James stepped through the entry just behind Luno. To his surprise, it was as if the light from an overcast day spilled through an unseen window. The room was nothing but a square, no larger than the main hall at his parent’s home. The walls and floors of this room were roughly cut grey stone. James looked up at the ceiling. Far above him were what looked like clouds. They churned in a clockwise direction. Based on their darkened color, James thought it might rain at any moment. He turned to comment to Luno, but Luno was gone.
James quickly moved back toward the door. He extended his hand behind him, not wanting to turn his back on the open room but felt only the cold stone wall as he searched for the handle. His heart began to beat faster. The far wall had been engulfed in what looked like fog. James drew his sword and attempted to clear his mind.
A dark shape appeared in the mist. James’s hands began to shake as he was consumed by an overwhelming fear. The shape moved silently toward him-or was it only the fog? Fearing his knees would buckle beneath him if he didn’t move, James began to walk along the wall, never taking his eyes off the dark shape.
The mist began to recede, revealing a man. The fog lifted up from the floor exposing the man’s boots and the hem of his traveling cloak. It continued upward until the man’s entire body could be seen. His hood cast an unnatural shadow across his face, making it unidentifiable.
“Who are you?” James asked, surprised by the fear in his own voice.
“It is I. Your father,” Stuart said, pulling back his hood and revealing his face.
James immediately fell to his knees, his entire body trembling. He knew what he was seeing was impossible, yet in his heart, he wanted it to be true above all else. The man walked to James and put a gentle hand on his head.
“Son,” Stuart said, lifting James’s chin so he could make eye contact. Tears began streaming down James’s face. “Rise, my son. We have much to discuss,” Stuart said, grasping him beneath the arm.
James attempted to rise only to fall to the floor again. He wept uncontrollably. He attempted to gain control, attempted to stand, but every time he looked at his father, his guilt and emptiness shook his very core and sent him back to his knees. After a moment, Stuart spoke again.
“Son, look at me.”
James slowly raised his head and looked at his tear-blurred father.
“It’s okay. I’m here.”
The tears stopped and his body ceased shaking. When James was able to get to his feet, he realized he stood over a head taller than his father. The pair embraced.
“I’m sorry,” James whispered into his father’s ear as they held each other.
“Sorry? For what?” Stuart asked.
“It’s my fault.”
“What is your fault, Son?”
“That day you were captured in the forest of Arenberg. I came to rescue you and everyone died. It was an acci-”
“Boy, do I look dead to you? After I woke from whatever magic had rendered me unconscious, I was taken to one of Alvaro’s secret prisons. It didn’t take them long to figure out I was better off as far from you as possible, so they sent me here.”
James was overwhelmed with emotion. He had believed he was the cause of his father’s death for so long. Every day he had lived with that guilt. The guilt of taking his father from his mother, whom he saw crying every night for months after the “accident.” Along with the guilt came the extreme sense of loss. That day had cleaved a hole in his heart, and now, standing before him, his father was alive.
“I see it. I see it in your eyes and your face and the way you carry yourself,” Stuart said.
“What do you see?” James asked.
“You have unnecessarily burdened yourself with guilt.”
“Father, I cannot lie. It has plagued me every day since your loss.”
“Even if I had been killed, it would have been foolish to blame yourself. You were but a child. What happened that day was beyond your understanding or ability to control. Do you agree?”
“Yes but-”
“But you still lived with the guilt despite knowing you couldn’t have stopped what happened that night even if you had wanted to.”
“Every night for a year, I would wake up screaming your name. Every night I would run to mother for consolation and find her crying herself to sleep,” James said.
“Every man has a choice, James. He can allow his emotions to control him or he can control his emotions. Time and time again I’ve told you the importance of this control. It affects our ability to perform magic. You, no doubt, have struggled with your training since that night.”
“Why is this relevant now, Father? I passed my trials faster than any sorcerer before me, and have become so powerful the council fears my very existence.”
“It does matter, Son. You carry a heavy burden. You carry the expectations of the people of our world. You are the Anointed One. And now you are here, banished and powerless.
“Are you saying it is my fault I’ve been banished?”
“Yes,” Stuart replied coldly.
James hung his head and turned away from his father. He could feel the anger and frustration churning beneath the surface and did not want it to show. After all this time, after all he’d done, he was being reprimanded like a child.
“What must I do?” James asked.
“Let go of your guilt. Let go of your anger. You have enough to deal with without this additional burden.”
“My anger gives me power.”
“Power you are unable to control is not power. If you release yourself, you will become the most powerful sorcerer our generation has ever known. You must let go, James. If you ever wish to leave this place and fulfill you destiny… save our people, save humanity… save your mother. You must let go. Goodbye, Son.”
Before the last words spoken by his father registered in his mind and he could react, his father was gone. The fog had lifted and Luno was beside him, hunched over trying to catch his breath.
