Chapter 2
"You want me to just get on the dingy and head where, Master?"
"Anywhere you feel you should go. This is the next part of your training. You haven't left me for quite some time. It is good to explore. To make discoveries. When you see fit, come back to me, and tell me of your adventure," the ghostly blue specter advised his student.
"How long should I travel?"
"Ethan, I just said when you are fit to come back to me. If you have a story to tell me within 5 minutes, then 5 minutes. If it takes 5 days, then 5 days. 5 months? So be it."
"I don't think I can travel on this boat for 5 months, let alone 5 days."
"Fair enough. Did you get the wind knots like I asked you to?"
"Yes, I have a few."
"And you know how to use them?"
"Yes, I know how to use them…"
"Well then. First thing in the morning, you leave Onyx for your own little adventure!"
"Yes, Master."
"God, how long has it been…" Ethan said to himself as he continued to sail North West. He didn't have any idea how long he had been sailing, if it had been just a few days or a few weeks. He lost track of time fairly quickly.
He was leaning back in his boat when out of the corner of his eye he saw an odd looking bird. He peered at the speck in the sky to get a clearer view. It looked like a bird, except it had tentacles coming out of its rear. It almost looked like an octopus was trying to eat the bird in the sky, but that couldn't be possible.
He watched this odd looking bird for a few minutes, when it suddenly disappeared as if it went behind a curtain.
"That was weird."
He changed his course into the direction the bird was heading. The sea seemed to be open in front of him, with nothing coming in to view, however he started to feel a resistance to the direction he was going. Soon the boat slowed and started to move away from the direction he was headed, even though the wind in the sail was still pushing him forward.
"Time to use one of these."
Ethan untied one of the knots he had. A small wind god appeared and blew on his sail, into the resistance. He began moving forward again at a much faster pace, but he could still feel whatever it was trying to push him away. It felt like two magnet's trying to repel each other.
Ethan kept his eyes forward still seeing nothing ahead. He was soon to give up when within a blink of an eye an island appeared in front of him. It was like a veil had been pulled to reveal a hidden object, except this object was a decent sized island.
Now curious as to what was on this island, as it was still attempting to push him away from it, he continued on his course to the beach of this island. It took about an hour but he finally was able to pull his boat onto shore.
Wasting no time, Ethan made his way to the center of the island, making his way through brush and tree's. He listened for the sound of animals, but heard nothing. Not even the sound of a cricket. He left a trail of leaves behind him as he walked so he would know how to get back.
It seemed impossible that he was walking through this jungle for four hours and not reach the other side. It didn't seem as if it was that big of on island. Finally he started hearing something. It was a faint thump in the distance. As he got closer, the thump got louder, and he could start to feel the ground shaking with each thump.
Again, it took another two hours before he reached a clearing where he could see what was happening. The earthshaking bang was very clear, as he could see what was making the noise.
Before him was a large building, with a center pillar. Within the pillar, a piston was rising then falling to the ground. Ethan stayed at the edge of the clearing and moved west so he could see what the piston was doing. As he was walking the edge, he saw a giant trail of specters leading towards the column. They were shackled together in a line, and moving one by one towards the piston. With the tower in clear view now, Ethan could see that when a ghost was standing beneath the piston, it slammed down on top of the ghost. When it rose, a black metal sheet was all that was left. The sheet of metal was removed, and then a new ghost would stand beneath the piston, and the same thing would happen.
Over and over again, Ethan saw each ghost meet its end, being pressed into the black metal sheets. He followed the endless line of ghosts in amazement. He wanted to save them. He had lived on Onyx all his life. Ghosts were always around him. His master was a ghost! He wanted to free these souls from this end.
As he continued to scan the specters, he saw an uncle that died many years ago, shackled like the rest, on his way to meet his doom. Ethan was about to run out to free him when he saw guards outfitted in this black metal. There were many of them, and he knew that there was no way he could even give a warning to his uncle. He was forced to sit and watch as the spirits made their way to the factory. Finally, his uncle stood in the center column. Just before he was crushed into the black steel, he looked back at Ethan. The look on his ghostly face was one of agony and remorse. It was as if he was saying to Ethan that this had to be stopped. The piston slammed on top of his uncle, leaving behind the eerie black sheet of metal.
Ethan couldn't help but let out a small cry. He knew any soul here would never see Lethe. His uncle would forever be lost, trapped inside the black sheet of metal made of souls.
"I see someone!" grunted a guard, pointing in Ethan's direction. Soon, four black steel clad guards began running towards him with the weapons drawn.
Ethan ran towards the way he came. The push of the center of this island helped him along, and within minute he was back at the beach where his boat was left. He hastily pushed it to the ocean and climbed inside. There was no resistance getting away from the island, in fact he was sailing away from it at amazing speed. Ethan made one final look to see how far way from the island he was and found that just as quickly as it appeared, it had disappeared.
