The Lost Kingdom (The Fifth Element Chronicles)

Chapter 6 [part 1]

That night I had the same dream I always had.

I was on the battlefield, raising my sword towards Bieno. Dragons were flying above me, thousands of knights were following me, and next to me was Russell, his gaze full of love. But as I looked to my other side, Caelus was looking at me with concern. It was him, he was my other battle companion.

No matter what I gathered from his look, I knew what I had to do, I had to fight until the end.

My end.

I woke up suddenly and realized that I had fallen asleep.

After hating myself for being so weak and having put myself in danger like that, I decided to leave my cabin.

We had already traveled for a few hours, and I hadn't gotten out of there at all. I had stocked up on the food I had packed, so I had no need to leave. I was determined to ignore Caelus for as long as I could, until there was no choice but to walk by his side.

But for some reason beyond my understanding, I wanted to step outside for some fresh air.

I opened the door carefully so as not to make even a bit of noise. Although the ship was large, I had the impression that in the quiet of the night even the slightest movement would not go unnoticed.

I climbed up to the highest level and the cold night air hit me in the face like a bucket of ice water.

The immensity of the sea struck me down in a second.

I didn't understand how I had spent so many years of my life believing that the woods were the only amazing thing in this world. There were so many things I had never seen before and I was eager to see it all.

Of course, the circumstances weren't right.

Every time I felt a little normal, I had to remind myself that everything depended on finding that cure.

A few small bumps blurred my view of the dark ocean.

The white of his fur was distinctive even in the deep darkness of the night.

'Lightning?' I asked in a whisper.

He was behind a small door, which only left his muzzle visible. I reached out to pet him and there I realized he was not alone. The other horse, Thunder, was behind him, watching me cautiously.

'I came in peace,' I said and continued to pet my horse without paying attention to the movement behind me.

'So now you're talking to my horse too, is there anything else you want to intrude on?'
I turned around to meet the blue eyes that annoyed me so much.

'Your horse? I thought it was Rayn's,' I replied and continued to pet Lightning.

'Wait, Rayn got on Thunder?'

I just nodded, not looking at him.

'I'll kill him when we get back.' He was fairly confident that we'd both survive the journey. Or maybe he was confident that he would survive. After all, I was just the luggage.

'If we get back,' I ventured to say and now I was indeed going to face him.
Caelus thought back on my remark, as if he couldn't believe that I said that.

'I'm sure I'll be back, you... well it's your responsibility. It is true that I happen to be someone who has been preparing his whole life for this journey and you only found out about it a few days ago. But well, the Gods will know best.'

Curiosity spoke to me from the back of my mind. Why did he want to get to the Tree? What was it that he wanted more than anything else? Would it be to have control of the lands of the Lost Kingdom? Or perhaps he would ask for there to be no Kingdoms. I suddenly felt that it was not a good idea for all that power to be in the hands of someone like him.