The Flight Of the Mytar (Book 2)

The Flight of the Mytar

(Book 2 of the Mytar series)

Robert Cole

Published by Robert Cole

Copyright 2016

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this ebook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favourite book retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. All the characters, organizations, and events depicted in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

All rights reserved.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my children for their inspiration, my mother for her proofreading and my colleagues for their many thoughtful comments.

Contents

Chapter 1: Back to School

Chapter 2: The Return

Chapter 3: The Gathering Company

Chapter 4: Relationships

Chapter 5: A Dangerous Path

Chapter 6: Desperate Action

Chapter 7: Jeff

Chapter 8: Confrontation

Chapter 9: Pursuit

Chapter 10: Sudalere

Chapter 11: Hathor

Chapter 12: Understanding

Chapter 13: Turning the Tables

Chapter 14: A Spirited Soul

Chapter 15: A Helping Hand

Chapter 16: The Mind of Susie

Other books by this Author

Chapter 1:

Back to School

Sheets of rain, riding on wind gusts, burst through the trees and slammed against the wooden-framed classrooms of Stanworth High. A small, pale-looking boy with a mop of loosely tangled hair stared at the rain that splattered against the classroom window. Chris Reynolds was sitting in his maths class contemplating all that had happened to him. Two weeks had passed since he and his best friends, Joe and Susie, had arrived back through the portal from a planet called Cathora. With a flutter of excitement, he remembered all the amazing places and bizarre creatures he had met in this sister world to Earth that was floating somewhere in another universe. Sometimes he wondered if he had dreamed it.

But then he remembered Zelnoff, a creature that had successfully invaded and conquered countless worlds, and he knew it was no dream. His armies, like a cancer, were even now sweeping over Cathora, killing all who opposed them. The vision of the Zentors, flying monsters with insect heads and snake-like bodies, filled his thoughts. Like Susie and Joe, the trauma of his time in Cathora haunted his dreams. He shuddered when he thought how close he had come to being killed by those creatures.

He searched through his pockets and pulled out the object that had triggered all this madness. It was bright red and fitted neatly into the palm of his hand. He held it between his thumb and index finger and examined its odd shape; part of it looked like a key, flat and metallic, but at one end it splayed out into four prongs at right angles to each other, as though it fitted into some three-dimensional lock. Apparently, this key didn’t actually exist, not in this time and space anyway. That’s why it appeared not to weigh anything and was indestructible. He didn’t understand this and didn’t care anyway.

He put the key on the desk in front of him and watched it turn from red to a metallic grey. When he picked it up again it switched back to red. This is what had fascinated him when he first found the key in a local stream. When he showed it to Susie and Joe it also changed colour – yellow for Susie and blue for Joe. It turned out that this key had been deliberately left for him to find. It had identified the three of them as Mytar; a group of humans with special powers. They had been sucked through a portal into another world in a parallel universe. He still had difficulty understanding the concept. In this world they had met the gatekeeper, or Guardian, of the portal, who had told them that they had been transported to Cathora to fight some guy called Zelnoff, who was currently wiping out the planet’s population with his monster army.

He threw the key up in the air where it momentarily turned grey then turned immediately back to red when he caught it. Stupid story, or so they had thought, at least until they all started developing abilities they couldn’t explain. Joe could change into anything he liked, and Susie could communicate with just about any creature. And he… well, this was amazing; he could read the minds of the people of Cathora. All except the Guardians and a species known as the Taal. Cool powers.

Chris put the key back in his pocket and stared out of the window. Apparently the Mytar exist to stop invading forces, such as Zelnoff, using these portals to cross universes and invade planets. They were three of a possible six Mytar children who had these special powers. Trouble was, to tackle someone as powerful as Zelnoff required not just their talents, but also the three remaining Mytar, somewhere back on Earth. That was the problem – no-one knew who they were. The next two, like Joe, Susie and Chris, could be found with the key, but the sixth Mytar could only be found when the others had reached a certain level of ability – whatever that meant. But for now, he would be more than satisfied to find the fourth and fifth Mytar. They were somewhere at school, he knew it, just waiting to be found. Then they would face the problem of convincing them, or maybe even forcing them, to return to Cathora to face Zelnoff. Something no-one in their right mind would willingly do.

‘I gather from your inactivity that you have finished your maths assignment.’

Chris looked up at Mrs. Webb, a large overbearing woman with lips like slabs of meat and rose-rimmed spectacles, which magnified a pair of bloodshot eyes. She reminded him of a Zentor. ‘Ah, no, Miss, just taking a break.’

