ConQuest (The Quest Saga) (17 page)

The engine stopped. They heard a blast and everyone fell down. The next thing they knew they were on the other side of the energy field.

Q looked out. His weapon was still intact.

Thank God, Q thought.

“How did you do that?” Chris asked him.

“I have no idea. It just came to me,” Q said. “So what was that button you pressed?”

“It activates the Maxi Blast,” Chris said.

“The what?”

“Maxi Blast. Uses up all energy in one surge of speed and power,” she explained.

“Wow… that’s so cool!”

Then he realized the hidden message.

“So we’re out of fuel?” he asked, hoping the answer would be ‘no’.

She just nodded. “We’re riding on reserves,” she said and flew to the huge green planet.

The planet that held one of the most dangerous temples of all.

They had reached the Temple of Giants.

A ‘giant’ task ahead of them.

Suspicion

Taylor came up to the pit after experiencing the sudden burst of speed. She had no idea what had taken place in the last few minutes.

When she reached the pit all the others were already there, with the exception of Elizabeth.

“So we’re splitting up into groups again?” Kai asked Q.

“No splitting up!” Taylor barged in. “We all saw how that worked out the last time.”

They all nodded in agreement.

“Let’s get that map!” Q said and they all geared up.

Although Q had said that, ironically he was the only one who didn't suit up. He had something more important to do.

Taylor looked at him suspiciously as he left the pit. She wondered what he was up to.

What was he hiding?

Temple of Giants

Q was on his way to the infirmary.

“It’s like everyone just forgot about Elizabeth,” he muttered.

Q walked to her bed. She was still the same. Her face showed no expression. She lay motionless in a coma.

Q saw something beside her and picked it up. It looked like a feather.

It had a feather-like structure but it looked like diamonds and pearls were woven together. He figured that it was Elizabeth’s and put it down next to her.

He brushed a strand of hair from her face.

“Get better soon,” he whispered.

He walked back up to the pit when he felt a sudden jolt. He realized that they’d landed.

He hastened his pace. When he reached the pit the others were all ready to leave the ship.

Taylor pulled Q aside.

“Where were you?” she demanded.

“I was um...” He never felt comfortable talking to Taylor about Elizabeth. He felt like he was combining fire and ice. It just didn’t seem right.

“I was checking on the nuclear engine,” he said nervously.

“Oh, okay,” she said and left. Q hoped she had bought it but it wasn't exactly easy to find out. Taylor was known to not show things like that on her face.

Kai interrupted his train of thought. “So, Elizabeth, huh?”

“Can we do this later?” Q asked him.

“Ethosien,” Q yelled.

Instantly, white light surrounded him. When it died down he was in his familiar armor.

They walked down the stairwell to this new planet.

It was huge! They looked like ants before it. What they had first thought to be trees turned out to be grass!

To find the Temple of Giants in such a place would take weeks and they had only one week without taking into account the two days that they had already spent.

Q closed his eyes. He could see the temple but he couldn’t make out how far away it was but at least he knew how to get there. That’s much better than getting lost on a planet that looked like Godzilla’s home.

Q led them. “That way.” He took them due east.

The walk was long and tiring. Having to cut every specimen of huge vegetation that lay in their path didn't exactly help. It wasn't a surprise that after a while everyone started to get impatient.

“Are we there yet?” Kai asked.

“No,” Q said.

Five minutes later,

“Are we there yet?” Taylor asked.

“No.”

20 minutes later,

“Are we there yet?” Chris asked.

“Yes,” Q said.

“Really?” she asked excitedly.

“No.”

Three hours later,

“Are we there yet?!” They all asked in unison (yelled would probably make a better description)

At that point any answer other than ‘yes’ would’ve probably resulted in them killing him.

Luckily for him they had almost reached. He just smiled and pointed to the huge metal tower that rose over the trees that were actually grass.

The whole group received a burst of energy after that, but sadly that didn't even last ten minutes and they went back to the same routine.

