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Chapter 25

Return to Sanctuary

The Bridesmaid was buzzing with excitement as we sailed on course to Sanctuary in search of Hope. There was a lot to catch up on with Sam. We learned that he was, indeed, related to the Thordin brothers (second cousins once removed). While it was news to him that they were now settled on the shard of Galacia instead of his home Shard of Sinos where they had all grown up, he was not at all surprised that they had chosen the severe climate conditions.

“We Thordins are a hearty breed,” he boasted. “It’s me mum’s snake stew that’s the secret to our strength, eh, Hunter?” He nudged me with his elbow in jest, knowing full well I’d had difficulty stomaching the bitter, stringy concoction the last (and only) time he was allowed to cook for me.

The conversation eventually steered to more important topics, with Sam trying to catch up on all he had missed during his years in captivity. Surprisingly, he had been able to piece together most of what happened from various tidbits of news that arrived with each new prisoner, but the complete story was never fully known. He was still anxious to hear a full telling of it first-hand for a change.

“Sounds like ya had quite an adventure there, Hunter!” Sam beamed after hearing of my fight with Venator. His dark skin and flashing white smile were a welcome sight. “I jus’ wish I coulda been with you fer it.”

“You were, Sam!” I explained. “The lessons you taught me never left my mind!”

“Then I musta done somethin’ right. So, let me get this straight now. We’re going to Sanctuary to find Hope?”

“Yeah, something like that. I’ve had visions of her lately, and I think Faldyn may have hid her in one of the Revealing Room environments.”

“Well, that’s no good,” Sam said with a groan.

“Why?” Trista asked.

“Well, assuming the Revealing Room even still exists after the siege, there must be at least a hundred-thousand different environments for ya to dial up. It’s a clever hiding place, to be sure—probably too clever. How are we going ta guess which one she’s in?”

“We don’t have to guess!” I announced, digging in my pocket and producing the small metal cipher that Gabby had given me. I tossed it to Sam who caught it midair. “Look familiar?”

“Why, sure, it’s a cipher for the Revealing Room dials,” he replied. “Where did you get it?”

“It used to be Gerwyn’s. Gabby gave it to me as a gift, as a sort of tribute to his life and the sacrifice he made for me.”

“That’s pretty special then…but how exactly do you know this’ll be the room Hope’s been hidden in?” Sam asked.

“Because in my visions, there was a dragon guarding the entrance. And if memory serves me right, you, Hope and I visited there once before by accident, remember?”

“Oh yeah, the final exam,” he said ominously. “But uh…there’s something I should tell you about that one.”

“What?”

“Nobody’s exactly ever passed it before. That dragon, she’s…uh…different! Now, I’m not one to say the Author makes mistakes but she’s as close to one as he could have made. Why he created her, I’ll never know. Impenetrable scales, thicker than the armor of any known to man, covered in razor sharp spikes that can pierce your heart by just looking at ’em. Why, if her fiery breath doesn’t roast you, the spikes on her tail or snout will certainly stab you to death. She’s a killer that one. No, we never took any of our students to see her, least not on purpose that is! Especially after we lost one kid in there…what was his name again? Brady, no…Barty…that’s not it either…uh…”

“Bobby,” Rob said confidently.

“Yes, that’s right, Bobby. He wasn’t supposed to be in there in the first place. ’Course some of the kids called him Bobby Bungle because he was so clumsy. He…uh…oh, my…” Sam stopped his thought midsentence and glanced over at Rob. “What did you say your name was again?”

“Rob…but you can call me Bobby, if you’d like.”

“Well, I’ll be,” Sam said happily. “You’re him alright, the boy we lost in the final exam. I guess I never lost a student after all! You were my only exception, me boy! How did you make it out of there anyway?”

Rob shared his side of the story, a riveting tale of his youthful desire to impress his friends. Even back then, he was as awkward with a Veritas Sword as he was today. He explained how one evening, while everyone else was leaving the Academy for the day, he entered the Revealing Room alone, determined to prove that he wasn’t a klutz.

The first room he dialed ended up being the final exam, and he quickly found himself in more trouble than he bargained for. Rob tried to escape but the dials wouldn’t turn back. Soon, he was running through the cavern, dodging the attacks of the massive beast and scared out of his wits. Just then, Sam entered the Revealing Room in hopes of retrieving a book he had left behind. When he saw the final exam already dialed up and Bobby Bungle in trouble, he raced in to save him, catching the beast’s attention and drawing it away from the boy.

He shouted for Rob to get back to the atrium where the pedestal stood, as it was the only place that could move between the environments. Sam managed to land a boulder on top of the dragon’s tail and fled for the dial as well. As he turned the last numbers into sequence and readied to press the dial, Rob had motioned with his sword that the dragon was getting free. His sword slipped from his grasp and flew across the room. Sam pressed the button just as Rob leaped to retrieve his sword, leaving him behind. Rob picked up his sword in desperation and ran for a small crack in the wall, where he hoped to hide from the dragon. Scooting back into the darkness, he found himself suddenly and inexplicably transported back home to the Veil.

