Chapter 4: The Quest Begins

The aliens arrived in a strange vessel. It was shaped like a big silver disk, kind of like a classic science fiction flick from Ancient Earth. I couldn’t help but wonder if they made it specially to meet our expectations of alien life.

When they met with our public officials, almost the entire colony had gathered to watch despite the potential danger. I remember holding my daughter on my shoulders to try and get a glimpse of the aliens.

When they spoke with our government, I could hear them clearly despite being far away. In fact, it seemed like everyone could hear their conversation. The aliens called themselves the Sages, and they said that we had to leave the planet immediately.

The Elf twins stood outside the chamber in shock while emergency drones set to work extinguishing the flames and cooling the lava. The other members of Squad 99 tried to explain things to the two guards, but with little success. Ryan didn’t know for sure, but it seemed like the explosion had been isolated to the Council Chamber only, so the rest of the headquarters was safe; but that really didn’t matter to him at the moment.

After confirming that everyone was okay, Ryan turned back to the fiery doorway. “I’m going back in there to get what’s left of that teleporter so that we can find Éclair.”

Leon held him back again. Ryan struggled against Leon’s surprisingly strong grip. “You know that’s impossible, Ryan! The gateway exploded along with most of the Council Chambers. There’s no way we could ever get it working again, that is assuming anybody could find it under all that magma - even if it’s still intact.”

“We can’t just sit here and do nothing! You just sat there and let her mess with that thing! You should have seen this coming!”

Suddenly, Leon grabbed Ryan by the scruff of his shirt with both hands and twisted him around until they were face-to-face. “DON’T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?!”

Leon’s once stalwart face dissolved into pure anguish. Those eyes behind his glasses, always so calm and sure, now looked on the brink of tears. His breathing became hard and rapid, like he was on the verge of hyperventilating.

“I was the one responsible for her! Me! And I let her get taken! You think you’re the only one in pain here?!” As Leon shouted, his voice broke almost to a whimper. “Everyone I cared about died because of me once, and I’ll go to hell and back before I let that happen again! All I’m saying is that we’ve got to think, or we’ll never get Éclair back. We’d just be shooting in the dark, and how do you think we’ll be able to help her then?”

Leon’s eyes held an intensity that Ryan had never known before. They were dark and feral, almost more beast than human. Something about Leon’s demeanor brought Ryan to his senses, and he nodded slowly.

As Leon let him go, Ryan coughed awkwardly. “Thanks for pulling me out of the chamber ... and ... you know ... saving my life.”

Leon’s dark mood hadn’t gone away, but it did lessen some. “Thank you for saving Rachel, Kavic, and myself from that falling debris.”

“Actually, that was Grafael,” Ryan corrected.

“Even so, you spotted it first. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be standing here now.”

Something about what Leon said bothered Ryan. “Wait a minute, how did you know I warned Graf?”

A loud, terrifying female voice interrupted his thoughts. “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON DOWN HERE?!”

Ryan gulped down a feeling of dread. The Minister of Fire had just arrived.

“So let me get this straight! You’ve been gallivanting around my Ministry looking for clues to prove that the Ministry of Water isn’t responsible for all the carnage they’ve unleashed upon us while they’re currently on the verge of knocking down our walls right on top of us.”

Saria Kaves had a strange way of making Ryan feel guilty, even when he knew he was right. “Yeah, but that’s not important right now! They have Éclair! She got zapped in the teleporter beam! We have to find her before it’s too late!”

“So you say that a gateway was somehow hidden in our secret council chamber without our knowledge,” said the Wielder with the dragon tattoo on his face. Ryan thought his name was Victor or something. “And that this alleged gateway has managed to whisk our young Éclair away ... again, without our knowledge.”

“Basically, yeah,” replied Ryan hesitantly.

“The point is,” interjected Leon. “That Éclair is gone, and we need to find her. Whether or not the Ministry of Water is behind this is irrelevant now. The only thing that matters is Éclair’s safety.”

“I concur with the four-eyed one,” said Grafael, bumping his fist to his chest. “Éclair must be saved no matter the cost. If you require my limbs, my tail, my life, or even my soul, I will give it all gladly to ensure her wellbeing.”

“Except for the fact that the most likely scenario is that she perished in the blast,” responded the Wielder.

Grafael froze. “No. That cannot be true. She vanished from the platform before the explosion. I saw it with my own eyes.”

“As did I,” said Tork.

