The Royal Knight Academy

Chapter 25: A Turn of Events

Suddenly I felt damp sand underneath me in the deep darkness. I could feel that I was no longer surrounded with water. I was cold and wet with just the coolness of water tickling the ends of my toes. As I lay there, I thought, "Wait. Am I still alive?" I managed to open my eyes, coughed up some water, and looked up at the dreary cloud filled sky that was like a soft blanket overhead. I realized that I was laying on the sandy beach with the waves from Lake Supiria at my feet. I looked to the left of me and noticed that next to my outstretched arm was something familiar. I had somehow gotten the Water of Purity. I gasped as my eyes quickly widened.

"Oh my gosh. I'm alive. I'M ALIVE!" I cheered feeling exhilarated.

I felt around my body just to make sure. Finished with my little celebration, I grabbed the bottle and put it in my bag. I turned around to my other side and quickly saw a familiar face right above me, looking back with a smile.

I quickly jolted up as I gasped, "Elisia, what are you doing here?"

"I saved your lives. When you started to struggle breathing, I pulled you both up to the surface."

"Wow! I owe you!" I thanked her, breathing heavily. "Well now that you're up here, I have to figure out a way to take you to the castle and-"

Suddenly, I saw something unusual that I had not seen before. Where once was her beautiful purple tail, was a pair of legs.

"WHERE'S YOUR TAIL?!"

She looked down at herself.

"Oh these?" she said grinning. "I guess that I forgot to tell you that us merpeople can transform into humans when we are above water. My dad never let me come up here though."

"This is amazing! I didn't know you could do that!"

I then realized, "Now it will be easier to get her to the castle." Both of us quickly stood up as we heard footsteps coming from behind us. As the footsteps were getting nearer, I noticed that something was missing. My cloth mask was no longer on my head. If the footsteps were coming from Owen, I would be doomed. I frantically started to search around me to try and find it. With not a moment to spare, I saw my helmet and suit of armor sitting next to my shimmering silver sword in the sand where I had left them. I picked up the objects, gave the helmet a good shake, and quickly put it on.

Just in the nic of time, my face was covered from anyone who could see me. Owen came around the corner. He was coughing and trying to catch his breath.

"That was insane," he said, looking at me.

He turned to Elisia, his expression turning into confusion.

"Umm...Who are you?" he asked, pointing to her.

Oh no. I was so worried about my mask that I had completely forgotten to hide Elisia before Owen came! It was going to be all over if I didn't think of something fast. I just stood there in silence for a minute, trying to think of an excuse while Owen just continued to stand there, puzzled.

"Uhh, well I'm Elisia and I'm-" she tried to say.

But I butted in right in the middle of her sentence and blurted, "My best friend! We've known each other for years!"

"Wait," Elisia said, confused. "I just met-"

I lightly nudged her to make her stop talking and whispered, "Just let me do the talking!"

"She likes to kid around!" I said to Owen, putting my arm around her shoulder to make it seem more convincing.

"Umm...I didn't know you had a friend outside of the castle Leo."

"Leo?" she said in a bewildered voice. "But I thought-"

I quickly shushed her before she could say anything else.

"Such a kidder," I said, stopping Elisia from saying whatever she was going to say next. "She was the one who saved our lives. She was taking a stroll on the beach and found us floating in the water. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her."

When I was done speaking, I realized my story had a lot of holes in it. I just hoped that Owen would be oblivious enough to believe it.

"Uhh, thank you?" he said to her, a bit confused.

I was relieved that he didn't question my lie.

"Also, she was just leaving right now."

"Uhh...Oh yes! Right!" she said quickly, taking the cue.

I quietly whispered almost under my breath, "Go hide."

Having heard what I said, she started to walk away from us, acting rather bewildered as to where she should go.

When she had completely disappeared from our sight, it was just Owen and me again.

"Your friend is really strange, makes sense since she's friends with you," he said.

For a moment, all I could hear was the sound of the seagulls squawking and the crashing of the waves in the lake. Owen broke the silence by saying something completely unexpected.

"That was one close call Leo. I thought that was the end of me. Your plan was a pretty good one I guess. If it wasn't for you, I would have been eaten by that thing. Thanks, and, um, sorry for being such a jerk. I was just jealous of your abilities and that I thought you were trying to be better than me."

My eyes widened. I never thought I would hear those words come out of his mouth. I was starting to think there was another side to Owen that might actually be nice.

"Yeah, don't mention it," I said, trying to hide how happy his words made me feel.

"But, why did you save me from the sea monster instead of going for the Water of Purity after all the awful things I've done to you?"

"Because I couldn't just let you die. You're way more important than some silly water. What kind of leader would I be if I abandoned my partner?"

Just then I heard the sound of rolling wooden wheels followed by the clomping of horse hooves on the ground. We turned to see that it was the carriage coming to pick us up.

"Come on you two! Time to get back to the castle!" the coachman loudly announced.

"Well, I guess it's time for us to go," Owen said.

"Uh, you can go first. I have to quickly grab something I forgot on the beach," I said, partially lying.

He nodded as he grabbed his helmet and armor from the beach and made his way to the carriage, shutting the door behind him. What I actually did next was figure out a way to sneak Elisia into the carriage without anyone noticing. I motioned for her to come out of where she was hiding and while the coachman was paying attention to getting the horses ready, I snuck her into the back of the carriage, helping her climb inside a large black storage trunk that had been filled with extra equipment.

"All set?" I asked, shutting the trunk door carefully so it didn't close all the way.

"Yep," she replied hesitantly.

"See you at the castle!" I said quietly, shutting the door.

With that being taken care of, I went back around and went inside the carriage myself, sitting next to Owen.

Just when I got inside, the coachman loudly yelled, "YA!" and the royal horses quickly started to gallop down the path, back to the castle.

On the ride back, I stared out the window, feeling the bumping and jerking of the carriage as the rickety wheels rolled over the rocks on the dirt roads, hoping Elisia would be okay. Looking at the kingdom ahead, the large castle prominent against the rest of the landscape, a thought crossed my mind that I hadn't thought about before. I wondered about the potion the King requested. What would the five ingredients combined create? What would be the potion's true purpose? The thoughts circled in my mind as the carriage traveled back to the King's home.