“It’s me—Sam,” Sam shouted, dropping his things to the ground. “We found the boy!”
“Fall back, men.” A slim man with auburn hair and hazel eyes raised his arm to call off the attack. He wore silver armor, similar in design to Sam’s, only his had blue glowing markings and he wore a long navy cape.
Sam frowned at the man. “What is the meaning of this, Ephriam? We journey for seven days in search of the boy and what thanks do we get when we return? You send out a welcoming committee to give me a heart attack.”
“Sorry, old friend,” he flashed a smile, “I couldn’t resist seeing if your senses were as sharp as ever.”
“Yeah, well if you had half a sense, you would have thought twice about it. I was about to leave your men flat on their backs.”
“No doubt about it,” Ephriam replied with a chuckle.
The two embraced fondly in laughter.
“Good to see you again, Sam!”
“And you as well. How long has it been this time?”
“Six months tomorrow, if I’m not mistaken. The scouts said you were on your way, and I wanted to be the first to greet you. Let us get your things; we’ll walk the last mile together.” Ephriam raised a hand and whistled. The men moved quickly to carry what we had brought.
“Well now, you must be Hunter, the one everybody’s talking about,” he continued, extending his hand. “Captain Ephriam at your service. I am honored to make your acquaintance.”
“Hello,” I said weakly, shaking his hand. I felt out of place in the midst of the reunion of old friends.
Ephriam leaned over and half-whispered in my ear, loud enough for everyone to hear. “Tell me, Hunter. Has Sam been feeding you well, or is he still forcing that horrid stew of his mother’s on his guests?”
I shot a glance over at Sam. “Well he…” I started.
“Don’t say it! The look on you face says it all. Tisk, tisk Sam, you should be ashamed of yourself, torturing our guests like that.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “You’re just jealous I didn’t make enough for you too!” He groaned rubbing his nose.
“It matters not! The Feast of Unitus is already being prepared. The sooner we get there, the sooner we eat! Shall we?”
With that his men led the way down the narrow path. Until that moment, I hadn’t realized how hungry I was. My stomach growled like a lion, threatening to eat me if I didn’t throw it a peace offering soon.
As we continued through the forest, the tree covering began to thin ever so slightly, making more room for the thick underbrush to grow even thicker. Then, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, we came to a clearing where a secluded pair of trees wound tightly together, twisted in an ancient embrace. Ephriam stopped in his tracks and raised his Veritas Sword in front of him. With a loud shout he called out, “We come for Sanctuary!”
Amazingly, the twin trees responded to his voice, coming alive with movement and unwrapping themselves to reveal a crack of light between their trunks. When at last the twisting subsided, the trees had bent to form an archway beneath their tightly clasped branches. The opening they formed radiated with light and color. One by one the group stepped confidently toward the light and disappeared through the secret portal. When it was my turn at last, I hesitated to take the first step, still rubbing my eyes at what I had just seen.
Hope gave me a nudge from behind. “Well, what are you waiting for?”
Swallowing hard I stepped into the light as the others had done before me. Crossing the threshold I found myself instantly transported to a wide and serene grassy hillside beneath a spectacular blue sky. Nestled in the valley below, an immense city of white stone and majestic buildings spread out before us. The sight of it took my breath away, the white walls of the expansive city reached as far as the eye could see, well beyond the rolling green hills in the distance. The architecture was simple yet elegant, the buildings covered in lush green foliage and topped with pale green rooftops. The entire place seemed at one with nature, bursting with the natural beauty of the surrounding meadows and woodlands—a perfect paradise.
“What is this place?” I asked in wonder.
“The Shard of Sanctuary—a city of refuge, and my home,” Hope answered. “You’ll be safe here, the Shadow have never found it.”
Two wide gates swung open to greet us as we approached the white walls that separated the farmlands from the fortified city. Inside, the streets felt wider and more open than I had expected, but they were still bustling with commotion; people were coming, going and chatting amongst themselves wherever they went. The majority of the people streamed towards a large temple structure near the center of the city.
As we approached the temple courtyard, a small crowd had gathered to welcome us and it felt like all eyes were on me. Everywhere I looked women were whispering and pointing, while men stood side by side, nodding as I passed.
Hope nudged me, “Looks like you have an admirer.” Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a small boy running beside me. I looked down at him and smiled, which stopped him dead in his tracks. He turned suddenly shy and burst into tears, running back to hug his mother’s legs.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to…” I started to apologize to the mother of the boy, but she turned away, cradling her son before I could catch her attention.
Hope laughed, “You make quite the first impression, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I get that a lot!” I winced.
“Hunter!” a familiar voice interrupted the scene. I turned quickly to see someone approaching from across the courtyard.
“Evan, you made it!” I replied in surprise. He apparently had just arrived.
“Yes, I…” he paused, raising an eyebrow in mock concern. “Now wait a minute. What’s that supposed to mean? Of course I made it.”
“Well, it’s just that the last time I saw you there were like…a hundred Dispirits piling on top of you.”
His smile couldn’t remain hidden for long, “Oh right—that! They did have pretty good odds there, didn’t they? Funny thing about Dispirits though...”
I cocked my head in curiosity, as if to ask, what?
“They can only attack what they can see.” Evan lingered on the last word and rippled his fingers in the air with a hint of mystery, seeming to suggest he had become invisible.
“You mean, you can…?”
“Ah! I can only do what the will of the Author allows—no more, no less. You’ll learn soon enough that anything is possible when you come to grips with your own limitations.”
I marveled at the prospect of being able to become invisible. Was it really possible? Evan left no time to ask for a demonstration, but quickly changed the subject.
“I’m glad to see you made it as well. Where’s your friend?” he asked nonchalantly, glancing around the courtyard as he spoke, expecting to spot Stretch.
