The Merchant of Death (43 page)

Loor and I watched this strange scene silently as we made our way toward the village. We looked for the path that would lead us through the woods, but the path was gone. Most of the woods were gone too. Hundreds of trees had fallen and were piled up like pickup sticks. Finding our way through this maze of trees was tricky.

Then I saw something that made me stop and stare. An injured miner was sitting near the stump of a fallen tree. His head was bleeding and he had to lean against the stump for support. A woman knelt beside him, tending to his wounds. She had a bucket of water and some rags. She dipped the cloth into the water and gently dabbed at the miner's wound to clean it. She wasn't rough, she wasn't in a hurry. Her actions looked like a mother taking care of her child. Given all that had happened you wouldn't think this scene was out of the ordinary, but it was. That's because the woman taking care of the Milago miner was a Bedoowan.

“I do not understand,” said Loor. “They are enemies.”

“Maybe they found a common enemy,” was my reply.

We picked our way through the toppled forest and found the Milago village. The place was a mess. Many huts were still standing, but most of them were badly damaged. Some were nothing more than a pile of rubble. The path that led through the village was now a mass of ruts, rocks, and rubble. I looked to the center of the village and to the platform where the Transfer ceremonies took place. It was destroyed. The large stone foundation was still there, but it was now scorched black. The platform was gone. I was about to suggest we look for Alder and Uncle Press when we heard a familiar voice.

“Loor! Pendragon!”

It was Alder. He was alive! The big bumbling knight came bounding toward us like a happy puppy. In his excitement he
tripped over a rock and stumbled, and we caught him before he did a complete face plant. The catch turned into a hug for all of us.

“I feared you were dead!” he exclaimed. “How did you escape from the palace?”

“Long story,” I answered. “What happened up here?”

“It was unbelievable!” he shouted. The guy was totally charged. “There was a battle. The Milago tried to defeat the Bedoowan with tak, but the tak ran out so the Milago charged and the two sides clashed and . . . and . . . that's when it happened!”

“What?” asked Loor, though she had a good idea what the answer was.

“The ground came to life!” he shouted. “The earth began to move like the sea! The Milago and the Bedoowan stopped fighting and turned to run, but there was nowhere to go! Trees began to topple and huts fell and the sound . . . the sound was like thunder under the ground. And then came the fire—”

He pointed at the charred remains of the platform in the center of the village. “Giant pillars of fire shot from the openings to the mines! The flames were like water geysers that shot high into the sky. And then . . . it was over.”

Alder fell silent, letting us get our heads around all that he had said. After a moment he asked, “And where were you when this all happened?”

I looked to Loor and she gave me a shrug. That meant she wanted me to answer.

“Well,” I said. “We blew up the tak mine. I think that might have had a little something to do with all the excitement.”

Alder stared at us with his mouth open in disbelief. He was having trouble processing the information.

“Close your mouth,” I said. “Where's Uncle Press?”

“Uhhh, Press”, he said, snapping back to reality. “Right. Follow me.”

Alder stumbled off and led us through the remains of the Milago village. As we approached a hut that was still fairly intact, Alder gave us the “shh” signal. Whatever we were going to see, he didn't want us to be disruptive. He stayed close to the wall and peered around the corner. Loor and I joined him and looked around the corner as well.

Several yards ahead was the hut that had once been Rellin's. I remembered it because I had been there when he asked me to go back home and get more batteries. But the walls of the hut were gone. It was bizarre. There were people inside who acted as if they were in the hut, but they were really outside and . . . well, you get the picture. There were three people who looked to be having a heart-to-heart meeting. I'm thrilled to say that one of them was Uncle Press. He was alive and looking fine. I wanted to shout to him, but I realized he was in the middle of something heavy, so I bit my tongue.

The second person I saw was Rellin. He looked like he had been through a war, which, in fact, he had. His leather clothes were in shreds and his bandaged arm was caked with dried blood, but he was alive. It was the third person in the hut that was the shocker.

