Chapter 24

War Machine

Meridian

Hay Lin poked her head out of the fold nervously. She looked around quickly and, seeing no one, quietly entered Meridian Castle. Turning back to the fold, she silently waved Eric forward, who then timidly joined Hay Lin on Meridian.

"Are you sure we're supposed to be here?" Eric asked anxiously.

"You wanted to see more of Meridian, right?" Hay Lin replied.

If Eric heard Hay Lin, he did not answer. He was to busy staring up at the high castle ceiling, and the ornate pillars surrounding him. For Eric, it was if he had stepped into a fairy tale, and his senses were overwhelmed with wonder

"That's what I thought." Hay Lin said with a smile. "Besides, I don't see her around…"

"See who around?" A deep voice said, interrupting Hay Lin.

Eric snapped out of his trance to find himself facing a man with blue skin, who was twice the size of anyone Eric had ever seen.

"Ah!" Eric screamed, backing away quickly from Vathek, who merely raised an eyebrow.

"Is he with you?" Vathek asked, barely hiding a smile.

"Yeah. Eric, meet Vathek. Vathek meet Eric Lyndon." Hay Lin said glumly.

"You know this person?" Eric asked, tentatively shaking Vathek's hand.

"Hay Lin and I go way back." Vathek said, staring at Eric. "Any friend of hers is a friend of mine. But I am curious as to why she brought you here today of all days."

"Why? What's today?" Hay Lin asked.

"Have you not heard?" Vathek said. "Today we march to war."

Hay Lin's eyes went wide.

"I better phone Will." She said, scampering back through the portal and leaving Eric all alone with Vathek.

Vathek stared at the unfortunate boy until he was certain Eric was as uncomfortable as he was going to get. Then with a laugh, Vathek sauntered off down the hallway until he reached the Meridian War Room.

As it had been two days earlier, the Honor Guard filled the War Room, with Elyon and Aldarn sitting at the head of the table. Once more, maps of Meridian and Balsilide lay strewn across the table.

"You're late." Elyon said, watching Vathek sit down.

"Ran into one of the Guardians on the way here. You should know they're on their way." Vathek said.

"Good. They need to hear this too." Elyon said.

The members of the War Room did not have to wait long for the arrival of the Guardians followed closely by Matt and Eric. Within a few minutes, the girls walked through the War Room doors, filling the room to the brim. Caleb immediately stood up and gave Cornelia a hug when she entered.

"About time you two got back together." Elyon said, watching the couple embrace. "I don't think I could stand another week of Caleb moping around."

"I wasn't moping, I was…" Caleb protested before seeing the looks from the rest of the Honor Guard. "Yeah, alright. I was moping."

Elyon smiled, glad to have the Caleb she remembered back, when she noticed the young boy peering around the frame of the door.

"Hello again Eric." Elyon said, ushering the boy inside. "And why, dare I ask, are you here today? Of all days?"

"Well I was going to show him around the castle some more…" Hay Lin began, noticing Elyon's glare. "How was I supposed to know you were going to war today?"

"It's alright if I'm here, right?" Eric said. "I mean, Matt gets to stay, so I can too, right?"

"I can fly and shoot lasers out of my face." Matt said. "What do you got?"

"I… really? You can? Well, I guess I can't argue with that…"

"Never mind why Eric's here, why are we here?" Will said. "I thought we had some time before the fighting began. A week at least before they got their army organized."

"Things have changed." Elyon said. "Trust me, not our idea. But our inside man on Balsilide…"

"Woah, hold up." Taranee said. "You have an inside man on Balsilide?"

"We use the term 'man' very loosely." Raythor said.

"Well, he did such a good job on Kandrakar…" Elyon began weakly.

"Blunk." Irma said. "You sent Blunk to spy on Balsilide, didn't you?"

"In our defense, it did work." Elyon said. "The little guy is proving to be quite useful. He found out some critical information about Balsilide's plans."

"Which I will now share with you." Caleb said. "Balsilide is marching on the portal between worlds today."

"Today?" Will said. "That is quick! What's the rush?"

"We're not sure." Caleb said. "It does seem odd, but not much we can do about it now."

"Will you be able to get your troops in position in time?" Taranee asked.

"We believe so, yes." Aldarn replied. "Helps when there aren't that many troops to move."

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say Balsilide's army is bigger then yours." Irma said.

"Much bigger." Elyon replied gloomily. "But, with you help, we should be able to hold them back long enough for this to get straightened out."

Will smiled sheepishly, trying not to look Elyon in the eye.

"Um, yeah, about us helping you…" she said.

Balsilide

Balken watched silently as the Balsilidian army marched through the fields towards the portal. Everything was as it should be, he told himself. The men were ready and well rested, and the equipment they used was state of the art. Still, he couldn't help but frown as Laris came towards him.

"Are you alright, sir?" Laris said, standing beside her leader. "Rarely have I seen you so unsettled before battle. What is it that bothers you?"

"If I knew, then perhaps it wouldn't bother me as much." Balken replied. "Tell me Laris, am I doing my job?"

"Yes, I believe so." Laris said, confused. "Your job is to serve the president of Balsilide, and you have done that with honor throughout your career."

"Perhaps you are right." Balken said. "Yet my job is also to protect my people. I could not protect Hoth, and now how many more will die in this war?"

"It is a just war." Laris said. "The Guardians and Meridian brought this on themselves. The blood spilled in this war is on their hands, not yours."

