Black Water

EELONG

(CONTINUED)

“You’re making this far too easy, Pendragon,” snarled the cat who was Saint Dane. “It’s almost no fun anymore. Almost.”

Kasha leaped at the stone wall, desperately trying to climb and get at the villain. The gars cowered in fear. They weren’t used to being trapped with an angry klee. Kasha got halfway up the wall, but gravity took over and she fell to the stone floor, landing on her feet.

“What are you?” she shouted at Timber. “Why are you doing this?”

Timber shook his head like a disappointed parent. “I sympathize with you, Pendragon. This new generation of Travelers certainly isn’t helping you much. Then again, Seegen wasn’t much help either, except to me. His map to Black Water was exactly what I needed. I wish I could thank him. It was such a pity I had to feed him that poisoned apple before he left for Second Earth.”

Kasha let out an anguished howl and jumped at the wall. Her claws scraped the stone, but once again, she fell. This time landing on her back with a sickening thud.

Bobby knelt by her and put his hand on her back. “He’s trying to get to you,” he said softly.

“He’s right, my dear,” Timber said. “I always know what you Travelers are thinking. It must be quite unnerving.” The klee rolled over on his back and licked his paw in a very catlike manner. He was totally relaxed and enjoying himself. Bobby thought he could hear the demon purring, which totally creeped him out.

“Don’t listen to him,” Bobby said to Kasha calmly. “He doesn’t know as much as he pretends to.”

“Oh?” Timber said. “Was I right about your friends from Second Earth? I’m sure they’re on Cloral right now, searching for the antidote.”

Bobby and Kasha exchanged quick glances. Saint Dane may have known about Mark and Courtney, but didn’t know how far they had gotten.

“They’ll be too late,” the demon klee added. “By the time they bring the antidote here, Black Water will be a graveyard and the second territory of Halla will be mine. After that, there’s only one thing left for me to worry about.”

“What’s that?” Bobby asked.

“I’ve got to decide which territory to visit next! Perhaps I should go to Quillan. It’s such an amusing place. Or maybe it’s time to drop in on Zadaa so we can be done with that Traveler you have such affection for…Loor.” Timber rolled over and looked down on Bobby, saying, “I don’t suppose you’re having second thoughts about joining me?”

“What do you think?” Bobby snapped back, making himself clearly understood.

“Just as well,” Timber replied with a dismissive shrug. “I wasn’t making the offer. I must leave you now. After all, I’m the Viceroy of Leeandra. I have duties. I must prepare to deliver our welcome home gift to Black Water.”

“This isn’t over, Saint Dane,” Bobby said through gritted teeth. “No matter what happens here, I’m not giving up.”

Timber leaned down through the grid and broke into a wide, evil grin. “Of course you aren’t, Pendragon,” he hissed. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He straightened up and pounced off, disappearing into the night.

Bobby looked at Kasha. The confident attitude he put on for Saint Dane was gone. “We’ve gotta get out of here!” he said nervously.

Kasha jumped for the door and shouted, “Guard! Guard! I demand to see Durgen!”

A klee appeared in the window and said, “You have no right to make demands, traitor.”

Kasha stepped back from the door, stunned. “Traitor?” She turned to Bobby and said, “They think I’m a traitor.”

“I’m sorry, Kasha,” Bobby said. “That stinks, but we’ve got bigger things to worry about.” He paced the cell like a caged cat, which was ironic. Kasha once again tried to climb the stone walls, this time with more control. Like a rock climber on a steep pitch, she found crevices to dig her claws into and slowly moved higher. She made it halfway up the wall and Bobby thought she might actually make it. But her back foot slipped, her balance was gone, and she crashed to the ground again.

“I wish you were the one with claws,” Kasha said, rubbing her sore shoulder.

“Saint Dane said something at the meeting I didn’t understand,” Bobby said. “He said two klees could deliver the poison and be back within the afternoon. It takes a full day to get to Black Water. What was he talking about?”

“He was probably talking about using a gig,” Kasha answered. “That’s what I’d do.”

“What’s a gig?” Bobby asked.

Before Kasha could answer, they were interrupted by a low, humming sound.

“What’s that?” Bobby asked, looking around.