‘Do I have to remind you this period is almost over? I want this assignment finished, so you had better stop gazing out of the window and start working.’

She thrust her face at Chris, who, momentarily thinking about a Zentor, gave an involuntary jump. Several classmates giggled.

‘Very funny,’ she snarled. ‘Now get to work.’

A slightly overweight boy, with bright pink cheeks and small beady eyes that disappeared when he smiled, poked Chris in the back. He grinned inanely when Chris turned round.

Chris smiled at his friend. Joe was still having enormous problems explaining how, after a few hours walk in the forest, he had lost nearly six kilograms in weight. Totally impossible, of course, but the real explanation – falling through a portal to another world for nearly a month – would have assigned him to a psychologist’s couch. Joe’s overprotective mother had already dragged him off to see two doctors and a dietitian and forced him to have untold blood tests. The latter was particularly unfortunate as Joe hated needles, and nearly passed out every time he saw one. Finally, to stop all the fuss, Joe had gone on an eating binge. He and Susie had witnessed one of these eating sessions a few days ago at Joe’s place. He couldn’t help but marvel at Joe’s capacity to eat. Mountains of food were reduced to crumbs in a remarkably short time. His mother, also a rather large lady, looked very satisfied that her little boy was getting back to his old self. In just over two weeks Joe’s cheeks had puffed out again, and his clothes no longer hung off him. Physically anyway, Joe was beginning to look like his old self.

Chris started scribbling down some rubbish just to fill the blank spaces on his assignment. He didn’t care what he wrote. Nothing except finding the Mytar actually mattered anymore. When Mrs. Webb turned her back, he resumed staring out at the rain. The first day back at school, amid great enthusiasm, the three of them had passed the key around their immediate circle of friends – none were Mytar. After this disappointment, Joe was keen to start a game of catch in the playground and just wait to see who changed the key’s colour.

Susie vehemently objected to this idea, saying the key could easily get lost. In her usual methodical manner, she suggested they should obtain a student list of everyone in the year, and then ask every student on the list to hold the key. However, with over one hundred and fifty students in the year, this would be nearly an impossible task and would surely attract attention; not something that they wanted as they had been warned that Zelnoff’s spies were probably watching. In any case, boys like Jeff, a very popular but nasty bully, would probably keep the key, or throw it down the nearest drain.

The bell rang for the end of period. Chris and Joe fled the classroom, dumping their assignments in a pile on the front desk. They had arranged to meet Susie at the canteen at lunchtime to discuss how to find the remaining Mytar.

Susie was uncharacteristically late. Holding her books above her head to protect against the rain, she ran across the playground with her usual ungainly gait, her curly hair bouncing on top of her shoulders. She was tall, impossibly thin with intense blue eyes and a large and frequently used mouth. Once under cover, she leant down and shook the water off her sandy-coloured hair, like a shaggy dog.

‘Sorry I’m late.’ She smiled briefly, before pointing towards the perimeter of the school. ‘But I’ve been watching this man by the fence.’ She pointed over to the edge of the playground. A tall figure, covered in a hooded raincoat with his hands in his pockets, was standing in the rain.

‘He’s been there for nearly twenty minutes just watching,’ she explained.

‘He’s probably just waiting for someone,’ Chris suggested.

She shook her head sharply. ‘Pull out the key.’

Chris groaned, but pulled out the key anyway. Apart from changing colour when a Mytar touched it, the key also had a number of other functions. It became hot when near a portal and most importantly glowed when the Mytar were in danger. But this time there was nothing.

‘Maybe he just likes watching school kids in the rain,’ Joe grinned.

Susie gave Joe one of her ‘that’s a stupid comment’ looks.

They had been in contact with Kaloc, the Guardian of Cathora, only once since their return. He had relayed the disturbing news that there had been several transportations to Earth in recent days. Although Kaloc could not pinpoint their location, it was more than likely Zelnoff had sent some of his soldiers after them. Susie had been particularly jumpy after this news. This was the third time she had picked out strangers as potential Zelnoff spies.

‘Can you feel something different about this person?’ Chris asked.

She shook her head despondently. ‘I don’t feel anything anymore.’

Chris nodded. He, like the others, had lost his powers when he returned to Earth and, like the others, he hated it.

A student ran up to the stranger and they walked off arm in arm.

‘Come on,’ Chris said, as they watched them get into a car and drive off. ‘Let’s eat something.’

