TBC: Chapter Fifty-Seven

"Has the whole master sector of the Order lost their sense of reason?" Malik said as he burst through the door to the elder masters' lounge at headquarters. "Is that what it's come to? A bunch of renegades and free spirits just flying off into the wind without a plan?"

Jabari, Zareb, and Syam turned to him.

"Wasn't it you who taught them that the voices of the masters are only meant to guide them, not to dictate their actions in light of intuition?" Syam asked with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Humph," Malik grunted. "You have a point there."

"Master Jalena is with them," Jabari stated.

"Of course she is!" Malik grumbled. "She probably gave them the idea."

"The energy involved in this is dense and chaotic," Zareb said as he stared out the large lounge window. He turned to the others. "Although I trust the masters and their skills, the feeling surrounding the situation is unstable."

"I feel this, also," Syam stated. "Even if their actions are spontaneous and irresponsible, we have no choice but to send reinforcements now. Master Aderes, alone, could keep his presence undetected for a short while. If Akila is near and she has not found Master Aderes by now, then she will know that something is wrong when she senses the high frequency of the team cross into Kraundor." He turned to Jabari. "Take the Xita-8 and send out word for Sade and the other pilots to follow."

The master nodded and exited the room.

"I can go as well," Malik stated.

"I don't think that's necessary," Syam responded. "You haven't slept in days. The masters should be able to handle it with Master Jabari backing them."

"As a member of this team, I voluntarily will do all I can."

"I know," Syam said. "As fortunate as we are to have you by our side, Sir Malik, it isn't right for you to have to rescue the warriors from their own choices."

Malik nodded. "You know where I will be if you change your mind."

***

A crack of thunder boomed across the sky as the Tritum-X entered Gawl Forest. Jalena's voice carried through the speakers to the middle compartment of the ship.

"I'm scanning the forest in depth now. Watch the monitors for any signs of action. The gawls will appear on our screens in red and those of high light energy frequency, like Master Aderes, will show up as white. Any others will show in green."

Gyan stared at the monitors with the others and noted the red lights that swarmed the length of the forest. "What will Akila's energy look like if she shows?" he asked.

"White and silver if it is similar to Malik's," Jalena responded. "But, we won't be able to see it if she is suppressing her power."

"There!" Jarek exclaimed as he pointed to the upper corner of the monitor. "It's Aderes!"

A white light on the screen was moving slowly north toward the warriors from the base of the Ice Mountains.

"I see him," Jalena said. She steered the ship lower over the forest canopy and released the ramp beneath the Tritum-X. "Get ready to drop into the nearest clearing so that you can intercept him. I'll have to keep the ship in the air just in case something unexpected happens below."

Gyan reached for Aderes telepathically but could not sense him. Come on, Aderes, he thought, don't shut us out.

He turned back to the monitors as his teammates moved past him.

The rain dropped in heavy layers as Brogan, Lorcan, Hoshi, Tarak, Jarek, and Danika quickly attached a cable to their belts and lowered themselves into the forest. The cables retracted and they immediately began to move south.

Come on, Val,Brogan said telepathically from the forest below.

In a second,Valora replied. I'm waiting for Gyan.She turned to Gyan. Let's go or they will be too far ahead.

Coming. Gyan turned to exit the compartment.

Short, warning beeps suddenly rang from the monitors around the compartment. A large number of green lights appeared on the screen behind the white.

He turned back to the monitors. "He's being chased, Jalena!"

Jalena drew in a sharp breath. "So are we! Hang onto something!"

Gyan grabbed onto the edge of the compartment doorway with both hands as the Tritum-X jolted forward and twisted. Jalena immediately accelerated the ship and pulled up hard. Yellow blasts from a fleet of Kraundor ships flew past the warriors, missing them only by inches.

"Valora!" Gyan shouted.

Valora had fallen forward and was sliding down the open ramp, the cable now flapping out of her reach.

Gyan's eyes lit up brightly as he immediately dove after her. He grabbed a short cable as he slid across the ramp behind her. The cable locked, and Gyan jerked to a stop at the edge of the ramp. He caught Valora by the forearm as she slid over the edge and into the night air. He groaned, his muscles straining to their max, as Valora swayed in the air beneath him.

She laughed loudly and squinted as raindrops splattered her face.

"Why," he grunted, "are you laughing?" he shouted into the dark.