The sound was soft at first, but grew in volume. Seconds later the hum changed to the sound of four musical notes played over and over. It was a sweet little tune that sounded to Bobby like the sound from a flute.

“Have you heard that before?” Bobby asked.

“No!”

“Then what is it?”

The answer came from an unexpected source. The gars who had been cowering in the corners of the cell, stood up. Moments before, they had been groveling like animals. But once the sound began, they seemed to transform. They stood erect, straighter than any gar Bobby had seen outside of Black Water. Bobby and Kasha moved out of the way as the gars walked to the middle of the cell to form a circle. As one, they reached into their rotten clothing and pulled out their amber cubes.

The cubes were glowing.

“Uh-oh,” Kasha uttered.

“Yeah, uh-oh,” Bobby agreed. “It’s starting.”

The gars held their cubes out in front of them. The warm, amber light lit up their faces as if they were standing around a campfire. They no longer looked like frightened animals. These gars had a calm come over them that made them seem almost… human. The four notes played through a few more times, then stopped. The cell fell silent as the light from the cubes grew brighter. A few moments passed, and a voice came from the cubes. It was the first radio broadcast on Eelong. It was the turning point.

“The time has come,” the friendly, female voice said. “Salvation is at hand.”

There was a long pause. The gars stared at the glowing cubes. Bobby and Kasha stood in the shadows, watching with wide eyes.

The voice said, “Use the link. Listen to my words and follow my voice home.”

Mark bounced on the back of Spader’s zenzen as they traveled along a rocky path in the woods. They were right behind Gunny, who was in the lead since he knew the way to Black Water. It was a totally uncomfortable ride for Mark because Spader had the tank on his back and it pushed him even farther back on the haunches of the zenzen. Mark held on to Spader’s tank with both hands, with his legs stretched out over the widest part of the creature. He wasn’t even sitting in a saddle. Mark didn’t want to complain. After all, he was the one who didn’t know how to ride. But after balancing like this for several hours, he was ready to scream.

“Can we stop for a second?” Mark finally called out.

Gunny pulled his zenzen to a stop at the end of the trail before it opened into a clearing. The others stopped behind them.

“What’s up?” Courtney asked.

Mark jumped off and walked around to get his blood flowing again. “I don’t mean to complain,” he said. “But I feel like a wishbone trying to balance on a bouncing basketball.”

Boon said, “I don’t have a tank, you should ride with me.”

“Gladly,” Mark said. He rubbed his legs one last time, then climbed up on the back of Boon’s zenzen. “Thanks,” Mark said. “This’ll work.”

They were about to continue riding when Spader said, “Wait, what’s that sound?” They all listened. “Sounds like a flute,” Mark said.

“There’s a farming village ahead,” Gunny announced.

They trotted their zenzens out of the woods and across the clearing until Gunny held his hand up, stopping them. Ahead they saw what looked like a swarm of giant fireflies hovering a few feet off the ground. More lights dropped down from the trees and joined them. As a group, the lights moved toward the trail.

“What is it?” Boon asked.

“It’s the beginning of the end,” Gunny said soberly.

A closer look showed that the lights weren’t fireflies at all, but dozens of glowing, amber cubes being carried by gars who were climbing down from the trees to join the others already on the path.

“Link has been activated,” Gunny said. “The Advent has begun.”

“The…that means they’re headed for Black Water,” Mark exclaimed.

“The gars back in Leeandra must be doing the same thing,” Courtney added.

“How do they know the way?” Spader asked.

“The link cubes,” Gunny answered. “They glow brighter when faced toward Black Water.”

“Like a compass,” Mark added. “It’s so simple.”

“The fuse is lit,” Gunny said softly. “Now that the gars are on their way, there’s no telling when Saint Dane will unleash the poison.”

“But they’re not there yet,” Spader exclaimed. “Let’s pick up the pace, mates!” Spader kicked his zenzen forward and galloped along the trail. Gunny and Courtney followed right behind him.

“You comfortable?” Boon asked Mark.

“No,” Mark answered truthfully. “So let’s get there fast, okay?”

Mark hugged the furry klee, and Boon kicked his zenzen into motion. The goal was clear. They had to beat the gars to Black Water.

