Part 8

Early the next morning, Taran woke up. He looked out of the window. The sun was just coming up over the horizon. The city looked so peaceful. When he opened the door to the main room, it didn't seem peaceful anymore. The room was still trashed from last night's battle. There was glass shattered all over the floor, tears and scars in the walls, burned furniture and scratched up doors. The place was a mess.

Taran went back into the bedroom. He woke up Argog and then headed to the main room and knocked on Kyrin's door, whom was also with Calis. He waited for the rest of them to get dressed and ready. They placed some money by Lua's father's room, to cover for the damages. They went down stairs to the lobby and went to the buffet for an early breakfast.

"OK." Taran said. "Where is she?"

Argog responded, "Xolis said something about Ikora Island when he took her."

"There are tons of islands out there," said Taran. "Which one is Ikora?"

"Hey." said Calis. "I remember Ikora Island. I found it while I was exploring."

"Do you still remember where it is?" asked Kyrin.

"Yeah, I could point it out on a map of Aceous Bay."

"We'll, I think I saw a map near the entrance." said Kyrin.

"Let's go." said Taran.

In front of the main door they saw the map. Calis looked at the map for a while. She looked and looked and then pointed. "There." she said.

"What are you talking about?" asked Taran. "That's not even an island, it's in the middle of the water."

"No, that's the spot all right. The island's supposed to be a big secret. It's where the Syth do all the things that they don't want the public or the GUARD to know about."

"How do you know that?"

"I did a little ease dropping while I was there."

"So how do we get there?" asked Argog.

"I know of a secret way in, but we'll need to go with scuba gear."

"Why?" asked Kyrin.

"It's the only way to get through the secret entrance. I think I saw a scuba shop last night, at the harbor."

"OK." said Taran. "Let's go."

The four of them headed to the boardwalk. There were several shops and temporary buildings. Calis led them to the scuba shop where they bought four sets of scuba gear and Taran bought a sword since Xolis had stolen his when he was out with Kyrin. They took turns changing in the back of the small store where they had a fitting room. When they were done, they walked out on the long dock. They rented a small motorized boat, got in, and sailed towards the island.

Taran continued to glance at Kyrin. She looked beautiful in the wet suit as it clung tightly to her body, defining her true figure, that had previous been hidden by overlapping layers of clothing and whatnot. She looked more beautiful now than she ever had before, and to Taran that was saying a whole lot. She looked gorgeous in anything.

"We need to stop now," said Calis.

"Why?"

"The only reason I found this entrance is because I had to. There's a mine field just up ahead that blew up my boat last time I was here." They stopped the boat and Kyrin, Calis, and Taran hopped in while Argog stayed with the boat. The water was cold and the wet suits clung to their skin but it was refreshing since they hadn't had time to take a shower earlier in the morning. They followed Calis who was holding a waterproof compass she had bought earlier. Calis led them to a small opening in a rock bed. They swam into a long, underwater tunnel. It soon turned upwards and they followed it, taking them to the surface of the water.

They surfaced inside a small cave. There was a door cut out in one of the walls, and then sealed shut with steel. The three of them got out of the water and went over to examine the door. There was a control panel near the door. Calis keyed in an access code and the door slid open. They walked into a long hall, made of steel or iron. There was water dripping down from their wet bodies, leaving a small trail.

"Where did you learn the code?" asked Kyrin.

"Being a treasure hunter, I'm also a problem solver." She responded. "I cracked it the first time I came here."

"It looks like we haven't been detected." commented Taran.

"So far." said Calis. "Let's just hope it stays that way." They continued down the hall. A robotic guard spotted them and started firing stun lasers. Taran tried to destroy it, but it was shielded from the front. Kyrin ran around behind it, and smashed it with her iron tipped staff.

"Good job." Taran complimented.

"Thanks." she answered. Apparently, the robot guard either hadn't sounded an alarm or everyone was too busy to answer it because they didn't have any more problems. They came into a large room that had a walkway, but the rest of it was filled with water. Floating in the water were several submarines.

"This is the main entrance." Calis explained. "The complex doesn't reach to the top of the island, all traffic is done below the surface." The three of them continued made it into the heart of the complex without running into any actual people, and only a couple robotic guards that they destroyed. Finally, when they came into a hall with several doors, there were two robotic guards standing by a door. Kyrin, Calis, and Taran took them out easily.

They approached the door and Taran leaned against it, to listen. He heard both Lua and Xolis, and also the president of the Syth, Vilo. Taran kicked open the door and the three of them rushed in. "Who the heck are they!?" demanded Vilo. There were four humans in black suits and two robotic guards that started to attack the three of them. Lua was chained to a wall. Vilo and Xolis backed up towards another door.

The human soldiers started blasting with laser guns. Kyrin, Calis, and Taran were able to dodge them pretty easily and then took out one of them. The robotic guards projected a beam at Taran. It hit surrounded him and then turned solid, he couldn't get out. The same happened to Calis. The remaining humans started blasting at them. Calis and Taran pressed themselves against the 'wall' of the field. The lasers came through; they missed Taran and Calis and continued to the opposite 'wall' where they bounced off and started flying around inside the field until they struck the two of them.

