Black Water Page 18

  “Have you ever heard of something called Black Water?” I asked.

  “Black Water?” she said incredulously. “Where did you hear that?”

  “From the gars in prison. What is it?”

  “It’s not a thing, it’s a place,” she answered.

  “Tell me about it.”

  “It’s a gar story,” she began. “I don’t know much about it, but I’ve heard gars speak of it. It’s a place where all gars will someday go for their ultimate reward.”

  “They called it ‘home,’” I said.

  “I’m sure they did,” Kasha said. “They need something to give them hope for a better life, no?”

  “So it’s like the promised land? Or heaven?”

  “I don’t know what those things are,” Kasha answered.

  “Doesn’t matter,” I said. “Where is this place?”

  “It’s not real, Pendragon,” she said with a sarcastic chuckle. “It’s a fantasy.”

  “You mean Black Water doesn’t really exist?”

  “Only in the minds of the gars” was Kasha’s answer.

  I debated about how much more to tell Kasha. Should I tell her about the amber boxes? Or about the mysterious thing called the “Advent”? Kasha would one day be the Traveler from Eelong, and I would have to trust her, but that time hadn’t come. I decided to continue, but cautiously.

  “I don’t think the klee guards thought Black Water was a fantasy. When I was in that cell, one of the gars started talking about it. A klee burst in and took the gar to the Inquisitors.”

  Kasha stopped pacing, as if this were surprising news. “A klee took a gar to the Inquisitors to ask about Black Water?” she asked. “That makes no sense.”

  “Who are the Inquisitors?” I asked.

  “It’s a division of the security police,” she answered. “They interrogate anyone they feel poses a threat to the peace. If you think those handlers who stage gar fights are cruel, you ought to meet the Inquisitors. They’re vicious. I never agreed with their methods. But they don’t interrogate gars.”

  “They do now,” I said. “And they want to know about Black Water.”

  Kasha let that settle in. It made no sense to her, and made little more to me. But I was beginning to smell something bad going down, and it had the distinct aroma of Saint Dane.

  “Kasha!” came a voice from outside. A moment later Boon walked into the room.

  “Boon!” Kasha shouted. “I rescued Pendragon!”

  Boon saw me, but didn’t react. If he was happy about my escape, he sure didn’t show it. That wasn’t like Boon. I had only known him a short time, but it was long enough to know something was wrong. He walked slowly into the room without making eye contact with either of us.

  “What’s the matter?” Kasha asked. “Are you sick?”

  Boon sat down and stared at the table. I could see that he had been crying.

  “Boon!” Kasha bellowed. “What’s wrong?”

  Boon looked to me. He seemed scared and a bit lost. I don’t know why, but the moment I looked into his eyes I knew exactly what was bothering him. Maybe it was because the news he had was inevitable. That’s the way it was meant to be. I hoped I was wrong, but one look at Boon told me I wasn’t. I nodded, giving him encouragement and letting him know that I understood. Boon turned from me and looked at Kasha. Kasha’s eyes were wide and hungry for an answer.

  “Kasha,” Boon said as his voice cracked. “I found Seegen.”

  “Really? Where is he?” she asked excitedly.

  “He’s dead.”

  He didn’t have to say another word. The rest would be details. All would be important, but not as important as the inevitable truth I now faced.

  Seegen was dead.

  Kasha was the Traveler from Eelong.

  JOURNAL #17

  (CONTINUED)

  EELONG

  Seegen’s body lay in the mouth of the flume.

  An hour after Boon delivered the bad news, four of us stood over him, staring down at the former Traveler from Eelong. It was me, Boon, Yorn, and of course, Kasha. His daughter. Seegen was a big cat. He was mostly gray, with many white spots. Even in death I could tell he was a formidable creature. But no longer. We stood there silently. I think we were all waiting for Kasha to speak first. I glanced at her to see that her eyes were tearing up. But she was strong. She didn’t break down or anything.

  “How did he die, Yorn?” she asked.

