I couldn't remember where Garv lived and I can't get online right now to look so I'm just making it up as I go along. Tough Snickerdoodles if it's wrong.

The Files of Kazdan Kalinkas

Book Two: After the Storm

Chapter Seven: Discovered

"If you wish to be brothers, drop your weapons." –Pope Jhon Paul II

Atrum packed us a bunch of food for the journey. I was starting to feel like this was some sort of cliché RPG video game. Except that the main character was formally insane and had emotional issues and there was no world to save.

I did not see Najarin at all.

H'earring climbed into the front seat and smacked the reigns, setting off the cyborg-horse-thing that was pulling the carriage, while the rest of us settled into the back. As we pulled away from Lake Ken-i-po and into the gloom of the surrounding wood, I looked back up at the towering structure that the OverWorld Muge called home.

"What's wrong, Kaz?" Sarah asked as the drooping tree branches obscured Najarin;s castle.

"I never said thanks to him." I answered truthfully.

"I think he knows." Sarah responded, putting an arm around my shoulders. I smiled and leaned against her, putting my head on her shoulder, "You should do something with your hair, it's getting really long."

"The only thing I know how to do with it is to spike it." I said, feeling the tip of my fangs with my tongue again.

"Here," Sarah pushed me off of her and made me put my back to her, "Let me do something with it." I felt her tug at my hair and I titled my head back so she wouldn't pull so hard, "Kaz, stop moving around."

"You're pulling my hair. It hurts."

"You're such a whiner."

"You're a meanie-head."

"I feel so insulted."

"Will you two stop it?" Tom said from behind us, "I'm trying to figure out how to fix this Pyro Blaster."

"Lemme see." I started to turn around but Sarah grabbed one of the spikes protruding from my shoulder guard and stopped me, "Saaaaarrrraaaahhhhhh!" I complained, feeling a twang of pain as she pulled on it, "That huuuuuurrrrttttt!"

"I'm not finished with your hair."

"What're you even doing?"

"Braiding it."

"Wha—hey! Just put it in a ponytail!"

"It'll be easier to manage this way, trust me. "

I didn't say anything. I wasn't one to stereotype but Sarah was a girl and girls generally knew more about hair than boys did.

But that didn't stop me from sulking when she pulled on my hair. I heard lots of grumbling and complaining from behind me and then Peyton said something under his breath and Tom snapped at him playfully. I smiled.

"Done!" I felt one final tug and then Sarah patted my back, "Tell me what you think."

"Like I can see it." I muttered but put a hand behind my back and felt the twist of the braid. My hair wasn't quite long enough for the braid to be very long so there was only a short series of twists that dangled a little past the base of my neck.

"Sssssssliiiiiiick, Kazzudie!" Peyton said and I looked around to see him giving me thumbs up. Tom was sitting beside him, a Pyro Blaster held between his knees as he tugged at the barrel with a frustrated expression.

"Tom, that's not how you get a Pyro Blaster apart." I reached out and took it from him, twisting the pieces apart without hardly looking at it, cleaned it in almost a minute, and put it back together again, "Here, now it should work."

I handed it back to Tom and he hoisted it up to aim it out the back of the wagon. A burst of flames shot out in a spherical fireball, erupting against a tree and sending it up in a glow of red, orange, and yellow.

"Why don't you just let all of Perim know where we are!?" H'earring shouted irritably from the front of the carriage, "Stop playing around with that Pyro Blaster, it's for emergencies only!"

"Sorry!" Tom called back. But he was grinning; I knew he liked using Battlegear outside of Drome Battles when he could.

"Thanks for the hairdo, Sarah." I smiled over my shoulder at her and she shrugged and muttered a "you're welcome." I sat cross-legged on the wagon's wooden floor and started picking at the armor wrapped around my legs, wincing as I pried my fingers into the cracks and tugged at them. I was bored. And I wanted to get this armor off.

I stopped what I was doing.

"Whhhooaaaa, Kaz, your face is rrreeeeeeeeeddddd!" Tom laughed, pointing at me as I felt my face heat up, "What's up with that?"

"I just…realized something…" I murmured, embarrassed to be voicing it.

"What?" Ever-inquisitive-Peyton.

"When I get this armor off…I'm not…all I'll have on is…my boxers…" I felt like someone could roast a turkey on my face, it was so red.

