61 CHAPTER 60
THE SLATE OF VALE
It should be one o'clock pm.
Jeff could guess that from the duty shift by the men guarding the entrance of the laser protected door.
There were four men in total. The first duty shift was always from six in the morning to six in the evening and the second shift completed the cycle. Each of them spends at least six hours standing, and the evening guards always wear a different patch cloth because of the coldness of the stone.
One of the night guards, the shortest amongst them, always goes out once every one hour and once every two hours he comes back with two cups of coffee. Says it keeps him warm.
It was difficult to sleep, not because the comfort was away, but because he was afraid to dream. He was afraid to wander into that unknown land. He was afraid to think of what the Regent had said about his mother, or what he would do to him if he finds out that he was the only person in Anadan, who has ever seen the dreamland. The land that the legends talked about, the land that they say was destroyed.
Its three days now, yet Jeff couldn't fathom the degree of anger that was boiling inside of him. His whole body was itching to pick up something and throw. The realization that he was now a prisoner created a pit in his stomach that was as deformed as an abyss.
Mr. William had entered earlier that day and had assured him that everything would be fine. How ironic.
Jeff blamed himself for being a fool. He blamed himself for not picking the piece and making the whole. He had played with the devil's box and now the piper he could no longer detect its tone.
I won't wait for these people to drag me out like a sacrificial lamb. My future and my fate are embedded in my present action. I can decide my action but its consequence I can't decide. I better act now and bear the consequences or wait and regret the consequences.
Jeff sat up from his bed and picked up his bag. A determination was flooding his being, even though his head could not cook up any plan.
He scrambled over his bag, hoping he would find his Candor, but his frustration increased when he couldn't find it. He threw the bag angrily on the bed.
What will he do now?
In his wandering thoughts, his eyes went back to the bed and he saw those two mysterious envelop—one he had seen in his room and the other Matt had given him. Both of them were lying over each other and were glowing, almost as if numerous fireflies were trapped inside.
Jeff picked it up, making sure he had his back facing the direction of the entrance.
From the glowing, he was able to see that the two envelop, if overlapped, could form a whole.
Jeff placed them together but was stupefied when the glowing ceased and the whole envelope transformed into a circular ring, with a little red button as the central nucleus.
With curiosity still drowning his fears and urging him forward, he pushed down the button and was surprised when a hologram image, made from bluish light, popped out from it.
The hologram image was that of Max Peters, the greatest racer in Anadan, who never won any international title. The Blur. His father, his beloved father.
Jeff felt his head swelling and his eyes dropping down tears he did not remember forming. The joy he felt made his heart to skip a beat
The hologram feature of his father was very much younger than he remembered. Those long dark hair and beautiful eyes. Looking at this now, Jeff could see where he had gotten his looks. His father was not a handsome man in his youth, he was a beautiful man.
"You have this in your hand because the MS82G found you and Matt. I designed this technology..." The hologram image of his father was saying and Jeff had to wipe his eyes to see clearly.
"...because the time we once knew is over. Anadan will fall." His father paused as if he was thinking about something. His words engrossed Jeff with fright. What does he mean?
"Jeff," his father continued, this time with more fears in his eyes "I know you might have too many questions as to why things are the way they are. I wish I will be there to answer them. But, now is not the time to throw questions, you and Matt must find your path. If my predicted calculations are correct, then I believe that right now you must have experienced some vision, heightened speed, and the bow. If you have witnessed any of the above, then you must listen"
The hardness in his father's eye was almost scary.
"The Slate of Vale is not a thing or an object. It used to be before I and my colleagues discovered that Anadan was but a fragment of what the real world is. The Slate of vale is in you Jeff; the Slate of vale runs in you. It's a key to the prison of Vortex. You are the key to the prison of the world's most dangerous creature. Many will seek you, some will try to use you, and others will try to kill you, for your blood is the key to bringing down Vortex. You must trust no one, you and Matt should stick together like you always have and you must find the path that leads to the outside. Don't—"
"What are you doing?" Someone said from behind and Jeff jumped up with fright.
"Nothing," He said and he quickly slotted the device into his pocket. He relaxed his pulsing nerves when he saw those brown eyes staring urgently at him
"Sorry to scare you, but we don't have enough time, we have to move now," Vanessa said.
Until she had unlocked the metallic ring around Jeff's neck, did he realize what was going on.
She was breaking him out.
"Come on," Vanessa said and ran for the door.
Jeff gathered his cloth into his bag and hurried after her. The two guards on the door were lying as if fast asleep.
"Don't worry, they are fine. But they won't wake up until we are far gone." Lex said, smiling at the spilled content of the cup on the floor.
"Did you get the passcode and the Sol-k?" Vanessa asked Lex.
"Yea, we must hurry." The little boy replied, already on his heel.