  The old cat sighed and said, “I don’t know. As I told you, he left here for Second Earth, looking for Pendragon. When he came back through the flume, he was dead. What happened there I can’t say.”

  Boon did a quick examination, checking for signs of injury. He found nothing.

  Kasha looked to me and said, “You told me klees are treated like gars where you come from. What could have happened?”

  “I can only guess,” I answered. “If Seegen appeared in my home town, they’d try to capture him. They’d probably shoot him with a tranquilizer to make him sleep. As a last resort they might shoot him with a gun that was more deadly, but there are no wounds. I don’t think he died on Second Earth.”

  “But he left here alive, and now he’s dead,” Kasha said, trying to contain her emotions.

  I felt horrible for her. I knew what it was like to lose a loved one. And I also knew what lay ahead for her.

  “I don’t know how he died, Kasha,” I said sympathetically. “And I know you don’t believe in the battle against Saint Dane, but I promise you, it’s real. Your father’s death is proof of that.” I knelt down to Seegen and gently removed his braided necklace. Dangling from the loop was his Traveler ring. I held it up for Kasha to see.

  “You’re the Traveler from Eelong now,” I said. “I’m not asking you to change your beliefs, but I am asking you to help us stop Saint Dane.”

  “And why should I?” Kasha asked.

  “Because it’s what your father wanted, and I guarantee Saint Dane had something to do with his death. If you want justice, you’ll join us.”

  Kasha looked at the dangling ring. She glanced to Yorn. Yorn gave her a slight nod of encouragement. She looked to Boon. Boon gave her a weak smile in return. Kasha tentatively reached out and grasped the ring, examining its dark gray stone and the symbols that circled it.

  “I believe in things I can see,” she said. “Everything I’ve heard about you, Pendragon, must be taken on faith. But my father is dead and that’s about as real as can be.” She gave me a piercing look and continued, “What I do is for him. Not you. Not Yorn or Boon or some misguided mission. As long as you understand that, I’ll help you.”

  “Understood” was my simple answer.

  She then dropped the ring in the dirt. “But I am not a Traveler,” she said with disdain.

  Boon and Yorn looked at me, waiting for my reaction. I didn’t get ticked or anything. All I did was bend down and pick up the ring.

  “Whatever works for you,” I said. I dusted off the ring and added it to the two I already had on the cord around my neck.

  It was a tense moment. Yorn broke the silence by saying, “Seegen was my best friend and I was his acolyte. I may be old, but I can still be of use.”

  “Absolutely,” I said.

  “Good,” Yorn said. “We should first attend to his body. After that we can set our sights on Saint Dane.”

  We struggled to bring Seegen’s body from the underground cavern out to the jungle where a zenzen-powered wagon was waiting for us. We had traveled to the flume tree in this wagon because we knew we would have to bring Seegen’s body back. We gently loaded the big cat’s body onto the wagon, covered it with a blanket out of respect, and began the long journey back to Leeandra.

  “Will there be a ceremony?” I asked. “And a burial?”

  “A ceremony, yes,” Yorn explained. “But we do not bury our dead on Eelong. Bodies must be burned to keep them from scavenger tangs.”

  “Like with Gunny’s hand,” Boon reminded me.r />
  “Yes, Gunny’s hand,” Yorn added. “I was surprised to have found it after he was attacked. I thought for sure the tangs would have devoured it.”

  Yorn dropped his head and fell silent, as if the conversation was upsetting him. It wasn’t doing much for me, either. The whole subject was depressing and gross. I didn’t mind that we didn’t talk for the rest of the journey. I was too busy watching out for tangs, anyway. Luckily for us, we didn’t run into any. I suppose I should be grateful for that small bit of luck, because it seemed as if the only luck I had been having lately was the bad kind.

  Back in Leeandra, I stayed at Kasha’s home while the others attended to Seegen’s body. I wanted to go, but we all figured it would be tough to explain why a gar was there. It gave me time to collect my thoughts, eat something, and start writing this journal. I didn’t get very far. No sooner did I start writing, than I conked out. My body really needed the sleep. The last thing I remember was that it was still daylight when I put my pen down to rest my eyes. The next thing I knew it was dark, and I was looking up at an excited Boon who was shaking me awake.

