The Lost Heir, Episode 1: Lightning on the Sea
The Lost Heir, Episode 1:Lightning on the Sea
Kelden sipped at the cup of fresh water in his hands and watched the sunrise cast its rays over the water. The ship moved gently up and down, cutting through the waves easily and stirring up the smell of salt. They had been at sea for nearly a week, and still the island country of Jibbam was at least another day away. The queen seemed in good spirits. She and Karmt, her most trusted advisor, were still working on the puzzle of the cube, some sort of ancient artifact said to hold proof pointing to the rightful heir of King Dailex’s lost empire. Queen Dalynn claimed to be the sole surviving member of that lineage, but neither she nor Karmt knew precisely how to open the cube. Kelden was still surprised that the Shausmatian captain who had overseen the capture and occupation of Kobhir had let them keep it. Kelden could only speculate as to Captain Vald’s motives, but there had been other signs of mercy as well. When Sir Alexander had been taken prisoner in battle defending Kobhir, it was Captain Vald who had personally set him free and allowed him to return to Queen Dalynn’s service. Kelden knew it was likely too much to hope for, but the thought crossed his mind that perhaps Vald sympathized with them, and wanted them to use the cube to restore Queen Dalynn to the throne. It would have been very easy to execute the royal family and all her advisors, but instead, they were only exiled. However, if Karmt was correct about the artifact, then the contents inside the cube would prove that Queen Dalynn was not only the rightful ruler of Zinferth, but the true and living heiress to the old empire that had broken apart some five hundred years earlier after the Mage Wars. In the centuries following King Dailex’s death, loyal families and factions persisted in both of the newer kingdoms that up until Kobhir’s conquering had split the continent. If Queen Dalynn could prove herself the rightful heir now, then perhaps those factions would rise up, and even if the old empire was not reformed, then perhaps Zinferth would be able to come out from under Shausmatian occupation. Not that Kelden knew what to do with the information even if they could break the magic that sealed the cube. They were on their way to Jibbam, a large island nation several hundred miles away from the coasts of Kelden’s homeland. As far as he knew, there were no sympathizers there. None of the islanders would go out of their way to help a dethroned queen. He doubted a small cube, or anything inside of it, would change that fact. Kelden sighed, wondering if Vald was not only merciful, but also vindictive enough to send them off with the cube, knowing full well that holding it in their hands would serve only to taunt them with what they could never possess. Kelden drank the last of his water and pressed away from the rail overlooking the waters just as a great shadow cast itself over the area. “Storm moving in!” a sailor shouted in the crow’s nest above. “Kelden, you had best go down below and check on your charges,” Kitter said as he moved around the deck. “Where’d the storm come from?” Kelden asked. “The skies were clear all morning.” Kitter, the ship’s second in command shrugged his shoulder. “I’m not fer knowin’ but you best get below. Vald gave us strict orders to ensure you all made the journey to Jibbam safely and I don’t want to upset the man.” Kelden understood. Still, just for a bit of fun, he handed Kitter his empty cup. “Thanks for the drink.” “Bah!” Kitter said as he tossed the cup to the deck. “Arrogant dog,” he muttered to Kelden’s back. That put a smile on the man’s face. It wasn’t that Kitter was a bad man. In fact, Kitter had been the one to allow Kelden some amount of freedom on the deck rather than confine him to a solitary cell in the hold. Still, Kitter was a Shausmatian sailor, and that made him the enemy, no matter how cordial he might be on this journey. Kelden had ever been a man sworn to duty, and even though his queen sat below deck on her way to exile and his homeland now flew the enemy’s flags, he still had a job to do. He would strike back at Shausmat any way he could, even if it was just by insulting their officers. As he made his way toward the door leading below, the ship pitched sharply and he stumbled toward a large crate. He managed to catch himself on the wooden box, but just barely. He then held tight as the ship tilted the other way. A fierce, chilling wind rolled in, bringing clouds as black as night to cover the seas. “This is no storm,” Kelden said to himself. As if in answer to his words, a great voice rumbled overhead as three flashes of lightning coursed through the black cloud. “I am the goddess Lisei, and you have trespassed against me!” Kelden looked up as the cloud parted and a chariot of white and gold, pulled by two stallions made of fire, came toward the ship. Kelden screwed up his face and then glanced to the waters. He was not one of Lisei’s followers, but he was familiar enough with the pantheon of demigods which had taken control of Terramyr to know that she was