Pendragon - The Soldiers Of Halla Part 49

Boon ran for the gig and started powering up.

"I gotta go," I said to Mark and Courtney.

"We'll see you inside," Courtney replied.

There was a quick group hug.

"Get us home, Bobby," Mark whispered.

I pulled away and looked into the faces of my two best friends. We were no longer the little kids who'd grown up together in Stony Brook. Yet we were. Who could have foreseen the people we would become? I was proud of who we were and what we had done, but this was not the way it was meant to be. It made me sad, and a little angry.

"I love you guys" was all I said, and ran for the gig. I had to get out of there. I didn't want to let my emotions take over by even thinking of the possibility that I would never see them again.

The gig's rotors were up to speed. I jumped in next to Boon and strapped in.

"We going straight in?" he asked.

"No. We should hover above until they break through."

We lifted off smoothly. After a quick wave down to Mark and Courtney, we shot skyward and got a bird's-eye view of the battle below. It looked like one of those battlefield attacks from the American Civil War or World War I. Thousands of people charged for the fortress, while the Ravinians fired back to keep them away. This was old-school warfare with some new-school weapons. The only difference was that there weren't any bodies on the battlefield. That's because they had been obliterated. There were no remains. At least, not yet.

Leading the way were Uncle Press and the Travelers. They dodged around the smoking hulks of the downed choppers, using them for protection when possible. Wisely, they were not running in a straight line. They wanted to be difficult targets.

"Uh-oh," Boon said.

Looking forward, I saw that two more helicopters had lifted off from beside the conclave and were headed for the battlefield. My fear was that they were going to start firing rockets into the crowd. Those little silver s.h.i.+elds would have no effect against that kind of barrage.

"Buzz *em!" I said.

"What?"

"Distract them. Anything!" I shouted. Boon pushed the gig forward, and we shot toward the choppers.

The first helicopter fired a rocket into the crowd. When it hit, the explosion was violent. And sickening. I hated to think how many people had been killed in that one short second. A second rocket was fired, making another direct hit into the charging army. The explosion ripped the ground, tearing up cement. Bodies were launched like rag dolls.

"Do it!" I screamed at Boon.

The klee cut across the nose of the first chopper, barely missing it. The pilot pulled out of his attack run and turned his chopper to come after us. Boon buzzed the second chopper, doing a figure eight between the two. Okay, maybe I was wrong. Maybe Boon was a better pilot than Kasha. Our aerobatics seemed to confuse the pilots, which was the best we could have hoped for. All I wanted was for them to stop firing long enough for a Suddenly both helicopters started to rotate wildly. They were out of control, and I thought I knew why. They kept firing rockets but had no way of directing them. Several hit the conclave wall. None hit our people.

"Pull up!" I shouted.

Boon shot skyward to get away from the doomed helicopters. There was no telling which way they would fly as they struggled to stay airborne. The hunters had become hunted. The gars were firing their radio cannons at them from the ground, which meant the marauders wouldn't be in the air for long. I didn't know if the weapons from Black Water were disrupting the choppers, or had damaged their dado pilots. Didn't matter. Either way, they were going down. I feared for a moment that they might crash onto the battlefield a with tragic results for those below. I held my breath, watching the helicopters dodge about like crazed b.u.t.terflies. They crashed within seconds of each other a but not on the battlefield. Both hit square onto the roof of the dado factory.

"Woohaa!" I screamed in victory, surprise a and relief.

Explosions erupted that tore through the factory's roof. More explosions followed from below a far more than made sense for the number of rockets they were carrying.

"That's where they build the helicopters," I told Boon. "They must store the rocketsa""

I was cut off by the sound of an immense explosion that came from inside the factory. A huge mushroom cloud of fire and black smoke blasted into the air, blowing out the roof. The wave of heat buffeted our little gig. Boon had to fight to keep control.

"I guess they store their fuel there too," I added.

We both laughed. It was an incredible stroke of luck. I hoped the explosions carried through to the dado side of the factory.

I heard several smaller explosions coming from the ground. Besides the rifles that the rebels provided, there were also a few weapons that packed a little more punch. I saw people dropping to their knees and bracing another type of rifle against the ground. When they fired, a burst of flame erupted from each muzzle. It must have packed a heck of a kick. Seconds later explosions erupted near the destroyed door of the fortress.

"They're like grenade launchers," I said to Boon, not that he knew what a grenade launcher was. "They're getting closer."

Dados gathered inside the destroyed doorway to defend the obvious point of attack. There were dozens of them, all with the silver weapons. They fired wildly into the crowd that was growing ever closer. Every one up front held a s.h.i.+eld. The constant metallic pings told me that they were warding off the charges fired by the Ravinians.

More grenades were launched, blowing dados away, throwing them back into the fortress. Several people formed a wall of s.h.i.+elds to protect the gars that were moving forward with their radio cannons. When they got to within forty yards of the door, the sharp-shooting gars planted and fired. Dados fell like paper dolls in the wind.

