Page 50 of Sea of Stars

“I believe I have found a way to break in through the iron fence without being noticed,” I said.

“But how?” His voice sounded slightly whiny, but I knew he was tired and just wanted to understand.

“You’ll have to wait and see,” I said playfully. We trudged forwards. Jeremody’s head was no longer resting on my shoulder. I knew he was looking up, studying the large mountains as we got closer.

Jeremody tugged on my shirt. “It’s time to stop. The sun is rising,” he said, pointing ahead of us.

A light began to glow in the distance, coming through the mountains. At first I too believed it was the sun, but then I heard a voice. I turned my head to Jeremody and raised my finger to my lips. Hopefully he would understand and remain quiet. I ran over to a nearby tree and lifted him off my back and onto it. He was a good climber so he began to shimmy up the branches until he found one big enough to support both our weight. I climbed up after him and nestled beside him. Again I put my finger to my lips.

The voice grew closer. I looked down and saw a large brutarian carrying a torch raised above his head. A huge crow was perched on his shoulder. I had heard about these monstrous birds. Forge crows were deadly predators and were as tall as full-grown divinares. The brutarian moved his hand to pet the crow, which gave me a brief glance at his face in the torchlight. I put both my hands onto the branch, trying to steady myself. I knew I was shaking. The last time I had been this close to Mortwar he had nearly killed me. The light from the flame was not flattering on his face. He looked slimier than ever.

I leaned forward to attempt to hear what he was saying to his crow. Jeremody also leaned forward. He was always so eager to hear everything for himself.

“There’s nothing out here, my pet,” Mortwar said, stroking the bird’s head. The bird responded with a high-pitched caw.

The sound made my hair stand on end. Jeremody was even more surprised than me. I looked over at him just in time to see him topple forward off the branch. I quickly reached out to him, grabbing a hold of his shirt’s collar. Tears streamed down his face. He took his little hands and grabbed onto my arm.

“Hold on,” I mouthed down to him.

He nodded his head and I began to pull him up. He was inches from the branch when the forge crow called out again. This time Jeremody dropped his hands from my arm which caused his body to twist in the air. Before I could react, Jeremody’s shirt ripped from my hand and he landed with a light thud under the tree.

For a moment the night was completely silent. I held my breath. All I could hear was my heartbeat. Mortwar had already turned to go. His ears weren’t great for hearing and he had not noticed the sound of Jeremody falling off the tree. Jeremody stood quietly and began to walk over toward the tree’s trunk. I breathed a sigh of relief.

But then the crow’s neck snapped. Caw, caw!

Mortwar turned to see what the crow was looking at and spotted Jeremody at the base of the tree.

I was completely frozen. All I wanted was to call out and distract them, but my voice had abandoned me. I just sat there, dumbfounded, watching the scene unfold.

“Well, well,” Mortwar’s voice boomed as he walked over to Jeremody. Jeremody was frozen in place too. As soon as Mortwar picked him up with his slimy gray hand, Jeremody began to cry. “Catch,” he said and tossed Jeremody over to the forge crow. The bird caught Jeremody in his talons and took off into the dark sky. Mortwar laughed and walked back towards the Iron Gates.

***

I opened my eyes and blinked a few times to remove the tears. I sniffed, trying to make my nose stop running. All these years I had the tiniest hope that Jeremody might still be alive. Mahlia had confirmed that no one near her age was alive at the Iron Gates, though. Jeremody was dead. There was no hope left. He was probably eaten by that forge crow years ago. Mahlia never even got the chance to know him. I wanted to move my hands to wipe under my nose, but they were tied behind my back. My eyes couldn’t focus on anything as I looked around because it was so dark. I closed my eyes again and tried to let my hair make sense of my surroundings, but my hair didn't pick up any sounds. Hard, cool rock chilled me through the back of my shirt. There was no way we were out of the desert yet, so I had to be in some

sort of cave. I opened my eyes and still couldn't see a thing.

“Denton,” I whispered. I waited a few moments, but there was no reply.

I looked down and saw that my leg had been bandaged. Someone had fixed me up after Mikado attacked me. I blinked a few times, trying to get my eyes to adjust to the darkness. Then the memory hit me. Chinook. I tried to jump up, but I couldn’t move at all. My body felt like it had undergone severe torture. “Chinook,” I called this time. There was no answer from her.

“Harish?” I said quietly into the darkness. Fortunately, he wasn't nearby either. I sighed with relief. But just because no one that I knew was in here with me didn’t mean that I was alone. My hair twitched, almost sensing someone’s presence without even hearing them.

“Is someone there?” I asked. I heard a crackle and then saw a spark. The light grew as the fire expanded. The flames spread onto the sticks that were lying in a heap on the ground. The old divinare with the long beard was hunched over the fire, warming his hands.

“I’ve never read a prediction wrong before,” he said gruffly. He wrapped his arms around himself. I looked around the room that was now bright enough for me to see. We were the only two inside the small cave. “They say the mind goes, but mine is better than ever…” his voice trailed off.

“Who are you?” I asked. For once I didn’t feel scared. I had faced death enough times in my life. I was sick of feeling scared. I was ready to die. All I wanted was to be reunited with everyone I had lost.

“The name’s Achates, boy. I’m Mahlia’s grandfather.”

I nodded my head. I was right about the old woman being related to Mahlia. And this must be her husband. I tried to search for any familiarity between him and Mahlia. But this old, balding, cranky man didn't seem similar to her at all.

“If it was up to me, you’d be in this here fire.” He chuckled to himself, clearly amused by the idea of my body burning. A smile stood locked on his face.

“So do it,” I challenged.

The old man shrugged. “I lost the vote, three to one. Fair is fair,” he said, kicking one of the twigs with his foot. The fire grew for a second and then flickered down to its original height.

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