The Energy Crusades (14 page)

"Hey," Malik said, pointing at the cuff on my arm. "Your brother wears one just like it."

"He does," I smiled, pleased he had noticed. Ajax stole a glance at the cuff then looked away quickly. Did he remember asking me about it on the footpath? It was hard to tell with him. I had to fight the urge to straighten his necklace again.

We rolled our clothing up into tight little balls and placed it in our packs. Malik took the packs and secured them together before bundling them up in a large, waterproof bag. We retracted our staffs and set them to float with our orbs above the surface of the water.

"Lead the way, Caden," Ajax said, gesturing toward the water. Caden waded in, sure
-
footed and confident, even in his underwear. "Now you, Balor." After Balor went, it was Tory, then Malik entered with our bags. I followed them and Ajax took the rear. We walked for several meters with cold water swirling ever higher around our legs. When it became waist high, we began to swim. The waterway was narrow and the cave walls close for what seemed a long time. There was nothing to see except tunnels and water, and the feeling was almost claustrophobic. I wondered how anyone could live underground in such a place.

Then the walls gave way to caverns, and the water began to flow with such swiftness, we could turn on our backs and float with the current. The scenery changed drastically and we passed by caves of unimaginable size, spaces as large as entire Universities. Some of the rooms were sleeping areas with bunks carved into the rocks, each large enough to sleep two. Others were dining rooms, where light filtered through and brightened the area, and boulders served as chairs or tables. Some of the caves stored food, and no light trickled in to their cold dark places. We saw caves made into wine cellars, with more bottles than we could possibly count.

There were gardens down there too, where the sun came through crevices in the rocks and fed the green plants blanketing the floor. From above, those roofless places would appear as huge chasms to be avoided.

We raced along with the current trying to take it all in. People lived here. They lived and they thrived and I knew in my heart they wore no energy suits and did not feed into any grids. Were there children too? I wondered. I felt uneasy as I saw all the signs of this underground community, feeling their presence, though I couldn
'
t see them. Our passage through the caves had many witnesses, including the spiders on the walls, whose bodies were thick and solid like iron embedded in the rock. Those huge, ancient looking creatures watched us pass but made no movement. The cave dwellers brought us in here and wanted us to see this, I felt sure of it. Why?

They
want
us
to
see
. Ajax s
aid his words to me silently, his thoughts in line with my own. He let his emotions surround me for a moment: confusion, apprehension, and just a bit of the anger I also felt.

Ajax
, I answered back, saying his name the way we used to do as children. After spending the day together, we would go our separate ways, to our own houses when our parents forced us apart, and I would lie in bed and reach out to him. I would say his name, searching for his presence across the night, and he would answer.

Kaia
.

The same way he answered me now, and I smiled at the memory. I felt better then, and glad he was with me despite all the negative tension between us. His simple response to our old way of communicating made me feel at home, just because he was there. When I left for the Academy as a child, I would try to call to him, but the distance was too great and we lost the connection until now.

At last the current slowed, and we came ashore at the edge of a great cavern. The space was immense and the rocky shore upon which we stood stretched around a lake of water. Flickers of light danced across the water inexplicably, until I realized the walls of the cavern were embedded with lanterns, all aglow. They had electricity. The thought burned my heart; they had power, they had food. They did not wear energy suits and they did not feed any of the grids above.

On the far side of the lake, the cave dwellers emerged from a tunnel and stood on the opposite shore. They looked at us, and we looked at them. Their leader held the black bag in plain sight. I had questions for them, I
'
m sure we all did, but the distance across the span of the lake was too great to communicate without shouting.

Join
us
, he said in my head.
Join
us
and
be
free
.

I wondered if he tried to offer the same message to all of us, but I didn
'
t have the chance to ask. As he spoke the words, the world shifted in front of us, creating a hazy line between us and them. A first it was a small jolt, which shook the ground and left us slightly unbalanced, but the rumbling continued, similar to what we
'
d experienced in the building. The cave dwellers swam in and out of focus as the caves themselves shifted between the underground world and another one full of green trees.

"The exercise is changing again!" Balor
'
s voice sounded panicked. "We need the bag!" Yes, the bag was what we needed, no matter if the scenery was going to change before our eyes. The Teachers were trying to re-take control of the exercise and we needed to grab and go.

Throw
me
the
bag! I pleaded with him as I dove into the water before our chance was taken away. I swam
furiously
for the opposite shore, hoping he would throw it out to me.

It occurred to me that the rumbling in the building, the shifting staircases and undulating floors, might have been a mistake. If the exercise was tampered with as Ajax surmised, perhaps it was so, right from the beginning.

Those thoughts fell away as I swam through the cool water. Ajax shouted into my head but I kept on, surfacing when I heard the cave dweller call to me.

Now!

I surfaced quickly and found green trees on the opposite shore. Then the scene shifted and there were caves again. The bag flew at me from unseen hands as the world continued to undulate before my eyes. I caught it and turned toward my friends. Their shore was fading as well. Malik stepped a few feet into the water and threw a rope out toward me. I swam after it and held on tight. Ajax, Tory, Balor and Caden all lined up behind Malik and grabbed onto the rope serving as anchors. Whatever happened, we would stay together.

I held the bag and the rope in both hands and struggled to hold my breath as the water crashed violently around me. There was no question of trying to pull myself toward them, they had to pull me. It seemed as if I thrashed in the water for hours, when in fact it was only seconds until the world changed completely and I landed with a thud. Instead of a mouthful of water, I had a mouthful of grass. At least I still had a hold of the rope and the bag.

