The Nibiru Effect

Memory 91

The final leg of the journey takes a few hours, which gives me ample time to process everything I just went through. I travelled up the Mountain of Fire and located Korrigana, false goddess of the forest korrigans. While I failed to free her, I did speak to her, which, technically speaking, is all the korrigan prophecy called for. Not to mention the fact that all three of the baby dragons were freed in the process. Perhaps one of them will replace Korrigana as goddess—or god—of the forest korrigans. Either way, I fulfilled my end of the bargain. Not only does this fill me with pride, but it proves I truly am a hero. There's no doubt in my mind I will succeed in rescuing Jonn and Kara. In fact, I have such confidence in my abilities I don't even bother coming up with a plan.

I eventually reach the summit of the dormant volcano. It takes my eyes a moment to adjust to the brightness of my new surroundings, but when they finally do, I discover Korri was telling the truth when he said the tunnels would lead me to the very summit of the Mountain of Fire. Avalon's tower now stands less than a hundred metres away. Reaching it will be a piece of cake.

The sun is high in the sky, which means my journey lasted a full day or less than an hour. Since the latter seems unlikely, it means I've spent the past twenty-four hours—give or take a few hours—wandering around the bowels of the dormant volcano, desperately struggling to survive. Hopefully, my friends are still alive.

I march toward the tower, picturing the events as they are most likely to unfold. First, I will sneak into the tower and locate Kara and Jonn. If I encounter arkane guards, I will find a way to sneak past them, or I will take them out. Once I have located my friends, I will free them, and working together, we will find Avalon and take her down once and for all. We will then head back to our respective times and live happily ever after.

That's how I imagine things going down. Of course, events may not play out exactly as I pictured them, but I'm confident they will. If for some unexplainable reason they don't, I have a backup plan that's guaranteed to work. One way or another, Avalon is going down.

My carefully laid-out plan crumbles as soon as I reach the tower. There are no guards in sight, and the front gate is wide open. It reminds me of the time Arko led us into a trap. I'm suspicious and hesitant to enter, but I have no choice. Kara and Jonn's lives depend on whether or not I can live up to my title of hero, and I won't let anything, not even the prospect of walking into another trap, stand in my way.

I hesitate for a moment longer, then enter. Like the last time, it takes my eyes a moment to adjust. When they do, I'm greeted with a peculiar sight. A few metres before me is Jonn's hunting knife. It lies on the ground, completely unguarded. It's almost as if someone left it there for me. I hesitate, but as I'm defenceless and there seems to be no one in sight, I tiptoe over to it and pick it up.

I feel somewhat safer, yet I can't shake the feeling that something is wrong. This is too easy, almost as if someone were luring me forward with the promise of saving my friends, but with the intention of betraying me. Unfortunately, I have come too far to turn back.

I sneak deeper into the room until I'm standing nearly at its centre. It's almost exactly as I remember it. A stone staircase leads to the next level. To my right stands a large metal cage. Unlike the last time I was here, the red-eyed Tyrannosaurus rex it once contained is gone. The second cage, which stands to my left, has also changed. When I last saw it, it was empty, but now it's full.

"Kara!" I cry out at the sight of the two humans trapped inside the cage. "Jonn!"

"Will?" says Kara as she looks up. Jonn also stares at me but says nothing. I think he's too stunned to speak.

I rush over to them, overwhelmed with joy. I spent the last twenty-four hours trying to convince myself they were still alive, but now that I have proof of their wellbeing, I realize deep down I feared they were dead. I guess it's just as easy to lie to yourself as it is to lie to others.