“I like what you did with the place,” I said, all friendly. “Nothing like a little artwork to freshen up a tomb.”
Saint Dane and Nevva kept their eyes on me. Nevva looked dumbfounded. Saint Dane just looked confused. I liked that.
“And look at you!” I said to Saint Dane. “All young and regal looking. What are you now? King? Emperor? Grand Pooh-bah? I had you all wrong. Here I thought all this time you had some master plan for the good of Halla because only you knew what was right for mankind, and all you really wanted was to live in a palace and wear fancy king clothes. Gotta tell you, I’m disappointed.”
“Be careful, Pendragon,” Patrick warned as he stepped out from behind the pillar.
Nevva and Saint Dane both shot him a surprised look. I was almost as surprised to see him. I thought he had left for Solara. I didn’t want him there. I had a plan and knew that Patrick would only get in the way. Oh well. I had to stay in control, so I needed to act like this was part of the plan.
“Yeah,” I announced casually. “Patrick’s back. We’re all back, in case you were wondering. Did you miss us?”
Saint Dane still hadn’t recovered. I knew that wouldn’t last long.
“Patrick,” I said calmly. “You should go now.”
“I–I can’t leave you here. Not like this!”
“Why not? What could happen?” I asked innocently. “These goons could zap me, there’d be a big ouch, and I’d just end up back in Solara.”
Nevva and Saint Dane both snapped a look to me. Yes, another shocker. We knew all about Solara. This was fun.
“It’s true,” I said to Saint Dane. “We’re all back and pretty much up to speed, thanks to Uncle Press. Hard to believe that you and Uncle Press were friends once. I don’t get that one.”
Saint Dane winced with each new revelation, like I was shooting tiny little arrows at him.
Patrick took a step toward me. “Pendragon, I-”
“Patrick,” I said firmly. “Go. I’m serious. Now.”
I may have sounded casual, but my look told him that I was dead serious. He took a quick, apprehensive look around and nodded. He stepped backward… and disappeared.
I heard Saint Dane gasp. He actually gasped. It was awesome.
“Oh, right,” I teased, pretending to have just remembered something important. “We’ve all got the same tools now, demon boy.”
Saint Dane gathered himself up, stood tall, and fixed his cold blue eyes on me. “Then by all means,” he said, “use them.”
So much for keeping him off balance. His act was back together, and he was calculating his next move. He knew we couldn’t use the spirit of Solara more than necessary because we would only weaken it.
“So what’s the deal?” I asked. “Did you get the Ravinians to steal this cool stuff from all over Earth? I mean, Big Ben? The Eiffel Tower? Is that what this has all come down to? Gathering a bunch of famous stuff and creating a little Ravinian theme park? It’s good to be king, isn’t it?”
“It’s much more than that, Pendragon,” Nevva said, her voice cracking. Unlike her boss, she was still off balance.
“Don’t bother, Nevva,” I snapped at her. “I know all about it.”
“And you are correct,” Saint Dane said, almost jovially. “I have enjoyed taking human form. And why not? If I am going to be the salvation of mankind, why shouldn’t I enjoy a little reward? Is that asking too much?”
“Nah!” I replied sarcastically. “You’re worth it! And man, you look good for somebody who’s got to be, what, a couple hundred thousand years old? Talk about a makeover. Yikes. The long hair is especially slick. A little glam-rock, but still. Nice.”
As I spoke, I kept scanning the group, looking for my chance.
“I am surprised to see you,” Saint Dane growled. “With the collapse of the flumes I felt certain that the last light of Solara would have been dimmed, along with you and your kind. Apparently I was mistaken.”
I held my arms out and shrugged. “Sorry.”
“If you know as much as you say,” he continued slyly, “you also know that your existence is hanging by the thinnest of threads.”
I wanted to ask him where he was getting his own spiritual power from, if it wasn’t Solara, but I didn’t want to admit how much I still didn’t know. I walked toward the three prisoners who were being held by the Ravinian guards. They were the reason I was still there. I had to try and rescue them. If they were exiles, they might know more about the others. It’s why Saint Dane had them there. It’s why he tortured them for information. One thing that Saint Dane said was absolutely correct. If his final conquest of Halla was going to succeed, he had to kill the exiles. Or as many of the seventy thousand as he could find. As long as they lived, Solara lived. Saint Dane was hunting for them just as the Travelers were.
“That thread isn’t so thin,” I lied. “Solara isn’t in as bad a shape as you think.” Another lie, but what the heck. “I’m actually feeling pretty good about things. You know why?”
“Please,” Saint Dane said sarcastically. “Share with me.”
I stopped at the first prisoner and looked into his eyes. I needed to know what kind of shape they were in. If they couldn’t move, or were badly injured, there was no way I’d get them out of there. The guy raised his chin and looked at me. There was fire in his eyes. I gave him a small nod. I hoped he knew what that meant. I moved on to the next guy and saw the same thing. They were just waiting for their chance. I intended to give it to them.
I looked at the guard that was holding the second prisoner. My suspicions were correct. It was a dado. The eyes were a dead giveaway. Or should I say the dead eyes were a giveaway. Saint Dane was being protected by an army of dados.
“We’re in a different place now,” I said cockily. “What is it you like to say? Oh yeah. The rules have changed. Since the day I found out about the whole Traveler thing, I was scared for my life. I was afraid I’d never see my family again. I was afraid of what might happen to each territory and eventually what would happen to Halla. But now? Well, now the stakes are very different.”
“And why is that?” Saint Dane asked. He actually sounded curious.
I looked to him, gave him a cocky smile, and answered, “Because now I have nothing to lose.”
A second later I ate those words. I stopped at the third prisoner. It was the brave guy who helped rescue those people from the building at the zoo. His long dark hair fell in his eyes. I felt pretty sure he’d be as ready to go as the others. What I saw was something else entirely. He was ready all right. But after looking into his eyes, I wasn’t so sure that I was anymore. He lifted his chin and locked eyes with me. My throat clutched. I froze. Yet again, I was hit with the impossible.
The guy gave me a small smile and whispered, “About time you showed up.”
My head spun. I had to fight to keep my balance. I blinked, but what I saw didn’t change. I was staring into the eyes of my best friend. It was Mark Dimond. But it wasn’t the same guy I had grown up with. He had changed since the last time I saw him. On Second Earth he and Courtney and a group of protestors were thrown into the flume in the Conclave of Ravinia. Whatever happened to them after that, I’d yet to find out. But the change it had made in Mark was dramatic. Gone was the book-loving, carrot-eating genius who shied away from anything physical. He was still shorter than me, but his shoulders were broad and strong. He looked older, too. Was it possible that he was now older than I was? I think the biggest change was in his face. This was a guy who had been through a lot, and gained strength from it. I knew that from what I’d seen at the zoo, when he stayed until the very last second to help rescue those people from the helicopter gunship. This was a different Mark.
Trouble was, I now had something to lose. I still wanted to rescue the three prisoners, but the stakes had suddenly become much higher.