In the prison cell, the gars erupted into cheers and hugged one another as if they had just won the World Series. Some were weeping with joy. Bobby and Kasha stayed in the shadows.

“I don’t know what they’re so happy about,” Bobby said. “They’re just as stuck in here as we are.”

The gar celebration ended, but their adventure was just beginning. As if they had been rehearsing this for a long time, they put away their amber cubes and went to work. Several quickly formed a human pyramid against one wall that reached up toward the ceiling. With practiced precision, they climbed on top of one another, higher and higher, until two gars reached the bamboo grid. Bobby and Kasha watched in fascination as a gar on the ground pulled out a loose stone in the floor to reveal a cache of sharp tools. The gar handed them up the pyramid to the gars on top. Quickly the top gars began sawing through the bamboo grid.

“They were planning this,” Kasha declared.

“You think?” Bobby shot back with a touch of sarcasm.

The bamboo bars were cut through in seconds. With a couple of quickcracks, two bars fell to create an opening big enough for a single gar to crawl through. One gar poked his head up through the opening to the outside and…

“Hey!” came a shout from above. “Get back in there!”

It was a klee guard. But the gar was ready for him. With incredible speed and the advantage of surprise, the gar grabbed the klee and pulled him down through the opening in the grid. The surprised guard plummeted down into the cell head first. He hit the stone floor hard.

Bobby winced.

The klee guard rolled over, moaning. The gars on the floor quickly jumped him and took his wooden club and lasso. Bobby looked back to the ceiling to see that the gars who had been on the top of the pyramid were gone. They had escaped. The rest climbed down quickly.

“Now what?” Kasha asked.

An alarm sounded. Outside the cell could be heard the sounds of confusion. Whistles were blown. Klees snarled angrily.

“Sounds like those two gars are getting busy,” Bobby said.

The gars in the cell gathered around the door as if they knew exactly what was going to happen next. A second later the door to the cell slammed open and a klee guard was thrown into the room, unconscious. The gars didn’t waste any time. They fled from their putrid prison, taking their first steps toward freedom.

“We’re outta here!” Bobby announced and ran for the door. Kasha was right behind him. They jumped out of the cell…

And into a riot. The same escape that the gars pulled off in Bobby’s cell was being duplicated throughout the animal pens. Bobby and Kasha saw cell doors being thrown open all around the courtyard. Gars streamed out, screaming like banshees to intimidate their klee captors. It wasn’t hard. The gars outnumbered the klees ten to one. Some brave klees tried to fight, but they were overwhelmed by the charging gars as they ran for the corral doors that would lead them to the zenzen pens and out of this prison.

“We should find Ranjin,” Bobby said. “Maybe this will convince him to become the viceroy again and-“

“No,” Kasha interrupted. “We’re past that. We’ve got to get to the forager operation center.”

“Why?” Bobby asked.

Before Kasha could answer, a squad of klees came charging into the courtyard with a huge net, trying to recapture some gars. Several gars were caught in the net, but they weren’t giving up without a fight. These were no longer docile animals. They had been waiting a long time for their chance at freedom and weren’t about to give it back easily. They tore at the netting, trying to get at the klees, who did their best to contain them. The klees desperately pulled on the net, but the gars refused to be controlled. They tore the netting away from the klees and turned it back on the cats, tying up the frightened cats and trapping them in their own net. With a cheer of victory, the gars ran for the corral doors.

“Follow me,” Kasha ordered and ran for the same doors. She kept to the walls to avoid the mayhem. Bobby was right behind her. When they ran through the doors into the zenzen corral, they were confronted with another form of chaos. Gars were stealing zenzens. They had thrown open the paddock and released all of the horselike animals into the corral. Frightened and confused animals barreled around wildly. Gars leaped for them. The lucky ones landed on a zenzen’s back and took control. The unlucky ones missed and got trampled by the terrified animals.

Again the klees were outnumbered. They came at the gars with their wooden clubs and with whips, but ended up getting jumped by several gars and beaten with their own weapons. The gars were on a rampage. Bobby wasn’t sure if they were motivated by the chance to escape, or by the desperate need for revenge. Probably both. It was a frightening madhouse. He and Kasha tried as best as they could to steer clear of the mayhem and get across the pen and out to Leeandra. But they were like salmon swimming upstream. Hundreds of gars were flooding in the opposite direction.

