Flinx took his hand away from G'loona's mouth, having cloaked himself to gauge her reaction to the voices, then rushing to stop her from calling out.
"Sorry," he whispered, "but it looked like you wanted to shout. Do you . . . know him?"
G'loona nodded slowly. Angry tears filled her eyes. How had the phoenixes captured Ballista? They'd asked about the Garden as if they didn't know where it was, but Ballista spent nearly all his time there. And what did they want with the Garden, anyway?
"Shall we . . . move on?" asked Flinx uncertainly.
G'loona nodded and started running down the tunnel, hoping to catch up to the voices. Flinx cursed quietly and hurried to keep up with her. It wasn't long before the voices became clear again.
". . . I have appointments tomorrow! Whether or not you have G'loona here, she's not the only one who'll know I'm missing!"
"You're a bad liar, you are. Hey, Faylanx, is there any reason we need this old bat conscious?"
"Nah, Number One can revive him when we get there. . . ."
G'loona swiped the tears out of her narrowed eyes. All her fear seemed fade. They're going to hurt Ballista. Maybe torture him.
"Flinx," she whispered, "where's the closest door into that passage?"
Flinx took hold of her arm and shook his head wildly. "We're trying to avoid capture," he hissed. "We have to get you out of here. I might be able to help your friend later."
But this was about more than just her. She knew that now. Whatever the Wave-influenced phoenixes were planning to do, it would affect her regardless of whether she escaped or not.
She locked eyes with Flinx. "No," she said. "There won't be a later. Now, how thick did you say these walls were?"
Flinx's eyes widened in terror.
G'loona stepped away from him, putting a fist against the wall. The voices were beginning to move away again.
Was she really considering charging out into the tunnel, unarmed, to free Ballista from two crazy firebirds? Yes, she thought, I am. It scared her as much as it obviously did Flinx, but it had to be done.
She pulled her fist back, preparing to smash through the wall, but Flinx caught her arm again.
"Don't do this," he hissed. "You can't save him now."
G'loona frowned at him and lunged toward the wall, breaking his grip again.
"No!" shouted Flinx, as G'loona's momentum brought her crashing through the wall in an explosion of dust and rock. The phoenix reached out to keep her from falling, but he was too late. The cloaking crystal flew from G'loona's grasp and she landed hard in the pile of rubble.
"Oi! What was that?" said a voice from down the tunnel.
Breathing shakily, G'loona got to her hands and knees, searching the rubble for her crystal. One of the phoenixes sounded like he was coming back toward her, but she couldn't see him through the blue mist that filled the tunnel. She had a few seconds, at best. . . .
"Flinx?" she whispered, eyes darting frantically from rock pile to rock pile. "Hello?"
There was no answer.
At last she found the crystal against the opposite wall of the tunnel and, standing up, she stabbed it forward. Her ears popped, but there was still no sign of Flinx.
She peered through the hole in the wall, looked up and down the side tunnel.
No Flinx.
He jabbed his crystal when he reached for me, she realized. And he was already invisible. . . .
She stood there, stunned, as the phoenix from down the tunnel appeared out of the mist. G'loona ignored him as he inspected the rubble and the hole in the wall.
He's gone, she thought, not fully believing it. Disappeared.
G'loona struggled to calm her breathing; the Wave-phoenix lingered by the hole and she couldn't alert him to her presence. Finally, he shrugged and returned to his companion, saying, "Oi, Forx; there's some tunnels hidden in the walls. Should we tell Number One about it?"
G'loona slowly realized that Ballista was moving away again, but she didn't want to move. Flinx had to be around here somewhere; he couldn't just be gone . . . .
She heard Grumlo's voice in her head, telling her not to worry, and she forced it away, tears in her eyes again.
Life is fair to everyone . . .
Everything settles into a balance . . . .
It's not true, thought G'loona. Life's not fair...mine's living proof.