She laughed harder. Wow, Gyan—you're such a hero.

"Huh?" he said between deep breaths. A little help please, Val! Jalena has leveled out, but she is accelerating so it's getting harder to hang on—plus, the rain!

Valora smiled as light spilled from her eyes. Then, let go.

What? he shouted. No way!

Gyan, she said calmly. Intuition over logic—now's not the time. Trust me.

He closed his eyes and slowly released his grasp.

Valora dropped through the air.

Gyan scrambled to the edge of the ramp and peered over in surprise to see Valora land safely on the back of an enormous gawl flying beneath the ship.

He rolled his eyes and stood to close the ramp. He made his way quickly to the cockpit to strap himself in.

Jalena smiled. "She's safe then?"

"Yes," he mumbled with a scowl.

He turned to watch the monitor as Jalena maneuvered the ship to avoid more enemy blasts coming their way. "Wow, Jalena," he said, "your piloting skills are amazing."

"Not as good as Master Shamira's," she replied, "but, I'm not bad either." She narrowed her eyes in concentration.

"How did we not see the enemy on radar?" Gyan asked.

"Akila," they both answered at the same time.

Gyan's body jerked against the straps of his seat as Jalena turned the Tritum-X sharply to the left.

"At least Aderes has reinforcements in the forest now," he said.

Jalena nodded. She dropped in altitude and rolled the ship at the last second to avoid two enemy fighter ships charging straight at them from opposite directions. The two ships crashed into each other overhead.

Across the monitor, a myriad of orange lights suddenly appeared on both sides of them.

"Jalena!" he warned. Jalena hit the ship's boosters and instantly flew straight up into the air to avoid the trap. The additional arrival of enemy ships closed in behind them.

"Gyan, listen," she said. "We can't get out of this without immediate help—which knowing my father and Master Jabari, is probably on the way. I just don't know when they will arrive. I'm going to turn back south and then crash the ship into the mountains at the last minute. It will destroy many of their fighters."

"Huh?" he asked with a shocked look. "Are you crazy?"

"Gyan, I'm a good pilot, but that's the only solution I can see."

He raised an eyebrow. "So, you wanna crash the ship into a mountain to save us?"

"Yes," she answered simply as she curved the ship sharply to the south and then east toward the Ice Mountains. "We can teleport now, but the ship will still be destroyed, so it's a smart way to take out a lot of their fighters at the same time."

Gyan's eyes widened as they approached the mountain range. Not again, he thought as scenes of the previous crash with Malik and Jarek flashed through his mind.

Jalena's eyes lit up brightly. She held out her hand. "Take my hand, Gyan. We will teleport together. Think of the others and we will appear near them."

Gyan's heart raced. His eyes lit up as he stared into Jalena's. "Fane's gonna kill you."

She smiled. "I know."

The two disappeared in a bright light just before the ship slammed into the mountain and burst into flames. Failing to pull up fast enough, a half dozen of the enemy ships exploded as they collided with the mountain directly behind the Tritum-X.

***

Jabari attempted to radio the Tritum-X as he and the other fighter ships zoomed into the area over Gawl Forest and engaged enemy ships from behind. "Reinforcements are here, Master Jalena," he said.

His words were met with static. Out of the corner of his eye, Jabari caught sight of a spiked flare of orange and red flames at the edge of the Ice Mountains.

"Looks like she handled it, Master," Sade said through the radio.

Jabari reached for Jalena telepathically. Fane's gonna kill you, Master Jalena.

Won't be the first time, Master, she responded. Where are you?

Above you. Sade and the others are here, too, he replied. What do I need to know?

Last we checked, Master Aderes was somewhere in the southeast part of the forest with soldiers tailing him, she said.

I see him on the radar now, Jabari stated as he adjusted the screen before him and noted the spread of white and green lights. There is a large group of soldiers closing in on him, but the other warriors are not far. He is near the main clearing now.

Gyan and I are on our way to them, Jalena said. We are coming from the east.

We will try to keep the fight to the northwest edge of the forest then, Jabari said.

Stay nearby if you can, she replied. You'll be our destination after we intercept him.

I'll be ready for you.