Bobby and Kasha faced different dangers. Bobby needed to avoid the klees who were trying to recapture gars, and Kasha had to keep away from the gars who wanted to hurt any klee they ran into. Kasha crept past an open zenzen stall. Bobby was following close, and just as he was about to pass the same pen, a frightened zenzen charged out, nearly hitting him. He had to dive back or get trampled. He wasn’t hurt, but when he looked up, Kasha was gone. She had kept going, not realizing Bobby wasn’t following.

“Swell,” Bobby grumbled under his breath. He ran for the gate to Leeandra, but got only a few feet when he was tackled from behind. He was slammed down to the ground, sending up a cloud of dust. He scrambled around to look up at his attacker and saw that staring down on him, pinning his shoulders with his massive paws, was Durgen.

“Here’s one gar I’ll make sure won’t get away,” he snarled while lifting his paw into the air. His claws were out and ready for business. Durgen wound up, ready to slash, when a streaking blur appeared and knocked the klee off Bobby. Bobby scrambled away and jumped to his feet. He was sure he had been saved again by Kasha. But when he looked back, he saw that his savior wasn’t the klee Traveler. It was a gar. Two more gars jumped Durgen and tied him up with his own lasso. The first gar backed away from the trussed cat and looked at Bobby.

“Thank you,” the gar said.

Bobby didn’t know how to react. Why was this gar thanking him? He had saved Bobby’s life, not the other way around. The gar stood opposite Bobby, breathing hard. This seemed strangely familiar to Bobby. A second later he remembered why. This was the gar Bobby had been forced to fight for the amusement of the handlers. Bobby let him live. Now the gar had returned the favor.

“Go home,” Bobby said.

The gar clapped him on the shoulder and said, “Black Water.” He ran deeper into the zenzen corral. Bobby never saw him again.

Bobby left Durgen and ran toward the gate into Leeandra. The wooden doors had been torn down by the rampaging gars. Bobby ran into the city to see that the orderly world of the klees had been turned on its ear. Several huts in the trees were on fire. Gars were flooding down by the hundreds, screaming with joy. A few klees tried to contain them, but most had given up and kept to the trees and out of the way. There was no stopping this flight to freedom. Some gars pushed toward the zenzen corral, but most joined the flood toward the giant gates of Leeandra. There were so many gars, it looked to Bobby like the start of the New York City Marathon.

“What happened?” Bobby heard, and spun to see Kasha standing there. “I thought you were behind me.”

“I thought you ditched me,” Bobby shot back.

“C’mon,” Kasha ordered, and took off running, deeper into the city. Bobby followed, running hard to keep up. At first it was tough because of all the fleeing gars. But soon the crowd thinned and they were able to move quickly. Kasha led him to a tree where they jumped into an elevator and shot up.

“Where are we going?” Bobby asked.

“The forager operation center,” Kasha answered.

“Okay, why?”

“You want to stop Saint Dane?” Kasha asked. “Well, yeah.”

“This is where we’ll do it.”

Bobby didn’t question her again. He figured the answers would come soon enough. The elevator brought them up to a high point in the tree and dropped them off at another circular balcony.

“You’re the one who figured it out, Pendragon,” Kasha said. “I did?”

“You remembered that Saint Dane promised the council that two klees could deliver the poison to Black Water and be back within the afternoon. As far as I know, there’s only one way that’s possible.”

Kasha led him along the balcony until they came upon a tall, arched door.

“Right! You said it was a gig,” Bobby said. “What does that mean?”

Kasha said, “A gig is a tool the foragers use when we go to a remote part of the jungle. With a gig we have access to places it would be too dangerous to go on foot, or even to bring gars. It’s the only way I know of to get out and back quickly to a place as far away as Black Water.”

“Okay,” Bobby said. “What’s a gig?”

Kasha pushed open the large door and stepped back for Bobby to enter. Bobby peered into the huge, hollow tree to see a room that was five times as large as the Circle of Klee.

“Oh man,” Bobby breathed in awe. “You’re right. This is exactly how he’s going to do it.”

Facing Bobby in neatly spaced rows was a squadron of small, two-seater vehicles.

Helicopters.