“And I,” said Rachel, and without a hint of irony, deciding to be a team player for once.

“And me as well,” said Kavic, his once lavish clothes streaked and disheveled.

“Plus, how else do you explain that blast?” asked Rachel. “From what I saw, when the gateway activated, it created an overload in the platform matrix because it wasn’t designed to take more than one or two jumps. This caused the explosion in the secret room that resulted in a chain reaction, ultimately bringing down the whole chamber. It’s the only possible explanation for an explosion of that size.”

“Wow, Rachel,” said Ryan in amazement. “You’re being surprisingly helpful.”

“I do that sometimes.”

“Enough!” commanded Saria Kaves, raising her hands. The lights flickered for a moment, and Ryan heard a roar in his ears. Everyone staggered back at the Minister’s overwhelming presence. “Even if what you say is true, it still doesn’t prove the Ministry of Water innocent of our recent woes, or even the assassination of their own senator. In fact, this probably leads me to suspect them even further.

“They could have aided Christopher without his knowledge and used the gateway to get him into the council chambers to assassinate the senator. That way, they can stand before the Imperial Court justified in that they didn’t spill first blood. And if that is the case, and Éclair really was whisked away by this gateway, then...”

Saria paused for a moment, as if she had just come to a painful decision. “Then she is in the hands of the enemy now, and is most likely a casualty of war.”

“But,” started Ryan.

“I can’t sacrifice the entire Ministry to search for one girl,” said Saria, pain glimmering in her countenance. “No matter how important that girl may be.”

No matter how important that girl may be, thought Ryan questioningly. Is there something about Éclair we don’t know?

Resolve returned to the Minister’s posture as she raised her head. “The Ministry of Water is already on their way here. District 8 has been evacuated. If I do not commit all my forces to defending this Ministry, then it will mean our annihilation.”

“Then send me instead,” exclaimed Ryan. Silence. Everyone’s attention fell on Ryan. “I’ll go to the enemy lines. I’ll find Éclair and rescue her, or die trying.”

“Ryan,” the Minister started, but Ryan wouldn’t let her finish.

“I’m not officially an Elemental yet, right? I’m only a Grunt. That means my life is mine to do with as I please, and I please to save Éclair. So that way, you won’t have to sacrifice any of your forces to save her.

“Éclair was the first real friend I had when I came here. She accepted me like no one else did. Where others saw a half-breed brat, she saw an equal, and not a day went by that she didn’t treat me that way. Please, I’m begging you, my lady ... don’t stop me from doing this.”

Ryan brushed back a tear as he waited for the Minister to respond. Saria’s eyes softened for a brief moment, like she may have been slightly sympathetic, but then her face hardened once again with a cold resolution. “I’m afraid I must. Eramar, take them all to Leon’s quarters. Have them under armed guard for the duration of the war.”

“You can’t!” objected Ryan.

“The hell I can’t do what I want in my Ministry,” said Saria, her voice becoming dangerously low. “You’re lucky that’s all I have time to do, with all the chaos that you’ve gotten yourself into lately, Uruks. When this battle is over, if we survive, you face court martial and expulsion from the Ministry. Squad 99 faces a similar fate as well. Until then, you are to remain inside Leon’s quarters where you can’t cause any more damage. Those are my orders as the Minister of Fire, and you will heed them.”

Saria spoke quietly, but with such malice that Ryan’s pulse dropped momentarily and he felt his body go cold.

Saria turned to Eramar angrily, and said, “Get them out of my sight.”

Back in Leon’s room, Eramar listened with feigning patience as Ryan tried in vain to persuade him. “Eramar, come on. You know I’m right. The Minister just isn’t thinking clearly. She has to defend the Ministry. I understand that. But there’s so much more at stake now.”

“The Minister of Fire has things well in hand,” said Eramar, crossing his arms. “I’d sooner burn off my own arm than betray her trust. It’s called ‘loyalty’, Uruks. Not that I’d expect a boy to truly understand such a concept.”

Eramar had too many things vying for his attention then to deal with Ryan right now. Richard, he thought desperately. Why did your son have to be just like you? Why couldn’t he have been more sensible like Brianna? Just saying their names in his head brought back bitter memories. After everything that they had been through together, he let them go off on their own too easily, and as a result, both of them paid with their lives for his wounded pride.

“I’m not a boy! Well ... I mean ... I am a boy, but I’m not that young!”

