Sea of the Dead

by Matthew Holmes

  Chapter 16: Under the Sea

  Michael looked all around him. He saw the footprints in the sand, the little drops of blood, uprooted clumps of dead grass and the small crater. There was evidence everywhere that the fight had happened.

  “Kai, Kai! Are you hurt? Let me help you!” Ryan said as he ran up and down the small sand drifts.

  “I am fine. But I am glad that you care so much,” she replied with a forced smile.

  Michael sat down on the edge of the hole he had dug and grumbled, “Yeah, at least somebody can still smile.”

  “What are you talking about? I’m the one who just had a sword blade cutting the skin on my neck!” Kaitala growled.

  “We were ambushed! You possibly pose a threat to all of us, and we still have no way to get across this cursed sea!” Michael stood and threw a head-sized stone into the briny water as far away as he could. Seconds passed before he heard a splash, but he saw nothing through the fog which had rolled in with wind from the north.

  “I think that before we go any further with this journey, we need to settle our differences,” Kaitala looked at Michael. “Why did you tell me to stay away from you, and then change your mind seconds later?”

  The other people left the area to give them some privacy when Michael refused to speak otherwise. Once they were gone, Kaitala asked him again.

  A malicious grin crossed his face. “I know that you are somehow able to contact Malumous behind my back.”

  “What? I left him thinking that I was bringing you back to the castle with me. Why would I want to put a bounty on my own head, dead or alive, unless I thought that I could help free Magentara? I am not accustomed to being the hunted.”

  Michael’s grin faded and the panicked expression reappeared. “What is happening to me?” He searched his mind for Sphergol and commanded her to leave. Moments later, she appeared, floating near Michael.

  Kaitala looked at the expression on Michael’s face and took it that he wanted to be alone. Without a word she turned and walked away.

  “What were you just doing?” Michael asked the red glowing ball.

  “I was simply telling you the truth; she can’t be trusted,” a hollow voice answered.

  “By ruining my friendship with Kai? Is that telling the truth? There is something wrong with you. You have become dark.”

  “Nonsense, I have simply decided that I want to be red now, which is the reason I have changed. The only one with a problem is you! You accept every stranger that you meet, not even the slightest worried that one of them is going to betray you to Malumous.”

  “How can you be sure? You aren’t human; you do not have these emotions.”

  “What emotions do you mean—love, joy, friendship? Who needs emotions? Emotions are what have weakened mankind. They remove your better judgment and you hesitate to kill!”

  “Is it such a bad thing, not to kill?”

  “It is when you are fighting a war!” The words seemed to explode out of nowhere.

  Michael stepped toward the sphere, casting a dull red glow across his features. “We are not yet in a war, and you should not forget that. It is pointless to try and convince me that Kai is contacting Malumous! Have I made myself clear? If I discover that she is a spy for Malumous, then we will take action, but not until then.”

  “Your trust will one day make you fall. Eventually, you will meet someone, take them in and be turned over to Malumous himself because you trust everyone you meet. Don’t you realize what is at stake if you are captured, or do you only care about what you want?”

  Michael sighed and ran a hand through his hair, which was now down to his eyes, for it had grown since they left Jenoth. “You may be right, but until I know for sure that there is a traitor in our midst, I can do nothing. Stay clear of Kai, I feel that I can trust her more than Reno, Ryan, Tristan, and even you.”

  “You are making a mistake, but nevertheless I am loyal to you,” Sphergol said with spite.

  “Sphergol,” Michael said, “I appreciate all that you have done for me, but until you tell me why your attitude toward Kaitala is so bad, you are not welcome in my mind. I will not allow you to control my tongue again,” He turned his back to her and walked away.

  Once he finally reached his group, they headed back to the dead body of Aamad. Sphergol was already there when they returned, studying the corpse. She drifted over to them and said, “Michael, you must see this!”

  They all rushed over to the hole and peered inside. In the faint red light that emitted off of Sphergol, Michael could see a large disk under the standing corpse. He reached over and pushed on the cold breastplate. He heard the creaking sound of sliding metal and the corpse tilted back.

  “Help me! We need to pull this out!” Michael urged as he tried to pull the armored skeleton out of the hole. Kaitala grabbed a hold beside Michael and one by one the others joined in the effort. They soon had the figure out in the sunlight, where Michael realized that the only reason that Aamad stood was that the armor had been melted together at the joints. Carefully, they laid the dead leader down on the sand.

