The Enchantments: Book 3 - The Key of Sorcen

Chapter 7: Towards the Sun

Fin woke with a start as he felt the cool water flood over his feet. Where was he? He sat up and looked around. A beach! He followed the sandy shores around through the bright moonlight staring intently at the palm trees swaying softly in the warm night air. Slowly he got to his feet and it soon became apparent that this was more than a dream. He cocked his head back and felt the warm breeze wash gently over his face. It was the most revitalized he had felt in a long time. If this were a dream he wished it would never end.

As he peered around the sandy cove he felt a calm slip over him. The feeling of pure tranquility settled over his surroundings like he had never felt before. He strode down the beach feeling the wet sand slip through the space between his toes making him feel exhilarated.

'This is the life,' He said, a soft smile appearing on his face. ' This is the most beautiful place in the world.'

Lying back down in the sand he folded his arms behind his head and stared at the star filled the sky. Closing his eyes he let the breeze wash over his body making him feel better than he had in a very long time. But as most wonderful events in Fin's life, each must come to an end.

He opened his eyes in confusion as the breeze suddenly became colder. The feeling of safeness and complacency took on a drastic turn. As he stared at the moon he knew something was about to happen. Clouds began to roll in over the brightness of the moon and Fin knew what that meant.

He scrambled to his feet and stood to stare at the sky. He had seen the clouds roll over the moon like that before and that wasn't a good sign. Rotating in a circle Fin watched in awe as huge cumulus clouds suddenly covered the sky.

"Ohhhh not again!" He yelled into the air as the wind suddenly picked up and the rain soon was a torrential downpour. "Why am I the only one that deals with this crap?"

His face suddenly covered in cool rain Fin tried in vain to come up with a plan to get out of this situation, but being a dream he knew he had to wait until it was finished. Someone was trying to tell him something, but what?

He turned around trying to see anything that would give him a clue to what was happening. That's when he saw it, something standing in the shadows of the palm trees, a silhouette of someone. Was it an adult? No, it was a small child. Fin called over to the child but there was no response. He stared at the child then soon found himself heading in its direction. But the moment he moved closer to the child it disappeared into the bushes again. Fin stared confused at the palms and waited for any sign of the child again, but he knew whoever it was, was gone. He waited for another couple of minutes then finally gave up.

As he turned in frustration from the palm trees he suddenly found himself holding his breath from what was now appearing before him, ghosts, hundreds of them, floating up the sandy beach in the middle of the downpour. Their translucent bodies glowed blue illuminated by a single ray of light shining through a break in the cloud cover. Fin stood mesmerized by them and a little frightened as they were coming in his direction. The two spirits in the front were carrying a large trunk that could only be described as a treasure chest. On their heads were the tattered remnants of old buccaneer style hats.

'Pirates.' Fin thought. He soon found himself backing up from them, something wasn't right. They stopped within a few feet of Fin, placed the trunk on the sand and prepared to start digging with the utensils others from the back had produced. They were about to start when the one at the front held up his hand.

They had spotted him.

At first, they stood and just stared, Fin, on the other hand, felt his insides turn to jelly. The ghost at the front handed the shovel to another and slowly glided forward to where Fin was standing nervously in the sand. The ghost was a hideous thing Fin had ever seen. Part of its lower jaw was missing turning the pirates jaw into a permanently eerie grin. But the worst part about the creature was its glowing silvery eyes that seemed to peer deep inside.