The Acolytes of Crane (Theodore Crane, #1)(93)

Gazing out in total blackness, I looked toward the town of Jaakruid in search of something—a twinkle of light, but nothing stood out. Then, in that moment, I felt him—I felt his hatred. Travis. He was here somewhere. It was if the sky darkened even more as he focused all of his anger in my direction. I felt a chill settle over me.

I could not see him by any means, but I knew he was there, and I had clarity of mind. I thought only of his defeat. I even imagined standing over him with my legendary sword Wrath in celebration of victory.

Not afraid of falling, I stretched my arms, and commanded my power shoes to lift me. Hovering, I left the branch, and retired back into the cave, because soon I was to be awakened to march off into my fate.

I fell asleep instantly, but it was no sooner than I lay my head down, that someone was at the foot of my bed waking me up. I felt cheated of sleep, but it was my own damn fault. It was the Elon commander I had appointed.

‘Sir, we must leave now. Our scouts have located a search party that is closing in on our position. We are three hours ahead of our mission,’ the Elon said, muffled by its makeshift voice production device.

‘Don’t you people ever sleep? I guess you are plants, and plants don’t need rest do they? Who knows?’ The Elon did not reply, so I guessed the answer was yes.

I equipped all my gear starting with my unique plant-woven Elon suit. It fit the form of my body snug like a sock. Next, I slipped on my lifters, and then my rolesk. My rolesk was all dinged up from the battle within the walls of the demolished escape ship that now lies worthless in the jungle. The rolesk still fit well, and I felt the Dietons flowing around me, rising up, anticipating my command.

I ordered my scout recon devices into the air after activating them, and they slowly rotated two feet over me. They were my eyes and ears to prevent ambushes.

I slapped on my bracers, and they covered my hands in chain mail. Finally, I wrapped my belt and its sheath around my waist and inserted my trusted sword Wrath by my side. I thought the Dark King would do well to stay far away from my blade, threatening ever so.


From heel to rolesk, I was the one-boy-wrecking-machine, ready to do battle.

I found an electronic tablet at my bedside—who left it for me, I did not know, but guessed it would have been Pike. When I picked it up, there was a breakdown of my army on the screen. They were broken roughly into ten companies of one-hundred Elons each. Each company was given an alpha designation. My company was Doga Company. They were to follow me to the assault at the jungle just outside of Jaakruid.

Within the Doga Company, there would be two special tactics squads. One would be a firing squad of seventy-five Elons to support us from behind with arrow fire. The other squad, comprising the remaining twenty-five, was my elite platoon. This squad would march in front of me, not behind, and lead the assault with a preemptive strike. The elite squad consisted of those that tested highest on their battle-ready tests for improvisation and reaction.

Pike briefed the Elons and they knew their missions step by step. I needed to give them purpose in the only way a teenage boy could. As I stared down at my army, ready for battle, my heart was gratified to see the familiar robot hovering by me.

‘Ed!’ I cried out joyfully.

‘Master Ted, I apologize. I have stayed completely out of the way as I firmly believe that the master should be wholly undisturbed as he prepares for battle.’

I laughed. ‘What if I needed you to plan ahead?’

‘Certainly, you could have called my name anytime. I am at your beck and command.’

I grinned. ‘I think we’re ready.’

‘I am most surprised. Human boy, I previously calculated that we would be dead by now,’ Ed said. He was a robot with a silver tongue, literally and figuratively.

‘Well, Ed,’ I said proudly, ‘this is it. We have an army and a mission. Your mission is simple, protect me at all cost and be quiet. No using flashing lights and buzzing things either. We need to be like ninjas. Not that I expect you to know what ninjas are, now follow me, you can be my missing link, while Linc is missing,’ I said, and broke into laughter.

Ed glanced at me with eyes that indicated that he didn’t see the humor in any of my jokes.

‘Let’s do this!’ I exclaimed, as I walked down the tunnel to the bay, with Ed right by my side. My lifters worked to bear the weight of my load. I probably was carrying about fifty pounds of gear.

I drew near the opening to the bay, and I heard a buzz of nearly one thousand Elons chattering within the cavern. The initial recon darted over to front of my face and informed me that the King’s raid was closing in on our position. There was no time to lose. My adrenalin raced as I realized that battle was at hand. Although I was stimulated like a taut highwire, I also felt as if I would faint at any moment if I didn’t keep moving. I became a man of action. Rushing about, I located Pike; he was yelling at a group of Elons to get into formation.

‘Alright, now get that file straight, he will be here soon!’ I stumbled over a rock, but did not fall, and my equipment rattled.

‘The Messiah is coming our way. Attention!’ Pike yelled.

All Elons occupying the cavern stepped lively into rank and snapped firm and statue-like to a formal position. Their loyalty was on display, and I was happy to see the ease it took to lead them. Better than these bickering non-army humans back on Earth!

Pike leaned into my personal space and whispered, ‘They await you, Theodore. All you have to do is lead them.’