Sorry this is coming very, very late. I have been busy and haven't been able to work on any of my stories. It seems that once the last book came out the fandom kind of died. I will try to finish the stories I started but i'm not sure if I will start any new ones. Thank you all for the support and what is your guys's opinions on the last book? I feel like they left it open for more even though they most likely won't make any more.
"He's dead," Rollan told the brothers with no emotion at all.
Wallace and Garrin looked at him funny. "Are we talking about the same person?" Wallace questioned.
"We knew a guy named Tarik who… passed away during a battle," Abeke answered.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Garrin said. "This guy, i haven't seen his face but i know he has skin like Rollan. He's tall and pretty skinny. From everything i've heard about him, he is also a great fighter and has a whole escape plan."
"Do you know the plan?" Abeke asked turning to look at Rollan who stared at the ground.
"Not all of it, just bits and pieces," Garrin exclaimed.
"The things we do know is that a rebellion team is here right now and will break out everyone while attacking the lead commanders of the prison. Which also means that there is a team infiltrating the real command center where the Emperor of Zhong and Queen of Eura are," Wallace exclaimed.
"Not only is it an escape plan but also an assasination of the leaders. The rebellion has people everywhere, disguised as anyone you could imagine. I can tell you that once we get out of here, we will be recruited to the rebellion or to the safe house they protect," Garrin added.
"None of that is going to happen do you know why? Tarik this savior is dead," Rollan started, " I watched him die right in front of me, i was there when he took his last breath. He is dead so this guy… whoever he is isn't the Tarik my friends and i knew."
"I always knew i would hurt you," a voice said from behind.
Rollan turned around to see a guard who was leaning against the bars, smiling slightly. The guard lifted his head and looked at Rollan, his smile soon went away.
"It turned out that, that wasn't my last breath and that I'm not dead. So sorry about that but i really need to hurry before the other guards come down here," he took a pair of keys out of his pocket and unlocked the gate. "Now if you would please follow me, so we can get out of here fast and hopefully unnoticeable. Most of the other prisoners are out and heading north to the rebellion safe place."
Once the gate opened, the guy- Tarik ran down the hallway. Garrin and Wallace followed right behind but Rollan hadn't moved. Abeke noticed and stopped.
"Are you coming or did you grow attached to this place?" Abeke asked.
Rollan looked up at her. "I was there when he died."
She sighed and grabbed his arm. "We need to go. You can talk to him latter."
They left the cell and quickly ran down the hallway to get back to the group. Looking left and right, Rollan saw that there was no one in the other cells but that there were guards unconscious on the ground. As they neared the stairs, footsteps could be heard from above.
"Looks like the others have arrived," Tarik turned to face them. "Right when you get up these stairs, there is a doorway. Get out and run as fast as you can. Don't turn around and do not stop."
"Where do we go?" asked Garrin.
"There are people who will pick you up at the edge of the city. From there you will go to the safe place. Now go!" Tarik said as he darted up the stairs and headed to the right.
The rest of them headed straight where a hole in the wall. As they got outside, shouts and yells were all round them. People fighting each other, fires and cannons were everywhere.
"Do we just run through all of this?" asked Garrin.
"Yes we do," Abeke told them as she took off right into the middle of the battle.
Rollan followed closely behind her with the brothers behind him. Running as fast as they all could, no matter what they were going to have to fight at some point. Nearing the edge of the battlefield, a guy in all black armor stood in front of them. It was the same one that told them to follow him.
The guy looked at them and raised a knife, swinging down it went right by Rollans ear, skinning it. Rollan turned around to see a Zhongese warrior fall on the ground with a knife in his chest.
"This time you need to follow me. I can keep you safe," he told them.
"And why should we do that? You wear the same uniforms as the super soldiers from Eura and Zhong," Wallace yelled.
"Tarik talked to you, I am one of the undercover soldiers. I am supposed to take you to the rebellion hiding place," he turned around and began to run.
Abeke turned to look at Rollan. "I'm following him."
Rollan nodded and they all headed after the soldier. He lead them around the city boundaries and to a little shed. The soldier disappeared for a quick second then came back out with cloths over his arms.
"You'll need to change out of the cloths you are wearing into these and fast. There are horses behind the shed that I will get ready then we will head off," he told them, handing the cloths to them.
"Where exactly is the base?" Abeke asked.
"Well, it was first-"
"Before you answer that. Who are you?" Rollan interrupted.
