Chapter Seventeen
Karan’s Unsuccessful
Karan walked into the forest, smirking. He had just escaped the police by using his Fire Powers to scare them. As soon as they put him in a cell, he used his Fire Powers to scare the officer holding the keys. He told the officer that he was a demon sent by the Devil to destroy human kind. The officer was so scared that he handed him the keys and ran from the building. By the time the other police officers arrived, Karan had already left.
They think they’re so strong, but they’re weak, he thought with a chuckle. I can’t believe they’re in charge of all the earth-people. After about an hour of walking, he finally reached his destination: The Fire Pit. He walked through the neighborhood and reached the Fire Chief’s house. He took a deep breath and put his hand on the doorknob.
I just hope that he’ll understand.
He pushed the door open and walked inside. He heard Etera’s voice coming from the living room. “You aren’t yourself anymore, Soren! You’re going down a path that I cannot follow!”
Karan stood as still as he could, trying to listen. “If you are not with me, then you are against me!” Soren shouted, anger in his voice.
“I’m not against you, Soren. You’re just making the wrong decision!” Karan was starting to get tired of Etera always complaining about how bad the Fire Chief was. She never agreed with him. She always said that what he was doing is wrong, and that he should never do it again. Karan thought that she was just a weakling. If Soren didn’t love her so much, she’d have been dead a long time ago. Soren killed anyone who stood up to him, except for the ones he loved. So it had come as a great surprise to Karan when he had heard that Soren had attempted to kill his one and only son. Karan loved to mock Fudo about what had happened between him and his father. It made him feel powerful. Pulling himself away from his thoughts, he walked forward into the room, bowing as the Fire Chief saw him.
“Leave, Etera. I must talk with General Karan.” Etera gave him one last look, then walked out of the room. As soon as she was out of earshot, Soren began yelling. “What have you been doing? And where are the Chosen One and his friends?”
“Please, sir, try to understand—”
“You have failed me Karan! I gave you a very important job and you failed! You promised me that you would succeed!”
“Sir, just give me a chance to explain—”
“Explain! Explain! Explain what? There’s nothing to explain! I gave you a task and you failed! There’s no more to say!”
Karan hung his head. “Sir, please. Give me a chance,” he said a bit more quietly. He knew that if he couldn’t keep Soren’s temper down, he might never leave Chung’s house alive. He was terrified of Soren. Just the very thought of being in the same room as him sent shivers down his spine. But all the same, he made it his goal in life to serve and please him. It was what he lived for.
Soren relaxed slightly. “Alright then, explain yourself.” Karan carefully explained how he had chased the Chosen One and his friends into the building and that it caught on fire—avoiding the part where he had been teased and that it had been he who had caused the fire in the first place—and finally how he had been taken to the police station, but had escaped. When he had finished, Soren looked very amused.
“So you were captured by the puny earth-people, then you used your powers in front of them?”
Karan was not sure if he was angry or not. He tone was unreadable, and his face was quite blank. “Yes, sir. I couldn’t think of any other way to escape.”
Soren was quiet for a minute. He looked to be contemplating what Karan had told him. Karan waited nervously as Soren paced back and forth, muttering to himself as though Karan were not there. Finally, Soren sat down on one of his large sofas and raised one eyebrow. “I am going to give you one more chance, but if you fail, I will put someone else in your place and have you executed.”
Karan nodded solemnly. His stomach tied itself in knots. Executed? That punishment seemed so harsh for something like this. Karan felt sick to his stomach at the thought. Fire Tribe executions were not pleasant. The accused was burned at the stake, which would be lit by the Fire Chief himself in front of the whole Tribe. It would bring shame upon his name, and people would be laughing about how General Karan had failed in his work.
Karan was torn from his sickening thoughts as Soren spoke again. “I will give you fifty of my best warriors, Romokkins actually, and you have to do the rest. I will be waiting. Remember, take the Chosen One to Lascelles Prison. Good luck.”
Karan bowed again and left the room. He would have to do better this time. He couldn’t lose his post as general. And the consequences were too much to bear. He needed to capture the boy, or he would be the one to pay the price. Sometimes he wished that he had never signed up to be in the army. That he had just evacuated Solaria like the others. But when he had signed up, it was a though he had no control over what he was doing. The memory still scared him. He reached for the front door, but froze at the sound that he hated above all others: Sam’s voice.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Mister, ‘I’m obviously better for the job.’ It looks like you were right; you’re doing better than I ever could.” Her voice was taunting, like it usually was. If it wasn’t taunting, then it was either threatening, if she was demanding something, or innocent, if she wanted to sweet-talk her way into something. The sound of her voice made Karan sick.
“Ah, Princess,” said Karan, faking a broad smile. “How very good to see you. How are things?”
Sam smirked. “Oh, quite boring since I’m not allowed to leave the neighborhood.,” she said with a note of venom clear in her voice. “How are things going with the bear-coons?”
Karan shifted uneasily. “It’s…fine.”
Sam nodded. “Of course. And that’s why my father was yelling at you, right?”
Karan scowled. Sam was smiling evily. She was only fifteen years old, but she still scared Karan—even more than Soren did. She was so powerful that she could easily defeat him. The mixture of hatred and fear he felt toward her was complicated. He hated her so because she was able to impress Soren no matter what she did, and Karan was scarcely ever able to do so. And he envied her for her power. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you it isn’t polite to eavesdrop?”
