TBC: Chapter Thirty-Six

"Did you find anything suspicious?" Malik asked as Jarek and Gyan entered the Xita-8 several moments later.

Both shook their heads.

"I sense something is off still, but I don't know enough about Fane's designs to tell if something is out of place," Gyan stated.

Jarek nodded in agreement.

"I feel the same," Malik responded, "but, we can't waste any more time."

"Where are we to go now?" Jarek asked as Malik lifted the ship into the sky.

"We'll move west, along the Black Crystal River and into Solara unless otherwise instructed," he answered.

"Has the base reported anything about what the other teams have discovered?" Gyan asked.

"It has been reported that Master Jalena and Master Lorcan discovered that Gyasi's Pandian friend, Adventus, was murdered by Akila," Malik answered.

"Do they know why?" asked Jarek.

"Akila is attempting to use his blood for a potion that would strengthen Mordán's army."

"Will it work?" Gyan said.

"One's normal cell structure would reject the blood. However, if Akila has found a way to dilute the blood and mix it with another potion to counter the body's instinct to deny the new chemical, then it might."

"What would happen to—?" Jarek began.

A sense of danger suddenly surged through Gyan's entire body. He stood at the same time as Jarek. They looked at each other in alarm.

There were several loud pops and a hiss from beneath the ship's front panel.

"Ready yourselves to teleport," Malik said sharply as he stood and grabbed his white staff. "I cannot transport you." He moved quickly passed the two. "Go now!" He disappeared in a burst of starlight.

Gyan felt the tightened grip of panic spread across his chest. He took a deep breath and tried to focus on being somewhere else. Jarek stared at him with wide eyes.

Malik suddenly appeared at the cockpit window, outside of the ship, floating with a look of irritation, his hair and robes whipping wildly in the wind.

Startled, Jarek jumped and stumbled back against his chair.

Fools! Malik yelled. You are warriors! Teleport!He disappeared again.

The left-back side of the ship exploded, causing the ship to tilt sharply.

Jarek looked at Gyan with a frantic expression as the two grabbed onto the nearest seat to steady themselves.

Now! Malik warned again.

"Concentrate on being outside, Jarek—in the forest. Come on, let's go," Gyan said. Gyan allowed the glow of the trees in Woven-Light Forest to fill his mind. Warmth spread through him and his eyes lit up brightly right before he disappeared.

The next small explosion took out another portion of the ship. The Xita-8 zoomed toward the forest trees as it rapidly dropped in altitude.

Jarek's eyes widened even more as he turned to the cockpit window. The Blue Star Mountain range loomed menacingly before him, growing closer by the second. He shook his head back and forth. "Outside, outside, outside…" he mumbled. He closed his eyes but reopened them quickly. "Stupid mountains," he said. "Come on…" His body remained frozen, defiant to his verbal demands.

Within the forest trees below, Gyan's feet hit the ground. He stumbled and looked above at the ship debris dropping from the air. His eyes followed what remained of the ship as it sped toward the mountains.

Malik appeared in a flash before him. "Where is he?"

Jarek! Gyan yelled.

Inside the ship, Jarek closed his eyes again as the Xita-8 dropped dangerously close to the top of the forest trees.

Cursing under his breath, Malik disappeared and reappeared next to the ship with his arms stretched out wide, his staff clasped tightly in one hand. He pointed his staff at the ship. His skin and royal blue markings began to shine as he muttered to himself. Light emerged from Malik's body and staff and surrounded the Xita-8, slowing its descent dramatically as it collided with the trees.

Gyan eyes lit up in narrowed concentration as he sprinted in the direction of the ship.

Malik disappeared and reappeared at the edge of the trees.

The ship skidded to a stop just as Gyan broke through the trees, his eyes still shining. Jarek?he called. Gyan smiled in relief as Jarek's energy entered his mind

Yeah, I'm—

The entire ship exploded.

Gyan and Malik instinctively ducked as shards of ship remains flew in all directions.

"No!" Gyan cried as he sprinted forward.

Malik ran to the ship, his eyes alight. An enormous flood of light emerged from his staff and swarmed the flames, causing them to disintegrate immediately. Only several seconds passed when he lowered his staff in surprise.

Jarek was walking away from the wreckage, amid the surrounding fire. Three thick rings of blue, red, and orange-flamed fire swirled around him—a ring circling his head, another at his waist, and one swirling around his knees—creating a protective barrier against the rest of the blaze. As Jarek cleared the remaining fire, the rings disappeared. He coughed and brushed off ash and dust from his arms.

Gyan stood before Jarek with his mouth ajar. Your face, Jarek," he said after a moment. "I knew I wasn't seeing things!"

"What?" Jarek asked. "Looks too good to be true, eh?" He grinned, his teeth appearing even whiter against his soot-covered skin. "No need to be jealous, Gyan."

Gyan rolled his eyes. "All kinds of colors are swirling in your eyes and there are glowing orange flame markings around both your eyes!"

