Chapter 45

The Corridors

- There are still ways unknown of which to travel across the world -

Thonavar felt the crushing force of gravity as it dragged him toward the ground below. He could barely open his eyes and he had to resort to squinting in order to see as the wind pulverised his face relentlessly from all around.

A roaring, which seemed to grow louder with every passing second, filled his ears, and he felt as though his eardrums were going to burst open. Light from above blinded him and he then noticed that his body was in the wrong position. He was hurtling toward the earth below but facing skyward. He could not see where he was going. The thought of not knowing where he was going filled his heart with dread. With a grunt, he managed to flip his body around and tucked his arms behind his back. Thonavar hurtled head-first toward the earth below.

There was nothing quite like the experience of free fall. Thonavar found it exhilarating. He flew through the wispy clouds, emerging from its depths, vigorously shaking water droplets from his hair and face, laughing to himself. As far as his eye could see, the land below was broken into large swathes of green, brown and large bodies of water.

To his left and some ways below, Thonavar suddenly saw the figure of Lyla, similarly hurtling downward, a trail of white-blond hair flying violently behind her in the wind. She looked up at him from where she was and seemed to be mouthing something to him but he could not hear a thing amidst the roaring in his ears. Lyla was pointing toward something below. Thonavar squinted, looked to where she pointed, and saw that the two of them were about to enter the first warp ring.

Corridor technology. A marvel of creation. The Scientists first experimented with small objects, sending them hurtling through space and time.

Something fluttered within his stomach. He had never seen a warp ring before but had certainly heard of them.

Only very important people high up in City Above used these to travel between the places.

As Thonavar drew closer, he saw a swirling vortex of light blue energy flare into life from the epicenter of the ring. Detecting his and Lyla’s presence, the ring began to spin faster and faster, humming softly, the blue energy spreading like a thin translucent film within the circle.

Lyla entered the giant ring first, piercing the thin energy film. There was an audible zipping sound, and Lyla suddenly disappeared from sight. Thonavar blinked several times. Entering the giant ring, the blue energy film rose up to meet him like the surface of a body of water. Thonavar braced himself for impact.

But there was none. Instead, there was a moment of absolute darkness accompanied by a strange sensation of being sucked into somewhere else.

But the moment passed in a split-second and Thonavar found himself hurtling downward once more. Yet, he noticed that his acceleration downward was not what it was.

Another giant ring rose up to meet him below and Thonavar understood. He looked directly above to see if had simply fallen through the giant center ring. But there was nothing there. He looked to his right and then looked up. The center ring hung in the sky far above him.

Incredible, he thought. The ring I first entered warped me to a place in the air directly above the second warp ring. This means that the second ring will warp me directly above the third ring which was the ring on the extreme right.

This was truly a test of courage. For all one was required to do was to make the jump into the first ring. A low humming filled the air as the second ring activated, its blue energy field flaring into life. Relief filled him as he saw Lyla below entering the second ring. She looked up at him to see if he was there before disappearing with another audible zip.

Seconds later, Thonavar’s head pierced the blue film and for but a single moment, darkness reigned as he was sucked into the energy vortex, before exploding into light.

Appearing directly above the third ring, Thonavar glanced across to his left and above and could just make out the second ring from which he had warped.

One more to go, he thought, as he entered the last and final ring.

With another zip sound, Thonavar appeared directly below the third warp ring, and found the ground below rushing to meet him. He braced himself for the impact and as his feet planted themselves upon the ground, he rolled forward, head over heels before coming to a stop. He rose slowly, checking his body as he stood up.

Thonavar looked up and around and was greeted by Lyla’s wry smile and Chaeron’s contagious grin.

"You did it," said Thonavar, patting Chaeron’s shoulder, grinning back at him.

"We did it," said Chaeron, standing straight with arms folded, still grinning from ear to ear.

"That was an experience," said Lyla, looking up at each warp ring suspended in mid-air. "A strange test indeed."

The trio studied their surroundings once more.

A cloud of mist and fog shrouded their view. But a gust of wind tore through the valley, dispersing much of the mist and fog. And as the mist parted, there, standing before them, was the largest doorway they had ever seen. It seemed to be carved into the mountain rock. Moving cautiously, Thonavar led the way forward, approaching the giant doorway. As they neared the doorway, a low groan resounded, and the giant doors began to open inward. A soft blue light emanated from within.

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"The gates of Sanctum," whispered Lyla, her eyes wide. "We made it."

"We made it," echoed Chaeron, with a look of disbelief in his eyes, coming up to stand beside Lyla.

Even Thonavar allowed himself a smile. We did it.

"Not yet," came a half-snarl. The mists dispersed as the hulking figure of Gargan landed from above, dropping to a knee before lunging to his feet in a powerful stance. Two soft thumps followed and the two boys, blond and spiky-hair, similarly landed, grinning cruelly.

"You thought you had us fooled, just like before," said Gargan menacingly, as he advanced on them. "This time, it did not take us long to realise your little scheme. No one makes a fool out of Gargan Beefheart. I will tear you from limb to limb."

As Gargan and the two other boys advanced upon them, Thonavar calculated the odds of winning a fight.

Lyla is still weak from her injuries. She will not be able to stand against any of them. Chaeron and I cannot take on blond and spiky-hair alone. Then there is Gargan who could very well take on all of us at once. There is a fight we cannot win.

Gargan sneered and flexed his muscles. But Thonavar had an idea.

"Come Gargan. Let us settle the score," said Thonavar, gesturing to Gargan to hear him speak. "You and I shall fight. The winner and his party will be free to enter Sanctum’s gates."

