The ringing in Tarun’s ears never seemed to stop. The high-pitched noise inside his head was painful and made it nearly impossible to think. Whenever he became angry, the ringing got louder and the pain got worse. And ever since Krall and the others died, it seemed like he was angry all the time. Tarun didn’t like being angry, but the ringing and the anger were apparently inseparable.

Tarun sat outside in silence, breathing the cool morning air and considering the events of the night before. The night before, Shon had been taken, the ringing in Tarun’s ears had been absolutely deafening, and he had almost killed a man with his bare hands.

Light from the sunrise now peeked through the windows, and through those windows Tarun saw the face of the wretched man called Mari. The man who had lured Tarun and his friends into a trap. The man who was responsible for Shon being taken. The man who was only asleep and not dead because Seth had intervened on his behalf. Just looking at Mari made the ringing in Tarun’s ears worse, so he looked away.

A moment later, Seth stepped outside and joined Tarun on the rundown porch that circled the building. “Looks like the sun is finally up,” Seth said wearily. “And it seems the undead mob that surrounded us last night has been gone for a long time. Hopefully that means we’re safe for now. You should get some rest, Tarun.”

“What about him?” Tarun asked, hooking a thumb behind him. “I don’t want Mari sneaking off and escaping while I’m asleep. Getting his help to get Shon back is the whole reason I let him live, isn’t it?”

“The reason you let him live is because you’re not a killer,” said Seth. “You’ve got a good heart, Tarun, I can feel it. You’re better than that.” Tarun made no reply, but crossed his arms.

“But yes,” Seth continued, “now that he can talk, we’ll get him to help us however we can.”

“So why don’t we just wake him up now?” said Tarun.

“Being healed takes a lot of energy,” said Seth. “I’ve seen the lantern heal people before. It’s even healed me. But those have all been injuries that were minor or fresh. I’ve never seen anything like what it did last night, so I have no idea when he’ll wake up.”

Again, Tarun’s thoughts turned to the night before. He had been in a rage after Shon had been taken, and was looking for something to tear apart. But Laronius and the zombies had all retreated, leaving Tarun without a target for his wrath. And then he had run down the stairs and seen the wretch Mari trying to sneak out the door into the night.

After taking one look at Mari’s face, it had been clear to him that the pathetic little man had been expecting the ambush. Tarun had grabbed him and demanded to know what he had been keeping from them. When Mari had shaken his head in response, Tarun began choking him.

Seth had tried to intervene. He had tried to get between Tarun and Mari. He had tried calming Tarun down with his words. But Tarun had heard nothing but the ringing in his ears. But then, struggling for air, Mari had opened his mouth.

Tarun had recoiled at the sight. Mari’s teeth were all gone, his gums the color of mud, and his tongue was black and shriveled. In his shock, Tarun had released his grip on Mari’s throat, and he could finally hear the words that Seth had been shouting over and over.

“Stop it!” Seth had been shouting. “He can’t talk! Don’t you see? He can’t talk!”

Then a beam of light had erupted from Seth’s lantern sitting nearby. It had hit Mari directly in the face, and seemed to illuminate the whole room. When the lantern dimmed again, Mari had stood before them with his mouth open wide in amazement. His teeth were whole, his gums were pink, and his tongue could move. After licking his dry lips one time, Mari had collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

Tarun turned to look again through the dusty windows at Mari, now illuminated by daylight, and lying in the exact same spot where he had collapsed the night before. Tarun had no doubt that Mari had been part of the trap set for them. It seemed unjust that scum like Mari could be healed while someone good like Shon was captured. Why should Mari be healed when Tarun was still suffering from the pain of his ringing ears? He wished Mari was dead. The ringing grew louder.

“Tarun,” said Seth, bringing Tarun out of his brooding thoughts, “even if Mari doesn’t tell us anything useful, we still can’t kill him. You know that, don’t you?”

“Why not?” asked Tarun. “It’s what he deserves.”

“You don’t know that,” Seth said. “And besides, it’s not about what he deserves. It’s about doing what’s right. Killing this man won’t accomplish anything?”

“It would make me feel better,” Tarun said.

“Would it?” Seth asked. “Is that really what you want?”

“You have no idea what I want!” Tarun snapped.

Seth opened his mouth to speak, but then stopped and closed it again. He looked at Tarun for a long moment before finally speaking. “You’re right, Tarun. I don’t know what you want. I know almost nothing about you. Ever since I met you and Shon, it was Shon and I who did all the talking and you’ve been nearly silent. I’m sorry for that.”

The ringing in Tarun’s ears quieted a little. “Don’t apologize,” Tarun said. “I speak up when I have something to say. The truth is, I don’t even know what I want, other than getting Shon back. He wanted to help me get my memories back. Until then, I doubt getting to know me is even worth the trouble. For now, I’m just a broken pot that’s lost everything inside.”

