Alliance of Heroes

Chapter 9 - Plans

Chapter 9 - Plans

Evil slept in these halls. Jake knew it. He had known it last time. Again he was in Yerga's throne room, looking at the King. Again Yerga raised his golden sceptre, preparing for the kill. But this time, he wasn't attacking Jake. Three figures lay on the ground, all wounded and motionless.

One was Maia, her eyes closed and her skin deathly pale. A stab wound leaked blood from her chest. She was obviously, hopelessly dead. Jake closed his eyes, fighting back the horror engulfing him. But still he could see the figures.

The second figure was new to him. It was a small, muscled man with a large black beard. He was heaving haphazardly, a great crack in his armour where an axe had stabbed through it and into his chest. It was still sticking out of his stomach, the silver blade gleaming red with blood.

The third and final figure was also one he had never seen. It was a girl, only a little younger than him, with untidy fiery red hair and large hazel eyes. She was looking at him pleadingly, her arm outstretched, reaching out to him.

"Help me, Jake," she whispered. "I'm going to die. You have to help me."

"I know," said a voice behind Jake. "I will. Just hold on."

Jake turned and to his great surprise he saw himself running over to the girl, grasping her hands with his.

"What is this?" Jake said to himself. "This dream...it's so real..."

"No you don't." said Yerga, raising his golden sceptre. A burst of air shot from it, colliding with the other Jake and knocking him away from the red-headed girl. The boy crashed into one of the large pillars in the throne room, smashing it to pieces. Yerga stepped forward, kicking the girl as he passed. She cried out and lay still, her hand resting on her bloody wound.

"This is where it ends!" hissed the King, raising his sceptre.

Jake sat up in his bed, covered with sweat. It wasn't real, he told himself. It was just a dream, nothing more. That couldn't possibly be true...I've never even met those other two people.

He rubbed his eyes, trying to get the horrible image out of his mind. He felt sick whenever he thought of the King.

He lay back down, trying to get back to sleep. Today Jason had called for a meeting to discuss a new mission that they would be undertaking; it would start in a few hours when everyone else had woken up. Jason had sounded angry when he talked to them after they returned from the desert, obviously furious that the mission had been completely ruined and so many of their party had gotten injured. He also was surprised at the appearance of Tyrus Green, though he said nothing about it other than he could be considered dangerous.

Jake sighed and quietly slipped out of his bed. Perhaps I won't make it to the end of this fight, if what we've already faced is just the beginning.

He dressed, belted on his sword and left the room.

Versai awoke peacefully, stretching his wings wide and yawning. He stared around the room but Jake had gone. Probably on another one of his walks around the Alliance, thought Versai. He seems to do that often. The dragon took flight and left his and Jake's room, entering the large living area outside everyone's rooms.

"Versai!" called Jake, walking over to the dragon. "I was just coming to get you. The meeting is about to start."

"Where were you?" Versai asked, landing on Jake's shoulder.

"Wandering."

"I see."

They travelled to the Operations Room, and this time they were not met by anyone. Jake pushed open the door and was surprised at what he saw. A wide table sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by many chairs. However, sitting on top of the table was a gigantic light-blue sapphire, glowing brightly. It was the main interest of the room, with many different images flitting in and out of focus across its gleaming surface.