the patron of storms and lightning. It seemed strange to him that she should come so far out to sea. Moreover, how had anyone here trespassed against her? “You have taken something that belongs to me!” Lisei bellowed. “We have angered her, we must pray for mercy!” one of the sailors shouted. He dropped to his knees and began praying vocally. A few of the others did likewise, but most of the men turned to Kitter for direction. A streak of lightning tore through the air and cut the mast just under the crow’s nest. Kelden watched helplessly as the sailor who had been on duty there tumbled to the deck, breaking his neck as he landed on his head and the platform fell on top of him. “Battle stations!” Kitter roared. Kelden glanced from the chariot to Kitter and then back to the angry Lisei. He had fought many battles wherein the odds had not been in his favor, but this was different. Much different. “Icadion, give me strength,” he prayed quietly. He then turned to Kitter. “Give me a weapon!” he shouted as a torrent of rain fell upon them. Kitter dismissed the notion with a wave as other sailors rushed about with large crossbows in their hands. The sailors dropped to their knees to steady their aim and then fired at the goddess. Lisei laughed as the crossbow bolts were consumed by a series of lightning strikes emanating from her hand. A second later, a massive bolt of white lightning tore through three sailors, leaving only their smoldering corpses upon the deck. “There is a woman aboard this ship that has something of mine! Give her to me for punishment and I will let you all live.” Kelden cocked his head at those words. Could Lisei be after the cube? If she was, then how had a merchant come by such an artifact in the first place? After all, Karmt had purchased the cube from another sailor and sent Kelden after it. Whatever the origin of the cube, Kelden couldn’t let Lisei take Queen Dalynn. So, he did the only thing he knew how to do. He rushed to the nearest fallen sailor and went for the weapons. He seized the crossbow first, finished loading it with a new bolt and spanning it. He then looked up and took aim just as Lisei turned her chariot to the side and knocked several other sailors to the deck with a gust of wind. He fired. The bolt went up and struck Lisei’s left shoulder. “You dare fight against a goddess?” Lisei shouted as she turned around once more and fired a bolt of lightning at Kelden. The agile warrior rolled out of the way as the sizzling lightning tore through the deck and splintered several boards. “You’re a demi-god,” Kelden snarled. “You’re not a full goddess.” He spanned the crossbow once more and then fired as quickly as he could. This time, an invisible barrier shielded Lisei from the bolt. It ricocheted out toward the sea as the demi-god laughed. She leapt from her chariot and pulled a flaming whip. “Charge, men!” Kitter shouted. “No, wait!” Kelden called out, but no one was listening to him. A streak of lightning snaked through the air with the most deafening crash of thunder Kelden had ever heard. Bodies hit the deck, some split in half, others with a sizeable hole in their chests. Then the flaming whip cracked in the air and Kitter grunted as it wrapped around his neck. Kelden watched as Lisei yanked the man to the deck and strangled him in an instant. The door to the lower decks flew open and three men came out ready for a fight. Each of them had their glaive-bow, a hardy contraption that fused a small, but powerful, crossbow onto a glaive, firing the bolt out through a groove that would allow them to fire and charge at the same time. They fired their weapons and moved in. Lisei snapped one of the glaive-bows in half with her whip, blasted one of the other warriors with lightning, and dodged the third by riding an air current toward the port side of the ship. Fortunately, that put her within just a few yards of Kelden’s current position. Kelden reached out for a cutlass and ran at Lisei from behind. His feet fell silently and quickly upon the deck. The blade came up and slashed at Lisei’s back. A copious amount of blood flew out over the deck, mingling with the rain water that was pooling there. Lisei screamed and wheeled around with her whip. Kelden dodged the weapon, but was struck by an invisible force. He landed on his back and slid across the deck until his body slammed up against the railing in front of the prow. He struggled to his feet as the men with the glaive-bows advanced on Lisei. The demi-god lifted a hand and threw the men fifty yards out to sea without taking her eyes off of Kelden. “Pathetic mortal,” she said. “You thought you could beat me?” Kelden smiled. “Put down the magic and let’s see how you fare then,” he said. Lisei called four bolts of lightning from the sky and gathered them in her right hand. They condensed into a crackling, quaking ball of violent energy as she stepped toward him. “You are going to die slowly,” she said. “And yet, the gods will welcome me,” Kelden fired back. “What will they do when your dishonorable existence is finished?” Lisei raised her hand to her lips as if blowing a kiss. The ball streaked