The Last Portal (20 page)

‘We thought you
may have been killed,’ Susie explained, looking slightly
embarrassed.

Kaloc nodded
reassuringly. ‘Yes, it did get a bit dangerous there for awhile,’
he agreed. ‘But I fear you were in much more danger than I was. The
Zentor were sent after the three of you. They broke off their
assault when they realised you had run into the forest.’

‘Is that when
you sent the Prower to protect us?’ Susie asked.

‘Yes, and they
told me how you escaped.’

He looked them
over carefully. ‘I would imagine,’ he said with a growing smile,
‘that food and a wash would be among your highest priorities at the
moment.’

For the first
time Chris noticed how dirty the three of them were.

‘Come on,’
Kaloc said. ‘We must return quickly to the safety of the
underworld.’

The Portal

Soon Kaloc was leading
them through vast networks of tunnels and caverns filled with
streams, lakes and forests, and all under a roof teaming with
glow-worm and insect life. This was how Chris remembered it, and he
spent much of his time proudly explaining to Joe and Susie the
wonders of the underworld. Joe and Susie were totally mesmerised by
what they saw. They spent all their time gazing at the arrays of
limestone formations that adorned the roofs of the caverns, or rose
up like shimmering minarets from the floors. And amongst all this
beauty were the Nethral, who milled around the party, excitedly
firing questions at Kaloc as they passed. But Kaloc did not stop
and chat to the Nethral. Instead, he strode out, setting a pace
that Chris, Susie and Joe had to run periodically to keep up
with.

As they passed
groups of Nethral, Chris detected heightened levels of fear. Many
were aware of a large invasion force gathering on the surface near
Mount Caporel, intent on capturing the portal. The Nethral had
pledged to defend the portal, but this task was almost impossible.
Unlike the small tunnels the Nethral had dug to the surface, the
tunnels in this region had been carved out over the millennia by
volcanic activity and vast underground rivers. Consequently they
were numerous and large, impossible to defend against any
determined assault. Despite this, many Nethral had already left to
join in the defence of the underworld. These Nethral were
essentially going to war against an enemy they could not
defeat.

The reading of
this information quickly drove away all of Chris’s initial
excitement at seeing the Nethral again. Visions of the underworld
forests and all its life burning under the weapon fire of the
Zentor plagued his thoughts. Now he understood Kaloc’s haste to
return, but he could not see how the Mytar, or Kaloc, or anyone
else for that matter, could ever stand against such a force.

After an hour
of hard walking, the party had reached the end of a large cavern.
This cavern was actually the home of Duss and Cass and was one of
the most extensive and beautiful caverns Chris had so far seen. He
estimated that it was around two kilometres across and close to
three times as long. The party had walked its full length before
Kaloc finally stopped next to a narrow gap in the wall. After
motioning the rest to follow, he disappeared through the gap. When
they climbed through after him, they found themselves in a small
dimly lit tunnel which quickly widened. Then they saw it, the
distortion was unmistakable: in the centre of the cavern was the
portal with the control panel next to it.

Joe and Susie
rushed forward as if greeting a long-lost friend, but Chris hung
back. He had been worried about the meaning of the information he
had received from the Nethral and decided to talk to Kaloc about
it. He found Kaloc in deep discussion with some of his commanders
over the allocation of weapons to the Nethral. Apparently the
Nethral didn’t like surface weapons, and preferred blowpipes, short
swords and axes; weapons they could use at close range in the
tunnels without causing cave-ins. Kaloc ended up agreeing to deploy
the Nethral soldiers in the smaller tunnels, while his soldiers
would concentrate on defending the larger tunnels and the caverns.
Chris waited until the last of Kaloc’s commanders had left. When he
approached Kaloc, he was studying a Nethral map of the surrounding
caverns, spread out on a large limestone table.

‘Has Zelnoff
found out where the portal is?’ he asked when Kaloc looked up.

Kaloc carefully
rolled up the map and placed it in a drawer. Chris could see from
his slow deliberate movements that he was mentally trying to focus
on something he found painful.