Sam shrugged. “No, not really.”
Karan took a step closer to her. “How much did you hear?” He hoped that she had only heard the very end of his conversation with the Fire Chief. Is she had heard anymore, then he wouldn’t hear the end of it. And what would be even worse, is that she might tell other people.
Sam grinned. “I heard enough to know that you’ve failed your mission—real big surprise.”
Karan stood right in front of her and poked a finger at her chest. “Don’t you tell anyone what you heard, do you understand me?”
Sam rolled her eyes. “Of course I understand you. I’m not deaf, though that doesn’t mean I’ll obey you. The only one I obey, is my father.”
Karan backed away from her and folded his arms across his chest. “That’s something we have in common.”
Sam nodded. “So, tell me, how did you manage to fail such a simple mission: capturing a ten year old boy?”
Karan didn’t feel at all like telling her, and he didn’t plan to. Another thing he hated about her was her attitude. She acted as though she ruled the world. Like she could do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, without anyone telling her otherwise. She had always been like that. “That’s none of your business.”
Sam raised one eyebrow. “Oh, really. Yes well, I think it’s time for me to leave. I have better things to do then to sit here and talk with you.”
Without another word, Sam marched off, chin held high. Karan scratched his head. “What’s wrong with that girl? She thinks she’s an adult.” He walked back out of the house and began walking to Chung's house. As he reached the front door, he saw a bear-coon, waiting for him.
“There you are, I’ve been waiting for you.” He walked up to it and took something out of his pocket. It was a collar for the bear-coon. One that, when worn, would translate everything the bear-coon had seen. He latched the collar around its thick neck and stood back.
The collar flashed red and he suddenly heard Mai’s voice. “So, are we going to these Solarian Islands Fujin told you about?”
“I guess we should,” said a voice Karan knew very well, it was Dakota’s voice. “We don’t have very long. And who knows how long it will take just to reach the islands.”
“But there’s no way to get there,” said a voice that Karan remembered as Mai’s annoying brother. “You said it was south of Hawaii, right?”
“Yeah,” said Dakota’s voice. “I never thought of that. How are we going to get the islands in the first place?” There was pause. “Amo can’t fly us there. We’re too heavy and there’s nowhere to stop along the way. We’d all drown.”
Another long pause. Karan waited impatiently for them to start talking again. “We could buy airplane tickets?” said Wyatt’s voice.
“We’d never be able to get enough money! A plane is out of the question,” said Mai’s voice.
“Hey,” Wyatt’s voice retorted. “It was just an idea.”
“What if we take a boat?” Dakota’s voice suggested.
“A boat would take too long,” said Wyatt’s voice.
“Wyatt,” Mai’s voice said. “What are you doing?”
“I’m getting a drink,” Wyatt’s voice said defensively.
Karan shook his head. “Come on!” he said, frustrated. “Let’s keep this conversation going. No drink breaks!” Though he was only talking to a recording.
“Okay, but don’t eat anything, remember” said Mai’s voice.
“I know, I know.”
“I’ve got it!” said a voice Karan knew belonged to the girl in purple robes who had been teasing him.
“What?” said the other three voices.
“I remember hearing about a dock around here that sells big, Solarian ships! It’s hidden though, so no earth-people can find it. But it would work perfectly!” There was a pause.
“No way! I don’t do boats! Remember what happened last time?” said Wyatt’s voice loudly.
“That was a canoe, not a ship,” said Mai’s voice.
Karan had heard all he needed to. He unlatched the collar and the recording stopped. He put it back in his pocket, pulled out a dog treat, and tossed it into the bear-coons open mouth. The bear-coon growled happily and crawled away. “So,” Karan said aloud, “they’re going to the SolarianIslands? If I’m to follow them, I must get a ship as well. It’s time to visit Tom again.”
He walked off, leaving the neighborhood and, about a half hour later, made it to the seaside, where there was a small dock that one of his friends, Tom, owned. This dock was only known to the people of the Fire Tribe, so only they could use the wonderful ships that were kept there. It was very well hidden. There was another dock father up north that was open to the public (The Solarian public that is). But what no one outside the Fire Tribe knew, was that the man who owned it was from the Fire Tribe as well.
He would try to trick the people he sold his ships to, and not tell them how to refuel. Karan thought this was very clever. But, personally, he preferred Tom’s boats over the other man’s. He walked down to the small house on the shore and approached the front door. He knocked three times and waited. The door opened suddenly, making Karan jump. Standing in the doorway was a tall man with brown hair and a red suit.
He looked curiously at Karan. “Oh no….Karan,” he said, shaking his head. “I told you that you can’t come back here again…..Not after what happened last time.”
Karan smiled at him. “No, no. I’m not here for that. I’m here to make a request.” Tom was referring to the last time Karan had visited him. Tom had just bought a huge barrel of Iku. Iku was a special drink that enhances one’s energy. But if too much is consumed, it can act as an alcoholic drink, and cause them to do odd things, or get very hyperactive. Karan had drunk so much on his last visit, that he had almost burned Tom’s house to the ground.
Tom crossed his arms. “So you’re not going to get carried away this time, then, are you?”
Karan rolled his eyes. “I’m not even going to have one glass. No, this time I am here to buy a ship. A big, fast ship.”
Tom grinned broadly. “Oh, I’ve got plenty of big, fast ships, Karan!”
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