through the air faster than Kelden could see. There was a burning pain in his chest, followed immediately by a force that launched him out from the ship. He flew through the air so quickly that it seemed as though the rain were falling sideways instead of downward. His body skipped upon the surface twice and then he hit what felt like a wall of liquid that slowly pulled him in, and then down. As the water engulfed him, he tried to summon the strength to stay above the surface, but the spell had sapped him of his vigor, and it was a losing fight. Just then, a hand reached down and lifted him from the water. Kelden looked up to see a beautiful woman with silver hair and violet eyes staring down at him. At first, he thought it might be Osei, the demi-god of the ocean come to chase Lisei away from his domain, but Osei was a man, not a woman. His next thought was that Lisei had rushed out to keep her word, and save him a few times while torturing him until he was finally too weak to keep alive, but this woman was not the same as the one who had sent him overboard. The curves of her body and the tightness of her skin upon her face spoke of youth, but there was a fire behind those purple eyes that suggested a great amount of wisdom. More than that, there was a crackling, tangible thickness to the air around her. The other woman had power to be sure, but this one seemed to have more. Much, much more. “You would stand and fight a demi-god?” she asked in a subtle, yet thunderous voice. Her calm demeanor while holding Kelden so close convinced Kelden that he was right. She was vastly stronger than the other, else she would not be so stoic while holding a potential enemy within striking range. Kelden looked down as he continued to rise until he stood upon a thin layer of cloud with the woman. Water ran off of him and a warm wind caressed his body. He looked up to her, but found it hard to match her gaze. “I will not bend the knee to any who have usurped Icadion’s throne. Demi-gods are not gods. They stole power from Terramyr by draining the very essence of the world and stealing it for themselves. Icadion, and he alone, is the rightful ruler of Terramyr.” He spoke reverently, and yet firmly. “Usurpers…” the woman smiled faintly and let go of Kelden’s hand. To his amazement, he remained standing on the cloud that was now a few feet above the water. “Yes, I suppose that is as correct a title as demi-god,” she said. She then turned and narrowed her keen eyes on the battle still raging on the ship. “I am not like the others,” she commented. “I did not seek the power for myself. I sought the World Seed as one who might remain as a buffer between those who abuse power, and those who would otherwise be victims.” As the woman spoke, Kelden saw the disdain in her eyes while she watched the battle. In that instant, he knew the truth of it all. “You are Lisei,” Kelden said as he watched her. He then looked to the ship. “My queen is on that ship, along with other good men. If you did indeed take power from the World Seed to stand as a buffer, then won’t you help them?” “Are you now praying to a demi-god?” Lisei asked as the faintest hint of a smile tugged at the right corner of her mouth. “Surely you wouldn’t let an imposter slay innocent people in your name if you use power the way you claim,” Kelden reasoned. The rain stopped then, suspended in mid air as the wind ceased its relentless blowing and the whole world stood still. “This particular imposter is more deserving of the title, usurper,” she said. “Only a few days ago, one of the demi-gods was slain by a mortal. Since then, others have risen up to challenge several demi-gods. I prefer to remain close to my home, but it has come to my attention that this woman has terrorized these seas for the last week. In my name she has sunk twenty vessels, and slain numerous sailors.” Lisei turned back to Kelden and put a finger to his chest. “No, I will not let this stand. She has called to me in a way that cannot go unanswered. But as for you, you have another path to travel for now, one that I must help along, lest the fates be damaged beyond repair.” A bright, warm spark transferred from her finger to him and he felt a well of strength fill his body. Lisei’s purple eyes became white as snow, and her hair floated out behind her as the smell of static electricity built up around them. “Perhaps we shall meet again, Kelden Ferryl,” she spoke. Before he could ask how she knew his name, the cloud they stood upon broke in two and he was whisked away at a blinding speed. At first he thought he was being sent back to the battle to aid his queen, but as the moments passed and the rain began to fall once again, he realized that he was flying out to the east, toward the vast emptiness of the sea. A white flash ripped through the sky and the black storm cloud was rent to pieces. Lightning flurried around the ship. The seas calmed and a massive bolt of lightning came not from the sky, but from the real Lisei. There was an explosion, and the ship was hidden from view by a massive cloud of smoke. Kelden was certain that the imposter who had assaulted the