Chapter 20
The Decoder
Rohlwig omporulaed and was instantly facing the Beasts. A split second later, Tiersda and Ferran were at Rohlwig’s side.
As the fighting started, it was hard to follow what was going on. Amid the dust clouds, there were flashes of light everywhere. One second, someone was in one place. The next second, they were somewhere else.
Beasts were thrashing around, here and there. People were flying in every direction. Pops, cracks of thunder, grunts, roars, and yelling filled the air.
Jared was seized by the shoulder. He turned around, thinking it was Danielle or Paul, but it was Gromagan. “When did you get here?”
“Stay here. Reinforcements are on the way.” Gromagan moved toward the fighting as if he hadn’t heard Jared’s question.
As he walked away from Jared, Gromagan put his hands up to the sides of his mouth and made a loud noise that sounded like a tuba amplified a million times.
Jared clapped his hands to his ears. The ground vibrated wildly for a couple of seconds, and then there was silence.
He couldn’t even hear the wind or the sound of the trees rustling. Also, everything looked like it was frozen in time. The very dust seemed to become still.
Jared wondered, What did he do?
The moment of motionlessness was replaced by a rush of wind that knocked Jared over. However, he quickly got back on his feet and surveyed the scene.
He saw Gromagan, Rohlwig, and Ferran, but not Tiersda. Also, all the Beasts were gone.
Where is she? Jared was worried and looked around some more.
Ferran’s voice rang out, confirming Jared’s fear. “They’ve got Tiersda!” He pointed behind himself into the trees. “Come on!”
Ferran and Rohlwig ran into the forest. Gromagan turned around and seemed like he was about to say something, but, before he could say a word, Jared was scooped off his feet from behind.
A Beast had grabbed him with one of its massive forelimbs and was holding him close to its chest. Jared struggled against the Beast’s tight grip but couldn’t get free.
Two other Beasts grabbed Danielle and Paul.
It was a trap. The other Beasts had lured the Masters away so that these three Beasts could get the youths. “Let me go!” Jared again tried to free himself, but he wasn’t strong enough. If only they’d taught me how to use super strength.
Gromagan pointed in Jared’s direction, and, at the same time, the Beast jumped backward. Everything went black, and then Jared and the Beast began accelerating through the darkness.
A few seconds later, they landed in a desert. The Beast still had a strong grip around Jared’s arms and upper body.
Jared recognized the landscape from Rohlwig’s first simulation. Tirum.
They were at the foot of Bleeding Mountain. The two Beasts holding Danielle and Paul appeared next to Jared and the Beast holding him.
The Beast holding Jared slithered and used its one free forelimb to claw at the ground as it climbed the face of the mountain. Side by side, the three Beasts, carrying their hostages, moved with remarkable speed up the steep slope.
Jared figured that he, Danielle, and Paul were being taken to the Beasts’ lair. This can’t be good. However, Gromagan had seen them get snatched by the Beasts, and Jared was hopeful that he would come with help before the Beasts killed them and took their MSIs. But, how would he know where we are?
Within minutes, the Beasts reached the entrance to the largest of the caves, but someone was waiting for them near the opening.
Gromagan held up his hand. “Put the children down. Now.”
Jared was relieved. He found us.
“How did he get here before us?” growled the Beast holding Paul.
The Beast holding Danielle said, “Quick. Inside.”
Jared’s captor dropped him as it said to the other Beasts, “Leave them.”
He, Danielle, and Paul were left on the ground as the three Beasts charged past Gromagan, who made no attempt to stop them, and disappeared into the blackness.
Right after that, Rohlwig and Ferran appeared from a portal near the cave entrance.
“Did we miss anything?” Rohlwig smiled in his funny way.
Gromagan remained straight-faced and jabbed a thumb back over his shoulder at the cave. “They’re in there.”
“Here. Take these.” Rohlwig took out four tiny, leather pouches, handed one to Jared, Danielle, and Paul, and kept one for himself. “Swallow one of the havahstus inside.” Rohlwig took something from his pouch and put it in his mouth. “They’ll keep you cool.”
The real Tirum’s climate seemed even hotter than in the simulation, so Jared was glad that he had been offered something to help keep him cool. He removed a small, white pill from his pouch and placed it on his tongue. A refreshing wave of coolness spread throughout his body as the havahstu dissolved.
