Token (Token Chronicles) (23 page)

“Wow, quite impressive, son. You learned how to do all of that in just a few days by yourself?”

I am not done demonstrating yet. I do not answer him. The winds start swirling around the cavern, growing more forceful with each second.

“Are you in control?” I hear Magnus yell out to me through the sounds of the harshly blowing winds.

I raise my arms up, and the boulders I have been training with on both sides of the arena follow suit. I send them hurdling towards each other creating a thunderous boom upon impact. I let the winds subside. I turn to Magnus with a smile and tell him, “Yes, I am in control.”

Behind me, the remaining pebbles of the boulders I had just smashed are being reassembled right in front of his eyes.

“I don’t know what to say. You are more powerful than I ever could have imagined. Extraordinary.”

“Sir, if I can be frank with you, I did not learn these abilities on my own.”

“Then who?”

“Your daughter. I know it was against your wishes, and I thought she had obtained your consent, but without her, I wouldn’t be where I am at today. I owe a lot to her. I owe her my life. And now, I owe her for teaching me the control I needed. She is quite special.”

“I cannot argue with you there. She is. Do you think you are ready, son? Ready to take on an army. Are you ready to lead us into a new world?”

With no doubt in my mind and or any shake in my voice, I assure him, “Yes, sir.”

“Very well. You will be off soon then. But tonight we celebrate. The departure of Kincaid Maddox. You will be able to stay one more night, won’t you?”

“Of course, sir. You, your daughter, your community has been quite generous to me. I am thankful for everything you have all done.”

“Splendid.”

He is off in a flash leaving me standing in the training room by myself. I decide to go off and see if I can find Briel, but I have no luck. She is not in her quarters or on the main floor. I am sure there are parts of this cavern she goes to that I would never be able to find. I decide to go back to my room and catch up on some much needed sleep.

Before I know it, the night has fallen upon the caverns and the celebration has begun. The festivities are similar to the first night. Everyone is in an uproar. I politely talk to each person who approaches me. Many are wishing me luck. Most are just praying for me to be safe and victorious. Some even ask me to demonstrate my powers, but Magnus insisted I do not. Everyone has come to say goodbye to me. Everyone but Briel. She has been noticeably absent all day. I have not seen her since breakfast.

As the night begins to wind down, Magnus makes a final toast in my honor.

“Although we have not had the pleasure to know Kincaid long, it has been a great honor to have him here in our community. I think I speak for all of us when I say that you are part of our family and are welcome back anytime. We hope you are successful, but most importantly, safe in your future endeavors. I will leave you with the words your father used to share with us in the old Rebellion. Remember why we fight. Remember who we are fighting for. Within our hearts, we must never forget our virtue, for with it, our missions, our battles, our wars will always be true. Cheers.”

“Cheers!” the community shouts back.

“My father really said that?”

“Oh, yes. He often gave us the inspiration we needed. When the troops no longer felt like fighting, he always found a way to keep everyone going. It’s sad to say, but after his death, those of us that remained had lost all hope in our cause. He was the greatest man I have ever known. And you, my son, are destined to become an even better man.”

“Thank you, sir. It means a lot to me.”

As the room begins to clear and everyone begins to head off to bed, I ask Magnus, “Do you know where Briel is tonight? I would like to say goodbye to her.”

“I am sorry Kincaid. She said she was not feeling well.”

“Oh, okay.”

“But if I know my daughter, she was lying. If I had to guess, you could find her down in the lower lagoon. She spends a lot of her time there. You have been there right?”

“Yes, sir. Thank you.”

“You have a good night now. I’ll see you at dawn.”

I take off and make my way to the door that leads down to the lower lagoon. But I decide not to take the door, but to go down the slide instead. I remove the stone hiding the entrance and jump in feet first. After I make my deep plunge into the water below, I come up searching for Briel’s face. I look around, but I am disappointed. It appears I am down here alone.

“Why didn’t you just take the door?” I hear someone yell from above.

