Discovered, page 8
Sawdi knew that Stryker was after a pendant that Stryker believed would make him ruler of all of Thamon. But what if the pendent ruled Stryker just as the ring was ruling him now?
Had the pendant and the ring been made by the same person? Yes, he knew the myth about the pendant. The sky god, Tewao, made it and gave it to his son. The son had used it for evil, so Tewao broke it apart and hid the pieces. Maybe the pendant took over the son like the ring was taking over him?
But the god part didn’t fit for Sawdi. He knew men created their gods. So perhaps a powerful being that others called god made the pendant. But why not destroy it? Why only hide it? And why a map?
Did the same “god” make the ring? Why was it him who found it? Was all this preordained?
That’s when Sawdi thought about the prophecies. He had never read them, but he had heard they existed. Since he felt as if he made his own fate, he had never cared about them before. He had thought of the prophecies as fantasy. Something others made up to help them understand the unexplainable.
But what if those prophecies gave him a way to take off the ring? Maybe not destroy it, but at least make it stop leading him around, taking away his free will.
Perhaps he should go to Turva sooner than he had planned. He had heard that was where the people had hidden the written pages. How printed pages could survive over thousands and thousands of years was a mystery, but not one bigger than a ring that demanded things of him.
The ring had let him come to the cabin. Maybe giving him a rest or perhaps it needed time to rest too. Although Sawdi was tempted to think about taking the ring off, he didn’t want to risk that it was still there waiting to punish him. If he went to Turva, the ring would think it was for revenge. Perhaps he could hide that he was also looking for answers.
Sawdi stood and walked to the door of his cabin. Bolong was waiting patiently for him at the edge of the woods. How did Udore get away? Sawdi wondered. He didn’t ride any of the dragons. Maybe Bolong had turned him down. That’s what Sawdi wanted to believe. He needed something to be loyal to him. Why not Bolong?
Turning back to look at his quiet cabin, Sawdi sighed. As much as he would like more quiet time, other things took priority. As he climbed onto Bolong for the ride back to the Palace, Sawdi wondered again how did Udore leave? It disturbed him that he had missed so many things. It was time to pay more attention.
Digging his heels into Bolong’s neck, he decided to fly the normal way back to the Palace. It gave him more time with his thoughts. Maybe he would find an elegant way to get rid of all the people, the pendant and the ring, all at the same time.
Twenty-Three
The storm passed over Eos without touching it. Not because the storm wasn’t raging around them, but because they passed through it as if they were in a transparent tunnel.
Tarek had come up to the deck, raised his hands to the black sky, mumbled something, and everything went quiet. Standing inside the transparent tunnel, they could see the lightning flash and the pounding rain. They could even see the waves rise up and over them, but nothing touched them or the Eos.
Within minutes, they were outside the tunnel, and the sky was blue without any sign of wind or rain. Although waves still rocked the ship, they were nothing like the waves that had threatened them before.
In the distance, Meg could see land. The crew cheered and then went back to what they were doing as if nothing had happened.
“They don’t remember,” Tarek answered Meg’s unspoken question. “It’s best that they don’t repeat that story.”
Meg didn’t have time to question why, because Tarek, with Silke on his shoulder, hurried off to talk to Captain Lira about where he wanted to have the ship dock. Leon and his men were busy helping the crew, and Meg wondered if they didn’t remember either. Wren and Karn were still below. Meg assumed they were talking about their relationship, or maybe Karn was telling Wren more of the larger plan.
That left Meg alone on the deck, looking out over the waves and wondering about the next part of their journey when she heard the roar of a dragon. Her heart leaped. Was it Suzanne? A few seconds later, her sister, as Lady the dragon, flew into view, spit out a blast of fire into the waves, tipped her wings, and headed to shore.
Tarek must have heard the roar because he burst out of the Captain’s cabin and swept Meg up in his arms. The two of them embraced with tears flowing down their cheeks. Suzanne had returned, and on her back were two people. “My father and Rose,” Tarek had breathed.
Silke arrived moments later and perched on Tarek’s shoulder, watching where Lady flew towards Turva. Tears were running down Silke’s cheeks too.
For the moment, there was nothing wrong in the world. People that they loved were safe, the sky was blue, and as Etar and Trin crossed each other, the blue flash confirmed that it was a good day.
Passing through time the way that they had done, they were far ahead of the Soleis. Besides, the storm would also slow Stryker down. It gave them a little time to begin the search for the pendant piece before he arrived.
Although Meg had asked Tarek more than once if he knew where that piece was, he had never answered the question. She would have to trust him. Otherwise, what good would it do to be the first on land?
As the shore drew closer, the crew lowered the rowboats. They would row everyone to land and then move the Eos to the town of Yeal Thalor, where it would dock. The village would be expecting them as a trading ship.
The small harbor where Lira had brought the rebels was unknown to most people. And it was where Lira had also brought the Mages and their families on his last trip.
From there, the Mages would have walked to the coordinates where the other refugees were hiding. Vald knew the coordinates of the Sanctuary because Leon and Tarek had given them to him before he left the Islands.