Kyrin cast a water spell and two large waves crashed against the robotic guards, damaging the circuitry and destroying both the robots and the fields. Taran and Calis, who were now free, charged at the three remaining humans and took them out pretty easily. When the battle was over, Vilo and Xolis left the room through the other door.

Calis ran over to Lua and got her down. "Thanks." she said.

"Save it for later." Taran responded. "We've got to catch those two."

Kyrin, Taran, and Calis ran after them. They headed down a long hall and came out into a small room filled with water. There was a sub that Xolis and Vilo hopped in and then closed the hatch. Then the sub started to make its way to the opposite side of the room "Great!" shouted Taran. "Now what!?"

"I think we should run," said Kyrin. They looked up. Two large doors began to open and tons of water rushed in.

They ran back through the door they had come. Several airtight doors slid shut behind them as they ran back down the hall. They grabbed Lua and started running back to Calis' entrance.

"Wait!" Lua said. "We've got to help somebody."

"Who?" Taran asked.

"I think his name is Oron, but that's not important. Come on, I'll show you the way." They followed her and came to a door. Taran destroyed it and saw a man inside a small room. He was large and masculine. His head was shaved bald but he had a thin mustache and a little goatee. He was wearing a rugged GUARD military uniform that consisted of loose, dark, camouflaged pants, a white shirt, and a camouflaged jacket that bore the GUARD emblem on the back. Upon seeing them he got up and followed them to Calis' entrance.

They dove into the pool and Lua reluctantly followed, since she was still wearing her scientific outfit and was not equipped with scuba gear. The man dove in more eagerly, he wasn't ready to let some water get in his way. They swam hard through the tunnel. When they came out into the open bay again, Lua pointed to her mouth and then up towards the surface. Not having an air tank, she was completely out of oxygen. The man also had to surface.

Lua and the man headed up to the top, they could only stay for a while or else torpedo aimers would find them, but still, they would continue to swim just under the surface. The other three continued along in deeper water. They could see the bottom of the boat when they were grabbed by something. Turning to look down, they saw a giant squid, with tentacles wrapped around their legs.

Calis started to fire a few arrows at it, but her bow didn't work under the water. Taran drew his sword and then sliced at the tentacle around his leg. He made a clean cut and was free. He swam over to Kyrin and set her free, he did the same for Calis. The squid's arms thrashed at them, trying to injure them, but they were too quick and got out of the way. Taran went closer and started slicing at the main body while Kyrin tried to wrap up the tentacles around her staff.

It worked; the squid was caught and was unable to defend itself against Taran. Acknowledging defeat, it squirted a cloud of black ink at them as it disappeared. The three of them swam up to the boat and pulled themselves in. Lua had already made it in and was trying do dry off her soaked cloths. "OK." she said. "I guess you want me to tell you what happened." They all nodded.

"Well, first Xolis captured me, then brought me here. They through me in a room and later began to interrogate me. I told them what they wanted to know, I think they drugged me or something. Then they did some experiment on me. That's where I met Oron."

"I guess it's time for my story. OK, a while ago I was a member of the GUARD, Great Unified Aceous Republic Defense. I was doing well, got promoted many times, and almost made it to the Omega Fleet. Anyway, a few months ago I was sent into the Rayen Jungle to try and see if Catalyst really exists or not."

"Catalyst?"

"It's a group of highly trained professionals. They're also the Syth underground, trying to slowly destroy the GUARD. President Vilo of the Syth is also their president, but no ones supposed to know anything about them. Anyway, I got caught and was brought to Ikora. They stripped me of my military ranking, and all ID. They erased me from existence. Some doctors said they were going to test out an experiment, to make me stronger. They did some operation on me; I wasn't quite sure what it was. All I remember is that something went wrong."

"That's the same experiment they did on me." said Lua. "Anyway, the important part is what I found out from them. The scroll that was found, telling about the altars, said that they point the way to the Ta'Kor city. They discovered, when I told them where the altars were, that they form a triangle that stretches out across Aceous. In the very center of the triangle, is where the city is."

"Why do they want to go to the Ta'Kor's old city?" asked Kyrin. "Isn't it all run down by now?"

"Well, probably. I think I know why though. I figured out more about the experiments they did on Oron and I. The Syth are trying to reproduce Koras and then infuse them with people. My boss, Yarmok, was just about done perfecting this method. Well, now they have. All they need are powerful Koras to clone."

"What's that have to do with the Ta'Kor city?" asked Taran.

"The scroll says, that in the Ta'Kor city, are two more altars, where the most powerful Koras are held. If the Syth get to them, and infuse their soldiers with the Koras, they would take over Aceous before anyone knows what's going on."

"OK then." said Oron. "It looks like we have a new mission. We don't have to reveal the Syth to the public, we've got to stop them from taking over Aceous, from taking over the world."

"To do that," said Kyrin. "We've got to get to Ta'Kor city, before the Syth do."

"It's too late." said Lua.

"What do you mean?"

"They're already there."

"How can they be there already? They just figured out where it was."

"They were there before they figured it out. You see, the location of the Ta'Kor city, is directly beneath the streets of Syth."