"On your feet," Ajax wasted no time getting to me. He held his hand out and I took it, grateful for the help.
My insides were shaky
, having crashed into the ground twice already. I looked around, taking a moment to catch my breath and acquaint myself with our new surroundings. We were on a hillside again, but this one was lush and green. Rolling hills stretched as far as the eye could see, and a river ran through a valley carved between them. The air was crisp and the sun was low in a bright blue sky. Dusk would be upon us soon. A slight breeze carried the scent of grass and wildflowers. The view was breathtaking, but there was no time to enjoy it. Underneath my feet I could feel the faint rumble of approaching footsteps.

I took several deep breaths, trying to settle the pain I felt everywhere, even in my teeth. Malik stepped over and put a hand on my back.

"I know you
'
re hurt, but try and clear your mind of the pain," his deep voice filled me and I closed my eyes and felt the heat radiating from his hand, spreading a gentle numbness throughout my body. Malik had superior healing hands, and he wasn
'
t even a full Healer yet. His voice soothed me and his hands rejuvenated my body. In only a few moments, I felt ready to face what was coming.

"Quickly, Kaia," Ajax said, tossing me my pack. The others were already getting dressed and I quickly shrugged into my own energy suit, wet underclothes and all. I felt squishy underneath but there was nothing to be done about it. We gathered our things hastily, putting our orbs away and our packs back on. The black bag was too large to fit inside so Malik secured it to my pack with a bit of rope. We kept our staffs handy and began to run for the line of trees to the east. If we could make it to the trees, the fight would be easier. Virtuals could not climb.

We didn
'
t make it in time. The Virtuals burst from the trees at a maddening pace and attacked without making any sort of formation. They were on us quickly and we lost precious seconds calling our staffs to life. There were many more of them than I expected, more than I could count at the time, and their blows rained down on me in quick succession. Each blow sent a little more energy fleeing from my already weary body.

I couldn
'
t see the others. The Virtuals surrounded and separated us. I jumped onto the back of one and used its body as a shield against the others. It stumbled and tried to shake me off, but I sent a blow to the place where its heart would be, and its energy faltered. I could have paralyzed it right then, but it protected me from many other blows and I paralyzed four others from atop its back. Finally, in desperation, it tumbled over the hillside and I landed under it, then we rolled in a tangle down the hill, my body hitting against hill and rock and dirt all the way down until coming to a rest on the muddy banks of the river
'
s edge, free of the Virtual momentarily.

I lay on the ground, rattled by yet another fall. Each breath pushed painfully against my ribs and my eyes swam with stars. When I tried to focus, it took me longer than I would have liked.

The Virtual rose from the water first and stood over me, its legs straddling my body. It would have been easy to quit then; I was tired and it took a great effort to focus on the guard. But I had to keep going. If I quit now, all the effort we put into getting the bag would be for nothing.

I took a deep breath and called its staff to me, catching the guard by surprise. The staff flew from its hand and into my own, and before it could reach for me, I grabbed one of its legs and yanked it. The Virtual fell toward me but I rolled over quickly and it crashed in the water. I jumped on it immediately and stabbed the place where its heart would be, using its own staff. The energy fled from the Virtual, up the staff and into my own body in a rush of adrenaline. Energy flowed through me like liquid sunshine, and all the pain and weariness dissolved in its wake.

Beneath me, the Virtual crumbled into thin air, its energy completely spent, and my own replenished. When it disappeared, so did its staff. I transferred mine back to my left hand and began to walk back up the hill feeling refreshed.

To
the
trees! Ajax sent the command silently. They must have made it. I ran back up the hill and into the trees. Ajax, Malik, and Caden swung from tree to tree, beating on the Virtua
ls and knocking them out easily. Tory and Balor lay paralyzed at the edge of the forest. My heart flopped in my chest at the sight of their immobile bodies. How could they knock out Balor? And Tory was quick, she could get around them — what happened? I fe
lt guilty at not having been there to protect her. But the others had been there. It must have been quite a fight and I had missed it.

Whack!

The blow hit the back of my legs and sent me stumbling to my knees, and then the blows kept on coming, one after the other, reigning down on my back as I lost my balance and my vision started to blur. My backpack provided little protection against the force of their staffs. Also, I
'
d hesitated a second too long, distraught over my friends, and now I was vulnerable. I felt bile rise up in my throat.

"Hello, Kaia," Ajax said cheerfully as he landed next to me. He beat back the Virtuals with ease and pulled me to my feet at the same time. If I thought I was quick, or skilled with my hands, I was nothing compared to Ajax. He fought with a precise intensity, his movements as fluid as water. When I regained my composure, I fought beside him. Malik and Caden swung off the branches to join us and the fight became a flurry of staffs, fists and feet as we crashed against the Virtuals and tried to avoid getting paralyzed.

When the last Virtual was finally vanquished, the four of us fell to our knees. There wasn
'
t a centimeter on me that didn
'
t ache. By the look of the others, they felt the same way. None of us spoke and the human silence settled around our bodies in the deepening twilight. The rustle of the leaves and the music of the river enveloped us, but we didn
'
t have the breath to say a word. I put my head down on the ground, letting my body lay flat, grateful for a bit of stillness.

Next to me, Ajax put his head on the ground and his eyes searched out mine. He reached out his hand until it just touched mine, not holding it, but applying just a bit of pressure. As light as his touch was, I could feel his energy seeping into me and was surprised he had any to spare. I felt a bit of his emotions, worry mostly, and I would have told him I was all right, would have asked about Tory and Balor, but the world started to shift and the noise of the river became more and more distant. The trees above us became the ceiling of the Weapons Room, and Healers rushed in and surrounded us, signaling the end of the exercise and the end of a painfully long day.