“Where is the Oracle?” Ailh asks.

“There is a water purification plant in Ralkain that the Gandole military now occupies. Fantasia, Sokon and I were supposed to meet up there… then Reaka showed up. I am pretty sure you know what happened after that.”

“Did you say Sokon was with her,” Aihl questions.

“Yes.”

“I thought he would be dead after the explosion in the sewer,” Ailh responds. “That would have tied up that loose end.” 

Aihl and I waste no time in getting back in the Myrmidon after I tell him Fantasia’s last known location. He is surprised Sokon is still alive. Apparently he was supposed to die in the explosion that ended the Brotherhood. 

“Why were you with the oracle in the first place?”

“Timpuji found her in Halima when the war started. Since then we were always together. She is not mentally well anymore.”

“Timpuji as in the Brotherhood founder?” Aihl asks.

“Yes, he raised me when the war started.” I admit. 

Aihl is shocked to hear my former mentor was Timpuji. I thought he would have known having been with Reaka, but Aihl did not seem to like her. I am sure he only talked to her when the situation called for it. We reach the Myrmidon and jumps into the pilots seat in the chest cavity.

“Let me run there ahead of you.” I say.

“Absolutely not,” Aihl responds. “You are not Gandole military and have no jurisdiction in Gandole affairs. I trust you enough to come along but not enough to go ahead of me.”

I expected as much. I can arrive at the plant in seconds while it would take him at least ten minutes. The Myrmidon only has one seat for the pilot. I have to once again perch myself on the shoulder in between the large shoulder plate armor and the head.

As the wings open and thrusters start up with loud screeches we are above the ground in seconds. Flying off Mount Kyro over the city once again I gaze down at the streets one last time before looking forward shunning the past I uncovered here. Yet I can’t help but think back to my hard life in this wasted land. I definitely had more bad time than good. Timpuji had his connections to keep us fed even during the worst of the war. So I never really had to go to bed completely starving. However I did see Timpuji go weeks without food to make sure we ate. The hardest thing to come by in the cities was clean water. Even when we settle down in the capital. 

We would have to pay the Gandole traders in jewels or valuable metals for water processed in our own water plant. Not that they’d ever give us the processed water. The Gandole sent processed water to Gandole soldiers we got whatever rain water they collected and boiled. 

With money nearly worthless some would trade for it but would only count it by weight. I’ll never forget when Timpuji traded one hundred thousand dollars for a single loaf of bread. I shake my head to get the memories off my mind and turn my attention ahead into the endless blue sky.

“We are getting ready to go supersonic brace yourself,” says Aihl through the Myrmidon.

“I am ready whenever you are,” I say though I don’t think he could hear me over the roar of the engines.

I hear the sound of the wings on the Myrmidon shift so I look back to see what is going on. The wings move further up its back and contract from the full extent of their length. More thrusters appear coming up from the armor that surrounds the lower legs. They all ignite at the same time giving us a sudden boost forward. Even though we are traveling faster than sound I only feel a slight jerk before the Seed activates automatically slowing us down just long enough for my body to reconstitute itself to the new speed. After the Seed speeds the world back up slightly, the air resistance is so light that I could probably stand and even jump on the back of the Myrmidon without flinging off. This Seed is amazing truly godlike; its power never ceases to amaze me.

I look aimlessly into the clouds as we zoom through them. The suit I am wearing keeps me warm as we travel through the icy blankets of vapors. The Seed enables me to breathe in the thin air without dizziness or any hyperventilation. This coupled with the fact I no longer require sleep means my body is truly superhuman; closer to immortal than anyone except the few that also have Seeds.

I never imagined this kind of power. I never truly felt powerful before. The Gandole had a way of turning any feeling of power into fear. I am one of the few who actually lived through Gandole raids, which is why the Brotherhood made me into a general. Still that was either by my dumb luck or reckless will to survive not because I was special or powerful.    

The Myrmidon suddenly slows down as several parts of the plate armor flaps upward to catch air to act as air brakes. We slow to a stop and hover over the ground. I hop off the Myrmidon before it lands and walk to the plant. The soldiers quickly run towards us. The soldiers seem to know what the Myrmidon is but are shocked one is landing here. Ailh lands the Myrmidon with a loud bang and a small tremor. Some of the soldiers and plant workers that were caught off guard by the quake fall to their knees. The soldiers move the curious water plant workers away from the Myrmidon and prepare to meet the pilot. A man walks up to me. I don’t know the Gandole military ranking but he has a highly decorated outfit and is in his upper fifties or sixties. He salutes me.

“What’s the occasion?” he asks. “Headquarters said nothing about a Myrmidon resupplying here. Then again with the location of the suits kept secret, I wouldn’t be told, would I?”