Not again, James thought looking around franticly. The four stone walls of the room had returned. “No,” James screamed. “Father!” His cries were ear splitting in the small room. Luno was finally able to catch enough breath to stand upright. James fell silent, taking in Luno’s disheveled appearance. His clothes were torn. Half his face was covered in what looked like soot, the other half was dripping blood from an injury above his left eye. His hair appeared to be smoking. He gave James and incredulous look as he attempted to put out his hair.
“What just happened to us?” James asked.
“This room has the most cunning enchantment. I believed, from the account of the only other person to set foot inside, that we would be faced with the same enemy. It appears, however, as though every person who enters is faced with a different enemy. Something tailor-made for them. Whatever you encountered appears to be slightly more benign than the beast I met. Although, by the expression on your face, I daresay not.”
“And what was the purpose?” James asked.
“I once believed the purpose was to send folks screaming for their lives out of the cave never to return. However, I’m not sure of that any more,” he said looking at James curiously. “What did you see?”
James let out a deep breath. “I saw my father… at least I thought it was my father.”
“What did he say?”
James looked at Luno with a reluctant expression.
“My boy, we are far past concealing our emotions from one another. Now tell me, please.”
“He said I have to let go.”
Luno was silent for a moment. He turned and paced around the room revealing a large slash across the back of his jacket. James was still trying to process all that had happened in those short minutes.
“Well then. Let us continue, shall we?” Luno said. James nodded and began moving toward the door they had entered.
“Boy, have you hit your head?” Luno asked, now standing on the opposite side of the room.
“We are moving on, are we not?” James asked.
“Indeed. Through this door,” Luno said, pointing to the solid wall in front of him.
Luno could tell by James’s confused look that something wasn’t right. He walked slowly toward James, never taking his eyes from the boy’s face.
“You can’t see it can you?”
“See what?” James asked.
“There is a doorway on the opposite wall. Framed in gold is the most magnificent mahogany door I’ve ever seen.”
James looked again where Luno was pointing but saw only the solid grey wall.
“I see nothing,” James replied.
“Fascinating,” Luno said to himself. He paced the room in deep thought. After several moments of silence he turned to James. “I must go on alone. Go back to the beach and wait for me. I shall not be long.”
“What is so important in there?” James asked.
“You will see, my boy. Patience.”
With that, Luno turned and disappeared into the wall. James walked over and pressed his hand at the spot where Luno had vanished and felt only cold, hard stone. Disenchanted, he made his way back to the beach alone.
James paced along the back wall of the cave where sand met black granite. He couldn’t get the thought of his father out of his mind. While he was in that room, he truly believed his father had come back to him. For a short moment, all the anger and resentment he had held melted away, and for the first time since his death, he had felt unburdened. The instant his father disappeared and he realized it was a trick of the island, everything came rushing back.
James passed the strange glyphs carved into the wall, thinking they had an odd familiarity about them. Thoughts about what he had just witnessed quickly pushed the glyphs from his mind. It hadn’t been his real father telling him to let go; it was a creation of the island. Part of James needed the guilt he’d held onto for so long. It made him feel… human. It helped keep him grounded. He could also reach deep inside himself and uncover that guilt if he needed. Some of the magic he had mastered in the past several years required that he delve deep into the ancient emotions of hurt and pain.
The incantations that required such an emotional foundation were usually a combination of dark and contemporary spells, which he mastered quite easily. He had mastered everything he had been taught. And yet, here in The Never, he only knew three magic words.
And then it struck him like a bolt of lightning. Could it be that simple? The island was trying to tell him what he needed. He needed to let go. He needed to accept the past for what it was and move on. James needed to relieve himself of emotions that burdened his spirit in order to understand the language of this land. He believed it, but was uncertain how to do it-or even if he could.
A noise brought him back from his contemplative state. He turned and saw Luno lying prone in the sand just in front of the doorway. James rushed to his side and rolled him over. Luno was staring off into space. James called his name, but he did not respond. James put his ear to Luno’s mouth and could feel his warm breath against it. James shook him and shouted his name once more. Luno did not respond.
James lifted Luno’s head and slid his arm behind his neck. As he reached for his legs, James realized Luno was clutching a wooden box in his hands. The box was the width of James’s extended hands. It had a black metal latch in the center that was secured by an ornate sliver lock. James laid Luno’s head gently back on the sand and pulled, but Luno’s hands did not release the box. He pulled harder to no avail.
Not wanting to waste any more time, James scooped up Luno’s body and hurried down the sandy rise to the boat. He set Luno in the bottom of the small boat. James quickly removed his cloak and tucked it behind Luno’s head. He looked again into Luno’s eyes. They continued to stare unblinking into space. He shouted his name once more. Nothing. James pushed the boat into the water and carefully boarded, trying not to step on his friend.
