The prince awoke in the back of a rickety cart. He was surrounded by plants and herbs that smelled strange. He quickly realized that he was being watched by a shrouded figure at the end of the cart. The face of this person was obscured from him. He first thought the figure was another pile of plants, given the dramatically rustic nature of the cloak.
The figure stood up at a surprising speed and said in a strange voice that seemed to both whisper and yell at the same time, the word, “Somnum!”
The prince immediately began to doze back out of consciousness — and as the world narrowed around him again, he could see that Helianna was lying next to him unconscious as well.
THE PRINCE WOKE IN a dark room. The same strange odor immediately filled his nostrils. The scent seemed to be coming from a pile of something burning in the corner of the round room he was in. Faint green embers glowed from the small pile.
Again the prince was surprised to find that someone was sitting on a shelf in the wall of what now appeared to him to be a cave, and was silently watching him. Their exact features were hidden from him but he could tell this person had massive amounts of hair coming from their head.
The strange person jumped down from the shelf, and as they got closer to the prince he realized what he thought was a cloak — was hair trailing behind the person at least six feet long.
The prince realized that he should be much more scared and angry than he was; he believed that he had been taken captive by bandits. But no matter how hard he tried to summon feelings of anger or fear, he could feel nothing other than immense amounts of peace and calm.
As if his thoughts had been read, the figure spoke to him, “You are in the kingdom of Mitis-Medisors.” The voice lacked its previous haunting sound, and instead was the gentle voice of an older female. Even with her standing next to him he could not clearly see her face.
The people of Mitis-Medisors thought nothing like the prince. Their thoughts and intentions were far beyond his comprehension. The prince felt very hesitant to accept anything they said as truth. He did not feel he could trust them. He remembered his friend Scurra’s difficult feelings for this place.
Yet the prince knew that his father had successfully created an alliance with these people — and that they too had once accepted his oldest brother, Vivere.
The prince respectfully addressed the stranger and requested to be brought back to his home kingdom — but as he rose from the stone table upon which he laid — he felt intense pain surge through his arms and head. He had forgotten about the injuries he had sustained.
The strange woman laid him back down on the uncomfortable stone table. As soon as the prince laid back down fully — the pain completely subsided. “The injuries you have sustained may take your life …” the woman said casually. The boy began to despair and wondered if Helianna was alive and how his father would recover from the grief of losing another child. “... If you do not choose to live” — the woman added.
Confused, the boy asked, “Am I dying or not?” “Yes you will die,” she quickly and conclusively replied. In a surprising resolve the prince seemed to uncontrollably utter the words “I can’t die. This doesn’t make sense, there’s too much I have to do.” “Then you will not die” — the woman declared in equal conclusivity.
The boy was now more confused than ever. The words he had just said felt like they were pulled out of him — yet he knew they came from deep within his heart. The truest part of himself.
Suddenly the strange woman parted her hair and looked deeply into the prince’s eyes. He could see that her eyes were a deep purple and red color — a color he had never seen before. The prince felt trapped in her gaze and speaking with the voice that both yelled and whispered she said the word, “Respicio!”
SUDDENLY THE BOY APPEARED back in the forest where he and Helianna were attacked by bandits. Yet he could see every detail of the forest. Somehow his attention was on everything all at once.
Time did not move sequentially; rather, he simply knew the thoughts and feelings of everything around him. He detected the fear of the bandits, the horses, the guard, Helianna, and himself. He felt the love she had for him, and the love he had for her. He wished he would have told her how he felt. Tears came to his eyes as he understood the full extent of his love, and he was filled with tremendous peace. He saw that he truly did not need to be afraid. He wished he would have freed the horse from under its yoke and tangled reins. He knew things in a way that felt surer than sight.
He knew that the people of Mitis-Medisors had watched the prince and Helianna struggle against the bandits. They felt it extremely important they not intervene as much as possible — yet they stood watchful and protective. They did not know if the boy would die or not. And were prepared to either save him or end his life.
Suddenly the boy appeared once again in the small cave room lying again on the stone table. He retained what felt like a tiny morsel of the knowledge he had just learned; it left him quickly like sand falling through a reaching hand.
The prince layed on the stone stunned. He laid there for what felt like hours, speechless. His mind felt tired and calm in a way he had never experienced — and he fell asleep.
When he awoke he found he was now in a much more comfortable and large cave. The air was warm and he was nestled in a hammock that hung from the ceiling of the large cave. He could now see that the large cave walls were covered in strange yet beautiful etchings inlaid with gems and wood.
When the prince attempted to get out of his hammock, he saw that below him by a few feet the entire floor was covered by very still and shallow water. Barely underneath the surface of the water was a myriad of glistening white gems. He observed his reflection in the waters below, and was surprised to see that his face now sported a slight beard. He was utterly shocked at how long he had been asleep.
Seeing ripples in the water he looked up and saw Helianna walking towards him. She was walking on the water and holding a bouquet of sunflowers. She was dressed in the same yellow dress she wore that night in the garden when she sang to him. Her smile calmed the boy and she said with sobriety and joy in her eyes, “Look!”
The boy then saw that the inlay on the cave walls formed a large picture. Though he had never seen the first family, he knew that it was an image of the parents of the seven sons. He watched as the mother blessed the men of her family. They each in turn dived into the water.