The soldier looked at Rollan. "That is none of your concern."
"Actually," Rollan started walking up to the soldier,"I would like to know who or I'm not coming."
The soldier crossed his arms. "Then you won't see Meilin and Conor again."
Rollan looked at him funny. "How do you know who Meilin and Conor are?"
"You said their names a while ago," he told them.
"But you weren't there," Rollan shook his head.
The soldier backed up. "You either come with me or end up back in jail and killed. It's your choice not mine."
"Rollan," Abeke put a hand on his shoulder. "We need to get out of here and he may be the only way."
"How do we know that? After everything that has happened, we can't trust random people."
"Listen to me," the soldier said, " my job is to protect you and get you to the base."
"That would be alot easier if i knew who you were," Rollan spoke.
"Fine," the soldier yelled and pulled his helmet off. "There are you happy now Rollan!"
Rollan and Abeke stared at him in shock. Abeke was the first to speak.
"Shane?" he looked… mostly the same. His hair was a little messy and his skin was paler than his regualr tan skin which made his gold eyes stick out.
"Can we go now?" he asked, his voice low as he looked down.
Rollan stared at him. "How are you here?"
Shane sighed. "The same way Tarik came back. If we stay here any longer we will get caught."
"And what makes you think I want to follow you? Just because you helped us once doesn't mean that you are off the hook," Rollan exclaimed.
"Because I know where Conor is," Shane told him.
"Wait you know where Conor is?" Wallace asked from behind the argument with Garrin next to him.
Shane looked at them. "Your mother and father are also there."
"Then we are both going, no matter what," Garrin told them.
Shane nodded. "At least some of you are reasonable."
Rollan glared at him before looking over at Abeke who was staring at the ground. "What do you think?"
Abeke looked up at Rollan then over to Shane. She nodded her head, "I'll go."
"Thank you," Shane smiled at her.
Rollan sighed. "Let's go then."
"Where is the base?" Abeke asked Shane.
"It is at the farthest part of Eura that spreads north. Most of it is in an underground area that was built many years ago by the greencloaks but was abandoned because the conquerors took it over during the 2nd Devororer War. No one knew about it because most thought it was gone. Just a few months ago it was found by some of the redcloaks that were still here," Shane told her as he slowed his horse down to match Abekes.
Abeke looked over at him. "How and when did you get back?"
He smiled sadly. "I was brought back by some type of ancient magic that the Zhongese and Eurans found. When i came back they tried to turn me into one of the unstoppable soldiers but the redcloaks learned of my existence and came to rescue me and some others. That was… about a month or so ago."
Abeke nodded. "It was probably nice to see the redcloaks again."
"It was," Shane started," but I knew that when i died they would be in good hands. By the way… how are you and Uraza?"
"We are a lot better. I had to go looking for her and kind of… get us back but it worked," Abeke told him.
"That's good," Shane turned around. "We are almost there. When we get there follow me inside. Olvan will want to talk to you."
"Olvan's there?" Rollan asked trying to get closer to Abeke and Shane but failing and earning a snap from his horse.
Shane nodded. "And it looks like horses still love you."
Rollan glared at him and went back to where Garrin and Wallace were.
Abeke looked ahead to see small hills and behind there a mountain that looked ancient. She looked over to see Shane smile and go a little faster on his horse. The rest followed close behind as they rounded one of the small hills and were met by a small group of people.
In the front of the group was a girl who looked Amayan. She had short brown hair with a light tan skin. Around her shoulder was a wooden recurve bow with a small quiver.
Once they got close enough and Shane stopped his horse, got off and ran to the Amayan girl who smiled brightly when she saw him. She then jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly. When Abeke looked close enough, she could swear that Shane was crying.
Some of the other people that were behind her, came and got the horses while the rest of them headed towards the mountain side. Shane came over to them with the Amayan girl behind him.
"This is Anya. She was in charge when i… died and right now she is one of the main leaders of the rebellion," Shane told them. "We should get inside so we can talk about out next move."
Anya lead the way with Shane behind her and the rest of them following.
She lead them to the side of the mountain where she grabbed a rock that was sticking out. Pulling on that opened a part of stone in the shape of a doorway.
"I would watch your step. The tunnel is lit well but some of the steps are steeper than others," Anya told them as she headed down the tunnel that had torches on the sides.
"We need to go to the meeting room," Shane told her.
"I know. Olvan has been on me about if you guys had arrived yet and when you hadn't even i got a little worried," she told them as they neared the bottom of the stairs.
