Fulch was starting to get worried about Lunae; she secluded herself in her room for about a week. The Master seemed unbothered by the whole thing; he always stated that it was a period of adjustment. Fulch was thinking there was more to it and that he needed to intervene. When the week was up, Fulch decided to knock on her door.
“Lunae, I think we need to talk,” Fulch said, all the while praying she would answer. To his surprise, she opened the door.
“Hello Fulch…what do you want to talk about?” Lunae asked, propping herself off of the door. Fulch didn’t think he would get this far and honestly didn’t know what to say. Lunae saw this and decided to ask him inside. Fulch was relieved that she did this; at least he had a reason to extend their visit. Fulch walked inside and started fidgeting with his hands. Lunae went to the chair she had been sitting in, and that is when Fulch noticed the notebook.
“Have you read through it all?” Asked Fulch, Lunae smiled at him and nodded her head.
“Actually, I have read it a couple of times…I’m still trying to get my head around it,” Lunae said, flipping through the pages. Fulch was curious; he had heard the Master talk about her, but in his maddening rants, never something so concrete.
“What does it say?” Fulch asked, pulling up a chair. Lunae smiled and wondered how much he knew. Lunae picked the notebook up, flipped through the pages, and sighed.
“It says my parents gave me to the water as a sign of good faith that their line will follow the water in whatever it decides. I was just traded off to ensure power,” Lunae said as she walked towards the drink cart and poured herself a drink. She picked up another glass and asked if Fulch wanted one which he nodded in agreement.
“How are you handling that?” Fulch asked as Lunae handed him his drink. She stood there silent for a moment as the clock ticked. Fulch was getting nervous. Lunae then came back and sat on the chair.
“My parents did the right thing…I think. I’m not sure if I want to go through with this fushting crazy plan, but I don’t want millions of people dying,” Lunae said, staring off into the distance.
“Well, I know I would be grateful for your assistance,” Fulch said, taking a drink.
“There’s a lot in here that doesn’t make sense to me. Like it’s some type of code. I need to talk to the Master about it,” Lunae said. Fulch reached out his hand, and Lunae gave him the notebook. He scanned the notebook and realized what she was talking about.
“Ah yes, the Master likes to write in riddles and codes. He’s unaware he does these things. I’ll help you out with them. I’ve kind of gotten used to them,” Fulch said. Lunae smiled, and they sat there in silence for a while until a knock on the door.
“Lunae! Fulch! Come out here!” The Master yelled. They both looked at each other, confused, and headed towards the door. Once the door opened, the Master asked both of them to follow. They did so with no complaints. The Master kept telling them to hurry up, as this old man had a mission to complete.
“It’s time Lunae, that you travel to other places. The water has decreed it,” The Master said as they entered the main hall. Lunae could not help but be both excited and nervous. She found that her hands became clammy and she wiped them on her pants. The Master went and grabbed a pitcher of water, and this is when he finally looked at them.
“That is what you are wearing? Oh, never mind, it’s too late now. Let’s go!” The Master said as he poured a puddle on the ground, he took Lunae’s hand and Fulch’s, and they all walked into the puddle. Lunae remembered this time to hold her breath. She was being shaken in each direction, and when it was all said and done, she had a massive headache, and it felt like she was on a bruka. She hated that creature; all the children would play the game of who could stay on it the longest. She was never good at that game, just another thing that made her different.
When she finally looked around, she could see that she was in a forest. The leaves of the trees looked like they had different colored gemstones on them, shimmering in the light. When she looked to the sky, she could see two suns and three moons. Lunae was about to say something, but she quickly saw the Master holding his finger to his mouth and shaking his head. She looked over to Fulch and saw that he was trying not to throw up. It felt like forever before the Master let down his guard.
“We’re okay,” The Master said, and with that, Fulch threw up a bunch of water. Lunae couldn’t help but laugh.
“Haven’t you learned to hold your breath?” She asked. Fulch looked angry.
“Why have you never told me that before!” He yelled at the Master. The Master just shrugged,
“I thought you knew, I just thought you enjoyed throwing up,” The Master said. This made Fulch put his hands in the air and walk off. Lunae couldn’t help but laugh. Fulch looked over at her and told her to shut up, but soon joined in on the laughter. The Master started to join in even though he didn’t know why. It must have been obvious since Fulch started laughing harder once he looked at the Master. Lunae just then realized how long it had been since she laughed like this, and at that moment, she knew she had her family. Right at that moment, her senses went crazy.
“Be still,” The water said. The Master didn’t hear it, and that scared Lunae.
“Everyone quiet!” Lunae yelled out. Everyone fell silent. Lunae looked over at the Master, and he seemed confused and angry. Why didn’t he hear it? Was this the reason the water was calling her back, because it is slowly leaving the Master? These questions would have to wait because soon they were surrounded by what seemed to be warriors. They all had blue tints to their skin and leather armor. Swords were at all their throats. The Master seemed lost, as if his mind had left him. Lunae didn’t know what to do; she realized that they looked like Fulch’s people, the Piskal, but she was so new to this that she didn’t really know. That’s when she looked over at Fulch; he knew something just by the look on his face. She hoped he could see the pleading in her eyes while looking at him; she didn’t want to die. Fulch understood, and in fact, he did know what was going on; this is when he spoke in the language of his people. It took a while for Lunae to understand, but by the time her brain caught up, Fulch was talking to Linth about how they wanted peace throughout.
