by Aaron Oster
“It’s not your fault, Morgan,” she hushed as he sobbed silently into her shoulder.
“Say your farewell to the boy. We have much to do before he is ready,” Morgan heard the man say, and felt even more tears fall from his eyes.
Gwen was going to leave, and he would have to stay with this horrible man, who would make him do things like this again.
Morgan felt Gwendolyn’s arms tighten around his shoulders for just a moment before she pulled away and held him out at arm’s length. She met his teary eyes with her own glistening eyes.
“I have to go now, Morgan, but I promise that we’ll see each other again one day. I love you.”
Morgan opened his mouth to say something, when Gwendolyn tapped him in the center of the forehead, and blackness claimed him.
6
Sarah was sitting by Morgan’s side when he came to very suddenly and violently. His body jerked upright and his fists began lashing out before his mind even fully caught up to him. Luckily for Sarah, she was still far enough away from him to avoid the punches when he first came to.
“Morgan, calm down!” she yelled, taking the chance to glare back at Gwendolyn, who had risen from the bed at the first sign of Morgan stirring.
“Sarah?” Morgan asked, blinking confusedly up at her. “Where are we?”
“We’re in the underground bunker on the border of the Central and North Kingdoms, don’t you remember?” she asked, looking at him worriedly.
“From his perspective, he’s been gone several days. Though it’s been less than an hour for us. Give him a few minutes to adjust,” Gwendolyn said, walking across the room and attempting to climb the stairs to reach them.
She found her path suddenly blocked by a swarm of icy tridents.
“You stay where you are,” Sarah said, narrowing her eyes at her. “Until Morgan is coherent, you won’t be coming near him.”
Gwendolyn gave her an icy glare that almost matched the coldness of the tridents, but didn’t move any closer.
True to her word, Morgan was back to his usual self within a few minutes, though he now seemed to be quite troubled.
Until he’d regained his senses, Sarah had just been sitting quietly by his side, but now, she felt that she had to ask.
“What happened to you? One second you were fine, and the next you were out cold.”
Morgan looked up at her, and Sarah was surprised to see something that she hadn’t been expecting to- fear and insecurity.
“My memories of the time before I met you were all false,” he began. “I’m not from the North Kingdom, but from the West. I was brought into the North Kingdom by Gwendolyn when I was only seven years old. And then I was taken from her…”
Sarah’s eyes widened as Morgan recounted his tale, and by the time he was done, she was furious enough to hunt Samuel down and kill him herself.
“So, everything we thought we knew about him is false,” Sarah said, clenching and unclenching her fists in anger.
“Samuel isn’t some benevolent deity, but some scumbag who wants to use you just like everyone else! But, unlike all the others, he’s been doing it since you were just a small child!”
Morgan nodded.
“So it would appear.”
He then looked past her to Gwendolyn, who was still standing at the base of the staircase and looking at him with a blank expression, but he could now see through her facade. He could see it in the small tick at the corner of her mouth, and in the stiff way she held herself.
She was doing everything in her power not to rush over to him right now, though Morgan couldn’t say that he felt the same. He knew that his younger self had felt something towards this woman, but right now, he felt the same towards her as he would to anyone else- absolutely nothing at all.
Well, that’s not true of everyone, Morgan thought as he turned his eyes to an angry Sarah. He felt something for Sarah, though he couldn’t quite place his finger on the emotion.
Whatever it was, though, he knew that he never wanted anything bad to happen to her and that he would go to any lengths to keep her safe. It was something that made absolutely no sense to him at all.
Why feel so strongly about someone, and not feel anything towards anyone else?
It just made no sense.
Rising slowly to his feet, Morgan steadied himself against the wall for a moment, before heading down the stairs.
“Sarah, you can drop the spears,” he said, as he approached his caretaker from a life that still did not feel like his own. How could it, after having lived a different one for so many years?
The icy tridents vanished as soon as Morgan gave the word, and he heard the telltale scuff of Sarah’s boots as she hurried to walk next to him.
Morgan resisted the urge to smile, instead reveling in the feeling of having someone care about him as much as Sarah did. The feeling didn’t last long, but it was nice to experience it all the same.
He came to a stop before the woman who had likely saved his life so long ago and had taught him so many things. Someone who he now knew loved him more than anything, despite staying away from him for the last ten years. Morgan tried to find something to say to her, but nothing seemed right. Instead, he allowed her to take the lead.
Gwendolyn apparently wasn’t nearly as stoic as Morgan was, and she launched herself at him as soon as he stopped, wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace and sobbing into his shoulder. Morgan found this to be quite ironic, seeing as his last memory that involved her ended in a similar manner, only this time, the roles were reversed.
Morgan still felt nothing for the woman, but he now knew how to at least pretend to care. He did what Sarah would have never expected him to, and hugged the woman back, allowing her to lean into him and release all her pent up sadness at having to give him up.
Back when he’d been reliving his old memories, Morgan had blamed this woman for taking them from him. Now he knew why she’d done it, and no longer held any animosity towards her. All of that was reserved for Samuel, the so-called “good guy.”
