D. MacHale - The Quillan Games

“But you won’t lose, Pendragon,” Nevva pleaded. “You know you can beat Challenger Green.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “I think I can, but what if something goes wrong? Bye-bye, Bobby.”

“You brought Loor back to life,” she said flatly.

This rocked me. “How did you know that?” I asked.

“I told you,” she said. “I’ve read journals. Saangi from Zadaa shared Loor’s journals with me.”

“How did you contact her?” I asked, stunned.

Nevva ignored my question and shot back quickly, “Do you seriously think you’re the only Traveler who uses the flumes? I know you feel as if this whole battle with Saint Dane is about you, Pendragon, but there are other Travelers who are just as involved. I’ve known that Saint Dane would someday come to Quillan. I’ve been preparing. I believe the revival is the turning point here, and I’ve set it up so you can do your job. Why is that so hard to accept? You’ve risked your life many times, I know that, but it’s looking like we Travelers might have more powers than we thought possible. Loor was dead. You brought her back. Do you really think that was a fluke? I don’t. Whether you choose to accept it or not, the Travelers are more like Saint Dane than we are like the people from our own territories.”

Nevva was throwing some truths at me that I hated facing. She added calmly, “If it’s true, and Travelers can’t die, then what’s the risk? The choice should be easy.”

“Easy?” I shouted. “You’re asking me to put the future of a territory onto my shoulders by playing a game, and you think that’s easy?”

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “That was a bad choice of words. All I’m saying is that we have an opportunity here, and we should take it.”

“What about Remudi?” I asked. “Did you give him the same pep talk?”

Nevva looked hurt. She walked away from me and stared into the darkness of the theater. When she turned back, I saw that she was crying.

“Yes, in a way I did,” she said. “I went to Ibara. Have you been there?”

“No,” I admitted.

“I went because I thought Remudi could do exactly what I’m proposing you do. He was an athlete. He was a fighter. Together we came up with this plan.”

“But he lost,” I said. “And he died. Or did you forget that?”

“He wasn’t supposed to compete so soon!” she shouted through her tears. “The trustees pushed Veego and LaBerge to use him. I didn’t even know it until the Tato game began! I was| supposed to be there. If I had been, I might have been able to save him.”

“By bringing him back from the dead?” I asked.

“Yes, if that’s what it took!” she shouted.

Man, this was heavy stuff. The idea that the Travelers could bring one another back from the dead was kind of, oh I don’t know, staggering.

“It must have been Saint Dane,” I said. “He must have known that Remudi was a Traveler. He doesn’t miss things like that. I’ll bet he put Remudi in quickly to make sure he’d lose.”

“But why?” Nevva asked.

“Isn’t that obvious?” I said. “To get to me.”

Nevva dropped her head, then said softly, “Do you think he knows I’m a Traveler?”

That actually made me laugh. “Are you serious? From the moment you were born,” I answered. “Or whatever it is that happens when we show up on our territories.”

The door to the theater opened and Tylee strode back in. She must have seen that our emotions were running pretty high, because even though she walked in with authority, she actually downshifted when she saw us.

“I have a proposal,” she said.

“Another one?” I asked. “In case you missed it, I’m not so thrilled with your last proposal.”

“I understand,” she said. “That’s why I’d like to bring the two of you on a small trip. Pendragon, we’re asking you to risk your life. I don’t want you to think we don’t understand how enormous a request it is.”

“Yeah, so?” I said.

“I want you to see something,” she continued. “If afterward you don’t want to go through with the Grand X, we will smuggle you out of Rune and away from the trustees. You’ll never have to compete again. But I’m hoping that after this trip you will change your mind.”

I walked up to Tylee Magna and said boldly, “What could you possibly show me that would make me agree to a death match?”

Tylee looked me straight in the eye and said, “I’m going to introduce you to Mr. Pop.”

(CONTINUED)

The journey to Mr. Pop was a long and complicated one. It probably felt even longer than it was because both Nevva and I had to wear blindfolds. We were told that it was all about security. The more people who knew Mr. Pop and where he was hiding out, the more chance there was of Blok finding hint Tylee explained how devastating that would be. She said that the revival had faced many setbacks and managed to survive. She feared that if the trustees of Blok learned for certain that Mr. Pop was real, and discovered his whereabouts, he would be killed and the revival crushed.

People spoke about him as if he were some kind of mythical being, yet they were cautious not to mention his name too loudly, for fear of making him seem too real. The challengers offered toasts to him. The revivers said he represented the future of Quillan. I couldn’t imagine how a single guy could be so powerful and represent so much. Was he a former king? A president? Maybe he was a poet who wrote about freedom, or a visionary leader who knew how to build a new Quillan. Whenever I asked about him, I only got vague, unsatisfying answers. Nothing concrete like, “He’s a great military tactician who knows how to destroy the security dados.” Or, “He is a wise leader with a vision for a new government.” It was always something vague like, “He is our future.” Or, “He will be our inspiration and we will follow.” It was all very touchy-feely and not very satisfying. I was dying to know how this guy planned to bring Quillan back from the brink.

Nevva was pretty excited too. Or maybe it was nerves. Whatever it was, she didn’t say a word for the whole trip. That wasn’t like her at all. I figured she was overwhelmed by the concept of finally getting the chance to meet the big guy. The only clue that Tylee gave us about where we were going was that we were leaving the city. She said that in generations past, many people lived outside the city and traveled in and out on trains. She didn’t have to explain it any further than that. I knew all about living in the suburbs and taking a train into the city. You guys know how many times we’ve taken the train from Stony Brook into Manhattan. It seemed as if Mr. Pop was a suburban kind of guy. That was cool. I was too.

We were blindfolded as soon as we left the theater in the mall. They first put us back on those electric carts, where we sped underground for several minutes. Though I couldn’t see, I could sense that security was tight. I heard several voices I didn’t recognize and they kept changing, as if we were being handed off from team to team. Tylee explained that it was another security measure. The fewer people who knew where we were going, the better. It was all to keep the location of Mr. Pop a secret, even to most of the people of the revival. Once off the electric vehicles, we were put into the backseat of a car. We drove for several minutes, then changed vehicles. For all I knew we were doubling back, and zigzagging, and doing whatever it took to hide our trail. I figured people didn’t visit Mr. Pop too often. It took too long.

“You okay?” I finally asked Nevva. I wasn’t used to her being so quiet.

“Yes,” she said quickly. Short and sweet.

“You don’t sound okay,” I pressed.