The Hero's Chamber

by Ian Newton

Back in the village, the three Wanderers stood like statues looking at Kaya’s family. They had arrived without Shadow Cloaks or even their backpacks, and as they struggled with what had just happened, the sound of rushing water filled the air.

  The Wanderers looked at each other through the darkness, then looked back at the horses that arrived with them.

  Finally, as though she couldn’t take it anymore, one of them said to the other two, “Am I dreaming?”

  “Not unless we’re all having the same dream,” Kaya’s grandmother said, rushing over to meet them.

  “Grandmother Elbe is that you?”

  “Solita, Adhara, Khepri, it’s me, my darlings. You’re back in the village, you’re safe.”

  Gathering them to her, she hugged them all at once.

  “But how Grandmother? How are we here?” Solita asked.

  The roar of the water became deafening, and the village looked up to see a wave of water obscuring the stars. Crashing against an unseen barrier, the water flowed over and around the village.

  The children screamed, and the people panicked as the water arched over the entire village, but Grandmother Elbe stood tall.

  “Do not panic my friends,” she called out above the chaos. “We are safe from the water. We are all safe here tonight.” She kept repeating the message until the crashing sounds quieted to that of a moving river.

  The endless flow of water pulled the heat of the desert into it, cooling the air and slowly, the truth of her words was accepted.

  Grandmother gathered the three Wanderers back to her, and when they were close, she said, “Kaya has fulfilled the Promise!”

  Even in the darkness, she could see the looks of disbelief on their faces. She waited patiently as they each worked the words through their minds.

  When the looks of disbelief melted into surprise, she said, “Go now. Find your families and tell the village we must all gather to watch the sunrise.”

  None of them moved.

  “Look up,” she said, pointing to the wall of water over their heads. “When the water is gone, we must all gather to watch the sunrise. Now go and tell your families you’re safe.”

  Solita, Adhara, and Khepri each hugged Grandmother Elbe and ran toward their homes.

  Within minutes, everyone had left their houses and gathered in the heart of the village. Throughout the night, with the help of her family, Grandmother Elbe spread the message of the Wanderer’s Promise and told them the coming sunrise was not to be missed.

  The water flowed over the barrier throughout the night until it had finally run itself dry, just before first light. With Grandmother Elbe and Kaya’s entire family at the head of the crowd, the entire village walked out from within the steep walls of the surrounding mountainside to watch the sunrise. As they came to the edge of the village, they stopped.

  The sand filled streets no longer flowed out into an open desert. The desert had been washed away, and the border of the village was now a steep slope of sand.

  “It’s perfect,” Marco said to his mother, looking down the hill. “We can all sit here and watch the sun come up. There’s room enough for everyone.”

  As the people of the village comfortably settled into position, they watched the landscape before them transition from shadows of gray to shades of green.

  At first, the people thought the new landscape, this new world before them, was what they were all waiting to see. Then the sun peeked over the horizon.

  With the first rays of light flickering across their faces, silence fell over the people. No one spoke. No one moved an inch until everyone had seen everything from both Kaya and Andrew’s point of view. When they had seen and felt all that had transpired at the Kingdom over the past twenty-four hours, they slowly came out of what seemed like a dream.

  With tears running down his face Marco turned to Erynn, and whispered, “She did it.”

  Before Erynn could respond a blinding white Light shot into the sky.