The Golden Net

It was only then that the Head realized that the fifth member of their expedition was lost, at an unknown stage, and a cold sweat broke out on his back.

He looked around and tried to remember if the man had been with them when they landed on the cliff and couldn't.

"Don't blame yourself," said the marshal, "I just realized it too."

"What is it, then? Did he leave us or did something happen to him?" Liam was perplexed.

"Look out!" The marshal made a sharp lunge forward and, drawing his sword, sliced open the huge clawed paw that was trying to get its dinner out of the crevice where they were hiding.

The men immediately scrambled deeper into the crevice as they continued to fight off the pesky creature. In addition to its nightmarish appearance, it squealed so obnoxiously that it should have been finished off just for its abuse of Liam and the marshal's delicate ears.

Seeing that nothing was working, the marshal got out of the cave and took the fight to the plain. Liam joined him, using his crossbow.

Together they finished off the monster, but its screeching attracted the attention of other creatures. So the men were rapidly approached by hungry monsters in fairly large numbers.

"It's rather inconvenient that you only have one dragon," the Marshal remarked, turning toward the threat.

"No denying it, we could use a winged friend right now," Liam replied, his eyes sweeping over the noisy mass of creatures rushing toward them.

"May I help you, Master?" Nood spun around and set his dragon down on the ground. Rashid came down after him.

The men swiftly climbed onto the dragons' backs and soared into the air, leaving the disappointed monsters below.

"You're just in time," Liam called out, "did you find something?"

"We found it! We found the humans. They were trapped in a deep abyss, many of them wounded.

"Show me!" Liam ordered and coughed up the acrid smoke in the air.

In less than three minutes of flying, they were at the edge of a cliff. The dragons neatly descended to the very bottom and caused a wave of cheers from the weary people at the bottom.

Liam descended to the ground. A wounded man waddled toward him, followed by several others in poor condition.

"Who are you?" The man asked incredulously, "Are you a rescue party? Why are there only four of you?"

"I'm the Head of the Academy, this is... my friend and my students," Liam began, "we happened to be here and miraculously found you. Tell me, what happened to you?"

The man sighed as he learned that the "True Source" himself, of whom there were legends, had arrived. He invited the men to come into their camp and talk.

Following him, Liam whispered to the marshal that he should introduce himself by another name, to which he replied that he was well aware of it himself.

Nood and Rashid only looked at each other and followed. The camp commander offered the guests water and an opportunity to sit down on the rocks.

He at once admitted that they had been starving for three days and that the condition of many of his brothers and sisters was very poor. If help didn't arrive soon, the Reapers would reach the core and they would all die.

Liam nodded understandingly and looked at the Marshal. He understood his gaze and stepped aside to pass the information, but no sooner had he contacted his men than he returned and specified the coordinates of the planet.

"How did this happen?" Liam asked the dejected man across the street," How long have you been on this planet?"

The man looked at Liam incredulously and hesitated to begin the story. He opened his mouth several times and kept silent, but then, after thinking it over, he spoke.

"Everything happened about two weeks ago. An Elder from the Academy came to us, accompanied by five other men. They said the planet's barrier had to be reinforced because of the monster activity they had noticed in the vicinity."

A chill ran down Liam's spine at those words. This was the second time his uncle and the five elders had been involved.

What was the meaning of all this? Could it be that Uncle is involved in some sort of intrigue against the world of the elders? Unthinkable!

Seeing the worry and fear on his face, the man made sure that the Head was unaware of what was happening. He plucked up courage and continued his story:

"Those men performed a ritual on a rock five miles away, and then convinced us that they had done their job well and that we had nothing to fear."

"And then the trouble came?" Liam guessed.

"Yes. A couple of days after they left, our peaceful life came to an end. The first monsters came into the valley, followed by another wave, and then another, and another…" the man stopped talking, clenching his fists.

"There were only seven hundred of us and as many defenders. We lost them in the first days of the battle, and when the Reapers came, we knew it was probably the end of everything. Saving our children, we fled to the rocks, but the ground began to erupt and split, we were trapped and many died. Seeking refuge, we ended up here."

While the man was talking to Liam, the marshal came back and told them that there would be back up in twenty-four hours and they needed to hold out. Hope was on people's faces; twenty-four hours is not a long time.

"Tell me, could you recognize the men who came here?" Liam asked his interlocutor.

"Maybe," he answered, "but it's not certain. As far as I remember, their faces were very plain."

"How convenient," thought Liam, "to disguise yourself as someone unremarkable and make a mess of things."

"The Head, can you help our wounded?" The camp commander asked hopefully.

Liam sighed. Unfortunately, he wasn't a healer, or he would have helped Cal.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but we don't have a healer among us," Liam said guiltily and looked around the camp dejectedly, "but we'll do our best to protect you," he promised.

