Raven Rise (16 page)

One man, who seemed to be the leader, called out, “Don't move, please.”

“Like hell!” Courtney shouted, and ran for the kitchen.

Mark was right behind her. They sprinted for the back door, but before Courtney could grab it, that door flew open as well.

“Ahh!” Courtney screamed.

More men poured in. They were dressed the same as the others, only these men were holding something over their faces, like masks. Courtney took a swing at the first guy. The man ducked it easily. She wound up for another punch, too late. The next man through the door held up a small canister.

“Look out!” Mark yelled to Courtney.

She didn't. The man sprayed something in her face, hitting her with a thick, wet mist. Courtney thought it smelled like lemons. A second later her world twisted. She glanced back to see Mark on his back. He had gotten an even bigger whiff of the lemons. Courtney fell to her knees, beginning to lose consciousness. She looked up at the intruders with the fleeting thought that her parents couldn't be involved with these monsters. How could they be?

She had one more thought before folding. The man who held up the canister had a star tattooed on his arm. She wondered if her parents were tattooed as well.

Her cheek hit the floor and she was gone.

I
t feels strange to write these words, but I have to because, well, they are the truth.

Mark, Courtney, I am having an amazingly great time. I guess I'm feeling kind of guilty about it, because I shouldn't be having so much fun when you consider that the reason I'm here is because of a brutal war and the near destruction of a territory. Maybe Saint Dane is right. You've got to break something down before you can rebuild.

Whoa. Did I just write that? Did I actually agree with something Saint Dane said? Oh great. There's something else to feel guilty about. But not really. This is different. Saint Dane's plan for the destruction of Ibara was intentional. He was trying to bring it about. I'm just dealing with the end result of events that were beyond my control. I'm coming from a completely different place. I guess you could say that I'm trying to make the best of it, and it's working out pretty well.

I suppose “fun” isn't the best word to describe what I'm doing. I've actually been working really hard. Cleaning up the wreckage of Rayne was grueling. I wrote all about that before. Every last person who lives in Rayne did their part, and we were left with a clean slate. The beach was clear. We saved many of the beautiful palm trees. Tribunal Mountain was intact. What followed was the rebuilding of a village.

I won't go into all the details of the work because it was extensive. Rayne may have been a simple fishing village built on a quiet tropical bay, but it was surprisingly sophisticated. As much as the tribunal didn't want to repeat the mistakes of the past and become slaves to technology, some of the more rudimentary elements of civilization were used once again. Pipes were replaced to bring running water back through the village. The simple power grid needed repair so that each new hut would have light. The communication system was intact because it was powered from Tribunal Mountain. There were engineers who maintained each of those systems, and oversaw their rebuilding.

My crew worked on rebuilding the huts. For me it was the best job, because the results were tangible. After a hard day's work we had an actual, physical structure to show for it. Simple as that. I guess it was symbolic as much as anything, but seeing these structures begin to dot the sand gave me the gratification of knowing I was working to make something real. Maybe guilt played in there a little bit as well. I was the one who brought the tak to Ibara that destroyed the village in the first place. Of course, it would have been worse if Saint Dane had his way, but still. I had a hand in leveling the place, and now I'm having a very big hand in rebuilding it. It's an awesome feeling to do something so positive. There are no downsides here. I'm feeling great.

Another good thing is that the people of Rayne seem to like me. I'm no longer considered a mysterious outsider. I'm one of them. They trust me and follow me. I'm in charge of many workers, and they could easily blow me off, but they haven't. I think I'm a good leader. I try to be fair and spread the workload, and I never ask somebody to do something I wouldn't do myself. I think they respect that. It's keeping me in great shape, too. I'm putting on some serious muscle. That'll happen when you're lugging around lengths of building materials all day.

Genj and the others on the tribunal are always asking my opinions on things too. Genj in particular. He's always telling me how glad he is that I'm there and what a great job I'm doing. More than once he's said that he doesn't know where they would be if I hadn't come to Ibara. I believe it was that feeling that led them to do something that took me by surprise. Even as I'm writing this, I'm having trouble believing what happened.