From a distance, Ballista cried out, and G'loona turned her head toward the sound, torn.
Flinx or no Flinx, she'd already made her choice. She'd broken down the wall and endangered the Wave Riders. It may have been an extreme and somewhat foolish thing to do, but she was here now, for better or worse. With one last bleary glance up and down the side tunnel, she whispered, "I'll come back for you," and raced after Ballista and the phoenixes.
*
When she caught up to them, it seemed that Faylanx had carried through with his threat to knock Ballista out. The bat was being dragged along the ground by the chains that bound his wings, his lolling head covered by a sack and his hands tied together with rope. G'loona fought the urge to start gathering rock to throw. It felt like the appropriate thing to do in such a situation, but she was angry and upset and unable to think very clearly. She forced herself to calm down. For whatever reason, these phoenixes needed Ballista alive.
And if that fact suddenly changed, she'd be in the perfect position to help him.
So she waited impatiently, following the phoenixes invisibly down the mist-filled passage.
The two firebirds argued over who would open the doors, who would tell Number One about the secret tunnels, and, it seemed, everything else that crossed their minds to argue about. To G'loona, they didn’t seem crazy so much as nasty and self-important. The contrast between them and what she'd known of phoenixes before was so striking that she began to wonder if these were different creatures entirely.
"Is he coming around?" one asked the other, gesturing to Ballista.
Phoenix #2 bent over the bat, squinting. The blue mist was growing thicker. "Nah, don't think 'e is," he said. "Guess I'll hafta wake 'im up, eh?"
"Not if I do it first," snarled phoenix #1, drawing an energized knife-weapon.
G'loona took a calming breath. Just wait, Ballista will be fine, just wait . . . .
"No, I'll be the one t' wake 'im!" said phoenix #2, and he reached down and slapped Ballista's obscured face.
"OH NO YOU DON'T!" said phoenix #1. He dropped Ballista to reach forward and slap phoenix #2's face. Before long they'd broken into fisticuffs, Ballista and the knife forgotten on the floor.
Perfect, thought G'loona. She edged along the wall around the fight, watching for an opening to grab the knife.
Then phoenix #2 stepped on one of Ballista's wings. The bat shrieked and tried to sit up, tangling his wings further in the chains. Phoenix #1 stumbled back in shock--and bumped into G'loona.
G'loona stumbled, too, and she lost her grip on the cloaking crystal. It rolled away down the dark tunnel, swallowed by the mist.
Oh, no . . .
As Ballista continued to screech, phoenix #1 whirled around and blinked at G'loona in disbelief.
"Well," phoenix #2 said smugly, "I guess I woke 'im up."
"I guess," muttered phoenix #1, still having a staring contest with G'loona. "But, uh, Forx--"
G'loona acted before the phoenixes (or she) had time to think. She darted around phoenix #1, grabbed the energy-knife from the ground, and held it up to phoenix #2's throat. Now both phoenixes were blinking at her in disbelief.
"What is this?" said phoenix #2 quietly. "Some kinda rescue attempt?"
"Yes, it is," said G'loona harshly, pushing the knife closer to the phoenix's throat. A strange light that definitely wasn't fire flickered around the blade.
"G'loona?" said Ballista weakly. "Is that you?"
"Yes," whispered G'loona. Her hands started to shake. Her mind groped for something to say, but found nothing.
"G'loona . . ." said phoenix #1. "You were supposed to be captured . . . ."
"That's enough o' that," growled phoenix #2, pulling out his own energy-knife.
"Stop!" said G'loona. "Just--stop." Both phoenixes froze again.
G'loona took a breath. "Let me and Ballista go."
The phoenixes exchanged a glance and a grin, as if the very idea were ridiculous.
G'loona clenched her teeth. Her hands shook even more. She thought of how Fluminox had kidnapped her, how Flinx and the other Wave Riders had been forced into hiding. She thought of how the circumstances had led Flinx to be careless, and—
"Let me and Ballista go," she said, "or I will hurt you."