“We are here in search of someone,” I say not sure how confidential I should be with this man.

“I will need you to be more specific,” He says. “There are a lot of personnel stationed here both military and private contractors.”

The Myrmidon chest opens and Aihl gets out. He walks over to us and the man salutes him right away.

“We need to talk in private,” Aihl demands. 

The man seems to be a little upset that a child can demand him to do something, but he complies. “Right this way, sir,” he says as he turns around. “We don’t have the required machinery here to rearm or refuel a Myrmidon, sir.”

“It does not need any of those things,” Aihl says. 

The man leads us to his office inside the water plant. It is the former Aidoshian’s boss’s office. He sits down in his brown leather chair and we sit facing him. The office is full of papers, holo-screens and files. The water plant is being used for more than supplying water to Gandole soldiers. It is converted into a fully operational base. 

Aihl does not refer to him by any rank or surname leaving me without knowing his position. The man however must refer to Aihl and me as sir. Myrmidon pilots must be above the normal Gandole military or Ailh simply does not care. The two discuss a series of codes to verify his identity and Ailh shows I.D. from a holographic screen that appears from a bracelet on his arm. Personally I thought the simple fact that he flew here in the Myrmidon would have been all the I.D. he needed. After the verification is complete, the man lets out a slight sigh.

“Sir,” he says to me, “I will need your I.D. as well.”

“He is with me. No more verification is needed,” Aihl says.

“Very well, sir,” the man says, still upset. “What did I do to deserve this unexpected pleasure?”

“This does not leave this room. Do you understand?” Aihl asks.

“Yes, sir,” he responds.

“We are searching for an Aidoshian Oracle. She should be here.”

“A Great Oracle?” the man asks shocked. “Are you sure? Aren’t they all dead?”

“Officially yes,” I reply. “She was traveling through an underground passage here with Sokon.”

“Sokon,” he says with anger. “Shi… sir, she was here. He claimed the two he had with him were his children.”

Two, yeah that little boy I saved in the sewer. I pushed him under the passage before it closed. Locking me outside the safe haven that would have let me continue living a lie. If I hadn’t save that boy I would have never met Reaka. I would have never known the truth.

“Was?” Aihl challenges. “Where are they?”

“They were helicoptered to Gandalia two weeks ago.”

“Why wasn’t headquarters contacted?” Aihl asks.

Suddenly the lights flicker then go out.

“This place is a dead zone and rolling blackouts keeps us from sending messages except by courier. The power doesn’t stay on for more than fifteen minutes. Headquarters was contacted about our situation but no electrician has been sent to us.”

 Aihl stands up and walks out of the room muttering a few unpleasant words about the man’s competence. I stand up and walk after him as he vanishes behind the closing door. The man stays at his desk, hands folded across each other. We walk back outside to the Myrmidon. Aihl, still enraged, walks faster than me. He jumps into the cockpit and I can see the knife-like ends of the wires jabbed into Aihl’s back one after the other until the chest plates of the Myrmidon cover him and lock into place. 

“Where are we going?” I inquire.

“Back to base we are going to track that helicopter,” Ailh replies.

The Myrmidon stands up to its normal monstrous size. I jump up to its shoulder and sit down. The soldiers back the crowd away as the wings open and ignite. It only takes seconds for the facility to be out of sight as we soar through the sky. 

 

We come down behind the base in the training field. Dr. Allen and Dr. Hackly are waiting outside. We land on a large metal plate in the middle of the field. Giant bars grasp the feet of the Myrmidon and it is slowly lowered underground. The chest plates open and Aihl gets out. After the Myrmidon is completely underground, the doors close sealing the behemoth away. Dr. Hackly hands Aihl a notepad; on it is the current location of the helicopter. 

“What the hell,” Aihl says as he throws the pad to the ground.

I pick up the pad to see what has him so upset. On it is the blinking dot of the GPS tracker on the helicopter. Sokon hijacked the helicopter after it took off and flew to the Republic of New Cezek. The new capitol of the Univernism religion and Aidons most well-affirmed ally. They won’t give up Fantasia easily and in a few days she will be hidden forever if she isn’t already. 

“This is a folly that shall not go unpunished,” Aihl says. “We had her and that gallingly stupid man let her go. He even had the audacity to make excuses for his misconduct.”

“What are your orders Aihl,” Dr. Allen asks.

“Contact Creator,” Ailh demands. “We need his authority to place that incompetent General Huston in jail for treason.”

“Of course sir,” Dr. Hackly says.   

I agree the man should have handle the situation better or insured that headquarters knew that Sokon was being transported before releasing him. 

“Get ready, Kai. We are going to Gandalia,” says Aihl. “We will bring war to any who hide the Oracle.”