ship had been destroyed, but there was no way of knowing whether Lisei had been careful in exacting her vengeance, or if the ship, and all the remaining survivors upon it, had been consumed by the lightning as well. Kelden flew for several minutes over the waters below until a large island came into view on the horizon. At first he saw only a pair of green mountains, but as he hurtled toward it, palm trees and the white sands of the beach came into focus. The cloud slowed somewhat and as he came within fifty yards of the beach, it vanished from beneath him. He fell and crashed into the shallow water, flailing his arms and legs in an attempt to stop himself from churning uncontrollably in the sea. When he finally righted himself, he swam up to the surface and spat out a bit of salt water. He aimed himself for the sand and swam. It took him some time to drag his muscular frame through the water, but with the help of the added strength from Lisei, he made it to the beach. When he reached the sand he rolled onto his back and caught his breath. After a few moments, he sat up and stared back out at the sea. What was he to do now? His friend Yeoj, a fellow agent of the queen’s, had freed him from execution for the sole purpose of keeping Queen Dalynn safe, and now he had failed. He knew there wasn’t much he could do against a demi-god, or a sorceress impersonating one for that matter, but he couldn’t shake the sense of failure from his heart. A terrible thunder ripped the peaceful air in the west. Kelden narrowed his eyes and saw a golden flash in the distance. A great gust of wind churned the surface of the waters toward him, splattering him with sea-spray and then there was a heavy thabump in the sand next to him. He looked down and saw the cube half buried in the sand. He reached out for it and took it into his hand. As he did so, the sand fell from its surface and the metal shone brightly. A warmth came into Kelden’s heart once more, the same as had happened when Lisei had sent that spark into him. You have work to do, Kelden. Go and solve the cube’s riddle. Do well, and perhaps we shall meet again. The voice wasn’t audible, it was in Kelden’s mind, and still he knew it was Lisei. He didn’t much like the idea of working for a demi-god, so he chose to convince himself that she was working with him. He picked himself up from the beach and turned to face the dense forest behind him. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do, or how he was ever going to leave this island, but the cube gave him hope. Perhaps Lisei had spared Queen Dalynn after all.
Kelden sipped at the cup of fresh water in his hands and watched the sunrise cast its rays over the water. The ship moved gently up and down, cutting through the waves easily and stirring up the smell of salt. They had been at sea for nearly a week, and still the island country of Jibbam was at least another day away. The queen seemed in good spirits. She and Karmt, her most trusted advisor, were still working on the puzzle of the cube, some sort of ancient artifact said to hold proof pointing to the rightful heir of King Dailex’s lost empire. Queen Dalynn claimed to be the sole surviving member of that lineage, but neither she nor Karmt knew precisely how to open the cube. Kelden was still surprised that the Shausmatian captain who had overseen the capture and occupation of Kobhir had let them keep it. Kelden could only speculate as to Captain Vald’s motives, but there had been other signs of mercy as well. When Sir Alexander had been taken prisoner in battle defending Kobhir, it was Captain Vald who had personally set him free and allowed him to return to Queen Dalynn’s service. Kelden knew it was likely too much to hope for, but the thought crossed his mind that perhaps Vald sympathized with them, and wanted them to use the cube to restore Queen Dalynn to the throne. It would have been very easy to execute the royal family and all her advisors, but instead, they were only exiled. However, if Karmt was correct about the artifact, then the contents inside the cube would prove that Queen Dalynn was not only the rightful ruler of Zinferth, but the true and living heiress to the old empire that had broken apart some five hundred years earlier after the Mage Wars. In the centuries following King Dailex’s death, loyal families and factions persisted in both of the newer kingdoms that up until Kobhir’s conquering had split the continent. If Queen Dalynn could prove herself the rightful heir now, then perhaps those factions would rise up, and even if the old empire was not reformed, then perhaps Zinferth would be able to come out from under Shausmatian occupation. Not that Kelden knew what to do with the information even if they could break the magic that sealed the cube. They were on their way to Jibbam, a large island nation several hundred miles away from the coasts of Kelden’s homeland. As far as he knew, there were no sympathizers there. None of the islanders would go out of their way to help a dethroned queen. He doubted a small cube, or anything inside of it, would change that fact. Kelden sighed, wondering if Vald