'Look, there, between the ferns,' said Kobin, pointing.

'I don't see anything.'

'I saw movement. Someone is down there.'

Kobin quickly walked to the nearest lookout tower and climbed the ladder awkwardly, returning shortly after with a rifle over his shoulder. Without looking at Alkon for assurance, he leaned against the railing and took aim through the sight.

'A survivor. A boy,' said Kobin.

'Shoot to kill,' ordered Alkon. 'We have no need for more slaves.'

Kobin gave a slight nod as he increased pressure on the trigger. Alkon watched his movements intensely. He had never seen Kobin kill another man or participate in any battles. He had always been elsewhere, either communicating with the High Council or speaking with his travelling companion. This would be a test of his character, of his loyalty to the Alliance. To kill one of his own people, a teenager at that, would show his commitment.

'Why do you hesitate? Load and fire,' said Alkon.

Kobin gave him a look of irritation before turning back to the young man below, lining up the shot.

'Patience,' he said.

'Patience?' asked Alkon, starting to become enraged. 'Do it now-that is an order!'

Kobin stood up and placed the rifle carefully against the railing. Alkon's eyes flared. Kobin had failed the test, and now he stood in defiance of Alkon's authority.

Kobin raised his right hand with his index finger pointing up, calling for silence. 'Perhaps it is good that I have such limited use of my left hand, it allowed me time to evaluate this situation properly. Consider an alternative, General. Your thoughts are too quick to turn to death in present times. The one to be feared is the man that thinks before he strikes, not the man that wields the sword wildly.'

Alkon's expression turned grim in disbelief. 'Callibrian, I will not tolerate such insults.'

'This boy will die without the assistance of his family. He is of no concern to us.'

'Then make his death quick and painless,' said Alkon, picking up the rifle and holding it out.

Kobin slowly looked at the gun, then at Alkon, before turning back to the young man below. 'Our scouts should follow him. He might be able to show us the way.'

'The way to what?' asked Alkon, doing his best to contain his anger.

'There is something in this land for which I have searched a long time. He may be the key to finding it.'

'And what is it that you seek?'

Kobin took a moment before responding. 'I seek the Daijuar,' he said. 'They have been known to help lost children.'

'The Daijuar have either perished or gone into hiding. You are wasting your time,' said Alkon, walking away.

'A race as powerful as the Daijuar does not perish simply because of an army,' said Kobin after him.

Alkon turned. 'Many have faced us, all have fallen. I have seen it with my own eyes.'

'What you saw was an illusion. You have drugs for mind control, but they have something far, far greater.'

'What proof do you have?' asked Alkon.

'None ... of their actual ability,' said Kobin. 'If I were able to hold such power, I would have changed the world by now. That is why I must find them. There is still the one that I warned you of here in this land.'

'You speak of the powerful one.'

Kobin nodded.

'He has been defeated,' said Alkon. 'Kill the boy-that is my final order.'

Kobin laughed. 'You underestimate him. Of his people, he is the most powerful, but just as they, he knows when he is outmatched. Have the boy followed-it is in your best interests.'

Quickly Alkon turned, any doubt about this man now gone. Alkon's nostrils and eyes were flaring as he raised his voice. 'Do not tell me what is in my best interests, Callibrian! I am commander of this unit. Your authority is not next to mine, and I will not tolerate this insolence any further! Do you understand?'

Kobin paused calmly in thought, glancing briefly over the railing to make sure the boy had not woken. 'Have the boy followed,' he repeated. 'I will stake my reputation upon it.'

'You will stake your life upon it!' threatened Alkon.

'If I must. What have you to lose? If we kill the boy, we have nothing. If we let him go-'

'We have a breach in security!' interrupted Alkon.

'Not if he is followed. He will be disposed of before he has a chance to tell his story.'

'And if he is lost?'

'Surely your men can handle following a single boy. And if he is followed, we may find where the Daijuar hide, and then, we may even learn of their power. Imagine what that means if you can.'

'Patronise me any further and I will shoot you where you stand.'

'I do not know what you are talking about. I am speaking of building an army as powerful as the Daijuar. Surely even you can understand that.'

With lightning speed, Alkon reached behind his cape and withdrew a pistol, firing a single bullet at Kobin's injured shoulder. In the same moment, Kobin had realised what Alkon was doing and stepped back onto his left foot, but he did not duck or move out of the way, instead, he threw his right hand out as if to block the bullet with flesh alone. Alkon flinched as a blinding light flashed between them and a high-pitched ringing was left in his ears. It took him several seconds to recover enough to look up again. He saw Kobin standing with his right hand lazily down by his waist and his left arm still in the sling. He wore the same relaxed expression as he always wore, and for a moment Alkon questioned whether he had even fired the bullet.

Impossible, he thought, and as if able to read his mind, Kobin spoke.