But getting to the Sanctuary would not have been easy. The Mages and their families would have had to avoid people. They couldn’t follow the roads or trails or stop in towns for supplies. Their path would have taken them up into the mountains.
Members of Lira’s crew were also going ashore with the rebels, but not to help find the pendant. They would be heading to the Sanctuary to bring supplies. Tarek and Leon would give them coordinates after they reached the shore. No one wanted to take any chances that the remaining crew going to the village of Yeal Thalor would give the Sanctuary away even by mistake. Even Lira didn’t know, and he wanted it to be that way.
The hours that it took to get to shore felt to Meg longer than the entire trip had taken. And she knew that Tarek felt the same way. Although they had seen Lady and her two passengers land onshore, after her sister shifted back to being Suzanne, the three of them had waved and then headed inland.
Meg knew that they were waiting out of sight, but the fact that she could no longer see them made it even harder. However, she and Tarek had decided to be the last ones off the ship. So as they watched their friends make their way to shore and then disappear into the trees, they stood quietly together, holding hands.
For both of them, just holding hands was a brand new experience. Tarek had never had any interest in a woman, and Meg had been too busy thinking only of herself to care about someone else, let alone a man. The fact that Tarek was a wizard and she was becoming something other than a shapeshifter had first stopped Meg from allowing herself to feel more for Tarek.
But after almost losing Tarek and all her friends to the Warrior Monks and Sawdi, something snapped open in her heart. Perhaps the fire and the light beam had been part of what happened, but all Meg knew was she was ready to admit that what she felt was love.
So holding hands was more than just that they were united in their fight against the three men who wanted to rule Thamon.
Neither of them could see Silke sitting on Tarek’s shoulder watching the shoreline. She smiled to herself. It all went well; she was thinking, she would someday have another wizard to shepherd through life.
But first, they had to succeed in destroying the pendant and the ring. Silke sighed to herself. Yes, she knew about the ring. Karn had told her, but he had only confirmed what she had already known. After all, this had all been written in the prophecies. What wasn’t written was how it ended.
That was up to them.
Twenty-Four
On the Soleis, Stryker wept. No one saw him because he was below deck in his cabin. And he wasn’t weeping because he was sad. He cried from fear. Would they survive the storm? It was horrendous.
Captain Kosti had seemed unconcerned. But then he and his crew had lashed themselves to the ship to keep from being swept overboard. Kosti had given Stryker a choice. Stay on deck and be bound to the ship, or go below and wait it out.
So despite being sicker than he had ever remembered being, or thought possible, Stryker went below. He knew he would have wept on deck too, and there was no way he was going to show that weakness to anyone, let alone the crew of the Soleis.
He had crawled beneath his bunk, dragging blankets and pillows with him, trying to block out hearing the wind and rain pounding the Soleis while throwing it back and forth like a toy. For the thousandth time, he promised himself that he would never, ever take a boat again.
Of course, once he found the pendant, he wouldn’t have to. He would have the power of the gods. He could stay in one place and command a world.
The day he found the map he could never have imagined where it would take him. At seven, he had no idea what his life would be like. But despite how it felt at the moment, and the fear and illness that was sweeping through every cell of his body, Stryker knew that he wouldn’t change a thing. Someday it would all be worth it.
One thing that the storm was doing for him was keeping his mind off of who would be coming after him. He knew that sooner or later Sawdi, and probably the Warrior Monks, would track him down. But once he had the pendant, all would be well. The last time he felt well enough to look at the map, it still showed him that the middle of the pendant was on Turva. Not exactly where it was, just the general area. It had been the same on the Islands.
The map had sent him there, and once he arrived, it started showing him where on the Islands to find the pieces. Stryker knew that once he got to Turva, it would show him where to go next. Captain Kosti said they would be docking in the harbor at Yeal Thalor. From there, he was on his own.
Stryker moaned and held his ears, trying to keep out the shrieking wind. It reminded him of the shrieking of the Warrior Monks. Knowing Sawdi, he probably made them sound that way on purpose. Storm or Monks, it was terrifying.
Suddenly the shrieking and pounding stopped, and the ship calmed to a slow roll. Stryker sighed and rolled out from beneath his bunk, needing to do so before a crew member came down and found him wrapped in blankets on the floor.
He had made it to the edge of the bunk and smoothed out his hair before a crew member stuck his head into the cabin and announced that they were through the storm, and they could see land ahead.
Stryker flicked his wrist at him to go and pulled himself off the bed. Making his way across the cabin, he looked at his reflection in the mirror and shook his head. He was a mess. He brushed his hair, straightened his clothes, checked for the pendant piece hanging around his neck, and felt for the one sewed into his cloak.
As long as he had those two things, he would be okay. Better than okay. He was one step closer to being the ruler of Thamon.
Up on deck, the air smelled wonderful. The storm had washed away all the nasty smells of the ship and the men. The only bad smell was coming from him, but there was nothing he could do about that for now. Ahead, Stryker could see the town of Yeal Thalor coming into view.