Jared sighed with relief. I wish I would’ve had one of these during the simulation of Tirum. He then realized, Hey. Rohlwig must have used a havahstu to keep cool during our Tirum simulation. Why else wouldn’t he have gotten hot and sweaty? That little cheater. Why didn’t he give some to us? He smiled to himself and shook his head. Rohlwig and his games.
Jared didn’t know for sure that Rohlwig had used one during the simulation and didn’t want to come out and accuse him of not being fair, so instead, he only made the comment, “It sure would’ve been nice to have one of these during that simulation of Tirum you made for us,” and then put away his pouch of havahstus.
Rohlwig nodded. “That’s for sure.”
Not knowing what to make of Rohlwig’s response, Jared changed the subject. “Anyway. How did you find us?” He looked at Gromagan.
Gromagan replied, “I marked the Beast that took you with a tracking command.”
“Good thinking.” Jared smiled but then asked himself, Why would the Beasts bother to capture me, Paul, and Danielle and then release us? And, where are the other two Beasts and Tiersda? He thought for a moment. Unless... it’s a trap.
Ferran looked at the youths and then at Rohlwig and Gromagan. “I’m going in.”
Jared called out, “No! It’s a trap!”
Ferran was about to take a step, but Gromagan put a hand on his shoulder.
“I have to go get her.” Ferran looked so determined to save his wife that he might punch Gromagan and run into the cave, but he didn’t.
“Not without us.” Gromagan’s words were strong but calm. “I sent a distress call to Teruvisa. Reinforcements should be arriving any moment. When they get here, then we’ll go in.”
Gromagan was right. In the time it took Jared to take a deep breath, a dozen men in white robes had appeared at the mouth of the cave. They marched over to Ferran and stood at attention.
Ferran addressed one of them. “Captain. They have Tiersda. We must rescue her.”
“Yes, sir,” the guard said, saluting. “Men, come with me.” He waved for the soldiers with him to go into the cave.
Facing the cave entrance, Ferran made a thrusting motion away from himself with both hands. “Jahra ulae.”
A ball of light as big as his torso flew down the throat of the cave. The guards followed the beacon of light, and Gromagan and Ferran were right behind the troops.
Outside the cave, Rohlwig stayed behind with Jared, Danielle, and Paul.
Good. Jared was glad Rohlwig was there to protect them, but his relief was mixed with concern for Tiersda. He glanced over at Paul, who had begun pacing back and forth with his eyes fixed on the interior of the cave, obviously hoping he would see his mother running out at any moment.
Jared glanced at the horizon and noticed that the sun was almost touching it.
Rohlwig saw it too and said, “The sun. Quick. Everyone, get inside.” He ushered them a little way into the cave.
Within moments, the coolness of the Beasts’ lair became warm as everything outside the cave instantly froze in a blast of wintry frost. Following the freeze, somethin
g outside the cave fell from above.
It looked like a statue at first. But, when he took a step closer, without leaving the cave, he realized it wasn’t a statue. It was Tiersda—frozen.
She looked like an ice sculpture. Her hands were handcuffed in front of her body, and there was a thick band around her head that covered her mouth. Tiersda’s eyes were wide open, and she was as stiff as a board. Also, her skin was a blueish-white color.
Jared couldn’t bring himself to say what he was thinking. Is she dead?
Paul rushed over to Jared’s side. “What did they do to her?”
Judging by his voice, Jared could tell Paul was almost in tears. All Jared could think to do was put a reassuring hand on Paul’s shoulder. However, as Jared looked at Tiersda’s frozen body, he knew that Paul would not be easily consoled at the loss of his mother for a second time.
Losing a mother once was bad enough. But, to get her back only to lose her again...? Jared felt for Paul.
Rohlwig said, “Hela kolay.” A glow began to radiate from his body, and then he stepped out of the cave.
Danielle gasped, “No. What are you doing?”
To Jared’s surprise, Rohlwig wasn’t frozen solid. That glow’s protecting him from the cold.
When Rohlwig reached Tiersda, he picked her up, turned around, and carried her into the cave. Once inside, Rohlwig laid her down and then laid his hands on her head. She promptly warmed back to life.
