Chapter 5: 4. Arrival

Mattias felt a gentle breeze caress his face. His eyes were closed, and he was lying face-up on what felt like a soft and slightly damp cushion.

“Ah, you’re finally up,” Mattias heard a familiar voice say.

He opened his eyes and saw the silver-armored man sitting crossed-legged at his side. Mattias saw that they were completely enveloped in what looked like a translucent blue film, with nothing but the open blue sky above them.

“Take it easy,” the man said. “Your body is exhausted. Here, let me help you sit up.” The man wrapped his arms around Mattias’s head and shoulders, and gently raised him to a sitting position. “Oh, and don’t look down,” he said.

Mattias looked down and saw that they were floating above the clouds, miles above the ground.

“Aaaahh!” Mattias yelled.

“Don’t worry—don’t worry!” the man said as he held tightly onto Mattias. “We’re safe!”

Mattias took two deep breaths and looked around. Both he and the man were sitting inside of something that looked like a large horned-serpent made entirely of an almost transparent blue substance. The serpent was making long waves with its body, gliding effortlessly through the air. Mattias saw that outside of the flying serpent, standing on its head, was the blue-armored man who was staring off into the horizon.

“Here, drink this,” the silver-armored man said to Mattias. He held out a vial half-filled with red liquid. “The taste needs some getting used to, but it’ll help you recover.”

Mattias held the vial and took a small sip of the red liquid and gagged. After taking a few moments to gather himself, he swallowed his spit then proceeded to chug all the liquid in the vial in one large gulp.

“Good,” the silver-armored man said as he took the vial back from Mattias. “My name is Frederick, by the way.”

Frederick was a middle-aged man with a head full of grey hair and a rugged grey beard. He had a well-defined brow ridge, which hung gracefully over his pensive eyes. His suit of scaly silver armor had a wide and thick collar that surrounded his neck. It complemented his already grand and noble visage.

He looked different than he had this morning. Before, he looked authoritative and intimidating, but now—perhaps due to the change in lighting, or maybe because of the fatherly way he had taken care of Mattias—he looked like someone who could confidently command Mattias’s respect and—more importantly—his trust.

“How long until arrival?” Frederick shouted at the blue-armored man.

“Less than an hour,” the blue-armored man said in a quiet tone that Mattias could barely hear. “I can see the mountains from here.”

“His name is Martin,” Frederick told Mattias. “He doesn’t talk much.”

Mattias nodded and looked over at Martin, who was still standing atop the serpent’s head. He had his back turned towards Mattias and Frederick with the base of his spear lodged between the horned serpent’s eyes, and it looked like he was controlling its movements.

Mattias looked around and noticed that there was a round, red metal shield that lay near his feet. It had an intricately designed yellow emblem engraved at its center. Suddenly, the events of earlier that day rushed back into his mind.

“That shield,” Mattias said. “Did you give it to me before I fell down the slope?”

“No,” Frederick said. “That was Martin.” Frederick grabbed firmly onto Mattias’s shoulders and looked at Mattias squarely in the eye. “Mattias—that’s your name right?”

Mattias nodded as he focused his eyes on Frederick’s nose, afraid to make eye contact.

“Mattias, what do you know?” Frederick said as he tightened his grip. “Tell me everything.”

“U—uh, um. Well—” Mattias said as he struggled to figure out where to begin.

Frederick loosened his grip. He pointed down toward the horizon to a mountain range—which looked small from this distance—that stood in the flat grasslands that lay under the clouds far below.

“Those mountains,” Frederick said, “do they mean anything to you?”

Mattias focused his eyes and could make out—just barely—that the snowy mountain range was shaped like a circle. The sun that was beginning to set in the horizon behind it shined its rays on the mountain’s peak, leaving a sparkling red-orange shimmer. Slightly to the right of the mountain range there ran a small blue line of a river, and Mattias saw that there was a city settled on the river near the mountain range.

That must be Sudwasser.

“Yes,” Mattias answered. “I think that’s my home, Seelenfeld.

Frederick furrowed his brow, blew out a long and hefty breath with his nose, and looked down. “OK,” he said. “What do you know about Seelenfeld?”

“Well,” Mattias said, “I don’t remember anything other than what I see in my dreams.”