They broke into a sprint and hurried towards the north door. The whole place was quiet, almost as if everyone was fast asleep. They walked into the elevator and waited as its cracking sound elevated them towards the surface.
The moon was pouring out rich light, and the farm, which was an ocean of blue grasses, covered the whole place when they came to the surface. Nobody was here, even the crickets were absent in the roster.
The three-man party made their way towards the door in the west, away from the farm, an adjacent angle from the cave hall where Jeff had been captured.
Vanessa seemed unnerved as she typed on the mini keyboard of the encrypted stone door.
They waited quietly for the door, which gave out a red 'access denial light' and sent an alarm breaking the silence of the peaceful night.
"Are you sure you got the right codes?" Vanessa asked, turning an angry look to Alex.
"I am sure, except someone changed it, that door should open."
"Well, as you can see, it is the opposite and we are in trouble." Vanessa panicked.
They watched revolving red light which was at the apex of every stone wall. They could also hear the footfalls of people, rushing towards their direction.
"Now what?" Lex asked
"We run," Vanessa said.
They broke into a sprint, away from the approaching footfalls and touch light.
"I came prepared you know? You can thank me later." Lex was saying as they ran. He didn't wait for Jeff or Vanessa to reply before he shouted "Follow me"
He suddenly broke into the field, with the night and grass shielding his little features.
Jeff and Vanessa followed behind, trying to catch up with the shadows of the younger boy. They paused when they later found him, standing in the grass and staring at the moon-glowing cloud.
There were no stars.
It came like a whisper, and then like a humming sound which later turned to the whirling of the wind. Slowly, it landed before them—a huge autopilot RCD777—and the best plane in the whole of Anadan.
"You are a genius Alex," Vanessa said over the wind.
They hurried inside the plane and closed its doors, not pausing to look at their pursuers who were not very close to reaching them.
Vanessa took the pilot seat and elevated the plane off the ground. From the window, they could see the surprised angry looks on the face of the people.
Jeff saw the Regent raining orders at anyone in sight. He wondered what the Regent was saying.
"Do you think they will follow?" Jeff asked Vanessa who had shifted the plane into the night sky.
"Let's pray they don't," she said.
Jeff watched ahead at the night sky. He knew without being told that things were no longer going to go back to the way they were. He was enlightened now; he is the slate of vale. Much responsibility was coated with the name but this time, he was not afraid, he knew what he was going to do.
He is going to save his friends.
He is going to save the world from annihilation.
It should be one o'clock pm.
Jeff could guess that from the duty shift by the men guarding the entrance of the laser protected door.
There were four men in total. The first duty shift was always from six in the morning to six in the evening and the second shift completed the cycle. Each of them spends at least six hours standing, and the evening guards always wear a different patch cloth because of the coldness of the stone.
One of the night guards, the shortest amongst them, always goes out once every one hour and once every two hours he comes back with two cups of coffee. Says it keeps him warm.
It was difficult to sleep, not because the comfort was away, but because he was afraid to dream. He was afraid to wander into that unknown land. He was afraid to think of what the Regent had said about his mother, or what he would do to him if he finds out that he was the only person in Anadan, who has ever seen the dreamland. The land that the legends talked about, the land that they say was destroyed.
Its three days now, yet Jeff couldn't fathom the degree of anger that was boiling inside of him. His whole body was itching to pick up something and throw. The realization that he was now a prisoner created a pit in his stomach that was as deformed as an abyss.
Mr. William had entered earlier that day and had assured him that everything would be fine. How ironic.
Jeff blamed himself for being a fool. He blamed himself for not picking the piece and making the whole. He had played with the devil's box and now the piper he could no longer detect its tone.
I won't wait for these people to drag me out like a sacrificial lamb. My future and my fate are embedded in my present action. I can decide my action but its consequence I can't decide. I better act now and bear the consequences or wait and regret the consequences.
Jeff sat up from his bed and picked up his bag. A determination was flooding his being, even though his head could not cook up any plan.
He scrambled over his bag, hoping he would find his Candor, but his frustration increased when he couldn't find it. He threw the bag angrily on the bed.
What will he do now?
In his wandering thoughts, his eyes went back to the bed and he saw those two mysterious envelop—one he had seen in his room and the other Matt had given him. Both of them were lying over each other and were glowing, almost as if numerous fireflies were trapped inside.
Jeff picked it up, making sure he had his back facing the direction of the entrance.
From the glowing, he was able to see that the two envelop, if overlapped, could form a whole.
Jeff placed them together but was stupefied when the glowing ceased and the whole envelope transformed into a circular ring, with a little red button as the central nucleus.
With curiosity still drowning his fears and urging him forward, he pushed down the button and was surprised when a hologram image, made from bluish light, popped out from it.
The hologram image was that of Max Peters, the greatest racer in Anadan, who never won any international title. The Blur. His father, his beloved father.
