Isle of Gods II: Amara

by H. Lovelyn Bettison

  Before long Variel came running up the path. Her voice punctuated with fear, she told me that mortals were coming. She told me to come to the settlement with her to hide, but all I could think was: finally, after too many years. Finally, after so much waiting they had come. My salvation. My future. They had come to give me life … a real life worth more than the endless years we experienced here. A life of meaning. A life of hope. Finally I would be with Santali again.

  I watched her run up the path to the settlement. This time was different from when I found Twee. Mortals were coming here with a purpose and only I knew what that purpose really was. Once Variel had disappeared up the path I considered running down to meet them, but then I decided against it. I would let them come to me. I would wait to see if he really would find me. I could not build my fate, but instead had to let it happen. Fortunately it did.

  Part Three

  “And it came to past that all that desired received but only after enduring a time of pain. For every want has a price and all suffering a reward.” Book of Gods

  Chapter 17

  As the storm drew closer our escape from the island became more of an ordeal. The ocean waves gave the ship a callous beating. I wrapped my arms around the bars to prevent myself from getting knocked about. I was relieved that the urgency of the storm didn’t give the captain much time to decide what to do about his stowaway. Twee needed to stay safe and for now I had no power to help her. Damek seemed relieved too when the captain went back up the ladder. He put her into the cell next to mine and told her that he would be back to care for her. There was a tenderness in his voice when he spoke to her that gave me a pang of jealousy. He was the person I’d hoped he’d be.

  “Twee?” I said in a loud whisper once he had gone.

  She groaned as the boat rocked. I did not hear her falling to the ground. I assumed that she’d found a way to anchor herself in place using the bars like I had.

  “Twee, are you okay?” She’d passed out before and with the same violent convulsions that I’d seen on the island when I’d returned from my self-imposed exile, but this time they seemed worse. They lasted longer. “Twee?”

  “I’m okay.” She spoke so quietly that I could barely hear her. “Do you think I’ll die on this boat?” Her voice quivered. How traumatic this experience must have been for her considering the last time she was on a ship.

  “I don’t think so. We both have a work to do in the world. We cannot die yet.”

  She laughed. “What are you saying? You cannot die anyway. It’s me who has to worry.”

  I had no idea if she was right. I often imagined that venturing into the world would make me mortal. What makes mortals so different from us anyway? Is it not a simple question of location? Could I change the state of who I was just by changing where I was? It seemed possible to me, but it was not anything that I was ever told. “We have passed into the unknown. There are so many new elements to consider. I really don’t know what is possible and what is not.”

  “That’s true, but we do know that I did not become immortal when I landed on the island. Logic says that you will not become mortal simply because you left it.”

  “How do you know you did not become one of us?” Since the day Twee arrived on the island there was much speculation as to whether she would completely become one of us or not. Herthe and Father were never willing to voice their opinions on the matter, but as for the rest of us, we all watched and waited. Variel often said that she felt a kinship with Twee that suggested she’d crossed over into immortality, but evidence suggested otherwise.

  The ship calmed a bit allowing me to loosen my grip on the bars without fear of being tossed about like a rag. “The raft worked?” I said, wanting to distract Twee from the idea of her possible death. If the captain did not decide to send her overboard she still had to contend with the vessel Herthe and Father had placed inside of her.

  “Of course it did.” I could hear the smile in her words.

  “How did you get here quickly enough?” It seemed like hardly any time passed between Variel’s warning and my actual capture.

  “I left as soon as I saw their ship in the distance. We were expecting them, weren’t we?”

  “Wasn’t it difficult paddling here, with your body so weak?”

  “I’ve been getting weaker every day. I’m lucky they came when I was still able to paddle.” She paused for a moment. “Getting here was one of the most difficult things I’ve done in my life. When I got to the ship I didn’t know if I’d have the strength to get aboard.”

  “But you did. How did you get on board without anyone seeing you?” I asked.

  “I thought they were all off the ship. I didn’t notice the one who was still here until I had already gotten aboard. He was sleeping in the glass room on the deck.”

  “You were lucky.”

  “Herthe always told me I was a survivor,” she said.

  “That’s because you are. That’s probably why they chose you.”

  Twee laughed. “You know that isn’t true. They chose me because there was no one else to choose. The first day I landed on that island my fate was sealed. I was their only hope.”

  “If I’d known I wouldn’t have told them.”

  Twee laughed again. “And done what. Pushed my body back into the sea to drown? I’d rather have a chance at life than no life at all.”

  “Even if this kills you?” I asked.

  “In the mortal world life always ends with death.”

  I didn’t know what to say. Twee had reminded me of the ugly truth of mortal life. Twee was silent too. Maybe neither of us really thought this through. We were so focused on freedom that we didn’t clearly consider what might happen to Twee once she got out into the world. What would happen to the vessel? Would it come? Would it be trapped inside of her without Herthe’s help to make it come forth? Would it kill her? Would it eventually kill us all?