“You’re having dreams?” Frederick asked.

“Yes,” Mattias said. “I had the same dream every night that I was in the dungeon, and just now I had a new dream about a friend named Leo and—uh—ah… I don’t exactly remember…”
“And these dreams,” Frederick said, “are you sure these are dreams about things that happened in the past?”

“Yes, what else would they be?” Mattias said. “If I’m correct, that city there on the river next to the mountains—that’s Sudwasser, right?”

“Hmm,” Frederick contemplated. “Yes, yes. You are correct about Sudwasser. But I’m afraid I’ve never heard of Seelenfeld.”

Mattias sat in silence. He recalled how earlier that morning the prison guard told him the same thing.

“Could you please tell me what’s going on?” Mattias asked, tears forming in his eyes. “Why don’t I remember anything, and why are both you and Mr. Vordur saying Seelenfeld doesn’t exist!”

“I’m just as confused as you are,” Frederick said, laying a consoling hand on Mattias who was wiping the tears off his face. “But I’m sure everything will start to make sense in due time,” Frederick said, turning his gaze to Martin. “Who is Mr. Vordur, by the way?”

“He’s the guard that’s been taking care of me,” Mattias answered. “Oh! What happened to him? Is he OK?”

“I found him knocked out at the bottom of the slope,” Frederick said. “But his vitals were fine. We left him there because it’s our first priority to help you, but I’m sure he’s alright.”

Mattias remembered how the blue-armored man—Martin—had shielded him from the deadly blast of fire earlier that morning then proceeded to leap toward the king and knock the guard down the snowy slope.

“Why did you protect me?” Mattias asked. “Why are you helping me?”

“You’re important to us,” Frederick said. “Let’s just say that we’re both after the same thing.”

“And what is that?”

“The truth,” Frederick said. “Don’t you want to know?”

Mattias sat there silently. He nodded.

“Now it’s my turn for questions,” Frederick said. “In your fight against the prince, what happened?”

Mattias took a moment to think. “I… heard a voice,” he said.

“A voice?”

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“Yes,” Mattias answered. “I thought I was going to die, but I heard a clear voice calling to me.”

“What did it say?”

“It asked me if I wanted to live,” Mattias said.

“And then?”

“I yelled ‘Yes!’ as loud as I could,” Mattias said. “After that, it felt like time slowed down, and I looked into his eyes—”

Mattias shuddered.

“What happened?” Frederick asked.

“It was—” Mattias said, “it was like I lived through his memories. I felt his pain, and… Oh god.”

Mattias pictured the gory scene—Speki’s severed head and decapitated body lying in the pool of bloody slush. Mattias began to tremble.

“Don’t worry,” Frederick said as he grasped Mattias by the upper arms, and looked him straight in the eyes. “It looked like he lost control of his power. It wasn’t you.” Frederick let go of Mattias, who was now sitting still.

Mattias closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. “After that,” he continued, “when the king attacked me, I—I don’t know why, but I felt like I could—so I reached out for this shield and it came flying to me.”

“Very interesting,” Frederick said as he looked off into space. “It sounds like you were able to learn the ability that the prince was using. Can you try it now?”

Mattias held out his arms, palms facing the red shield that lay near his feet. He focused his attention on the shield, not sure exactly what to do. He tensed up the muscles in his fingers and tried to imagine the shield flying to him as it did before, but to no avail. The shield merely made a small vibration before it went completely unresponsive.

“I think you’re tired,” Frederick said as he picked up the shield. “But it did move, so that’s a good sign.” Frederick equipped the shield on Mattias’s left arm. “This is yours to keep,” Frederick said. “Neither of us have any use for—”

“We’re here,” Martin said.

Mattias looked at the blue-armored man, who was now facing the two men who were sitting inside the translucent horned serpent. Mattias saw that Martin was still wearing the same helmet as earlier, with the same glowing dark blue eyes peering through the eye holes. Mattias felt a chill run down his spine. Looking down, Mattias could see that they were now directly above the white, snowy mountain range.

“I’d recommend you cover your ears and close your eyes,” Frederick said. “I’m still not used to this.”