“Are we there yet?” Kai asked again.

Q realized that the only way to stop this nonsense was to ignore them. They walked for another hour but the tower didn’t look any closer.

“I’m hungry,” Chris said.

Kai kneeled down and opened a backpack that the others hadn't noticed. He fished around but his hands came up empty.

“You didn’t pack food?” Chris asked, sounding murderous.

Kai looked at her with a broad smile. “Apparently not.”

“What
do
you have in there?” Taylor asked him.

“Weaponry, sensors and a poster of Michael Jackson.”

Taylor just gaped at him. “I’m not going to even ask,” she said and turned away.

“What? What?” Kai was clueless to what had ticked her off.

Q wondered how they could reach the temple without any provisions. Who knew how many days it would take them?

He shook the feeling off. He only had four days left. He had to find the map today. He had no other option.

Speaking of the temple, he had lost sight of the tower behind the grass-trees, so he might be taking them in the wrong direction for all he knew. He tried using his Q-maps but the temple energy beacon was distorted.

“There must be some huge energy flowing around it,” he theorized. 

Suddenly there was a rustling inside the bushes, which were human- sized, by the way.

The others heard it too. Q pulled out his discs, Kai stood in a classic Jackie Chan fighting stance, Chris pulled out her daggers and Taylor took out her sword as well.

Suddenly they heard a shrieking sound. Something jumped out of the bush and charged at Q. It was so fast that Q didn’t have time to move.

She was a really fair girl. She had coffee brown hair that fell to her shoulders. Her eyes were like flames of fire. She wore silver earrings and a silver chain. She wore a white shirt and blue jeans. She reminded Q of someone he knew but he just couldn’t place her.

He snapped back to reality just in time to see the girl tackle him into the bushes.

Apparently there was a cliff on the other side so they fell right off it. One way of looking at it was that they were flying.

Another was they were sky-diving to death.

Q closed his eyes and willed the air around them to lift them up.

Nothing happened.

They were about 50 metres from the hard ground. He closed his eyes. He tried to make his suit grow wings like before, but it didn’t work.

He waited for the impact but there was none. He opened his eyes to see what was going on.

He was flying! Actually flying, not the falling-flying thing. He turned his head.

He realized that he wasn't the one doing the flying. It was the girl. She had wings!

They were peculiar wings at that. Her feathers weren’t fluffy, instead they shone like gems.

A feather fell on Q’s face. He picked it up. It shone like it was made out of diamonds and pearls. It seemed strikingly familiar. The one he found next to Elizabeth!

He instantly recognized the girl.

“Elizabeth?” he asked.

“So you finally realize,” she said, smiling.

“But.... how?” he asked.

“It’s a long story,” she put Q back on top of the cliff.

They walked to the others. Taylor ran over and hugged him.

“I was so worried!” she said.

“Is that.....Elizabeth?” Chris asked.

Elizabeth nodded.

“You actually activated your Nova form!” Chris exclaimed.

Q and Kai looked confused. Taylor explained it to them after looking at their faces.

“Every zyxian is like a cocoon. Remember how Carlos used his powers only when he had a certain emotional build-up? The Nova is the same. Only difference is that it’s permanent and requires a great deal of emotional build-up. Once a person achieves such a level of emotions, he forms a cocoon. After a while he will emerge from the cocoon as a Nova. An advanced zyxian being. Cool part is, this happens to only us earthlings. No other species.”

Q turned to Elizabeth “So your coma was…”

“My cocoon, yes.”

“Well.....it’s nice to have you back, I guess,” Taylor told her.

Elizabeth completely ignored Taylor, leaving her fuming with anger. Though in Elizabeth’s defense, Taylor’s statement wasn't exactly friendly.

“So, what exactly happened to you?” Kai asked Elizabeth.

Elizabeth didn't say a word. Instead she opened her wings out and flapped them. A huge gust of wind hit them and blurred their vision. Their vision cleared up almost instantly.

Q looked around him. All of his friends were there as well.