"Right, right," laughed phoenix #2, jumping back and twisting a knob on the handle of his knife.
G'loona found the knob on her own knife and turned it. The light around the blade flashed and crackled like lighting.
"Bring it, little dude," said phoenix #2, blade sparking eerily through the gloom.
G'loona tensed, waiting for a sudden flurry of attacks from phoenix #2. Instead she felt someone tackle her from behind: phoenix #1. Cavora!
Blindly, she stabbed the knife over her shoulder. In the confused tumble of wings and limbs, the knife sliced nothing but empty air.
She cried out as she landed, hard, on the tunnel floor. Phoenix #1 was already on the ground beside her, reaching out to pull the knife from her grasp. Instinctively, she swung the blade at him. He tried to roll away, and he would have been successful—If the knife had been a normal one.
The band of energy dancing around the blade leaped towards phoenix #1, striking his back and shocking him into unconsciousness.
G'loona stared at the knife in her hand, stunned. Then she looked up, just in time to see phoenix #2 swing his own knife. She raised her arm to block, and the blades clashed, spraying sparks and flashing garishly. The impact sent a current of energy up G'loona's arm, rattling her teeth.
"Botherer," said phoenix #2, pulling back. "This has gone on for too long . . . ."
G'loona scrambled to her feet and turned the knob on her knife as far as it would go. Phoenix #2 followed suit, then immediately leaped into another attack. G'loona braced herself and held up her knife, but the shock of the blow was too much this time. Her arm went limp and she stumbled back against a wall, numb.
"G'loona?" said Ballista, his voice muffled by the sack over his head. "Are you OK?" No, she thought sadly, trying to catch her breath as phoenix #2 closed in. Why does it have to . . . ?
A bolt of energy arced away from phoenix #2's blade. She watched distantly as it neared her stomach, felt a sudden flash of pain, and passed out.
She awoke to an ache in her gut, along with a more urgent pain from her wrists. She smacked her lips and opened her bleary eyes—and realized she was hanging off a ledge that could only be at the bottom of Mount Cavora.
With great difficulty, she stifled a scream. Her eyes snapped shut again. Her hands had been tied to a rocky protrusion from the Mountain, and--judging by the pain—her arms had been holding her full weight for hours. A gust of wind tossed her about like a flag, and she started to hyperventilate. Those phoenixes . . . Agh! How could this get any worse . . . ? No, wait—
"I told them," said a voice beside her. "I'm sorry . . . ."
G'loona finally took a deep--albeit shaky--breath. She opened her eyes again and looked to the right.
Roughly three feet away, Ballista also hung by his hands from the Mountain. His eyes stared at nothing. His head was bowed in defeat. "I thought I would be strong," he said, his soft words barely carrying over the wind. "It's my fault, G'loona. All my fault."
"What?" said G'loona. "What did you tell them?"
Ballista lifted his head, then let it drop again. "Where the Garden is," he said. "They made a fire Chi weapon—a sort of fire-bomb, and they wanted to test it in a . . . sheltered place. A place where it won't hurt anyone if something goes wrong."
G'loona felt a spike of panic. "But—but that means—"
"I know," said Ballista. "Cavora, I know."
"Their own weapon would . . . would hurt them, though, right?"
Ballista shook his head. "Unfortunately, they're fireproof."
G'loona swallowed around a lump in her throat. The Garden—her Garden—was as good as gone.
But that thought had barely taken hold in her head when the phoenix glided down from the floating Mountain above them.
At the sight of those orange wings, G'loona felt herself slip further into a sea of despair. Then the firebird slowed to a halt in front of her, and her mind went completely blank.
It was Flinx.
"Hey," he said, giving an awkward little wave. "So...uh, want me to get you down?"
The wind no longer seemed quite so cold to G'loona. "No, we're fine," she said before she could stop herself.