  “Pendragon! You have to come, now!” he said, barely able to contain himself.

  “Huh, what?” I asked groggily.

  “Kasha told me to get you quickly.”

  “Why? What’s going on?” I asked, trying to kick-start my brain.

  He grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet, saying, “It’s about Black Water.”

  A bolt of adrenaline shot through me. Suddenly I wasn’t so sleepy. Boon ran out of the tree house without waiting for me, but that was okay, because I was ready to roll. I caught up and we jogged across several sky bridges. He didn’t put restraints on me, and I didn’t remind him to. It was nighttime and there weren’t many klees around to see us.

  “Where are we going?” I asked as we ran.

  “Kasha has many friends in government,” Boon answered. “She found out where the Inquisitors are questioning the gar about Black Water. We have to hurry.”

  Excellent. Kasha had only been a Traveler for a short time and she was already helping out. I was very curious about Black Water. Not because it was an interesting fable or anything, but because the klees were so interested in it. A few minutes later we arrived at the tree that held the Circle of Klee. Boon took me to an elevator that brought us much higher into the tree than we had been before.

  “Be quiet now,” he whispered. “We aren’t supposed to be here.” He led me along a skywalk that circled the tree, and into a doorway. Inside was a dark corridor that traveled around the inside of the tree. We moved quickly and quietly until we came upon . . . Kasha. She was peering through a small window into the center of the tree.

  “We’re here!” Boon announced in a loud voice.

  “Shhh!” Kasha scolded.

  “What’s happening?” I whispered to Kasha. I moved to look through the small opening, but Kasha stopped me.

  “You must be prepared for this,” she cautioned. “You will not like what you see.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Prepare me.”

  “There’s no good way to say this,” she said coldly. “They are torturing the gar. Unless he tells them what they want to know, I fear he will die. He may anyway.”

  “What do they want to know?” I asked.

  “They want to know where Black Water is,” she answered.

  “So it’s real?” Boon asked, a little too loud. He quickly clamped his own furry hand over his mouth. He shrugged an apology.

  “The Inquisitors seem to think so,” she answered. “Are you prepared?”

  “Yes,” I answered. I took a deep breath and peeked into the hole. Turned out, I wasn’t prepared at all.

  We were high overhead, looking down through small slits near the ceiling. We must have been in an observation area for those who didn’t have the stomach to be too close to what was happening below. I was one of them. Beneath us was a large room with a table in the middle. Tied to the table was the gar I remembered from the prison. He was naked from the waist up. My stomach twisted when I saw that his torso and arms were covered with hundreds of bleeding cuts. There were two klees in the room. One lashed at the gar with a thin strap that made a sharp, ugly crack sound. The poor gar cried out in pain. It left an ugly, bleeding cut on his chest. I had never seen anything this cruel before, and hoped I never would again.

  “This can end,” the klee said calmly. “If you tell us where to find Black Water.”

  The gar whimpered, but didn’t answer. If he knew where Black Water was, he wasn’t saying.

  “Don’t you have laws against this?” I whispered to Kasha.

  “Well . . . no,” she said. “They are animals. They aren’t protected like klees.”

  “They aren’t animals!” I whispered back angrily, straining not to shout. “And even if they were, that doesn’t make it okay to torture them.”

  “Uh-oh,” Boon said. “This just got more interesting.”

  I looked back down to the torture room. What I saw was only a small surprise. It made perfect sense and confirmed my interest in Black Water. Stepping up to the gar was the klee called Timber.

  “Saint Dane,” I said under my breath.

  “It isn’t,” Kasha whispered. “That’s Timber, from the Council of Klee.”

  “That’s what he wants you to think,” I answered, keeping my eyes on the demon Traveler. “I tried to tell you before. He can transform himself into anything he wants.”