The first wave of the attack was nearly at the fortress.

Looking back, I saw that the second wave had begun their charge. I hoped that the first wave would get into the conclave soon and neutralize the dados, because none of the people in the second wave had s.h.i.+elds.

The dados along the top of the wall had grown spa.r.s.e. Either they had been blown away by the gars, or had gone to the ground to make the final stand at the door.

"They're going to make it," Boon declared.

Sure enough, the first of the attacking force had reached the door and fought their way inside. I couldn't tell if any Travelers were among them.

"Now!" I shouted. "Get us over the top."

Boon throttled up and flew the gig over the giant wall. We were in, and got our first view of the action behind enemy lines. Below, our people poured in through the destroyed door, past the wreck of the golden engine. There were still a lot of Ravinian guards on the ground, fighting back, but far more were laid out on the ground. Finished. As the exiles and gars pushed inside, anyone who didn't have a weapon to begin with picked up a silver wand from a fallen dado. We were gaining firepower.

That proved to be the last straw for the defense of the conclave. The dados didn't retreat. They weren't programmed to retreat. They didn't know fear. They fought till the end, but the end came quickly. In minutes the gra.s.sy park below was filled with the remains of hundreds of dados.

I looked farther into the conclave, fearing that there might be a counterattack, either from more dados or from human Ravinians. As I wrote before, that is what I truly feared. If the human Ravinians engaged this army, they would lose and they would die. That wasn't why we were there. This wasn't meant to be a slaughter. From our vantage point flying high over the compound, I saw no counterattack. In fact, I saw very few Ravinians at all. I caught glimpses of a few who were deeper in the compound, but they were fleeing. They wanted no part of this fight. They expected the dados to protect them.

The dados failed.

"Put us down," I said to Boon.

We dropped quickly and landed softly on the gra.s.s. We had done it. We were in. More and more exiles and gars flooded in through the destroyed door. Many grabbed weapons and began climbing up to the top of the wall. They all knew the score. This was only the first half of the battle. The attackers would soon become defenders, and it would be our turn to hold off a huge army bent on taking over the conclave.

I ran toward the destroyed door, looking for Uncle Press and the Travelers. There was a moment of panic. Had any of them been hit? People ran past me, running deeper into the conclave. They knew their mission. Seek out and destroy every last dado. They would move in patrols of twenty, searching everywhere. The destruction of the dados had to be complete. Another group would be headed for the factory to root out any last dados there, but I was pretty sure all they'd find was burning wreckage. The a.s.sault had been a complete success.

But where were the Travelers?

I stepped over a fallen dado a and the robot grabbed my leg. He was down, but he wasn't dead. I was so surprised that I didn't defend myself. The dado tossed me down. I hit the gra.s.s and spun back, expecting an attack. The dado still had his silver weapon. He raised it to fire at me a and got clocked in the head by a wooden stave. The dado fell to its knee and got clocked again. It may have been a robot, but it couldn't stand up to the vicious onslaught. It dropped the weapon, reached for it, grabbed the wrong end a and instantly went dead.

"I prefer doing things the old way," Loor said, spinning her stave triumphantly.

"You didn't kill it, it was the weapon," I shot back, kidding.

"It was as good as dead already," she argued. "Yeah, whatever. Thank you."

Loor gave me a small smile, which for her was huge. "Will I ever have to stop protecting you, Pendragon?" "Man, I hope so." "Bobby!" Uncle Press called.

He ran up, out of breath. Behind him were Alder, Spader, Kasha, and Siry. Boon joined us as well. We all stood there looking at one another. Spader began to laugh. Alder followed. Then Siry and Uncle Press and even Kasha and Loor. It was a moment of pure exhilaration. We had done it. We had gotten a toehold in the Conclave of Ravinia. There was nothing funny going on; it was more a laugh of pure joy.

"Where's Aron?" I asked.

Uncle Press stopped laughing. The others did as well. The mood instantly turned dark.

"He almost made it," Uncle Press answered. "He was near the door. But he took a hit from a dado that we thought was finished."

It was a shocking, hollow feeling. Aron was the leader of the gars, and had been since my first visit to Black Water. He was the visionary who helped civilize the gars and earn them respect. It was hard to believe that he was gone. His spirit had surely became part of Solara, and Solara was all the better for it.

"Hey!" came a familiar voice.

Mark and Courtney came running up to join us.

"Can you believe this?" I said. "We did it."

"Not yet, we didn't," Mark said, dead serious.

His tone didn't fit the moment of victory. I looked over his shoulder to see hundreds upon hundreds of our people streaming into the conclave. I didn't get it. From what I could see, we had most definitely done it.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Mark held up his walkie-talkie. "They found it."