  We listened to the splashing water and the sound of the men’s shoes as they crossed back and forth above us. I stared at the round hatch door at the top of the ladder wondering when they might return, worried about what it might mean when they finally did.

  The ship pitched up sharply, pushing me toward the back wall. I held the bars to keep from falling and listened to the ship’s frame as it creaked and moaned. Wind and water were powerful forces. Even as gods, we recognized the strength nature could exert over us. The water pounded the ship, dripping down through the ceiling onto my shoulder.

  “I hope we don’t sink. I don’t think I could survive another shipwreck,” Twee said, her voice shaking with fear.

  “Death is not my destiny … and it is not yours.”

  “You do not know my destiny.”

  “What makes you so sure? I am an immortal and I have had access to the seerstone. You know that better than anyone.”

  “Did you see our futures in it?”

  I didn’t even know if I could see our futures in the stone. I was too worried about other things to think about it: Twee’s family, our escape. “Yes and we make it through this okay, so don’t worry. Just hold on.” I didn’t usually lie, especially not to Twee, but was it really bad to lie when the well-being of another depended on it?

  I didn’t know what would happen to me once we left the barrier around the Isle of Gods. I’d heard stories from the others. We all speculated, but Father and Herthe never shared this with us. Sometimes I thought they didn’t really know themselves since they’d never left the island. I knew that we would have abilities beyond what we could imagine. The mortals’ Book of Gods said so and though they were wrong about some things I believed they were right about this.

  “Amara,” Twee said.

  “Yes.”

  “Did you get a chance to look in the seerstone before we left? Did you find out about my family? Once I get off this ship I’d like to find them if I can. When you saw our futures did you see them too? If I survive this trip will I ever find them again?”

  “Sto
p with this talk of not surviving. I already told you that is not your fate.”

  Twee sighed. “It feels as if death could come at me from so many different directions right now that I wonder how it would be possible that I would not encounter it.”

  “You might look into the dark hollow eyes of death at any moment, but you will not succumb to it because even though you are mortal you don’t have to. That is the secret that you should’ve taken with you from the island.” I waited to hear her voice over the wind and waves, but did not. “Twee?”

  “Uh-huh?”

  “You have to survive this for your brother. He is the only family you have left and he is all alone. You will find him and when you do neither of you will have to suffer alone any longer.”

  “My parents died in the shipwreck?” she asked.

  “Your mother did. Your father died later.”

  Twee began to cry quietly, her sobs barely audible.

  “I’m sorry about your parents.”

  Twee sniffled. “I knew the probability was low, but all of this time I hoped that maybe they had survived like me.”

  “Your brother is still alive.”

  “Where is he?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m sure we could find him.”

  “You would help me do that?” she asked.

  “Of course.”

  I stopped talking, giving Twee the chance to process all of her new knowledge. I used my hands to steady myself on the cot as we rocked to and fro. I listened to the sounds of our new world and tried to picture what my life would be like once this storm was over. I would find Santali.

  Twee’s voice shot through my imagining. “I think I’m going to be sick,” she said.

  “What is it?” I asked. I’d heard that the movement of boats could make mortals ill and honestly I wasn’t feeling too great myself.

  “I don’t know. I—” Then there was only the heavy thud of a body collapsing to the floor.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  “Ahhh,” she yelled. “I need help.”

  “What’s happening?”

  She moaned again. “Ahhh.”

  She needed me and here I was locked in a cell unable to help. “Help us!” I yelled, hoping to get the attention of the men above deck.

  Twee followed my call for help with another loud moan.

  “Twee,” I said. “I’m going to get their attention. I’m going to get them to help you.” I knew Damek would help her. “Help,” I yelled as loudly as I could, straining my vocal cords. Then I waited for someone to respond and there was nothing. Twee continued to moan in pain and call out, but the storm was too loud for her calls to be heard over it.

  Remembering my connection with Damek through the seerstone I closed my eyes and began to focus on him. I pictured his eyes in my mind and once I could see them clearly I began to call for help again but this time without uttering a sound. I called for him in my mind with the same power that I’d honed during my exile. I used the same focus that I’d used looking into the seerstone to see him the first time. Before long the door to the hatch opened. Water spilled in followed by Damek who came quickly down the ladder. “Is everything all right down here?” he said.

  “No,” I said. “Something’s wrong with Twee.”

  “Ahhh,” Twee moaned.

  Damek rushed over to her cage and quickly went inside. With the wall between us I couldn’t see what was happening, but I didn’t need to see. I could tell from the aching moans that it was not good. I knew that Twee was not well. I spoke to her through the wall, reassuring her that she would survive this. I wondered if we were far enough out to sea for me to have any special abilities. There was only one way to find out. I needed to get Damek to get rid of the terrible black stones around my cell. I could feel them sucking all of the energy out of me.

  He was easy to convince. He knew as well as I did that it would be the only way to save Twee. As soon as he took the stones above deck, a well of energy flowed through my body like a whoosh of heat that seemed as if it might burn me up from the inside. I felt completely different, sharp and alert.

