D. MacHale - Raven Rise

Thankfully, the trip was over quickly. I didn’t know how much more of that insanity I could stand. Before we landed, I realized that I didn’t know which gate we would show up at. Would it be in the basement of the Sherwood house? Or the temple that had been built around the flume in New York City? Either way, we had to be ready to deal with the security team of the guy called “Alexander Naymeer.” The guy who thought he was the Traveler from Second Earth. I wanted to meet that guy.

I really wanted to meet that guy.

The instant my feet touched ground, I knew where we were. It was dark. From what Patrick told me of the cathedral that had been built around the flume in New York, it was wide open and full of light. We were at a gate that was anything but wide open. We were in the root cellar of the Sherwood house. Naymeer’s home.

Before I had a chance to focus, I felt a jolt of something blow through my body like an electric shock. My body went rigid. My head spun. My hands went limp and I dropped the dado weapon. I was aware of activity swirling around me, but I was too stunned to react. I sensed a jumble of arms and legs and men barking orders. I tried to stand and got hit with another jolt that made me see stars. It was so violent that I was thrown off my feet. I was vaguely aware that I was being dragged along, but I couldn’t tell where, that’s how out of it I was. Most of what I’m describing now I have to think back and try to piece together. At the time I was too stunned to think. My arms were held tight. I felt myself being carried up stairs. I knew they were stairs because my feet trailed behind and banged into each step as we climbed higher. At the top a door was pushed open, and I was dragged farther along. I tried to look around, but couldn’t focus. The place looked familiar, but I was too loopy to put it together. It wasn’t until I was thrown down on the floor that I saw something that made sense.

“Bobby!” Courtney yelled, and ran over to me.

It was like a dream. I’m not sure whether it was a good dream or a nightmare. Seeing Courtney was good. She sat down next to me and threw her arms around me. Looking around at the red-shirt guards who were standing over us was bad. They each carried short metal prods. I knew then what had hit me. They were carrying Tasers.

“Are you okay? We haven’t heard from you in forever! We never thought you’d leave Ibara. And…and…” Courtney pulled back in disgust. “And you’re covered with blood. Yuck.”

I tried to force the room to stop from turning sideways. It wasn’t easy. My arms weren’t being cooperative either. I tried to lift up, but it was next to impossible. It was the effects of the Taser. I realized that Alder was lying next to me in the same incoherent state. He had a dazed, faraway look in his eyes. So far I didn’t think he was a big fan of Second Earth.

“Mark?” I mumbled to Courtney through lips that would barely move. “I’m here, Bobby.”

I heard his voice from across the room. It was a voice I feared I would never hear again. It was lower than I remembered. We had grown up. The last time I saw him, he was diving into the crumbling flume on Eelong. How long ago was that? Years? So much had happened since then. I moved my wobbly head around to see Mark sitting in a chair on the far side of the room. I wondered why he didn’t come over to talk to me, but there were more things to worry about than etiquette. If he wanted to sit in that chair, that was okay. I didn’t particularly want to be sitting on the floor, but I didn’t have a choice.

“You must be Bobby Pendragon,” a man said as he walked toward us.

I slowly raised my head to see a slick-looking old guy. He was exactly as Patrick described him. The first thing I noticed was his perfect silver hair. It was like a helmet. Or robot hair. Why the heck did I notice something as dumb as that? He wore a suit like a business guy, but I knew we weren’t in an office. We were in the Sherwood house in Stony Brook. Patrick wasn’t kidding. This guy had set up housekeeping on top of the flume.

He also claimed to be the Traveler from Second Earth.

I felt some control returning. It’s amazing what’ll happen when your blood starts to boil.

“Alexander Naymeer,” I gurgled.

The guy looked shocked. I swear, it was like I had slapped him.

“And how would you know that?” he asked, as if it were the best-kept secret of all time.

I looked to Courtney. She was staring at me with a mix of curiosity and pride. It took every bit of concentration I had, but I winked at her. It was worth it. Courtney beamed. My strength was coming back. The effects of the Taser were wearing off. I didn’t want to let anybody know. I looked to Alder. He gave me a small wink. He was nearing okay too. I wasn’t sure if he was “fighting okay,” but I wasn’t planning on starting anything. Not yet, anyway. I looked at Naymeer and gave him the most confident smile I could manage with my numb lips and said, “I’ve been doing this a lot longer than you, Al.”

I saw blood rush to his face. Naymeer was flustered. I’d only known the guy for a grand total of eight seconds, and I could already tell that he was used to being in charge and didn’t like being treated as an equal. The fact that I had just dropped in from another territory and knew who he was, threw him. Thank you, Patrick.

“You have come at a perfect time,” Naymeer bellowed, pretending that I hadn’t thrown him. “Your friend Mark Dimond and I were discussing the glorious future we are going to share.”

“You were?” Courtney said sarcastically.

I knew exactly what the score was from Courtney’s reaction. Naymeer wanted something from Mark. Mark didn’t want to give it. I knew my friends.

“Yes,” Naymeer said as he strode toward a big-old fancy desk. “Certainly you weren’t planning on choosing the other option, were you, Mark? Especially not now, when we have both your friends here. Along with this other…person. Who exactly are you?”

“My name is Alder,” the knight answered. “I am the Traveler from the territory of Denduron.”

“Denduron!” Naymeer bellowed. “I understand that events are moving along quite briskly there. How exciting it must be.”

Even though I was a few feet away from him, I could feel Alder tense up. Naymeer had no idea how close he was to being clocked.

“Now. Mark,” Naymeer continued. “We were discussing the future of KEM.”

KEM. The company that made the dados. Things were starting to fold in on themselves again. Of course, I didn’t know the details, but I could tell that Naymeer had threatened Mark. It seemed as if Alder and I had dropped in at a critical moment. Yes, the flume had once again put us where we needed to be, when we needed to be there.

Mark stayed seated. When he spoke, it was with a calm, assured voice. “We’re leaving, Naymeer. All of us.”

Naymeer seemed taken aback, as if Mark had spoken in Swahili.

“Apparently you do not appreciate the gravity of your situation,” Naymeer said with a puzzled look. “I am not giving you a choice. If you do not sign over your piece of KEM, I will have you killed. I will kill the girl. Now it appears as if I will also have to end the lives of two more Travelers. Is that the choice you are making?”

I was feeling stronger by the second. A quick scan of the room told me there were two guards with Tasers. Two on two. That wouldn’t be fair. At least, not once Alder and I got back up to speed. The ball was definitely in Mark’s court. I hoped he knew what to do with it.

He stood up and said, “We’re leaving, and you’re going to give us one of your cars.”

Naymeer sat back in his chair, stunned. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. I wasn’t so sure I believed it either. I didn’t know much of anything at that point.