Chapter 14: Flares

Max

It's almost dawn when the ice cage finally cracks, and I can safely approach it. I limp forward, my injuries protesting.

When I reach the cage, I strike at the cracks with my daggers, widening them. It takes a few minutes before the ice finally shatters, and I see Hester within it.

My hands pause as I observe the changes in his physical appearance. He looks thin and gaunt. His formerly dark hair is now snow white, and I see frost-like scales covering his arms.

The biggest change is in his eyes when he finally opens them. They were a piercing blue as sharp as glass. He gasps, staring at his arms as I explain the other changes I observe.

"Ascenders, I thought I would die in there," he says, stretching as he stands. I hit him lightly, grinning.

"Another elemental talent? Nayra will be pissed," I say, and he laughs and hugs me.

"Thank you."

I'm about to reply when, instantly, I feel a chill start to seep into my skin, and I push him away from me.

"What in Ascenders name?" I look down at my skin, only to see small lines of frost that I instantly brush away. I frown at him, and he apologizes.

"You have to explain what happened in there to me and this chill?"

"She called it a bloodline. So, if I inherited her bloodline, I guess she's my bloodline patriarch." He says this after he explains the part where he ate a fruit made of ice, and I shake my head in

confusion.

He's completely healed, so after a while, he helps me out of the cave, excitedly chatting about his visions. I'm awed at the strength of this legacy; that's some serious power.

I finally let myself sleep while Hester found us something to eat.

When I eventually wake up, the sun is high in the sky, and I assume it is already noon. I find some kind of roasted meat laid on large leaves beside me, and I devour it.

Hester comes back while I'm halfway done, shards of ice floating alongside him. Most of my injuries are almost healed, and I think I have the strength to walk back to shore.

We talk as we try to find our way back; it takes a couple hours before we finally see the shore. People were everywhere, and I breathed a sigh of relief that they hadn't gone and left us yet.

The people turn to stare at Hester. His strange looks draw attention, making people murmur and

whisper about seeing people with strange looks before.

Sihle comes towards us, and I'm glad he survived the wreck.

"Let's get you to the healer first; after we'll talk,"

I nod at him. When we reach the healers tent, I see a few people in it, recovering from one kind of wound or another. He looks wrung out and tired, but he lays his hands on me the moment he sees me.

His talent flows through me, and I watch as my wounds close slowly. In about two minutes, I'm

completely healed, and I turn to the healer to thank him, but he stops me, thanking me instead.

I nod, grateful that not everyone blamed me for the wreck, even if a few did. As I exit the healer's tent, I see a few people throw dirty looks in my direction, and I sigh.

"Sadly, not everyone is as reasonable as the healer." Sihle says beside me, and I wonder what Thuli thinks.

"So, what happens now?" I ask Sihle, "How do we get off this island?"

"We are expecting a ship tonight; we'll send up a flare the moment we see them."

We both sigh in relief at that. If all we needed was a flare, I'll summon the brightest lightning I've ever summoned. Sihle asks what happened to us, and Hester explains excitedly.

I roll my eyes at the terribly embellished story, but I let him have his fun.

Sihle is jealous of his good fortune but says he's not too disappointed about it as he could not have used it anyway, seeing as he was above tier 5. I ask him what he meant, and he explains.

"The body experiences a huge transformation at tier 5, and any existing bloodline is awakened. But only people below tier 5 can absorb bloodlines.".

I nod. It makes sense; that meant that at his tier, the bloodline would have been useless to him.

We sit on the shore, talking, until the sun sets, and a couple of people come out of the forest, carrying a monster that was as large as a cow back on earth.

We remain on shore as people cut the monster into pieces to be roasted or cooked. After a while, I lie on the sand as Hester practices with his new talent. I'm too tired to train, so I watch him instead.

People start to fill the shore as darkness descends, waiting and hoping to see the ship Sihle

mentioned.

It's almost nine o'clock when we see the ship. A sailor sounds the alarm, and everyone scrambles to the shore, raising all sorts of flares.

Any talent that produces any sort of light is employed, and as I promised, I summon the largest lightning bolt I can.

There's a collective sigh of happiness and relief when the ship finally turns in our direction.

When the ship finally reaches us, Sihle and the other sailors move to speak with the captain, and we

all gather on the ship. It was cramped and uncomfortable, but at least we are alive and well.