D. MacHale - The Soldiers of Halla

Boon’s expression turned even darker. “Something is about to happen to make the hunt for food easier,” he explained. “But it isn’t the repeal of Edict Forty-six.”

“Then what is it?” I asked.

“It’s why I asked about Gunny and Spader,” Boon answered. “The klee army has been massing and training for a long time now. They play their maneuvers out on the old wippen fields. I have never seen so many soldiers assemble in one place.”

“What are they training for?” I asked nervously.

“I am not supposed to know, but as a worker, I turn up in many places that most would never expect. I have heard the plans.”

“What, Boon?” I demanded.

“The army is going to march on Black Water,” he stated flatly. “Whatever gars are not killed in the strike will be captured and kept alive-” “For food,” I said, numb.

Boon nodded. “The army is immense. The gars won’t stand a chance.”

“Do you think they know of the exiles?” Kasha asked.

“What exiles?” was Boon’s answer.

“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “The klees won’t know the difference between a gar or a human. Or care.”

“What’s a human?” Boon asked, confused.

“Show me, Boon,” I demanded. “I need to see this army.”

“Can you do that?” Kasha asked Boon.

Boon thought a moment, then nodded. “Yes. I know a trail through the trees, along a route that is off-limits to most, but I have the combinations to the locks, since I clean everywhere. I can show you the entire klee army.”

“Now,” I said. “I want to see them now.”

“Why?” Boon asked. “They train the same way in the same location every day.”

“I want to know what we’re up against” was my simple answer.

“Up against!” Boon said, aghast. “You cannot stop this army!”

“Let me be the judge of that,” I said boldly.

Kasha stood up. “I’m sorry if this is difficult for you, Boon, but it’s important.”

Boon pounced to his feet. “You don’t have to convince me. I’m happy to be back in action!”

I took the tarp from the forager wheelbarrow and draped it over my head in case we were spotted by a Ravinian guard. Or any other hungry klee, for that matter. Since Edict Forty-six had already been repealed, there were no restrictions on

Bobby-chow. Boon led us on a journey along the catwalk pathways that snaked across the treetops of Leeandra.

“Most klees don’t come up here,” Boon explained. “Only the workers. We’re able to move equipment and supplies without having to bother the klees below.”

“Typical Ravinians,” I scoffed. “They want everybody to do their dirty work, but don’t want to see how it’s done.”

“That’s pretty much it,” Boon agreed.

Every so often we’d hit a doorway that had a complex lock made from twisted bamboo. They were primitive combination locks, and Boon knew all the combinations.

“I’d get lost up here,” Kasha said.

“I have. More than once.” Boon chuckled. “How do you think I learned my way around?”

We traveled for at least twenty minutes, moving from bridge to bridge, level to level, until we drew near the large, grassy wippen fields.

“Just past this last tree,” Boon explained. “That’s where you’ll see them. Be careful; once we’re over their heads, we can be seen.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t want to be eaten,” I said.

“That would be the least of your problems,” Boon said somberly. “This army is training to invade the gar stronghold. If they saw a gar spying on them from above, I don’t think there’d be enough of you left to eat.”

Oh. Thanks for that.

We cautiously approached a thick tree. The pathway continued through the center of it. All three of us entered into the dark of the tunnel. Boon stopped us before we could exit out the other side.

“Now be careful, and quiet. No sudden moves. When you pass through that opening, look down. We’re directly above the wippen fields. The armies are below. Hopefully they’ll be in the middle of one of their mock battles and won’t notice us. You still want to risk going out there?”

“I have to, Boon. We have to know what the gars are up against, because we’re going to have to try and stop them.”

“Oh,” Boon said. “Then I suppose you really are a spy.”

“Absolutely.”

“Good. I will go first and signal for you to come if it is safe.”

Boon padded quietly (which was easy for him since he was a cat) out and onto the bridge that continued beyond the wide tree. Cautiously he peered down over the edge. Kasha and I watched nervously, waiting for his signal.

It didn’t come.

“What is he waiting for?” Kasha whispered nervously.

Boon stood on the bridge, looking down. His body language changed. He no longer kept low to make himself less visible. He stood up straight on his back two feet.

“What is it?” Kasha called to him.

Boon looked back to us. There was no expression on his face. He slowly lifted his paw and motioned for us to join him. Kasha and I crept forward quickly. We stayed low and quietly stepped out onto the bridge. I held my breath. We were about to see the enemy. The army below was gathered, organized, and trained to march on Black Water. It was a gruesome hunt for food that could end up wiping out the last hope for the salvation of Halla. Did Saint Dane know that? Was this his doing? If the invasion succeeded, he wouldn’t need the dado army on Third Earth. He wouldn’t need to use any of his dark power to create another flume. Halla would be his.

I prepared myself for the worst. Would the army be mechanized? How would they be armed? Would this be a primitive army of cats? Or had Ravinia somehow developed more deadly weapons? Maybe most important, would we find that the army was filled with dados? As we crept out onto that bridge and looked below, I expected all of those questions to be answered.

They weren’t. What I saw below was far worse than anything I could have imagined.

“I don’t understand,” Boon said, sounding as dumb as I felt.

What we saw below was… nothing. The wippen fields were empty. The armies were gone.

“I do,” I gasped. “They’re on their way. They’ve already left for Black Water.”

How long?” I asked.

“How long what?” Boon replied.

“Since you saw them the last time!” I shouted. My heart was pounding. I had the sick feeling that we were too late.

“Yesterday. Maybe the day before. I don’t remember.”

“It’s a long day’s ride to the mountains that surround Black Water,” Kasha reasoned. “I believe an army the size that Boon described would take at least twice as long to get there.”

“So if they left two days ago, we’re too late,” I snarled. “Let’s hope they left yesterday” was Kasha’s reasoned answer.

“We’ve got to get there,” I said. “Before they do.”

“There’s only one way to do that,” Kasha offered.

I knew exactly what she meant, and it wasn’t about going back to Solara and hoping that the spirit would send us back to Black Water.

“You think you can still fly?” I asked.

“No!” Boon shouted in protest. “You want to steal a gig?”

I shrugged. “We’ve done it before.”

“Things have changed, Pendragon,” Boon argued. “The Ravinian security is much tighter. Leeandra is on a war footing.”

“Good,” I said. “Then they won’t be surprised when we bring the war to them.”

“You do not have to help us, Boon,” Kasha said sincerely. “You have already done far more than I should ever have asked for.”

Boon looked back and forth between the two of us. “Wait,” he said. “Do you think for one second that I would not come with you? I am your acolyte, Kasha. And in case you did not understand, I have no love for the Ravinians. Trust me, I want to do everything I can to stop them. If that means trying to steal a gig and landing in the middle of Black Water, so be it. I just want you to know the risks.”