The boy felt to do the same — and he rejoiced because he knew what this meant. As he pulled himself up he could sense that not only were his injuries healed, but his shoulder also.
Suddenly Helianna threw the flowers from her hands high into the air. The prince knew he had been blessed like the seven sons, and he stepped with both feet upon the water. Immediately he plunged into the deep. He knew he was both in great danger and yet also completely safe.
As he swam through the water he moved with speed that felt more like flying. He observed large fish all around him, and came face to face with a giant sea serpent. The serpent was the same deep purple and red color as the strange woman's eyes. He called the serpent fish by its name as it swam casually past him.
The boy was filled with complete joy, and he sang loudly in the water a song that he had never before sang — yet knew with all his heart. It was a song of great gratitude, freedom, purpose, and joy.
Suddenly behind him the giant sea serpent swallowed him whole. The boy was surrounded by darkness. He fell deeper and deeper into the enormous animal. He stopped for a moment and began climbing deeper within the animal. At the end of the serpent he found a young girl laying on the lining of the creature's stomach. Surrounding her were glowing white stones that were littered throughout the belly of the beast.
He gently stirred the little girl awake. The girl sat up very frightened. To his great alarm and joy he saw that it was the young girl from the sunflower stand so many years ago. She was terribly frightened and could not see the prince.
The prince lifted one of the rocks to illuminate his face for her. As he did so he saw his reflection in the stone. Looking into the stone he was surprised to see the face of a little boy looking back at him. It was his face from many years ago.
The image on the stone swirled and he saw the little boy throw a sunflower at the floor in great sorrow and anger. Like in the forest he knew the feelings and thoughts of everything around him. He observed the boy delicately pick the flower back up. He saw his father lift him and the flower off the floor and into his arms. The father placed the sunflower in the window seal, and together they fell asleep.
The boy looked up from the stone and at that moment the little girl recognized him as the little boy. She stood there for a moment. She was afraid of the boy, and did not know what she could trust. The boy knew this was his opportunity to tell her how he felt. He simply said the words, “I love you. I love you more than you can know.”
She bent down and grabbed one of the stones off the floor to better illuminate the boy. As she moved closer to him she noticed something in the stone.
The boy could not tell what she was seeing, but it had completely stopped the little girl. After looking into the stone for a moment, the young girl decided to trust the little boy. She walked up to the little boy and simply said in return, “I love you. I love you more than you can know.” And she hugged him tightly.
THE PRINCE JERKED AWAKE, and found that he was still in the same small cave, lying on the stone table. At this point he no longer tried to understand but surrendered to the obvious powers beyond his control.
The same small pile of green embers were smoldering in the corner. The strange woman again jumped down from her shelf in the cave wall and explained that Helianna had left Mitis-Medisors. The prince was given a choice. He could learn to heal, or he could go after her. The prince dearly yearned for both.
He had learned more here than he had ever learned in the safe confines of his home kingdom, or the fun garden halls of Acroama. Though he might not be able to explain what he learned, he felt a change deep within his heart.
He knew now what Scurra meant when he described his feelings for this place. He felt a great desire to stay here — yet every fiber of his being dreaded this place and wanted to run far from it forever. He knew he could not live forever in this state, or that he did not yet know how.
The prince immediately leapt up from the stone table. The numbing power of the table left him as he rose; deep pains returned again to his body. As the pains settled on him they felt familiar. He felt both relief and distress as he returned to his broken state.
The strange woman stepped into the darkness for a few moments. When she returned she had a deer that willingly walked alongside her. The deer walked up onto the stone table and rolled onto its back.
The prince had never seen any animal behave this way. He swore he saw the deer breathe a despairing yet brave sigh. The strange woman killed the animal in front of him by uttering the word in her strange but now familiar voice, “Mori!” The animal let out a cry and life slowly seeped from its body.
The strange woman then had the boy skin the deer; they cooked and ate its flesh together. The boy had never tasted meat so sweet. The bones and innards were cast on the green smoldering pile in the corner, that had now been burning for what felt like weeks — without the need of more fuel. She then fashioned a cloak from the skins of the deer.
Finally, the strange woman stepped to the side of the cave and showed an escape that the prince had not before seen. Kneeling, she offered him the large cloak made from the deer. The prince took the fur and bolted through the door to find Helianna.
The prince laboriously climbed out of the cavern kingdom of Mitis-Medisors. When he reached the surface he found that he had emerged from a very large mountain, whose stone he could now see was a deep blood red.
He realized with greater clarity that he had been in the mountains for months — because everything was now covered in pure thick snow. He draped the cloak on his shoulders and began his long journey home.
THE PRINCE TRAVELED FOR weeks. Many perils nearly took his life — but he eventually found his way to the path forward.
When he saw his kingdom's southernmost settlement village he collapsed to the floor. The prince was in greater pain than he had ever known. His limbs felt they would fall from him. His stomach stopped gnawing in hunger days ago. He could no longer see very well — as the water in his eyes would subtly and slowly freeze over from the cold every time he tried to look at something.
Guards saw him from their watch towers and brought him safely into the settlement. And by reasons beyond their comprehension the prince survived the journey home.
IN THE TELLING OF this story the prince attributes his survival to the deer. He no longer sought to understand only those things that made sense to him. And though it did not make any more sense to him than those he spoke to — he knew the deer had saved his life.
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