When War Calls(150)

Alkon looked at him questioningly, unsure what Jaden was talking about. ‘What did he do?’

‘He tried to kill me with a power like my own.’

Alkon faced ahead again, realising who Jaden referred to. ‘He is the one. He is the man responsible for your loss and the man so arrogant he believes he is the most brilliant alive. If anyone almost caused my death, I believe it was him, not you.’

Jaden closed his eyes in thought for a moment.

‘I’m sorry,’ said Alkon, thinking he had offended Jaden. ‘My heart has become cold with the battles I have fought. If I had known you and your family were in Callibra, I would have found another way. I curse myself for this, for the bloodshed, but I do what I must.’

Alkon dared not break the following silence, in fear that Jaden might not accept his apology. He had seen hundreds of homes ruined, thousands of families torn apart, but only now did he remember the tragedy of war. They were innocent people. Good people. People he would have enjoyed having as friends. And they were being slaughtered by the Alliance, whose only aim now was to reign supreme over the entire world. He had helped them willingly at first, as the threat of the aggressive nations was at its peak. But with his father, he had helped make the Alliance into exactly what they were fighting to stop. They now had too much power, and they were obsessed with gaining more. He had to put an end to their growth, and fight them from the lines of his homeland.

It was too late to save Jaden’s family and all others like them, but he could still save those that the Alliance was yet to find.

‘It’s not your fault,’ said Jaden, and Alkon breathed a sigh of relief. ‘I knew Kobin was evil. I knew he was doing wrong. My father had not seen it, but I did.’

‘Your father?’

‘Yes, Tyral Daiyus.’

‘Ah, the companion,’ said Alkon.

‘You knew him?’ asked Jaden. ‘Where is he?’

Alkon turned to Jaden, his mouth slightly ajar as if he had not known what to say for a moment.

‘He fell into one of the crevices; no one has seen him since...’

Jaden stared for a moment, and then turned his gaze to his hands. He was not sure if it was the stress of war, being away from home so long and losing so much, or using so much energy to defend himself, but he felt nothing at learning his father’s fate, drained of any emotion that may have come.

‘I need to heal,’ said Jaden. ‘Wake me when we land.’

Alkon nodded as Jaden lifted the crystal around his neck to his eyes, entering its realm.

Alkon continued flying. They would find the travelling band of the Waikorian people, who would be waiting on the crossroad between Corsec and Yugovera for their arrival. The flight was six hours long, and Alkon used the time to think of what he would need to do to get back to Arinta, his home. He thought to take Jaden with him, introduce him to his own family and perhaps adopt him. Jaden would be given a new life in place of the one that was destroyed, and he would find those that would love and help him in the eastern nations. He would soon be a man, but for now, he was little more than a child, still finding his way in an unforgiving world.

Alkon knew what it was like to lose his childhood. He had been apprenticed in the wars as soon as they began almost three decades earlier. He had gone wherever his father took him, and while other children played with toys, he learned of battle strategies and methods of killing other men. These were sad times, and with each year that passed, his longing to know his home again grew stronger. But like all the others, he would have to wait until the Alliance was disbanded or destroyed, and then he would be free once more.

Spotting lights up ahead spanning a full mile in one big line, Alkon roused Jaden. ‘They’re here,’ he said, readying to land.

Jaden had let the crystal fall as he slept against the window. He opened his eyes slowly and rubbed them to help him wake up faster. Save for the lights on the ground, it was completely dark now, and his eyes took a moment to adjust.

As they landed, Jaden seemed to become full of life, and he raced out of the helicopter toward a group of men gathered on a small circle of five vehicles, each sitting on top and conversing with one another. Jaden ran to the one he recognised first.

‘Lendon,’ he said, picking out the Kayde of Ceahlin from the group of eight. He then looked to Lendon’s right, where he realised the two Daijuar, Adonis and Blair were sitting quietly, as if oblivious to his arrival. ‘Where is Alyssa?’

‘About six trucks down,’ said Lendon, ‘but I don’t think—’

Before Lendon could finish, Jaden ran from him.

‘Let him go,’ said Blair, seeing that Lendon was about to run after Jaden. ‘There are more pressing matters at hand.’