Chapter 21: Bones to Ashes
Everything was blurry when Michael opened his eyes. His lungs ached, and his whole body was heavy as stone. He just laid there watching the stars.
The twinkling lights moved across the night sky. They danced and twirled before they sputtered out. It took Michael a moment to realize what was happening.
He forced himself upright and stared. Before him rose a vast mound of earth and stone rimmed with water. He rested on a beach opposite of where they had started, but the Sea of the Dead was gone.
The newly formed hill was spewing out fire, and molten rock poured down over the sides. Cinders and ashes were flowing over his head in a river of smoke.
All of the death on this beach…Michael thought to himself, It is being purged away with flame. Bones to ashes…
He sat in a daze. I did this. I changed the land…I destroyed a sea.
“Michael?” he heard a rough voice call, but could not shake his thoughts.
“Michael?” the voice called again. Still, the prince could not find it in himself to answer.
I almost died… I should have died. Who saved me?
He could remember a strong voice in his mind, speaking to him, but he could not remember the words; just a voice like a mighty river.
“Michael!” the voice called again, and then Michael found himself lifted off the ground by a giant.
“Reno found him!” the prince heard another voice call.
Michael suddenly found himself surrounded by familiar faces.
“Michael, are you hurt?” Kaitala asked with concern.
“No,” Michael responded softly, though he could feel the blisters on his legs from wading in the boiling water. “What happened?”
“Kaitala got us to shore safely,” Tristan said, “She gathered us in a bubble, and we floated to the shore. She thought you had already gotten to the surface; you can swim faster.”
“Michael, you were under water for ten minutes then you shot out like an arrow, landing on this beach,” Reno said. “Now, you tell us what happened.”
“Where is Sphergol?” Michael asked.
“We haven’t seen her,” Tristan said sympathetically.
“It was her; it had to be,” the prince said, “I’m not strong enough to use magic on my own.”
Kaitala stepped close to Michael and whispered in his ear, “You are stronger than you know Michael, much stronger. I need to speak with you alone.”
She stepped back and motioned to a spot away from the group with a nod of her head, then walked away.
Michael dismissed himself and walked over to Kai.
“What is it?” he asked.
“It wasn’t Sphergol who helped you,” she said, “It was my master.”
“What? You said you don’t work for Malumous. Who else could be powerful enough to pull me out of the water like that?”
“I don’t serve the king, you are right. But before I ever served any king I served…someone else; and I have always worked for that one.”
“I don’t understand,” Michael said, “You are too young to have served my father through his reign, and someone else before him, even if you were born into the work.”
“I am not like you, Michael. Time has no value to me.”
“Time is important to everybody,” Michael argued, “just like we only have a certain amount of time to live.”
“Hmm,” Kaitala said, and looked away, “we have strayed off topic. I must to talk to you because my master has a message.”
“Why doesn’t he tell me himself?”
“He has tried, but you are deaf to his words. Your ears cannot understand his tongue, but he has heard you.
“I must tell you, he is displeased with your abuse of my powers, but he understands your decision. Every wrong must be rectified, however. So as a consequence, he has ordered that I leave you now.”
“But I need you!” Michael said. “You are the only way that I can use magic now.”
“That is why I must go. As I said before, my magic is not like yours. It would be unwise for you to continue using it. You must find a way to use your abilities on your own.”
“But what if Sphergol doesn’t come back?”
“She will never come back, that is why you must find a way.”
Michael lowered his eyes.
“Sphergol had one purpose in this world. She was conserved so that she could be a help to you until you needed no more help. Your powers are inside of you, not her.”
“What if I can’t? I’m a prince who became a slave to earn freedom! I grew up with everything I needed at my hand! Everything I wanted was mine that second! Now I have this thrust upon me. I can’t do this, Kai. I never learned to do anything for myself. I have been a lucky fool up until now, nothing else. I’m no hero; I’m not a saviour.”
Kaitala shifted and murmured something under her breath. Then she looked at Michael, “I am truly sorry that I cannot speak to you as a friend any longer. That is not my task. My task is now to retrieve Bastian and then leave this place.”
“So that’s it, then? You just walk away and forget about me? You just leave and look for your lost dog? What about being tasked to serve the throne?”
“When my master told me to watch after your family, he said that my task was completed when the sky was filled with ashes and the Sea of the Dead is no more. Magic has awakened in the land. Those sensitive to it will begin strengthening themselves. You must do the same,” Kaitala pressed the bottle of the worm creature’s blood into Michael’s palm then turned and walked away, leaving him standing alone in the dark as bones turned to ashes.
Sea of the Dead Page 21