Part 3

Taran's face was facing the ground. He was completely exhausted. The bird's power seemed to fade and a lightning bolt had struck and killed it. Lua came over and knelt down beside him. "What happened?" she asked.

Taran pushed up on his arms to lift his body up. "I... I... I don't know..."

"Well, whatever it was, it was weird. I've got to report this to the Syth right away!" she glanced back at Taran. "Come on. I'll take you back to the cabin."

"That's, OK. I think... I can manage." He was quiet and Lua could tell he was straining even to lift himself onto his feet.

She rummaged through her pockets until she pulled out a small potion. "Here." she said as she handed the flask to him. "Drink this." Taran nodded, took the flask, and gulped it down. Instantly he felt his strength returning to him, but he was still weak.

As they headed down, Taran was quickly regaining strength and suddenly, he began to float about a foot above the ground. "What the...?" exclaimed Lua. "How are you doing that?"

Taran looked down in surprise. "I guess it's magic, but I could never do that before..."

Lua looked very perplexed. "You're gonna have to explain everything to me, but later. Right now we've got to go back to Syth Tower so I can report this." At the cabin, Taran started to pack Lua's bags while she started writing some logs. It wasn't long before he had packed up almost everything. He looked around amazed at himself, all the devices that had previously been scattered on the floor were now all packed up in black bags that bore the Syth emblem of a metallic dragon.

"When are you leaving?" asked Taran

"Now. I've got to go back to the Syth to report my findings immediately. I'd really like it if you came along too, if you're not too busy. I know you've got a lot to explain to yourself."

"Why do you want me to come?" he asked, trying to hide the fact that he had no where to go if he didn't go along with her.

"Well, you were the one that actually experienced that, that, whatever that was. You could probably explain it to them more thoroughly."

"OK. I guess I could come along."

"Great! Let's go!"

"Wait, I haven't even had breakfast yet."

"We'll stop at Caflig for lunch. Don't worry, it's on me. After all, this could be the biggest break of my career. Let's go!"

They trudged down the windy mountainside, though it had died down a great bit after the incident at the altar. They were both carrying some of Lua's bags and equipment. The hike was long but it got easier as they went. The hike was steep but gradually became more level. After a few hours of walking they came to the base of the hills and could see Caflig just up ahead.

As Lua had said, they stopped at a cafe in Caflig for lunch. After their meal, they bought a ticket aboard a ferry that was sailing for Syth harbor. The voyage reminded Taran of the day before, when he had been sailing with Kyrin to the Academy. So many things had happened since that day. They all seemed so big, he didn't know where he fit in to all this.

The ferry anchored in at Syth harbor. There was a limousine waiting for the two of them when they got off of the boat. A man in a suit opened the door for them as they climbed into the back. The driver didn't need to ask for a destination, he knew where they were headed. When the limo pulled up to the front of the Syth Tower, an escort was waiting for them.

Taran looked up at the tall building as he headed in. He had seen it many times before, but never so close, and after being away from it for a while he now had a new appreciation for its beauty. The building was tall, at least fifty floors. There were several glass elevators that ran up and down the sides of the skyscraper. On one side of the tall building was the big clock that faced the harbor. On the other side was a painting of a giant metallic dragon. Three fourths of the way up, there was a break in all the windows and walls where there was a huge landing pad. This was for helicopters and other planes. Supported on top of the building, was the old Ta'Kor capitol castle. It was preserved on top of Syth Tower just as it had been when GUARD took over the city.

Some large men came, averting Taran's focus from the building, and took Lua's bags while the escort guided Lua and Taran to one of the elevators. They followed him as he pressed a button. At one of the higher floors he showed them out into a hall. They passed several security checks and then came into a large room filled with paintings, exotic plants, and a fountain. There was a large door with two men standing on either side. The escort approached one of the men.

"Lua is here to see the president."

"Who's he?" one of the men asked in an unemotional voice.

Lua answered him. "He was the one that helped me out with the... technical stuff."

