CHAPTER 9: THE TRUTH

I crawled up to Karl, reaching out over his yellow, skull-like face. I recoiled quickly as I touched his bony cheek; his face was freezing, it felt like touching ice. Karl let out a faint moan and flinched at my touch.

"Karl, can you hear me?" asked Matt, grabbing his hand, "Karl, it's me, Matt."

Karl moaned again, "Se-la…" he mumbled faintly.

"I'm here, Karl," I said quietly, my warm hand closing over his frozen fist.

"We have to get him to shelter," suggested Chester, "we have to feed him and warm him up."

Once again, Matt took me in his arms and held me tightly. This was a new side of my power, a horrible, painful new side. Not only could I read thoughts, I could also feel another's pain, their suffering, and suffer with them.

Chester slowly wrapped up Karl's weak, frozen body in a blanket and picked him up gently. Morgan picked up Karl's pack and Tula took his walking stick.

"Let's go back to the cave," Morgan suggested. Those who were strong enough, nodded in agreement.

As Matt carried me out of the vast, snowy forest opening, I felt myself drift away into a dreamless sleep.

When I woke, we were back in the cave, a large fire lit with the matches that were left in Karl's pack, and Morgan was cooking some meat over the fire. I sat up slowly as my blurred vison cleared. Then I noticed that Karl was lying peacefully beside the fire, his frozen fists slowly beginning to open and his chest rising higher. Slowly, Tula lifted him up and gave him some water from my flask, which had been quite full. Gasping and spluttering, Karl took large gulps of water and quickly drained my flask. After he was finished, he let out a large, satisfied sigh as Tula laid him back down.

It was only then that I realized how much better I felt; I no longer felt so cold nor empty, I no longer felt an unquenchable thirst, I no longer felt dread nor despair, I no longer felt as if I was going to die. As I sat down beside Karl, Tula passed me her flask and I slowly swallowed a large sip of the freezing water. It felt so good to drink, so fresh, so cold.

I ran my fingers through Karl's long, matted hair, slowly stroking his head. "You're ok now," I whispered to him, "You're going to live."

Once Morgan finished cooking the meat, we each took a portion – the largest one we gave to Karl – and ate, Morgan and Tula feeding Karl each spoonful.

We spent 2 more weeks living like this in our cave. As the days passed, Karl began to recover; his lips began to heal, the cooler returned to his skin, his face once again became round, and slowly, the muscles and fat began to grow back, and after a week Karl was able to sit up on his own, by the end of the second week, he could stand again.

At the end of the first week, when Karl was strong enough to sit up, we sat around him as he emptied his pack and explained what had happened in the 7 years that he was gone.

"The man you call 'Chief' is not who you think he is." Karl began, "What he saw in me all those years ago wasn't bravery. He saw in me a powerful little boy that would one day potentially defeat him and become the next Chief.

'He has been the leader of our tribe for 700 years, since our tribe came to the island. Back then, magic was not outlawed; it was encouraged, used by everyone. Then, one day, our ancestor, one they called Hector the traitor, tried to fight the Chief and defeat him once and for all."

"But why?" I asked.

"Hector was like you, sister, he had powers and magic stronger than anyone could ever have imagined. He used them to enter Chief's mind, and there he found the truth: Chief was not one of us; before we came to this island, we lived in a faraway country where we were farmers and sailors. There were in that country two tribes: ours and his. Ours was a tribe of good, peaceful people who loved and cared for each other deeply. We used our magic to grow our farms and keep peace among each other. The other tribe was one of wicked sorcerers who were green with envy for our beautiful country. They wanted to take it for themselves and to be rid of our people. One day, they decided to wage war on our tribe, and they burned everything to the ground. Chief had been our ally, but on that day, he betrayed us. He killed our forefathers and kidnapped their children. It was his plan to burn down our villages, his plan to use dark magic to steal our land, his brother's land."

"His brother?" Morgan asked"

"Yes," Said Karl, "His brother. His brother was Sios the Savior, our leader in the Old Country. It was Sios who tracked him down and found him, Sios who fought him as his people ran for the mountains, Sios who weakened the beast and kept him trapped in human form so he could terrorize our people no more. His real name is Raganor, though no one has called him that in 700 years.

'After weeks of fighting, Raganor killed Sios and threw his body into the ocean. He then used his magic to fool everyone and made the survivors believe that it was he who saved them from their doom.

'He took the remaining survivors and the children that he'd kidnapped and left the Old Country and brought them here to this island.

'That's where Hector comes in. Hector and his brother, Aaron were the sons of Sios. They managed to sneak onto Raganor's ship and kept their true identities secret until the time was right.

'When the boys became men, they used their father's magic and confronted Raganor, resulting in another long battle. Raganor was once again victorious, having killed Aaron, Hector, and Hector's little son, Silas. Raganor thought he had successfully wiped out our line, but little did he know that Aaron's son, Leo, survived.

'For many centuries, Leo's heirs thrived in secret, right under Raganor's crooked nose. Our ancestors had in their possession an artifact that had been passed from Sios to Aaron, from Aaron to Leo and from Leo all the way to me. This artifact is the only way for us to defeat him once and for all."

"What exactly is the artifact?" I asked.

Karl picked up the small leather-bound book that he'd taken from his pack. "In here are all of Sios' secrets and spells, all the information we need to defeat him. Our ancestors have been studying the book and practicing the spells for hundreds of years behind Raganor's back. They've been passing it on until it reaches the hands of the one prophesized to kill him. The one they call 'Elas'. Elas is a word in the old tongue which means 'seer' or 'enchanter'.

'Raganor found out that Father was Leo's heir when Mother was pregnant with you, Sela. Father was caught practicing one of Sios' spells and Raganor kidnapped him and cut off his head."

I recoiled in horror, my blood running cold. A man I had trusted all my life, one I admired since I learned to walk, a man I loved like a father, how could he do something so evil?

"Mother knew this, so she took us and hid. She changed our names and hid the book until I turned 13. She knew it would be mine to take because Henry was like her. He had no magic in his blood. He was just… normal.

'When Raganor took me away 7 years ago, he planned to kill me. In front of the village, he gave me my Crewman's pack and my walking stick, but as soon as the ceremony was over and we were alone on the boat, Raganor threw me into the river rapids and left me to die. Little did he know that I made it out alive. Scratched and wounded, but alive. For 7 years I've been studying the spells and practicing my magic, 7 years I've been trying to prepare myself for the final battle, but when my power started to fade, I knew that I was wrong. It wouldn't be me. I was not Elas. Raganor tried to kill the wrong child."

"You don't mean-" Chester began.

"Yes." Replied Karl. "It's Sela. Sela is Elas. Sela is the Enchantress."