was not only merciful, but also vindictive enough to send them off with the cube, knowing full well that holding it in their hands would serve only to taunt them with what they could never possess. Kelden drank the last of his water and pressed away from the rail overlooking the waters just as a great shadow cast itself over the area. “Storm moving in!” a sailor shouted in the crow’s nest above. “Kelden, you had best go down below and check on your charges,” Kitter said as he moved around the deck. “Where’d the storm come from?” Kelden asked. “The skies were clear all morning.” Kitter, the ship’s second in command shrugged his shoulder. “I’m not fer knowin’ but you best get below. Vald gave us strict orders to ensure you all made the journey to Jibbam safely and I don’t want to upset the man.” Kelden understood. Still, just for a bit of fun, he handed Kitter his empty cup. “Thanks for the drink.” “Bah!” Kitter said as he tossed the cup to the deck. “Arrogant dog,” he muttered to Kelden’s back. That put a smile on the man’s face. It wasn’t that Kitter was a bad man. In fact, Kitter had been the one to allow Kelden some amount of freedom on the deck rather than confine him to a solitary cell in the hold. Still, Kitter was a Shausmatian sailor, and that made him the enemy, no matter how cordial he might be on this journey. Kelden had ever been a man sworn to duty, and even though his queen sat below deck on her way to exile and his homeland now flew the enemy’s flags, he still had a job to do. He would strike back at Shausmat any way he could, even if it was just by insulting their officers. As he made his way toward the door leading below, the ship pitched sharply and he stumbled toward a large crate. He managed to catch himself on the wooden box, but just barely. He then held tight as the ship tilted the other way. A fierce, chilling wind rolled in, bringing clouds as black as night to cover the seas. “This is no storm,” Kelden said to himself. As if in answer to his words, a great voice rumbled overhead as three flashes of lightning coursed through the black cloud. “I am the goddess Lisei, and you have trespassed against me!” Kelden looked up as the cloud parted and a chariot of white and gold, pulled by two stallions made of fire, came toward the ship. Kelden screwed up his face and then glanced to the waters. He was not one of Lisei’s followers, but he was familiar enough with the pantheon of demigods which had taken control of Terramyr to know that she was the patron of storms and lightning. It seemed strange to him that she should come so far out to sea. Moreover, how had anyone here trespassed against her? “You have taken something that belongs to me!” Lisei bellowed. “We have angered her, we must pray for mercy!” one of the sailors shouted. He dropped to his knees and began praying vocally. A few of the others did likewise, but most of the men turned to Kitter for direction. A streak of lightning tore through the air and cut the mast just under the crow’s nest. Kelden watched helplessly as the sailor who had been on duty there tumbled to the deck, breaking his neck as he landed on his head and the platform fell on top of him. “Battle stations!” Kitter roared. Kelden glanced from the chariot to Kitter and then back to the angry Lisei. He had fought many battles wherein the odds had not been in his favor, but this was different. Much different. “Icadion, give me strength,” he prayed quietly. He then turned to Kitter. “Give me a weapon!” he shouted as a torrent of rain fell upon them. Kitter dismissed the notion with a wave as other sailors rushed about with large crossbows in their hands. The sailors dropped to their knees to steady their aim and then fired at the goddess. Lisei laughed as the crossbow bolts were consumed by a series of lightning strikes emanating from her hand. A second later, a massive bolt of white lightning tore through three sailors, leaving only their smoldering corpses upon the deck. “There is a woman aboard this ship that has something of mine! Give her to me for punishment and I will let you all live.” Kelden cocked his head at those words. Could Lisei be after the cube? If she was, then how had a merchant come by such an artifact in the first place? After all, Karmt had purchased the cube from another sailor and sent Kelden after it. Whatever the origin of the cube, Kelden couldn’t let Lisei take Queen Dalynn. So, he did the only thing he knew how to do. He rushed to the nearest fallen sailor and went for the weapons. He seized the crossbow first, finished loading it with a new bolt and spanning it. He then looked up and took aim just as Lisei turned her chariot to the side and knocked several other sailors to the deck with a gust of wind. He fired. The bolt went up and struck Lisei’s left shoulder. “You dare fight against a goddess?” Lisei shouted as she turned around once more and fired a bolt of lightning at Kelden. The agile warrior rolled out of the way as the sizzling lightning tore through the deck and splintered several boards. “You’re a demi-god,” Kelden snarled. “You’re not a full goddess.” He spanned the crossbow once