Flinx stared, seeming just as lost for words as she had been a few seconds ago.
"I'm kidding!" she said quickly, a smile spreading across her face. "Get us down, now! NOW!"
"Right, fine, give me a minute," Flinx grumbled, but he was smiling too. With a powerful downstroke of his wings, he lifted up and out of sight, back to the Mountain.
Ballista sighed once the phoenix had gone. "If he comes back, it's bound to be some sort of trap. Don't get your hopes up."
For a moment G'loona's panic returned: what if that Flinx had been an illusion? An inexplicably cruel trick?
But no; the phoenixes no longer had reason to believe she trusted Flinx, and anyway, how could they possibly create such a realistic illusion? "It's not a trap," said G'loona, watching for Flinx's return. "Trust me."
Within seconds, Flinx was there again, at the controls of a four-seater glider.
"See?" said G'loona.
"I suppose . . . ." said Ballista, but he still looked unsure.
Flinx carefully maneuvered the glider underneath them, then ascended until G'loona and Ballista could stand on the wings. Quickly, the young phoenix set the glider to auto-pilot, stood up, and, using his talons, cut their bonds.
G'loona landed on her feet, knees shaking, but Ballista collapsed onto the wing. The glider rattled as it auto-balanced itself.
"Come on," said Flinx, sitting back down at the controls. "Get seated . . . 'cause Fluminox sure isn't gonna wait for us."
G'loona hopped into the seat behind Flinx, and Ballista crawled into the seat behind her.
"All right," murmured Flinx. He shifted gears and the glider shot forward, throwing G'loona against her seat back.
"You know where they're going?" she asked, shouting to be heard over the wind.
"Site A, Forever Garden, to be found by tapping the highest glyph on the Forever Rock three times," Flinx recited. He glanced worriedly over his shoulder. "I have a feeling that isn't common knowledge . . . ."
"It isn't," whispered G'loona. And it shouldn't be . . . .
She raised her voice again. "How did you find out? How did you even . . . come back?"
"Come back?"
"From disappearing. Jabbing the crystal twice."
"Um. Well. Let's just say I had help."
G'loona anxiously watched the trees blur past below. "Help?"
"I don't know what happened myself. I felt myself falling and then . . . I just woke up in the rubble without my crystal. No one was around, thankfully. I looked everywhere in the temple for you, but I found Fluminox first. I pretended to be under the Wave and . . . he told me everything I needed to know."
G'loona felt Ballista slump in his seat, and she looked back at him. He held his face in his hands, shoulders shaking with sobs.
"What is it?" said G'loona. "Why are you crying? We'll make it, don't worry!"
"It's—" Ballista shook his head, ears twitching. "It's—I—there's something I've never told you." He raised his sad yellow eyes to meet hers. "My life is tied to a--to the entire Garden. If those firebirds destroy it . . . they'll destroy me, too."
G'loona's jaw dropped. "But that's--how could--" Her mind worked overtime as she tried to fit this in with everything she already knew about Ballista. "Why did you tell them, then? Why did you tell the phoenixes about the Garden?"
Ballista's ears drooped. "They threatened to throw you off the Mountain. I couldn't . . . I couldn't let that happen." He sighed. "I just don't . . . It would have been my fault . . ."
"It's all right," said G'loona softly. "We'll get this worked out." She patted his arm. "Thank you."
She turned to look forward, blinking moisture from her eyes. "Floor it, Flinx!" she yelled.
"Gliders don't have pedals," said Flinx, slowing down. "And anyway, we're already here."
*
The glider touched down gently on the rocky strip of land that led to the Forever Rock. Another glider lay nearby, and the shrubbery around the rock had been trampled.
"Come on, come on," said G'loona, jumping out of the glider. She dashed to the Forever Rock to find the passageway to the Garden already open: the great slab of a door in the rock itself had been hinged to one side. G'loona checked to make sure Flinx and Ballista were following, then ran down into the passage.