"You'll find blood does not care about purpose or honor. It stains both wicked and noble hands alike." Balken said. "And for all of their faults, I do not find Meridian wicked. They are young, arrogant and insolent, but at their core, I believe they fight for the same thing we do. We are but two sides of the same coin."

Balken and Laris watched the last of the troops march on ahead. Following closely behind the men was a large cannon-like device, attached to wheels and pulled by four horses. Behind that was a large, covered wagon, pulled in a similar fashion. Although normally only two men were needed to control such a vehicle, this time there were eight, each steadying the wagon carefully to avoid any sudden movement. Balken watched all of this with a frown.

"What we do, we do for the good of the city, the world, and her people." Laris said, moving on ahead. "Whether we approve of it or not does not matter. Balsilide prospers."

"Balsilide prospers." Balken muttered, following his troops towards the portal.

Meridian

Elyon had grown very used to her role as Queen of Meridian. It had taken some getting used to, but she now realized that her job was not merely to sign agreements and greet dignitaries. Her job was to be a figure, and icon representing all that was good and strong with Meridian and its people. Most times it was easy, but today it was not. Today, it meant staying calm while your world, possibly literally, crumbled around you.

"So what you're saying is that you cannot help us fight this war." Elyon said calmly, staring at Will.

Although it was out of her control, Will had never felt so guilty in her life as she did now, looking into the eyes of her friend.

"Well, not yet." Will said. "But Elyon, you know we're going to do everything we can to help."

"And what exactly would that be?" Tynar asked.

Tynar, like the rest of the Honor Guard, was not a figure or an icon, and was both and allowed and expected to be upset when hearing news of this sort.

"I'm… not sure." Will admitted. "To be honest, we're kind of making this up as we go along."

"We're only powerless because they have a valid reason for attacking Meridian." Taranee said. "If only they had an ulterior motive, or something suspicious."

"We're not so sure they don't." Caleb said, exchanging glances with Elyon. "We've been thinking, and this whole war is… odd. To say the least."

"Go on." Will said.

"Well, considering we were supposed to be allies, relations with Balsilide have never been good." Caleb said.

"Mostly through their doing." Elyon added. "I've tried as hard as I can to be diplomatic, but they just don't seem to be having it. Remember Mr. Jantique's murder? How quickly they started a fight?"

"We're pretty sure they want this war." Caleb finished. "We just don't know why."

"And if we can prove that…" Cornelia said. "Or find their motive…."

"But you can't." Tynar said. "Not without Kandrakar taking away you powers. Again."

"Trust the Guardians." Vathek said. "If they say they will try to succeed, then they will."

"I'm kinda with Tynar though. This is Kandrakar, telling them they are physically unable to fight." Raythor added. "I'm not sure there's much we can do about that."

"Do you have a plan?" Elyon asked.

"Well, kind of. Yan Lin is in Kandrakar, and she understands this better then anyone." Will said. "Besides, it was Kandrakar's lack of leadership that got us into this mess. Maybe that can get us out of it too."

"There is one other little matter." Elyon said, looking over at Eric. "What do we do with him?"

Eric, who had been too focused on the alien like appearances of Vathek and Tynar, now snapped to attention.

"What? I don't have to go back to Earth do I? I want to stay here!" he said.

"He does understand the concept of a war, correct?" Drake asked, eyebrow raised.

"All of the fighting will take place at the portal, right?" Hay Lin said. "So he could stay at the castle…"

"I bet I could help prepare!" Eric added. "Or something!"

"Fine." Elyon said with a sigh. "But Hay Lin, I am not a babysitter. What he does and where he goes is not my responsibility. He has to look out for himself."

"Gotcha. Thanks Elyon." Hay Lin said, giving Eric a hug.

"Then I guess we're off to Kandrakar." Will said. "We swear, we're going to find a way to…

"We trust you. All of us." Caleb interrupted, causing Cornelia to smile.

With great urgency, the War Room emptied and everyone went to work. Walli had not spent as much time with the Guardians as the rest of the Honor Guard, and he was unsure if he shared Caleb's trust. It was not that Walli didn't respect the Guardians, he had greater respect and admiration for them then anyone else he had ever met, but he had learned in the past that there were only two things he could trust. His bow, and his arrows. He was inspecting and cleaning these objects when he heard someone approach from behind.

"Uh, Walli?" Irma said, tapping the archer gently on the shoulder, "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Of course not." Walli said, not turning around. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Well, I just wanted to thank you for the other day." Irma said, wringing her hands. "You were the only one who listened to me and understood. So, you know, thanks."

"You're welcome." Walli said, now putting down his weapon.

"And," Irma said abruptly, "I wanted to let you know that I, I mean we, will find a way to make this right. There's no need to be scared."

"I'm not scared." Walli said gently.

"You're not?" Irma said. "I mean, no, of course you're not. Uh, why aren't you? I mean, I'm glad you're not, but, well, you do know you could, um…"

"Die?" Walli finished. "I do not fear death, Irma. It is the one constant, the one thing we cannot change. To fear the inevitable is foolish."

"Well, I guess that makes sense." Irma said, feeling rather foolish herself. "Just do me a favor? Don't die today."

"I'll do my best." Walli replied.

Irma as about to point out that this was not exactly reassuring, when she heard Will call her name.

"Hey Irma, we're going to Kandrakar! You coming with, or would you rather hang out with your bo…"

"Coming!" Irma said quickly, heading towards Will.

It was true that Walli did not fear death. He knew it would come eventually, and he would be at peace when it did. But while he did not fear the day of his death, as he watched Irma leave he swore to himself that today would not be that day.