Jaden stood silently in thought, thinking back to when the fort had been attacked.
‘The black jets I saw,’ he said, ‘they were under your command?’
Alkon nodded. ‘I was to make sure the defence was unmanned, and then they would have a helicopter waiting for me not far from the fort.’
‘I saw it,’ said Jaden. ‘I thought it was a patrol sent to find me.’
‘No. I sent men after you, but that is another story. It was by luck that the High Council did not find out that I had left the fort unguarded, otherwise I would not be here before you now.’
Jaden took a seat on the rock next to Alkon, looking at what he had drawn in the dirt. It was the outline of one of the blue-flamed fighter jets that had attacked the village. Jaden recognised it only vaguely, as it had been dark when they attacked, but he remembered seeing the design of what looked to be two triangles.
‘How did you escape?’ he asked.
‘By letting an arrogant man believe in his own brilliance,’ said Alkon, now drawing another symbol in the dirt. ‘I knew it was only a matter of time before I was found out like my father. For decades we have caused the Alliance to fail without detection. But I could not risk execution, so I made them believe I was incompetent, no longer able to fulfil my role as general. It all went to plan. I knew there were men that wanted my position of power, so I used them. I was to be outcast, like my father, but my second-in-command gave the order for my execution instead.’
Alkon unlatched a compartment on his glove, revealing a device underneath the black leather. ‘I had hoped to use this on the arrogant one, but I had a feeling I might have needed it another day. It saved my life. Do not fear, Sentinel, this weapon cannot be used against you. It needs to be recharged. I used it to get away from the men who would have seen to my execution.’
Jaden looked at the device on Alkon’s arm, but couldn’t recognise anything about it. He then tried to understand the symbol Alkon had just drawn in the dirt. It looked like a tree with a single line showing the trunk, and four curved lines for the branches. There were two dots to either side of the curved lines.
‘This is the symbol of my true nation, Arinta,’ Alkon explained.
‘So if I am to believe you, you have escaped, but what are you going to do now?’ asked Jaden.
‘Return there. If the Resistance falls at Corsec, they will need to know what I have learned.’
‘It’s a long way to walk,’ said Jaden.
‘That is why I will fly.’
‘How?’
‘By stealing a helicopter from the Alliance. I had been hiding in the trees for hours before you turned up, waiting for my chance. But I have no weapons. I needed to rely on stealth alone.’
Jaden looked ahead of them, thoughtful, absently kicking the rock he sat upon with the back of his heel. The air was silent again, without gunfire or the screams of the beasts. It seemed the beasts had helped him. They had killed many of the ones he wished dead. But it was not yet enough. He wanted to learn of Alyssa’s fate, and then he wanted to see those who had attacked Waikor die by his own hands. If they were allowed to continue, they would go on killing the innocent. Even if Alyssa was still alive, he now knew he would need to end the killer plague that was the Alliance, so that he would not have to protect Alyssa or anyone else from them.
‘I can help you,’ he said.
‘How?’ asked Alkon.
‘I will kill any who come near me. They will try to attack me. Then you can take a helicopter.’
Alkon shook his head. ‘A sentinel cannot kill anyone, is it not against their code?’
‘I am not a sentinel,’ said Jaden.
‘Then why would you risk your life?’
‘It is complicated. I have come to avenge the deaths of the Waikorian people.’
‘Deaths?’ asked Alkon. ‘The people of Waikor are not dead.’
Jaden turned to him. ‘What do you mean?’
‘They fled,’ said Alkon. ‘They went east. Only the Daijuar were here when the Alliance attacked.’
‘How do you know?’
‘I was in charge of the first attack,’ said Alkon, putting the stick back down. ‘I sent a trusted man into the city to speak with my allies. I said that I would allow them to defeat my army, but that they must leave as soon as they had won. I told them I would meet them along the way in exchange for this. I knew they would offer to leave transport, but I did not want to risk it. Without being able to command scouts away from where they would wait, it would have been suicide.’
‘You let them defeat you?’ said Jaden questioningly. ‘You could have been killed.’