Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, I know I still don't own Pendragon. No need to rub it in.


JOURNAL # 20

QUILLAN

Hey guys, greetings from the magical territory of Quillan. And by magical, I mean magical. But I'll get to that a little later.

I know it's been such a long time since I wrote my last journal, but believe me; I've been busy. I bet you guys think I'd still be on Zadaa right now, huh? And you're right, that's what I though too. When I was there, Loor showed me all the rivers that used to over flow with water were now completely dried up, and she explained that the Rokador and Batu tribes have already started fighting to control the rivers of Zadaa. The thing is, I don't think the turning point has come yet. I think Saint Dane wants the fighting to get even worse, that way, Zadaa will practically be making itself crumble, and Saint Dane will just take credit for it all. When we were in Black Water, I saw Saint Dane in the form of a small girl. He told me that he was going to Zadaa next. Why did he tell me where he was going next? Because he wanted to trick me.

Again.

I know I've said this before, but I really blew it this time. Saint Dane had been digging this trap ever since I left for Eelong, and I was just stupid enough to fall right in it.

This probably doesn't make a lot of sense to you guys right now, so let me start at the beginning.

I ended my last journal when I was staying at Loor's small home in the warrior complex of Xhaxhu. It was the middle of the night when I arrived, and Loor wanted me to get some sleep.

"You look terrible, Pendragon. You need sleep," she ordered as she got out a few rough blankets and laid them down on the soft dirt.

"Gee, thanks, Loor," I said, but didn't complain.

"Good-night, Pendragon," Loor said as she strode towards her bedroom.

"'Night, Loor," I replied. I laid down on the blankets and closed my eyes. Man, I was really beat! My thoughts immediately drifted to Kasha. I didn't know her that long, but it just feels like a tremendous loss. I wondered what would happen now, since Eelong no longer has a traveler. I thought about Spader and Gunny, too. You guys, I really don't know what I would do if I lost them too. I had to figure out a way to get back there. The problem is, I have no stinkin' idea how! Why does this have to be so hard? I started to think about what it really meant to be a traveler and why I even was one. But before I knew it, I drifted off to sleep.

I awoke the next morning to the sound of chopping. I suddenly felt a sharp, stab of pain in the middle of my forehead. I shot straight up to see what caused the pain. I looked around and saw Loor standing by a crude looking table, chopping some fruit.

"What was that for?" I demanded.

"You would not wake up," Loor replied calmly. "I was starting to wonder if you died."

"So you throw rocks at me?" I said inspecting the object that hit me in the head.

Loor chuckled, "Come on, you should eat." I'm not too fond of the way she wakes me up, but she makes food for me. Can't complain about that.

I walked over to the table and saw she had prepared two plates overflowing with food.

Loor must have noticed me eyeing it all up because she said, "We need to eat. Who knows the next time we will get a chance." She had a good point. There are a lot of things that I miss since I became a traveler, but I'd have to say food was way up there on the list. We ate a lot of different types of dried fruit, bread, and some meat that tasted a lot like chicken. While we ate, we decided it would be best for me to go back to the flume and change into Zadaa clothes. These rags from Eelong were getting kind of old. Did I mention they smelled? When we finished, I helped Loor clean up a bit, and we headed out to go back to the flume.

It was still very early, so there wasn't a lot of people out yet. We quickly entered the cavern, passed the dried-out river, and climbed down into the room that help the flume. What we saw down there made my knees go weak.

It was Saint Dane.