Sonora, and the Scroll of Alexandria Read online

  Brandon hit the throttle and pushed the plane gently forward. The cabin rattled as the Cessna gained speed. There was a slight shudder, and Brandon jerked the yoke, causing the plane to turn to the left.

  “Sorry about that,” he said, straightening out the plane. “We’re all good.” Allora gave him a questioning glance. Brandon laughed. “Just a small bump in the runway. Forgot that it was there.”

  Then he pulled up on the yoke. The nose of the plane lifted, and they were in the air. Allora felt the feeling of temporary weightlessness, like butterflies in the stomach. In the distance, the skyscrapers of Portland jutted up from the hills. Brandon banked left, bringing the plane east toward the mountain. Despite the sound of the propellers, it was peaceful. Allora marveled at how small everything looked from that height. All of her problems seemed so small from that vantage point. She placed her hands in her pockets and pulled out the small obsidian orb that they had found underneath Crater Lake. The Eye of the Titans was mesmerizing. She spun it in her hands, wondering about its secrets. Suddenly, the object started to glow purple. The cabin filled with light. Taken off guard, she accidently dropped it. Allora tried to grab it, but her seatbelt held her back. The orb rolled and stopped underneath Dax’s seat.

  “What are you doing?” Tanner asked.

  “I’m not doing anything,” Allora responded, equally perplexed. “It just started happening on its own.”

  “What is that?” Jenny asked, turning in her chair as the purple glow filled the cabin with light.

  “Uh…,” Allora mumbled.

  “A fair prize,” Katie interjected.

  Allora smiled and nodded.

  Then something in the distance caught Brandon’s eye, like a glint of light being reflected off something metal. He squinted in the bright sunlight, trying to make out the object. Meanwhile, Dax unclipped his belt and bent down to grab the Eye.

  “Hey, George?” he said on the intercom. “George!”

  “Yeah. What?” the voice asked.

  “Do you have any other flights over this area right now?”

  “Nope. Just you guys.”

  A strange chill shot through Allora’s spine, and the hair on her forearms rose. She looked through the narrow space between the seats of the cockpit and saw an eerie-looking red light appear as the metal glint turned into a large, circular flying machine. She quickly shimmied between the seats, lunged forward, and pushed down on the yoke. The Eye rolled to the left side, next to Katie’s feet. Everyone was yanked forward and to the left as the bright-red light exploded into the right side of the plane. The door was ripped from its hinges, and the force of the explosion door through the seat, pulling Dax sideways. He grabbed the shredded seatbelt, and his body violently smacked into the side of the plane as the wind tried to pull him backward.

  As Brandon pulled back on the yoke and righted the plane, the Eye of the Titans rolled from the left side of the plane. Allora saw it and crawled backward from the cockpit, trying to grasp it. It was rolling right toward the opening. Dax was screaming as he clung onto the belt with one arm. Tanner and Katie released themselves from their seatbelts, reaching across to try to pull Dax in. Allora launched over the seats, reaching for the orb as it got to the opening. It flew out of the cabin, but Dax saw it and grabbed the object before it plummeted.

  “I’m slipping!” Dax screamed, again smashing into the side of the plane.

  “Hold on, buddy,” Tanner said, using all of his strength to pull on the belt. Katie reached across and took a part of the strap. The nylon began to rip. Tanner saw the tear, reached out, and grabbed Dax’s wrist as the belt tore completely. Katie’s momentum released, sending her backward into the other side of the plane. Allora reached around Tanner and yelled for Dax to give her the Eye. He swung his arm forward, handing off the glowing purple orb. Then Tanner pulled with all of his strength. They yanked him into the cabin, breathing heavily, just as they saw the glint of metal streaking toward them.

  “Brandon, you have to listen to me very carefully,” Allora said, crawling over the seats again, and glaring seriously into his eyes. “We don’t have that much time to explain, but those objects are not friendly.”

  “Really?” he answered sarcastically. “No kidding.”

  “You want to be a fighter pilot, right?” He just looked back with confused eyes. “Well, now is your chance.”