I look up to see Briel sitting on the rock with the vine swing.

“What’s the fun in that?” I yell back in mockery. I swim over to the side and make my way up to the top to join her. I sit next to her, and we remain silent for a moment. She is the first one to break it.

“I’m sorry I missed your final dinner.”

“Why didn’t you come? You were going to let me leave without saying goodbye?”

“No, I suppose I would have come to tell you before you left in the morning. I just didn’t want to be part of the celebration because you are leaving. I just wish you could stay is all.”

“You know, I have grown quite fond of this place down here. I feel more like I’m with family here than I do with my own. But you know what I have to do. You know what is at stake. I have the opportunity to do real good in this world. I can give people freedom. I can give you freedom.”

“When do you leave?”

“At daybreak. I should be able to make it back by nightfall.”

“Will you promise me something?”

“Sure. Anything.”

“Just be safe, okay? Don’t get yourself killed.”

“I promise. When we win, I will come back here. You, your dad, your community. You will all be able to live your lives the way you want. The way you have dreamed of above ground.”

“That sounds nice.”

A tear starts to roll down her cheek. Before I know what has happened, she has her lips firmly pressed against mine locked in an embracing kiss.

“Good night Kincaid,” she whispers as she slowly draws away.

She is gone and out the door while I am left sitting there in an utter shock. I have never kissed anyone other than Hadley. I did not pull away. I did not resist. But it felt right. The guilt already begins to eat at me for having such feelings. I cannot wait until morning to leave. My training is complete. I must get back, my destiny waits. I will have to deal with the realization that either Benja is dead or Hadley is still being held captive in Silon. The time is now.

I jump up from the rock and make my way out of the cave. I head towards the exit, the way I was brought in. Upon reaching the exit, the gatekeeper is Ollie, of course. He still seems to have a mild distaste for me.

“I need to leave now. Open the door,” I command.

Before Ollie can answer, I hear another voice from the corner.

“I guessed you wouldn’t be able to wait until the morning,” Magnus says.

“Well, you were right. I need to get back now. In a way, I have been avoiding what awaits me out there. But I can no longer avoid it. You have all been great to me, but I must leave.”

“By all means,” he says gesturing towards the door. “Ollie, take a look outside, make sure it is clear.”

“Yes, sir. All clear, sir.”

The door opens revealing the snow from the blizzard still freshly coating the ground.

“Magnus, why don’t you come back with me? I am sure my mother would be happy to see you again. You would be a great asset to the new Rebellion.”

“I would love nothing more than to be part of it. To help destroy Grodar and everything they stand for, but I have fought my fight. This is your fight now. I have to stay behind. I have lost too much already. I need to take care of this community. I cannot leave my daughter unprotected. They need me here.”

“I understand.”

“Son, I need to ask another favor of you. You cannot tell your mother you found me. You cannot let anyone know where you have been over the past week.”

“But they will be wondering where I have been all this time.”

“Please, just come up with something. I have managed to keep us safe all these years. Grodar faking my execution all those years ago has been a blessing. I don’t want people to know I am alive. I don’t need anyone out there searching for me again.”

“Alright, I promise. I won’t tell anyone about this place.”

“Thank you.”

“I will be back when it is all over. We will win, Magnus.”

“If you are your father’s son, of that I have no doubt. Good luck.”

I walk out of Edena into the biting cold that pierces through my skin. I hear the rock door slam shut behind me. I don’t look back. From now on, there will be no looking back. Only looking forward to the future. Only thinking about the impending Rebel victory I will bring to this nation.

Chapter 16

Silon Elite Camp

Token: Benja

The road back has been a long and arduous one. If all goes as planned, my life as a free man, as brief as it has been, will be over soon. It will be worth it if I can save Isamar. But at what price have I already cost myself. I know I am no longer the same man. How could I be? I have killed my best friend. I have killed other innocent men. I even managed to kill one with my own bare hands.