It was Queen Kagan. The woman sat on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest, crying. I swear, she was crying like a two-year-old. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but it looked as if Rellin was speaking to her softly, like a father might speak to a sad child. Uncle Press wasn't saying anything. My guess was that he was there to act as a neutral peacemaker.

It was then that Uncle Press saw us and broke out in a big grin. He excused himself and ran to us. He threw his arms around me like a big old bear and laughed like it was
Christmas. I think he was even crying a little. To be honest, it made me laugh and cry a little bit too. How's that for a couple of tough-ass Travelers to behave? He pulled us back around to the other side of the hut so we wouldn't disturb Rellin and Queen Kagan, then threw his arm around Loor as well. I hadn't seen Uncle Press act like that in forever. For the first time since this adventure began, he was my old Uncle Press again. It was good to have him back. He then pulled away and gave us both a good hard look.

“What?” I finally said.

“Was it you?” he asked. “I mean, all this?” He motioned around to the destruction of the Milago village and I knew exactly what he meant. I looked to Loor. She shrugged, which was becoming our signal that she wanted me to do the talking.

“Well,” I said. “Yeah.”

Uncle Press burst out laughing. “I told you to get rid of the bomb, not set it off underground!”

“We didn't,” I said, and gave him a quick rundown as to what happened from the time he left us in the Bedoowan stadium. Though everything I told him was the absolute truth, I have to admit that it sounded pretty fantastic. I think the most amazing fact of all was that all of this destruction started when I threw down a pea-sized marble of tak. Talk about knocking over the first domino. Wow.

Uncle Press listened closely. So did Alder. I didn't think it was possible, but I believe that the story of our adventure in the tak mine shocked my uncle. I knew it stunned Alder; he still couldn't close his mouth.

“What about Saint Dane?” Uncle Press asked.

“Gone,” I answered. “He jumped into the flume. We would have followed him except he sent back this giant monster shark to stop us. It worked.”

“Monster shark? That means he's on Cloral”, said Uncle Press thoughtfully.

“Exactly!” I exclaimed. “How did you know?”

“Because the quigs on Cloral are giant monster sharks,”, was his simple answer.

Of course! I should have known! Quigs on Second Earth are monster dogs, quigs on Denduron are monster bears, and quigs on Cloral are monster sharks. It was so simple. Everybody knew that. Mental note to self: Stay away from Cloral.

“What's going on over there?” I asked, referring to the meeting with Queen Kagan and Rellin. I was tired of thinking about quigs, no matter what form they took.

We all looked back around the corner to see the two leaders were still in deep conversation.

“You're looking at two people who are very frightened,” Uncle Press said. “They both got a glimpse of the apocalypse. Rellin came close to losing every last one of the Milago and Queen Kagan saw her palace fall into the sea. There's nothing left of their worlds, except for their people.”

“What are they talking about?” asked Loor.

“A lot of things,” answered Uncle Press. “But the bottom line is, they're talking about how to survive, together.”

A few hours ago the idea of the Milago and the Bedoowan living together in cooperation was a joke. They had centuries of baggage to deal with. That kind of thing doesn't go away in an afternoon. But then I thought back to the Milago miner who was being cared for by the Bedoowan woman. They were still people, after all. And since the palace had been destroyed, they were pretty much in the same dire situation. Their best chance of survival was to help each other. It seemed like a lot to ask of mortal enemies, but I guess a cataclysmic event that nearly destroys every
living thing in sight will make you rethink your priorities.

“They have a lot to offer each other,”, added Uncle Press. “The Bedoowan have an advanced knowledge of engineering and chemistry that can help bring the Milago out of the stone age. The Milago are farmers and builders. Now they can finally get something back for their hard work.”

“What about the mines?” asked Alder.

“The mines are gone,”, answered Uncle Press. “When the tak blew, the mines collapsed. It would take decades to get back to where they were. It's not worth it. The Milago are out of the mining business . . . for good.”

“That means no more glaze,” I added.

