The Last Portal (16 page)

Makeshift
shelters were erected around the fire, and the Mytar were shown
beds covered with soft, warm blankets. Before Chris went to sleep,
Kaloc paid him another visit. He was very concerned about the
ability of Batarr to penetrate his dreams, and offered one more
piece of advice. ‘Remember, you are ultimately in control of
everything that happens in your dreams.’ He left, saying, ‘he would
be looking out for him’; a comment Chris didn’t understand at
all.

Susie and Joe
climbed into their beds and were asleep within minutes. Chris was
also exhausted, but the events of the day and Kaloc’s final warning
played on his mind. His last conscious thoughts were that he didn’t
want to meet Batarr in his dreams, much less Zelnoff.

The Zentor

Chris found himself
walking along a tunnel. It was narrow and only dimly lit by
sporadic patches of glow-worm colonies. The walls were also wet and
slippery and the ground was covered in loose rocks and boulders.
Somewhere up ahead was the portal and home. He just had to reach
it. But there was also at least one other presence somewhere behind
him. He felt its malice, its power, its burning need to find the
portal. But no matter how many times he looked back, he couldn’t
see it. He broke into a trot. The tunnel ahead was becoming
narrower, darker, the ground more uneven. Then, as though someone
had turned off a switch, the light from the glow-worms vanished. He
found himself in complete darkness. Behind, he could clearly hear
the sound of many footsteps. Seized by panic, he ran on blindly,
crashing into overhead stalactites and tripping over loose
rocks.

A stream
appeared from nowhere, gushing over his feet, and filled with
slippery rocks and gravel. He slipped and fell to his knees, rose,
fell again, then crawled his way forward, clambering blindly over
huge boulders and wading through waist-deep pools of icy water.
Still the sounds came closer. A second wave of panic sent him
bouncing off the walls, clawing his way over more boulders and
splashing through pools of water. Then, as suddenly as they had
disappeared, the glow-worms were back. He could see, yet there was
nothing, only the sounds of some invisible monster lumbering behind
him. Panting and exhausted, he turned to run once more. Then he saw
it, the familiar distortion of the tunnel walls − the portal. The
breeze was in his face, drawing him forward. He ran wildly on, but
the distortions seemed to retreat as fast as he could run. The
vortex was turning faster. Harder and harder he pushed himself,
until he felt his lungs were about to burst.

Then there were
footsteps, many footsteps, becoming louder, gaining ground. Strong
hands clutched at him. He fought hard, broke their grip, lashed out
at any attempt to stop him, but there were too many and they were
too strong. Something large hit him in the side and he fell to the
ground. Severely winded, he tried to move, but a large weight was
on his chest, pinning him helplessly to the ground.

He woke up
screaming. Two soldiers had pinned his arms to the ground and Joe
was sitting on him, breathing heavily, as if he had just run a
sprint race. Moments later, Kaloc and Susie appeared, also out of
breath. The light from Kaloc’s staff revealed they were alongside a
river.

‘Is he
alright?’ Susie’s concerned face peered down at him amidst a tangle
of hair.

‘I think he’s
waking up.’ Joe’s flushed, pink cheeks appeared directly over the
top of him.

‘Get off me,’
Chris gasped.

Joe grinned
briefly, then climbed to his feet.

Chris rolled
over, clutching his stomach.

‘Wow, that was
a great ride,’ Joe continued cheerfully. ‘How’d you like my running
tackle? Maybe I should join the rugby team when we get back.’

Kaloc leant
down and helped Chris to his feet, staring into his eyes as he did
so. ‘It’s all right, he’s fully awake now.’ He signalled his
soldiers, who promptly stepped back.

Chris looked
down. He was a sorrowful sight, soaking wet, bruised and bleeding
from too many cuts and grazes to count.

‘You are
remarkably fast for one so small.’ Kaloc smiled warmly. ‘If it
wasn’t for your friend, we mightn’t have caught you in time.’

‘In time for
what? ’ Chris asked.

Kaloc pointed
along the direction of the river. ‘Only a short distance further on
it plunges over a cliff.’

Chris could
hear the roar of the falls.

‘That’s twice
in less than twenty-four hours I’ve saved your neck,’ Joe piped up,
obviously enjoying himself.

Chris looked
around but couldn’t recognise anything. ‘How far have I run?’