  Just then streaks of red shot by the windows. Allora again pushed down on the yoke, causing the plane to nosedive. Brandon pulled up on the yoke, barely able to stop the plane from stalling.

  “Stop doing that!”

  One of the flying objects flew by them, turned around, and shot another red energy burst toward the plane. Seeing the move, Brandon tilted the wings to the left. The red energy burst clipped the tail, causing everyone to shake violently. Brandon pulled the throttle backward, and they were pushed back into their seats. There were now two flying objects following close behind them, sending a flurry of red streaks shooting past as Brandon spun the plane upside down and, using a maneuver he had learned in his flight simulator, spun the plane in a spiral pattern.

  Allora grabbed her chest with fright and a strange excitement as she tumbled around the ceiling of the plane in the fetal position, finally dropping into Tanner’s lap.

  “You should probably put on your seatbelt,” Tanner said, inches from Allora’s lips, and staring into her dark-brown eyes.

  “What are those things?” Brandon asked while banking the plane to the right. The two objects followed, shooting another barrage at the Cessna. “And why are they shooting at us?”

  “No idea,” Allora said, crawling back to her seat and clipping into her belt. “But I think that they may be trying to kill us.”

  “Thanks, Captain Obvious,” Brandon said. They felt the gravity forces pulling them in different directions as Brandon maneuvered the plane through the sky in varying patterns that he had only seen in his combat flight simulators. Up ahead, the valley of trees split. Brandon pulled up on the yoke, barely missing the river below. They were flying through the canyon by their town. Brandon carefully flew the plane in between the jutting rock on either side. The right side of the plane suddenly exploded in red. The pursuing craft shot the side of the canyon, and rock hit the windows, chipping the glass.

  “Damn it!” Brandon yelled. “My dad is going to kill me.”

  “Yeah, if they don’t do it first,” Dax yelled back, almost drowned out by the constant rush of the wind on the exposed side of the plane.

  “You can do this,” Jenny said, grabbing his forearm tightly. Brandon glanced back and forth, trying to maintain his focus. Slowly his expression changed. He gripped the yoke tighter, scrunched his brow, and nodded.

  “I can do this,” he affirmed to himself. “I can do this.”

  Leveling the plane low along the river, Brandon waited for the flying object to catch up. Water on either side shot upward as the pursuing aircraft shot down at the Cessna. Brandon saw his window of opportunity and pulled back the throttle. The nose lifted, and they gained altitude. Seeing the plane coming toward it, the other aircraft pulled back as well, but the reverse in direction was too quick. The other aircraft behind couldn’t maneuver out of the way. It collided with the side of the canyon. Brandon pulled up out of the canyon as the aircraft exploded in a fiery inferno.

  Their exuberance only lasted a second as the other aircraft appeared to their right. Just then something up ahead flew out from the foliage. The blurry brown figure shot out a streak of blue light, which struck the underside of the aircraft. Allora saw the figure pull a sword from the sheath on its back as it flew toward the slowing aircraft. The sword was glowing blue as it sliced through the underside of the aircraft. Black smoke billowed from the craft, but it was able to get off a red shot from its side cannons.

  The red energy ball struck the wing and propeller of their Cessna, shattering the fiberglass wing and destroying the engine. The plane began to spiral violently, losing altitude. As th
e plane careened toward the forest, Allora smacked her head against the metal interior. Concussed, she blinked her eyes as her body spun around in her seat. She heard the terrified screams of her friends as the plane clipped the top of the tree line and fire engulfed its right side. Allora looked through the cockpit window at the approaching field, only seconds away.

  chapter

  TWO

  Help

  The violent spinning of the plane stopped right before it hit the grassy field in the middle of the national forest. Something had slowed its descent and spun it upright so that it could glide along the dew-covered grass. Choking smoke filled the cabin, a trail of debris covered the field, and the leaking fuel caught fire near the engine on the left side of the crashed plane. Allora went in and out of consciousness. Her head bobbed as she tried to focus her vision. Something was dripping down her forehead, hindering her sight. She felt around her wet hair and pulled down her hand, revealing the red liquid. The world was spinning as Allora unbuckled her seatbelt and tried to stand up. The blood loss was too much, and she collapsed. Allora coughed and blinked in the dark, trying to find a point of reference.