The men nodded. They both turned around and placed their hands on an ID scanner. The large doors hissed and then slid open. The escort gestured to the circular room beyond but didn't enter himself. As soon as both Lua and Taran had stepped through, the doors slowly closed behind him.

The circular room was not lit except for a large window opposite the door that spanned the entire height and a long ways around the room. There was a crescent shaped desk in front of the window facing Lua and Taran. On the desk there was a small view screen, a control deck with a few buttons, and many papers in neat piles. Behind the desk there was a large leather bound chair that was facing the window. It slowly turned to face them. Sitting in the chair was the president, Vilo.

The president looked middle aged. He was still very fit and in shape. His figure was slim and masculine with broad shoulders. His head was shaved bald and revealed his ears that nearly stuck to the side of his head. He wore a black business suit and stared at the two, barely blinking. "Well?" he inquired. "What is it? I'm a very busy man, don't waste my time."

"Yes, sir." said Lua. "Sorry sir. I am Lua Vonwill, one of the science department heads under Yarmok. His orders were for me to research a particular monument built at the time of the Ta'Kor. When I was..."

"I know what your orders were." glared the president. "Tell me what you found."

"Yes sir. Yesterday morning, I found Taran here unconscious at the altar." The president glanced at Taran for a moment. "When I took him back, both he and the altar began to glow and he started to utter some incantation. I wrote all this down, my reports right here." She took out a small data pad and handed it to the president.

The president glanced at the pad and then nodded. "Just as I had hoped. Thank you for providing us with this information. This will surely fit many parts of the puzzle together for my research crew."

"But I thought..." stuttered Lua.

"You thought what?" the president asked calmly.

"I thought that I would head this project, sir."

"Well then, Lua I think it was. You were terribly mistaken."

"But, I don't understand. Why?"

"You know too much Lua."

"But I thought, I thought you paid me to know and to understand..."

"Wrong again. I pay you to find pieces of the puzzle, so that others can put it together."

"What puzzle is that, sir?" she asked.

"I told you already, you know too much. Goodbye Lua."

"But, are you saying I'm fired!?"

"Of course not!" The president threw his head back in a hearty laugh, but then regained his stature and calm voice in less than an instant. "I'm saying you're dead." The president pressed a button on his desk. The floor beneath Lua and Taran slid away and they fell into a dark chute. The panel slid back into place and the president pressed a second button to open the intercom to the outside office. "Send in the next appointment." he said, as if nothing had happened.

Taran sat up. Lua was in a corner crying. They were in a small, dark room. There was a skeleton crouched against one of the walls. Taran stood up and tried to look around but it was too dark. "What do we do now?" he asked Lua.

"How am I supposed to know?" she replied between sobs.

"Well I just assumed that since you know everything..."

Lua interrupted him. Know everything!? Know everything!? I obviously wasn't smart enough to figure out that Yarmok and the president were just using me, to put together something that is probably way to complicated for me!"

"OK, sorry. I guess I'll just have to figure a way out of here." He started feeling his way around the walls. He though he felt something and pulled it. A crack of light began to form at one of the walls. It grew in height and appeared to be an opening door. When there was a complete doorway, Taran stepped out into a well-lit room made of stone. There were several platforms spread out all over the room. On the furthest platform there was a statue.

The statue was of some kind of creature. It looked somewhat like a human. It was short and had a small lizards tail. It had two arms and two legs but they each had some sort of claws forming from them. Its head was shaped like a man's but more pointed. The creature seemed to be wearing a cape. Suddenly, the statue began to move, slowly at first, but then more rapidly. The stone turned to some type of scaleish skin and the creature stretched out its limbs.

"Lua, I... I think you'd better come take a look at this."

"I already have." she said from the new position she had taken beside Taran.

"My orders are to destroy any who come down here." moaned the beast. "So I will destroy you..." The creature lunged towards them. They both fell out of the way. Taran pulled out a sword that he had bought at Caflig and Lua assembled a gun out of a few parts that she had kept with her during the meeting with the president.

