“Look for anything that mentions the sea of a thousand faces. Uli and Fan’twar both mentioned it, but I’ve never heard the phrase. If we find out where that is, then perhaps we’ll know where to start our quest.”
I cracked open A History of Faythander’s Lost Civilizations and started reading. After twenty minutes of study, I realized that the Internet had spoiled me. What would I give right now for a good search engine? So far, the book hadn’t mentioned a thing about the thousand-faces reference. After another half hour, I grew frustrated and shut the book.
Mochazon looked up at me.
“Any luck?” I asked.
He shook his head.
I grabbed the last book, Dragon Hoards of the Lost Islands, and started scanning. The author had penned the text five hundred years ago, which, in the older language, made it a difficult read.
We didn’t have much time left. I needed to get back to my mom, and Mochazon had asked several times when we could get back to Miranda. I’d shushed him, but in reality, I knew we didn’t have the luxury of time.
Finally, after scanning through to the end of the tome, a passage caught my eye…
In those days, the wilde dragon herds with fierceness reyned the isles. Without headship, they grew bloodthirsty, and, alike those primitive ancestors of days long spoken of, preyed on the flesh of fey creatures. With great subterfuge, a horrific corruption increased their powers until they became inexorable. Magic flowed through their life’s bloode, and with the ill-begotten magic came domination. Faerie, pixie, elf, and gobloon, all fell preye, and alike fell preye to their bloodelust, until one dragon rose up and united them all.
Traveling the sea of a thousand faces—that antediluvian waterway navigated by the elven prophet long ago—Falon’war escaped the bloodelust and became king thereafter, of skye and of air.
I reread the passage several times and finally passed it off to Mochazon to see what he could make of it.
“Falon’war must have been the sky king,” Mochazon said, “although I’ve never heard him called by that name.”
“I have,” I said, “but it was a long time ago, and only the very old dragons used it.”
“It says that he traveled this sea.”
“Yes.”
I opened the atlas and scanned the pages until I found a map of Faythander, searching for the antediluvian waterway. There was only one continent, crisscrossed by giant rivers and massive lakes. Sometimes, those who lived far from the ocean would refer to those bodies of water as seas, but Faythander only had one major ocean. It also had only one major landmass, but to the west lay the inner isles—a place where some of the seedier of Faythander’s races ended up—and even farther than that were the outer isles.
“There.” I pointed to the outer isles. “These are the islands that this section refers to—it’s where my stepfather came from, and it’s where his relatives, the wild dragons, still live. It says he traveled the sea of a thousand faces, but I still don’t know why it was called that name, or if it’s the right place.”
“This book also refers to it as the antediluvian waterway. I remember reading something about that.” He flipped through the book until he found a page near the back. “Here.” He showed me the page.
Another map filled the top half of the page, and the bottom half was filled with names and definitions. I scanned through the names until I stopped on antediluvian.
Antediluvian—
Meaning primordial or ancient; made, evolved, or developed before the time of the first unification.
I tapped my chin. “The first unification refers to Pa’horan the First—the elf who first brought peace. His reign is considered the beginning of modern time in Faythander.”
“Then the sea of a thousand faces would have been called that name before his time. Perhaps Pa’horan the First, after ending the war, changed the name of the ocean.”
“But why would he want to change its name?”
“To promote peace, perhaps?”
“Yes, that’s a possibility.” A story surfaced from my childhood—it was a tale my father had told me once, although I hardly remembered it. “My father told me that once, long ago, there was a great flood. It filled the whole of Faythander. He said that one thousand of the most violent and wicked souls were caught in the flood. They were carried out to sea, and once the land dried up, their bodies were transformed into sea dragons.”
“A thousand?”
“Yes. I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”
“Then this proves that the sea of a thousand faces must be another name for the Rheic Sea.”
“I agree. Pa’horan must have changed the name after the war because the name denoted violence and he wanted to promote peace. My stepfather would have traveled across the sea to get to the mainland.”
“In that case, the bloom must belong on the outer isles.”
“I agree. But which one? There are at least a dozen islands.”
Mochazon shook his head.
I glanced at a clock on the wall and realized we’d run out of time. As we left the library, I felt grateful that we at least had an idea of where to start—if only Geth didn’t stop us before we got there.
Chapter 13
After making the tedious drive from Galveston into Houston, I dropped off Mochazon at Miranda’s dorm, then gave them both specific instructions: stay inside, keep the doors locked, don’t leave unless you have to, and by all means, don’t retrieve the flower until I say so. I’d even warded the door as added protection, all the while knowing that my puny Earth magic was nothing to Geth’s strange dark magic.
It was the best I could do.
Geth wouldn’t go after Mochazon until he had a reason. As of yet, Mochazon hadn’t shown me where he’d hidden the bloom, which was fine with me. I needed to get back to Mom, and as long as the bloom was safe, I could wait him out.
I rushed back to Mom’s as twilight descended over her neighborhood. I was exhausted