"Hhoooooooo!" Peyton started making obnoxious little noises and gesturing at me.

"Shut up, Peyton!"

"I didn't think you wore boxers, Kaz."

"Sarah!"

"Sure he does! They're pink and say I Heart Ponies right across his a—!"

"Tom!"

"Ooooohhhhooooohhhoooooo!"

"PEYTON!!"

I was glad when we reached the Location that Garv called home. I'd been anxious that whole trip through the OverWorld, fearful that some vengeful Creature would appear and slaughter us all. It made me stomach hurt and I didn't eat a lot during the trip, for which Sarah scolded me for. She and H'earring switched places every so often and when H'earring sat back with me we would talk about the mysteries of Perim and the way things had been.

Those days seemed centuries ago, now.

Tom was oddly quiet, usually sitting at the back of the wagon with the Pyro Blaster in his lap, watching the landscape roll by as we went along. I didn't know what was going through his head but I figured he was thinking hard about something. Tom was a—how do I say this?—gun-ho sort of guy; he often dived head first into something without thinking about it, which wasn't always a bad thing. So to see him sitting there silently made me wonder if something had happened that he was trying to get his head around.

Maybe it had something to do with me.

Peyton was another story.

He was all over the place. He couldn't sit still in the wagon for very long. I didn't know if he was just being himself or if it was because he was worried about something.

So when we got to Garv's, it was a relief to all of us to get out of the wagon and into the fresh air.

The relief didn't last long, though, because I had barely taken a step away from the wagon when a blinding bolt of pain lanced through me and sent me screaming to the ground. I writhed in the dirt, clawing at myself, feeling the electricity tearing at me, screaming in agony.

Then it was over and I was gasping on my stomach on in the dirt. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of my face.

"Kaz!? Kaz, what happened!? Are you okay!?" Tom hooked his hands under my arms and hauled me to my feet.

"C-C-Chaor!" I gasped, my head spinning. I was so scared, I was close to feinting, "He knows! He knows we're gone! He's after me! He's after me! I don't want to go back there! I don't want to—AAAAHHHHHHGGGGGG!" Another flash of punishing electricity sent me to my knees.

Chaor had found out we left! Chaor was going to come after me! He was going to catch me and punish me! And then he'd capture my friends and they'd end up like me too! And then he'd kill H'earring just to teach me a lesson! And it would all be over! It would be the end of my existence!

The pain stopped and I jumped unsteadily to my feet, teetering slightly. The panic must have been clear on my face because Peyton grabbed my arm, effectively stopping me from running off in a frenzy,

"Kaz, calm down, Chaor's not going to find you!"

"You don't get it!" I cried, breathing too quickly, "He'll tear up the whole UnderWorld trying to find me! And when he doesn't, he'll rip apart the OverWorld! He doesn't care! All he wants to do is puni—!" I collapsed against Peyton, screeching as another wave of voltage shocked my system.

"He's not going to get you, Kaz!" Tom shouted as the torture ceased once again, "We're going to get you out of here and by the time he realizes you're not in the UnderWorld, you'll be at home! I swear it, Kaz! I promise you!"

Tom didn't make promises lightly.

And he was my best friend.

Tears of pain had blurred my vision but I could see just clearly enough to see that Tom was in front of me, looking panicked and worried and angry all at the same time. I stared at him, breathing heavily.

My friends.

My loyal friends.

They'd gone through Hell to get me out of it.

I nodded and pushed myself up right again, leaning against Peyton for support. I was not shocked again. Apparently Chaor didn't find it fun unless he could see me squirming.

We ducked out of the sunlight and down into Garv's underground home.

"Garv? You here, dude?" Peyton called. Shadows danced across the stone walls from the flickering torches and candles that lit the room. It was a mess; books and papers were stacked everywhere in teetering piles, plants hung from the ceiling in huge clumps, and there were about fifty mortars and pestles scattered around the room. Compared to Garv, Najarin's book-crowded castle looked like the home of a neat freak.

I eased myself onto a stool, feeling suddenly drained. H'earring thumped down to the floor beside me and held out a loaf of bread. I took it from him without a word and ate it slowly, letting it rebuild my energy. When I heard movement in the room beyond, I looked around.

A door opened.