Paul helped Tiersda sit up, took the band off her head, and hugged her tightly.
Jared smiled. Not only was he glad Tiersda was okay, but he was impressed by Rohlwig’s skills, which had saved her life.
After Rohlwig and Paul helped Tiersda to her feet, two Beasts appeared at the cave entrance. They leapt forward at the same time, but Rohlwig blocked them with an estio.
The Beasts shook off the blows and attacked again. Rohlwig blocked one of the Beasts, but the other was able to avoid the shield. Its tail made contact with Rohlwig’s back and knocked him over.
Jared rubbed his hands together nervously. Come on, Rohlwig.
When the other Beast made a move toward Danielle, Tiersda jumped forward, grabbed one of its arms, and then flung the Beast out of the cave.
The other Beast grabbed onto one of Rohlwig’s legs before he could get up and started to drag him outside the cave. Without his glow to protect him, Rohlwig would freeze, though.
Tiersda reached out toward the cave opening with both hands and cried out, “Ental effa terraush!”
A blast of heat thawed everything outside, and it became daylight again. Tiersda appeared to have reversed the climate!
Jared was amazed. That’s some pretty powerful Diestro.
The Beast’s plan to freeze Rohlwig had been foiled, but, with a growl, the Beast threw him up against the rock wall, knocking him unconscious.
Just as the Beast was about to rip Rohlwig apart, Tiersda rammed into it, knocking it onto the ground outside the cave. Tiersda jumped to Rohlwig’s side and grabbed his arm.
He instantly woke up. Jared suspected that she had said some kind of healing and revival command silently in Amatay.
Tiersda helped Rohlwig to his feet. They stood at the cave entrance between the Beasts, which were outside, and the youths, who were inside.
As Tiersda let go of Rohlwig’s arm, simultaneously, the two Beasts attacked again. Tiersda was able to fend them off with a tahsil, though.
A few seconds later, three Beasts outside the cave dropped down from above and landed next to their two brothers.
Rohlwig said, “Gromagan. We’re under attack out here. We need your help.”
Jared, Paul, and Danielle huddled together, backed up farther into the cave, and then crouched down against the wall.
Jared didn’t like the odds; Tiersda and Rohlwig were outnumbered. They better get here soon, he thought, hoping Ferran, Gromagan, and the soldiers would arrive before the Beasts attacked again.
Fortunately, Gromagan came shooting out from the depths of the cave, tackled two Beasts, and tossed them down the mountainside. Then, continuing his roll, he sprung to his feet and turned to face the other Beasts.
Tiersda and Rohlwig each trapped a Beast in a solum and launched the bubbles down the side of the mountain, which left only one snarling Beast to deal with. The Beast didn’t show any sign that it was going to surrender, though.
Jared thought, They must be the most stubborn and stupid creatures alive.
However, as Ferran and the guards reached the cave entrance a second later, the Beast finally realized it didn’t have a chance, spun around, and ran away.
Jared and the others stood up and started walking toward the cave entrance.
Ferran grabbed Tiersda by the waist, pulled her close, ran his fingers through her hair, and looked into her eyes. “As pretty as the day we met.”
Tiersda smiled. “I was covered in mud.”
Ferran jokingly said, “Okay then. Maybe not quite as pretty.”
Tiersda elbowed him in the ribs, but Ferran countered by grabbing her by the upper arms and pulling her in for short but strong kiss.
Tiersda turned toward Paul, Danielle, and Jared and then pointed outside the cave. “Quick. Everyone, out of the cave. We need to climb up and over the mountain to the back side. I have a plan.”
However, before anyone could move, the five Beasts came slithering and clawing up to the cave entrance. Ferran, Tiersda, the guards, Gromagan, and Rohlwig were all poised between the youths and the five Beasts.
As the human barrier began moving toward the wall of angry Beasts, Jared heard Rohlwig’s voice in his head. “Get to the back side of the mountain and wait for us.”
Jared looked at Danielle and Paul. They had apparently also heard the message. They all nodded to each other and stepped up behind their protectors.
Once there was room for them to squeeze by to the side and out of the cave, Jared, Paul, and Danielle scurried up the mountainside. Jared stopped and turned around as soon as he was higher than the cave entrance.
