A Vial of Life(46)

My mind made up, I drifted apart from the vessel, and as I sped up my sprint over the waves toward the endless blue, I looked over my shoulder and watched it fade into the distance.

I lifted myself higher up in the air. Since the sky was clear, I had a bird’s eye view of the ocean and any surrounding land formations that might crop up.

Judging by the sun, I was racing southwest—or what I hoped was southwest—the entire afternoon before something made me slow and freeze in midair. A sound. A tune? Drifting over the waves came a faint, enchanting melody. I tried to place what instrument it was. It sounded closest to a flute, though this guess was not quite right. The melody was soft and somber, distant yet haunting… breathtakingly beautiful. It spoke of life and promise, like the singing of a nightingale in spring. Even as I listened to it, it filled my heart with unexpected hope. Hope for what exactly, I didn’t know, but the soulful tune so completely possessed my mind that I felt like I could hope for anything.

Where is it coming from?

I gazed around the water again, as if expecting to see a Pied Piper floating toward me on a fishing boat. From what I could see from my elevated position in the sky, there was no land for miles, nor any vessels on the waves. And yet the sweet melody continued. I wasn’t sure if I was just imagining it, but it seemed to grow louder, penetrating the atmosphere and engulfing me, as though it was reaching inside me, touching my very soul, and filling me with an unexpected warmth.

It was coming from the direction I was headed. Southwest.

I continued on my journey. Spurred on by the exquisite tune, my speed reached levels that I hadn’t even known that I was capable of. I wondered if anybody else could hear it, if they were present. Or was this just a product of my imagination? Was I just so desperate to reach home that I was imagining someone beckoning me back there? But, with the tune still in my ears, I wasn’t capable of thinking much. I just wanted to listen, the cheerful notes lighting my mind up like a drug.

I couldn’t have known how much time passed, but after what felt like an hour, the melody died as suddenly as it had started. Its absence sent my mood crashing down. The euphoria drained away, and I was left feeling hollow, alone in this world of dark, foaming waters. The sun had set by now. The moonlight trickled through my hands, making them appear paler and almost luminous in its reflection.

I felt more lonesome than I ever remembered feeling that night as I continued on my journey. But then, as dawn showed its first signs of breaking over the horizon, the melody returned. It called to me again, silently at first, then growing louder, until it grew to a pitch greater than ever before. Once again, the beautiful notes filled my mind and sent a rush of happiness flowing through me. Like an explosion of fireworks in my mind, the sound sent my mood soaring. I gazed out at the sun taking its place in the sky, and although I’d seen such a dawn arriving over the ocean many times before, I had never appreciated its beauty as much as I did that morning.

The melody grew louder still, until it was positively ringing in my ears, as though I was closer to it somehow.

I swept my eyes over the waves glistening in the early morning sun. And then I noticed it, far in the distance. A group of five grey ships. Large ships. Naval ships.

Excitement welled within me. Could it be? I feared that perhaps the hunters’ ships had abandoned their watch outside our island and moved to a different location. But as I scanned the water, my gaze fell upon a familiar rock that served as one of the landmarks for The Shade’s boundary.

I’m back. I’m back.

I could hardly believe it. I hurtled forward, racing over the frothing waves past the hunter ships, headed directly for where I knew our boundary was. As I came within what I estimated was twenty feet of it, a chilling doubt entered my mind. What if I can’t enter it? I was able to enter and leave before, having been granted permission by the witches, but without my human body, will the spell keep me out? Or perhaps boundaries don’t work for subtle beings…

Thankfully, my fear was unfounded. I passed through the boundary and found myself on the other side, enveloped in the darkness of The Shade. As I set my focus on the island’s shore, the melody reached a feverish pitch, so loud that it had lost its soothing quality and become almost uncomfortable to hear. I found myself wishing that I could turn down the volume, or at least cover my ears, but of course, I could do neither.

As I arrived at the Port, the tune stopped once again. As before, it had only lasted a short while. Perhaps it would disappear for another day, or perhaps now that it had led me back, it wouldn’t play again. Again I found myself wondering whether it was the strange work of some fragment of my own subconscious before I shook the thought aside and focused on whizzing through the woods. River and my family. I needed to find them.