by H A Tisdale
“But if Zedd’s really your father,” I reasoned out loud, “then that means one of your sons could be the Glorious King.”
“What makes you say that?” Reina asked more perplexed by my claim than I had been by hers.
“Because,” I started to explain, realizing we needed to solve this puzzle together, “Jedd told me that his father had a dream that the Glorious King would come from his genelixir, and it’s definitely not Bill!”
“You can’t be serious,” Reina uttered her doubts. “I love my sons to death, but even with my motherly bias, I wouldn’t begin to assert that one of them shines like the sun. They all have far too many flaws, which I’ve personally witnessed again and again over the years.”
“Well, who else could it be?” I pushed back. “The fact that all of this is coming to the surface after the appearance of the Radiant Ruakia, that doesn’t seem like a coincidence to me.”
“It just doesn’t seem right,” Reina persisted in her skepticism. “Zedd committed adultery and murdered my mother’s husband. How could the Glorious King come out of such wickedness?"
“Beats me,” I admitted with my own hesitations. “All I know is we need to find your sons to figure it out, and if none of them prove to be the Glorious King, then we’ll just find him somewhere else I guess.”
“You will find him,” Reina replied, reminding me of her intention to remain at Kokomanor, “and you’ll find all of my children too. I know that there still alive out there. I can feel it. But my place is here with Kokoma right now, for the Domikos has unequivocally directed my birthstone to stay here and comfort her.”
“But I need you,” I asserted in vain, for I knew I could not usurp the Good Gale’s authority.
“You don’t need me, Benjamin, not anymore. You’ll find the Glorious King. I know you will,” she stated confidently with a smile as her ruby eyes pierced my soul. “You’ve seen the sun after all.”
…
The days that followed passed by in a flash. We all at Kokomanor still mourned for our friend Jedd, though the legacy of his cheerful spirit brightened our birthstones as we sought to remember him. Indeed, the memory of the righteous is a blessing, and we all shared in the gift of his full life, from its beginning to its end. Unexpectedly, Jedd had entered the Pit; his mother had not known she carried twins until the day of his birth. And without warning, Jedd departed from the Pit, but we all took confidence, knowing the Master of Wind had overcome the wicked wind of death through the liberating breeze of the Domikos.
And part of me wished that the rest of my days could be spent at Kokomanor, living peaceably under the bright cavernous ceiling in the glory of the Domikos. But my heart knew that the time would be short before Hive would wreak havoc on the Pit. The vessel for Gannacleft’s Flame would eventually be completed, and nowhere would be safe from that evil. The fate of the Pit depended on finding the Glorious King.
So the day eventually came when I stood by the Dream Stream with a packed bag and a heavy heart. Keeping in step with the Domikos, I knew it was the right time for me to leave Kokomanor, though I took a moment to enjoy the breeze of my community one last time before continuing on the long journey. Reina, Kokoma, Kairou, Bamboo, Sue, Hanna, Gretta, and even a redeemed Sylvester were among the many individuals who made up my wind-following circle, and I considered each and everyone one of them family.
“Keep climbing those trees,” Bamboo encouraged me with a brotherly hug.
“You got it, Bamboo,” I promised.
“Hang loose, drink juice,” Sue advised as she pounded my fist.
“Always,” I assured her.
“Thanks again for freeing us from the handheld mirrors,” Hanna stated genuinely grateful.
Gretta stepped forward in agreement. “For real, those things were the Pit! So wherever you go, Benjamin, DO NOT BE CAPTURED BY THE STILLNESS,” she instructed loudly as she grabbed my shoulders and shook me.
“I’ll be sure to keep my wits about me,” I responded to her aggressive warning.
Sylvester walked up to me next with a familiar item in his hand. “I grabbed this before we got off the Eschaton,” he explained as he handed Jedd’s staff to me, “and based on what I’ve heard about the man who rescued me, I’m pretty sure he would have wanted you to take this on your journey.”