‘As you know,
the Zentor stopped their assault when they realised you weren’t
there,’ he began, turning to Chris. ‘We weren’t in good shape. Many
of my men were injured, so we headed for the safety of the tunnels
near Mount Caporel. I knew it was a risk.’ He paused for a moment,
his eyes staring distantly at some point behind Chris’s head. ‘We
couldn’t see any sign of the Zentor. They appeared to have broken
off contact with us together, so I decided it was safe to enter the
underworld.’ Kaloc looked directly at him and Chris saw the answer
in his eyes before he spoke. ‘I’m afraid I was wrong. The Zentor
must have seen us enter the underworld. Zelnoff, I’m sure, now
realises the portal is here.’

From the
despair in Kaloc’s voice, Chris knew this was a disaster.

‘We will talk
more of these matters later,’ Kaloc said. ‘First, eat and get
cleaned up.’

Chris wasn’t
finished asking questions, but it was clear from Kaloc’s tone that
this would have to wait. He wandered back past the portal to where
the tunnel expanded into a large chamber filled with supplies and
weapons. In one area, queues of Nethral were being fitted with
cut-down versions of the same type of armour that Kaloc’s men wore.
Much to his delight, Altac was there, talking to Joe and Susie.
Chris noticed, to his astonishment, that Altac’s leg wound had
almost healed. But his face looked tired and drawn, as though he
hadn’t slept since their encounter with the Zentor.

‘Can you walk
on it now?’ Chris asked bending over to take a closer look at a
compress that was still strapped to Altac’s left leg.

Altac put all
his weight on the leg, then walked several steps without any sign
of a limp.

‘It does get
sore if I walk any distance,’ he said. ‘The Nethral have some herbs
down here that have disappeared from the surface many thousands of
years ago. They have amazing regenerative powers. I have ordered
their collection to heal our wounded.’

Altac directed
them toward what looked to be the mess hall. ‘Please, you must all
be very hungry.’

Once they had
eaten and washed, Kaloc re-appeared and led them to a small room on
one side of the chamber. This must have been Kaloc’s personal
office. Inside, the walls were decorated with beautiful landscapes,
paintings of Kaloc amongst various family groups, and one large
striking portrait of Kaloc with a woman with long, dark hair which
flowed past her shoulders. Chris was immediately drawn to this
painting. The woman was nearly as tall as Kaloc, with striking
hazel-coloured eyes and a beautiful warm smile. Kaloc had his arm
around her and a look of complete joy and contentment on his face.
Chris could hardly recognise him. The Kaloc that stood beside him
today was a mocking contrast to this picture.

Chris detected
strong emotions and looked up. Kaloc was standing next to him in
silence, also staring at the painting. Chris felt an enormous sense
of loss and sadness radiating from the Guardian. Kaloc’s eyes were
unfocused, almost glazed, as though he was recalling a past that no
longer existed.

‘Who’s she?’
Chris asked, feeling immediately that he was prying into things
Kaloc didn’t want to talk about.

Kaloc continued
to stare at the painting with a distant expression. ‘Someone I knew
long ago,’ he sighed. ‘Before this world had ever heard of
Zelnoff...or the Zentor.’

Chris watched
Kaloc’s face, discerning the misery in his eyes. ‘You must hate
Batarr for doing this.’

Kaloc shook his
head slowly. ‘Batarr is Batarr. He can’t change what he is. We
should have seen more...recognised the danger.’

‘But Batarr
helped Zelnoff invade the planet.’

‘The blame
doesn’t rest on Batarr alone. We knew there was a disturbance
across the dimensions, but we ignored the signs. We were blinded by
our own denial.’

‘But he also
helped Zelnoff kill the Mytar?’

‘Batarr was no
more than a tool. If it wasn’t Batarr, it would have been someone
else. The result would ultimately have been the same.’

‘You mean you
can’t stop Zelnoff?’

‘Only the Mytar
can stop Zelnoff,’ Kaloc replied. ‘And in our world, they were
either not found, or killed before we realised what was
happening.’

There was
silence after this last comment. Chris avoided looking across at
Susie and Joe. He already knew what they were thinking. The
immensely of what they were facing felt like a huge hand slowly
squeezing the life out of each of them.

‘But you knew
who the Mytar were?’ Susie asked, stepping up next to Kaloc.

Kaloc shook his
head. ‘The Guardians can detect the Mytar on the planet the portals
are linked to, not our own. I say they were not found or killed
because the previous world fell even more quickly than ours. No
conflict, no wars, he swept through unopposed. Such a thing could
only happen if the Mytar from this world were killed or never
found.’

