Part Five

A HAND SMACKING him in the face jolted Lichen out of a sound sleep. He couldn’t see anything, and for a brief moment he floundered as he tried to remember why it was so dark when the sounds of water and gentle breeze around him said he wasn’t locked safely in his hidden bedroom at the Monastery. Memory returned at a slower pace than his waking, but after a second, Lichen picked up the small hand still covering his face and gently placed it on the mattress next to Greg’s sleeping body.

Lichen was definitely awake now, and he didn’t really want to try sleeping again when another hand or a foot might come flying at him. He slid out of bed, careful not to rock the frame or make too much noise and wake Greg. Outside, the moon shone down on the sand and surf, making everything seem to sparkle. The beauty of the vista froze Lichen in the doorway for a long while before he gathered himself and started walking again. He meandered slowly around the small island, looking out at the water and the reflection of the moon shimmering in the waves. He almost missed Meris, lying on the beach with his toes in the water.

“Why are you awake?” Meris asked, his voice soft as if he didn’t want to break up the gentle night either.

Lichen sighed and sat on the sand next to Meris. “Greg’s a restless sleeper,” he explained, and then grinned when Meris started laughing.

“Well, you’re welcome to stay out here with me.” Meris sounded sincere, and a moment later his chuckling slowed, and he returned to looking at the sea.

Lichen took him at his word and lay back in the sand. He kept his own toes out of the water, content with the earth for the moment, after so long in water yesterday, but still enjoyed the rushing sounds of the waves. He was just starting to drift back to sleep when Meris suddenly rolled over.

“What’s it like being part of the Ether Caste?” he asked, but hesitantly, as if he wasn’t sure it was a subject he ought to bring up.

Lichen let out a heavy breath and sat up again, resting his elbows on bent knees. “It’s like I’m constantly being pulled in two different directions. When I do magic, half of me wants to do it the Earth way; the other half demands I try it with Water. There ought to be a way to make the components of my magic complement each other. Water and Earth work together all the time in nature, so why can’t my magic do the same? But there’s no one to teach me because I’m the only one of my kind. At least I’m not a mix of Fire and Water; I think I’d go insane if I were,” Lichen finished with a sigh. He dug his heels into the sand, forming divots that immediately filled with water.

“I assume you have Water and Earth Masters teaching you?” Meris asked.

Lichen snorted. “No need for an Earth Master; my adoptive father is the Dragon of Earth. I was assigned to the Water Master in charge of teaching new Caste members, and she’s treated me as well as she’s able, but she doesn’t know how to integrate multiple powers. What I need to do is talk with the Dragon of Ether, but I need to go to Altnoia for that and there hasn’t been a chance.”

“Maybe you’ll get a chance when you bring Prince Greg back home,” Meris said. “Water flows downhill and with the tides. It’s constantly moving. I’m sure your Water Master taught you that, but I have heard the Earth moves constantly too. Perhaps you can take your lessons from the Earth’s movement and use it to tie together the Water?”

That was the best lesson Lichen had yet to receive on how his powers worked, and it jived with how he had taught himself to shift shapes in the water.

“Maybe you can teach me instead,” Lichen said, half joking, half hoping. Having Meris teach him—the opportunity to spend hours together with him every day—Lichen wouldn’t mind that in the least.

“You don’t want me for a teacher.” Meris rolled over so he wasn’t looking at Lichen any longer. The slump in his shoulders matched the emptiness in his voice.

Lichen had zero idea how to respond to that. Emphatically saying he did, in fact, want Meris for a teacher wasn’t going to break through the cloud of gloom Meris appeared to be under. Lichen could only sit next to Meris, quiet so the soothing tones of the surf might do what Lichen’s words could not.

The edges of the sky in the east slowly started to lighten as Lichen watched. The sun lifted over the horizon, coloring the sky with brilliant pinks and reds that reflected over the ocean. The sight took Lichen’s breath away, and he glanced over at Meris to see whether he was enjoying it too. Meris was watching; however, his face was blank. Lichen quickly looked away before Meris noticed his attention.

The sky had brightened all the way to full blue before Meris stood. He dusted the sand off the seat of his pants and then turned toward Lichen.

“I’ll make a platform to carry the prince so you don’t have to swim with him. You go wake him. It’s time to go back to the Monastery and see if we can’t get this entire mess fixed.”

Lichen nodded and stood as well. He didn’t bother dusting off his clothes; they were already salt encrusted and would no doubt get worse on the journey back. Instead, he walked to the hut and pushed open the door.

Prince Greg was sprawled sideways across the bed, his limbs akimbo yet again. Lichen had to crawl halfway across the bed to get to Greg’s shoulder, which he shook gently.

“Time to get going,” Lichen explained when Greg grumbled. He rolled over and blinked bleary eyes at Lichen, and then slowly, grudgingly, got to his feet.

