“Do not bring this matter up to me again,” Gareth snapped. “Now leave me! All of you!”
Quickly, the room filed out, and Gareth found himself alone, sitting on the throne in the deep silence.
Gareth sat there, his heart pounding, seething; he had feared something like this might happen if Kendrick was not executed immediately. He fumed as he remembered, a few months ago, his mother’s sudden interference, her using her powers to prevent him from executing Kendrick. He had heard that Gwen had gotten to her, that they had teamed up to stop it. He seethed with hatred for them both. He could not be safe as long as they were alive.
He recalled his bumbled attempt to have his man torture Gwen, months back. It hadn’t worked. Perhaps now was time to try again. This time, he could outright kill her.
Gareth smiled, as a plan hardened in his mind. Yes, this time might just do the trick.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Thor stood alone at the helm of a large, empty boat, in the middle of the ocean, the tides pulling him along at tremendous speed. The sails were bent by the wind, even though there was no one but him on the boat. It was a ghost ship, and he stood at its helm, looking out at the horizon, which was covered in an unearthly mist, golds and yellows and whites sparkling in the morning sun.
As the mist drifted, the outline of an island began to take shape, more of a mountain rising up from the sea than an island, its single peak soaring into the sky. It rose higher than any mountain Thor had ever seen, and at its top sat a castle, emerging from the rock, built into the edge of a cliff. The sky was expansive, filled with greens and pale yellows, a huge crescent moon hanging in its corner. The place was eerie and mystical. It seemed alive.
As Thor stood there, his boat rocking, somehow he was not afraid. He felt the ocean taking him there, and knew that this was the place he was meant to be. He knew, somehow, that his destiny awaited him there. That it was a place he was meant to be. That, in a strange way, it was home.
Thor could not remember setting sail, or how he got on this boat, but he knew it was a journey he was meant to take. Somehow, this place had always been in his dreams, somewhere deep down in the corners of his consciousness. He felt with certainty that his mother lived there.
Thor had never really contemplated his mother before. He had always been told she had passed away in childbirth, and had always felt a supreme guilt over this. But now, as he got closer to this island, he sensed her presence. That she was waiting for him.
A huge wave suddenly lifted the boat, hoisted it higher and higher into the air, and Thor felt himself rising higher and higher in the ocean. The wave picked up speed, like a tsunami, and he rode it all the way as it brought him rushing towards the island, faster and faster.
As he got close, he began to see a figure. It was a lone figure, standing atop a cliff. A woman. She wore flowing, blue robes, her chin was lowered, and her palms were out at her side. An intense light shone from behind her, radiated from her palms, shooting out like lightning. The light shone so brightly, that as Thor looked up, trying to see her, he had to shield his eyes. He could not make out her face.
He sensed that it was her. More than anything, he wanted to see her face, to see if she looked like him.
“Mother!” he called out.
“My son,” came a soft voice from somewhere. It was the kindest, most reassuring voice he had ever heard. He longed to hear it again.
Suddenly, the wave came crashing down, and took the boat plunging down with it, and he braced himself as he headed for the rocks.
Thor woke with a start, sitting upright, breathing hard.
The dawn was breaking over the horizon, and all around him, the Legion members were strewn about, fast asleep. His mind spun with the dream: it had seemed so real.
As he got his bearings, he realized that today was the day. The final day of the Hundred. The day they had all been dreading.
He felt a hundred years older than when he’d arrived here a hundred days ago. He could not believe that he had made it, and that this was his final day. His time here had far exceeded his imagination. Each day been harder than the next, each training more grueling, pushing him and his brothers harder and harder. Days became longer and longer, as he had learned to train with every weapon known to man-and some not even known to man. They had been forced to train in every possible terrain, from swamps to glaciers, and had been screamed at from early morning to late at night. More than one of his brothers had dropped out, had been sent home alone on a small ship. Many had been injured. Two had died accidentally, slipping off a cliff on a particularly stormy day. They had all encountered trials and tribulations together, fought against monsters, survived every type of weather. This island was unforgiving, and had gone from hot to cold with no warning, seeming to have only two seasons.
As Thor sat there, Krohn beside him, a part of him dreaded this final day, wanted to lie back down, to go back to sleep-but he knew he could not. These last hundred days had forged him into a different person, and he was ready to face whatever they would throw at him.
Thor sat there in the early morning light, waiting. Soon, they would all arise, gear up, embark on their final mission. But until they did, he could revel in being the first to rise, and sit there and enjoy the silence, watch the sun break one final time over this place he had come to love.
*
Thor stood with the others on the rocky, narrow beach, hands on his hips, looking out at the storm tossed sea, feeling the chill in the air of the new season. He had learned to become so used to adverse weather that he no longer shivered as a freezing gale brushed across his body. He stared out at the sea, his grey eyes glistening, and felt hardened, impervious. He felt like a man.
His brothers in arms stood close by, Krohn beside him, near the fleet of small wooden boats preparing to set sail for the final test of the Hundred. They waited, all anxious, as Kolk paced among them, looking as dissatisfied and intense as ever.
“Those of you who have made it to this day might want to congratulate yourselves. Don’t. You have one final day left, and this day is what sets others apart. If you survive it, you will come back a Legion member. All the trials you have been through, they have all just been preparation for what you’re about to do.”
Kolk stopped and turned, pointing at the horizon.
“That island on the horizon,” he said, “on it lives a lone dragon, an outcast from the land of the dragons. We have lived in his shadow these past hundred days, and have been fortunate he has not attacked. Warriors do their best to avoid the place. Today, we will pay it a visit.
“This dragon jealously guards a treasure. An ancient, golden scepter. He is rumored to hide it deep in his lair. You must find the canyon, descend into it, find the scepter and return with it.”
There came a nervous murmur from the group as the boys turned and looked at each other, fear filling their eyes. Thor’s heart pounded as he looked out at the crashing sea, at the island in the distance, covered in a surreal mist, even on this clear day. He could feel its energy, even from here. Over the last hundred days his power had developed, and he was now able to be more sensitive to sensing energies, even from a distance. He could sense that a formidable creature lived on it, an ancient, primordial creature, and that they were heading into great danger.
“Man the boats and move!” Kolk commanded.
They all ran for the small rowboats, which were rocking wildly in the waters on shore, and one at a time they piled in, each boat holding about a dozen boys. Thor piled in, Krohn beside him, next to Reese, O’Connor, Elden and the twins, each sitting on a bench and grabbing an oar.
Before they pushed off, Thor looked to see William standing on shore, fear in his eyes. Thor had actually been surprised that William had made it this far, expecting him to drop out every step of the way. But now, this final exercise must have been too much for him.
“I said get in that boat!” Kolk yelled, hurrying up to him, the last boy left on the beach.
William stared back, wide-eyed.
“I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t do it,” he said meekly.
Thor sat there, his boat rocking wildly, and his heart dropped for William. He did not want to see him go-not