Colorful fungi provided a dim light as she ran, following the twists and turns she knew so well. The tunnel wound deeper and deeper into the ground, until at last it opened in the magnificent cavern that was the Garden.
Trees, bushes, flowers, ferns, and shrubs grew densely out of the spongy earth--but not so densely that G'loona could miss the phoenixes. There were four of them, all wearing jet-black mantles, all heading for the center of the Garden.
The Yellow-Mellow tree.
No...no! G'loona started running again, plowing through vines and undergrowth in her haste. She wasn't sure when they'd caught up, but Flinx and Ballista ran on either side of her, breathing heavily.
"Stop, firebird fiends!" Ballista called out, his voice breaking. "Don't lay a talon on that yellow-flowered tree!"
"We won't have to!" Fluminox laughed back at them. "Project FIRESTORM will do it for us!"
The Yellow-Mellow tree came fully into view, and the phoenixes spread out around its trunk.
G'loona winced and gripped a stitch in her side as the first translucent leaves passed over her head. "What . . . are they doing?" she asked Flinx through gritted teeth. "And how do we stop it?"
Flinx looked troubled. "I don't . . . know.
"Just try to trip them up. Keep them distracted. I might be able to work something out--"
An explosion of sound shook the cavern to its roots, drowning out Flinx and making the air seem to vibrate.
"Too late!" called Fluminox, his voice somehow still audible. "Victory is ours!"
The Yellow-Mellow tree burst apart in a shower of flames.
"Run!" Flinx yelled in G'loona's ear. "Run!"
G'loona turned and ran as fast as she could, away from the supernatural blaze, the wave of destruction.
Away from what had once been home.
Ballista held her hand as they ran, pulling her onward, but as they drew nearer and nearer to the passage leading out, it was G'loona who had to pull Ballista onward. "We're almost there!" she said, practically dragging him. "Stay on your feet just a little longer!"
Her side ached, but she had to push herself harder. She could feel the heat on her back. The Firestorm was catching up.
Then she entered the tunnel, and the flames didn't follow.
And yes, I still haven't made any new stories, so sorry about that. LMB's closing got me down. But anyway, I'm here now, I hope to story some more soon, and I'm excited for when you finally finish Autumn though I'll probably be old and grey by then.
And yes, I still haven't made any new stories, so sorry about that. LMB's closing got me down. But anyway, I'm here now, I hope to story some more soon, and I'm excited for when you finally finish Autumn though I'll probably be old and grey by then.
oh hai bobo
LMBs closing is still getting me down. Time to delete any bookmarks for the old forum . . . .
Glad you got here, and I'm looking forward to when you do story more.
Back to work on Autumn, then. No really I'll be faster about it this time.
She turned the first corner and collapsed, letting go of Ballista. For a long moment she lay there getting her breathing under control.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Meditate on her gradually slowing heartbeat.
Finally, she sat up and checked on Ballista.
To say the bat looked terrible would be an understatement. He was shivering, and very pale. He opened his mouth to speak, but only rasping breaths came out. With a sudden, startling motion, he reached for his belt, tore off a pouch, and offered it to G'loona.
When she took it, he seemed to calm down. His eyes sought hers, and when they found them, he smiled.
G'loona smiled back, feeling tears stream down her face.
Ballista exhaled and was still.
*
G'loona looked down at the pouch in her hands. Carefully, she loosened the drawstrings, reached inside, and pulled out a bundle of silvery-gray cloth.
"Quite an inheritance, that," said a grim voice.
G'loona wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and whirled around. A lion stepped out of the shadows of the tunnel. One of his eyes was closed and scarred, and he wore a cloak made of a fabric similar to the one G'loona held.
Actually . . . . Without taking her eyes off the lion, G'loona unfolded the bundle. It was a cloak. "Who are you?" she whispered.
"Someone who wanted to help," he muttered. "I thought, if I could keep you separate from fire . . ." He shook his head.
