Simon took him by his hand and looked him in the eyes. “There is no need to apologize. When I was young I imagined meeting you. I watched other children dress up and pretend to be knights and wizards, sparring in the streets. Knowing that my father was a wizard, a real wizard, made me feel special,” he said. “It gave me courage. It made me fearless. Just knowing allowed me to become what I am today. My mother told me stories about how you built the three original kingdoms by waving a stick. I was always so proud of my father who I never met.”
“A stick!” Burton laughed. “That’s what she called my wand. She said my true power comes from within my heart. It’s only a stick, she said.” He studied Simon. “My son,” he said. “The great explorer.”
“Either I’m going delusional or our maps of Naan are wrong. There are of dozens of islands, not charted,” said Simon with a dumbfounded look on his face.
“Hundreds,” Burton said. “The Nekrums forced Man to inhabit the three that they controlled; Illyrium, Grale, and Mern. They decimated the rest with their technology, drying up the lands so no living animal could survive. Now, these lands will return to the lush landscapes they once were. Your people can grow and expand the colonies.”
“And the wall?” Simon asked. “The seas are bound by ice and the deep freeze goes on as far as the eye can see, into complete darkness. Did they do that as well?”
“No,” said Burton with a smile. “Keep sailing, Sir Simon of Grale, and you will soon discover the creator’s fingerprint.”
He tried to relax and regain his focus. There were things Burton needed to say to people before he died. “Please,” he said to Simon. He pointed to Demitri, who was sitting against a tree, crying. “I wish to speak with my old friend.”
Simon helped his father over to Demitri.
“You have your mother’s skin,” said Burton. He shook Simon’s hand. “Good journey.”
THE GHOST within Demitri Von Cobb had retreated.
He sat under a burned, oak tree with a split trunk, pulled out a blade from his belt, and held it against his throat. Since his hand was shaking, he knew that the slice would not be a clean cut. He would need to make it forceful to ensure a quick death. He didn’t have any of the caustic powders he’d given the host’s mages to use as weapons left. Just a spoonful would have made his death easy and painless.
Demitri believed that he’d done too many wicked things—taken too many lives, tortured too many innocent souls—and had no right to keep living. He wept like a frightened child.
Without any thoughts or last words he slid the knife across, but when he did, nothing happened—his skin remained unscathed. To his surprise the sharp, steel blade he had been holding was now a smooth piece of wood.
At first Demitri was confused by the illusion. But he’d seen his old sensei transform many material objects before.
A bunch of leaves that had fallen from the oak crackled under careful footsteps. Someone sat against the opposite side of the tree trunk that Demitri was resting upon.
“This colony needs you,” Burton said, raspingly, from the other side of the half-uprooted trunk.
“Look what I’ve done! How can I live with myself knowing the atrocities that I have committed?” Demitri asked. “This thing that was inside of me, it spoke to me. It controlled my every move.”
“Exactly! That wasn’t you, Demitri. You were possessed—controlled. The real you had nothing to do with this. Do you hear me?” the wizard asked.
Demitri couldn’t answer. He was swallowing tears, still hurting from the torture of possession. “I know now how dangerous my work was. You warned me. They picked it out of my mind. They already knew most of what I discovered. But then they showed me horrible things—incredible things—but horrible…” He stared off, thinking about the innovative tools and machinery that the Nekrums had helped him create. But their purpose, to tear beasts and men apart, was evil. “Burton, I can’t believe what I’ve done.”
“I’ve worked beside you for so long and you’ve always put your people before yourself,” said Burton. “You never did anything wrong and I apologize if that was the impression that I ever gave. I was only trying to protect your work and keep it safe and secure. You will do wonderful things for this civilization. You asked me before who I’d pass Vandagelle on to. When I wouldn’t answer you, you’d get mad, assuming I’d choose Montague.”
The memory of their edgy relationship made Demitri smile. They loved each other like brothers and argued like brothers. He found humor in their spats. “But you did choose Montague.”
“As the true king of Men, I wanted Montague to be raised fair, without royal niceties, so he’d grow up humbled. When a king can put himself in a peasant’s position, he can make the decisions needed to turn the world into a better place for everyone. You were to take my place, at his side as headmaster of sciences,” Burton said.
Demitri groaned. “I’ve had a terrible go at headmaster already.”
“No. You didn’t.”
“But I don’t have your power,” Demitri said. “I can’t do the things that you’ve done. I’m not an angel.”
“No. You are human. Together, you are all more powerful than any angel or demon. The Nekrums suppressed human civilization from realizing certain sciences for generations. I couldn’t let that go on any longer. So I intervened, but no more. You must lead them forward.”
“What if I can’t? What if I’m not strong enough?” Demitri cried.
