The Lost Knight (Volume III) The Lost World

Chapter 23: Are We Alone?

Once my door closes, I stagger over to the window seat and try to make sense of everything I've been told by both my enemy and my friends. Clutching my knees, gazing out at the ocean, I'm more alone now than I've ever been.

I've been lied to, and yet I believe everyone is telling the truth—their truth, as they see it. Ziras believes he is fighting a war that requires the elimination of the beings that invaded his home. The curra want to prevent an invasion and avoid war at all cost. And everything hinges on which side I choose.

Ziras is pitching me so hard because when I find the key I can use it to open the portals. I'm annoyed that none of my instructors mentioned that detail. Although, in hindsight, they were always sure to point out the downside of opening the portals. Why would they give me so many warnings if all I could do was destroy the key? Because they knew I could use it, and they didn't trust me enough to let me make my own decision.

If I use the key, I could let people see what's over here. Let them know that we're not alone in the universe. Or should I destroy it and stop a war? Even if humans could defeat Ziras, they wouldn't stop there. The curra would be an unknown enemy that must be subdued. Jonah is right; war is inevitable if the portals are opened.

One thing's for sure: the choice is mine to make. When I find the key, I get to decide what to do with it. Assuming the Orb isn't broken, of course.

Will humans even want to come back to Ashra? I doubt it; the human race likes change. Change of day, change of season. And what about time? Everything on Earth revolves around a clock. After all, I haven't abandoned time. I track my waking and sleeping hours, the days and weeks, even years I've been here. The human race revolves around time and the many natural and manmade things that track it. How would humans get along in a world without measurable time?

Plus, Ziras could just be lying. Telling me a story that makes me want to help him. Or maybe everyone else was lying. Everyone: Jonah, Dathid, Albina, King Ohad, and Queen Ekecheiria. The list is long, Master Sarpedon and Kyrbast. I can't stop thinking of people who blatantly betrayed my trust. Joaer, Gurador, Levise; I have to stop. Maybe their affection for me is fake, a ploy to get me to see things their way. Would Jonah lie to me?

No! my brain insists. Jonah couldn't lie. Not to me. Why would he?

My brain rattles various questions and ideas around all night. I don't sleep and only know it's time to wake up when Mapta comes in carrying breakfast. "Hello," she says with the same thick accent and fake smile.

I don't move from my perch on the window seat. She changes the bandages on my face and back. When she unwraps my wrist, I hope it means it's healed because she's never touched my wrist before.

She manipulates the joint, and although it's stiff, it doesn't hurt. "Really? It's good?" I say, rotating my wrist.

She smiles and nods. Then without a word, she walks out of the room

My wrist is healed. So that's at least six weeks, possibly eight or longer, that my friends have believed I'm dead. The thought makes my stomach cramp. I jump out of my seat and stomp into the hallway. I have to find a way out of here.

I wander aimlessly around the castle without a destination in mind. I need to move my feet when my brain is working hard. I'm lost deep in my thoughts when I enter one of the sitting rooms on the first floor and nearly jump out of my skin.

This one is definitely a ghost because it's translucent, and even though it's standing still, it has a movement to it, as if I'm looking at it through water. It's not a pareixer image like I had hoped because no one else is in the room. The ghost is male, in his thirties, with short blonde hair. He's wearing dark blue slacks and a long-sleeved white shirt with a red striped tie. He seems as shocked to see me as I am to see him.