Chapter 29: Unending
I emerged from the subterranean prison, squinting at the clouds that had packed the sky. What should have been morning felt like twilight. There wasn’t any daylight, but it was not dark. The nearly black clouds didn’t surprise me, for winter was approaching and storm season was upon us. However, the intensity with which the clouds loomed overhead made me wary. They were too voluminous, too foreboding. I halted in my steps to assess the gathering storm. Were the heavens aware of the impending destruction of the island? Was this their farewell? I shook my head and dismissed my melancholy thoughts. The skies were indicating only that autumn was now turning over to winter. Nothing more.
I stood in the center of the courtyard, where only a misty drizzle filled the space around me. There wasn’t a trace of the mob that had occupied it earlier that morning. The view from the courtyard allowed me to see the causeway that had emerged from the receding tide. I saw large, canopied trucks like a line of ants crossing from the mainland into Stauros. They were entering through the main door in the stone wall that wrapped around the island. The evacuation would soon begin.
I suspected the students were scrambling to pack their things, having realized that the island was festering with phantoms. And the phantoms, with nowhere to evacuate, were most likely preoccupied with saying their good-byes to one another, not knowing what would happen to them once the sun set.
I held my book to me as I walked down the steps of the courtyard and onto the Five Ring Road. This was the last day I would walk this cobblestone path—the last day I would be on this island. I was torn about what to do. Should I find Ahura Mazda and the others? Or should I find my three roommates, make sure they were all right, and say good-bye to them?
Lightning ripped overhead, a bright gash against the somber sky. Thunder rumbled soon after. A few drops began to fall on me. Instinctively, I covered my book with my robe—or, rather, Ankou’s robe. Then I remembered that it was pointless to do so. There was no longer any reason to preserve the book or to keep the story alive. The Slayer had been found. My mission was over.
I had accomplished what I had sought to do. However, there wasn’t any feeling of triumph, not even a hint of satisfaction. In fact, finding the Slayer seemed more like a minor detail compared with all that had transpired over the past twenty-four hours. I looked down at the book under my arm. It had represented my struggle for so long.
I veered off the Five Ring Road and ran onto a dirt path that led toward a ledge hanging over the sea. With all my might, I hurled the book as far away from me as I could. I saw it open and its pages flutter as it plunged downward toward the churning sea.
What a silly idea, that if I just found the Slayer of the Shadow of Fear, the world would be set right and my purpose in life would be fulfilled. How could I have been such a simple-minded fool?
Now all I could think of was that my search for the Slayer of the Shadow of Fear had led me to Anne-Marie, and through Anne-Marie, I had found love. In this love, I had discovered what was most important about my existence on Earth. Granted, I had found the Slayer, but more important, I had found Drev—my son.
I continued along the narrow dirt path, thinking about Drev. Initially, I had been disappointed, angry that he had chosen to pursue his love for Pamina over his duty to slay the Shadow of Fear, but I now saw that he had made the wiser choice. How could he serve humanity if he wasn’t courageous enough to listen to his heart until the very end? As the keeper of the story of the Slayer, I had wanted him to devote his life to destroying the Shadow of Fear, but as his father, I was proud that he had pursued his true calling: love.