When War Calls(143)

To the pilots, Jaden’s face remained perfectly calm, showing nothing of what he was experiencing in the crystal’s realm. For hours he continued to fight against fictitious enemies until the battle finally came to an end. In his rage, he had understood something; something he had missed before, something of the dark-haired boy that had haunted his dreams in the past. With a final conscious breath, all disappeared into nothingness, and the crystal fell from his hands as he slumped back in the helicopter, where he would sleep the remainder of the journey.





Chapter Twenty-Six





The difference between good and evil is interpretation.





March 8, 997 R.E.





The air was still, the storm above strangely silent. The great tear in the sky remained, but it was cold and gray. Jaden walked slowly through the grasses of the dream, allowing them to cling briefly to him as he passed, as if to celebrate his return and let them know that he had not forgotten. He allowed energy to run free from the endobraces, causing the grasses to grow beneath him. Like them, he was still alive, and now he shared his power with them in this forsaken place, where all was a dream, but a dream he somehow felt was more real than it seemed.

He was here now to find someone—the boy with black hair who would not speak to him. He wanted to face the danger, to stand strong against the paralysing fear. He would not be a slave to it anymore. He had realised this while within the crystal's realm.

All he had to fear was himself.

The boy was a part of him, a long lost piece of his childhood. He was a symbol of what Jaden had been years before—a child, helpless in the great and unforgiving world where disaster and greed ruled. It was what would cripple him and bring him to his knees, for no matter how powerful he became, he was mortal and at the mercy of the planet and universe.

As Jaden reached the top of the hill, the boy came into view. He stood several yards behind him and waited. A slight breeze began to blow in from the sea of oil to his right. He turned in its direction to see the military unit was now far in the distance, almost invisible on the horizon. They would be nearing their next conquest while the boy simply stood and watched, unmoving, helpless to do anything more. Jaden remembered the first day after the attack, and knew he had been like this not long ago.

‘They’re going to your home, aren’t they?’ he asked.

There was no reply at first, but the boy soon turned to him, revealing his face for the first time. His features were different to what Jaden had looked like at that age. Jaden wondered why he didn’t recognise himself, or if that he had tried to hide from it so much that he had forgotten what he had been.

Tears welled in the boy’s eyes as he nodded, and then all faded away as Jaden woke to the pilot’s call.

‘Sentinel, we have arrived.’

‘At Waikor?’ asked Jaden sleepily.

‘As near as we can get. You’ll have to walk a few miles east to get there.’

Without protest, Jaden stood and jumped out of the opened helicopter door. It was afternoon, and the sun was high, but he could find shelter from its heat in the shade of the trees as he walked.

‘We will wait here for you,’ said the pilot.

Jaden paused, but did not turn to him. He faced directly east, as if he were able to see his destination from where he stood.

‘I’m not coming back,’ he said. ‘Tell General Daiyus that I am sorry.’

The pilot did not seem to have any argument as Jaden disappeared into the forest ahead, while the helicopter lifted and flew back north.

Jaden moved deep into the forest, thinking of what was to come and what he would do when he reached Waikor. He knew that his life could come to an end this day. The anger and hurt from losing Alyssa would be too strong to contain. He would exhaust himself getting the revenge he had sworn upon the Alliance so long ago. He would break the Daijuarn code, without care as he fought against those who had taken everything he had loved from him. They had first taken his home and family, and now if they had taken Alyssa, he knew that he would find no reason to hold back. A distant whisper came to mind, of a promise he had made himself when he had discovered Alyssa was still alive. He had promised he would never give in to death or suicide, as he could offer no protection deceased, and more innocent lives would be lost.

But if he had failed to protect Alyssa, despite his better judgement ... he would not be able to forgive himself.

There were constant stabbing pains in his stomach. His heart seemed to be caught in a vice that closed slowly upon it. He was desperate, in need of something, anything that would make it all stop. He began to run, as if it would allow him to escape what was inside. For two hours he did not rest, forcing himself to take the hardest routes he could find as he climbed small cliffs, swam across narrow rivers and jumped down rock ledges and over fallen trees.