D. MacHale - Raven Rise

Alder felt certain he knew what that answer was.

Boom!

He jumped at the sound of a far-off explosion. Had the battle begun? He looked to the assembled knights. Nobody seemed to be concerned about the eruption, They kept in line without moving. The first explosion was followed by another, and another. Alder realized the sounds were coming from the training ground, where the Milago had prepared to battle the Bedoowan so long ago. Whatever was happening there, it was only training. The explosions confirmed Alder’s fears. He didn’t know why the Bedoowan were preparing for war, but he knew what lit the fuse. Tak.

He had helped Pendragon and Siry use the incredible digging device from Zadaa to find a new vein of the explosive compound beneath the surface of Denduron. It was the only way to battle Saint Dane’s army of dados-the only way to save Ibara. The gamble had worked. Ibara was saved. But what of Denduron? Tak was as tempting as it was powerful. When the Milago miners originally discovered it, they had planned to use it against the Bedoowan to win their freedom. But that wouldn’t have been the end of it. Rellin, the leader of the miners, spoke of tak as being the tool that would create a powerful empire. The Milago had lived for generations as slaves. They were angry, and justifiably so. Their anger was not going to dissipate once they had defeated the Bedoowan. They planned to march on the rest of Denduron, conquering tribes and putting them under the rule of the Milago. But they never got the chance, for the Travelers realized that the discovery of tak was the turning point for Denduron. Saint Dane wanted the Milago to use tak. The Travelers didn’t.

The Travelers won. Pendragon exploded the tak mine in such spectacular fashion that it not only destroyed the Bedoowan castle, it shattered the Milago village as well. With both their worlds in shambles, the Milago and the Bedoowan were forced to end their rivalry and rebuild, together. Most important, the eruption buried the vein of tak so deep that it ended any temptation to create an army that could use its destructive power. The explosive tak was unreachable by any tools or methods known to Denduron.

Until Pendragon and Siry showed up with a dygo from Zadaa.

Was it possible that the unearthing of the tak had created another turning point for Denduron? Had all that was accomplished, all that was risked to end the bitter dispute between the two tribes been for naught? Did Saint Dane get a second chance? From where Alder stood, it looked sickeningly possible.

He crept cautiously closer to the parade ground, keeping to the safe shadows of the trees. As he grew closer, he saw two people arrive on horseback to address the knights. One he recognized instantly as Rellin, the chief miner of the Milago who had led the revolution against the Bedoowan. For his strong leadership, Rellin was elected to lead the Milago during the rebuilding process. Alder’s heart sank when he saw that Rellin wore the armor of a Bedoowan knight. Worse. His armor was decorated with bright yellow stripes on each arm. Under his left arm he held a leather helmet that had a bright yellow plume of feathers attached to the back. Rellin looked as rugged as Alder remembered, but now his hair was combed back and neat. His horse was beautiful, with its own leather armor gleaming in the sun. Rellin looked every bit like a proud general who wore armor for show, rather than for protection.

On the horse next to him was a woman Alder didn’t recognize. He moved a few yards closer to get a better look and stopped short, unbelieving. The woman wore a flowing white dress, with a ring of yellow flowers in her hair. The flowers surrounded a simple silver crown. It was Kagan, queen of the Bedoowan. What surprised Alder was how she looked. The Kagan that Alder knew was, by all accounts, grotesque. Everything about her was huge. Her eyes, her nose, her hands and feet-all freakishly immense. Not anymore. This queen had lost a lot of weight. By Alder’s estimation, Kagan had lost an entire Kagan. She wasn’t pretty by any means, but she was no longer beastly. Just the fact that her clothes were no longer covered by greasy food stains helped her to look more human. It also helped that she wasn’t constantly stuffing her face with various meat products. She sat on her horse with a serene expression as she watched Rellin address the troops.

Alder got his feet moving again and saw one more surprise: Rellin held his helmet under his arm for a reason. On his head was a small crown. What? Had he married Kagan? Was he now the king of the Bedoowan as well as the leader of the Milago? There was nothing good about what Alder was seeing. He was still too far away to hear what Rellin was saying to the knights, but every so often a raucous cheer erupted from the troops. Whatever Rellin was saying, he was firing them up.

“Alder!” came a surprised shout.

Alder bent his knees, ready to be attacked. He turned to see a Bedoowan knight jogging toward him along the treeline. Alder wished he had thought about the possibility of there being guards in the woods. He would have been more careful. Now it was too late. He crouched, ready to fight, until he saw that the knight wasn’t in attack mode. If anything, he looked happy to see Alder. The guy had a big smile on his face. Alder relaxed. Slightly.

“Where have you been?” the knight called to him excitedly.

Alder recognized the man. It was Graviot, one of the knights from Alder’s troop. Graviot was a friend, though he knew nothing of Alder’s calling as a Traveler. Graviot reminded Alder of himself… or at least of the knight Alder used to be. Graviot was younger by a few years. He was also big and clumsy and absolutely honest to a fault, just as Alder had been so long ago. It pained Alder to think that he himself was no longer as honest and naive. He had seen too much of Halla to be able to hold on to the person he once was. He had a moment of sadness for the loss of his own simple life, but shook it off quickly. Alder knew he had to be careful with the knight, friend or not. Too much had happened since he’d been gone to assume anything.

“I traveled with Pendragon and the boy Siry,” Alder answered. “Remember? We unearthed the tak to help a tribe far from here.”

“Of course I remember,” Graviot answered. “We did not think you would be gone for so long. Many things have happened. We will soon be at war.”

“Why is that?” Alder asked. “What has happened? Have we been attacked?”

“In a way, yes,” Graviot answered.

“The Lowsee attacked us?” Alder asked, surprised.

Graviot’s eyes narrowed. “How would you know of the Lowsee problem if you have been away?”

Alder couldn’t admit that he’d seen images of the Lowsee preparing for battle as he flumed through time and space. He had to come up with a plausible response to keep Graviot on his side.

“I never trusted the Lowsee,” Alder answered quickly. “It was only a guess.” It was also a total lie, but Alder was getting used to being less than honest.

“You were wise not to trust them,” Graviot continued. He bought it.

“Yet I did not expect them to attack us,” Alder added. “They are a peaceful tribe.”

“They did not attack us with weapons,” Graviot continued. “But they are trying to crush us just the same.”

“How?”

“By withholding their triptyte” was Graviot’s answer.

Alder knew about triptyte. It was a mineral the Bedoowan had used to create light within their castle. Before the castle was destroyed there was an elaborate system of tubes that snaked across every ceiling. When darkness fell, triptyte glowed brightly. It was a clean source of light that was much safer than fire. It was also a cause for shame, because the Bedoowan had not shared the technology with the Milago. They kept the Milago in the dark. Literally. When the Bedoowan castle crumbled and the Milago village was rebuilt, that changed. Triptyte lights were erected throughout the village. It was an incredible step forward, allowing the Milago village to continue operating into the night without the fear of an accident caused by fire. Many said that triptyte was what helped create a modern Milago.