Morgan Rice - A Land of Fire

“You’ve been through much,” Thor said to him.

“So have you,” Reece replied.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Thor added. “Selese was a fine woman.”

Reece nodded, grateful.

“You have lost someone, too,” Reece said. “But we shall find him—if it is the last thing we do.”

Conven, taking a break, came up and sat beside Thor and clasped his shoulder. Thor turned and saw Conven looking at him with respect.

“You saved me back in the Ring,” Conven said, “in that prison. All the others had given up on me. I do not forget. I said I owe you, and I meant it. Now it is my turn to be by your side. I will find your son, or I shall die trying.”

Thor clasped Conven’s arm, and saw the hollow look in his face, a look of suffering, and he could see his mourning for his twin had still not left him. Thor realized that he, Reece, and Conven had all been to the edge of tragedy and back, all three of them shaped by suffering, all three not the same boys who had started in the Legion. They were all older now, more hardened. It seemed as if one by one, the Legion members were being tested, molded through suffering, each in their own way. Thor could only wonder what the future held for Elden, O’Connor, or Indra; he hoped it held nothing grim.

And then there was Matus, their new addition. Thor turned to him and nodded.

“I’m grateful to you for joining us,” he said.

Matus came over and joined them.

“It is the least I can do,” he replied. “I’ve always wanted to join the Legion, yet from my place on the Upper Isles I was never allowed to the mainland. I always wanted a chance to prove myself on the mainland, and embarking on a quest with you all is something I’ve always dreamed of.”

“Now you should have it,” Thor said. “Although it could be our quest sees few adversaries. I fear the sea and hunger might be the greatest foes before us.”

Thor pondered their meager provisions, and he knew in but a few days they would run low. He knew they had to find land. He searched the horizon and tried not to think what would come of them if they did not.

Before he could finish the thought, suddenly, Thor felt a breeze on his face. At first it was a gentle wind. When it arrived, for some reason, he thought of his mother. He felt that she was with him, looking after him. The breeze grew stronger, and their lone canvas sail set to flapping, and Thor and the others looked up with gratitude.

They quickly hoisted it, and their boat began to move again.

“The wind is taking us east, not north,” Reece observed. “Adjust the sails.”

Thor felt a sudden buzzing on his wrist, and he looked down to see his bracelet glowing, the black diamond in its center sparkling. It suddenly grew warm, and he had a strong sensation that the wind was taking them in the right direction.

“Leave the sails as they are!” Thor commanded, as the others turned and looked at him with wonder. “The wind is taking us exactly where we need to go.”

The boat began to gain speed, rocking in the waves, and Thor peered out to the horizon.

As they crested wave after wave, Thor finally saw something, a trace of something on the horizon. An outline. At first he thought it was another apparition; but then his heart skipped a beat as he realized it was real.

“Land!” O’Connor called out for all of them.

He confirmed what Thor already knew, what he had sensed from the breeze, from his bracelet. Land was before them. And Guwayne was in that direction.

Thor stood at the bow of the small boat, looking out with wonder as they approached the small island at full speed. The isle sat by itself in this vast sea, hardly a mile in diameter, ringed by bright white sands and gently lapping waves. Thor peered into its thick jungle, looking for any signs of his son.

It was a smooth landing as the tide carried them up right onto the sand, and Thor and the others disembarked as it did, grabbing the small boat and dragging it up firmly ashore.

Thor, excited, looked down at his bracelet; but it suddenly stopped glowing, and his heart fell as he sensed Guwayne was not on this place.

“I don’t see any sign of Guwayne’s boat landing here,” O’Connor said. “We circled the whole island from sea, and there was nothing—no boat, no debris, no prints, nothing.”

Thor shook his head as he said slowly, “My son is not here.”

“How do you know?” Reece asked.

“I just know,” Thor replied.

They all sighed with disappointment as they stood there, hands on hips, peering into the dense jungle before them.

“Well, we’re here,” Matus said. “Might as well look. Not to mention, we need food and water.”

They all made their way onto the island, its white sands soon giving way to dense jungle. As they hiked, all was eerily quiet here except for the blowing of the wind off the sea, the rustling of the trees. As Thor paused to examine them, he saw they were all tall and thin, all bent over, with orange trunks, broad orange leaves, and large round fruits at the top, swaying in the wind.

“Waterfruits!” Elden called out in delight.

He grabbed one of the trees and shook it, harder and harder, making it sway, until finally one of them fell, landing in the sand beside him with a thump.

They all gathered around. It was as large as a watermelon, its skin green and fuzzy, and Elden stepped forward, removed his dagger, and stabbed it. He gouged a hole, gradually making it bigger, until it was large enough to drink from.

Elden lifted it to his mouth with both hands, and the clear water began to trickle out as he drank and drank.

He finally set it down and sighed with satisfaction; he handed it the others.

“The water’s pure here, and sweet,” he said. “It’s delicious.”

They passed it around and each of them drank, and soon it was finished. They all looked up to the other trees, thick with the fruits, the entire island swaying with them.

“We should stock up on them before we go,” Thor said. “We can fill our boat.”

“Don’t forget the flesh,” Matus said.

He stepped forward and knelt down and smashed the fruit open with the butt of his dagger, revealing soft white flesh inside. He reached down and used the tip of his dagger to pry it out, raised it to his lips, and took a bite. He chewed with satisfaction.

Thor grabbed a piece with the others, and as he chewed the chewy, sweet fruit, he felt rejuvenated.

They each turned and, without a word, spread out, each grabbing a tree and shaking it; one tree was stubborn, and Thor climbed to the top and knocked the fruit down with his fist.

They all set about gathering the fruit, and as they turned to walk together back to the boat, there came a sudden rustling behind them, and they all stopped in their tracks as one, looked at each other, and looked back. They peered into the thick foliage, wondering.

“Did you hear something?” Matus asked.

No one said a word, as they all stood there, frozen, watching.

The rustling came again.

A bush swayed, and Thor wondered what it could be; he hadn’t heard any animal noises on the small island, or any traces of human life—and he didn’t think this small island was big enough to support anything. Was it just the wind?

The rustling came again, and this time Thor’s hairs turned on end. There was no mistaking it: something was out there.

As one, they all slowly dropped their fruits, turned, drew their swords, and faced the wall of foliage.

“I think something’s watching us,” Elden remarked.

“Then let’s not make it wait,” Conven said, and then he suddenly, without waiting, recklessly sprinted into the forest. Thor shook his head as he did, realizing that Conven was as suicidal as he had always been.