Jeff felt his head swelling and his eyes dropping down tears he did not remember forming. The joy he felt made his heart to skip a beat
The hologram feature of his father was very much younger than he remembered. Those long dark hair and beautiful eyes. Looking at this now, Jeff could see where he had gotten his looks. His father was not a handsome man in his youth, he was a beautiful man.
"You have this in your hand because the MS82G found you and Matt. I designed this technology..." The hologram image of his father was saying and Jeff had to wipe his eyes to see clearly.
"...because the time we once knew is over. Anadan will fall." His father paused as if he was thinking about something. His words engrossed Jeff with fright. What does he mean?
"Jeff," his father continued, this time with more fears in his eyes "I know you might have too many questions as to why things are the way they are. I wish I will be there to answer them. But, now is not the time to throw questions, you and Matt must find your path. If my predicted calculations are correct, then I believe that right now you must have experienced some vision, heightened speed, and the bow. If you have witnessed any of the above, then you must listen"
The hardness in his father's eye was almost scary.
"The Slate of Vale is not a thing or an object. It used to be before I and my colleagues discovered that Anadan was but a fragment of what the real world is. The Slate of vale is in you Jeff; the Slate of vale runs in you. It's a key to the prison of Vortex. You are the key to the prison of the world's most dangerous creature. Many will seek you, some will try to use you, and others will try to kill you, for your blood is the key to bringing down Vortex. You must trust no one, you and Matt should stick together like you always have and you must find the path that leads to the outside. Don't—"
"What are you doing?" Someone said from behind and Jeff jumped up with fright.
"Nothing," He said and he quickly slotted the device into his pocket. He relaxed his pulsing nerves when he saw those brown eyes staring urgently at him
"Sorry to scare you, but we don't have enough time, we have to move now," Vanessa said.
Until she had unlocked the metallic ring around Jeff's neck, did he realize what was going on.
She was breaking him out.
"Come on," Vanessa said and ran for the door.
Jeff gathered his cloth into his bag and hurried after her. The two guards on the door were lying as if fast asleep.
"Don't worry, they are fine. But they won't wake up until we are far gone." Lex said, smiling at the spilled content of the cup on the floor.
"Did you get the passcode and the Sol-k?" Vanessa asked Lex.
"Yea, we must hurry." The little boy replied, already on his heel.
They broke into a sprint and hurried towards the north door. The whole place was quiet, almost as if everyone was fast asleep. They walked into the elevator and waited as its cracking sound elevated them towards the surface.
The moon was pouring out rich light, and the farm, which was an ocean of blue grasses, covered the whole place when they came to the surface. Nobody was here, even the crickets were absent in the roster.
The three-man party made their way towards the door in the west, away from the farm, an adjacent angle from the cave hall where Jeff had been captured.
Vanessa seemed unnerved as she typed on the mini keyboard of the encrypted stone door.
They waited quietly for the door, which gave out a red 'access denial light' and sent an alarm breaking the silence of the peaceful night.
"Are you sure you got the right codes?" Vanessa asked, turning an angry look to Alex.
"I am sure, except someone changed it, that door should open."
"Well, as you can see, it is the opposite and we are in trouble." Vanessa panicked.
They watched revolving red light which was at the apex of every stone wall. They could also hear the footfalls of people, rushing towards their direction.
"Now what?" Lex asked
"We run," Vanessa said.
They broke into a sprint, away from the approaching footfalls and touch light.
"I came prepared you know? You can thank me later." Lex was saying as they ran. He didn't wait for Jeff or Vanessa to reply before he shouted "Follow me"
He suddenly broke into the field, with the night and grass shielding his little features.
Jeff and Vanessa followed behind, trying to catch up with the shadows of the younger boy. They paused when they later found him, standing in the grass and staring at the moon-glowing cloud.
There were no stars.
It came like a whisper, and then like a humming sound which later turned to the whirling of the wind. Slowly, it landed before them—a huge autopilot RCD777—and the best plane in the whole of Anadan.
"You are a genius Alex," Vanessa said over the wind.
They hurried inside the plane and closed its doors, not pausing to look at their pursuers who were not very close to reaching them.
Vanessa took the pilot seat and elevated the plane off the ground. From the window, they could see the surprised angry looks on the face of the people.
Jeff saw the Regent raining orders at anyone in sight. He wondered what the Regent was saying.
"Do you think they will follow?" Jeff asked Vanessa who had shifted the plane into the night sky.
"Let's pray they don't," she said.
Jeff watched ahead at the night sky. He knew without being told that things were no longer going to go back to the way they were. He was enlightened now; he is the slate of vale. Much responsibility was coated with the name but this time, he was not afraid, he knew what he was going to do.
He is going to save his friends.
He is going to save the world from annihilation.
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