Lunae noticed that he was tall and had a darker blue color to his skin. His teeth looked as if he had been sharpening them for years. One of his ears was missing the point, and the scars on his muscular body made Lunae feel as if he had seen many battles. She also noticed that he, too, had silver eyes.
“You say you want peace, but make dealing with the Rhudons. They all just destroy, they do not deserve to prosper!” Linth said. Lunae felt for them since she saw the pain in Fulch’s face when they said that.
“I don’t want them to prosper!” Lunae yelled out, stunned that she was speaking their language. Linth looked over at her and brought his sword to her throat.
“You are with the Master, you are wanting the Rhudons to survive!” He said, pressing his blade into her skin.
“I will be the new one, and they killed my people; I am the only one who has survived. I want to avenge my people!” Lunae said, unknowingly believing the words she said.
“It’s true she is the lost daughter of the Signuck. She will become the ruler of the worlds in the agreement. She will bring peace. The water has decreed it,” Fulch said, hoping his words would soften their hearts. Linth lowered his sword from Lunae’s throat and walked towards her.
“Your people died out centuries ago. How are you still alive?” Linth asked.
“The water kept me alive for this moment. I don’t know why, but I swear to you I will try and do right by your people,” Lunae said. Linth motioned the others to put down their swords. Fulch thanked them, and the Linth nodded at him.
“It’s not safe here, the Rhudons patrol this land, and they will not take kindly to you,” Linth said, pointing at Fulch. This is when the Master finally tuned in.
“They still hunt your kind?” The Master asked, and Lunae could tell that the Master was furious. Linth noticed it too and decided to tell him the truth.
“They don’t follow the water’s decree; they do as they please. Their general, Brurock, does what he wants and is going against the will of the king,” Lunae had a feeling of who they were speaking about, the one who gave her the evil eye during dinner.
“Why does the king not do anything about it?” Lunae asked. The Master sat down on a rock nearby and was deeply troubled by something. All noticed, but none wanted to confront him.
“He’s the prince and the king is slowly dying, he’s letting his successor rule as he needs to,” Linth said. Everyone fell silent until a howl was heard in the distance.
“We must leave before their hound finds our scent,” Linth said. The rest of the warriors pushed them into a run, and Lunae started to become afraid. The Master was having trouble keeping up, and soon the warriors stopped and stood their ground. Fulch came over and grabbed Lunae’s hand.
“Prepare to fight,” Fulch warned. Lunae didn’t know how to fight against these creatures, especially since she had no weapon; her chest tightened with fear. That is, until a hand landed on her shoulder, she looked to see that it was the Master.
“Let the water flow through you. It will protect you,” The Master said as he took several deep breaths, gaining his strength. Lunae didn’t know what he meant, and before she could ask, she saw the hound. It wasn’t like an animal she was used to. It had tusks like an elephant and a nose like a pig. Its claws looked like raptor claws, and drool was coming from its mouth, hungry for some flesh. Soon, the Rhudons showed up with swords, bows, and arrows. They laughed as they saw their prey. Soon after, Brurock appeared and took in the scene. He noticed the Master, and a big smile came across his face.
“Kill them all! No mercy!” he yelled, and then they came running down the hill. Before they reached them, the Master conjured up some water to push them back. As they fell to the ground, the Piskalian warriors killed them while they were on the ground. That’s when the hound came in, but something made it howl in pain and fall to the ground. Lunae didn’t know what was going on. While the hound was whimpering, more Rhudons came, and the warriors were fighting them. Fulch was fighting with one and yelled over to Linth for a sword. He threw him a sword, and Fulch cut the man down. Next thing she knew, the Rhudons were screaming in pain and falling to the ground. Lunae was surprised by this and smiled. She looked over to the Master, who had collapsed on the ground. She yelled for Fulch, and they both ran towards him.
“I can’t anymore, I’m too weak,” The Master said, all the while, more Rhudons were coming over the hill.
“You have to find the power…gather your strength, the water will not fail you,” The Master said just before he passed out. Lunae frantically looked around, scared of what she had to do. The warriors were fighting hard, but they would soon be overwhelmed. Lunae started to fight for breath, but stopped when Fulch put his hand on her hand.
“Believe in the water,” Fulch said, and for some reason, it calmed her down. She stood up and took a deep breath. She lifted her arms, and to her disbelief, water was coming out of the ground. She could feel it, and she knew she could manipulate it. She gathered enough to build a wall of water and thrust it towards the enemy. Magically, the water just went past the warriors and went straight for the Rhudons. She could tell when it hit them, and she pushed with her hands to shove them back. Bringing a flood, throwing them back until Lunae couldn’t hold it anymore. There was no time to think; the Rhudons would be back at any moment, and they had to flee. One of the biggest warriors picked up the Master, and they fled deeper into the forest.
Lunae felt like they had been running forever, but finally, they hit a wall of trees, and they stopped. Linth came up to the trees and spoke some words that the water chose not to translate. Soon, the trees disappeared, and all that was left was a wooden door. The leader looked at her before opening the door.
“We’re choosing to trust you, chosen one. Don’t let us down,” Lunae nodded, and they walked into the sanctuary.