Sacrifice
A Sequel to Quietly into the Night
Conventional Couples
Rating: PG-13

Chapter Fourteen

Antar – Capitol City

Isabelle hefted the weight of the small child in her arms and followed Naloch down the dark and winding path of the tunnel. Poor imp, she thought. She's so tired. First she healed Jereon, and then Naloch. It just wore her out.
"How fairs the young one?" asked Naloch as he moved steadily forward.
"She's tired," answered Isabelle. "Naloch will you tell my why we had to leave so quickly. Your son will be going crazy when he finds us missing."
"There is no time now," he answered. "We must move quickly Princess, before the guardsmen arrive."
"Don't call me that," Isabelle said automatically. "The guardsmen have already been to your shop twice today."
"I was afraid of that. Word that I'm alive must have somehow reached Kivar's men. Now let us move faster. We are almost at the end of the tunnel. Transportation will be waiting for us there."

Isabelle didn't like being told to wait for answers, but she also knew that she had no choice. Naloch had the answers, and he wasn't ready to give them to her yet. They walked for another quarter of an hour in silence. Naloch stopped and motioned for her to wait behind him. He made a low keening whistle, waited a moment and whistled again. There was an answering call, and then the tunnel was illuminated. Two Antarians joined them in the tunnel and spoke softly to Naloch. Isabelle strained to hear what they were saying, but their voices were too low.

"Princess," said Naloch. "These men are here to take us to Uzshtar City. We'll be safe there for now."
"Naloch, I can't leave," said Isabelle. "Max and Michael will be here any time. We have to wait for them."
"I'm sorry, but there have been some new developments that I was not aware of. It isn't safe for any of us now. If your brother and the General do arrive here, my son and daughter will help them."
"What kind of developments, and who are these men."
"Forgive me, this is Franchet, and this is Malik, they are members of our underground network." Isabelle nodded at the two men and smiled slightly.
"Now what about these developments. Tell me what is happening."
"It seems Princess, as though Kyle and your nephew have escaped from the royal palace."
"What, they escaped, and left Liz there. No way! Kyle wouldn't do that. He wouldn't let anything separate him from Liz!" Isabelle insisted.
"You are wrong Princess, for he did just that," said Malik. "And with good cause. Kivar has ordered the execution of the young prince if Queen Elizabeth does not marry him."

Antar – Royal Palace

Liz choked back another scream as the pain in her body intensified. She had never felt anything as excruciating as this. Kivar was truly evil. The pain varied from sharp and intense to dull and throbbing, but it never stopped. She felt as though she would go mad from the pain. Liz tried to block out the pain by reciting the periodic table of elements. When she finished with that, she began to recite the items on the menu at the CrashDown, price and tax included. She got as far as a Will Smith Burger when the pain stopped. She collapsed to the floor in relief and slept.

Mommy? Mommy, can you hear me Mommy? she heard in her head.
"Kam, is that you. Are you alright sweetie?"
Mommy, I'm fine. Guess what.
Kam where are you? Is Uncle Kyle with you?
No, he's across the room. Liz smiled slightly as she remembered how literal her son could be at times. But at least Kam and Kyle were together, and out of the palace.
Mommy, I got to meet Unca Kyle's friend Saranara. She's pretty, for a girl. And she has a really cool brother named Jereon. But Lexie can't say their names right. She calls them Jeremy and Serena.
Lexie? Are you and Lexie playing the game?
No Mommy, not right now. Her and Auntie Isabelle are hiding from us.
Hiding from us, what do you mean Kam? Where are they?
Mommy, Kam said in exasperation. If I knew where they were, they wouldn't be hiding. But Daddy says we'll find them real soon.
Find them, wait, there here? On Antar? Kam, is Daddy here too."
Yeah, him and Unca Michael.
Liz groaned as the pain in her arm began again.
Kam, honey, Mommy has to go, but you listen to Daddy and Uncle Kyle and Uncle Michael. They'll take good care of you. Oh my God it hurts! She tried to stop the thought, but it couldn't be quelled. She realized that Kam could still hear her. I love you Kam, remember listen to Daddy. She quickly blocked her connection with her son and began to scream.