I screamed and tried to run.

An UnderWorlder stood framed in the doorway, staring at me with a hard, blank expression.

I stumbled backwards, falling off the stool and kicking it away with a cry of terror. The UnderWorlder stepped forward and I turned to run. Tom grabbed my shoulders and stopped me, gritting his teeth as he tried to force me to stay in one place,

"Kaz! Cut it out, what's wrong with you!?"

"The UnderWorlders!" I gasped in fear, looking pointedly over my shoulder at the Creature who had stopped moving and was watching us now, "They're here! They got Garv! He's dead! He's gone! They're gonna take me away, Tom! Don't let them take me! Run! Get out! Get away if you can!"

"Uhhh, Kaz," I looked around at Sarah with wide eyes, holding just as tightly to Tom's arms as he was holding my shoulders, "That's Hifdan. He's an OverWorlder."

I had a stupid moment.

I stared at her like I'd never seen her before in my life. Then I stared at Hifdan. He stared right back with a blank expression. His similarity to an UnderWorlder was eerie and it sent chills down my spine.

"Um, Kaz, can you…let go of me now? You're hurting me." I tore my gaze away from Hifdan and looked around at Tom. He was wincing and I released his arms. He pushed his sleeves up and looked at his arms. There were deep red marks where my fingers had dug into his skin. I could tell they were going to bruise.

"What is all the commotion going on out there?" Garv side-stepped Hifdan and saw the lot of us standing there. If he was surprised to see us, he didn't show it. He looked over us once and then turned to Hifdan.

"Give this to Maxxor. Tell him to let it dissolve in Gespedan's water before giving it to him." I flinched away from the words. Gespedan was in that predicament because of me. But at least he wasn't dead.

Hifdan took the leather bag and tucked into a secure place among the folds of his clothing. Then he headed for the exit. As he brushed past me, he knelt down and whispered into my ear with a voice that was low and rumbling like distant thunder,

"I know who you are."

I tensed, heart thudding and looked around at him. His eyes met mine and I swallowed thickly. If he told Maxxor about me, I'd be doomed. Come to think of it, how much did Maxoor know? Gespedan had gotten away but not before he'd gotten a good look at my face. If he'd described me to Maxxor, the OverWorld ruler would surely remember me and no doubt hate me for siding so fiercely with his enemies. I shuddered at the thought.

"Hifdan, you should leave." Garv said coolly and Hifdan straightened up. He cast one final glance at me and then vanished into the outside. Garv turned his attention to us, "So…you are Ghost."

I squirmed at the name as though he'd struck me with a physical blow.

"Don't call him that!" Sarah snapped, clenching her fists at her sides, "His name is Kaz! He's our friend! Chaor forced him to…he's not Ghost!"

"Please Garv," I said softly and the OverWorld Caretaker glanced at me, "I…I know I've done some bad things and I regret that I didn't do more to stop it but…I don't belong in this world. And neither does this armor." I put a hand over the UnderWorld crest on my chest plate, "This shouldn't exist; it defies the laws of nature. So please…help me get rid of it."

Garv looked me up and down. I scowled; I was getting sick and tired of Creatures scrutinizing me like something at an art museum but Garv was (probably) going to help me. I didn't move as he swept his gaze over me. No one said anything.

"I can remove the armor," Garv said slowly, leaning on his staff. I grinned, "But it will probably leave you severely weakened. It was designed not only to cause instant regeneration but also to enhance your disciplines. When it is taken away, the sudden loss of these…improvements may cause your body to go into shock or possibly a coma. You understand this?"

I looked around at my friends. Peyton gave me the thumbs up; good old Peyton, he'd have high spirits no matter the situation. Sarah smiled at me; she'd be at my side too, through thick and thin. H'earring grinned at me; he'd be next to me, even after all the crap I'd put him through. And Tom? He grinned at me and held out a fist. I tapped it with my own. Tom was my best friend in this world and my own. I knew where he would stand.

"Okay Garv, whenever you're ready."

There you go, another chapter.

Did you think that Kaz was going to get the IRA off in this chapter? X3 Aw, come on, like it would be that easy.

Oh, and let's not forget that Chaor now knows that Kaz has escaped the UnderWorld and now—possibly—the OverWorlders know too.

What's going to happen…?

Please review!

Thanks!