Lua fired the gun at the beast. It roared and then thrashed at her with its claws. Taran ran up behind it and slashed with his sword. The beast's tail whipped around the sword's hilt and then tossed the blade to the other side of the room. The creature then turned towards Taran and kicked him off the platform and down to the floor.

The beast jumped towards Lua, picked her up, and then tossed her over to Taran's sword. She slammed against the wall and then fell to the floor, unconscious. Taran punched the creature but it's scaleish skin was hard and solid. Taran's knuckles began to bleed. The whipping tail hit Taran in the gut and sent him sprawled down on the floor. The beast approached Taran and put one foot on him, pinning him to the floor. "Argog is again triumphant!" it said.

With the last of his efforts, Taran shot forth his arms and a gust of wind slammed Argog against a wall. Getting up, Taran used a spell to blow his sword over to him and sliced at the air. Out of the sword, a bolt of lightning struck the creature as he was getting up, and Taran, being unprepared, was thrown to the floor as well. "That was... that was magic!" Argog bewilderedly exclaimed as he got to his feet. "I am sorry sir. I did not imagine that this day would come so soon, and certainly not here!" Argog grabbed Taran's forearm and pulled him to his feet.

"What are you talking about?" Taran asked.

"I am Argog, guardian of the Ta'Kor. Any who are Ta'Kor, and use magic, are under my protection. You are Ta'Kor, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I, I think so."

Lua, who was now fully active again, came over to join the conversation. "If, you're the guardian of the Ta'Kor, why are you here, wherever this is?"

"A long time ago, the Ta'Kor were defeated and lost there power. Since then, my people have had no one to protect, so we sold our services to whoever would pay."

"And those people were the Syth?" asked Lua.

"Yes, the president paid me to dispatch of anyone who he wished to get rid of, without any sign of their disappearance."

Taran spoke now. "You said 'my people.' Does that mean that there are more of you?"

"Yes, most likely. We were spread throughout the world when the Ta'Kor lost there power."

"I don't know a lot," said Taran, "but didn't the Ta'Kor go out of power hundreds of years ago?"

"Yes." responded Argog.

"So wouldn't that mean you would be hundreds of years old?"

"One thousand, six hundred and ninety nine actually. It will soon be my second seven hundredth forge day."

"Forge day?" asked Taran.

"Yes, my people were not born, we were carved by the Ta'Kor and then brought to life by magic. Because of this, we shall live many thousands of years beyond the age of any of our creators."

"I see."

"Enough with the chit chat!" interrupted Lua. "Do you know a way out of here or not!?"

"Well, yes I do but,"

"Hold on Lua. If this guys been around the Ta'Kor, then maybe he can tell us what happened at the altar."

"The altar. That would explain why could you use air magic so well and so long after the Ta'Kor disappeared. The altars were places to keep the Koras."

"Koras?"

"The Koras were the source of the Ta'Kor's magic. The Koras are magical entities. When the Koras joined with the Ta'Kor, it enabled them to use magic."

"So, what happened at the altar?"

"Most likely, another Kora receded within your body, enabling you to use it's magic."

"Another, are you saying that there's already more than one inside of me?"

"Yes, everybody is born with a Kora that reflects their person, you just have to have Ta'Kor blood in order to use that Kora."

"This is all very interesting." remarked Lua. "But can we please get out of here. We have got to finish the president's so called 'puzzle' before the Syth do."

"Very well...uhm, I'm sorry but I did not catch your name?"

"Lua." she said.

"Very well Lua, since you seem to be a friend of Taran, I shall take both of you under my protection and show you a way out of here." His 'cape' spread open and showed that they were actually wings.

"Can you fly?" asked Lua.

"Not really, they are mainly used for gliding. But I can gain some height." Taran climbed on his back and he held Lua in one arm. He leaped up to the ceiling of the room. He pressed one of the stones in and a section of the ceiling fell to the floor with a crash revealing an opening. Argog climbed in with Taran and Lua.

They were now in another small, dark room. Taran got off and Argog let Lua go. He drew his cape around him so that it almost resembled a coat. He punched the dark door open and the light from the streets of Syth City shone through.