“What’s going on?” Q asked them.

Taylor shushed him. “Elizabeth’s showing us her memories and…”

She let out a small yelp. Q looked at the scene unfolding before them.

Q walked up to Elizabeth’s bed.

‘Uh, oh’ Q thought. He could almost feel the anger radiating from Taylor. He’d have to smooth things over later.

The scene continued.

A while after everyone had left the ship, Elizabeth twitched in her bed; after a few seconds she started flailing around. Then a bright white light covered her up and she floated into the air.

When the light died, Elizabeth was back on the bed with wings sprouting from her back. She opened her eyes slowly.

She looked around her. She rushed out the door and into the sky.

She flew up higher and higher. She scouted for a while until she saw Q and co. She swooped down but she wasn’t an expert at flying already, so she landed in a bush instead. Then she charged at Q.

The image became black. When they were able to see again they realized that they were back in reality.

Q rubbed his head. “What was that again?” he asked.

“I sent you my memories,” Elizabeth said.

“It’s probably one of her Nova powers,” Taylor said. “And by the way Q, what were you doing in Elizabeth’s room?”

“So we’re going to the Temple of Giants, right?” Elizabeth asked.

“Thank God.” Q realized what would’ve happened if Elizabeth hadn’t interrupted Taylor.

“Well, yeah, but we’re kinda lost,” Q admitted.

“LOST!!?” Taylor asked him.

“Don’t worry. I saw the temple when I flew here. I can take you there,” Elizabeth said.

She walked up to Q and lifted him up.

“What’re you...” Taylor started.

Elizabeth held onto Q as tight as she could and flew into the air.

“Where are you going!?’ Taylor shouted.

“Relax. She’s not gonna kill him,” Chris told her.

“They’re probably going to the temple. That’s all,” Kai said.

They made valid points but Taylor couldn’t help feeling that something was wrong. You could say that it was her instinct.

Sunset

Elizabeth enjoyed flying a lot. That plus having Q right next to her was a huge bonus. They flew higher and higher till they could see the temple.

They flew towards the temple. All through the flight Q was worried that he’d fall.

They reached the temple in a matter of minutes. It was a huge one in exact proportion to the rest of the planet. It was as large as a city. It would take forever for them to reach the tower.

“I think this is enough. We’d better go back,” Q said.

Elizabeth turned and flew back to the others. Taylor was waiting for them as they landed.

“Finally. So how far is the temple?” she asked them.

“About twenty miles from here. It’d take us a few hours to reach it,” he said.

“We’d better set up camp. We can look for it tomorrow,” Elizabeth suggested.

Thankfully, Taylor seemed to agree to the idea.

“Kai, you’d better help me and Chris set up camp,” she ordered.

“Why can't Q do it?” Kai argued.

“Because he’s already done enough today.”

Elizabeth came and sat down next to Q.

Q noticed that her wings had disappeared.

“Where are your wings?” Q asked.

She moved her back as though something was there and voila her wings appeared. Q stared at awe at the wings made of pure gems. He wondered how she could fly with that.

She had them out for a few seconds and then folded them back in.

“They just disappear?” Q asked.

“Yeah. They just fold up and become completely transparent.”

“Pretty cool,” Q said, impressed.

“Actually they fuse with my body if I need them to.”

“So what exactly are they made of?”

“You know I can't answer that myself. They look like they’re made of gems but they sure don't feel like that.”

Q smiled at her. He wondered if they were even capable of saving the world. What if they couldn’t?

              Q looked at the sky. The temple was only a few hours from here. They had to get the map by tomorrow.

He saw the sky darkening. It was almost time for sunset.

“I need to show you something,” Elizabeth said.

“Sure,” Q said. After everything that he had seen today how worse could it be?

                She grabbed him and flew into the air. Q wondered why they couldn’t walk like normal people; then he realized that they were anything but normal.

Still, a little “I’m going to lift you into the air” wouldn't have hurt.

She headed towards a hill a few miles away.