D. MacHale - The Rivers of Zadaa

I also had the satisfaction of knowing that our adventure on Zadaa was finished.

I was totally, absolutely wrong.

Loorbrought me to the flume by herself. That was cool. I wanted the chance to say good-bye without Saangi there. I chose to wear the white tunic of the Rokador, rather than my Ghee armor. It was a heck of a lot more comfortable. Besides, once I got to Second Earth, I’d be changing into local clothes anyway. Loor and I made our way past the raging water at the bottom of the restored waterfall, through the abandoned Rokador tunnels, down into the trapdoor that was marked with a star, and finally down through the cleft in the rock that led to the large cavern, and the flume.

The two of us stood near the mouth of the tunnel, not sure what to say. We had triumphed. Again. In a big way. In spite of the awkward conversation the night before, we had grown even closer. Or maybe it was because of the conversation. Zadaa was safe, and I felt as if we had tipped the balance in the battle with Saint Dane. Still, there was more to come. We knew Saint Dane wouldn’t crawl into a ball and give up. There were battles ahead, but our confidence was pretty high.

“I want to see Second Earth again,” Loor said.

“You will,” I assured her. “Let’s hope it’ll be to sightsee.”

“Give my regards to Mark and Courtney,” she said. “And rest, if you can.”

“Yeah, like that’ll happen,” I said, chuckling.

Iknew we would see each other again, so this wasn’t a tearful good-bye or anything. I gave her a quick hug, and was about to step into the flume when the tunnel came to life on its own. I stood next to Loor, watching curiously as the light appeared in the distance, along with the musical notes.

“That’s weird,”Isaid.

“Could Alder be returning?” Loor asked.

Ididn’t know. Besides you two guys, Alder was the only Traveler who knew I was on Zadaa. Another Traveler might have decided to pay a visit, but I couldn’t guess which one. The rock walls began their transformation into crystal as the light grew brighter. Loor andItook a step back from the tunnel to give the arriving Traveler some room. The sound of the musical notes filled the cavern. We shielded our eyes. A shadow appeared out of the light. The Traveler had arrived. Before the light had the chance to shrink back into the tunnel, the shadow leaped out at us. It happened so fast, there wasn’t time to react. A moment later the light disappeared, and I saw who it was.

Saint Dane.

He jumped from the tunnel, directly at us, letting out a hideous, guttural scream. He had a sword. A very big sword. He held it high over his head, ready to strike. Loor pushed me out of the way. I stumbled and fell to the cavern floor. As usual Loor’s first thought was to protect me. Like her mother before her, the price for saving my life…

Would be her own.

Saint Dane thrust the sword forward. Loor tried to dodge it, but wasn’t fast enough. I watched in horror as Saint Dane ran his sword through her chest. I froze. My brain wouldn’t accept what I was seeing. Saint Dane drove the sword through Loor. My Loor. The Traveler from Zadaa. I saw the blade come out her back, slick with blood. He drove the weapon so deep that his hands were pressed against her chest. He looked her square in the eye and said with a brutal anger that I felt to the depths of my soul, “Nowdie!”

He pulled the sword out just as quickly. Loor fell to the ground. For all I knew, she was already dead. Saint Dane turned to me, holding up the bloody sword. I saw the fury in his white eyes. I was next.

“You think you have won?” he seethed. “You think you have outwitted me? We haven’t even begun.”

I think I was in shock. Thirty seconds before, Loor and I were talking about her visiting Second Earth. Now she lay dead at my feet. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breathe. It all felt so impossible. But it wasn’t. Loor was dead, and if I didn’t snap out of it, I knew I would be next.

Saint Dane was out of his mind with anger. When I think back on that moment, I realize that our victories on the other territories had pushed him to the limit. Losing Zadaa had sent him over the edge. To win this territory, he had taken off the gloves. He used less trickery. He appeared as himself. He wanted to beat us straight up. He proclaimed this to be a demonstration of his strength. I think the person he was reaUy trying to prove something to was himself. He had failed. He was ready to declare victory in the battle for Halla, but he underestimated the Travelers. He underestimated me. Most importantly, he underestimated the character of the people of Zadaa. He called them weak, and some were, but in the end we never would have saved Zadaa without the courage and wisdom of the people themselves. Saint Dane was losing. After his failure on Zadaa, he knew it. He was like a wild cat that was backed into a corner. In other words, he was dangerous.

He stalked me with the bloody sword. I got to my feet and turned sideways, taking a defensive stance that reduced my target area. Loor’s lessons were well learned. As Saint Dane stalked closer, his body transformed. He changed from his normal image into that of the Ghee warrior who had beaten me so badly. My knees went weak. History was repeating itself. The moment I dreaded was here. I was going to have to fight this guy again. Saint Dane knew how to get into my head. I had nightmares about that fight. This time there was no chance of a last-minute rescue. One of us wasn’t getting out of that cavern.

I wished I had decided to wear my Ghee armor. I didn’t even have a weapon. Saint Dane didn’t care. This wasn’t about sportsmanship. It was about revenge…and death.

This is what I trained for.

“I will give you this much credit,” Saint Dane seethed. “You are stronger than Press said. But that means nothing to me now. If killing you is meant to be, I am more than happy to be the executioner.”

He lunged at me. I ducked and rolled toward Loor’s body. I had to stay focused. I couldn’t think about her. I needed her weapon. While jumping back to my feet, I grabbed her wooden stave. I was now armed. I spun to face Saint Dane, who held the sword high once more.

“You have been practicing,” he said. “No matter. You are still a weak boy. I should have killed you on Denduron.”

He came at me with the sword. This time his movements were shorter, quicker. He slashed the weapon back and forth. I deflected the blows with Loor’s stave. He wanted me dead. I wanted me alive. If I was going to beat him, I was going to have to use his anger against him. But I had to be smart. The last time I tried that, it backfired and I landed in the hospital. This time I would end up dead.

I ducked away from his attack and spun toward the other side of the cavern.

“It’s over,” I said. “You can’t outwit me. This proves it.”

“Ahhh!” he ran at me and chopped down with the sword like a lumberjack. I ducked away, but couldn’t counterstrike. He was too good. He may have been making bad attacks, but he kept recovering in time to block my counters.

“Go back to whatever cave you call home,” I taunted. “You have no chance of controlling Halla. We’re too strong. The people of the territories are too strong. You’re in way over your head.”

“Rahhhh!” he bellowed, and unleashed another attack. I blocked two of his shots, spun, and cracked him on the back of his head, knocking him off balance. My confidence grew. I had to force myself not to think of this as revenge. I had to stay in control. I couldn’t think about how he nearly beat me to death. I couldn’t think about Loor. I had to be the warrior she taught me to be.