Jarek touched the side of his eyes. "Really?" He shrugged as the markings slowly faded. "I didn't know I could do that. Your shield around me worked, Gyan. Right after it disappeared, the ship exploded though."

Gyan stared in silence at Jarek, unable to shake the image of Jarek walking away from the wreck with rings of fire swirling around his body.

Jarek looked past Gyan to Malik, who was approaching the two quickly. "See, it all works out, Sir Malik," he said with another quick grin.

Malik did not return Jarek's grin. With a spark of furious worry in his eyes, he brought his staff down in a quick whack against Jarek's upper right arm. "Next time use your power and teleport like you are able!"

"Ow, Sir Malik!" Jarek said as he grabbed his arm. "I thought you were a good wizard! I—I was going to, and then I just lost focus."

"You cannot observe what is and go where you wish, Master Jarek," he reprimanded with a glare.

"Yeah yeah, I get it," Jarek said, still rubbing his arm.

Gyan looked from Malik to Jarek. "Wait a minute. Who cares about teleporting right now? What just happened? How did you just walk away from an exploding ship with rings of fire surrounding you, and why did flamed markings appear on your face?"

Jarek shrugged. "I would have been injured if your shield hadn't been around me when the Xitahit the trees. The ship slowed to a stop, and I sensed the explosion only seconds before it happened. I just felt angry and I sort of…" Jarek trailed off and looked away.

"Go on—sort of, what?"

Jarek glanced at Gyan sheepishly. "I—I commanded it not to touch me," he finished fiercely.

"That's it?" Gyan said with a skeptical note.

"Master Jarek has discovered another charisma, Master Gyan," Malik interjected. "The ability to use fire as a shield. I thought as much when he absorbed the illusory flames from the burning ropes that bound him in my classroom last year. Remember that Jarek's father could manipulate water in a similar manner."

"So, he is an Elan, too?" Gyan asked.

Malik nodded.

Jarek cast them a devious smile. "I can make fire."

Malik sighed and shook his head. "No, Master Jarek. You can use fire as a means of protection."

Jarek's smile grew wider. "Never say never, Master Wizard—never say never. There may be more of me to discover yet."

Gyan rolled his eyes again. "I think we've seen enough."

The three looked toward the wreckage.

"We've got to decide how we are going to get out of here," Malik stated. "We can contact headquarters through the lumrays, but they were likely damaged."

"However, if the shield I cast around them earlier held when I teleported, then they should probably still be in one piece," Gyan finished with a smile.

Malik nodded, looking impressed. "You both have grown enormously in your power. As an instructor, I am pleased."

He walked toward the wreckage, putting out any flames that remained with the light projecting from his staff.

Gyan and Jarek began removing the rubble that covered the ship's lower compartment and retrieving anything still of use. A gleam of blue light pierced a crack in the rubble as Gyan moved a large piece of debris.

"Over here! I think my shield worked," shouted Gyan. He lifted more pieces of the ship off the bikes, which although knocked over, were in sound condition, still glowing with blue light.

Gyan stood back and scratched his head. "I released the shield on the bikes when I released Jarek's shield, so I don't understand why they are still glowing."

"It looks like Fane has designed them so that they store some of the energy transported into them," Malik said from behind Gyan. "He will be pleased that not everything was destroyed. He won't be happy when he hears what happened to the ship." He looked to the sky, where smoke had gathered from the explosion. "It won't be long before the wreck draws attention, so it's best if we leave quickly."

Jarek chuckled lightly to himself and then suddenly burst into hearty laughter.

Gyan raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"Sir Malik, you were so scary flying outside the cockpit window like that," Jarek said as he grabbed his stomach and fell back against the ship. He laughed harder. "Your wizard hair all whipping out and eyes glowing—a mad look on your face…"

Gyan joined Jarek in laughter as he recalled the image. He nodded. "That was the scariest thing…" he took a deep breath and laughed harder, "...I've ever seen."

Malik watched the two with a hint of amusement for several seconds before a chuckle escaped him. "I cannot fly, Master Jarek." He raised his eyebrows. "I was merely teleporting to different points of focus in the sky."

"Still…" said Jarek as he took a deep breath to calm down.

Gyan shook his head with a lingering grin as he pulled his lumray from the rest of the rubble.

Jarek stood and reached for his bike. His smile quickly faded as he grabbed his forehead and fell back against the side of the ship.

"Jarek!" Gyan said in alarm. "What is it?"

Jarek bowed his head and narrowed his gaze in concentration as he slid slowly into a squat.

Malik knelt by Jarek's side as Jarek took a deep breath and swallowed. "It's the team traveling to the Lundar Mountains—specifically, Valora and Brogan," he said. "They're in danger."

Gyan looked to Malik in alarmed concern.

Malik stood and held out a hand to help Jarek to his feet. "We will radio the Protective Units in Sinial from the lumrays to retrieve us, but whoever is closest to the Lundar Mountains must be sent to the team now."

***