"You said that you knew where Conor was," Rollan said.
Shane nodded. "I do. Before we go to the meeting we might have enough time to see him."
"Welcome to the rebellion base," Anya said as they reached the bottom step that lead them into a giant area where people ran back and forth. On the sides were little houses built into the sides of the mountain with places that had food for everyone to grab. On the other side was the same thing.
As they continued through the open area they came to a metal door that Anya unlocked with a key.
"Your friend is this way," she told them.
"Why does this place look like a jail?" Rollan asked as they passed cells that were empty.
Shane coughed. "That's because it kind of is."
"Why would Conor be here?" Wallace spoke from behind the group.
"When he was taken to Eura by the colonel, along with others he was sent to a secret headquarters where they make the super soldiers," Anya stopped talking as she unlocked the last cell. "I was there when he arrived and i watched as they… used this magic to try and make him a soldier. The rest of the rebellion got there in time to stop the whole process but he isn't the same person you knew before."
Shane put a hand on her shoulder. "Since the process wasn't fully completed, he only has some of the power but it happens at any moment and is impossible to control. That is why Conor is locked up. When we first brought him in here, he nearly killed some of the guards."
"So, he has to be in here until we find the cure or whatever?" Garrin spoke up.
Anya nodded. "There will be a red line that you should stand behind."
With that she opened the cell gate. It was dark inside with the only light behind a small torch from the door. On the far side of the cell was a cot that didn't look very comfy. Next to that was a wooden stand that had a tray with soup. Then in the center was… Conor.
He was facing the other way and sitting down. Chains were attached to both wrist and ankles.
"He hasn't eaten anything we bring him and he really doesn't move from that spot," Anya told her.
Rollan laughed and shook his head. "That's probably because you are treating him like an animal. I mean you chained him to the wall and gave him a crappy bed. Even a real prison would of had a better bed than that."
"It wasn't my decision to put him in here or chain him up," Anya looked back at Conor. "It was Olvans. Although I haven't heard Conor talk at all since we got him and brought him here."
"We should get to the meeting room," Shane told them turning around.
One by one they walked out of the cell except for Abeke. She stood there and looked at him. How could they do this to him? Abeke thought. How did this happen to him? As she stood there, she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Shane.
He sighed. "After the meeting you and Rollan will be able to see him or only you. I know he is one of your best friends and because you are finally here, you might be able to get him to talk or eat even."
Abeke nodded and Shane could see sadness and worry in her eyes. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and gentle moved her towards the door. Before they left Abeke took one last glance at Conor.
The meeting room was much nicer than most of the other things they had seen. It was definitely one of the biggest rooms as well. In the center was a hand carved wooden table with the Greencloaks symbol placed perfectly in the middle. Around it carved in darker wood were pictures of all the great beasts. At the head of the table was Olvan dressed as usual with Lenori next to him. Sitting across from Lenori was Lishay. For such a big table there wasn't a lot of people.
Rollan and Abeke took their seats across from Shane and Anya, with Olvan and Lenori on their right.
"It's nice to see you both again and in good health," Olvan told them. "I would like to catch up but there is more important things at the moment."
"As far as we know, the leaders of both Eura and Zhong are still at the main headquarters but information has spread fairly quickly and it has been heard both of them are moving to Zhongs commanding quarters," Shane told them.
"As for those who were captured, there hasn't been a cure that works. We don't want to go to torture because well… it's torture," Anya added.
Olvan nodded. "Have you gotten any information out of any of the soldiers?"
Anya shook her head. "Not anything that is new. Most of the stuff we do get out of them or that they tell us if stuff we already now. As of now only a few have broken but they don't know much as if they were added to the army at the last minute."
"Have we captured any new soldiers?" Lenori asked.
"As of now no. From the battle we came from, I feel like we will maybe get one or two. They will be former Greencloaks like always so when we do find a cure we are able to help them," Shane started, " most of the undercover soldiers that we sent in haven't came back yet which worries me. They should have been back by now."
"They could just be running late" Rollan suggested.
Shane shrugged. "I guess but they-"
The door slammed open as Tarik came in. "We have a problem."
They all stared at him. "What do you mean?" asked Abeke.
"They are using a greencloak who war captured to lead them here. I sent out scouts and they reported back to me as we came in," Tarik told them, "if we don't leave now, we will be trapped and killed."
Olvan stood in his seat. "Well, I guess that sums this up. Let's get things moving."