Echoes of the Past

Chapter Twenty Three - Part One

Chapter Twenty Three: The Oneron Way - Part One

After riding for some time, with Castan making idle talk, they reached the top of a hill and finally saw Riondon in the distance. It was still far off, but James was relieved to see their destination after hours of travelling.

A dull-blue river cut through the rocky terrain and ran into a tight collection of buildings, which from this distanced looked like smudges of browns and creams. A few tall towers stretched above them all, mostly within the dense centre. Riondon looked to be about half the size of Tyken Town, James guessed, which was still very large for a town.

The winding river caught his attention. Having only known a life in Tyken Town, it occurred to him he had never seen water before, as far as he knew. Of course he was aware of rivers and lakes and oceans, but he had yet to actually see them in his two years of existence, apart from the odd fountain and pond.

Beyond Riondon, the horizon was smeared with dull greens and browns where the desert and rock began to recede. A long grey road wound its way into the town from the east: the main road they would have taken had they gone through the sand dunes.

"That's Riondon," Castan said triumphantly, fulfilling his tour guide duties.

"You were right," Sam said to him. "Much quicker than I would have taken." He turned his mousslo to trot along the top of the hill. "But we have a detour before we get to town."

"We're not going to Riondon?" James asked.

"Just a little stop outside of town," Sam said, not meeting his eyes.

"To where?"

"There's an Oneron Outpost I'd like to visit first."

James took a moment to take in this new information. "Someone there who's been messaging you?"

Sam nodded. "I messaged them. They're expecting us. Now."

"These Oneron can help us with Higero Jaxx?" Evan asked, leading his mousslo beside Sam.

"They have the resources there to track him down. Jaxx is expecting his meeting with Dr. Velome sometime this afternoon.

"The one we'll be taking," James said. "Posing as metal miners, right?"

"We'll talk more at the outpost. Once we're out of this heat."

"All the same for me," Castan said cheerily. "My duty is not over until the three of you are in Riondon, however."

Sam grinned as he turned to the Canarrian. "You're welcome to accompany us, Castan."

"If you insist," Castan said. He shrugged as if it made no difference to him, but a cheeky smile crept on his face.

Why keep it a secret, James thought. Why not just tell us, tell me, that he was talking to other Oneron in a nearby outpost? He wondered why Sam was so quick to be secretive. The more James thought about it, the more it bothered him, to the point where he had to say something.

"Why wasn't going to this outpost a part of the plan already?"

"I didn't think it was necessary to involved them," Sam said, his eyes ahead. "I wanted to keep things small. Just us. And see what we find, without making things too complicated."

"And now?" James asked.

"Now, we have Red Guards looking for us. We're on Sacre's radar. And someone sent a space dragon to kill you specifically. And we lost any information we might have gathered in the warehouse in Tyken Town. We could do with more help and resources now."