By all other measures, my opponent from Ridian was the better warrior. He was a far superior fighter, but he made one mistake. He underestimated me. He did not realize what I was fighting for, who I was fighting for. He was pummeling me in the arena. I was on my back, him sitting on my chest with both of his large hands wrapped tightly around my throat squeezing harder and harder. I was trying to swing at him, but my strength was quickly fading. Desperate, I grabbed two fistfuls of sand and threw them into his eyes. Instinctively, he let go of my throat only for a few seconds, his hands covered his eyes in pain. I wasted no time. I head butted him as hard as I could. He fell backwards landing on his knees. He had his back turned to me. It was my opportunity. As he started to stand, still disoriented from my blow, I ran behind him and placed both of my hands firmly on each side of his head. Before he had a chance to react, I threw his neck with as much force as I could muster to the right. I heard the crack. I can still hear it. His life was over, and I had won. I had won the Melee. I didn’t feel victorious, I felt ashamed of myself. I was ashamed of my behavior. Of what the Elitists had brought me to do.

After it was over, they shined the light on me again and announced my victory.

“Our Melee Conquerer, the Token representing Silon Elite!” the speakers announced.

Just a pawn in their games. All I was to them was a Token. It is all any of us were to them. A gaggle of Grodarian troops came marching into the arena encircling me after my victory. Their weapons were all aimed at me. I was instructed to follow them and do exactly as they say or they would kill me. For a moment, I thought they would go back on their promise of freedom. But they gave Zander his freedom so I had hope they would do the same for me. It was over quickly. They used a device to deactivate my tracker in my back. They brought me to the exit and let me outside of the gate. All the years I have spent on the Island belonging to someone. My time as a Token. In an instant, I was a free man. I had nothing with me. I had no idea where I was or how to get back to Silon. But it was invigorating knowing I belonged to no one for the first time. I was my own man. Nobody to tell me what to do day in and day out. But I let go of the feelings quickly, though. I still needed to think of myself as Silon’s Token. I didn’t want it to feel like I am having my freedom ripped away when I give myself back over to him. I want it to feel like nothing has changed.

The journey has been challenging. After I left the arena, I wandered from each small shantytown to the next, asking, pleading for someone to point me back in the direction of the Silon camp. I found many of the local residents had seen the Melee. They recognized me. I was being treated like a hero, but none of them knew where Silon’s Elite Camp was. I finally ran into a Grodarian troop in one of the towns I was passing through. I told him I wanted to go back to Silon. I told him I didn’t want to be free, and the only way I would find fulfillment in my life was to continue to serve Silon and Grodar. My lies worked on him as he pointed me in the right direction.

The walk took just about a week. I am nearing the camp. The hot desert sand is beginning to burn the rough heels of my feet. I can see off in the distance the mansion Silon houses himself in along with his high protective fence. When we all first arrived in Silon, our ship transport landed us within the confines. This time, I will need to plead with the Grods to let me inside to speak with Silon.

I had not noticed my previous time just how high the walls are that surround the entire confines of the camp. The surface is smooth, nothing to grab onto. It would be nearly impossible to scale. I can also hear a low humming sound that seems to be emanating from the top of the wall. Most likely set in some way or another to keep those from either escaping or getting in.

As I approach the gate, one of the Grods calls out to me.

“Halt. What is your business here?”

“I am a Token of this camp. I just won my freedom by winning the Melee. I wish to seek an assembly with Samson Silon in regards to the terms of my victory.”

“You have served your purpose to him. Now leave before we shoot.”

“I believe he will want to hear me out. Please, I beg of you, I must speak with him.”

From the other side of the wall, I hear a familiar voice shout out.

“For crying out loud, let the man in. If Silon has a problem with it, I will take the responsibility.”

The gates begin to slowly open, and as they widen, I can see Zander waiting on the other side. He has a small smile bearing on his face, but I know, just as he does, what it took for me to get back here. He knows all too well what I am about to give up. I walk in and vigorously shake the hand he has extended out to me.