The group finally reached the beach, there stood the ark.
"The sea! The sea! I thought I'd never see it again!" Yelled Tara.
William was still trembling as he looked down at his fists, they were covered with blood; not his blood.
"Come on everybody, we've got to hurry. Get inside, quickly." Said Edgar.
"Come on Will." Said Marie as she took him by the arm and led him into the ark.
Everyone hurried inside the ark.
Edgar was the last one to enter the ark.
Once the door closed, the ground rumbled, and the ark began to rise.
William had Spike wrapped up in one of the blankets from the old castle, they were so comfortable.
General Graham was examining all of the weapons and equipment found at the castle.
"This is amazing," he said, "There are weapons, armor, tools and gear everywhere. We've never seen anything like this before."
"There was a lot of supplies there," said Madam Circe, "It's a good thing I remember to use that resurrection spell. I don't think we be able to clean out the place in time if we didn't have all of our soldiers."
"I can't believe it," said Luke, "it's really over. Ratty is dead, and we are finally home."
"Yeah," said Mica, "we did it. We beat the bad guys."
"That was a close call," said Ken, "if Edgar didn't come when he did, we'd all be dead."
"There's one thing I don't understand," said Cayleb, "if Madam Circe could revive all of the dead soldiers, then why couldn't you do the same for the colonel?"
"The resurrection spell doesn't always work, and even if it did, the Colonel's body was shattered. He was too far gone, and nothing could have brought him back. I'm sorry."
"It's okay," said William, "I know the colonel is at peace. We can't bring him back, but we can honor his memory. I'll never forget him."
"Neither will I," said Marie, "He died a hero. He saved my life."
Prince Edgar went to the throne room to tell his parents the news.
"Father, mother. We must take off soon. The land is sinking."
King Esteban stood up from his throne.
"Very well, prepare the engines. We're taking off."
"Yes, sir." Said General Graham, "right away."
The engines roared to life.
"We're ready, sir." Said the pilot.
"Good," said the king, "let's go."
The engines fired and the ark rose into the sky.
The ark was finally leaving.
Queen Agustina smiled as she saw the sky.
"I can't believe it, this is it. We are leaving Randolf. Where will we go?"
"I'm not sure, mother." Said Edgar, "But we'll find somewhere. I promise. There is an entire world out there, waiting for us."
The ark flew across the ocean.
"What happened out there Edgar?" Asked King Esteban.
"A lot happened father. But don't worry, everything is fine now. Ratty is dead. It was William who killed him. I'm proud of him. He's a hero."
"That's wonderful. I always knew he was a brave young man."
"Oh Edgar," said the queen, "I couldn't be prouder of William. I knew you made the right decision when you adopted him. He is a good lad. I wish he was here so I could give him a hug."
"I know mother, I will call him in a few minutes. He had a rough time out there. He was wounded many times, but Marie healed him. He was very brave. Without him, none of us would be here right now."
"You're right Edgar," said the king, "and I will make sure everyone knows what he did."
In his room, William laid on his bed. Spike was curled up beside him.
William was crying.
"It's over," he said, "it's finally over."
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
"William? Are you awake?"
"Yes," said William, "come in."
Marie opened the door.
"Are you okay? I heard crying."
"Yeah," said William, "I'm okay. I just wish the colonel was here."
"Me too." Said Marie, "But he's at peace. I'm sure he's happy."
"You're probably right."
Marie sat down next to William and wrapped her arm around him.
"I'll bet he's telling your parents about you saving all of our lives."
William smiled and wiped away his tears.
"Maybe you're right."
Marie looked down at Spike, he was sleeping soundly.
"I can't believe you're still taking care of him. You really are a kind person."
"He was all alone out there. His parents were dead. I couldn't just leave him there."
"I know, and you did."
William sighed.
"You did the right thing William. I'm sure the Colonel would have approved. And I approve. You did the right thing."
"Thanks, Marie. That means a lot to me. I really needed that."
"I know," said Marie, "you were the best friend anyone could have. And you're still a great person."
William smiled.
"Thank you, Marie."
"Will?" Called Edgar, who was standing in the doorway.
"Yes, Edgar?"
"The king wishes to see you."
"Oh, okay." Said William, "I'll be there in a minute."
William got up and put on some new clothes.
"Well, I'll see you later."
"Right," said Marie, "bye."
William followed Edgar to the throne room.
"Ah, there he is," said the king, "William, we have to talk."
"What's going on? Am I in trouble?"
"No," said the king, "you're not in trouble. I just wanted to talk."
"Oh, okay."
"Sit down, William."
William sat down on a chair.
"Now," said the king, "tell me what happened out there."
"Well," said William, "We managed to kill Ratty's dragon, but we lost Colonel Cyrus in the process."
"I see," said the king, "please, go on."
"I figured our only option was to march through the mysterious forest, through the red canyon and through the mountains."
"That was a wise choice," said the king, "go on."
"Well," said William, "We did manage to kill a couple of trolls along the way. And the baby dragon, Spike, hatched from an egg while we were in the forest."
"Really," said the king, "is the dragon still alive?"
"Yes," said William, "I took care of him. He was all alone out there, so I kept him."
"I see," said the king, "what happened after you left the mountains?"