“Oh come on now,” said Seth. “You don’t look broken to me. But then…” Seth’s eyes went wide. “But then again, Mari didn’t appear broken either until he opened his mouth!” Seth turned and opened the door to the building. He lowered his voice to a whisper to avoid waking Mari inside, but his expression was full of volume. “Stay right there, I’ll be right back!”

A moment later, Seth stepped back outside holding his shillelagh and his old lantern. Closing the door quietly before he spoke, he resumed his usual volume. “I’m such a fool,” he said. “Not everything that needs healing can be seen as easily as a cut or a bruise. Sometimes they can’t be seen at all.”

“What are you talking about?” Tarun asked. “I’m fine. Your lantern already healed that gash on my arm, remember?”

“You just said yourself that you feel like a broken pot,” Seth said. “Just because your arm was healed doesn’t mean that all of you was healed. Here, hold this.” Seth put the lantern into Tarun’s large hands. “Hold it. Look into it. I want to try something.”

“What am I supposed to look for?” Tarun asked.

Seth didn’t answer. His eyes were closed and his fingers were moving along the lines and carvings of his shillelagh. His breathing became slow and even, and whenever he exhaled, he mouthed a word. Tarun tried to read Seth’s lips, but his attention was drawn away by a light in the corner of his eye.

At first, Tarun thought the light must have simply been the sunlight reflecting off the lantern, because as he looked into it he couldn’t see anything but the empty chamber inside. But even though it was empty, it somehow held Tarun captivated, and he began to look in earnest at the center of the lantern, as if searching for something without knowing what.

But before Tarun even realized what he was searching for, he found it. There, in the heart of the lantern, at its absolute center, unattached to wick or anything else, was the smallest pinprick of a spark of light. This was unlike the sparks Tarun had seen in the fires of the glassblower’s furnace at Life’s Edge, or the sparks that would pop up from the campfires he had enjoyed on those nights he had traveled with Krall, Piggy, Solimar, and Shon. Those sparks had been deep orange, darted wildly, and only lasted the briefest of moments before dimming and disappearing forever in the dark.

This spark was bright white, perfectly still, and grew gradually brighter, even with the growing daylight to contend with. Again Tarun thought of the sparks popping from campfires on the warm summer nights when he had traveled with his friends. But instead of dwelling on the insignificant orange sparks, this time his mind replayed the pieces of those memories that gave him strength. He saw Piggy take hot rocks from the fire and put them in the water that would become their stew. He sensed Solimar behind him preparing the tents and bedding to sleep in later on. He heard Krall’s deep and throaty laughter at a joke that Shon had made as his friend grew more confident and comfortable around the dragon hunters.

As the emotions from the scene swelled inside Tarun, he became aware of that fact that it was a memory, and he could feel hot tears falling down his cheeks. The feelings grew in his chest, filling a hole Tarun had not even realized needed filling. A soothing sensation moved through him like water poured onto thirsty soil, seeping into every crack and crevice, washing away barbs and blisters that had been completely hidden until the moment they were removed.

Tarun gazed intently at the white light, which had now grown larger than just a spark, and realized that it must be some magic within it that was causing this change in him. He felt a surge of gratitude within him, and the light began to pulse and move slightly, like the dance of a candle flame.

More thoughts and memories came to Tarun’s mind. The hidden valley where they had been rescued by Piggy. The inn where Krall had coached him through winning the arm wrestling match. The gentle confidence of Uncle Grodin and his wise advice. The healer’s hut where Shon had spoken to his mind for the first time.

And then there was silence for a long moment. True silence. Tarun realized for the first time that the ringing in his ears was completely gone. The pain in his mind was gone. Tarun looked at the growing white ball of flame inside the lantern, feeling an increasing mix of anticipation, excitement, longing, and fear.

In that silence, he heard a voice. It was not a loud voice, nor was it quiet. It was not harsh, nor was it overly gentle. The voice was a maternal, direct, and absolutely sincere. It was a voice that he recognized.

“Tarun, son of promise, last child of the firstborn. Awake, arise, and embrace your destiny. Gather your allies, raise the standard of hope, and stoke the dying embers of the opal flame into a fiery beacon. Stand firm and command your forces, lead them to victory as Enemies of Creed.”

At this last statement, the white light seemed as though it had grown larger than the lantern could hold. Frightened and unwilling to hear more from the voice, Tarun looked away and dropped the lantern.

The moment that he had let go, he regretted it, and he turned to try and catch it. Instead, he saw Seth laid out on the ground in front of him, arms outstretched as if in a dive, holding the lantern an inch from the ground.

“What was that?” Seth exclaimed. “I’ve never seen anyone’s eyes glow like that before. Are you alright, Tarun?”

“We need to find Shon,” Tarun said, then collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

 

---

 

Several miles away, Shon awoke from a nightmare of a terrible voice that had been taunting him, when its laughter was abruptly cut short. As he sat up in the dungeon, he thought his eyes were adjusting to the gloom, so he didn’t realize that they had been glowing just a moment before. “Tarun?”