D. MacHale - The Soldiers of Halla

“Seems so,” Gunny said as he viewed the celebration with a smile. “And the exiles? Elli said they were here.”

“They are,” Courtney answered. “They helped save Black Water.”

Gunny nodded knowingly. “That explains a lot.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Gunny turned to us and said, “Bobby, Kasha, it’s time you came back to Solara.”

“Why? What’s happened?” Kasha asked.

“You’ve got to see it for yourself. Solara has changed. I’m guessing it has something to do with what just happened here. I don’t know how to describe it, but you two better get back.”

I couldn’t imagine what Gunny was talking about, but I knew that if he came looking for us, it was important. It was time to go.

I looked to Courtney and said, “You just kicked some serious ass.”

“Pretty cool, aye?” Courtney wasn’t one for false modesty. She turned serious and added, “But this was just the warm-up, wasn’t it?”

I hadn’t wanted to kill the celebration by reminding everyone of Saint Dane’s plan. There were several thousand dados on Third Earth waiting to get their own shot at Black Water.

“Try not to think about it right now,” I answered. “Enjoy this.”

Courtney nodded. She knew their victory was going to be short-lived.

Kasha gave Boon a hug. “Thank you.”

“I’m not sure what I should do now,” Boon said. “I’m not going back to Leeandra, and I can’t stay here. I’m the enemy, remember?”

“Stay,” Courtney said quickly. “You aren’t one of them. This is your home now. Nothing’s going to happen to you. I’ll make sure of it.”

Boon looked sick. I felt bad for the guy. He was caught between two lives.

“I’m serious, Boon. You’ll be okay,” Courtney assured him.

Boon nodded, but still looked nervous.

“What are we going to see, Gunny?” I asked. I wanted a little bit of a preview before being hit with another surprise.

“I can’t exactly say for sure,” the old man said. “What I’m hoping is that you’re going to see the future.”

With that mysterious comment, Gunny, Kasha, and I took a step back.

And returned to Solara.

Solara had changed.

Dramatically. At first I thought we were in the wrong place. Had we somehow taken a wrong turn through time and space?

Kasha was just as confused.

“Pendragon?” was all she said, but I knew what she meant. Where the heck were we? I looked at Gunny.

My tall friend gave me a warm smile. “Amazing, isn’t it?”

It’s hard to explain this, since Solara wasn’t like any other place I’d ever been. There weren’t buildings or roads or much else that you’d think of to define a location. Solara was the beginning of Halla. It was the crossroads for the spirit of man, and the spirit of man didn’t exactly need a normal house to live in. When we were all there before, right after the destruction of the flumes, Solara was a vast wasteland of dark matter. Though I sensed the spirits around me, it felt dead. Or dying. What we learned was that the last of the positive spirit in Halla was being kept alive by the exiles. When the Travelers had gathered there earlier, it wasn’t looking so hot for the good guys.

Now I saw life. Actual life. Kasha, Gunny, and I stepped into a pretty meadow covered with green grass. We were surrounded by rolling hills. I wondered if the grass had grown out of the gray rock that we had all seen before, or if the rock had actually transformed. The meadow was dotted with flowers. Solara had become a bright, beautiful place.

The only thing I recognized from our previous visit was overhead. The sky was still dark and filled with stars. Bright, colorful clouds continued to roll by. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but it seemed like there were more brilliant clouds than we had seen before. Since there was no sun, it felt as though light from these brilliant clouds was what made Solara so bright.

As positive as this all seemed, there was also something odd about it. Looking off in the distance, the meadow seemed to go out of focus. The view wasn’t infinite. It ended. We could only see so far, and then the view became blurred. It was as if we were surrounded by a wall of water. There was no way to judge how large this green meadow was, but it didn’t go on forever.

I looked to Gunny and asked the obvious question: “What happened?”

“Not sure” was his answer. “Looks pretty good though, doesn’t it?”

A fourth person joined the party. Uncle Press walked up from the edges of reality. “What happened on Eelong?” he asked with excitement in his voice.

I was used to Uncle Press having all the answers. It was strange to be the one getting him up to speed. As we spoke, one by one the other Travelers appeared and joined us. First Elli, then Siry, Spader, Patrick, Aja, Alder, and finally Loor.

“An army of klee attacked Black Water,” I explained. “Most of them were dados, which meant that Saint Dane had a hand in it. Bottom line? The gars kicked butt.”

“And the exiles?” he asked cautiously.

“Safe,” Kasha answered. “If not for their help, the gars would have been wiped out.”

Siry asked, “So it’s true? The exiles are on Eelong?”

“Every one of ‘em” was my answer. I walked to Elli and held her hands. “Because of Nevva. She sent them there. She wanted Eelong to survive and sent those people there to help keep it alive. She saved their lives, Elli. As much as she agreed with Saint Dane, she didn’t buy into his vision entirely.”

I looked back to the group and added, “Saint Dane made a mistake, but it wasn’t that he chose to exile the people from Second Earth. He wanted them killed from the beginning.”

Siry asked, “So what did he do wrong?”

“He believed that Nevva was as evil as he was.”

I saw tears well up in Elli’s eyes. “You didn’t lose your daughter,” I said softly. “She just took a bad detour.”

Elli gave me a rare smile. It was a beautiful thing.

Uncle Press looked around, still trying to piece together what it all meant.

“This is a rejuvenation,” he said, thinking out loud. “No question. There was an infusion of positive spirit into Solara like I haven’t seen in a long while.”

Loor asked, “Is this what Solara normally looks like?”

“Yes and no,” he answered. “Solara is seen differently through the eyes of every spirit. I think this meadow is an appealing place for all of us, so that’s what we’re seeing.”

I took a closer look at our surroundings. The feeling of life and spirit was almost electric. I sensed more images on the corners of my vision. Lights moved about. Other images seemed to be actual people. Did I see my parents? I thought so, but it was fleeting. The sky crackled with light and energy and color. Where before Solara felt as if it were out of gas, it now looked alive. I can only speak for myself, but looking around at the other Travelers, I thought they all felt the same as I did. We had new life. And with it, maybe some hope.

“So is that it?” Aja asked. “Was that Saint Dane’s last attack?”

“It might be,” Patrick offered somewhat sheepishly. “The tide may have turned.”

“Is that possible?” Alder said hopefully. “Has Solara been reborn?”

“No,” Uncle Press said flatly. That single, definitive word echoed across the strange meadow. It was like the air had come out of a very big balloon.

Aja countered, “But you said that-”

“I said that Solara was rejuvenated, I didn’t say it was complete. Look around. How far can you see?”

“Not very,” Spader admitted.

“This is one tiny speck of Solara,” Uncle Press continued. “Beyond this, nothing has changed. Think of it this way- the gas tank was almost empty and a few ounces were pumped in. It won’t be long before that gas is burned, and we’re back where we started.”