D. MacHale - Raven Rise

Beyond that point, the tunnel narrowed again. There were no lights in this section, so it was slow going. I got the feeling that I was nearing the end of the digging, because there was less shoring-up going on. I walked slowly, so as not to slam my face into anything.

That’s when I heard the sound. I can best describe it as “hollow.” It was a sound that felt familiar, though I couldn’t place it. Up until that point it had been deathly quiet, other than the creaks and cracks of settling rock. This sound was different. Was it the quig-bees massing for another attack? No. This was different. It was more like white noise. It was an odd sound to hear down there in that narrow labyrinth. I took a few more steps and saw a sharp turn to the right about thirty yards ahead. Light glowed from around the corner. Something was up there. I stopped and listened. Could the Flighters be around that corner, digging? No. There were no human sounds. No movement. Only that haunting, hollow sound…

That I now recognized. My gut twisted. I started to run. It didn’t matter that I could barely see where I was going. I had to know that I was wrong. I told myself it could be anything. It could have been another wide cavern. Or a subway station. Or anything other than the one thing I absolutely knew it would be. I reached the turn and stopped. If I was right, I had lost. I knew I was right. Turning the corner was only a formality. I stepped forward, turned, and saw exactly what I feared. The reason there were no Flighters digging was because their work was done. I was too late. Rising up before me was the tunnel to infinity.

They’d found the flume.

Veelox was back in play.

I took a few numb steps toward the tunnel. I wanted it to be a mistake. I wanted it to be some random, natural tunnel that just happened to exist beneath Rubic City. Yeah, right.

“You made it sooner than I expected, Pendragon,” came a voice from behind me.

I turned quickly to see someone step up behind me. It was Telleo. No, it was Nevva Winter in Telleo’s form. I guess it was a strange thing to think at that moment, but as we l stood there facing each other, I found myself wishing I had met the real Telleo. I bet we would have been friends. But that would never be. Telleo was dead. Nevva Winter wasn’t. She had followed me down into that tunnel to say the two words I least wanted to hear. Two simple words that made me want to scream. “He’s gone.”

Iclutched the wooden pole and ran at Nevva. I was ready to kill her. I swear I was. Call it frustration. Call it rage. Call it the horror that comes from realizing I was less than worthless. Call it whatever you want, but in that moment I wanted to kill her. Nevva didn’t move. She stood there calmly, just as she did when dealing with the leaders of Blok on Quillan. Nothing bothered her, not even an enraged Traveler who had just been told that he was an imbecile. I wound up, ready to crush her.

I don’t know why I stopped. It was like an unseen hand was holding back the pole, preventing me from lashing out. There wasn’t any unseen hand, of course. I may have been out of control, but I’m not a killer. Still, I needed to vent my fury. I turned and flung the pole into the flume. It disappeared into the dark tunnel. I heard it clatter harmlessly on the rock floor.

“I’m sorry, Pendragon,” Nevva said. “You deserve better than this.”

“What the heck does that mean?” I snarled. “You mean well. You’re just…naive. I’m sorry for using your innocence against you.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“You wanted what’s best for Ibara, and for all the territories. I know that. Saint Dane knows that. You just have no idea how wrong your way of thinking is.”

“Let me understand,” I said through gritted teeth. “You and your monster boss think I’m wrong for wanting the people of the territories to decide how they live their lives, and you prove it by twisting their worlds into nightmares and then saying it was their own fault for being weak? Is that how it works?”

“I prefer to say that we have proven beyond any doubt that when given the choice, the people of the territories will always take the easy, selfish road. They can be so much more, Pendragon. The heights they can reach are limitless, so long as they aren’t held back by the weak and foolish.”

“So what’s Saint Dane doing? Weeding out the weak, so the worthy can shine?”

Nevva smiled. “Something like that. Which are you, Pendragon? Weak or worthy?”

I was tired of the riddles. “You make this sound like it’s all been a contest between Saint Dane and me to prove who’s right.”

“That’s exactly what it was.” I shot Nevva a look. What did that mean? “And now it’s over,” she continued. “You ended it.”

“Did I? Looks to me like the flume is back open for business.”

Nevva strolled past me toward the flume. “That’s not what I meant. You didn’t end this by burying the flume. You ended it when you quit.”

“What?”

Nevva spun to me with fire in her eyes. “It was the last test, Pendragon. You failed. You gave up the fight. I know what’s in your heart. You buried the flume because you were done. You wanted to live a peaceful life on an island paradise, building huts and staring at the stars with Telleo. You…gave…up.”

My anger was building. Not because she was wrong. Because she was right.

“It was only a convenience that Saint Dane was here,” she continued. “It pushed away the guilt. You could justify your actions by telling yourself that Saint Dane was trapped along with you. Did you really believe that? Did you honestly think Saint Dane would roll over and die?”

I couldn’t answer. I didn’t want to admit the truth.

“Of course not, but you pretended, didn’t you? This was the ultimate test for you. The lead Traveler. All you did was prove how weak you are. I’ll answer my own question. You aren’t worthy, Pendragon. When the Convergence is complete, you will get what you deserve. Nothing.”

I was trembling with anger. With guilt. “What is the Convergence?” I asked lamely.

Nevva’s answer was to toss something at me. I caught it without thinking. I didn’t have to look to know what it was.

It was my Traveler ring.

“Yes, I took it,” she admitted. “Back when I thought you were still a threat.”

I clutched the ring, wishing that getting it back might actually mean something. Nevva dashed that hope.

“It doesn’t matter now,” she said with arrogance. “Go on. Talk to your friends. They’ll tell you the truth. The Convergence began the instant you gave up. The first domino has fallen, Pendragon. Exactly the way Saint Dane said it would. You’re right about one thing though. The battle is over. You’re just a bit confused as to who the victor is. Keep the ring as a memento of your failed mission.”

Behind Nevva the flume came to life. As I watched the light grow from the depths of the tunnel, I was grabbed from behind by several strong hands. Flighters. We weren’t alone. They must have been creeping up the tunnel from behind me. I struggled to pull free, but there were too many of them. My Traveler ring fell to the ground and rolled away. Gone again. The Flighters wrestled me to the dirt and held me tight. I had to strain and twist my neck to see what was happening.

The rock walls of the flume dissolved into crystal. The bright light turned Nevva into a silhouette. The Flighters didn’t let me go, but they hid their eyes. They must have been petrified by what they were seeing, not that I cared. I expected to see Saint Dane step out of the light. I wanted Saint Dane to step out of the light. This wasn’t about Nevva. She was only the messenger. She stayed on Ibara to keep me occupied, while he was free to roam Halla. That was now painfully clear. How long had the flume been open? How long had he been gone? It probably didn’t matter. It could have been open for months or minutes. Saint Dane could go wherever and whenever he wanted to. For the first time in my life, I desperately wanted him to appear.