Morgan now knew who he truly was, a manipulative bastard, just like the rest of the gods. He knew that aside from Gold, there was at least one more involved; the one who’d taken two years and wiped them from his mind, not even bothering to cover it up as Gwendolyn had done. He still wasn’t sure as to what Gold’s motivations were, but at the moment, he was the most trustworthy one out of the bunch, as he hadn’t actively attacked either him or Sarah.
In fact, he’d only helped them. The only thing counting against him now was his attempted murder of Katherine, something with he hadn’t succeeded at. In Morgan’s eyes at least, Gold was sort of alright, although he guessed Katherine’s opinion on the matter was quite different than his own.
Morgan was brought from his musings when Gwendolyn pulled back from him with a sniff, then took his face in her hands and examined it. Something in his expression must have given away how he really felt, or his lack of feeling at all, because Gwendolyn’s face crumpled slightly when she saw that.
“I’m sorry for that,” she said, releasing him and taking a step back. “I suppose that you don’t feel much towards me at the moment.”
Morgan shrugged.
“If it makes you feel any better, I don’t feel much towards anyone,” Morgan replied as Sarah moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around one of his.
This habit of hers is kinda getting annoying, Morgan thought as she squeezed his arm to her chest.
“It doesn’t,” Gwendolyn replied, wiping at her eyes and composing herself as best she could.
“I’m sure you have many questions, and if I know you well enough, I’m sure you’re eager to be off to the West Kingdom. So, ask away,” she replied, getting right to the point.
“Wait,” Sarah said, interceding herself into the conversation. “We’re not leaving the Five Kingdoms?”
Morgan turned to her, something which was made difficult by the fact that she was squeezing his arm to her si
de, and shook his head.
“After what I’ve seen, I have to go back. There could be answers to my past that I never even considered looking for. Answers to where I came from, or who my parents might be. These memories also opened up a whole bunch of new questions. Like how I, at the age of seven, was able to tear apart an entire room of men with my bare hands, when I only awakened my ability at the age of fifteen.”
Sarah bit her bottom lip, a sign which Morgan knew meant she was troubled. After a few seconds, she nodded, and despite himself, Morgan felt his shoulders relax just a bit. He wasn’t entirely sure why, but just the thought of not having Sarah along with him made him nervous.
Turning back to Gwendolyn, Morgan took a steadying breath before asking the questions that had been at the forefront of his mind once he realized that most of his life had been a lie.
“Who is Samuel really? Why are so many people interested in me? What happened to my home city in the West Kingdom, and why don’t I have any memories from before that incident?”
Gwendolyn nodded as though she’d been expecting these questions.
“I’ll answer your last questions first, as the first one is a bit complicated. The West Kingdom city of Mitten was struck by a disaster two days before I found you. I could never find out exactly what it was, but that may have something to do with why you lost your memory of the incident. The trauma of what you saw may have caused a mental block. That, or someone else may have gotten to you and blocked you from accessing those memories.
“As to why so many parties are interested in you… I’m pretty sure you can already guess by the astounding progress you’ve made in such a short period of time. You’ve already broken past rank 19, something which is almost unheard of at your age. You’ve also defeated enemies and beasts that are way more powerful than you are, which only shows your potential for the future.
“Yes, I know that there have been interested parties long before you developed your current abilities, but Samuel already knew what you would become. He was, after all, the one who tasked me with caring for you when I discovered what had happened to your home city.
“Samuel himself is a difficult subject to talk about, as there is much I don’t know, and even more I’m not allowed to say. I can tell you this much, though. Samuel, as with all gods, is a complicated man. He is neither good nor evil, but rather, does what he believes is best, even if he has to take extreme actions to achieve that result. Be careful around him, Morgan, as he is not someone to trifle with.”
Morgan nodded along as Gwendolyn spoke, filing all the information away for closer examination at a later time. He personally didn’t care whether Samuel was good or evil. In fact, he didn’t care if anyone was. All he cared about was whether they posed a threat to either him or Sarah. Good or bad, he would kill anyone that came after either of them.
“There is still one thing I’m wondering about,” Sarah said when neither of them spoke up again. “How did Morgan end up living on the streets in City Four, if Samuel was the one who took him on? And where did his abilities go?”
Gwendolyn shrugged.
“I have no idea. After Samuel took him away, I didn’t see Morgan again until Katherine called me in to inspect him during their first meeting. I had a general idea of where he was, but I knew that he was doing well enough. And before you ask, I didn’t come back for him, because Samuel told me I couldn’t. If I’d have gone back for him, he would have found some way to end me.”
Sarah snapped her mouth shut with an audible click and nodded.
The entire room was silent, the only sound being the light creaking coming from the bed every time Katherine adjusted her position on it. At last, Morgan spoke up.
“Katherine. Can you send us into the West Kingdom?” he asked, looking past Gwendolyn to her.
Katherine concentrated for a moment before a portal slowly took shape in the center of the room.