“You’re fifteen,” pointed out Rachel.

“Not helping, Rachel! And for the record, I’m about to turn sixteen, so technically, I could be considered close to a young adult. The point is that with everything that’s been happening lately, the Minister isn’t looking at things objectively. She’s spent so long being the enemy of the Ministry of Water that she can’t see them as an ally.”

“Hold your tongue, child,” growled Eramar, his tone almost dangerous. “You know not of what you speak. You have no idea what Saria has sacrificed for the wellbeing of this Ministry. What she still sacrifices for it daily. You know nothing of loyalty or honor. You might as well be an infant for what you truly understand of the ways of the Elementals!

“I have lived the lifetimes of dozens of men. I was fighting, bleeding, and killing for the good of the Empire since before you were a twinkle in Richard’s eye. I have seen things you cannot possibly imagine in your darkest dreams. Even with all your scars, you’re still just a spoiled, ignorant brat. You have not earned the right to question my judgment, least of all, the Minister of Fire herself.”

Eramar still didn’t know how Ryan got it into his head to forgive the Water Elementals of all their crimes, but he would suffer retribution from his slain enemies before he allowed anyone to question the Minister. Ryan didn’t know her well enough to make these criticisms ... not like Eramar did.

Ryan looked away, hurt and betrayed. Eramar almost let himself think that he had gone too far, but he decided not to recant his words. He has to face the realities of life just like you and I did, Richard. He has to grow up sometime. Otherwise, he’ll never be prepared for what lies ahead.

Ryan’s demeanor seemed downtrodden for a moment as the fight died down in him. But then the boy raised his head. His eyes weren’t full of anger or defeat like Eramar had thought they might’ve been, but they still held fire nonetheless.

“You’re right. I am just a child. I haven’t lived a fraction as much as you have or the Minister. I haven’t seen the things you have seen. Done the things you have done. Heck, what I went through might’ve been nothing compared to what you’ve endured over the years.”

Eramar blinked. Ryan spoke without a hint of anger or irony. He means every word that he’s saying. He is seriously humbling himself before me. Then why do I not sense defeat in his voice?

Ryan continued, “I know all that. I know that to you, I may look like nothing more than a whining brat that’s in over his head. However...”

Ryan lowered his face and swallowed. It seemed to Eramar that he was trying very hard to keep himself from crying. Then Ryan raised his head, and the old veteran felt a penetrating presence emanating from those piercing red eyes, as if he was no longer speaking to a child.

“My father told me that I must make my own legacy. That the most important thing is not how others see me, but how I see myself. And I could never forgive myself if I let this happen ... let this war happen or let Éclair die because of my screwups. That’s not the legacy I want to leave behind. That’s not the memory that I want to remember myself by.”

Eramar couldn’t find any words to say. The boy looked so determined, so intense, like he would give his very soul to the task. In a few short moments, Ryan had gone from a boy to the spitting image of his father, reminding Eramar of how much he admired Richard’s tenacity.

“Even more recently,” continued Ryan. “A strange old man said something to me that I’ll never forget. It was a similar philosophy that my father lived by, so I think he would have approved. The man said that we lack something, something we have lost over the years. Do you know what that is?”

Eramar stared with wide eyes. It can’t be! Ryan, did you meet “him”?

“He said that we lack compassion. That we are so caught up in our own problems, we cannot see another’s heart. He said that if things continue like this, with nothing but cold logic to rule all, then there is no chance for peace ... on this world or any other.”

Eramar forgot how to breathe. It’d been so long since he heard those words spoken, he almost forgot how awestruck he was by the man who had said them - how those words were what inspired him to become an Elemental to begin with. Eramar had lost his way over time, he had strayed from the path that his master had laid out for him.

I have to do what’s best for the Ministry, Eramar heard his more logical side saying. I can’t let my emotions sway me!

We are both logical and emotional beings.

Eramar gasped as he heard a voice from his past. A voice he had not heard spoken in over five years.

We cannot have one aspect without the other. That is the nature of balance. Cold logic that is not tempered by compassion and love can become self-serving and greedy. In contrast, unfettered emotions without reason can become chaotic and dangerous. However, that does not release you from the duty of listening to your heart when the time comes.

The voice sounded exactly as Eramar remembered; a little old and scratchy, but with an inner passion that went beyond youth. More than anything, it was the voice of a teacher consoling a student, and now Ryan Uruks inherited that voice.