Sea of the Dead

by Matthew Holmes

  Chapter 5: Accidents

  Michael awoke with a start as a golden bird landed on his hand. He swung his hand, and the bird took wing out the window.

  What a strange dream…

  He tried to pull off the blanket, but it got caught on something.

  What? He pulled the cover off and there was the belt. I thought it was a dream!

  “Kyle! Get down here! It’s time for work!” shouted Reno in annoyance.

  “Okay, okay. Hold your hammers,” he said under his breath. “I’ll be down in a minute!” He ran over to a bucket that was hanging on the wall to wake himself up and gasped at the sight of his reflection.

  He did not recognize what he saw. There before him was a boy who had wavy dirty blond hair that reached his eyebrows and light brown eyes, and his tanned skin had no scars or blemishes where there used to be. The prince’s arms had grown more toned, and he grew two inches in height, now being a little less than six feet tall. His jaw seemed to have widened, and his chin was slightly pointier, giving him a more adult look than what was there before. He still had the bent dart tip in his right ear.

  He put on a brown long sleeved shirt to cover his arms and the belt, and tucked it into his pants.

  He ran down the stairs to see Reno. When he reached the kitchen, Reno was setting a place for his breakfast.

  “Wow! What did you do to your hair?” he exclaimed.

  “Um—nothing it just sort of happened. Are you angry?”

  “Not unless you used my cleaning supplies to bleach it.”

  “No worry there,” Michael assured, then he realized something. “I thought that we didn’t work on weekends.”

  “We don’t. You slept all through Sunday!”

  “Oh,” replied Michael quietly. “And you didn’t try to wake me?”

  “I felt it best not to disturb you. A boy does need his space, after all.”

  The pair finished their food and went to work. Reno hammered at steel in the forge while Michael shined the weapons and swept the floors. The first few minutes of polishing were fine, but after a while Michael felt a strange twinge in his stomach. He vigorously rubbed a cloth over a blade, when he noticed that the sword was getting warm. He touched the side with bare fingertips. It burned hotter and hotter, until Michael released the blade. It clattered on the floor, and Michael saw that the area where his fingers had been was red and melting.

  He decided to sweep the floor. That went well enough, until he accidentally bumped a wooden crate with his elbow and cracked it open. Scraps of steel spilled onto the floor loudly.

  “What happened?” Reno asked with concern when he saw Michael picking up the heavy chucks of refined metal.

  Nothing! I was just sweeping and I knocked the crate over,” Michael lied.

  Reno looked at the crate, a hole in the side of it, and sighed.

  “I think you need some fresh air, Kyle,” He pointed to the back door. Without arguing, Michael went out.

  The alley was shaded, but not too dark to see clearly. He began to express his anger and frustration, pounding on the wall, shouting at the air, stomping his feet, behaving like a spoiled child. He shouted at the top of his lungs, as he cracked the ground with his stomping.

  Michael heard a familiar voice. “Well, would you look who it is,” it said.

  “Aaron! I figured you would stay away from me after I almost killed you.”

  “Hah! You were lucky. I hate lucky street brats!” he spat angrily.

  “Why would you hate luck? Is it because you could never be lucky? You weren’t lucky enough to be born to a father that loves you more than his money, so you think everyone else is better off?” Michael grit his teeth, trying to remain calm. “Why are you even here in the first place?”

  “Word on the street is that Reno found himself a little hireling. I just put two and two together.”

  “Oh, so you can add? That is impressive.”

  “Fight me! That is if you’re not a coward.”

  “You aren’t even worth my time,” Michael said reaching for the door handle.

  Aaron grabbed his shirt and held out a knife. “Too bad you don’t have a choice! I will kill you!”

  Aaron slashed the knife at Michael’s stomach. Aaron missed Michael’s body, but sliced open a chunk of his shirt. The golden belt glittered in the sunlight.

  “Nice belt for an ex-slave, I’ll be sure to take that before I carve you!” He swung the knife at Michael’s throat. The prince quickly dodged the attack, jumped and kicked at Aaron. The toe of his boot glowed red as it planted into the man’s gut.

  Aaron screamed as his shirt caught on fire. He frantically rolled in the dirt. “I’m going to kill you!” he shouted after he put out the fire.

  “It was an accident, I can’t control it!”