One evening, at the end of the workday, I was summoned from the job site to the mountain for an audience with the tribunal. That's what the security guy called it: “an audience.” Up until that point my relationship with Genj and Moman and Drea had been pretty informal. Even though they were the big bosses, they always treated me as an equal. More or less. The fact that I was being summoned for an audience suddenly felt kind of official. Ominous even. As I walked toward that meeting, I kept racking my brain trying to figure out what I might have done wrong.

I entered the mountain and climbed the stone stairs that led to the vast cavern that was the tribunal's meeting place. The closer I got, the more nervous I became. What had I done? What had gone wrong? I reached the floor and saw the three members of the tribunal sitting behind their desk, looking seriously formal. They wore the same simple light green clothing with long sleeves and pants that they had worn the day I first met them. That was a surprise, because for the last few months they had been dressing exactly like everyone else in Rayne. They were working hard too, and they dressed for it in work clothes. Now they were looking all sorts of official. Gulp. I walked forward, uncertain. It was like a wall had descended between us. Just that morning we were talking and kidding like friends. Now I was being called to the principal's office. I stood in front of them without saying a word. Genj, Drea, and Moman stared back at me, expressionless. I wanted to break the tension and shout, “Guys? What the heck?” I didn't. I'm learning to keep my mouth shut.

Finally, after enough time had gone by so that my armpits were totally soaked with nervous sweat, Genj said, “Pendragon, do you know why you're here?”

Swell. A quiz. Did he mean did I know why I was standing in front of them feeling awkward and sweaty, or did I know why I was on Ibara? I didn't know the answer to the first question and didn't want to answer the second.

“No.” Can't go wrong with that answer.

Drea continued, “We've been observing you closely since the day you arrived on Ibara and were attacked by the swarm of bees.”

Right. The quig-bees. I'd almost forgotten about that. Or maybe I forced it out of my head.

“As you know, we do not welcome outsiders,” Moman continued. “But you knew of our dear, lost Remudi. We originally decided to let you stay, on the chance you might help us learn what had happened to him.”

I knew exactly what had happened to him. He was the Traveler from Ibara. Saint Dane killed him during a Tato match on Quillan. As much as they wanted to know what had become of their former tribunal member, they would never learn that particular truth.

“Unfortunately,” Moman added, “we still do not know of his fate.”

I nodded sympathetically and said, “I wish I could help you.” It was the truth. I really did wish I could help. But I couldn't. Or wouldn't.

“At first you had us worried, Pendragon,” Genj said. “Especially when you put in with Siry and his band of Jakills.”

“If not for the Jakills,” I interrupted, “we never would have known of the dado attack. We owe them all a debt of gratitude.”

I shouldn't have said anything. This was their show, but I couldn't stand there and let them disrespect the Jakills. Ibara was still around because of them. I guess I hadn't learned to keep my mouth shut after all.

“Indeed,” Drea said. “We never understood Siry and his friends. Perhaps we should have listened to them a bit more attentively. Sometimes we equate youth with ignorance. It is a failing that comes with age, and of that we are guilty.”

Oh.

“Which brings us to the point of this audience,” Genj interjected. “As much as we owe the Jakills a debt of gratitude, it is a debt we also owe you. You saved our home. You saved Veelox. We wish that Siry and your friend Alder could be here to hear this as well. Not only did you guide us in the battle, but since then you have proven to be a valuable ally in the rebuilding of Rayne. We don't know why you have adopted Ibara, but we are certainly glad that you did.”

I had to smile. They had brought me there to thank me. Though I wasn't sure why they were being so formal about it. All they had to do was say “thanks” and I'd be happy.

“What are your plans?” Moman asked. “Will you be leaving us?”

Huge question. They had no idea that I had come from another territory in another time. For all they knew, I was planning on taking a boat and sailing back to wherever it was I had come from in the first place. They didn't know I had nowhere to go and my boat was buried under a few thousand tons of rubble.

“I can't go back home,” I told them honestly. “The reasons for that are too complicated to explain. Even if I could, I'm not so sure I'd go. Rayne is my home now. I want to do what I can to help rebuild it. But that won't take forever. I think that once the village is rebuilt, we can look to the future and start building another fleet of pilgrim ships. Veelox is still waiting. There's an entire world to bring back from the dead, not just a single island. I want to be around to see that.”

