Free The Soldiers of Halla by D.J. MacHale

on its natural course, but your own personal spirit returned strength to us. You personified the triumph of the spirit of mankind.”
    We walked a bit in silence. Uncle Press was letting me process the information. It was all beginning to make sense. It was incredible, but it was making sense. My questions were being answered. I can’t say I liked any of the answers, but at least I was getting them.
    â€œYou gotta know how impossible this all seems to me,” I finally said. “You tell me I’m an ancient spirit from an alternate universe on the edge of reality, but I still just feel like Bobby Pendragon. I mean, I have no memory of being anything other than Bobby Pendragon. I’m half expecting you to burst out laughing and tell me it was all a goof, and you can’t believe I fell for it. Psyche!”
    â€œYou feel like Bobby Pendragon because you are Bobby Pendragon.”
    â€œLead Traveler,” I added.
    â€œYes, lead Traveler. You above all were created to be the heart of the Travelers. It was based on the strength of your spirit long before you set foot on Second Earth.”
    â€œAnd I blew it all by killing Alexander Naymeer,” I said soberly.
    Uncle Press frowned. “What you did is exactly what Saint Dane wanted you to do. You gave in to the darker nature of man. First by brazenly mixing the destinies of the territories—”
    â€œWhat was I supposed to do?” I shot back. “Let the dados destroy Rayne?”
    â€œYes.”
    Oh.
    â€œI couldn’t let that happen.”
    â€œI understand, but it cost. That was the beginning of the final slide. With that battle, Solara grew dark. Not only because of the tak you brought to Ibara, but because you reintroduced that weapon to the Milago and Bedoowan tribes of Denduron, who then used it to invade and enslave the Lowsee tribe. The fall of Solara mirrored your own. As it grew weaker, we relied more on your own personal spirit to hold on. The final blow came when you killed Alexander Naymeer. You had hit bottom, and so has Solara. Out of desperation, we destroyed the flumes.”
    â€œ You destroyed the flumes?” I asked, shocked.
    â€œIt was all we could do. With Halla crumbling, we felt that preventing the Ravinians from traveling between territories might slow the fall. I’m afraid it was too little too late. Saint Dane didn’t need them anymore to achieve his goals. His Convergence was a success. Each territory was already on its own downward spiral.”
    Great. I was more or less responsible for letting Saint Dane destroy all that was good about Halla, and allowing the ultimate evil to take control.
    â€œI’m sorry,” I said softly. What else could I say? It felt prettyinadequate, but it was all I had. I sensed movement nearby. I expected to look up and again catch the fleeting image of a spirit. Instead I saw Spader. He stood on a rock outcropping, staring at me. He looked shaken, which wasn’t like him.
    â€œQuite the natty tale, isn’t it, mate?” he said. “Not at all what I expected, no sir.”
    Loor walked up behind him. She had a totally blank look on her face. I’m guessing that she was just as stunned as I was. She was quickly joined by the other Travelers. Gunny, Patrick, Kasha, Elli, Siry, Aja, and Alder. None of them looked very good. When we were last together, they’d each had a spark of defiance in their eyes that said they were still ready to fight. Now they looked as if they had all seen a ghost. Which they had. Except that they had been looking at themselves. Once I saw that everyone had arrived, I turned to Uncle Press.
    â€œSo I guess that’s it,” I said. “I blew it.”
    â€œ We blew it, shorty,” Gunny called out.
    â€œWhatever,” I snapped back. “It doesn’t matter. It’s over. All that’s left is for Saint Dane to return to Solara and take control of the