Page 57 of Sea of Stars

Chinook circled high in the air above us. We were all confused that neither she nor Mikado could find Mahlia, since both were supposed to be great trackers. I looked down at the sand. How could Mahlia possibly be below the sand? If she had been buried, she would have suffocated almost instantly. Maybe I had misread the symbols. I glanced at Denton’s satchel. Both daggers had been wrapped and placed inside his bag. I felt the growing need to have one in my hand. I clenched my fists and shoved them into my pockets.

I turned to look at Achates. He and Augury were bringing up the rear.

“How much farther is it?” I asked.

“Well let me see.” Achates stopped and spun around in a slow circle as he studied our surroundings. “Hmmm...the dagger is much closer to the mountains,” he said and started walking again.

We were moving toward the cliffs that Vellswar called home. In a few hours we’d be standing right beneath them.

“Did you disperse the daggers when you escaped the divinare castle?” I asked Achates.

“No, not right away,” he responded gruffly, bumping into my shoulder as he walked past me.

“Do you know where they are, Augury?” I asked.

She shook her head. “When we escaped from the castle, Achates made sure he took all the daggers. He didn’t get rid of them right away, though. We kept them for a while, but when I found out how they affected him, I made him get rid of them. I told him to hide them where no one would ever be able to find them.”

“You didn’t go with him?”

“No. The fewer people that knew their location, the better.”

I was quiet for a moment before responding. “Do you think he actually remembers where they are?”

“We’ll have to wait and see,” she said and brushed past me.

I quickened my pace. I hadn’t realized that I was falling behind. I followed the rest of the group in silence for a long while. The ground shook, but no one said a word. They just plodded on.

“Denton, what do you think is causing the ground to shake?” I asked.

“I’ve been thinking about that too. Maybe it has something to do with how the Divinares were created.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, in the old stories, the humans and brutarians were in the middle of a terrible war. The Lords created us in an effort to end the fighting.”

“And now all three races are fighting instead of just the two. Do you think they’d try the same thing again and send yet another race to mediate?”

The ground rumbled again. Denton clasped his hand on my shoulder to steady himself. “That’s what I’m hoping.”

I wanted to believe Denton’s words, but I couldn’t help dowsing the flame on his positivity. “And what if it’s not?”

“That’s what worries me. Have you ever read ‘The Lights of the Lords?' ” Denton asked.

“You mean the children’s tale? My mother used to read it to me before bed.”

“Not the tale, the tome.”

“I didn’t know it was more than a children’s story.”

“Where do you think the children’s story came from?” Denton laughed. “In the tome, it describes in detail how the Lords always have a solution for the troubles that brew below. Whether it is lighting the sky for day or ending terrible wars fought for years, there's always a solu

tion to be found.”

“So it has to be something good, like a fourth race?” I asked, confused.

“At the end of the book it mentions how all flames must die. I didn’t know what it meant when I read it, but I’ve been thinking about it ever since I first felt the ground rumble. I used to think it had something to do with the Lords themselves, the lights of the sky. When I saw the stars falling from the sky last night, it seemed as if my worst fears were being confirmed. I thought the Lords were dying, and the hells were taking over, unleashing monsters on the world.”

“I fear you might be right, Denton,” I said sadly.

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