THE THIRD MAGE

He sighed. Yes, they have really adapted to the living conditions in The Garden, but he knew that everyone wanted to get back on their Kingdom. There is no such place as Oniro. The place was very special in their hearts.

He feared that they would be stranded there; that they could not get up and fight back. He was afraid that they would settle on their peaceful, floating island and stop progressing altogether as the island provides for them.

"Brother?" he heard his sister calling him from behind.

"Yes lil" sis?" he replied without looking at her.

His sister sat down beside him and copied his position. "What are you doing here? Everyone"s having fun for your birthday celebration."

"I don"t feel it Samarra. I feel that there"s no reason to celebrate. We"re still stuck here. We can"t go back to Oniro. We couldn"t avenge everyone who sacrificed their lives for all of us. And –"

"You miss her, don"t you?" Samarra interrupted.

Amon sighed for the nth time that day. He combed his hair with his fingers and looked up. "I just – Oh what am I saying. I really miss her. I so miss her. You know, when I was stuck on that strange island, she was my anchor to the land of the living.

"There were days that I wished I"d rather die than think of a solution to get out of there, because it was such a lost cause then. But when I close my eyes, she pops up. Her face, her voice, everything about her brings me back to life.

"She was, and is, and will always be the reason why I keep striving and surviving and planning to get out of there. And then when I finally found all of you, she wasn"t there. She is in danger, and I can"t do anything about it.

"I"m sitting here, all safe and protected while she may be tortured at this very minute. She saved me there, and now I couldn"t save her back."

Amon covered his eyes with his hands and cried. Samarra moved nearer to her brother and caressed his back. "Brother Amon, you know Denaire will not wish you to barge into danger just to get her safe. She asks us to rally strong forces that when the time arrives, we"ll help her avenge our people. So hang on, we can do this. Denaire will be alright, she will be."

Amon hugged his sister, appearing to agree to her. But in his mind, he was still a useless prince.

Useless. Useless. Useless.

***

Raj was pacing back and forth near the bridge. There was something wrong with his master, he felt it. The spy birds were with him too and they were all restless. They felt something that made their heart ache, that made their heart feeling constricted.

It was too much, too much. They need to rescue their master, or else they"d be gone too.

"Where is master? I don"t like this feeling!" Raj roared.

"We feel it too. It"s only a matter of time before the island would be affected," Squeaky squeaked as he strolled near them. "Divina"s flying a rage in the stables at the moment."

Ruru, who was now pacing at Raj"s back, cawed, "Should we inform them?"

Deedee bobbed his head up and down, "I believe we should, before they panic when the island – "

There was a booming sound and the ground shook. Some trees fell down and a crack appeared in the middle of the island, although it didn"t separate the island into two. But the fissure was large enough to fit a couple of people side by side.

The birds flapped their wings nervously and Raj said defeatedly, "Well, there"s no need to warn them. Might as well we go and explain what is happening. And I think we should go together."

The others nodded, and together they went to the square.

***

Amon and Samarra ran towards the square where everyone was celebrating. As they neared the square, they could clearly see the huge crack that appeared on the ground. They saw some trees and buildings upturned.

"What in the world – " Amon said in disbelief.

"Look," Samarra pointed at Raj and the other created animals. "I think something is wrong."

Amon frowned. "Samarra, call the Council and the generals. No, gather everyone and make sure that the wounded will be taken care of."

Samarra nodded and ran off towards General Luther first. Amon ran and approached Raj and company.

"Raj, what happened?"

Raj looked at Amon, "Something is wrong with master."

"Wrong? What do you mean?"

"We, the created, depend on master"s life force. If something terrible happened to her, we will feel it in any way possible. All the living ones felt something painful here," he put his paw where Amon believed is the location of his heart, "and the island is like this," he looked at the crack that almost divided the island.

Amon"s heart thudded in fear. "What-what could have happened to her? Have you tried talking to her?"

Raj looked sadly, "We don"t know Master. Ever since she was taken, I couldn"t get through her. There seems a barrier that keeps us from communicating. This is what we only know now." Then they all stood in attention. "Command us master, and we will find her."

Amon gazed at them with admiration and respect. "Raj, I want you to stay here and protect us, Squeaky too. Birds, it"s up to you now. Find Denaire but do not engage. Just locate her and check what is happening to her. Then come back to me after two days and report. If when the two days is up and you didn"t find her, still come back here. Okay? Do you understand?"

"Yes!" they all replied in unison. "Go! And take care."

The birds flew immediately and Amon watched as the people a.s.sembled in front of him.

"Denaire, please be alright. Please. Wait for me. Wait for me."