more and then fired as quickly as he could. This time, an invisible barrier shielded Lisei from the bolt. It ricocheted out toward the sea as the demi-god laughed. She leapt from her chariot and pulled a flaming whip. “Charge, men!” Kitter shouted. “No, wait!” Kelden called out, but no one was listening to him. A streak of lightning snaked through the air with the most deafening crash of thunder Kelden had ever heard. Bodies hit the deck, some split in half, others with a sizeable hole in their chests. Then the flaming whip cracked in the air and Kitter grunted as it wrapped around his neck. Kelden watched as Lisei yanked the man to the deck and strangled him in an instant. The door to the lower decks flew open and three men came out ready for a fight. Each of them had their glaive-bow, a hardy contraption that fused a small, but powerful, crossbow onto a glaive, firing the bolt out through a groove that would allow them to fire and charge at the same time. They fired their weapons and moved in. Lisei snapped one of the glaive-bows in half with her whip, blasted one of the other warriors with lightning, and dodged the third by riding an air current toward the port side of the ship. Fortunately, that put her within just a few yards of Kelden’s current position. Kelden reached out for a cutlass and ran at Lisei from behind. His feet fell silently and quickly upon the deck. The blade came up and slashed at Lisei’s back. A copious amount of blood flew out over the deck, mingling with the rain water that was pooling there. Lisei screamed and wheeled around with her whip. Kelden dodged the weapon, but was struck by an invisible force. He landed on his back and slid across the deck until his body slammed up against the railing in front of the prow. He struggled to his feet as the men with the glaive-bows advanced on Lisei. The demi-god lifted a hand and threw the men fifty yards out to sea without taking her eyes off of Kelden. “Pathetic mortal,” she said. “You thought you could beat me?” Kelden smiled. “Put down the magic and let’s see how you fare then,” he said. Lisei called four bolts of lightning from the sky and gathered them in her right hand. They condensed into a crackling, quaking ball of violent energy as she stepped toward him. “You are going to die slowly,” she said. “And yet, the gods will welcome me,” Kelden fired back. “What will they do when your dishonorable existence is finished?” Lisei raised her hand to her lips as if blowing a kiss. The ball streaked through the air faster than Kelden could see. There was a burning pain in his chest, followed immediately by a force that launched him out from the ship. He flew through the air so quickly that it seemed as though the rain were falling sideways instead of downward. His body skipped upon the surface twice and then he hit what felt like a wall of liquid that slowly pulled him in, and then down. As the water engulfed him, he tried to summon the strength to stay above the surface, but the spell had sapped him of his vigor, and it was a losing fight. Just then, a hand reached down and lifted him from the water. Kelden looked up to see a beautiful woman with silver hair and violet eyes staring down at him. At first, he thought it might be Osei, the demi-god of the ocean come to chase Lisei away from his domain, but Osei was a man, not a woman. His next thought was that Lisei had rushed out to keep her word, and save him a few times while torturing him until he was finally too weak to keep alive, but this woman was not the same as the one who had sent him overboard. The curves of her body and the tightness of her skin upon her face spoke of youth, but there was a fire behind those purple eyes that suggested a great amount of wisdom. More than that, there was a crackling, tangible thickness to the air around her. The other woman had power to be sure, but this one seemed to have more. Much, much more. “You would stand and fight a demi-god?” she asked in a subtle, yet thunderous voice. Her calm demeanor while holding Kelden so close convinced Kelden that he was right. She was vastly stronger than the other, else she would not be so stoic while holding a potential enemy within striking range. Kelden looked down as he continued to rise until he stood upon a thin layer of cloud with the woman. Water ran off of him and a warm wind caressed his body. He looked up to her, but found it hard to match her gaze. “I will not bend the knee to any who have usurped Icadion’s throne. Demi-gods are not gods. They stole power from Terramyr by draining the very essence of the world and stealing it for themselves. Icadion, and he alone, is the rightful ruler of Terramyr.” He spoke reverently, and yet firmly. “Usurpers…” the woman smiled faintly and let go of Kelden’s hand. To his amazement, he remained standing on the cloud that was now a few feet above the water. “Yes, I suppose that is as correct a title as demi-god,” she said. She then turned and narrowed her keen eyes on the battle still raging on the ship. “I am not like the others,” she commented. “I did not seek the power for myself. I sought the World Seed as one who might