A Land Of Fire (Book 12) by Morgan Rice Page A

ached to see Gwendolyn
one last time before he died; he ached to see Guwayne. He could not imagine
dying without laying eyes on their faces one more time.
    Please, God, he thought. Give
me one more chance. One more life. Allow me to live. Allow me to see Gwendolyn,
to see my son again.
    Thor lowered his head in the water as he
felt more fish begin to nip, now at his feet and ankles and thighs; he felt his
head submerged a bit lower in the cool water, the soft lapping of the waves the
only sound left in the endless morning stillness. He felt so exhausted, so
stiff, he knew he could not go on any further. He had served his purpose in
life. He had served it well. And now his time had come.
    Please, God, I turn to you, and to you
alone. Answer me .
    Suddenly, there came a tremendous
stillness in the universe, so quiet, so intense, that Thor could hear himself breathe.
That stillness terrified him more than anything he’d ever encountered in his
life. He felt it was the sound of God.
    The stillness was shattered by an
immense splashing noise. Thor opened his eyes wide and looked up to see the
ocean part. He saw an enormous whale, larger than any creature he seen his life,
and different than any whale he’d ever seen. It was completely white, with
horns on its head and all down its back, and huge glowing red eyes.
    The beast shot out of the ocean, letting
out a great screech, and opened its jaws, so big they blocked out the sun. It rose
higher and higher, then came down, right for Thor, its mouth wide open. The
world became dark as Thor felt the whale was about to swallow him.
    Thor, too weak to resist, embraced his
fate, as the immense jaws of darkness clamped down on him, swallowing him. He
slid into the blackness of the whale’s mouth, and as he began to slide down its
throat, its stomach, his final thought was: I never thought I would die like
this.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
     
     
    Gwen, standing at the bow of her ship,
leaned over, clutched the baby, and peered into the ocean, searching for any
sign of Thorgrin. On all sides of the ship her men also examined the waters.
    “THORGRIN!” called out the sailors all
around the ship—and this was echoed by the sailors on the other two other ships
of her fleet. The three ships, spread a good hundred yards from each other, combed
the waters together, all shouting Thor’s name. From the top of the masts, they tolled
the bells, all three of them, intermittently, looking for any sign of him.
    Gwendolyn felt like weeping inside. She
had been unable to find Guwayne, and now she had no sign of Thor. She hated
this ocean, cursed the day that she ever set sail from the Ring. She knew her chances
were grim. Thor and Mycoples had ridden fearlessly into battle, one dragon
against dozens, and even if they managed to vanquish them, how could Thor
defeat Romulus’s entire fleet? How could he possibly survive?
    At the same time, Gwendolyn knew, by
sailing in this direction, she was endangering her men, bringing them closer
and closer to Romulus’s fleet.
    Gwen heard a sudden cracking noise down
below at the hull, and she looked over the edge, startled. Below she spotted debris—planks,
an old mast, a remnant of a sail…  She scanned the waters, looking closely, and
saw a vast sea of debris.
    “What can it be?” came the voice.
    Gwendolyn turned to see Kendrick by her
side, Reece coming up on her other side, along with Godfrey and Steffen, all of
them joining her and looking down in wonder.
    “Look! The Empire banner!” Steffen called
out, pointing.
    Gwen looked, saw the soiled and torn
flag, and realize he was correct.
    “This is Empire debris,” Reece said,
stating what was on everyone’s minds.
    “But how?” Godfrey asked. “The entire
Empire fleet destroyed? How is it possible?”
    Gwen searched the skies for any sign of
Thorgrin, wondering. Had he done this?
    “It was Thorgrin,” Gwen said, hoping it
to be true, willing it to be true. “He destroyed them all.”
    “Then where