“Thanks, Sylvester,” I stated graciously. “You and Jedd have both taught me to never give up on people.”
Sylvester smiled and stepped back to let Kokoma say her goodbye. “He’s right, Benjamin,” she started. “No doubt Jedd would have wanted you to have his staff. In fact, he carved it from a branch out of that willow tree there.”
I looked at the willow tree and thought back to what Jedd had said during our conversation about life as a dream.
I can’t say for sure, Benjamin, but this my birthstone knows. At the close of this dark dream, I will awaken, and my eyes will look upon the one who created me. How this will happen, I have no idea, but his inner wind has brought my birthstone an invisible assurance that I will one day gaze upon his beauty. Though I will have died, somehow, I will still dwell alive with the Alchemist.
So I ran my hands through my hair and breathed in the fresh air, remembering what the Master of Wind had given me, and a soft smile lifted upon my face as I imagined Jedd in the Haven, gazing upon the beauty of his creator. I further pictured the Alchemist looking back at Jedd with fatherly love as he prepared to reunite him with his only son under the sun. A tear or two then ran down my face out of happiness, happiness to have met the rare gem of a man whose birthstone had shined so brightly in the Pit.
“Thank you, Kokoma,” I replied, wiping the tear from my cheek, “and before I go, I just wanted to apologize for everything that happened. If I hadn’t run off—”
“Shhh,” Kokoma shushed me before I could finish, embracing me in her strong arms. “No one has control over the events in the Pit just as no one has control over the wind.”
At first, I wanted to disagree with her statement and bring up how Jedd had controlled the wind on the Eschaton, but then I realized what she was trying to say. What she meant was that people play their part in the Pit, but in the end, there is a force behind fate that supersedes the actions of individuals. The Good Gale ultimately controls all things, working everything out for the good of those who walk with him.
“Thanks for everything, Kokoma,” I finally said in the warmth of her embrace. “I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you too,” she echoed as she released me from her loving hug. “Always remember to walk with the Domikos—”
“And enjoy the breeze,” I finished the sage saying with a serene smile.
“Arrr, arrr!” Kairou barked ferociously, apparently not enjoying the breeze of me ignoring her.
“Don’t worry, Kairou! I wasn’t going to forget you,” I assured her as I kneeled down to give her a series of affectionate strokes. I brushed back her long-haired ears and stared deep into her galaxy eyes, briefly wondering if the Alchemist had already given Jedd a tour of all the galaxies. Kairou then sniffed my face tenaciously before giving me a slobbery lick. I laughed heartily and finished my goodbye with a loving kiss to her snout.
And finally, I turned to say goodbye to Reina: the woman who had introduced me to the Pit; the woman who had twice covered my nakedness; the woman who had welcomed me into her family. I looked into her teary ruby eyes before she wrapped her arms around me, and that’s when I couldn’t hold back the waterworks from my own tear ducts.
“We’ll see each other again,” Reina asserted with confidence, squeezing me tightly by the river. “My birthstone is sure of it.”
“I certainly hope so,” I responded with less assurance in my own heart as our hug ended. “But the next time you see me, I’ll be sure to have some clothes on this time.”
Reina laughed through her tears. “Speaking of keeping your clothes on, I wanted to talk to you about my daughter.”
“Your daughter?” I repeated rather un
comfortably.
“Yes,” Reina answered, “I overheard your little conversation with her in the tent at the Festival of Masks.”
“Oh,” I uttered in a panic, “I can explain. You see—”
“And I just wanted to say,” Reina interrupted, “that I would be honored to call you my son.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. “I have your blessing then?” I clarified making sure I had heard her right.
“Of course, Benjamin. I can think of no one more fitting to be with my sweet Meina. I know her birthstone will be in good hands.”
“Thanks, Reina,” I replied so happily, my heart reigniting from the sound of my true love’s name. “Our first encounter was simply magical, much more than just love at first sight.”