"Varu," began Chaeron. "Do not do this."

But Thonavar stopped him. "I will be fine. Trust me."

"Thonavar is right Chaeron," said Lyla. "We cannot win this fight."

Having secured the approval of his friends, Thonavar faced Gargan once more.

"So how about it Gargan? What do you think?"

"What are you talking about demon?"

"You are the leader of you party, are you not?"

"I am," agreed Gargan, his chest puffing out.

"Good," said Thonavar. "I am too. Since we are leaders of our respective parties, let us decide the outcome of our bitter rivalry. A contest. A fight. But only between us."

"Ha! You mean to challenge me alone whelp?"

"You will fall like wheat before me Gargan."

Gargan snarled but then broke into savage grin.

"Then I will rend you to pieces Ironhand."

"You accept the challenge then?"

"I accept," said Gargan. Then gesturing to his companions, he said to them: "you both, stand back now. I will teach this insolent fool a lesson."

Gargan came at Thonavar.

"Brace yourself demon boy," he taunted.

Thonavar moved to meet Gargan but found himself have to spin quickly to the side to avoid a thundering blow from the bigger boy. Dodging another punch intended for his head, he stepped under a swinging left hook and slammed a right fist under Gargan’s chin with all the force he could muster. Gargan stepped back, grimacing in pain and the two circled each other once more.

"Come on," shouted Chaeron from the sides. "You can do it Varu!"

Gargan was the first to resume the attack. He charged at Thonavar and then dropped to his knee to avoid Thonavar’s blistering right hook, and slammed both fists into Thonavar’s unprotected chest, one after the other. Thonavar flew back and hit the ground hard, completely winded. He winced in pain as he rose to his feet.

Seeing Thonavar struggling to his feet, Gargan smiled wickedly and launched himself at Thonavar once more. But with surprising speed, Thonavar sidestepped the charging Gargan and landed a thundering blow to the back of Gargan’s head. Now it was Gargan’s turn to crash to the ground, clutching the back of his head in pain. Gargan got to his feet in a flash and the two circled each other once more.

Gargan flew at Thonavar in a rage and managed to club Thonavar’s head. Thonavar, crying out in pain, covered his head with one hand and with the other moved to block another of Gargan’s savage punches. Then Thonavar felt the earth leave his feet as Gargan lifted him from the waist and threw him into the air. However, the nimble Thonavar spun in the air and managed to land on both feet, with fists raised in a fighting position. Gargan growled, and prowled around like a roaring lion.

"You two," commanded Gargan to blond and spiky-hair. "Make sure the girl and that chubby boy do not escape. None of them shall enter Sanctum’s gates. Knock them out cold."

Thonavar saw Chaeron’s face fall. Lyla turned slightly pale.

"You dishonor our agreement," said Thonavar. "Are you going back on your word?"

"Agreements are for the weak," said Gargan, grinning. "Come let us finish this."

Thonavar gave Lyla a meaningful look.

Run for it, he mouthed.

Grabbing Chaeron by the hand, Lyla leapt forward before breaking into a run. But blond and spiky-haired moved to block her escape.

Suddenly, the mists parted for a brief moment and the moon came into view. The dark-haired twins Marallene and Marubelline sprang from within the fog, seemingly appearing from nowhere. Marallene landed before spiky-hair who towered over her. He seemed slightly surprised at her arrival but recovered quickly, smirking down at her. But Marallene reacted with incredible speed, leaping into the air and delivering a powerful kick into spiky-haired’s groin area. Spiky-hair grunted and dropped without a sound.

Marubelline seized the blond boy by the hair before smashing his face into the ground. The blonde boy did not get up. Chaeron’s mouth hung open in amazement.

"We shall see you inside Sanctum’s gates," said Marubelline and Marallene in unison, before turning, and leaping into the mists, disappearing once more. Before disappearing into the mists, Thonavar saw Marubelline give him a nod. Marallene however looked at Chaeron, giving him a similar nod but also, a smile. Within seconds, there was no sign of movement from within the mists.

Thonavar turned back to Gargan who was staring into the mists with his mouth hanging open in disbelief.

Taking advantage of Gargan’s confusion, Lyla and Chaeron took the chance and sprinted as fast as they could toward the open doorway, disappearing into the soft blue light that emanated from it.

"Come now. Let us have peace Gargan. Our journey ends here this evening. Let us walk into the light together," offered Thonavar. "Look, it is almost last light. We can still enter Sanctum’s gates together."

At the corner of his eye, Thonavar made out a few boys and girls moving hurriedly past them toward the soft blue light emanating from the open doorway. Gargan too, paused to stare at them.

Blond and spiky-hair too, picked themselves from the ground before hurrying toward the doorway.

"Come now Gargan," said Thonavar again. "Let us go in together. We can put all this enmity behind us."

Gargan stared at Thonavar. Slowly, the creases of his glaring frown melted away. With a grunt, he lowered his giant fists and nodded silently. Thonavar also nodded. The two walked toward the open doorway. Thonavar spun around. There seemed to be no one else behind them. Turning back, Thonavar found himself enveloped by soft blue rays from within the doorway. Thonavar risked a glance at Gargan but his face was hidden by the blue light which shone brightly all around.

Just as he was about to step past the giant doors, Thonavar felt something hard hit his head. As he fell to the ground, a darkness descended upon him. His vision blurred. The last thing he remembered was the sneering voice of Gargan.

"Fool," hissed Gargan. "Now you will never enter Sanctum’s gates."

Despair filled Thonavar’s heart but darkness overtook him.