Read Online The Soldiers of Halla by D.J. MacHale - Free Book Online Page A

Saint Dane. Hearing all the incredible things that Uncle Press had to say about Solara did nothing to change my mind. The battle against Saint Dane was no longer about a tribe or a city or a country or a world. It wasn’t even about Halla. It was about trying to stop a guy who had taken on the power of a god and was about to create his own universe. How the heck was I supposed to compete with that?
    As we stood together on that mysterious world at theedge of reality, I really hoped that Uncle Press had a good answer.
    â€œI don’t mean to criticize,” I said to my uncle. “After all, you have the combined knowledge and wisdom from all time, and I’m just a basketball jock. But, how do I say this? What the hell were you thinking? You’re trying to stop a demon who has the power to control the power of all that ever was, and you chose me to stop him? Doesn’t seem like the brightest move, if you ask me.”
    â€œIt was the only move,” Uncle Press answered.
    â€œThen Saint Dane won before the game even began” was my conclusion.
    â€œNot true. I’ve watched you, Bobby. I’ve seen your every move. We made the exact right move.”
    â€œYou saw it all? Everything? You know exactly what happened?”
    â€œEverything. Solara is everywhere, remember?”
    â€œEverywhere. Right. You even saw me when I was, like, going to the bathroom?”
    He gave me another sour look.
    â€œSorry, habit. If I don’t make fun of what’s going on sometimes, I’ll explode.”
    â€œI know that, too.”
    â€œSo if you saw everything, you know I was outmatched every step of the way. Even when I thought we’d won, he turned it back on us. It’s been totally futile.”
    â€œBut it hasn’t been. Saint Dane knew that you and the Travelers were the only threat to his plan. Stopping you was as important to him as swaying the destiny of the territories. He could have ignored you, but he didn’t.”
    â€œHe kept asking me to join him.”
    â€œOf course he did. I think you can see why now.”
    â€œNot exactly.”
    â€œI know you’ve wondered how the battle was supposed to play out. What Saint Dane told you is true. He was trying to prove the rightness of his way of thinking. That was the battle. His philosophy of control and elitism, versus your thinking that people should be free to choose their own destiny.”
    â€œYeah? Then who the heck were we trying to convince? Is there some kind of grand judge on Solara? A panel? An executive council? The bosses of the ages, who are going to pass judgment on who won and who lost?”
    â€œIn a way you were trying to prove yourselves to the most important judges of all. The only judges that counted.”
    â€œWho?”
    â€œThe people of Halla.”
    â€œUh…huh?”
    â€œSaint Dane’s plan was to turn the territories upside down. Mankind is inherently good. Saint Dane wanted to change that. He wanted to create an atmosphere of mistrust. Of constant competition and pervasive desperation and fear. On each territory he appealed to the lowest instincts of man. Greed, arrogance, self-absorption, paranoia. But for his ultimate goal to succeed, it had to happen on a universal scale. On all the worlds of Halla. That’s why he found those turning points in the histories of those worlds. He needed to find the moment in time of each territory that would have the maximum negative impact on that world. By turning a territory away from its natural destiny, which was to follow the positive instincts of man, he forced the territories into chaos. That, of course, brought out their worst. Since Solara is a reflection of mankind, the spirit of Solara changed right along with those worlds. The high thinking and positiveenergy that created us changed. It’s why you can barely feel the spirits of Solara. They are growing weaker and dying off. The desolate world you see now