Page 12 of Sea of Stars

It was as if the man belonging to the voice somehow knew me. Or maybe he had heard me speaking to the dying woman. “That is my name, yes." My response was followed by silence. “I promise I won’t hurt you.”

Chinook was standing nearby with his head cocked to one side, staring at a nearby tree. If he wasn't worried about the stranger then I was probably safe. I leaned over and placed my sword on the ground. After a few moments I heard some leaves crunch, and the man stepped out from behind the tree. A ghost stood before me.

For a moment we both stood there, staring at one another. Every time I blinked I expected him to disappear. I was imagining him, wasn’t I?

“It really is you,” the man said in shock as he walked toward me. His hands and forearms were covered with soot and dried blood. Like all male divinares, he had very thick, short hair. It was still brown and stuck up in all directions, but he was tall and strong now, and even more handsome than I had remembered. There was now scruff where his face had once been bare. His piercing brown eyes stared at me intently. For a moment I remembered Jeremody's brown eyes and I had to bite my lip to hold back the tears.

I stayed still, unable to comprehend his presence. “I thought you were dead,” I said quietly.

“It was only a scratch,” he replied, tracing a scar vertically along the side of his eye. A smile cut across his face and he looked just like he had when he was still a boy. Even the playful twinkle remained in his eyes. He seemed relieved that I had recognized him, and he pulled me towards him, hugging me close. His chin rested on the top of my head.

I placed my hands on his back, embracing him. I could hear the beating of his heart. I could feel his arms wrapped protectively around me. He smelled like the ocean and grass at the same time. For ten years I had believed that Mortwar had killed him. I had hoped that he was alive, but I never believed he actually would be. I had been haunted by the image of Breghton's dead body. Yet, here he was before me, very much alive.

“I have nightmares all the time about that day,” I mumbled into his chest. I still couldn’t believe he was alive.

He pulled away and looked down at me. “I’ve dreamed about you too, Mahlia.” His voice was playful, but it didn’t sound like he was joking.

I laughed awkwardly.

“Luckily we spotted the brutarians' boat in the ocean awhile before it docked. Most of us escaped, but a few of the villagers were burned in their homes.” He stepped back and gestured towards the huts that lay in ruins. He took a deep breath and I knew that he had spotted the old woman on the ground. "Mahlia," he said, grabbing my hand and turning me away from the destruction. "There’s no reason for you to look at this. Could you go down to the beach and wait for me? There's something I need to do." He squeezed my hand tight before letting it go.

It was nice to have someone protecting me. And he was right, I didn't want to look at what Mortwar had caused, what I had caused. As I walked down to the beach I turned back once and saw Breghton kneeling beside the woman's still body. He placed a kiss on her forehead and picked her up gently in his arms, carrying her in the opposite direction of me. I turned and continued to walk away down to the beach. A few minutes later I saw smoke curling into the air in the distance. He was burning her body, letting her rise to the heavens. A ch

ill ran down my back as I wondered how many bodies he had already burned.

I was standing by the water, watching the waves crash, when I heard Breghton's footsteps in the sand. His eyes were slightly red and I knew he had been crying. I didn't know what to say to him. Mortwar had been looking for me, so it was my fault that the old woman was dead. "Breghton, I'm sorry."

"I sat with her for a long time before you arrived. Her wounds had been too deep for me to save her. All I could do was sit with her and keep her company. She kept saying it was okay and that it was her turn to rise." He shook his head. "I wish I could have helped her. But now she's where she wanted to be," he said and looked up at the stars.

"How were you able to avoid getting hurt during Mortwar's raid?" I was so glad that he had somehow escaped injury.

"I hid down by the beach until the brutarians left. I couldn't flee with the rest of the villagers. We’ve been waiting for you for years. I wasn’t going to abandon the village and have you unable to find us.”

“What do you mean waiting for me?” It was similar to what the dying woman had said.

He paused and looked at me. He tilted his head and his eyes seemed to leave the present for just a moment. “Well, you are the wished for child, aren’t you?” A smile broke over his face again. “Well, not much of a child anymore I would say.” His eyes left my face as he studied the rest of me.

My cheeks grew hot and I knew I was blushing. “You have me mistaken for someone else, Breghton. I’m not the person you’re looking for.”

“Of course you are. And I knew it when I first met you.” He looked pleased with himself. “You and your parents escaped before the Great Ravage. Your mom had the gift of the Moira. She must have been the one who warned the village about the brutarian attack.” His voice was growing louder and more excited. “You have the power too, don’t you?” It was barely a question. He seemed rather certain of it.

“You don’t understand. It’s a sickness, or a curse, or I don’t know what. But it's no gift.”

“No, Mahlia, you are the one who does not understand. Your mom was the first one in decades to have the gift of the Moira. When the brutarians destroyed our village right after she left, everyone believed she really had the power. But it was too late. She had sworn to never come back in order to protect her unborn child. We starting calling her baby ‘The wished for child.' That’s what Mahlia means, right? We’ve been waiting, hoping that the child would come back here. That she would come and save us.” He paused and then added, “You have finally come to save us.”

Anger rose inside of me. “Stop, stop it! My mother named me Mahlia because she had always wanted a child. She hoped and prayed and finally she was able to get pregnant. The name is a coincidence.” I could feel the anger growing. He was acting like he knew me and my parents. We had only met once. He knew nothing about me.

“Mahlia, it’s not a coincidence. Don’t you see?” He placed his hands on my shoulders and leaned down, staring into my eyes. “It’s your destiny. It’s why you came here.” His tone was meant to be soothing, but it didn’t calm me.

“I didn’t choose any of this." I pushed my hands into his chest to make him get away from me. "I was forced to leave the Iron Gates. I ran away in the middle of the night like a coward, leaving the rest of the divinares at the prison to die.” I looked back at the destroyed village. I felt sick to my stomach.

He was quiet for a moment. “You’ve been at the Iron Gates this whole time? Mahlia, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”

I didn’t need his pity. I ignored his comment. “I didn’t choose to come here, either. I mean, yes, I was instructed to come in this general direction. But I only came here because of Chinook.”

Breghton's body tensed. “Who is Chinook?” he hissed. He unsheathed his sword and looked around.

“Put that away.” I gestured towards my owl, who had wandered over to one of the huts on the outer edge of the village. He was busy pecking at a pile of books on the ground. He was being as strange as usual. It was as if he was trying to read them.

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