The Beasts weren’t going to let them get away that easily, though. All at the same time, a Beast slammed into several guards, another whipped its tail around and knocked Ferran and Tiersda over, Gromagan was tackled by a Beast, the fourth Beast attacked Rohlwig, and the fifth Beast evaded an attack from the remaining guards and jumped toward the youths.
Quickly thinking of a way to escape the crazed Beast as it lunged up the slope, Jared grabbed Paul’s and Danielle’s hands in each of his and exclaimed with beoveh, “Fly!”
He squatted down slightly, and his friends did the same. Then, they held their hands up and pushed off the ground at the same time while saying, “votunlae.”
As they flew over the Beast, it swiped at Jared but missed. However, a force hit him and the others and threw them off balance. They tumbled to the ground a hundred yards away.
What was that? Jared groaned and then scrambled to his feet as the Beast turned to chase them.
Danielle, turning to go, yelled, “Run!”
As one of the other Beasts broke away from the fighting at the cave entrance to join its brother and chase the youths, Jared, Paul, and Danielle sprinted down the mountainside. Within seconds, the Beasts were right on their heels.
Jared saw an escape route, “Over,” he pointed past a boulder sticking out from a steeper slope farther downhill, “there!”
Jared pictured himself on the outcropping, said, “Omporulae,” and, with his next step, covered the distance to the rock in a flash. His friends were right next to him.
Not stopping for more than a second, Jared jumped off the protruding rock. “The oasis!” he called back to his friends as he dove toward the pool of water and lush foliage.
With the aid of his robe, he floated down and landed in the waist-deep water of the oasis. He looked up just as Danielle and Paul splashed down next to him and saw the Beasts leaping from the boulder.
“Run!” Paul turned to go.
Jared
grabbed Paul’s robe. “No. Wait.”
Jared closed his eyes and concentrated on the oasis moving, as if he had the ability to control it. “Come on. Move.”
Paul pulled his robe free from Jared’s grip. “What are we waiting for? Let’s get out of here!”
Jared felt Danielle pushing him. “Go!”
Jared gave up and opened his eyes. He looked up, upset that his plan didn’t work. The oasis hadn’t moved, and the Beasts would land on them in two seconds.
He was about to run when the scene instantly changed. They were still on Tirum, of course, but Bleeding Mountain wasn’t anywhere in sight.
“Yes!” Jared punched the air with a fist.
Danielle and Paul also cheered.
Danielle put her arms around Jared, gave him a tight squeeze, and then kissed him on the cheek. “Way to go.”
Jared felt tingly all over and weak in the knees, and his heart fluttered.
As she released him, Paul slapped Jared on the back. “Yeah. I thought we were dog-lizard meat for sure. How did you know the oasis would move?”
“I...” Jared shook off the effects of Danielle’s kiss, “didn’t. But, it was worth a shot.” As he said that, he realized just how risky his gamble had been and how close they had come to being caught by the Beasts. He was glad it paid off.
“Now, we need to get back to Teruvisa.” Jared pulled out his treyo.
After searching for while, he said, “I can’t find a gateway to Teruvisa.”
Danielle and Paul, who had their treyos out, as well, weren’t able to find a gateway, either.
Paul said, “We need to find one. I doubt it’ll take them very long to figure out where we are.”
Jared didn’t look up. He just nodded and kept his focus on his treyo as he looked for a portal to Teruvisa.
Danielle offered a suggestion. “Maybe we can just go through the closest gateway, then keep going until we find Teruvisa. Anywhere is better than here, isn’t it?”
“Good idea.” Jared agreed that if they kept moving, they would be harder to find.
“Well, I’ve found one we can try.” Danielle pointed straight ahead. “It’s the closest one, but there’s no information on where it goes.”
Jared looked in the direction Danielle pointed. They would be traveling into a gorge with high, red rock walls.
He didn’t like the thought of being trapped in there if they were found by the Beasts. But, hopefully Rohlwig and the others will be able to keep the Beasts away or find us first. And, we need to get off of Tirum, fast.
Danielle’s portal seemed to be the fastest way and best chance of getting off of Tirum. “Let’s go. It’ll be fine.” He led the way out of the oasis.
