Epilogue

Ket awoke in his bed. Why was he in bed? If he was dead, shouldn’t he be somewhere else? In the afterlife, maybe? Maybe he would be greeted by Tesenai, or some other god…if there was one, that is…

He sat up, hearing murmurs. There was Kyara’s voice, and Jason’s…they were talking to someone. It sounded like the island doctor. What was he doing there?

He looked outside his window; it was nighttime. Ket hugged his knees close to him, thinking. How in the world had he survived that fall? It should have been impossible, but yet…

The door to his room opened, and Kyara entered. She saw Ket awake, and her face broke into a smile. “You’re all right,” she whispered, rushing to the side of his bed and sitting down. “I’m so glad.”

“I don’t…understand it,” he muttered, not wanting to look at her. He felt so ashamed of what he had done. “Why…why am I still alive? That fall…it was supposed to kill me.”

“But there’s not a scratch on you,” filled Kyara. “Yes, I know. I caught you.”

He looked up at her sharply. “What? How?”

“How do you think I was able to get to the top of the lighthouse so fast?” she asked. “I certainly didn’t run all that way.” She shook her head. “Seems like the little bit of Miringa in me came through. That time it first came out, you were in danger. I suppose powerful emotions help me call forth the Miringa part of me. I desperately wanted to help you the first time – this time, I needed to help you.”

“What did you do?”

Kyara grinned. “Somehow, I sprouted wings. I flew up the stairs after you, and when you slipped, I dove after you.”

“You could have risked your own life,” he exclaimed. “What if you couldn’t carry me, or if you couldn’t control your wings properly?”

Kyara shrugged. “It was instinct. All I did was dive. I didn’t even think of those possibilities; I would have tried to save you, even if I didn’t have wings.”

Ket leaned back in his bed and sighed.

“You lied, didn’t you?” she said quietly. “The doctor never told you that you could go home. You left without telling him.”

“Yes,” replied Ket heavily.

“Well, I’m going to send you back,” she told him firmly. “This time, I’m going to get on that boat with you and make sure you stay.”

“My great-aunt is in Grojia right now,” said Ket tiredly. “You can tell her to keep an eye on me.”

“I’ll stay with you for a week,” explained Kyara, “and we’ll see from there. I won’t let you come back home until I hear personally from either the doctor or your great-aunt that you are stable. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” Ket felt exhausted; Kyara’s words were so strong and commanding like he had never heard her speak before. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t need your apology,” she replied, standing up from his bed. “Not until you mean it.”

Ket sighed as Kyara left the room, closing the door behind her. He would soon return to Dr. Reppun…why did running away sound like such a good idea? It really hadn’t been…he would have to apologize, and face all those people again…if he had just stayed there, it would have been over sooner than just fleeing from it.

‘I couldn’t face it before,’ he thought sadly, turning over and pulling the duvet above his head. ‘But, now, I think I can. I’ll take it one day at a time and won’t let anything get in my way. Each day will matter, now, and I won’t let people like the Birch family or the O’Bryans get in my way.’

With that determination in mind, he drifted off to sleep.

OoO

Borne aloft on a stormy sea, a toughened, graying wicked basket flew through the wavers, roughly beaten by the ocean. It was tightly sealed with a blanket, retaining the heat of the occupant. Screams and horrors occurred as it slept, but nothing disturbed the youth. He didn’t even know what had happened to cause him to be set adrift in the ocean like this, so near – and yet so far – to his true home. But he would know, in his years to come. He would recognize the tales, the new parts now carved into newly ancient texts, the completion of the saga and of the Eonic War. He would know the truth, know who he was, and he would ask for revenge.

Upon the basket he slept in was an intricate design. At first glance, one would credit this anomaly to a trick of the mind, but it was more than that. A picture of a blade, unsheathed and ready, with a snapped whip above it was carefully woven into this basket.

In three hours’ time, a young woman with a hidden past felt as though she was being drawn to the ocean. She was the maid to an important family in the country of Firgland, from the capital of Lomdo. Her family had come from the sea, had always lived and worked with the sea – all except she. And now, when this young maid found this basket, she noticed the design. She understood what it was, yet she kept the occupant of the basket, the little baby, and would never allow anyone to see the basket that bore the mark of the old religions, the mark of the Manumo.

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The End :) Hooray!!!

Thanks, everyone, for reading this. It truly meant a lot to me. It's hard to believe that I was able to get out the rough drafts on all 8 books in less than a year (293 days, precisely XD). I honestly couldn't have done it without everyone's support and helpful feedback!!!! My next novel will be called Mirror Imagine, and it'll be a first-person POV novel, about a teenager who believes insanity is eminent, but finds out it's something different all-together. In case anyone was wondering, Ket will be appearing in more novels (2 more). They are called The Highwayman's Sword and Fiery Suppression. The Highwayman's Sword is going to be worked on right after Mirror Imagine, and features Ket and his wife...ha, but you'll have to wait to find out who it is!!!! XD Ah, and by the way, all 8 Miringa & Manumo books add up to 600 pages in total!

I'm eternally grateful to all of you.

Yours,
E.B. Keane-Farrell