"Do you happen to have any food?" the man asked another question that knocked Liam completely off balance.

The marshal had to go over and summon the Head for an urgent conversation, only to pull him aside where no one could see them.

"Don't take too much on yourself!" Pittsu almost shouted at him. "Do you think you're all-powerful?"

Liam pursed his lips and puffed with anger and resentment. Protecting the weak, and helping the underprivileged was his main calling in life, at least that's what he believed.

The marshal saw how nervous Liam was and thought of nothing better to do than to drag him behind a rock, away from prying eyes, and hold him close to him.

"What are you doing," Liam pulled away as hard as he could.

"You're not yourself, calm down, let me just hold you," the marshal whispered to him, clasping his hands tightly around his back.

"You're crazy!" Liam struggled with him.

"You've had a hell of a day," the marshal murmured in his ear, "you have a right to lose your temper."

"Let me go!" With less fervor, the man insisted.

"Look at you, thinking of everybody but yourself."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Who will care for you?" The question made Liam remember Cal, and the whole day from the beginning. He clenched his teeth and answered through them.

"I'm strong, I'll figure it out on my own…"

"Sweet fool," the marshal stroked his head and pressed him to his chest.

This broke a dam in Liam's soul, and he cried. At first, silently, shuddering his whole body, and then more and more strongly, hiding his crushed cry on the marshal's chest. Suddenly all the worries and dangers came over him, sweeping away the protective barriers of self-control.

The marshal kept stroking his head and shoulders, saying warm words, but not the fact that Liam heard him. He clutched at the marshal's clothes, grasping at him like a drowning man.

Gradually he spilled out his emotions, realizing how confused and tired he was.

Feeling grateful to his friend, he patted his collarbone and asked him to let go.

The Marshal unclasped his hands and dabbed Liam's wet eyes with his sleeve. After coming to his senses, the Head coughed to get rid of the hoarseness in his voice.

"Thanks..."

"Let's figure out a way to save these people and find Zhu-Er, shall we?" answered the marshal.

"Let's get together for a council," Liam replied and stepped out from behind the rock to call his students.

They sat down at a distance and began to discuss the situation, drawing a plan on the ground.

"What we have," began Liam, "is a dying planet, teeming with dangerous creatures. We can't fight them off."

Everyone was silent.

"We have about two hundred people to save, but all the platforms seem to have been destroyed."

"Can we use that rock where the portal is open?" Nood asked.

"It's not easy. As you can see, the portal is through and through. From somewhere else, these things came to the planet and then, through the lake, to the Academy," Liam said.

"If we use the portal, we'll either be at the Academy or somewhere else," the marshal suggested.

It took time to think it over and find a way out.

"But if there is no other way out, we will have to take our chances," said the marshal.

Nood thought so, too, but still asked:

"How do you get all those people to that rock?"

"Indeed, how?" Liam muttered.

"We use the net!" Rashid exclaimed cheerfully, and everyone stared at him in surprise.

"What?!"

Rashid looked at the people in confusion.

"Haven't you ever used a gold net to catch dragons?"

"Explain yourself normally," the marshal demanded.

Rashid swallowed half his words in agitation but tried to explain.

"My uncle had a farm of his own in Aether. He kept several pairs of dragons there. Sometimes their cubs would wander into his fields and trample them, and then he'd figure out a way to avoid it. When the dragons wandered off again, he'd use a golden energy net and carry them back behind the river where they lived."

"That sounds..." said the marshal.

"It's very improbable and strange," Liam added.

"But it was." Rashid, the truth-teller, exclaimed.

"Can you demonstrate it? Do you know how to cast this net?" The marshal asked.

"It's easy, ouch," Rashid grasped his head, because Nood, who doesn't like his friend's bravado, smacked him.

"Do first, then speak," Nood growled at him softly, and then he stroked his head and added, "I'm sorry, does it hurt much?"

"No," he snarled and pushed his friend's hand away, "I'll show you."

He rose from his seat, rubbed and stretched his arms, tilted his head to the side, moved as if before a sports contest, and even jumped on the spot.

Marshall propped his hand on his head, staring dejectedly at the spectacle. Liam massaged his throbbing temples, and Nood crossed his arms over his chest.

The audience was not the most appreciative, but Rashid was trying. Taking a thick stick, he began to draw intersecting lines on the ground.

When he made a two-by-two field, he sat down and put his hand on one of the lines. Liam leaned forward to see better.

Rashid closed his eyes and began to pour energy into his drawing. Suddenly all the grooves filled with a golden glow and after a few minutes, he picked up the finished golden net with two fingers and threw it sharply over his friend. Nood jumped up in surprise and immediately disappeared.

"Where is he?" The marshal shouted.

Everyone instantly focused on Rashid.