"Espio," a comfortingly familiar voice filled the chameleon's ears. It sounded cool and flowing, like an oasis spring. His surroundings looked the temples he had spent so much time in during his child years in Rainbow Valley. There was a warm glow from the torch lit walls, and their grain color flickered in the otherwise dark surroundings. Espio was standing before an alter with a large bowl of water in the middle. There were white candles lit all in a circle, and Tikal sat in front of the bowl opposite where Espio was facing. She was spreading sparkling dust into the bowl and whispering silently. Only when she addressed Espio did her lips stop moving.
"I am so happy you arrived unharmed," she said telepathically.
"You thought we wouldn't?" Espio asked with a slight concern.
"The Elders took every precaution," Tikal replied, "But there are always risks. You were split up during the journey, weren't you?" Espio looked down and shrugged.
"We knew what we were getting into…what are you doing?" he looked down and the dust swirling around in the bowl.
"A prayer for protection and safety," Tikal stated. "Two things you are going to need in the near future. This is why I have come. To warn you. All of you."
"Warn us about what?" Espio's tone changed sharply.
"There is a new prescence that has been encountered…an echidna, and a female. Espio, you must listen to me; do not trust her. She poses a great danger to all of you. She will surely bring you pain."
"What…who is she?" Espio asked incredulously, as the temple scene started to dissolve away.
"I must go now. Keep your wits and instincts about you, Espio. And look after the others, goodbye!"
Espio was about to call out to her, but his voice came out as a small gasp as the lavish dormitory came into focus. Looking around, he heard Charmy buzzing and mumbling incoherently in his sleep and, though he hadn't forgotten, fully realized where he was and what lied ahead for him and his slumbering friend. Closing his eyes again, only one thought stamped through his mind while he reflected on the dream he just had.
Maybe not having Vector around really is making me crazy.
Dilek's integrity with her abilities proved to be quite strong. Within less than two days, the wide set wound she had sustained had disappeared entirely and she had made a complete recovery. Gabbro nearly always had someone watching the three of them, but paid close attention to Dilek in particular. In turn, Dilek made her mutual feelings toward Gabbro much more subtle, though Espio could sense the resentment between them without much effort. Charmy, on the other hand, was wholly concentrated on getting to Mearyn as soon as possible. As soon as Dilek was completely mended, he became more jittery and anxious than Espio had seen in a long time. It was much to Gabbro's annoyance, and prompted him to arrange their departure quickly. They had spoke quietly and had pointed all the three of them at some point during the conversation.
"I've decided I don't like this guy," Charmy announced quietly as Gabbro consulted with his officers.
"I don't either. In fact, I really don't like him. But can you blame him for being so bitter?" Dilek asked. "He wants a better existence for his people, and he's feeling the pressure of it. I understand completely." It was as if Dilek spoke of the squirrel prince with an odd mix of pity and anger. Pity because of the overwhelming responsibilities the prince had to deal with, and anger because of the mentality he had when he actually dealt with them.
A short time later, the officers dispersed and Gabbro had motioned for them to follow him. Even Charmy had learned that by this point, it was smart not to ask the Goribes questions, and it was best to try and abide by their goals as long as they hadn't done any harm. Gabbro hastily lead them through passages that eventually gave way to the light of day again. By the time the group of four had emerged from the underground, the mountains had already turned into foothills and were progressively turning into sand dunes the further south they went.
"We should approach Mearyn from the northwest," Dilek had said after about half a day of travelling. "I know an area where we will be able to slip into the city unnoticed."
"Yeah?" Charmy answered. "Well you know this place better than any of us. Sounds like a good idea to me." Espio was about to agree as well, but was cut off by Gabbro.
"And how do you plan on getting past the walls and the outposts exactly?" Gabbro asked in a sour voice. "The foundations of the wall on the east side of the city have a structural weakpoint because of an evacuation route. That's the best area to enter through."
"We would have to go right by the city's walls," Dilek argued. "We would be spotted for sure!"
"The only way I would be spotted is if someone alerted the Mearyn defenses of my arrival beforehand," Gabbro established confidently. "Maybe that's why you're so eager to pay a visit to the outposts?"
"I'll get you into Mearyn stealthily and unharmed, as long as you do not harm anyone else. That was our agreement and I'll stand by it. By if we get to close to the city boundaries out in the open, you will never get in. I would have thought that a few centuries of failed invasions would have made your kind realize that," Dilek stated with resentment.
"Those sieges would have never happened if you damn echidnas had left our land alone," Gabbro growled. "Diverting our water supply for your own selfish needs, comprising our mining operations-"
"Look, will both of you take it down a notch?" Espio interrupted. "From what I can tell, there's been enough fighting between both your kinds for far too long and it has accomplished nothing." Dilek gave Espio a brief look of gratefulness before turning to Gabbro sternly.
"He is right, you know. There have been faults on both sides. I know it, and deep down, you know it too. I am not your enemy. Not anymore. You can make this the beginning of the end of this conflict, prince. But you have to trust me because like it or not, I'm all you got right now." Gabbro glared at her intensely, while Dilek simply looked back, unfazed.
"If you betray me, my forces will not stop until there is justice. They are loyal to their prince. If anything happens to me, only destruction will follow."
"And that is the last thing either of us want," Dilek concluded.