  I didn’t explain further. It wasn’t the time to start educating Kasha on the evil ways of Saint Dane. I watched as the klees backed away from their torture victim and let Saint Dane approach. He held something out for the poor gar to see.

  “What is this?” Timber asked in a calm, friendly voice.

  It was one of the small amber cubes. I knew it had something to do with Black Water, but didn’t know what. Neither did Saint Dane. But it was important enough for him to torture a gar to find out.

  “Tell me what this is,” he said to the gar soothingly. “And your pain will end.”

  The gar’s eyes were wild. Even from where we were, I could tell that he was shaking. It would have been easy for the gar to tell Timber what he wanted to know, but he kept silent. Brave guy.

  Timber leaned down to the gar and asked, “Tell me, when will you go home?”

  A strange thing happened. As soon as the gar heard the word “home,” it was like his pain went away. The word had a calming effect on him. He looked at Timber, and laughed. Right in his face. Whatever “home” meant, it gave him the strength to stick it to Timber. It was a brazen move, but not a smart one. Saint Dane didn’t like being dissed. What happened next was something that surprised even the klees in the torture room.

  “Tell me!” Timber ordered the gar angrily.

  The gar suddenly stopped laughing. His body went stiff. He snapped a surprised look at Timber. Their eyes met and he slowly arched his back as if straining against a heavy weight. The klees looked at each other with curiosity. They didn’t know what was going on.

  “What’s happening?” Kasha asked.

  “It’s Saint Dane,” I said sadly. “He’s doing this.”

  The poor gar strained against the cords tying him to the bench. His whole body went red with the exertion. He lifted up off the table, defying gravity.

  “Tell me what this is!” Timber bellowed, losing his cool.

  The gar screamed in pain. The two klees backed away. I was pretty sure they had never seen anything like this. I didn’t want to watch, but I had to. So did Kasha. This was her first lesson on the evil depths that Saint Dane could sink to. Finally the gar let out a guttural, anguished cry. I heard a sickening crack. The gar went limp and fell back to the table. One of the klees felt his neck.

  “How did that happen?” the klee asked in wonder. “He’s dead.”

  “No!” Timber screamed in frustration. He grabbed the klee by the throat and shouted, “Find out the purpose of these cubes or you’ll be t
he next one on this table!”

  “Y-Yes, I understand,” the frightened klee babbled.

  Timber tossed him aside and stormed out of the room. I turned away from the small window and looked at Kasha. She was shaken. Boon bent over and puked. It wasn’t a kittycat hair ball gaak, either. He totally ralphed.

  “Welcome to the wonderful world of Saint Dane,” I said to Kasha, trying to control the quiver in my voice. “Was it real enough for you?”

  Kasha took a step back and cleared her throat. She tried to speak calmly, but her voice was shaky. “I need to go to my father’s home. You are welcome to come. Maybe we will find something of use there.”

  “Good,” I said. I had to get out of there. I was sweating and shaking. Boon’s puke didn’t smell so hot either. We left the tree quickly and made our way across to the far side of Leeandra, and Seegen’s home. None of us spoke. I think we were in shock. I know I was. I wondered if after seeing that horrifying scene, Boon was still enthusiastic about doing battle with Saint Dane. When we arrived at Seegen’s tree house, Yorn was waiting for us outside.

  “What are you doing out here, Yorn?” Kasha asked.

  “I didn’t want to go inside until you arrived,” the old klee answered.

  “That’s silly,” Kasha said. “You’re like family.”

  Yorn smiled sadly. With the loss of Seegen, their family had just gotten smaller. We all went inside and I saw that the place was set up very much like Kasha’s.

  “You won’t believe what we just saw,” Boon exclaimed. “The Inquisitors were torturing a gar to find out where Black Water is.”

  “Black Water?” Yorn asked with surprise. “Seegen spoke of Black Water. He seemed to think it was real.”

  “So do the gars,” Boon said.

  “And so does Saint Dane,” I added.

  “Saint Dane?” Yorn asked, surprised. “He was there? With the Inquisitors?”