"Well," said William, "as we were climbing the mountain, we ran into a yeti but managed to chase it away. Then, we found an old castle carved out of stone. We decided to stop there for the night."
"And then what happened?"
"Well, we ran into Lady Celeste."
"Who is that?"
"She is a wolfling. She volunteered to find us, and she did. She told us that Prince Edgar was coming, and then Ratty attacked the castle."
"I see," said the king, "how did the battle go?"
"Well, I had a one-on-one duel with Ratty, he nearly killed me but Marie saved my life. I finally knocked Ratty down, he taunted me saying I did not have the guts to kill him; saying everyone would die and there was nothing I could do about it. I couldn't stand that grin on his face anymore! So I lost control, I snapped. I threw my sword down and jumped on top of him, punching him over and over again. Finally, he was dead. That's when the land started to shake."
William's tears began to flow again.
"I'm sorry your majesty, his blood is still on my hands. I can't forget what happened, I killed him. It was me, it was me who ended his life."
The king walked up to William and put his hand on his shoulder.
"Don't blame yourself, William. It was self defense, you did the right thing. Ratty was an evil wizard who had gone insane, there was no reasoning with him. You saved us all. I am very proud of you. Your parents would have been proud too."
The queen wrapped his arms around William.
"William, it's okay. Don't cry. We're here, it's okay."
William began to sob.
"It's over," he said, "I did it. I know I am not supposed to cry, but I can't help it."
The queen gently wiped away his tears.
"I understand," she said, "don't worry, everything is fine. We're here, we're all safe."
"You did what you had to do." Said the King, "Just try to stay calm, everything is going to be okay. Everyone feels jumpy when they make their first or second kill; unfortunately killing is something that gets easier and easier the more you do it. Just remember to only kill when there is no other choice."
William sniffed and tried to calm himself.
"Okay," he said, "I will remember that."
Meanwhile, the ark was flying over the ocean when suddenly a giant tentacle reached up and grabbed it.
"What was that?!" Yelled Prince Edgar.
"It must be the Kraken!" Yelled General Graham, "I always thought it was just a legend!"
The Kraken wrapped several of its tentacles around the ark and tried to crush it.
"No! The engines are damaged, we're not moving."
The Kraken pulled the ark underwater.
"Hold on, we're going down!"
Everyone held onto something.
The ark was pulled under the ocean.
"Turn on the shields! Now got into the underwater mode!" Screamed Edgar.
"Yes, sir!"
A force field surrounded the ark and it began to rise.
"Come on, come on," said Edgar, "get us out of here."
"What's going on?" William said, as he was running into the pilot's chamber.
"The ark was just pulled underwater by the Kraken," said Edgar, "we're trying to escape."
"Don't worry," said Madam Circe, "we'll get out of here."
William looked at the view screen and saw what appeared to be a giant octopus like creature.
"I always thought it was just a sailors tale," said William, "But the Kraken is real. We could be in a lot of trouble. If it is able to crack open the ark, then the entire crew could drown."
"We have to escape," said Edgar, "if we can't, then we'll all die."
"I've got an idea," said General Graham, "Hold on!"
Graham pushed a button and activated the engines, the kraken was blasted right in its massive face.
"Did we hurt it?" Asked Edgar.
"No, but we did startle it, and it let go."
"Good, let's get out of here!"
The ark rose up out of the water and flew away.
"We're out of here," said Graham, "we're clear."
"Okay, good. That was close. Get us back on course."
"Yes, sir."
Edgar turned to William.
"We're going to be okay. We'll make it."
"Okay Edgar," said William, "I'll see you later."
As William was walking down the hall, he heard a voice.
"Hey Underhill."
William looked over and saw Amber.
"Hello Amber, how are you doing?"
"I'm doing fine," said Amber, "what are you up to?"
"Not much," said William, "The General just got us out of a jam."
"I see. Listen Will, I met a wacky Foxling down in deck 3, and she was going to try to contact the dead tonight. I thought maybe we could talk to Cyrus or maybe your parents."
William had mixed emotions.
"I don't know. I don't want to upset Cyrus, he was a brave soldier and we should respect his wishes. Maybe we should leave him be. My parents however, well I wouldn't mind talking to them."
"Okay the ritual begins tonight at six. See you then."
"Right," said William, "see you then."
Foxlings are beings that resemble anthropomorphic foxes.
Foxlings are the most popular race in the kingdom, because they are so attractive. They have the ears and tails of foxes, but they are also human in appearance.
Most foxlings are good natured and friendly. They are the only race that can see the spirits of the dead.
Foxlings are a magical type which makes them excellent wizards or Clerics.
Suddenly Graham's voice was heard in the speakers all of the ark.
"Attention, attention, this is general Graham speaking. Due to the recent incident, I have made a few modifications. The outer walls of the ark have now been replaced by a new type of armor plating. This is also a good chance we may be running into a storm tonight so all personnel must secure their gear and make sure all doors and windows are closed. That is all."
William returned to his room.
"I wonder if the kraken was caused the storm. Maybe this is a sign of things to come. I can't shake this feeling."
Spike was still sleeping on his bed.
"Don't worry little buddy," said William, "everything will be okay.