“Yeah, no more glaze,” said Uncle Press. “The Bedoowan used glaze to trade with other tribes. Now they'll have to be more self-sufficient.”

“How do the Novans fit into all this?” I asked.

“They can go back to their own tribe,” said Uncle Press. “Or they can stay and help rebuild. It's their choice, but I think they'll stay.”

“What if the Milago try to use tak again?” asked Alder. “That is what Saint Dane wanted, is it not?”

“There
is
no more tak,” I said with authority. “Rellin couldn't get his hands on any even if he wanted to.”

“Rellin is a good man,” Uncle Press said sharply. “But he was blinded by his concern for his people. Now he can channel that energy into something more constructive. He's going to be a great leader. But he's going to have his hands full with Queen Kagan. She's a piece of work.”

As if he knew we were talking about him, Rellin looked up to us. We made eye contact and Rellin smiled. That one little smile spoke volumes. He had been humbled, and though he looked tired, he also seemed to be at peace. There was a huge
task in front of him, but he was the right man for the job.

“There are no guarantees,” said Uncle Press. “These people have to work through centuries of hatred and mistrust. But at least now they've got a shot at building a society that can benefit everyone. It's not often that you get a second chance.”

As I looked around the ruined Milago village it was hard to comprehend that the best thing that could have happened to these people was the near-destruction of their world. But maybe Uncle Press was right. Maybe the only way they could change was to clean the slate and start over. They were certainly going to get that chance. I truly hoped that they'd make the most of it.

“I'm hungry!” announced Uncle Press. “Loor, could you and Alder head over to the hospital hut? They've set up an emergency supply station there.”

Alder and Loor quickly left us to search for some food. But I don't think Uncle Press was really interested in eating. I think he wanted to talk to me alone.

“Let's walk,” he said. The two of us left Queen Kagan and Rellin to their discussion and walked through the Milago village.

“How do you feel, Bobby?” he asked me.

Now there was a simple question that didn't have a simple answer. How did I feel? I felt a million different ways. I felt tired. I felt sore from my escape with Loor and our plummet into the sea. I felt proud of myself for having kept my head on straight when things were crashing down around me.

I felt as if I learned a few things. I learned that it's sometimes okay to think like a weenie, so long as you don't
act
like one—at least not all the time. I learned that it's okay to be wrong, as long as you can admit it and are willing to listen to those who may know better.

I also felt sad. Sad for Osa, Loor's wonderful mother. She was someone I wish I had gotten to know better. And I felt sad for Loor, who lost her. I also felt sad for the others who lost their lives here as well. There was so much I had seen over these few days and not all of it was good. I saw the horrible way that people could treat each other. That may be the saddest thing of all. I saw greed and anger and murder and a total lack of concern for human life. It was the wicked side of the human soul that I saw here on Denduron and it saddened me to know that such a dark place existed.

How did I feel? I was frightened of Saint Dane. Not because I thought he would come after me or anything, but scared of what one man was capable of. He used his evil influence to manipulate people into doing horrible deeds. His power nearly brought about the destruction of an entire world. I feared that he might try again elsewhere and hoped that by stopping him here, his plan would go no further. But what I was mostly scared of, was being a Traveler. I didn't want the responsibility. I mean, I'm just a kid. If there is something that truly scares me, it's my own future.

How did I feel? I also felt a little glad. I was glad that the people of Denduron were going to get a second chance. I was proud of Uncle Press. I wasn't entirely sure of what his deal was, but he cared enough to help bring about the resurrection of a society headed for ruin. I was also glad that I met the people I did. Alder had a good heart and I'll always remember him as a friend. Rellin may have been misguided, but what he did he did for the good of his people and I respected that. Now he has the chance to help them in a more positive way. I'm glad that I met Osa. I don't think I will ever forget her calm wisdom and I hope that some of it rubbed off on me. I was glad that I had good friends like you two, Mark and
Courtney. You helped me when I needed it most and I will forever be in your debt.