Antar – Capitol City

"Damn it," said Max. "They're not here. We must have missed them, if they were even here at all."
"Maybe we should go back and check the other tunnels," suggested Michael.
"No," interjected Kyle. "This is the way they went."
"How can you be so sure?" asked Michael.
"Kam said so," he answered. "His powers are incredible Michael. "I don't know if it has anything to do with his being born here or living her, or if it's a combination of Max's and Liz's DNA, but it's amazing. Liz was never able to contact any of you at all, and she's been trying for years. But when she and Kam tried it together they were able to connect with Lexie."
"Liz did it herself one time," said Max. "Lexie thought it was a dream. I think because she is their mother, she retained some type of connection with them."
"Well, whatever the connection, I still say listen to Kam. If he says they went this way, they did," said Kyle.

Max turned to his son. "Kam, can you help us find Lexie?" he asked. The boy said nothing, and instead, stared into space, his lips moving in silent conversation.
"Kam? Kam, can you hear me?" asked Max. He moved towards the boy, but Kyle held him back.
"Max, wait, I think he's talking to either Liz, or Lexie. Let me see if I can reach Liz." He closed his eyes and concentrated, but opened them quickly.
"Liz is being tortured," he said. "She was talking to Kam, when all of a sudden she cried out that it hurt so much. She told him to listen to you, and broke the connection. Max, we have to save her."

Max's face turned white at the thought of Liz being harmed in anyway. He knelt down next to his small son. "Kam, did you just talk to Mommy?"
"Yeah, but she said she had to go, but I should be good and listen to you."
"That's right, but did she say anything else."
"No, just that I should listen to you. Oh wait, she said it hurt. Do you think she has another boo boo like the one on her face?"
"I don't know Kam, but when we find her, we'll make it all better," he said gently.
"Max," said Jereon. "I think they were here not too long ago. We found something scraped into one of the walls, but it makes no sense to us."

Max and Michael walked over to where Jereon and Saranara were standing. Gouged into the wall was the word Uzshtar. He turned to Jereon. "Does Uzshtar mean anything to you?"
"Uzshtar City is located not too far from here. Do you believe that is where they went?"
"I'm not sure," said Max. "But I think this was Isabelle's way of leaving us a clue. She wrote it the way it sounds in English. She was probably hoping that Kivar's men couldn't read English."
"That was very clever of the Princess," said Jereon grudgingly.
"Kyle," said Saranara. "Can you try and contact her? If you could reach her on Earth, I'm certain that you should be able to do it here on Antar. She tried to quell the jealous sound in her voice and was only partially successful. Kyle closed his eyes and concentrated. After several minutes, he opened his eyes and smiled.
"Uzshtar City it is. She said they are traveling in a Bladog transport and they should be there soon."
"What the hell is a Bladog transport?" asked Michael irritably.
"It's the Antarian version of an eighteen wheeler," answered Kyle. "She said she's fine and Lexie is fine and that they are with your father."

Jereon and Saranara smiled with relief at finding out that their father was alive and safe. "Ask her where we should meet them?" said Jereon. Kyle closed his eyes again and concentrated. "You father said we should go to Franchet's eating establishment and we would be contacted there."
"Wonderful," said Jereon. "If we start now, we should reach Uzshtar by nightfall.

Antar – Royal Palace

Liz cried out as the pain surpassed anything she had ever felt before. Then, just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. To try and occupy her mind, she thought about her conversation with Kam. Apparently Lexie and Isabelle are here as well. I can't believe that Max brought her here. He should have realized how dangerous it would be for her to be here. I wonder. Saranara, Serena. I wonder if it is the same Serena that Future Max had told her about. It kind of made sense. Even though they changed that particular time line, fate still planned for them to meet up with Serena.
"Boy, would Einstein have a ball with this one," she said out loud.

The door to her chamber opened and Kivar strode inside. "Have you had enough my dear?" he asked.
"Enough of what?" she answered flippantly.
"Elizabeth, it isn't wise to mock me," he said. He raised his hand and released a bolt of energy towards her. The impact struck her in the chest and collapsed to her knees.
"That's better, at least now you are showing me the proper respect. I have decided that our wedding will be held immediately after the feast of Quardok. I do hope that will be acceptable for you."
"I'll kill you before I'll marry you," she said between clenched teeth.
"Really, and here I was thinking, I only hope I don't kill you before we marry," said Kivar as he hit her with another bolt of energy.