“Jiminy Willers,” Reina playfully mocked me, “just try to keep your clothes on long enough to get married first.”
“Oh of course!” I assured her. “I wouldn’t even dream of doing it differently.”
“Good boy,” Reina joked before switching to a more serious tone, “and be sure to take care of yourself, Benjamin. Don’t ever forget how treacherous the Pit can be.”
“I won’t,” I comforted her as if she were already my mother, and my quasi-mother gave me one final hug before she stepped back with the rest of my family.
With goodbyes said and hugs given, I smiled at my wind-following circle, and they smiled back. “So long, Kokomanor! I will miss thee so.”
So with Jedd’s staff in hand, I turned to face the coming twists and turns of the unknown, entering the Dream Stream slowly where I waded carefully through the water. Meanwhile, Kairou whined frantically, demanding to know the meaning of my unapproved departure. And when I climbed out on the other side of the river, Kairou’s wretched whimpers turned into inconsolable barks.
So I turned around to the sight of Kairou running back and forth on the shore in a frantic frenzy. She eventually stopped to sit at Kokoma’s feet and looked up at her with desperation in her eyes.
Kokoma kneeled down beside her and stroked her face with the utmost affection before she nodded her head in my direction. “Go, Kairou,” she conceded to the irresistible will of the pooch.
Without hesitation, Kairou took a few paces back and sprinted forward, leaping across a significant portion of the Dream Stream. She landed in the water a bit clumsily but resurfaced quickly, swimming speedily to the other side. When she climbed out on the bank, she shook the water off her fur and reported faithfully at my side, so I gave her an excited pet and looked at Kokoma across the water as I thought back to what Jedd had told me on the Eschaton.
That’s why Kairou meant so much to her. And when Kokoma stared into her galaxy eyes for the first time, she broke down in tears, fully convinced she would see her family again under the stars of the Haven.
“Kairou’s grown rather fond of you,” Kokoma chimed generously from across the river, “and I believe she has chosen her new master.”
Even though I wanted Kokoma to hold onto the sign that had been given to her by the Alchemist, I knew she would refuse to have it any other way, for she had learned to only hold onto the breeze that stays, the love that endures. And like the willow tree waiting for the wind beside her, Kokoma stood.
“Don’t worry,” I breathed with the knowledge that everything lost would one day be restored, with the belief that our suffering would not go in vain. “I’ll bring her back in one piece.”
Thus, Kairou and I turned our backs to Kokomanor, looking straight ahead at the windy path before us. And suddenly, under the gentle glow of the cavernous ceiling, I felt the Domikos surge in my heart as the soft, majestic voice wrote my new name into stone: You are Benjamin, the Bold Sunseer, the Master of Kairou.
“Come on, Kairou,” I roused my canine companion in response to my new title. “We’re off to find the Geode King.”
THE END
Acknowledgements
For a long time, I have had the dream to write a book. This dream has now been fulfilled thanks to my Kokomanor, those wonderful individuals in my wind-following circle who have helped me along the way.
At times, we need a teacher to illuminate our way through the Pit. I have had many teachers who have both guided me and inspired me. To all my teachers, I say thank you.
At times, we need a hero to save us from the Sands of Suffering. I have had many heroes rescue me out of danger and treachery. To all my heroes, I say thank you.
At times, we need an animal to cuddle with us when we are lonely. I have been gifted with a majestic canine, exceeding the worth of every precious gem. To Kairou, I don’t say thank you. Instead, I will continue to give you affectionate strokes on the head.
At times, we need a family to love us unconditionally. I have been blessed with wonderful family members who shower me with the fountain of steadfast love. To all my family members, I say thank you.
At all times, we need a Savior to bring us out of the darkness and into the light. I have been found by the Lord of the Universe, and His light will lead us through this dark world into eternal bliss. To Jesus, my foremost love, I give everlasting thanks.
To everyone in my Kokomanor, I have benefitted from you more than you could ever know, and I hope this book reflects that truth.