Chapter 24

         "What?" we gasped.

         "That's impossible, there's no way that the Elders, Vadrak, and the Master of the Elements could have built the new dimension," Izumi said.

         "It's not impossible," Irvin said quietly. "It's happening now.

         "What do we do? What can we do?" Timur asked in a panicky voice.

         We all looked at Irvin, but he shook his head sadly, and said, "I'm sorry. I don't know. If we tried to jump in front of everyone and stop them with our powers, Vadrak would kill us."

         "Maybe we could mingle in the crowd and find out what's really going on," I suggested.

         "I like that idea," Vesta said.

         "Wait a minute though. Aden, you said that you were different when Vadrak tried his psychological powers on you. You were cocky and arrogant. Why aren't we feeling anything?" Timur asked.

         "Vadrak's using up a lot of his power to control everyone. He probably doesn't have the extra energy to exert on us," I replied.

         "We have to do something, but we can't do that something if we don't know what the problem is," Vesta said logically.

         "I believe you're right," Irvin agreed. "I think we should stick together. Even if the ten of us can't go together, I think we need a partner at the least, and since there's going to be a greater distance involved this time, we should think about a way to find each other again. Do you still have the crystals that you used for spying on Vadrak through the wall of your element?"

         We all still had them, though it was somewhat of a surprise. I recalled Irvin saying "guard them with your life" but I hadn't really thought about them since we had used the crystals last. Mine was still glowing red as I pulled it out of my pocket.

         "These ten crystals are linked to one another," Irvin started. "Not all of them are linked to each one specifically. Each crystal has five partners. For example, my crystal is partnered with Izumi's and the four other crystals that my brothers have. Aden, your crystal is linked with Vesta's, mine, Hearst's, Demetrio's, and Timur's. Based on the way that these are linked, we should all be able to find each other again. The crystal should get brighter the closer it gets to one of its partners. Right now, your crystals are all glowing. That's because we are all close to each other. If we spread out, they will slowly start to fade I recall saying before 'guard them with your life.' Now, I believe that those words need to be heard again. I can't say that I know what Vadrak is doing, but if I were to guess, I would say he is now kicking us off of Dimension A."

         "Aden, you said before that sending Vadrak back to Dimension Z might be the best course of action," Vesta said. "Do you think that it would be possible to change the destination of the portal? Perhaps we could send Vadrak and perhaps The Master back to Dimension Z. Make the final destination of the portal Dimension Z instead of the new dimension the Elders, Vadrak, and The Master built."

         "I have no idea if there's any way to do that or not. I think that we need to know more. Irvin, how do we know which link we're getting closer to?" I asked.

         "What do you mean?" Irvin asked.

         "I mean, if I had already found you and our brothers but I wanted to find Vesta, my crystal would still light up because I'm close to you, Demetrio, Timur, and Hearst. How could I find Vesta?"

         "I see what you mean. I'm not sure exactly, but I have a theory," Irvin said. "I think that the crystal will change to fit its bearer's thought. For example, Aden, if you wanted to find Vesta, but Hearst, Demetrio, Timur, and I were around, the crystal would understand your thoughts; you want to find Vesta. Each crystal has bonded to its bearer. I don't know how, but I believe that I am correct."

         "I think we need to move now and find out what's going on," Timur said. "I think we should stay with a partner and rendez-vous at a safe house once we've found out everything we need to know. I thought ahead of time and reserved one just in case. Safe house number 25. Let's go."

         We automatically moved towards those who shared our element. As soon as we were with our partners, we all climbed out of the treehouse and lost ourselves in the crowd.

         Vesta and I held onto each other to avoid being swept away in the massive swarm of hecapsycheires. We had lost my brothers and our friends almost as soon as we hit the ground. There were still more hecapsycheires leaving the park, we were only in the middle. Vesta and I fought our way through the crowd, trying to get closer to the front of the line. We managed to get to the fifth line, but by then, we saw what was happening. Vadrak was summoning the hecapsycheires. We didn't know where exactly, but we were pretty sure that it was to the new dimension. Vesta tried asking hecapsycheires around us what was going on exactly, but they walked on as if they never heard her.

         We jogged with the crowd for another fifteen minutes until we came to a large stadium. Forgive me, large is not the word. Enormous wouldn't even describe the size of the stadium. It seemed as if the entire hecapsycheir population was in the stadium. Seeing 5,000,000 hecapsycheires in one place must be a once in a lifetime chance. There was a large stage in the center but I have no idea how everyone would be able to hear the hecapsycheir speaking at the center stage. The stage was approximately 50 feet long by 30 feet wide, and it was about 5 feet off the ground with stairs on every side. All of the seats surrounded the stage and grew wider and taller the closer they got to the outside of the stadium. Vesta and I walked in with the crowd and took seats that were in the far back so as to avoid the prying eyes of Vadrak. It took an hour at least for everyone to be seated, so Vesta and I talked while we waited.

         "What are we going to do?" Vesta asked in a worried voice.

         "I think what we need to do is get a brief idea of what's happening, and then we can teleport out of here."

