Chapter 28

Gwen stared back at the boy’s face, mesmerized, the face from which she could not look away. She felt lost in his crystal blue eyes, the long, light blond hair framing it, the perfect chiseled features, the boy not entirely of this world, staring back as if he had known her forever. She felt those eyes penetrating her soul, felt the earth shifting beneath her, and she looked down to see that she was floating at sea, standing on a wide raft, the boy standing on the other end. She couldn’t understand what was happening, where she was, where they were floating to. But she knew they were floating together, the two of them in the midst of a vast sea, with nothing but each other.

“Gwen,” he said.

His voice penetrated her heart, a voice which she somehow recognized, a voice she knew she had always been longing to hear.

“Who are you?” she asked, breathless.

He stared back, expressionless, the intensity in his gaze overwhelming her as he held out a single hand. He reached for her face, and more than anything, she craved for that hand to touch her face, yearned to feel the touch of his fingertips on her skin.

But suddenly, he fell backwards, straight into the water, stiff as a board, landing with a quiet splash and disappearing beneath the waves.

She rushed forward, horrified.

“No!” she cried.

She dove into the water to save him—yet no sooner had she jumped when she felt claws on her back, grabbing her shirt, hoisting her into the air. She heard a screech behind her, and suddenly, she was flying, being carried, she realized, by something greater than herself.

Gwen glanced up, and her heart quickened to see Yarons above her, holding her as he flew, his great wings flapping. He flew her over the sea, and as she looked down, she was shocked to see a sea of black. Beneath her was a fleet of ships, greater than any she could imagine; they were flying so close her feet grazed the top of the masts. It was a fleet meant for an invasion, and flying the royal blue and yellow of Bandrania.

Gwen passed over one ship after another, and the fleet seemed to stretch to the end of the world. She knew in her heart where they were heading, and the thought pained her. They were going to destroy Escalon. She watched as the ships launched flaming boulders from catapults, raining fire for her land. Explosions shook the ground as massive boulders, aflame, rocked Escalon, and the entire land turned to flame.

There, she was amazed to see, in the midst of the flames, stood a single boy, with his long hair and blue eyes. He stood there, so noble, so unafraid, staring up at her even as the fire fell all around him. He was, she knew, the last man left in Escalon, and as the dragon dropped Gwen, she suddenly shrieking as she flailed through the air. She found herself falling, reaching right for him.

“NO!” Gwen shrieked.

Gwen woke with a start, breathing hard, disoriented. She felt a tongue on her cheek and sat up to find Logel, beside her. She looked out her hut and saw Andor chewing grass, lit up in the rays of the early morning sun, and she remembered. The woods. Ur. She was still training.

She rubbed her head. It had all been a dream, one long, horrific dream. And yet it had felt so real. Who was that boy? She remembered the day before, in the forest glen, when he had saved her, and she felt it had been more than a chance meeting—there had been something special between them, something beyond her understanding. And the dream—it had felt too real. Had the boy visited her in her dreams? Was disaster coming for Escalon?

Gwen jumped to her feet, agitated, and burst out of her hut, into the forest clearing, determined to find out.

“Gwen!” a strong voice called.

Gwen turned and was startled to see, standing there in the early morning dawn, her uncle Kolva. He stood tall and proud, a serious expression on his face, and she stared back, wondering. He had not visited her since he had led her to this place, and he was the last person she had expected to find here.

“Where is Alva? Has he left?” she asked, alarmed as she looked about the clearing and could not find him. She felt a sudden pit in her stomach. “Did I fail him? Was he disappointed in me?”

“I do not know the ways of Alva,” Kolva replied. “I never understood him, even when I trained with him. Disappointed…I do not think that is a term which would apply to him. There is always a reason for his departure—and it is always part of the training.”

Gwen felt a sense of dread.

“Will he return?” she asked, hesitant.

“I do not know,” he replied. “Sometimes he is challenging you to look within; sometimes he feels his presence is a distraction; sometimes he demands you train yourself.”

Gwen stared back, wondering, sensing that Kolva was withholding something from her.

“Yet you haven’t come here to discuss Alva,” she said, realizing. “I sense there is something else.”

Kolva slowly nodded, grim.

“Yes,” he said flatly. Then he fell silent.

“I had an encounter yesterday,” she recalled. “I was nearly killed by a Bandranian. A boy saved me, a boy I do not know. A boy with long golden hair.”

She watched a flicker of disapproval cross her uncle’s face, and her heart raced.

“You know him,” she said, realizing. Then, in a rush, she asked, “What is his name?”

“Kyle,” he answered flatly.

Kyle. Somehow, Gwen already knew.

“Who is he?” she pressed, sensing her uncle didn’t want to discuss it, but needing to know.

“He is a Watcher,” he finally replied, reluctant. “He lives in the tower.”

Gwen’s eyes widened.

“The Tower of Ur?” she asked. “I wish to see him.”

Her uncle’s face hardened as he shook his head.

“You may not,” he said, the firmness in his voice surprising her.

“Why?” she demanded.

“He is not of your race,” he said. “It is forbidden. He was never supposed to see you. I do not know why this happened. He shall be reprimanded upon my return.”

Gwen was aghast.

“Reprimanded?” she asked. “He saved my life. Does that count for nothing?”

“It counts for a great deal. But there are laws which cannot be broken. Ancient laws. Sacred laws.”

“What laws, Uncle?” she snapped, impatient.

He sighed, impatient too.

“I have not come here to talk of Kyle,” he said. “Do not speak of him again.”

There came a long, tense silence as Gwen stared back, fuming.

“You are not my father,” she finally replied, seething.

“And yet I have come here on his business.”

She stared back, wondering.

“I have come to end your training,” he said.

She raised her eyebrows, shocked.

“End it? It has not even begun!”

He shook his head.

“It matters not,” he replied. “There is no time. Bandrania comes. Scouts close in. That is why you were spotted and attacked. You were lucky; behind that soldier lie a thousand more—all looking for you. It will only be a matter of days until they overrun Escalon and we are surrounded. You must retreat with me, at once, into the tower. We prepare a defense.”

Gwen wondered if that meant she would see Kyle.

“Kyle will be on a different floor,” Kolva continued uncannily, reading her mind. “Do not worry, you will never see him. Come at once.”

Gwen stood there, facing her uncle head on, and felt a strength welling within her, the same strength that had driven her to want to become a warrior, to cross Escalon alone.

“No,” she finally replied, defiant.

He stood there, looking stunned.

“I am your uncle,” he said firmly.

“There are many authorities in my life,” she replied. “And I’ve learned that I don’t need to answer to any of them. I have not completed my training, and I don’t quit. Not with my father out there needing me.”

“Gwen,” he said, his tone softening. “I am trying to protect you, don’t you see?”

“I don’t seek your protection, or anyone else’s. I seek only to train, and to learn how to protect myself.”

Her uncle stood, seeming unsure what to do.

“Your mother would not approve of this,” he finally said.

Gwen felt her heart beat faster at the word. Mother. She could not help but be curious.

“When the time is right,” he added, “I will tell you everything about her.”

“I don’t believe you,” she finally replied.

“Gwen, we have no time,” he said, exasperated. “Come with me now.”

But she stood her ground and shook her head.

“Don’t you see, Uncle?” she asked. “Death has never frightened me. Only not living with valor.”

Kolva stared at her for a long time, then finally, seeing the resolve in her eyes, he turned and disappeared back into the trees, leaving Gwen all alone in this vast wood. She felt more alone than she’d ever had in her life.

Yarons, she thought. Where are you?