Awaken His Eyes | The Awakened Book One

Chapter 24

Kael had been doing nothing but thinking for days now, and he would have liked to do something else to take his mind off of it. All of the old feelings of mistrust were coming back to him, only stronger this time. His meeting with the All Powerful was not what he had expected it to be. They were always taught that he was a loving and merciful god who was heartbroken when the world turned away from him. But the intense hatred and wretchedness that Kael felt from being in his presence made him think that they had all been lied to. Anyway, he was tired of thinking and just wanted to sleep. When the sun went down, Kael went below deck and lay on his bed. It was quiet with everyone else above deck, talking about their experiences. Kael shut his eyes and let the gentle rock of the ocean soothe him to sleep.

Sometime during the night, he began hearing voices. When he lifted his head, he realized that most of the others were gone. Berit and Horace were still sleeping. The thump of footsteps moved up above, heading for the stairs. Shortly after, Coen peeked his head down.

"You guys better wake up."

"What's going on?" Kael asked.

"We've reached the island and some of the monks are loading our stuff into the wagons. Ukiru said we could take a few of the horses and ride back to the monastery. If we're quick, we could be back in our own beds before the sun comes up."

"Where are the others?" Berit asked.

"Soren and Narian are waiting for us. The rest already left."

The remainder of the night was a blur for Kael. He felt half-asleep most of the time. Immediately after leaving the small, desolate harbor of their island, the horses began to climb. It was slow going at first, but after the first few hundred feet, the path leveled out and the horses began to pick up speed. The sky was still dark when they got back, and Kael went straight to his room and collapsed on his bed.

~

The next day was unusual compared to their normal routine. They didn't have to get up at a certain time, nor were they required to do any of the activities to which they had become accustomed. Kael woke up just before noon and wandered down to the kitchen, where one of the monks was starting to prepare the evening meal. He gave Kael something to eat and shooed him out of the kitchen. For a few hours, Kael wandered around the monastery, letting the silence clear his head. He didn't know where the others were, but he also didn't care. He eventually found Berit in the library, where he usually spent his free time, but neither one of them was in the mood for conversation, so Kael moved on. Finally, Kael arrived at the top of the cliffs overlooking the ocean and took a seat on his favorite rock.

The past eight years of his life had been quite strange, he realized. How many children grow up in a bustling port city like Bastul, living the life of a privileged few, only to have that life ripped away in an uncontrollable string of events that leaves you to grow up in a monastery?

He stood up suddenly, trying to shake off the questions. He was thinking again and needed to do something else. He walked around looking for rocks to throw over the edge and finally found an area where a boulder was falling apart under the relentless forces of nature, slowly eroding into a pile of rubble. Kael picked up a handful of stones and tossed them, one by one, over the edge. He watched the smaller ones zigzag through the air as the wind moved them. The larger ones fell without any perceptible movement other than straight down. The surface of the ocean was too far down for Kael to see them hit, but it was something to keep his mind occupied.

The hours of daylight diminished, and the sun began to slip behind the mountains. Kael made it back to the monastery just in time for the evening meal. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits and even Kael was happier after a good meal.