‘Quite some
distance,’ Kaloc replied. ‘You’ll have to tell us exactly what you
were running from.’

Chris groaned
quietly to himself, now remembering what had caused his flight. ‘I
couldn’t make out what was chasing me. But I was running toward the
portal.’

‘So you didn’t
see Batarr or Zelnoff?’ Kaloc asked.

Chris shook his
head. ‘I was in a tunnel and the portal was ahead of me, but no
matter how hard I ran, it always seemed to be just in front of
me.’

‘So you were
trying to reach the portal when we caught you?’

‘Yeah,’ Chris
replied, feeling like an idiot.

‘Hmm…’ Kaloc
was quiet for a moment. ‘It’s probably safe to assume Batarr and
Zelnoff now know where we are. Otherwise they wouldn’t have known
where the nearest cliff was. This will complicate matters. It means
we’ll have little time to reach safety.’

Kaloc wouldn’t
explain his comment further, but it was clear the night’s events
had greatly disturbed him. Chris trudged back to the camp,
shivering uncontrollably and feeling thoroughly disgusted at
himself for not realising he was dreaming.

‘Don’t feel too
bad about what has happened.’ Joe drew alongside Chris and Susie.
‘Kaloc knew all along that you would do a runner. He had guards
posted outside your tent all night, just waiting for you to bolt.
What he didn’t realise was that you would be such a slippery
customer to catch.’

‘He was hoping
I might get a look at Zelnoff.’ Chris shook his head miserably.
‘But I saw nothing. I couldn’t even see Batarr.’

‘Well, next
time you’ll do better,’ Joe said.

Chris grunted a
reply, feeling Joe had no idea what he was up against.

‘Did you feel
there was more than one person following you?’ Susie asked.

‘Yeah… maybe,’
Chris said thoughtfully.

‘Well that’s
why you couldn’t see Batarr. Zelnoff must have been helping
him.’

Chris didn’t
know if this was good or bad news. If Batarr and Zelnoff could
combine their thoughts, he would never stop them invading his
dreams.

When they
reached camp the sky was already changing to lighter shades of
blue, and the asteroid belt that surrounded the planet was fading.
Chris quickly changed back into his old clothes and was given a hot
glutinous mixture, which tasted remarkably like porridge, and told
to warm himself by the fire. While Chris ate, the camp was quickly
disassembled and the supplies distributed amongst the soldiers. By
the time the first rays of sun peeked over the mountains the
company had already begun their trek. This was the first day there
was no mist or low-lying cloud to obscure the view and Chris was
amazed to see Mount Caporel directly ahead of him, complete with a
snow-capped cone and a column of black smoke. He had never before
seen an active volcano, and watched in awe as the smoke billowed
high into the atmosphere, where it seemed to condense into dark
rain clouds that streamed into the distance. The sight triggered
much chattering and excitement amongst the company.

The clear
weather, however, had the opposite effect on Kaloc. He roamed about
morosely, issuing orders and pushing his men to move faster.

Joe excitedly
tried to ask Kaloc where they were going.

‘It’s better
not to know the details,’ Kaloc replied grimly. ‘Our destination
mustn’t become common knowledge.’

‘Well, I won’t
tell everyone,’ Joe said.

Kaloc glanced
down at Joe and his features softened. ‘No, I’m sure you wouldn’t,
not willingly anyway. The trouble is that in these times our
enemies have many spies and unguarded information has already cost
our planet dearly.’

By mid-morning
they had already been travelling for many hours without a break and
everyone was exhausted. The injured in their company were also
falling behind. Finally, to allow the company to regroup and the
stragglers to catch up, Kaloc called a rest.

They had
stopped on top of a large rock outcrop, which gave spectacular
views up and down the valley. Ahead, the valley curled around a
mountain before heading directly toward Mount Caporel. Kaloc sat
down on a rock and watched Chris greedily gulping water from a
flask made from animal hide that was being passed around. Susie was
crawling on her hands and knees trying to catch a six-legged
lizard. Eventually the lizard ran out from under a pile of dead
leaves and escaped over a ledge.

‘Susie,’ he
called, after watching her preciously balancing on the ledge. ‘I
know what Joe and Chris’s particular talents are, but I’m still
unsure about you.’

She turned
around sharply and almost toppled over.

‘I can read
emotions…thoughts of animals…that sort of stuff,’ she replied with
a quick smile. ‘You know… I can tell all about a tree, or an
animal, just by touching them.’