Frederick did as he himself recommended, and Mattias suddenly felt the support from beneath his legs disappear. He felt a force violently thrust down on him from above, and within a moment Mattias was hurtling straight toward the ground below that lay miles away.

After the initial shock, Mattias saw that he and Frederick were still within the translucent body of the horned serpent, which was now diving straight toward the ground. Frederick was smiling, eyes closed and ears covered. Mattias looked below and saw that Martin was diving head first while holding onto the spear that protruded from between the serpents eyes.

Mattias heard the wind grow louder as they accelerated toward the ground. He could see the streams of air that were being pierced by the nose of the diving serpent. Before he knew it, they drew nearer and nearer to the Crescent Mountains, close enough for Mattias to see that the land that was enclosed by the circular mountain range—which in his memory was filled with densely packed trees—was just an empty, white land covered with a blanket of snow.

They quickly shot past the summit, and Mattias closed his eyes and covered his ears in order to brace for impact. He kept his eyes closed and ears covered for what felt like more than a minute, but he felt nothing.

Mattias opened his eyes and saw that he was lying on the snowy ground at the foot of the highest mountain. Martin and Frederick were standing in front of him, staring intensely at what looked like a small tunnel at the side of the mountain. About five feet inside, the tunnel ended and there was what looked like a stone tablet engraved into the tunnel wall.

“Do you recognize this?” Frederick asked as Mattias stood up, flicking the snow off his fur coat and shield.

Mattias looked at the tunnel. It was hewn into the base of the mountain with the tallest peak. This was where the waterfall used to be: its waters would run down the stream—which used to flow where the two armored men were now standing—and then empty itself about thirty feet down into the large pond that was at the heart of Seelenfeld.

Mattias looked all around him. He was standing in the cove of a gigantic mountain range that stretched three miles wide. He had never been able to admire the grandness of the Crescent Mountains before—at least from the inside—since his vision had been impeded by the mighty trees that made up the forest that surrounded Seelenfeld.

Although the waterfall, the pond, the forest, and the buildings were gone, there was no mistaking it—these were the Crescent Mountains, and this was Seelenfeld.

“I’ve never seen the tunnel before,” Mattias said, “but this is Seelenfeld. I know it.”

Martin held a hand up to his chest and turned to Frederick, nodding.

“Ah, so our time is up,” Frederick said. “We’ll if this is Seelenfeld, that’s good.” Frederick held his hand up to his chest like Martin. A small glow emanated from each of their palms, and small, round rocks engraved with runes came out of their scaly armors, into their hands. “Wait,” Frederick said. “Let me at least give you some gil—”

Martin stuck his arm out in front of Frederick.

“What, really?” Frederick said. “Not even that?” He turned his face to Mattias and smiled. “I hope I’ll get to see you soon.”

“What?” Mattias said. “Where are you going?”

“We’ll meet again,” Martin said in a hushed tone. “Go where the hidden wind blows.”

The rocks that Frederick and Martin were holding lit up, and bright blue rings of light began to pulsate out of them.

“Hey, wait!” Mattias shouted.

He stood alone in an empty field of snow.

Wow, they really just left me here.

“Go where the hidden wind blows?” Mattias said. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Mattias looked around him. To the west he saw the sun setting beyond the horizon. There was a clear blue sky above him with no trace of clouds. He turned around and looked up the tall and snowy mountain. The peak, made even more magnificent by the light of the setting sun, was more beautiful than what Mattias had remembered in his dreams.

In front of him was the tunnel. It was well lit due to the setting sun, and he saw more clearly what the two armored men were staring at earlier. There was a round stone engraved into the wall, and it looked like there was an emblem inscribed on it.

I guess I should check that out.

Mattias walked into the tunnel, which was about a foot taller and a foot wider than he was. Upon reaching the end, he saw that the round white stone which was carved into the black tunnel wall had an interesting pattern on it. It was a symmetrical pattern of a diamond shape with forty black circles inscribed within.

What is this?

Mattias reached out his arm and placed his hand on the stone. A streak of bright, white light shone from the engraved diamond. Immediately after, the black circles began to shine in various unique colors, growing brighter and brighter, until the rainbow of light blinded Mattias’s eyes.

***

Mattias Richter opened his eyes and found himself standing in a brightly-lit marble hallway.

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