi.

Maia saw Nafi’s face dim as all eyes focused on them. After all the time spent on decrypting the verse, the duo did not have a single clue as to what the relic could be.

“The only two objects annotated with ‘creation’ and ‘worlds’ are the Bale Labyrinth and the Saucer of Agentoph,” Nafi stated in a small voice. “However, there is no hint on where the Bale Labyrinth is stored in the temple, just the description of its mystical powers. It’s described as a dream catcher as well as a dream weaver. It seems that this contraption, which could be as small as a tiny pebble, has the power to extract dreams from people’s minds, and it builds a virtual world out of it. It has the capacity to sustain that world within its confines, keeping it alive until it is destroyed by the explicit wishes of one who owns the dream.”

“Hmmm . . . never heard of such a thing.” Miir tapped his forehead, lost in thought. “What about the other?”

“The Saucer of Agentoph seems like a humongous mechanism built into the temple. We don’t think it’s possible to move that at all, let alone bring it back with us,” Maia said, trying to remember the little details. “There is a hand-drawn picture that resembles a giant pestle and mortar, and if given a fragment of the essence, it can create a planet.”

“Ah, yes,” Miir chuckled. “It creates the replicas, like the ones you see at—”

“The Gallery of Planets, of course,” Ren exclaimed.

“All that’s wonderful,” Nafi interrupted, “but the fact remains that we don’t have any idea what the relic could be, because it most certainly can’t be these.”

“Do you know what it could be?” Kusha asked Miir as the others looked on with doleful eyes.

“I would not be able to tell you even if I did,” was Miir’s solemn reply. “But I think you will solve it soon. You still have some time on your hands.”

Miir soon left the thoughtful group, who spent some more time at the Snoso detailing their plans. When they finally trooped back to their rooms, the whole building was sound asleep.

***

A week prior to the day of the challenge, Yilosario’s Fourth printed a sheaf of papers for the team. It was a long list of rules—the hundred codes of honorable combat. Maia skimmed through the stack, but with no breakthrough in identifying the relic, she could hardly focus on the dreary regulations. Along with Nafi, she had spent sleepless nights with books and scrolls and data vaults, researching relics. As the preparations for the expedition progressed according to plan, the others tried to put their heads together as well. None of it helped.

The night before the challenge, as Maia scanned yet another set of references, Nafi jumped up from her seat, bobbing with excitement, her emerald eyes sparkling.