remain as a buffer between those who abuse power, and those who would otherwise be victims.” As the woman spoke, Kelden saw the disdain in her eyes while she watched the battle. In that instant, he knew the truth of it all. “You are Lisei,” Kelden said as he watched her. He then looked to the ship. “My queen is on that ship, along with other good men. If you did indeed take power from the World Seed to stand as a buffer, then won’t you help them?” “Are you now praying to a demi-god?” Lisei asked as the faintest hint of a smile tugged at the right corner of her mouth. “Surely you wouldn’t let an imposter slay innocent people in your name if you use power the way you claim,” Kelden reasoned. The rain stopped then, suspended in mid air as the wind ceased its relentless blowing and the whole world stood still. “This particular imposter is more deserving of the title, usurper,” she said. “Only a few days ago, one of the demi-gods was slain by a mortal. Since then, others have risen up to challenge several demi-gods. I prefer to remain close to my home, but it has come to my attention that this woman has terrorized these seas for the last week. In my name she has sunk twenty vessels, and slain numerous sailors.” Lisei turned back to Kelden and put a finger to his chest. “No, I will not let this stand. She has called to me in a way that cannot go unanswered. But as for you, you have another path to travel for now, one that I must help along, lest the fates be damaged beyond repair.” A bright, warm spark transferred from her finger to him and he felt a well of strength fill his body. Lisei’s purple eyes became white as snow, and her hair floated out behind her as the smell of static electricity built up around them. “Perhaps we shall meet again, Kelden Ferryl,” she spoke. Before he could ask how she knew his name, the cloud they stood upon broke in two and he was whisked away at a blinding speed. At first he thought he was being sent back to the battle to aid his queen, but as the moments passed and the rain began to fall once again, he realized that he was flying out to the east, toward the vast emptiness of the sea. A white flash ripped through the sky and the black storm cloud was rent to pieces. Lightning flurried around the ship. The seas calmed and a massive bolt of lightning came not from the sky, but from the real Lisei. There was an explosion, and the ship was hidden from view by a massive cloud of smoke. Kelden was certain that the imposter who had assaulted the ship had been destroyed, but there was no way of knowing whether Lisei had been careful in exacting her vengeance, or if the ship, and all the remaining survivors upon it, had been consumed by the lightning as well. Kelden flew for several minutes over the waters below until a large island came into view on the horizon. At first he saw only a pair of green mountains, but as he hurtled toward it, palm trees and the white sands of the beach came into focus. The cloud slowed somewhat and as he came within fifty yards of the beach, it vanished from beneath him. He fell and crashed into the shallow water, flailing his arms and legs in an attempt to stop himself from churning uncontrollably in the sea. When he finally righted himself, he swam up to the surface and spat out a bit of salt water. He aimed himself for the sand and swam. It took him some time to drag his muscular frame through the water, but with the help of the added strength from Lisei, he made it to the beach. When he reached the sand he rolled onto his back and caught his breath. After a few moments, he sat up and stared back out at the sea. What was he to do now? His friend Yeoj, a fellow agent of the queen’s, had freed him from execution for the sole purpose of keeping Queen Dalynn safe, and now he had failed. He knew there wasn’t much he could do against a demi-god, or a sorceress impersonating one for that matter, but he couldn’t shake the sense of failure from his heart. A terrible thunder ripped the peaceful air in the west. Kelden narrowed his eyes and saw a golden flash in the distance. A great gust of wind churned the surface of the waters toward him, splattering him with sea-spray and then there was a heavy thabump in the sand next to him. He looked down and saw the cube half buried in the sand. He reached out for it and took it into his hand. As he did so, the sand fell from its surface and the metal shone brightly. A warmth came into Kelden’s heart once more, the same as had happened when Lisei had sent that spark into him. You have work to do, Kelden. Go and solve the cube’s riddle. Do well, and perhaps we shall meet again. The voice wasn’t audible, it was in Kelden’s mind, and still he knew it was Lisei. He didn’t much like the idea of working for a demi-god, so he chose to convince himself that she was working with him. He picked himself up from the beach and turned to face the dense forest behind him. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do, or how he was ever going to leave this island, but the cube gave him hope. Perhaps Lisei had spared Queen Dalynn after all.
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