  The smell of petroleum was putrid. A limp hand hung next to her. Tanner was slumped to the side, unconscious, but still breathing. She shook him, yelling for him to wake. Katie was trying to release Dax’s buckle, which was keeping his unconscious body from falling to the side. Allora and Katie dragged the two boys from the burning craft. In the dying light, she saw a few figures emerge from the tree line, screaming and running toward them right before she fell into the grass and passed out.

  When Allora woke, she was lying in her bed, and Aunt May was carefully stitching a large wound on her thigh. She tried to sit up, and her head began to pound with excruciating pain.

  “Take it easy,” Aunt May said, slicing off the end of the stitch with shears. “You’ve got a large gash on your head.”

  Allora looked around the room, trying to remember what had happened.

  “Where are the others?” she asked in a panic.

  Aunt May gently pushed her back into the pillows with one hand.

  “They’re fine. Tanner, Katie, and Dax are at their homes getting patched up. Brandon and Jenny are at the hospital just as a precaution.”

  “Why aren’t we at the hospital?”

  “Because as far as anyone knows, you weren’t in that airplane,” a stern voice said from the doorway. Milly walked into the room and sat down at the end of the bed. Aunt May wrapped up Allora’s thigh quickly and then left the room. “I’m just wondering why you were in the plane in the first place.”

  “I’m sorry, Mom,” Allora said, putting her chin into her chest. “But I didn’t think that there were UFOs hanging around.”

  Milly let out a sigh, placed her hand on Allora’s shin, and forced a smile.

  “Neither did anyone else. I just wish you would have told me what you guys were doing.”

  “I wish you would have told me that Sonora had extremely fast flying saucers. What were those things?”

  “Skimmers. Drone aircraft. We never thought it was possible for them to get any through the gateways,” Milly said, taking a deep breath.

  “What does this mean?”

  “It means that I need you to be more careful. No more flying or anything that may put you in a position that could compromise your identity. Which means you can never tell Jenny and Brandon who you are or that you were on that flight.”

  “How would that even be possible?”

  “You don’t think that Jenny couldn’t remember prom night because she hit her head, did you?” Milly asked, with a smirk. She pointed to her wrist. “Memory inhibitor bracelet. Very handy in keeping humans unaware of our secrets.”

  “What happens if she takes it off?”

  “She’ll experience a very severe migraine. It’s designed to be a medical device. Therapeutic, as the doctor stated to her. Now, I need you to get some rest.”

  Milly got up from the bed and went for the door.

  “Mom,” Allora said, sitting up. “It’s only going to get worse, isn’t it?”

  Milly paused in the doorway and thought about the question for a few seconds.

  “I’m instructing Sumatra to increase your training regimen. You will also be working with Sas during the evenings once those wounds have healed.”

  With that, Milly left, and Allora lay back down, staring up at the skylight, gently falling into a deep sleep.

  Distant voices awoke her from her slumber. She looked at the glowing, red clock that showed how early in the morning it was and then got out of bed and put on a robe. Slowly turning the brass doorknob, she tiptoed into the hallway as the voices became familiar. Allora inched halfway down the hallway and then leaned up against the side, listening intently to the serious conversation in the living room.

  “I just don’t understand how they got skimmers through,” Aunt May said while sitting on the couch. “I thought that the guardians had ways to keep that from occurring.”

  “The only way that be happening is in the Pacific or Atlantic where we be having no control over those Gateways,” a booming voice said from the far side of the room. It was Sas.

  “But those gateways are erratic and uncontrollable,” Milly said, standing and pacing in the middle of the room.

  “There is one way,” Sumatra said, leaning up against the bookshelf with a staff in hand. “A machine capable of stabilizing the outer gateways.”