  I focused just as I did when I looked into the seerstone and was able to move my body from my own cage to Twee’s before Damek even opened the door.

  I cleared the storm from around the ship with only my mind. Nature was not so powerful after all, not as powerful as me. As the mortals were in awe about what was happening I followed my intuition and helped Twee give birth to the vessel. It was a punishing experience for Twee and no matter how much I tried with my mind to make it better I could not. I wanted to focus and have the vessel appear in my arms with no effort at all, but Father had told me once that the best things require effort. We’d all been led to believe that the vessel would be the best thing for mortals and immortals so of course it had to come into this world through pain and suffering. I just wished it wasn’t the pain and suffering of someone who’d become such a good friend.

  We were all surprised when it was born. I was just as much as any of the mortals. I too had never seen anything like it. Shaped like a tiny mortal, the vessel was stone, but when I lifted it I could feel movement just beneath the surface. Its weight shifted in my arms and I knew that it was alive. It only needed a little more time to develop and become what we all needed it to be.

  Chapter 18

  When the captain came down the hatch he looked at the stone baby Twee had just given birth to with disgust. The creases in his forehead deepened as he asked, “What is it?”

  Could he not feel the energy in the room? I did. This infant had the power to change the world locked inside of him, yet every mortal here, including Twee, seemed sickened by his presence. How could they not realize that they were witnessing the beginning of a new age?

  The captain was a callous man who actually threatened to throw the only hope for the entire world overboard. I clutched the vessel a bit closer and tried to remind myself that he didn’t really understand what he was suggesting. Once his initial disgust dissipated he wagged his finger at me, demanding that I release the ship from the bubble of safety I had been kind enough to provide for them.

  “We can’t stay here forever,” he said.

  I bristled at his ingratitude. I had saved them from destruction and he had the audacity to give me orders. Did he not remember to whom he was talking?

  “We have to keep moving or we will run out of supplies,” he continued.

  I took a deep breath before explaining to him the facts. For it was as if he’d forgotten that he wanted me to get them out of the storm. As I spoke I could see him begin to tremble with what I’d assumed was anger, but soon realized was something else entirely. Sadness had settled into him like a dense fog wrapping itself around all of his hidden places. It can be difficult for mortals and immortals alike to know what to do with such heavy sadness. He had converted his into anger that fueled his movements and compelled him forward. His words were like sharp barbs and his eyes accusing darts. I spoke to him as calmly as I could because I knew that calmness was what he really needed.

  Damek put Twee on her cot to rest and went up the ladder to witness my power for himself. I watched his heavy boots as he climbed and drank in the look of awe that washed over his face as he looked out of the hatch. I hadn’t seen it in person, but I could picture in my mind the spectacle I had created.

  The captain watched him too and waited until Damek was above deck to speak to me again. “You control the weather and by doing so have seemed to take control of this ship,” he said.

  “That appears to be the case,” I said.

  He moistened his lips. “You must be staying on this ship for a reason then. There is nothing to keep you here now. You could leave whenever you please.”

  “That is true, but I stay because Twee is my friend.”

  “You could take her with you.” We both looked at Twee who lay on her cot on her side.

  “I probably could, but she doesn’t want to go where I’m going. She has a
nother path.”

  “We all have different paths,” he said, stepping closer to me. “Some of us walk a path of happiness and others grief.” His steely exterior began to crumble. He put a hand over his eyes and shook his head.

  I knew this was it, the moment when he would let that fog of sadness out.

  He took his hand from his eyes and his face contorted with grief. “Bring back my Irene.” He opened his mouth and gasping sobs escaped. “If you can do anything, bring back my Irene.” His voice cracked.

  “Who?” I asked.

  “My wife, Irene. She left me twenty years ago and I’ll never have joy in my life again. Bring her back to me.”

  Twee looked at him with startled eyes. “She can’t do that.”

  The captain stopped crying and hardened himself. Pushing those emotions beneath the surface again, he put up a wall of tense anger. “She is a god. She can do anything. Now she’ll do this for me.”

  “They follow the rules of the universe just like us. Once someone dies they cannot be brought back.” Twee sat up wearily. “I lost my mother in a shipwreck. I am closer to Eilim than anyone. If he could’ve brought her back to me don’t you think he would’ve?”

  “I don’t know anything about your relationship with him. For all I know you are delusional.” He turned his attention back to me. “Bring back my Irene. Bring her back or I will kill your friend here.” He stormed into Twee’s open cell and yanked her arm, pulling her to her feet. She yelped in pain. Looking at me with frantic eyes he said, “Give me her baby.”

  “No,” I said.

  When I refused he came toward me with Twee’s arm still firmly in his grip and reached down to me as if he would try to rip the vessel from my hands. Upon touching its rock-like flesh, he pulled his hand away and asked, “What manner of evil is this?”

  “It is not evil. It is just not ready for this world yet.”