'You know not what you are dealing with in this world. The Daijuar are powerful, but I have learned a little of their art. With access to their hideouts, I will master it. I will train an entire army ... yours, perhaps.'

Alkon stood up straight, still in disbelief. All he could manage was a small nod as he turned his eyes downward away from Kobin. Suddenly he found it almost impossible to maintain eye contact.

'Leave this area with only limited security and keep the boy alive. What do you say?' asked Kobin.

Alkon forced himself to look at Kobin, hatred and anger locking his stare. 'If your words prove false, you will give your life back to the earth without question.'

'I understand,' said Kobin after a moment's consideration. 'And if I am right?'

'Then you are right,' said Alkon, and quickly he turned away and walked down the ramp, Kobin's laughter filling his ears from behind him all the way.

Chapter Ten.

If nothing else, go on for the dream's sake.

January 16, 997 R.E.

Jaden's eyes eased open to darkness. He sat up, searching around him. The fist-sized rocks were still in place, but he knew this only by the slight reflection of the fort's lights. Night had come. He had slept through the entire day. He thought it unlikely now that he would return to the other survivors by this night as he had said, but if he could gain entrance to the fort in the next hour or two, he would be able to make it back by dawn. But first he had to contend with the strange black devices the man had planted in the ground. He couldn't simply sneak into the fort anymore, not while the devices were still intact. He guessed them to be sensors, a means of alerting the Alliance of intruders. One step and he would be caught.

With the rocks he had gathered earlier, he made his way into the ferns. His plan was to knock a sensor down, that way he believed the connections would go down and they would require the man to come back and fix it. This would hopefully give him time to pass through undetected, as long as he timed it so he could get in before the change of guard had taken place. Two new guards were posted at the entrance. He hoped it would not be long now before they would change over again, and that he was right about the sensors. His experience with such devices was extremely limited, as there was no need for them in Callibra. He didn't actually understand how they worked. All he could do now was stick to his plan and hope for the best.

An hour passed as Jaden patiently awaited the change, practising his throwing movements to best hit the black device eight yards in front of him. It was a tough shot. He had to find a balance of power and speed to first keep low and make the distance, and then to break the final curtain of leaves to hit the device on the other side. He could barely see it from where he was, relying on a guessed marker more than his sight.

Another half hour passed before he noticed the guards begin to move.

This was it. This was his chance.

Quickly he began to throw the rocks, the first missing badly and bouncing up toward the fort. The second looked as if it had hit, but he couldn't be sure from this distance. He threw the third unsuccessfully but then paused. The guards walking into the fort no longer blocked the way. The replacements would see the rocks if he threw any more. Seconds passed. Where were they? Jaden squinted to help see through the fern leaves. It seemed by the shadowy figures that one of the approaching guards had fallen and was now being helped up by the other. He looked to be the same smaller-framed man who had stood guard in the morning, the man who did not seem so worthy of fear.

Jaden took the opportunity to make several more attempts at hitting the device, but each returned the same result. It seemed his efforts were in vain. He realised even if he were to knock the sensor out, he still couldn't sneak into the fort until the next change of shift, whenever that was going to be. Would the other survivors still wait for him? He couldn't be sure. It had to be now.

Half-heartedly, he threw the final rock, but then froze once more as he saw that the guards had exited the fort just as the rock finished its second bounce.

'Who-who's out there?' asked the smaller framed guard in a whimpering voice. The guard gradually moved forward with his weapon ready. 'Who's out-?'

'No one!' growled the second guard. 'Get back here. Now! I won't warn you again.'

The smaller guard ignored the command and continued to move forward, trembling, toward Jaden. 'Mother? Is that you? I'm here, Mother. I've come back!'

Jaden began to inch backward, attempting to remove himself from the edge of the clearing. Once safely far back enough he began to move faster, and soon he was no longer able to hear the guard's strange pleas.

'Soldier!' called out the second guard. 'You are nearing the perimeter. Return immediately!' But his calls had seemingly failed as he called out a final time. 'You fool! The mines!'

Suddenly the air was filled with gunfire from the second guard and then a scream from the other as an explosion erupted high into the air, a brilliant flash like daylight awoke on the other side of the trees. Jaden fell hard against the ground, knocked over by the blast, and then in panic jumped to his feet and sprinted to the nearest large tree he could find. He scrambled up its branches before climbing to the next tree, putting a little more space between him and where the soldiers would be rushing to. Soon he was high enough to see over the walls of the fort. He had to breathe as deeply as he could to calm the adrenaline shooting around his veins, doing his best to conceal himself against the tree's trunk.

On the ground, the smoke cleared enough to reveal the soldiers swarming the area that he had expected. A man in black uniform and hair just as dark that rested over his cape quickly strode out. Jaden could barely see what was happening, but he could hear their voices clearly in the crisp night air.

'Who's responsible for this?' demanded the man in black uniform in Jaden's language.

'AG193, Guarding Unit W1, sir,' replied the guard nervously.

'Where is he?'