All three tribunal members exchanged looks, and smiles.

“That is what we hoped to hear,” Genj said. “Given how hard you've been working, we aren't surprised. Still, we needed to hear it. Seeing as this is the decision you have made, we'd like to inform you of a decision we have made, along with many other village leaders.”

As if on cue, people started walking into the large chamber. They had been listening to this conversation from the tunnels surrounding the cavern. Everyone was dressed in the same formal clothing that the tribunal wore. I was suddenly feeling kind of cheesy in my sweaty work clothes. In all, there were around thirty people, many of whom I recognized as leaders of various groups within Rayne. There were engineers, musicians, doctors, architects, security people, and pretty much every leader of every important group on the island. Telleo was there too. She stepped behind her father with a broad grin. What the heck was going on?

Genj stood and looked me right in the eye.

“We have been discussing this for quite some time,” he began. “The vote was unanimous. There has been a vacant chair on the tribunal of Rayne since Remudi left. It needs to be filled. We would be honored if you took that seat. You have earned it, Pendragon. Will you help lead Rayne and Ibara into the future?”

To say I was stunned would be an understatement. These people were asking me to become one of the four leaders of the village. Of Ibara. And for all practical purposes, of Veelox.

They had brought the idea up once before, but I didn't take it too seriously. It was right after the battle and everybody was caught up in the excitement of victory. I thought it was just one of those things that you say in the moment, but don't really mean. And since nobody had mentioned it since, I forgot all about it. Until then. There was no mistake. They were serious. They wanted me on the tribunal.

So many thoughts flashed through my head. Could I do this? I was only a kid. Eighteen years old, I think. Who knows? I haven't blown out a birthday candle in a bunch of years. Of course, I'd seen more things in those years than most people see in a lifetime, and that included the people who now sat on the tribunal.

I truly didn't know how to answer. I looked at Telleo. She smiled and gave me a nod of encouragement. She wanted me to accept the offer. I think it was seeing her that made things come clear for me. It suddenly seemed as if everything that had happened could very well have been leading to this. Maybe this was my destiny as a Traveler. I had battled Saint Dane on eight different territories. Maybe the battle for Ibara was actually the final battle for Halla. Saint Dane threw everything at the small island, and lost. Now he was trapped here. It made me think that I had done the exact right thing in burying the flume. I had ended Saint Dane's reign of terror. Now I was in a position to start picking up the pieces. Suddenly everything felt right. I was in the right place. This was the way it was meant to be.

“I would be honored,” I said, bowing my head in respect.

A cheer went up from the crowd. Everyone applauded. Telleo ran around the desk and gave me a hug. While we were hugging, I shook Genj's hand, then Moman's, and Drea's. It was incredible. I was officially one of the leaders of a village. Of a territory. Its future was in my hands; I wasn't about to fail. It was the best feeling in the world.

What made it all the better was that life didn't change all that much once I had been elected to the tribunal. It wasn't like I suddenly had to get all serious and attend meetings and wear stiff clothes and give speeches or anything. Just the opposite. My relationship with the tribunal was pretty loose. They'd ask my advice and I'd offer my opinions. Sometimes we'd debate over things, like whether we should build another common celebration area before tackling the next ring of homes. Or if we should push deeper into the jungle with our construction, which would allow for larger huts. It was easy. I still got to lead my group of builders and got my satisfaction from that. The only real difference was that Twig and Krayven started kidding me about being on the tribunal and being one of “them,” but it was all in fun.

No, it was more than that. In some ways this was the ultimate victory that the Jakills sought. They wanted the truth. They wanted their voices to be heard by the tribunal. Now their thoughts and concerns were very much on the tribunal's plate, through me. I wished that Siry could know that. I wished that all the Jakills who lost their lives could know.

Many of the debates I had with the tribunal were during meals. I had lots of dinners with Genj and Telleo. We'd talk about the day's work and the troubles and successes we were having. The conversation usually went to things like what we should do in the future. Rearming the water guns for the protection of Ibara was important. There was no telling if the Flighters would stage another attack. We talked about creating an additional security force to concentrate more on threats from off the island. It was exciting to know we were making decisions that would impact the future of an entire civilization.