Everyone left Stryker alone as they busied themselves, preparing to dock in the village’s harbor. Stryker noticed that if they had the choice, they were all upwind of him. He thought about moving so that they were all downwind, but he still felt too weak to bother. They were nothing to him, why would he waste energy on annoying them this way.
Once he was the one ruler, he could always reach out and punish them. No one would be off-limits then. But for now, all he wanted was to be rid of them all and on his way before Sawdi arrived.
Now that the ship was almost at its destination, Stryker felt well enough to think back to what had happened on the Islands.
He had betrayed all of them, including Dax, Ibris, and that wizard Tarek and his rebels. Stryker chuckled to himself, his energy starting to return. He had left all of them on the Islands to be destroyed by Sawdi and his Monks. Or maybe by the storm that had arrived at the same time.
No matter what, they were all dead. That made his life so much easier. All he had to do was outwit Aaron and Sawdi. Stryker wasn’t worried about Aaron. Aaron would be too busy maintaining his superiority and wealth. Besides, Aaron hated ships even more than he did, and Sawdi would never let him ride one of his dragons. No, all he had to worry about was Sawdi.
Watching the village come into view, Stryker felt more and more like himself. He would take over one of those houses he could see lining the streets of Yeal Thalor.
What a name for a village, Stryker thought. It was probably named after some god or two. He’d have to rename it because it was where he had come to claim his heritage. The village, maybe the city, of Stryker. It sounded good to him.
Behind him, Captain Kosti gestured to two members of the crew to lower the rowboat. It was time to get Stryker off his ship and for them to sail away from Turva as quickly as possible. In fact, they were heading back to the Islands. Right now, that might be the safest place on the planet.
Although Stryker believed that the Islands and the people had been destroyed, Falcon had assured Kosti that their plan had worked. So, once they gathered food and supplies, they would be sailing as fast as they had ever sailed, away from Turva. Away from the coming battle between men who wanted to be gods.
Twenty-Five
Meg and Tarek turned and waved at the retreating Eos. They could see a few members of the remaining crew waving back. “Will they be okay?” Meg asked. “They’ll be in Yeal Thalor when Stryker gets there.”
Silke was the one who answered her. She had flown out of the woods to greet them, and heard the question. “Stryker doesn’t know that you survived, or that the Eos had anything to do with any of the rescues.
“Captain Lira is smart. He won’t stay in that harbor for long. Lira is taking a few men and moving the ship. There is another small hidden harbor on the other side of Yeal Thalor, where he said he’d wait in case he was needed.
“Doesn’t he want to return to a family?” Meg asked, once again, surprising herself that caring about family was something that meant something to her.
“He says that his crew, and now the rebels and refugees are his family,” Silke replied.
Tears rushed to Meg’s eyes. Someday she would find a way to thank him, she thought. Tarek squeezed her hand, and she knew he understood what she was thinking.
“Are you ready?” Silke asked the two of them. With one last look at the retreating Eos, they turned to follow Silke into the woods where the rest of the rebels and the crew that had come with them had gathered.
Although neither of them spoke about it out loud, both Tarek and Meg were wondering if Suzanne, Udore, and Rose were waiting for them too. Silke turned to look at the two of them as if they were crazy.
“Of course they are, you two zonking idiots.”
Meg glanced at Tarek, putting her hand on his arm, and he smiled. He knew what she was asking: could he take them there now?
Within seconds they were standing a few yards away from a group of people gathered around a fire. Although the warm season had arrived, there was still a leftover chill in the air. And even if there hadn’t been, they probably would have built a fire anyway.
There is nothing quite as welcoming as a roaring fire, Meg thought as she scanned the crowd. Then Suzanne turned to her, and both of them took off running towards each other.
As they hugged, Suzanne realized that her sister had grown into a beautiful young woman, and she felt a pang of sorrow knowing that their parents would never have a chance to see what their youngest daughter had become.
Although Tarek wanted to rush at his father the same way that Suzanne and Meg had done, he was afraid to move. Part of him still felt angry that his father had not told him that he was alive. That Udore had left him thinking that he had to stop Aaron-Lem’s takeover of Thamon all by himself, or at least with the rebels that he could gather.
And then there was Silke. She must have known that Udore was alive. But she willingly transferred her allegiance to him, leaving his father alone with Aaron. All those thoughts kept Tarek from moving forward, but it didn’t stop Udore, who ran to Tarek and threw his arms around him.
“My son,” he said, stepping back to look into his eyes, his hands staying on Tarek’s shoulders.
Tarek looked into his father’s blue eyes, so like his own, and saw the pain and sorrow that lived there, and finally broke down and hugged his father. Then the two of them walked to Rose, who was waiting for them by the fire. Tarek pulled her into his embrace with Udore.
“Your brother doesn’t know that you are alive, Rose. I know he mourns you. Despite being trained as a Preacher, or maybe because of it, you know he helped save the Islands.”
Rose nodded, “I’m sorry that there was no way to tell him. Aaron had us all locked away, and we had to keep him happy to stay alive.