  Michael looked at the bottom of the metal base and he saw words written in gold paint. He crouched down and read them out loud. “My name is Aamad. If you are reading this, it means that I have passed from this life. I have claimed this sandy tomb to be my resting place, as well as my death, so that I could protect my belt and the city that I hold so dear,” Michael stopped, and speaking for himself said, “He melted his own armor together and had somebody bury him alive so he could protect the people he cared about.”

  “Please, finish reading,” Sphergol said.

  Michael continued, “I have chosen to die on this pedestal with hope that the promise of a prince and savior will be fulfilled. Only he can open the entrance the first time, but after my blood seal is broken, the weight of my armor will not be able to keep the dark forces out. When you enter the tunnel, it is of great importance that you seal the entrance back over and bury it, for if not, evil will find us. Make haste, for the fate of the world rests in your hands.”

  “We have to go down there?” Ryan asked as he peered down into the metal-rimed hole.

  “That’s what it says, and our directions specifically say to go under the Sea of the Dead,” Tristan said. “This is the Sea of the Dead, and that hole is a good way to get under it.”

  “Maybe, but—”

  Reno cut him off. “But what, are you afraid of the dark or something?”

  “No! It’s just that, well, I have always had this tense feeling when I go in a cave,” he said with an edge of nervousness in his voice then laughed. “We’d best get moving, that man will be back before long.”

  They all agreed, although Ryan hesitated at first. Michael and Kaitala slid down the edge of the bank and into the hole, followed by Tristan. Once they were in, Bastian, the wolf, jumped down with Ryan close behind. Reno struggled to fit down into the hole, but with no success.

  “We need a bigger hole up here!” Reno yelled down past his body.

  “There is no way to make the hole bigger!” he heard Tristan shout from somewhere beneath.

  “Pull yourself back up onto the sand,” Michael said.

  From below, all Michael could see were Reno’s legs, from the waist down. He could tell that Reno was attempting to move because his legs were bending slightly and he could hear muffled grunts of strain from above. Still, Reno didn’t move up, nor down.

  “It’s no use, I can’t move,” Then Reno got an idea, “What if Sphergol could change my body—”

  Sphergol cut him off. “I can’t use magic when Michael refuses to let me enter his mind,” She sounded resentful.

  “And why not?” Reno asked.

  “Because I need his mind and my power combined to perform any act of magic; he’s on his own.”

  “Then I will,” Michael stepped up to the dangling feet.

  “I wouldn’t if I were you, Michael,” Sphergol whispered to him. “With the strength it w
ill take to alter his body composition, you’d be better off to leave him here and continue on.”

  “Then I will help him!” Kaitala said.

  Kai grabbed Michael’s hand, and he felt an exhilarating power flow between them, he assumed that the same thing happened to her because she shivered, then said, “Are you ready?”

  He nodded then felt the energy pass to Reno, who decreased over an inch in diameter and slid down the hole onto the stone ground. With the same flow of magic they used on Reno, they moved the armored skeleton and filled the crater back up with sand.

  They released their grip on each other’s hands, and Reno returned to his normal size. Michael felt no different than before, and he still had the same amount of energy.

  Each person in the group was in the tunnel, lit by the dim red glow of Sphergol. The air was cool and damp, and it smelt of death. Michael could see that there was something large moving ahead, but couldn’t tell what it was.

  The prince took one step into the darkness of the tunnel, and the footstep echoed back. It would be at least a two day’s journey to the end. This much he knew.

  “Sphergol, go ahead,” Michael suggested, “Give us some light so we can see.”

  Sphergol hovered half way between the floor and the ceiling. It was hard to see in the dim red light, but there were several visible passageways in every direction. The walls were slick with algae and it smelled of rot. The main tunnel seemed to have been carved with care, forming an arched path through the earth, where the others were rough and random.

  “How are we supposed to know which way to go?”

  “We have to go under the sea,” Kai said, “so I would assume that if we travel this main path in a downward slope until we reach the lowest point, and then keep following the same back to the surface we will make it to the other side.

  “But we don’t know,” Sphergol said, “if Michael would allow me to access his mind to work my magic, I would navigate for you, but I am not of much use if he does not let me.”

  “We have no need for magic to navigate a cave; we only need to stop and think,” Reno said, an edge on his voice.

  “Bah, no need for magic, he says,” Sphergol retorted.

  “Do you remember,” Michael asked, “when you told me that one of the rules of magic was deciding when it is needed, or when I can get through a situation using my intelligence or physical ability? You said that, and now you question it?”

  “I have learned to question everything—even you and your decisions!”