Page 27 of Into the Isle

He surprised me by putting a hand to the small of my back, and my body stiffened from his touch. He was smooth with it, despite throwing me off, and I leaned into his soft touch.

Then I realized he wasn’t copping a feel, and I felt silly, my cheeks flushing. Rather, he pointed out to the misty sea, past the railing of the ship, turning my body to face that direction with him.

“Speaking of the academy,” he said with a smirk, “go starboard and take in the sights, little fox.”

I watched from the railing with my heart in my throat, eyes bulging against the whipping wind.

“But we’ve only been traveling for a few hours!” I called over the din of fast wind. “We should be in the middle of the ocean, at best.” Somehow, we seemed to be going faster now, despite more rowers stuffing their paddles away.

Arne stood next to me, close. It was comforting having someone near me who had experienced this before. “That’s why the Wraith is called a ghost ship,” he said. “We stopped traveling atop the water long ago.”

I glanced over at him, confused—but could only focus on him for a moment before everything changed in front of us.

One second, we were barreling through a corridor of dark mist and fog. The next, we burst free from the stuffy confines and the longship lurched onto crystal water. The fog stopped on a great wall of gray behind us, as if the mist had a specific point at which it ended.

A blue morning greeted us overhead. Minutes before, the moon had been in the sky.

A wave of dizziness washed over me as I took everything in, dazed and disoriented. Even Arne appeared slightly disheveled at the sudden change of barometric pressure and the speed with which the longship sailed.

I felt like I wasn’t in Midgard anymore. It was a creeping feeling, one that nagged at me.

Beneath the yawning blue sky sat a landmass stretching from end to end as far as I could see left and right. It grew larger on the horizon as we approached at a breakneck speed. Wind pushed against the large square sail of the Gray Wraith, propelling us toward a peninsula.

I could make out the winding rivers and fjords cut into glistening glaciers and coves. The land sloped up behind the shore, with a great forest and green canopies. The island appeared covered in nature, devoid of human touch. I didn’t see large metal buildings or skyscrapers I’d heard so much about in my village, which supposedly topped the sky in so many cities across the world.

This place looked uninhabited and ancient.

Thrilling. Promising.

Trepidation inside me turned into fierce anticipation and excitement. I couldn’t fight off the wide grin splitting my face, even though it hurt to do so. Arne had made no mention of the bruise or split lip marring my features.

I wanted to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming. Maybe Arne could smack me upside the head to do the same, to wipe the shit-eating grin off my face.

I’m here, I thought. I’ve made it at long last.

From my side, Arne spoke in little more than a whisper. I could hear him clearly above the cacophony of wind rushing by.

“Welcome to the Isle, little fox.”

Part Two

Family

“WE SHOULD BE THE ONES studying the Runesphere, old friend,” Lord Talasin, the elven lord, told King Dannon, the human leader, late one night.

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