We all knew what he meant.

"When?" I asked.

Courtney answered, "The flume downtown came to life five minutes ago. Dados are pouring out in droves. They're headed this way."

We stood there in stunned silence. Our celebration was a short one. Though it was something we expected, knowing it was actually happening was still.a shock.

Mark said, "I'd say we have two hours at best before we get swarmed."

Uncle Press looked around and said, "We know what to do. Bring all the radio cannons inside. Call back the choppers. Find every weapon and get it into the hands of a gar or a Yank."

The Travelers scattered to carry out the commands. I was left with Mark and Courtney and Uncle Press.

"Two hours," Uncle Press said, looking at me.

"We can do it," Mark said. "We will do it."

Uncle Press didn't respond to Mark. He was focused on me.

"Two hours," he repeated.

His grave look said it all. I nodded in understanding. He stood straight, looked me square in the eye, and said, "Go get him."

Chapter 41.

He was there.

1 knew it. I felt it. I knew where to find him. For the first time I understood how he always seemed to know where I was and what I was doing. I could sense him. I don't know how else to say it.

Our success in taking over the Conclave of Ravinia had far greater meaning than the conquering of a fortress. We were gaining strength. The spirit of Solara was returning. It came from the selfless efforts of a group of people who, in storming the walls of Ravinia, had seized control of their own destiny. It's hard to describe this feeling, but it came from the core of my being. I felt stronger. I felt hope. I didn't think for a second that the battle was over, but as I ran through the conclave, for the first time in a very long while, I thought that there was a chance we might actually turn the tide. We were no longer fighting a losing battle.

As I sprinted through the parklike grounds of the conclave, I saw very few Ravinians. Those who made an appearance looked terrified. Their perfect world was threatened, so they ran and hid inside their opulent homes and peered out of their windows in fear. I realized that my concern that they might step up to defend themselves was unfounded. They didn't have it in them. It made my confidence grow. This was the true legacy of Ravinia. They were cowards who hid behind the power of their mentor. Saint Dane.

This wouldn't be over until Saint Dane's influence ended. For that, his spirit had to end. I was racing toward a showdown. I had suspected it would come to this for a long time. I feared it. I tried to ignore it. I hoped there would be some other way.

I was kidding myself.

This day had to come. It was inevitable. From the very beginning, this conflict was about a battle between two forces. Two ways of thinking. Two spirits. Saint Dane a and me.

It was time to end it.

I ran to the center of the conclave and to the spot where I knew he would be. The Taj Mahal. When I got my first view of the majestic building, I noticed a change. There were no Ravinian guards. They must all have been sent to the front wall to defend the conclave. Which meant they were history. I sprinted along the fountains, through the manicured grounds and up the steps, near where I had seen Mark executed. Or his dado double executed. Either way, it wasn't a happy memory, and it only got me more fired up for what was to come. I strode boldly inside. There was nothing secretive about my visit. I wanted him to know I was there. I went straight to the center of the building, where I knew the red-carpeted stairs would lead up to the platform that held his golden throne. The throne of a king who was losing his kingdom.

There he sat. Alone. As much as I knew I would find him there, I was surprised when I actually saw him. He had changed. Gone was the long, dark hair and youthful appearance. Saint Dane now looked as he did the very first day I met him. His long hair had gone gray. His face had aged. He still wore the rich, red clothing of a Ravinian king, but he looked small inside the elaborate robe. He sat slumped in the chair, looking like an old man. Looking beaten. Not that I needed more proof, but it confirmed that the spirit of Solara was rising. And Saint Dane's was waning.

"You shouldn't be hanging around inside on such a nice day," I called to him. "You're missing a h.e.l.l of a show."

He didn't react. I wasn't sure if he even heard me. His eyes stared straight ahead, vacant. It didn't matter. He could have looked as if he were dead, and I still wouldn't have let my guard down. If Saint Dane was anything, he was unpredictable. Like they say about wild animals, they're the most dangerous when they feel trapped and threatened.

"We know the dado army is coming back," I said, taunting. "We're ready for them. That must have taken a heck of a lot of spirit out of you to be moving so many of them around Halla like that. Is that why you look like h.e.l.l? Is your dark power almost gone? Hmmm?"

His eyes moved a fraction to focus on me. In spite of the fact that he looked old and tired, his blue-white eyes still burned. He wasn't done. Not by a long shot.

"Is that what Nevva told you?" he said with a low growl. "The way to defeat me was to deplete the spirit we worked so hard to build?"

"More or less," I answered casually. "Pretty good advice, don't you think?"

"She betrayed me," he said with a barely perceptible whisper.

"You betrayed yourself," I shot back. His eyes flared. He didn't budge, but his eyes sparkled with rage.

"It took me a while to realize this, but you know what? You never had a chance."

"I control Halla," he hissed.

"Controlled. Past tense. Big difference."