  “If that were the case, they would have sent more than just a couple of skimmers,” Mr. Swan said, seated on the loveseat next to the couch. “My guess would be that they have been able to ship across certain supplies for reassembly here on Earth. That’s the only way that the energy output wouldn’t have been detected by the guardians in Shangri-La.”

  “Swan’s right. Yep, he’s right,” Sas interjected.

  “If those skimmers came from a main ship, like a dragon-class cruiser or carrier group, we are in deep trouble,” Tanner’s aunt Lizzy said, sitting next to Aunt May on the couch.

  “You think that we should fall back to Shangri-La?” Mrs. Ferris asked.

  “Too dangerous,” Mr. Swan said.

  “You really think that Hades is still active?” Milly asked, still pacing.

  “If he is, he’ll still be in the city,” Mr. Swan said.

  “We may have no other choice if they keep sending agents into this area,” Sheriff Newton said, standing next to the front door. “I can’t have my patrols everywhere at once.”

  “What about finding another town?” Aunt Lizzy asked, leaning forward.

  “It would be a logistical nightmare,” Sheriff Newton responded. “We have too many security protocols in place, and securing a new location would take months with the amount of people and equipment that we’d have to transport.”

  “Newt’s right,” Milly said. “But there is another option. We set up a perimeter shield. Sas, do you still know of someone in the security and engineering department at Shangri-La who could do it?”

  “Duh, but we’ll be flagged.”

  “Any way around that?”

  “You’re not going to like it….” There was a long pause, and Milly’s pacing stopped. “If the council be knowing you’re still alive, they will approve the security log bypass.”

  “I would have had to go in front of the council eventually,” Milly said. “Get it done.”

  The door to Bell’s room opened, and a sleepy girl walked down the hall toward the bathroom. Allora jerked around and put a finger up to her lips, but it was too late.

  “What are you doing?” Bell asked. A second later Milly popped into the hallway with her arms crossed. “Oops.”

  “I see that you’re feeling better,” Milly said, smiling slightly. Allora shrugged her shoulders, a guilty look on her face. “Come on in. I think you’re old enough to be a part of this discussion.”

  Allora sat down on the crowded couch next to Mrs. Ferris, who put an arm around her stud
ent. Allora gently waved to everyone in the room. The eyes of the room stared at her, as if waiting for a reaction.

  “So…,” Allora said awkwardly, slapping her hands on her knees. “What’s going on?”

  “You’ll be working with Sumatra in the outer realm every day of the week and on weekends with Sas in the woods.”

  “Why the sudden change?”

  “We just want you four to be ready for anything,” Milly said, her hands clasped in front.

  “Something is coming, isn’t it?”

  Eerie silence followed.

  “If anything does come, we will be ready for it,” Milly said. “Now you all know what you must do.” As she said this, they all got up from their seats as if in a fire drill.

  “Why do I feel like everyone is still keeping secrets from me?”

  Milly knelt down, placing her hands on Allora’s knees.

  “I know how you must feel, but I promise you that we are all just trying to keep you safe.”

  “I don’t think that keeping all of this from me is keeping me safe.”

  Milly got up and stared down at her daughter, contemplating her argument.

  “All right. What do you want to know?”

  “What is Shangri-La, and who is Hades?”

  “Shangri-La is the headquarters of the guardians here on Earth and is located in the mountains of the Himalayas. Hades is a spy who infiltrated the guardians during the Rebel Wars. Hades passed along highly sensitive intelligence to Salazar.”

  Milly began gathering the cups of tea scattered around the room.

  “Why is this King Salazar so interested in us? Why is he interested in me?”

  Milly turned around as her eyes began to glisten.

  “I will make you a promise. If you do all of the training and don’t take off on some crazy adventure to Crater Lake, I’ll tell you at the end of the school year.” Allora’s shocked expression made Milly smile slightly. “You really didn’t think I wasn’t going to find out?”

  “I…ah….”

  “I pulled the same tricks on my mom,” Milly said, gently brushing her daughter’s hair with her palm. Her expression became stern as she leaned in. “But you do it again, and you’re grounded for a year.”