“Let’s omporulae to the portal,” Jared said, anxious to get to the portal as soon as possible. “But, since we don’t know what the place looks like and can’t envision ourselves there in order to omporulae the whole way at once, we’ll just go as far as we can see.” He pointed to the entrance to the valley carved into the rising hills before them. “First, go there. And then from there, we’ll go as far as we can. We’ll just make short jumps until we get to the portal.”
Danielle and Paul nodded and agreed to try it.
After five omporulaes, when they reached the point where Danielle’s treyo indicated they should stop, they found themselves standing almost directly below a rock arch. Danielle pointed her treyo straight ahead. The whole space under the arch turned into a black, swirling vortex.
“I don’t know exactly where this’ll take us. But, it has to be better than here, right?” She sounded like she was having second thoughts.
Jared nodded. “Yep.” He couldn’t think of any other way to escape. “Let’s go.”
The gateway sucked Jared in as he stepped into its blackness. Two seconds later, he was spit out into total darkness. He couldn’t even see his hand when he held it up in front of his face.
He wondered if his friends were there with him and was about to call out for them, but Danielle spoke up first. “Jared? Paul?”
Jared answered, “I’m here.”
“Where are we?” Paul asked.
Light entered the room when a door opened. Jared squinted and rubbed his eyes to adjust to the brightness.
When the lights came on, four people appeared in the doorway.
Jared’s legs almost buckled when he saw who was at the head of the group. Shocked and not able to speak, he mouthed, “No.”
Dreggan said, “Welcome to Obalin,” opening his arms. “I trust your stay here will be a pleasant one.” He wore an evil grin and rubbed his hands together with satisfaction.
Jared glanced around and noticed that they were in some sort of operating room. He suspected that they were there because Dreggan wanted to dissect them.
Jared stepped back, away from Dreggan’s intimidating presence, but stopped when he banged the back of his leg against a bed.
Dreggan pointed at Paul and Danielle. “Get them.” Then, he jumped forward, grabbed Jared by the throat, picked him up, and then slammed him down onto the gurney. “Ena’atrella.”
When Dreggan stepped back, Jared tried to move, but he was paralyzed.
Next, one of Dreggan’s henchmen positioned some kind of X-ray machine right above Jared’s head, and then it produced a blinding light.
Jared clamped his eyes shut and, finding his voice, cried, “Nooo!” He wasn’t in any pain, but he didn’t know what the machine was doing to him.
Danielle asked, “What are you doing to him?”
Dreggan said dismissively, “Don’t worry. This won’t hurt. It’s merely a brain scanning machine.”
One of Dreggan’s men said, “It’s no good, sir. There’s no way to separate them without killing the children and damaging the MSIs.”
Jared felt the paralyzing hold on him go away. He opened his eyes and quickly got off the bed.
He looked toward the door and was about to run, but a guard grabbed him by the arms. Jared wondered if they were going to kill him and his friends.
“I anticipated as much. We’ll just have to stick to our original plans to copy the chips. Hmm...” Dreggan grinned at the youths. (Jared hated the way Dreggan looked at him.) “Yes. We’ll just have to keep you here for as long as it takes to reverse engineer the chips and get them working with our new systems.” He moved closer to Jared. “It looks like you’ll be with us for a while.”
Jared felt his hatred for Dreggan welling up inside. He clenched his teeth and balled up his fists.
Dreggan laughed through his nose. “Manasto and Verissa were foolish to wager so much on children. Of course, it’s useless to challenge the greatest Master ever.” Dreggan puffed out his chest. “Everything has transpired according to my plans.
“And now, because of my great wisdom and the excellent training you’ve received, Obalin will soon be fully operational and invincible.”
All that training, and now... Jared was disappointed that he had worked so hard, only to be used by Dreggan.
Almost as an afterthought, Dreggan added, “And to think, Sepra almost ruined my plans.” He shook a finger at Jared, Danielle, and Paul. “It’s a good thing it didn’t kill you on Cira. But, no matter; it got what it deserved.”
Dreggan raised an eyebrow and his head swayed side to side briefly as if he was thinking. “But, I must admit, the others did do an excellent job of getting you here. And, Damen played its part well, too.”