“So that’s what happened to ya!” Sam said. “I musta come back only a minute or two later and when I couldn’t find ya we figured the worst had happened! We never took anyone back after that day for fear it was too difficult a challenge. Like I said, you were the only student I ever lost.”

“Well, technically, I really never was lost so I guess your slate is clean.”

“Still, I think it’s a terrible mistake going back in there. Nobody ever completes that challenge.”

“Well, we’re going to have to be the first,” I said boldly. “Hope’s life depends on it; we think she’s the sixth mark of the Flame. If the Resistance ever hopes to be strong again, we need her.”

“I don’t like it none, but I’m with you to the end,” Sam offered.

“Me too!” Trista added.

All eyes turned to Rob, who sat silently beside us. He obviously didn’t want to go back either. “I’ll come too,” he said at last, “but I’m not sure how much help I’ll be.”

The memory of his former mistakes had dampened his spirits a bit.

“Hey now,” Sam said, “assurance comes from the Author, not from yourself. I, for one, am looking forward to fighting along side ya again. Only this time not as your teacher, but as your friend!”

Rob smiled.

“Aye and don’t be forgettin’ about me none,” Stoney boasted. “I may not have found me sword yet but I can put up quite a fight. Why, I’ll even sit on the beastie if that’s what it takes!”

A round of laughter burst into the air as we all enjoyed a moment of common purpose. Our spirits were high with anticipation of what the Author would do. I hoped the feeling would never end.

We arrived at Sanctuary three days later, though it felt like half the time now that our purpose was clear. Our first glimpse of the fallen city brought a sobering feeling.

The once great white wall was toppled to the ground, nothing more than a heap of rubble. Fire had ravaged what remained of the city and many of the buildings looked to be only ghosts of their former selves. The Academy grounds were a desolate, deserted field of overgrown grass and toppled statues.

“Can’t say I like what they’ve done with the place since I’ve been gone,” Sam said.

“It must have been beautiful,” Trista imagined.

“It was,” I remembered, as Stoney dropped anchor outside the Academy and lowered the gangplank. After disembarking the ship we agreed Stoney would keep watch, in case anyone or anything had followed us.

Stepping up the cracked, battle-scarred steps and through the lopsided doors, we followed Sam to the long staircase that descended to the Revealing Room far below. Along the way, we brushed huge cobwebs away and had to step over piles of crumbling rocks where the walls had started to give in. After a long hike down the winding staircase, the four of us were standing at the foot of an enormous wooden door without any handles or hinges.

“Well, here it is…” Sam said, blowing dust off the brass plaque that was embedded in the floor. Only the humble of heart shall pass, the words read. “Guess I’ll go first then,” Sam said, walking straight for the door without slowing his pace.

Effortlessly, he passed through the door as if it didn’t exist. Rob was next and did the same with little effort. Next up was Trista.

“Just remember,” I explained, “you have to have a spirit of humility to pass through the door.”

“Right,” she said in her usual bubbly tone. “Just walk forward with a teachable spirit. Got it,” she claimed. She started to take a step when I interrupted her with another instruction.

“And, don’t go too fast or it will think you’re cocky!”

“Okay, not too fast,” she said, starting forward again.

“But not too slow,” I interrupted again, “because it might think you don’t trust what we’re saying!”

“Not too slow, thanks,” she said, resetting her position and taking a deep breath. She was about to start again when I offered another round of advice.

“Oh, and don’t worry if it doesn’t work the first time. It took me awhile to get it right. Just try and do your best.”

“Anything else you want to say?” she asked, a little annoyed that I had interrupted her approach more than once.

“No…sorry…just stay calm and lead with your head, because if you go nose first it might…you know, hurt a little more.”

“You’re nervous, aren’t you?” she said in response.

“Me? No…Okay, yes. Maybe just a little!”

When at last I promised not to say another word, she approached the door and stood in front of it. Then, closing her eyes she stepped through without any trouble at all.

“Beginners luck,” I grumbled, marching toward it full speed.

Smack! It was the nose again!

Two minutes later, I made it through the door at last, a sufficiently humbled man with four bumps and countless bruises on my forehead to prove it. The stone walkway that led up to the podium seemed like the longest walk of shame I had ever taken.

As I stepped up the atrium steps, I could tell Trista was trying not to laugh.

“Well then,” Sam said loudly, clearing his throat and pretending not to notice my face. “Now that we’re all here, let’s take a moment to ready ourselves for the final exam. The Code of Life, as revealed in the Writ, tells us that all things come from the Author alone—even big ugly dragons like this one! There is no doubt in my mind that the challenge ahead will be difficult, but he has brought this team together for this purpose.”

The plan was for Rob and Sam to work together on distracting the dragon, while Trista and I looked for the crag in the walls that led to Hope’s chamber. When at last nothing else was to be said, I handed the cipher to Sam, who dialed up the sequence on the rotating pedestal and pressed the button in the center of the device.

The darkness lit up all around us like the lights suddenly flicked back on after a midnight power outage. All at once, we found ourselves standing in the dead center of a massive cavern, the throat of the dragon’s cave.