***

Loud explosions from the battle in the sky lit up the forest brightly. Lesiana wiped the rain from her face, and looked above at the forest canopy in surprise, but did not stop running. She willed her lungs not to explode as her breath came in strained gasps. She darted away from the trail as her shoes slipped on the mud beneath her. She winced at the horrible screech of the swarming gawls above her but did not slow as the loud stomping of the guards' boots continued behind her. She sped up even more, trying to ignore the sharp stitch in her side. The muscles in her legs burned, but Lesiana didn't care. She wasn't going to stop running until they killed her or a gawl grabbed her.

"I just saw her!" a guard yelled. "This way! Watch for the gawl!"

Lesiana reached the edge of the large clearing that separated the north and south sides of the forest. Six glowing swords of different colors flashed brightly in the dark from within the trees on the other side. She glanced to her left and saw another silver glowing blade and then to her right to see a gold-violet blade near another violet one. She stopped abruptly as she reached the middle of the clearing, her chest heaving. She looked around frantically, unsure of what to do.

"The warriors are here!" another guard yelled.

Warriors? Lesiana thought. She jogged closer to the glowing blades hesitantly.

"Aderes!" a voice yelled from Lesiana's right side. "We are here and can sense you! Why do you have your mind closed?"

That's all Lesiana needed to hear. "I'm not Aderes!" she yelled as she bolted across the rest of the clearing. "It's Lesiana!"

From a distance, Lesiana glimpsed the surprised expressions of the warriors' faces reflected in the light of their gladaés.

"Release them now!" a guard yelled through the trees. "Before she reaches the other side!"

Lesiana glanced over her shoulder as she heard a loud click and the whistling of clasping cables fly through the air. "Help me!" she screamed shrilly. Her voice resounded loudly throughout the clearing.

She turned as the cape of her cloak flew out wildly behind her, and the silver glow of Aderes's gladaé burst through the opening of the sheath on her back. The sword lifted completely out of the sheath as if following its own will. The silver light spread wildly out from the blade into a diamond-shaped wall of light. Small streams of light emerged from the diamond to form a wide arc around Lesiana. The sword hovered close to her as she continued to run.

The claws from the cables slammed into the light of the sword and fell away.

"No!" Lesiana screamed as the guards swarmed her.

The hands of the guards reached for her, but a bright blue light suddenly swirled around her on the outside of Aderes's diamond light shield, doubling her protection so that nothing touched her.

Lesiana met Gyan's brightly lit eyes focused on her with an intense gaze. He flipped his dripping hair out of his eyes and put a comforting hand on her shoulder as he and the other light warriors flew past her.

The warriors engaged the guards, half of whom turned and retreated, the instant Lesiana reached the protective barrier of the masters.

Jalena stopped at Lesiana's side. "We are Aderes's friends, Lesiana. Stay behind us. You are safe now," she said.

At Jalena's words, Aderes's gladaé returned to its normal glow and fell into Lesiana's hands. Her chest heaved with emotion as her shaky fingers closed around the hilt.

Master Jabari, we are ready, Jalena said telepathically as the warriors chased the Kraundor soldiers out of the clearing. It wasn't Aderes on the monitor. It was Lesiana. She has Aderes's gladaé. The frequency of the sword is what's showing on the monitor. It was masking her energy.

Understood, he replied. The sky is almost clear. I will be there shortly.

"Go with Master Valora, Lesiana," Jalena instructed. "She will take you to our ship."

Valora appeared next to Lesiana and looked down at her with a smile. "I'm gonna carry you, but do not be afraid."

"I'm not," Lesiana replied. "Why do you have to carry me, though?" she said in confusion as she pushed her drenched hair out of her eyes. "I'm tired, but I can still walk."

"Not where we're going," Valora said. She put an arm around Lesiana's waist. "Hang onto tight."

"O…kay."

Valora extended her arm into the air. Her eyes lit up brightly and her hand began to glow a soft blue. Suddenly, a large gawl swooped down toward her hand and opened its claw.

"It's okay," Valora said as Lesiana cringed against her. "I've got you."

The gawl's claw closed around Valora's arm gently as Valora grasped its thick leg. Both were lifted high into the air. The two drew closer to Jabari's ship, which was hovering low over the trees. A small side door on the ship slid open.

Lesiana smiled as she looked down at the shrinking ground. The rainy wind whipped around her. She sighed and squeezed Valora's waist tighter.

Valora looked down and chuckled. "Feels good, doesn't it?"

"Yes," she said as tears of freedom streamed down her face. "Yes, it does."

***