These words
drew a wide grin from Kaloc. ‘I was almost too scared to ask, but I
had hoped.’ His eyes narrowed on Susie. ‘Does Batarr know?’

‘He knows I can
interpret languages, emotions… stuff like that. But I’ve only just
realised I can sense animals and plants.’

Another smile
swept across Kaloc’s face. ‘Excellent. We’re not done for yet. I
believe we can still give Zelnoff and Batarr a few very unpleasant
surprises.’

‘What do you
mean?’ Chris asked.

‘I assume
Batarr never explained the types of powers each Mytar may possess,’
Kaloc said, leaning forward on his staff and staring intently at
Chris.

Chris wiped
away some water that had spilled on to his chin. ‘Not in much
detail.’

‘Well I guess
it wasn’t in his interest to explain too much.’ He paused, ensuring
Joe and Susie were also listening. ‘Each group of six Mytar will
have a slightly different range of powers, but their powers will
always fall into the same basic categories. Chris, you have the
ability to travel with your mind to distant places and read and
even control minds. Susie, you cannot read minds, but you can sense
emotions and communicate with animals. These powers are similar and
complementary. Joe can change shape. Another Mytar will have the
power to move objects, and yet another can change the weather.’

‘That’s only
five,’ Chris said.

‘The sixth
Mytar doesn’t have any powers,’ Kaloc explained, ‘but, in a way,
this one is the most important. For without this Mytar, the other
Mytar cannot merge their powers. Once merged, you will all become
much stronger.’

‘Awesome,’ Joe
said.

‘But to reach
the level of ability to merge all your powers won’t be easy.’

The measured
words of Kaloc’s last comment sent a tingle down Chris’s spine.
‘How much time will it take?’ he asked.

‘I can’t say.
This is not something I’ve had any experience in.’

‘You have no
idea?’ Chris queried.

‘Batarr, as our
leader, knew much more about this than I did. I was his duty to
study the Mytar and their powers. I’m afraid my knowledge is very
limited.’

‘So what
happens? Joe asked. ‘You just hang around and wait, hoping we grow
stronger.’

‘There are
sources of knowledge we can tap to guide your development,’ Kaloc
replied. ‘I will have to think carefully how best to access
these.’

‘Well, can you
at least help get Zelnoff and Batarr out of my dreams?’ Chris
asked.

‘I can teach
you how to defend yourself against them, but first you must
recognise you’re dreaming. If you cannot do that, I’m afraid
they’ll always have control.’

‘Then can you
teach me to recognise I’m dreaming?’

‘Unfortunately
I can’t, this realisation has to come from you. Most dreams don't
make sense or have parts of them that are absurd. You have to look
for this. Recognise the impossibility of the dream. Once you
recognise you are dreaming you can take control of it. It also
helps if you also prepare yourself. Before sleep, your last thought
at night must be that you alone can control your dreams. Only when
you have control can you defend yourself.’

‘Can’t you do
anything?’ Joe asked. ‘I mean, you’re a Guardian, aren’t you? Can’t
you get into dreams, like Batarr could, and stop them trying to
kill Chris?’

Kaloc looked
vaguely embarrassed by the question. ‘I don’t have the same
abilities as Batarr, I’m afraid. I can only offer advice....’

‘Advice won’t
stop Chris trying to run off the nearest cliff at night, will it?’
Joe replied bluntly. ‘It sounds like we’ll have to tie Chris up at
night.’

Kaloc rose to
his full height, which towered over Joe. ‘That’s a very good
suggestion, Joe,’ he said mildly, seemingly unaffected by Joe’s
brash comments. ‘Until Chris has managed to control his dreams that
may be your only option.’

Joe stared
blankly at Kaloc. ‘I was only joking. You don’t really want us to
tie him to his bed, do you?’

‘It would be
safer for all concerned,’ Kaloc replied, at least until we know
Chris will not run off.’

Chris was going
to say something further, but he started to feel a heightened sense
of apprehension amongst the surrounding soldiers. He looked across
at Susie. She was shielding her eyes against the sun and staring up
the valley. Several other soldiers were also staring in the same
direction and pointing at the sky. Kaloc’s commander was making his
way quickly toward them, but Kaloc had already seen it. Chris felt
a surge of dread and fear that quickly receded as Kaloc wrestled
back control of his emotions.