I felt guilty for having temporarily forgotten. If things went terribly wrong, I might never see Stretch again. Hope answered for me before I had a chance to speak.
“Sam is sending a search party back as we speak. If he made the exit he’ll be found.”
“I’m sorry,” Evan’s face turned solemn. “I should have known that the probability of you arriving together would be slim. Still, I have faith that he was called as well, and if that is the case we’ll see him again soon.”
“How can you be so sure?” I asked.
“Nothing in life happens by chance, Hunter. The Author always creates a way for us to meet him…to find him.”
Nothing in life happens by chance? That seemed entirely strange to me. After all, I had been taught in school that the whole universe had been created by sheer chance, and that life itself was a result of a series of accidents that ended in the evolution of the human species. Until recently I had never really doubted it. It seemed highly unlikely that everything around us was part of some orchestrated plan. But, as I considered Evan’s words, I remembered my own experience in the church graveyard, and the mysterious key I found buried in the ground. I decided to ask him about it.
“When Stretch and I were running from the Dispirits I heard a humming sound—it came from a box that was buried in a freshly dug grave. But Stretch couldn’t hear it.”
Evan gave me a puzzled look but listened intently.
“I dug up the box and inside we found the key I had left behind in my room, just in time to let us enter the book before the Dispirits caught us. Do you know anything about that?”
“No, not at all. What did the box look like?” he asked, his eyes wide with anticipation.
“It was just a black box about this long,” I held up my fingers several inches apart, “and it had a three-digit combination lock on the front. A riddle was on the bottom that Stretch was able to decipher just in time for us to exit before one of the Dispirits grabbed us. I think we were meant to find it at just that moment.”
Evan finished my thought, “And the fact that it required both of you to open it makes me certain that Stretch was supposed to come as well. That’s a good sign indeed. Like I said, nothing happens by chance.”
Hope cut the conversation short. “Sorry to interrupt but we better find a table before all the good seats are taken.”
“Indeed!” Evan replied. “Find your places; we’ll have time to talk later.”
Evan’s mention of food reminded me I was still starving, and suddenly I noticed several long rows of tables piled high with food. Everyone in the courtyard began finding a seat in preparation for the feast. There wasn’t a single inch of space left on the tables, though the assortment of food was unlike anything I had ever seen.
“What’s the occasion?” I asked Hope.
“The Feast of Unitus. Once a year, at the start of summer, each captain from the seven shards of the Resistance must come and give a statement of allegiance to our cause as a sign of unity.”
Looks like I got here at the right time, I thought, looking over the spread.
“We’ll sit over there.” Hope pulled me nearer to the middle of the center table. Sam and Ephriam, who were still busy catching up and swapping stories, were seated across from us. On their right was an empty chair, which Evan ignored, taking the one next to it instead.
A bell rang loudly, turning everyone’s attention to our table. A blonde-haired man with a well-trimmed goatee stood with his arms raised and the crowd quieted in anticipation.
“That’s Petrov,” Hope whispered. “He is the current Commander of the Resistance.”
The man spoke with authority, his voice strong and loud.
“Friends, I am grateful to see so many familiar faces gathered here from all corners of the realm of Solandria. It is truly an honor to meet once more in this place of peace, to affirm our loyalty to the Resistance and to the protection of the Code of Life.” The crowd offered a round of applause.
“At this time I would like to formally recognize the captains who are here today.” Each one stood in turn and acknowledged the crowd as Petrov called out their names to rousing applause. “On my left, Samryee from the Shard of Sinos, and Ephriam of Abeosis, and to my right, Tyra from the Shard of Sophmalan, Saris of Torpor...” The bearded man sitting beside Tyra did not stand as the others had; instead, he sat with arms folded, in a sound sleep.
“Saris!” Petrov said louder, trying to command the attention of the sleeping captain.
Tyra nudged the man with her elbow, startling him awake to the laughter of the crowd. He stood awkwardly, painfully embarrassed to be caught napping.
“So sorry to interrupt your nap, Saris,” Petrov joked with a gleam in his eyes. “Shall I continue then?”
“By all means,” the man offered, “my deepest apologies.”
Petrov proceeded to name the remaining captains, “Leo of Tepi, myself from the Shard of Obduront, and of course Faldyn of Perga,” he pointed at last to the empty chair, “who has yet to arrive, I’m afraid.”
He waited for the applause to die down before continuing his announcements.
“We are equally honored to have in our presence a new face as well, a visitor from the Veil.” At this announcement everyone turned to look at me. My face reddened in awkward embarrassment and I raised a hand in an uncomfortable acknowledgment of their stares. Petrov smiled warmly at me, “Welcome, Hunter. We’re glad you made it.”
“Thanks,” was all I could manage to say.
The tables buzzed noisily with a hundred conversations about “the new guy.”
“Now,” Petrov raised his voice over the murmuring, “as we begin the feast let us raise our glasses in honor of the Author.” Everyone quieted as they raised their goblets high in the air. I fumbled awkwardly for my own, nearly spilling it in the process and raising it several moments too late. “May the restoration be swift, and may he find us worthy keepers of the Code until the Kingdom is restored.”
A hearty, “Hear! Hear!” rose from the crowd as everyone took their first drink. I followed their lead and took a sip of one of the sourest concoctions I had ever tasted. It was like sucking on a lemon, only much worse. My face puckered in immediate reaction to the tart beverage.
Hope giggled at my expression. “It’s an acquired taste,” she whispered, “you’ll get used to it.”
With the way the first sip tasted, I couldn’t help but wonder why anyone had ever tried a second sip to find out.
Then in his loudest voice yet, Petrov shouted, “Let the feast begin!”