  Aaron raised himself to one knee and threw the knife at Michael, but the blade danced to the side before it reached him and stabbed into an old crate. Michael grabbed the knife and threw it back, driving it through Aaron’s leg.

  Aaron snarled and pulled it out. It was covered in blood. His eyes were like a fire of pure hatred and anger. He threw it as hard as he could at Michael’s head.

  Michael knew that he could not dodge this attack. In a fraction of a second he would be dead. He raised his hands in reflex, although it would do little against the blade.

  One… two… three seconds went by. I should be dead right now! Michael dared to look up. He saw Aaron staring at him in disbelief. There, floating in the air inches away from his hand was the knife. He was as awestruck as Aaron.

  “I’m getting out of here!” Aaron said limping away. Michael slowly reached for the knife hovering above his hand. He jabbed it into the wall and went into the house.

  Reno was just about to go out to check on him when Michael stopped him. “You don’t want to go out there!”

  “And why not?”

  “Look, I’m not going to lie to you. I got in another fight with Aaron. He came out with a knife and attacked me,” He showed Reno the cut in his shirt, hiding the belt with his arm. He told the rest of the story, leaving out the details of the fire and the floating knife. “I swear it was an accident! I didn’t want to fight with him, I was coming back inside.”

  “Kyle, with you everything is an accident! You get in fights, you manage to destroy a crate made with thick wooden planks, and I’m sure that that damaged blade was also one of your accidents. They were all your mistakes! It seems that you’re just an accident waiting to happen. How can I trust you?” Reno paused trying to calm his temper.

  “I guess that I’m just more accident prone than most people,” Michael replied softly and went up to his room, where he stayed all through the day until dinner was ready.

  Reno seemed more stressed than usual; he cut up his meat with clenched fists and tense muscles. All was silent for a long time, until Michael spoke.

  “What’s wrong? Are you angry with me?” the prince asked, keeping his eyes locked on his food.

  “No,” Reno said as he placed his knife and fork on the table on either side of his plate.

  “Why are you angry then?”

  “I’m not angry!” he fumed.

  Michael was about to speak again, but he thought better of it.

  “I’m sorry. I am under a lot of pressure right now. I have an order to make more swords and shields than I ever have been required to forge before. My work for the armory is even harder now that all the other smiths have left this city.”

  “What happens if you don’t meet the deadline?”

  “They fire me, more or less,” Reno said with a shiver.

  “The king would never—” Michael began, but cut himself short.

  “A new decree was handed out to all of the merchants yesterday while you were out. The laws have changed greatly, and every business not directly aiding the military have been shut down by the king. It is as if there is an entirely different person on the throne,” Reno’s words drifted off as
if he were in a trance. “But I should not trouble one so young with politics.”

  “Do you doubt that you can do it?” Michael asked worriedly.

  “I can manage. You, on the other hand, have got to keep yourself out of trouble until then.”

  Michael smiled at Reno’s now easy tone. “I’m tired; I’m going to go upstairs now.”

  “One other thing, Kyle,” Reno said.

  “What?” He asked, taking in a mouthful of water.

  “That ring in your right ear. It isn’t real, I can tell.”

  Michael coughed violently, choking on his drink. I’ve been discovered!

  “You can trust me. Whatever you are running from, I can help.”

  “I’m not running from anything,” Michael lied.

  “Tell me the truth.”

  Michael hesitated. I can’t risk being put out for being dishonest, but I also cannot afford to tell the whole truth. Then he answered, “I was a slave to my father. I made this ring after I ran away so that if he ever found me, he wouldn’t be able to take me back.”

  Reno scratched his beard. “If it isn’t real, it holds no power. It is no more than a useless trinket.”

  “I know, but it has served me well since I have worn it.”

  “I could make a real ring for you, if you wish. Just know that it will be permanent,” Reno offered.

  “You would do that?” Michael asked sincerely.

  “Of course I would. If it means that you can continue to work without fear of your father retrieving you, a simple ring is a small price to pay.”

  “Thank you!” Michael grinned.

  “You’re welcome, now head onto your bed. You need your rest. I will work on your ring tomorrow. Good night, Kyle.”

  “Good night father— I mean Reno,” Michael corrected awkwardly and ran up the stairs.

  Reno smiled and headed back to the furnace.