'Dead. He fell onto a mine, sir.'

The man in black uniform looked in all directions around him. 'I heard gunshots, whose were they?'

'Mine, sir. It was the only way I could try to stop him,' replied the guard. 'Baniteine drug must have failed, sir. He showed several symptoms, I had no choice but to fire.'

'How was the mine tripped?'

'I had misjudged the distance, sir. AG193 landed on it directly.'

The man in black uniform was silent, seemingly unimpressed by what had happened. 'Baniteine takes time to weaken, does it not? Did he not show signs beforehand?'

'No, sir, he had kept it well hidden until now, sir.'

The man in black uniform eyed the guard suspiciously, standing closely so that their faces almost met. But the guard stood unflinching and the other man soon backed away.

'What caused him to walk so close to the mine?' he asked.

'I do not know, sir. He mentioned hearing noises earlier, nothing more.'

The man in black uniform rushed forward and took the gun from the guard. For a moment the guard stepped back, readying himself for execution, but the gun was never aimed at him. Seven bullets were fired into the ferns where Jaden had been hiding. Having hit nothing, the man in black uniform shouted in a language Jaden could not understand, and the soldiers immediately rushed into the ferns, cutting their way through and pointing their lights into the trees.

Jaden's exit was blocked. They were looking for him. He had to get away.

Frantically he searched for a means of escape. He could hide in the tree for only so long. The soldiers were getting closer but were still at least twenty yards away. There was no other choice. Jaden began climbing through the branches to get to the next tree, moving closer to the fort. No longer did he feel the need or desire for revenge, but there was no other way. He had to get inside the fort. It was his only chance for survival.

As he climbed into the final tree, he glanced over what was behind the walls and after deeming it safe, lowered himself onto the metal railing and then ducked next to one of the lookout towers. Horrified by his mistake, he quickly looked up at the tower, expecting to have been seen, but was put at ease as it appeared to be one of the many that were unoccupied.

He was safe, for now.

Jaden crept down one of the ramps and then hid behind the closest building, remaining low under the black, dusty windows, and slid under the metal clamps of the walls.

He was inside.

He remained perfectly still in the shadow of the building, waiting for the shouts from outside of the walls to die down, and took a moment to gather his thoughts. He had made it inside. He hadn't even thought to climb one of the trees. This worried him, as he usually always came up with the better solutions to problems. The stress seemed to be having more of an effect on him than he had first thought, and now decided it was best he became extra careful.

At least now he could still get back to the other survivors if he kept his wits about him.

He breathed deeply again, doing his best to remain strong. These were the men that had killed his family-had ruined his life. They were the few that deserved to die on this planet. He had to go on. He couldn't give up. He had to fight them. But to fight them, he needed weapons.

With a final deep breath, he got up on one knee and made his way east, away from the entrance where he had watched the guards. He passed several more formations of buildings, each seemingly deserted. Many may have been used for sleeping quarters, as all lights were off, but he would not dare look inside through the windows for fear of being caught. Those with lights on showed nothing of relevance except where soldiers appeared to be putting weapons together, but these would be of no use to him. He would only return to these parts if he could find no other weaponry and if the lights were off.

His roaming was fruitless for some time as he concentrated on keeping out of the light from the many lamps set up around the place. Soldiers passed him from time to time, oblivious as they ran their errands, but he studied each, taking in all that he could about the men of the Alliance. They were all different, very few personifying the image that the soldiers of the Alliance had been known for over the years, and most held a different nationality to the next. This was a symbol of the vast empire the Alliance had created. They took everything they needed to build the world's greatest army. And yet still they had been unable to defeat the Resistance stationed at Corsec city.

Jaden felt pride as now, like his brother, he too fought the Alliance. But he did not have an entire force to hold off the attacks of the Alliance. It was only him and a few of his people. He knew he would die in the coming days, but he would die knowing that he had fought bravely and against evil, just like his brother would have.

As he stepped around the corner of the next building, Jaden came to a clearing in the fort. No buildings were here, only vehicles in a yard. Here were the giant movers that had crushed his people's houses, the tanks that tore through his village without mercy, and the jeeps that hunted them down as if they were no more than wild game. With these machines, he and the other survivors could wage a full-scale assault on the Alliance. He had done it. He had found what he was looking for.

Jaden kept low as he raced across the yard, driven on by fearful excitement. A line of trucks was at the other end, all of which he found contained every weapon he could have imagined. This was it. Now all he needed was to get back and tell the others. He would take a weapon or two as proof.

But before he could jump into the back of one of the trucks, he heard a man shouting. In fright, he quickly dodged around the corner of a building to a dark, safe place. He then waited until the man stopped talking. Soldiers called out to the man, cheering in response to what he said. He was speaking in the language that Jaden could not understand, but Jaden recognised the voice as the man in the black uniform from outside. Curiously, he edged himself around the corner of the building so that he could see what was going on.