         Vesta nodded, but then she said, "What if Vadrak sees us? He won't know that Gina, Aurelia, Izumi, Tamara, and I have the powers, but if he sees you, he'll try to kill you."

         "I don't think so, not with the crowd."

         "What do you mean? If I wanted to kill you, doing it in a crowd would be simple so long as you and I weren't the center of attention."

         "But he's had chances to kill us. If he shows up here, today, then it means that he can get onto the hecapsycheir level. That says that he could have found and killed us anytime we were traveling from the Land of Fire up until this point."

         We couldn't talk for much longer because it got too loud to hear each other over the crowd. We sat in silence until we both saw a sight that make our jaws drop.

         "Aden," she said, turning to me. "It's him."

         It was Vadrak. Standing on the stage, he was there. This was no illusion, no happy dream where he could not hurt me. Next to him was the most undesirable hecapsycheir I had ever met. Troy. He still wore the distasteful and ironic grin on his face.

         The third figure on the stage was not one I recognized. He was surrounded by a great aura of power as he stood next to Vadrak. Vadrak was approximately six and a half feet tall, but he was truly dwarfed in comparison. The figure must have been at least eight feet tall with a black cloak around him.

         I slowly started to understand who the figure was. He appeared to be surrounded by all of the elements together, combined with a great aura of power that told me he was the Master of the Elements.

         Troy stood at Vadrak's side and spoke to the audience. I was surprised by how well I could hear his voice. I had no idea how the acoustics worked but it was clear that the architects had done their job.

         "Hecapsycheires," Troy started. " 'Tis a great honor to introduce the man on this stage. He has come from a distant land, but his wisdom and powers have brought us all together. I proudly introduce to you, Vadrak, the King of the Elements."

         Vadrak took Troy's place in the center of the stage and spoke to us in a raspy voice, "Welcome hecapsycheires. There are ten hecapsycheires specifically that I welcome. I know you are here, and I would like you all to listen. I once tried to kill Aden, Demetrio, Timur, Irvin, and Hearst, all sons of Sergius. I regretted that once I understood their underlying powers. Like each of you, they can control one of the five elements. They even figured out how to transfer their powers to five female hecapsycheires: Vesta, daughter of Julius; Gina, daughter of Darcy; Aurelia, daughter of Fraser; Izumi, daughter of Marius; and Tamara, daughter of Yul.

         "I would like to offer a compromise. If you ten work for me of your own free will, I shall not be forced to work against you. You already know that right next to me is none other than the Master of the Elements. Sons of Sergius, I know you are here, and if you do not come down to this stage free of will, I will force you down here."

         Instead of getting up, I stared straight at Vadrak, and signaled Vesta to do the same. We telepathically sent a message telling him that we would never help him.

         "No?" Vadrak questioned. "Such a mistake."

         Vadrak raised his arm, and the next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground at his feet. There was a pain in my lower back from where the stadium seat had ejected me right onto the stage. I stood up, only to fall back to the ground when Vesta landed on top of me.

         "Sorry," she whispered, and we both stood up.

         My brothers and our friends were soon ejected towards us, but we were afraid to catch them because Vadrak was watching us.

         I was too close to Vadrak for my taste. His sour breath infiltrated my nostrils and made me gag. I stepped back toward my brothers, but I knew I could never leave the stadium, much less the stage.

         "Hecapsycheires," Vadrak said. "Standing next to me is someone who is extremely powerful. This, is the Master of the Elements."

         The Master stepped forward and spoke in a robotic, monotonus voice. "Today is the day of the transfer. These ten will be the first to travel through the portal. You will all follow in groups of fifty. Your beloved Elders will join you last, but watch and learn as the sons of Sergius, and the daughters of Julius, Darcy, Fraser, Marius, and Yul set your example."

         The Master motioned for us to leave the stage. Vadrak had ten of his Heinous Knights drag us off the stage as he and Troy followed. The Master stepped to the edge of the stage and waved his hand. He sank to his knees with his head facing the opposite side of the stage. I wasn't positive, but I was pretty sure that he was chanting a spell to create a portal. I tried to get away, but the Heinous Knight's grip was too strong.

         The Master of the Elements got to his feet just as the stage was ripped apart to reveal a portal. I had never seen a portal before, but it was what I would have expected. It appeared to be a pit though I couldn't see the bottom. It was quite dark, and I felt a pull towards it. Not a very strong pull, but I felt that if I got much closer, I was afraid that I would have been pulled in.

         "Now, the sons of Sergius and their friends are about to experience the great honor of being the first to see the new dimension, a new world built entirely by the Elders and the Master of the Elements," Vadrak said, not crediting himself. "Come, let us begin."

         The Heinous Knights started to push us toward the portal. I didn't know what to do. I was afraid that I would be torn into millions of pieces in that dark, seemingly endless hole. I fought the Heinous Knight with all my strength, but he was too strong. I was surprised a human could be so strong. That was when I realized he was a traitorous hecapsycheir dressed in a Heinous Knight's armor. He blasted me with water until I was only five feet away from the edge of the portal. I could not resist the pull of the portal. I was going over . . . over . . . over . . . .