On rainy days they were allowed to eat their lunches in the classrooms. Chris selected an area at the back of the woodwork classroom. This area was actually out of bounds, due to the number of potentially dangerous tools lying around, but it also meant they wouldn’t be disturbed.

‘I think we should say the key changes colour if you’re a certain type of person,’ Susie suggested, opening her lunch box and surveying her food.

‘Yeah, like highly intelligent, or you’re gonna come into a fortune,’ Joe added enthusiastically.

Chris nodded. ‘Yeah, that might work.’

‘What might work, ET?’

Chris looked across at Jeff Wilock and his cronies as they nosily made their way towards them, carelessly flinging aside any tables and chairs in their path. Jeff was considered one of the coolest kids in the year, tall, blond, good-looking and exceptionally funny – the girls loved him. He was also a part-time prankster and full-time bully. Chris hated him.

‘Nothing,’ Chris replied, watching Jeff suspiciously.

‘I’ve been hearing some strange things about you three,’ Jeff went on, a distinct glint appearing in his grey eyes. ‘You’ve been saying that you have a key that changes colour if you are going to become rich.’

Chris shot a look across at Joe.

‘I was just joking around,’ Joe said, turning slightly pink under Chris’s stare.

‘Yeah, well, I would like to see for myself,’ Jeff said.

‘We’re already lost it,’ Chris replied.

Jeff surveyed him for a moment. ‘Then you won’t mind if we look in your pockets.’

The rest of Jeff’s gang moved up beside him, sporting wide grins, fully aware of what Jeff was about the do.

Chris looked around for somewhere to run, but they were trapped in the corner of the room, and, since they weren’t supposed to be there in the first place, the chances of finding a teacher to bail them out were remote. He stood up and backed around the table. Matt, an even larger boy than Jeff, and noted chiefly for his thick black hair and foul temper, quickly moved to block his path.

‘He hasn’t got the key, I have.’ Susie jumped to her feet and ran towards the door. As anticipated, this threw Jeff and his cronies into confusion. It was one thing pummelling a boy, quite another forcibly searching a girl. Several of the gang made a half-hearted attempt to stop her. Chris took the opportunity to duck around Matt, but Jeff easily caught him. He was jerked off his feet and flung to the ground.

‘Well, ET, I guess we’ll just have to search you anyway.’ Jeff sat on his chest, pinning him to the floor. ‘Matt, search his pockets.’

Matt, always eager to help if it involved cruelty and pain, hurried over. He pinned Chris’s arms with his knees and began pulling out the contents of his pockets. Chris squirmed, but could do nothing against the combined weight of Matt and Jeff.

A moment later, Matt was gone. Joe had charged at him and ploughed him into a stack of wooden chairs, which then fell on top of him. Unfortunately, Joe wasn’t as nimble as Matt and Jeff and by the time he had managed to climb to his knees both boys were standing over him. Matt grabbed Joe roughly by the back of his shirt, dragged and then threw him on top of a table. Joe rolled off and landed on the floor with a loud thud. There he remained, groaning quietly to himself. This triggered a round of laughter amongst the group.

Chris quickly sprang to his feet. He wasn’t going to offer any of the gang an easy target to put their boots in.

‘Right,’ Jeff cracked his knuckles, about to get down to some serious business. ‘Where were we? Ah yes…the key. Cough it up, ET.’

He held out his hand, as though fully expecting this show of intimidation would make Chris rush to produce it.

Chris just looked at him.

‘The key!’ Jeff growled.

Chris made one last lunge for the door. Jeff grabbed him then twisted his arm behind his back. Matt’s ugly face appeared as he continued rifling through Chris’s pockets. He threw all the contents out onto the floor, finally pulling out the key. Its strange shape and appearance made him stop and hold it up. ‘I think I got it,’ he said, breaking out in a grin. He held it up and began dancing around the floor, much to the amusement of the other gang members.

Chris was unceremoniously dumped next to the still groaning Joe. They both watched as the key was thrown from gang member to gang member. Chris’s only hope was they would soon get bored and throw it away. The key was finally thrown onto the ceiling fan. This triggered howls of laughter as they rushed to switch the fan on to see where the key would fall. It fell close to Chris who immediately made another grab for it. But Jeff’s big boot landed painfully on his outstretched hand. Jeff slowly leant down and picked up the key, smiling broadly at Chris in the process. But Chris wasn’t looking at Jeff. The key was changing. The dull grey colour began to turn to pale, then bright orange.

Joe immediately began swearing.

Chris just stared at