"Yeah, destruction sucks!" Charmy piped up loudly.
With Dilek once again leading the way, she seemed to become increasingly alert and a bit paranoid of her surroundings as the rest of the day went on. Gabbro followed close behind her, still suspicious as ever, with Charmy flying short distances behind him tiredly. Espio remained the furthest behind, and began to walk more slowly as he looked as his surroundings harder. He could feel the sun beating down on him harder, even though it had begun to set. The rocky landscape of the mountains had been entirely replaced by swirling sand and oscillated dunes. Save for one feature.
Espio looked forward to the dune which Dilek, Gabbro, and Charmy were now making their way up. A single large rock rested on top of it, and somehow, Espio immediately recognized it from his dream. Then it all came rushing back to him. The desert looked exactly the way he had dreamed it. The intensity of the sun's rays, the exact color of the sky, every last detail was a copy of what he has envisioned before. Setting his sights on the boulder again, he rushed toward it, passing the other three in the process.
"Hey Espio, wait up!" Charmy called after him.
Reaching the top of the dune, Espio saw that the boulder had nothing on it, but even the grain texture of it was familiar to him. He was certain he had been here before.
"You all right?" Dilek's voice sounded from behind him. He turned and as he looked at her, a wrenching feeling formed in his gut while a cold awareness washed over him.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Espio maintained collectively. "I just thought I saw something unusual."
"There's just sand everywhere," Charmy scowled as he and Gabbro caught up with them. "What's so unusual about sand?"Espio sighed, again being reminded how naïve Charmy could be.
"Nevermind," he said. "I'm sure I was just seeing things." Dilek and Gabbro both brushed it off and continued walking down the other side of the dune. Charmy gave Espio a quick confused look before joining them.
It wasn't just a dream, Espio realized. It was a premonition. Sure, no rodent being killed or cloaked figure…but everything else is here. If that vision represented something real…do the other ones too?
Looking down toward the other three, he stopped on Dilek, and wondered if Gabbro's advice may have had more truth to it than he originally thought.
Espio didn't know how Dilek had planned to infiltrate Mearyn, and he was positive that neither Gabbro nor Charmy had any idea either. The sun had set some time ago, though the sky was still glowing red and purple as the desert began to cool off rapidly. The four of them had crouched down at the top of a sand dune and just visible on the horizon was a pair of narrowly shaped buildings that were glowing against the twilight background. They appeared to be composed of glass, and both were light blue with a small shining white light on top.
"This is the northwest outpost. It's the outpost which is furthest from the Mearyn outskirts. It's also connected to Mearyn by a network of underground tunnels," Dilek explained. "But all the outposts have caretakers."
"So how do we get past them?" Charmy asked. Dilek motioned toward Espio, which prompted Charmy to sway his head around in the chameleon's direction as well. "Ohhh," Charmy said slowly and started to grin sighed heavily as he felt himself disappear from view, an action which left Gabbro wide eyed.
"Send us a signal when its safe for us to follow you," he told Espio, his look of surprise gone in a split second.
Now knowing full well what Dilek had in mind, he quickly approached the outpost and scaled up its side to a balcony near the top. He could hear murmuring on the other side of on the many doors leading out onto the balcony and put his face up against it to hear better.
"You're sure?" a female voice exclaimed with excitement.
"High seer Targes just announced it not even an hour ago," a deeper, male voice answered enthusiastically. "A Bri'ok will be taking place at his estate grounds tomorrow evening. We're to relay the message."
As the second voice spoke, footsteps could heard moving toward the door. Moving quickly to the left of the door, Espio immediately regretted it as it swung open and slammed against him. He managed to remain cloaked and unheard, and so the owners of the two voices walked over to the right, ignorantly unaware of his presence. Slowly sneaking up behind them while they continued to talk, he struck both of them hard and fast using a ninja technique which guaranteed a knock out if used in an exact area of the neck. Both of the outpost's caretakers fell limp instantly without a sound. Dragging both of them inside, Espio then saw that the top light was actually projected from a small pale flame in the centre of the room via the canvas ceiling. He returned visible and put both his hand over the flame for a few seconds at a time.
Shortly thereafter, his companions joined him from a staircase of the small tower.
"Well, that wasn't too hard. I don't know what you guys without me," Espio grinned.
"You're sure they didn't see you before you…sent them to sandman land?" Charmy questioned.
"No, I don't think so. They just kept talking about a Bri'ok, whatever that-"
"A Bri'ok? Did they say why?" Dilek interrupted suddenly.
"Well…I sort of knocked them out before I heard much more," Espio admitted. "Why, what's the problem?"
"A Bri'ok is a traditional war congregation,"Dilek said in a lowered voice. "It's an ancient Mearyn custom that the old warlords would use to address the tribes and assemble their armies. It hasn't been performed for generations…" she trailed off and stared at the floor, becoming lost in her own thoughts.
"You're saying Mearyn is going to make a war declaration?" Gabbro demanded. "Somehow, I'm not surprised."
"But why would they do that after all this time?" Charmy wondered. "I thought they were all argue and no action lately. It doesn't seem like a very smart thing to do."
"I don't know," Espio said. "But whatever the reason, its made it all the more important for us to get behind those city walls and get our friends out. Let's move."