“I’m not sure why you want to go there,” she said, giving him a weary smile. “The city you mentioned is still a ruin, and I’ve heard some strange rumors about it, though they’ve never been confirmed. This portal will take you right inside the West Kingdom. I’m sorry I can’t get you any closer, but this is all I can manage at the moment. Best of luck to you, and if you need anything, don’t hesitate to reach out to me.”
Morgan nodded, feeling inside his shirt for the pendant Katherine had given him just a few short weeks ago. He still found it hard to believe that so much had happened since then. He’d learned so much, discovered so many new things, and made a few new enemies as well. He now knew of at least three people actively trying to use him in some way, and at least one who wanted to see him dead. Not that Simon concerned him overmuch.
“Please be safe,” Gwendolyn said, moving in quickly and wrapping her arms around him again.
Sarah was forced to let go of Morgan’s arm when she did this, and she scowled in annoyance. She reminded herself that this woman wasn’t trying to steal Morgan from her. She didn’t see Morgan in a romantic way, but rather as a son, or younger brother, though it was still hard to reconcile that when the woman appeared to be in her late teens to early twenties.
Morgan hugged her back, glad to finally be leaving the cramped confines of the underground bunker. He disengaged the hug after only a couple of seconds and stepped up to the portal.
“The city of Mitten is set right in the center of the West Kingdom,” Katherine said as he stopped before the swirling vortex. “So you’ll want to head directly west once you leave the portal. Also, be careful when stepping out. I don’t know where you’ll end up, so you may have to fight as soon as you step through.”
Morgan nodded once. Then, taking a deep breath, he stepped into the portal, followed just a moment later by Sarah.
***
The portal snapped closed, leaving Katherine feeling a distinct sense of loss. Despite the bravado she’d been putting on, she had really been hoping that Morgan would change his mind and stay with her. And for more reasons than just helping her take her father down before the second Pinnacle King awakened.
She had feelings for the strange boy, and despite knowing that he couldn’t reciprocate them, she had still been hoping to one day win his affection. The bed creaked as Gwendolyn sat down near the end of it, and Katherine turned her attention on the woman she’d known as Vivian for the last five years.
Here was another mystery she couldn’t seem to solve. Why had Gwendolyn deemed it necessary to hide what she really was from her? And if she was indeed a supermage, why couldn’t she just take Edmund down herself? She was clearly much older than the rest of them, so her rank should be at a sufficiently high enough level to stop her father. There was also the troubling fact that someone had blabbed about her, resulting in her rooms being searched, and a bounty being placed on her head.
Was Gold the one who had done it? She didn’t remember much from that night when she’d nearly died, but Morgan and Sarah had filled in the blanks quite well. From what they’d told her, he wanted the Pinnacle Kings to rise, so telling her father about her was the perfect way to stop her from killing him.
Then again, if he thought he’d killed her, then why would he bother?
Katherine shook her head and let out an annoyed huff.
All of this speculation would get her nowhere. Gwendolyn was sitting right before her, so maybe she could offer up some answers.
“I know what you’re going to ask,” Gwendolyn said, as though reading her mind. “There’s a good reason why I hid who I was and it is also why I won’t be able to do much against your father. While my skills for covert operations and healing are second to none, my ability doesn’t really lend itself to combat. I may have a high rank, but when it comes to fighting, I’m next to useless.”
Katherine blew out a long breath and nodded.
So much for that plan, she bitterly thought.
She was now in an even worse position than she had been previously. She had no supermage, her father knew she�
��d betrayed him, and worst of all, whatever Gwendolyn had done to save her life had weakened her considerably. She had lost a full 5 ranks, dropping her from 48 to 43. It would take a ton of energy to replenish her lost progress, not to mention all the time she would need to spend training to assure she received any attribute points at all once she ranked up again.
“I see that you appear to be troubled about other things right now, but it isn’t all as grim as you might imagine. I saw something while I was out. Something which may give us an opportunity to end your father once and for all.”
“And what might that be?” Katherine asked, rubbing at her temples.
“The Skyflare,” Gwendolyn said.
Katherine’s eyes widened and she unconsciously leaned forward in her bed.
“Are you sure?!” she asked, her voice tinged with excitement and fear.
“Seeing as I’ve seen three of them in my lifetime, I’m quite sure,” Gwendolyn replied with a soft smile.
Katherine was dumbfounded. The Skyflare only appeared once every quarter of a century. That meant that Gwendolyn was over seventy-five years old, which was much older than her original estimate.
Then, the true implications of what she said really began sinking in.
“And you sent Morgan and Sarah there, knowing full well what was going to happen?” she exclaimed, suddenly becoming agitated.
Every twenty-five years, The Skyflare would show up in one of the four kingdoms. It never showed up in the Central Kingdom. King Herald said the reason was that the Central Kingdom was made to stay out of it, as it was neutral territory, but Katherine wasn’t too sure about that.
The Skyflare was, as far as anyone could tell, on a fixed cycle. It would show up in the North first, then the South, after that the East, and finally the West. Each time the artifact showed up, a huge tournament would be held between champions of all the kingdoms for the prize. The reason this was done, and the artifact was not simply taken by whichever kingdom it landed in, was that the Skyflare could not be touched until a winner was declared.