“It’s too early,” Greg whined, his voice mumbling over the words as he stumbled over his feet on the way outside. Lichen closed the door firmly to ensure it wouldn’t pop open in the wind and the birds wouldn’t invade, then followed Greg down to the water’s edge.

Meris was standing shin-deep in the surf, next to a five-foot square patch of water that looked like a sheet of glass. The waves lipped underneath it like normal, but that bit of water was held firmly in place by magic. Greg apparently wasn’t awake enough to notice as he stumbled his way across the beach and onto the square without apparently caring about the complexity of the magic involved.

Lichen knew he would never have the sheer control needed to solidify water into a platform, and as Lichen joined Greg on the square, he realized it wasn’t ice either. It was water, kept firm by magic, yet somehow separated from the rest of the ocean.

Meris used his powerful fin to shove them away from the beach.

“Let me know when you want to trade spots,” Lichen said softly, aware that Greg was already nodding off again.

Meris grinned at him. “I’ve got the water. You keep the kid from going overboard.” Greg chose that moment to tilt, his body angling toward the water, his eyes closed. Lichen grabbed him and gently helped Greg lie so his head was on the platform.

They sailed for a while, Meris pushing them along with both his tail and by manipulating the current. The sun finished rising, so Lichen angled his body to block its glare from Greg’s sleeping face. A glance backward showed only open sea; the tiny island had disappeared from view within a few minutes. Forward was only more ocean, but Lichen didn’t doubt Meris knew the way back to the Monastery. A few more hours and they would be back on land; faster, maybe, given Meris’s abilities with the water.

Lichen settled in to wait, trying to get comfortable on the awkward square when Greg was taking up most of the room. He wanted to dip his own fin into the water to help push them to shore faster, but there wasn’t space behind the platform for more than one swimmer, and using his magic could conflict with Meris’s. It was better for Lichen to stay out of the way unless Meris asked for help.

“What are you going to do once you’re back?” Meris asked suddenly.

Lichen laughed, but it didn’t come out as a happy sound. “For now, I’ll keep guarding Prince Greg. Once he goes back home…” Lichen paused as the memory of his solitary room, kept safely hidden by tons of rock, flashed across his mind. He had been desperate to escape, so desperate he had begged the Oracle to send him away. “I’ll ask the Oracle for another task, I guess,” he finished.

Meris sighed. “Sounds about right for the Monastery. You did say it was getting better though?”

“Yeah. With the Dragon of Earth back, Elder Flame finally had the support he needed, but there’s only so much two people can do. The Dragon of Air flitters in and out, and when he’s there he helps too, but he’s…well…”

“Airheaded?” Meris finished Lichen’s sentence with a laugh.

That sounded mean, but it really wasn’t. Sprite, the Dragon of Air, would be the first to say he got distracted and flittered away. The Air Caste, as a whole, had issues with paying attention to the world around them, and yet someone had blown Greg off the path and into the water.

“The Dragon of Air was at the Monastery for the funeral. He’s acted in the past to find and punish members of his Caste who have lost their way, and I’m sure he started searching for the culprit the second he found out a member of his Caste was involved.” Lichen let out a breath and bit his lip, unsure if he should say the next part. Even if he didn’t say it aloud, Lichen knew Meris was probably thinking it. The old wounds of how and why Meris lost his sister had probably started bleeding the second Meris had rescued Lichen and Greg from a magic-induced current.

“But no one’s able to exert control over the Water Caste,” Meris added when Lichen’s silence went on too long. His voice was soft, but firm, and if he was upset about the indirect reference to his sister, Lichen didn’t hear anything that might give it away.

They fell silent again as Meris swam on. The tip of the mountain the Monastery was built underneath came into view after another twenty minutes, and after an hour the spires belonging to the Wind Caste became distinct enough to make out. Lichen estimated another hour, maybe hour and a half, and they would be entering the harbor mouth.

Greg slept on, likely used to lazy mornings in the castle at home. Even the waves that were starting to buffet them around as the wind picked up didn’t faze him.

Wait… Lichen sat up, trying not to rock the platform, but needing to turn his face into the breeze. He didn’t have to turn his head far as the wind was blowing directly at them, as if it were coming from the Monastery and trying to force them back. Lichen swallowed and dipped his fingers into the water. His power immediately identified two other individuals working magic in the water around them. One was Meris, who had started breathing a little heavier, and another was in the form of a familiar current, trying to drag them farther out to sea.

“Can you fight it?” Lichen asked, knowing if he tried to toss his own power into the water, he would likely only distract Meris.

Meris grinned at him through clenched teeth. “No one on that fool island can best the Sea Witch in my native element!” Meris sounded certain, but Lichen could feel the wind getting stronger and the current dragging at them. He crouched low on the platform over Greg to protect him and put all his faith in Meris’s powers to get them home.