Dreggan tilted his head back and laughed, rocking back on his heels. “I had them thinking I was trying to kill you.” He looked off into the distance and sneered. “No, Manasto, my plan is much sweeter than that.” The corners of his mouth turned up in an evil grin, and he rubbed his hands together.
If Jared understood Dreggan correctly, Sepra wasn’t sent by Dreggan to kill Jared and his friends. Sepra must have just gotten out of control, and Damen wasn’t out of control when it attacked them in the portal room on the way to see Ferran. Then, why did it attack us
? He guessed that it could have been a distraction planned by Dreggan. For what, though? Jared didn’t have an answer, but apparently, Dreggan never intended to kill Jared, Danielle, or Paul to get their MSIs.
But, what about after he clones the MSIs? What then? Jared wondered what Dreggan’s intentions would be. Kill us? That seemed to be the most logical conclusion.
Dreggan turned to one of the guards. “Take them to the main operations room. It’s time to connect the decoder.”
The decoder. With the decoder, Dreggan will be able to interpret the signals from the MSIs. Jared was determined not to let Dreggan get Obalin’s new systems up and running. I’ll never give him my password. No matter what.
As Jared walked, he noticed that Obalin looked very different than Teruvisa. Everything was lined with gold and silver. Everywhere, there were lavish decorations, and huge statues and paintings of Dreggan. Is this the Dreggan Hall of Fame, or what?
Being surrounded by such riches was quite a contrast to the plainness of Teruvisa. Obalin was like a grand palace. Of course, it’ll be our prison unless we find a way to escape. But how?
Jared noticed another difference between Obalin and Teruvisa: the people. In Teruvisa, the halls were empty, but in Obalin, people were everywhere. However, they kept their hoods pulled down low over their eyes and their focus down even when talking to each other. Also, everyone bowed to Dreggan as he passed by them.
After a ride in a shuttle and taking an elevator up to a hallway, the group walked toward a door. It vanished when they approached, and the youths were escorted into a room that looked like the central security control room in Teruvisa.
There was a circle of 12 black, high-backed, swivel chairs in the center of the room. Two people already occupied two of the seats, and they each had a flat-panel, touch screen computer floating over their laps.
When Dreggan entered the room, he went straight to the center of the circle of chairs, while the youths were held back on the outside, and clapped his hands together. “Decoder.”
As he separated his hands, a textbook-sized object appeared between them. Dreggan grabbed it and held it out. It had a smooth, shiny, black surface.
“This is the decoder.” Dreggan stroked the decoder gently and looked at it as if it was his most prized possession. Then, he approached the youths. “Now, tell me the passwords, or I won’t be as kind as I have been.”
Jared started a beoveh conversation with Danielle and Paul without looking at them. Danielle. Paul. Don’t tell him. Whatever you do, don’t tell him.
Danielle’s voice filled his head. “Are you crazy? Of course I won’t tell him.”
He heard Paul ask, “So, how are we going to get out of this? What if he decides to torture us?”
Don’t worry. Jared tried to sound brave. The Masters will save us. We just need to keep quiet and give them time to find us. They have to find us.
Dreggan said, “Feeling confident you have the upper hand, are you? Fine. If that’s the way you want to play, let’s play. I have other ways of getting the information I need. You will give me the passwords, one way or another.”
Jared had a strange feeling that Dreggan knew that he and his friends were talking using beoveh, but he mentally said, He’s bluffing. Stand your ground.
Dreggan scowled. “I don’t need to bluff, you little, insignificant child!”
Jared flinched. No. Dreggan had been tuning in on Jared’s beoveh conversation.
Dreggan waved his arm to dismiss the youths, and, as the three guards escorted Jared, Paul, and Danielle to the other side of the room, he continued, “In my great foresight, I had anticipated such a response to their brainwashing of you. So, I have had special chambers prepared where I can extract the necessary information from you. Now, you’ll find out just how powerful I really am.”
Three doors slid open. Jared and the others were shoved into the closet-sized compartments. Jared tried to jump out, but the door closed too fast. He crashed against it with his shoulder and the side of his head.
Enraged, he started pounding on the door and then yelled, “Let me out! You’ll never get away with...”
The door slid open. Jared was surprised to see Manasto standing in the doorway.
Manasto held out a hand. “Come on, Jared. We don’t have much time.”