‘Well, can’t
you contact the Guardians on Earth and warn them about Zelnoff? Get
them to contact the Mytar on the next planet?’ Chris asked.

‘We don’t know
who the Guardians on your planet are.’

Chris frowned
up at Kaloc, unsure whether to believe him. ‘But that’s silly,’ he
said finally. ‘If all the Mytar and Guardians got together, then
someone like Zelnoff could be stopped.’

This comment
drew a wry smile from Kaloc. ‘Who do you think Zelnoff is?’ he
said, turning to Chris.

Chris
shrugged.

Susie, who had
been listening intently, spoke up. ‘He’s a Guardian.’

Kaloc nodded.
‘That’s possible, or a Mytar; someone who has special powers like
the Mytar and has managed to develop them to an extraordinary
degree. He also possesses knowledge of inter-dimension travel that
not even the most accomplished Guardian would know. Either way, he
hasn’t been able to gain this knowledge and power by himself.
Originally he must have had help from either Mytar or Guardians
like Batarr. Whoever designed the portals and created the Guardians
foresaw this possibility and split the powers of the Mytar among
six individuals. They also ensured the Guardians could not contact
each other in case they learnt how to travel between worlds like
Zelnoff can now.’

‘And now this
system will work in Zelnoff’s favour,’ Chris said. ‘The Guardians
can’t warn each other about Zelnoff.’

‘Your Guardians
should already be aware of entities crossing into your world and
causing atmospheric and climatic disturbances,’ Kaloc replied,
after a moment’s thought. ‘I just hope they are wiser and more
vigilant than we were and have already contacted the Mytar in the
next world.’

‘But can just
one group of Mytar stand against Zelnoff?’ Susie asked.

‘Any fully
functional group of Mytar will be more than a match for any single
entity such as Zelnoff. Zelnoff knows this, which is why he has
already gone to great lengths to destroy you. Still, none of you
comprehend the powers of a fully functional group of Mytar.’

Joe groaned
loudly at this remark. ‘But we’re too young,’ he said. ‘And we
don’t know who the other Mytar are.’

Kaloc looked at
Joe thoughtfully. ‘You are no match for Zelnoff in your present
form, I agree. We have to find the others, but first we must at
least delay Zelnoff’s invasion of your world, if only to give the
Guardians of your world more time to prepare.’

‘How? By
defending the portal?’ Joe asked anxiously.

‘Actually, we
have already lost this portal,’ Kaloc replied, pausing and scanning
their faces. ‘The Nethral will defend valiantly, but the entrances
around Mount Caporel are too large, and Zelnoff’s army is too
strong. Ultimately Zelnoff will be able to invade the
underworld.’

‘Then we have
lost,’ Chris said, barely able to contain his own anger at Kaloc’s
apparent lack of emotion. ‘You’re saying that we can’t stop Zelnoff
reaching the last portal …?’

‘If this was
the last portal, I would never surrender it while I still lived,’
Kaloc said, with a hint of steel in his voice that stopped Chris in
his tracks.

‘So there’s
another one?’ All three spoke at once.

Kaloc walked
over to a picture at the other side of the room. ‘Do you see
anything odd about this picture?’

It was a group
of seven hominids dressed very formally in long flowing robes. In
the centre of the group was Batarr; this time dressed in a golden
robe with a bright red sash. His black hair was neatly pinned back
behind his head and he had something that looked like a sceptre in
his arms. A more youthful Kaloc stood in the second row, a full
head taller than most of the other Guardians. Chris guessed that
this group represented all of the intelligent species on Cathora.
There was a large hairless Taal, and the Gorilla-like species that
seemed to make up the bulk of Kaloc’s soldiers. There was a
dark-skinned lady with black eyes, wispy blonde hair and almost no
mouth, and another much smaller lady with large jagged ears and
hazel eyes. The array of odd shapes and sizes was staggering.

Chris guessed
they were probably the Guardians in happier times. Then he
realised. ‘There’s no Nethral.’

‘That’s right.
Every major species is represented except the Nethral. The surface
people have been separated from the Nethral for so long that many
have forgotten they exist. And no one knows, not even Batarr, how
extensive the underworld really is.’