Relieved that the waters were lake-calm, James steadily rowed through the cave entrance and toward the pier behind him.
As he came within shouting distance of the pier, James yelled for Kilani. Several people who were watching the small boat draw near began to shout over their shoulders. James knew he couldn’t lift Luno up the ladder onto the pier and so decided to row to the shore. The onlookers moved down the pier as the boat passed. By the time James reached the beach, a crowd had gathered. Many hands pulled the bow of the small boat up onto the beach. James looked back for Kilani, and he was relieved when he saw her running through the crowd toward the boat.
James again scooped Luno up in his arms. He handed him to Kilani and two other men. James recognized Roger and William. Both men wore concerned expressions. He hopped out of the boat and took Luno back from the helpers.
“His house,” Kilani said, knowing what James was going to ask before he asked it.
William and Roger cleared the crowd in front of them as James and Kilani quickly moved up the beach and onto the pier. James heard the crowd shout as he passed: “What happened to Luno?” “What is he holding?” “Is he dead?” “Is he going to be okay?” William had the door to the house open before they got there. James stepped inside with Luno. Kilani was just behind. She looked at William and Roger, who stood at the doorway.
“Nobody gets in,” Kilani said to the men. Both nodded. Kilani turned as Roger closed the door, and the men took up positions on either side.
James laid Luno on the cot and took a step back. Kilani quickly stepped forward and kneeled beside him. James could see the emotions she’d been holding back begin to come through her typically unreadable face. Her eyes welled up with tears and a few made their way down her smooth, tanned skin toward her full red lips. She sniffled as she whispered into his ear.
She turned to James. Luno was very good at getting himself into trouble. Kilani knew this and held no blame in her expression as she asked what happened. James briefly told her about the cave. She looked at the wooden box still stuck in Luno’s grasp. She pulled at the box, but it held fast. She stood quickly, closed her eyes, and said, “ Voriko.”
The box shook slightly as if trying to come free then was motionless once more. James then stood over Luno, extended his hand and repeated the word, “ Voriko.” The sliver lock moved upward where it paused for a moment before falling limp. As it fell, a loud click sounded from inside the lock.
James and Kilani glanced at each other, and he stooped and pulled at the lock. It slid off effortlessly.
“Should I open it?” James asked.
Without a word, Kilani reached down and lifted the wooden lid. A small black key lay on a bed of purple satin. Kilani lifted the key before James could give warning. Luno’s hands immediately went limp, spilling the wooden box onto the floor. Luno sat bolt upright with a scream. He looked around for a moment then fell back to the cot unconscious.
Kilani quickly set the key on the table and bent over Luno. As she tended to him, James’s attention was drawn to the key. It was such a small insignificant thing, yet he couldn’t help but move closer to it. He felt a connection to it. His need for it increased with every step until he reached for it. The moment the cool black steel touched his skin, an image of the black castle flashed through his mind. The desire to reach the castle came flooding back as he held the key tightly in his hand.
Beside him on the cot, Luno began rubbing his eyes. With Kilani’s help, he slowly sat up. The moment Luno regained focus, he began looking around franticly.
“Where is it?” he demanded. Before James could respond, Luno’s eyes found the box lying on the floor, its lid open. The purple satin fanned out like sand from a broken hourglass.
“The key! Where is the key?” Luno asked.
James didn’t want to share the key with anyone. He squeezed it tighter in his hand, hoping Kilani would forget he’d ever picked it up.
“James,” said Kilani, “where is the key?”
Reluctantly, James opened his hand, revealing the black key.
“Thank goodness,” said Luno relaxing his shoulders. He stood and stretched as if waking from a long sleep. James had to fight the urge to snap his hand shut as Luno moved closer to inspect the key.
“Of course,” he said, excitedly. “How could I have been so foolish?”
After a moment of introspection, Luno looked up.
“It is believed that the box contained the key to the black castle. The key to our escape.”
“How did you learn of it and why haven’t you mentioned this to me before?” Kilani asked.
“Akil discovered it. He told me where I would find it. He said if I went looking for it before it was ready to be found, it would not be found at all.”
“How did you know the time was right?” James asked. “I didn’t until the guardian.”
“You saw a guardian?” Kilani asked excitedly.
“We did,” Luno said.
“I knew it,” Kilani whispered.
“I don’t understand. How did the guardian tell you it was time to seek this box?” James asked.
“Sometimes I can’t help but marvel at how dim-witted you can be, my boy. What did the guardian tell you?”
“It said I have been granted what has been denied all others.”
“Exactly. You can travel over water safely. This means you have the power to return to our world. The moment the guardian confirmed what we already suspected, I knew it was time to search for the key.”
Now that we have the key, our voyage may begin. We will need it before the end.”