G'loona felt a flare of anger at his words. "Keep me separate?!" she said, throwing the cloak to the ground. "Are you the reason I couldn't remember Flinx?"
"I see now that I shouldn't have interfered," said the lion.
"But, what's done is done. I will remain underground until the second Illumination." The lion's eye softened. "I wish it didn't have to be like this, but you're an Outcast now. I believe that's what Ballista intended when he passed the cloak to you."
"Outcast," G'loona spat. "I'm no Outcast."
"I'm afraid it's not up to you," said the lion, turning away. "If you need me, there's a door under the stairs to the lion Temple. Until then . . ."
He started to blend back into the shadows.
"I'll never need you," said G'loona. "This isn't what Ballista would've wanted."
The lion paused.
"How would making me forget Flinx help anyone?!" G'loona yelled at him. "Why would you do that?"
"In trying to sever ties I only made them stronger," said the lion. "It was . . . a mistake."
"I hate you," said G'loona, turning her back on him. "Go away."
And he did.
*
Flinx ran into the tunnel then, gasping for breath. "Ballista," he panted. "Where--"
G'loona gestured to Ballista, only to find that she was pointing at a pile of yellow flower petals. Apparently Ballista had been more a part of the Garden than she'd thought.
"Oh," said Flinx, obviously reaching the same conclusion. He was silent for a moment. "The phoenixes are back to normal. The Wave's stopped for now."
More silence. "They'll be here in a little while. We should leave."
G'loona considered, then gathered up the Outcast cloak and nodded.
A few burnt leaves drifted into the tunnel, and G'loona picked up one of those, too, before leading the way back up to Chima.
Remind me again why Ballista is made of flower petals?
He isn't, really. He just dissolved. Originally he was going to turn to dust, but since he was linked to the garden I thought flowers were more appropriate.
Remind me again why Ballista is made of flower petals?
He isn't, really. He just dissolved. Originally he was going to turn to dust, but since he was linked to the garden I thought flowers were more appropriate.
Yeah, but why is he connected in the first place? Are you trying to tell me that bats are flowers?
He isn't, really. He just dissolved. Originally he was going to turn to dust, but since he was linked to the garden I thought flowers were more appropriate.
Yeah, but why is he connected in the first place? Are you trying to tell me that bats are flowers?
Yes. That's exactly what I'm trying to tell you.
In all seriousness, though, he's a sorcerer like Loradus. He just draws his magic from a different source: the Yellow-Mellow tree. He had a disease that would have smashed him if he hadn't been constantly drawing on the source for heals. When the source was destroyed, so was his only way to (quickly) heal, so, he got smashed.
The nature magic that kept him alive became so much a part of him that it eased his passing and returned him to the earth.
Yeah, but why is he connected in the first place? Are you trying to tell me that bats are flowers?
Yes. That's exactly what I'm trying to tell you.
In all seriousness, though, he's a sorcerer like Loradus. He just draws his magic from a different source: the Yellow-Mellow tree. He had a disease that would have smashed him if he hadn't been constantly drawing on the source for heals. When the source was destroyed, so was his only way to (quickly) heal, so, he got smashed.
The nature magic that kept him alive became so much a part of him that it eased his passing and returned him to the earth.
I feel as if this could've been better communicated in the story.
In all seriousness, though, he's a sorcerer like Loradus. He just draws his magic from a different source: the Yellow-Mellow tree. He had a disease that would have smashed him if he hadn't been constantly drawing on the source for heals. When the source was destroyed, so was his only way to (quickly) heal, so, he got smashed.
The nature magic that kept him alive became so much a part of him that it eased his passing and returned him to the earth.
I feel as if this could've been better communicated in the story.
Indeed, it could have. But this was supposed to be an archive of the first draft from LMB, and I didn't want to shove all that information artificially into the ending.
I won't make the same mistake with Autumn, I promise. It's receiving lots o' edits.
