A Small Spark

Amaris

Matthias was waiting for them when they returned the next afternoon. They spent the entire night and day traveling to Jasper, and the tiredness of it was creeping up into Amaris. There was a look of urgency in Matthias’s eyes that startled her. Amaris sighed and confessed that they had not been able to acquire the blueprints. “Never mind that,” he said, “we have more important matters.” The fact that he did not care about the item he was ready to pay 20 yars for indicated the vitality of what he was about to tell them.

They entered a small room with a large table. Amaris sat down and looked at him, wanting to know what he was about to say. Damon sat down on her right, Dimitri to her left, their eyes trained on Matthias standing in front of them. “Kane and Shane had been working with Ahab on the translator, as you know. They have been feeding us important information they have obtained. Mostly, they have been working to find Castor. They sent word yesterday. The foreigners have entered Atlantis.” Her eyes met Dimitri’s. He had known this for a day, but had not seen fit to tell them? “Ahab has imprisoned him and his friends.” Matthias’s eyes bore into his, and Amaris knew what he was going to say before he did. She sighed inwardly. “They say he looks just like you, Amaris. You have something to tell us?”

Her head hit the table in aggravation. Amaris could feel their eyes on him, silently asking the million questions on their minds. She had known this secret for a longtime, since the day King Jonathan did before her. But that was a conversation for another time. They had to rescue the Surfacers, there was no question about it. “Where are they being held?” Amaris asked, her head still laying on the table.

“Flykai.” Matthias answered.

“By Poseidon,” swore Damon in frustration. Of course, Ahab had sent them to the highest security prison in Atlantis, the prison that no one had ever successfully escaped from. Amaris left the boys to strategize as she stole away up the stairs to John’s room.

John was getting restless now. He had been in that bed for days, he was getting tired of those four walls. Amaris understood that. She asked him how he was feeling and he mumbled something about being better than he had been in along time When he smiled at her, she knew he was referencing the fact that she was not dead like he had originally thought.

Audrey entered the room with a large smile on her face. “Why are you so happy?” Amaris inquired. To her, there was nothing to be smiling about. The Surfacers were trapped in the most heavily guarded prison in probably the entire world.

“Adam asked me to marry him,” she stated before thrusting her hand out to show her the small band on her left ring finger. Amaris offered her congratulations along with John, but Amaris wondered how they planned this was going to work out. They were being irrationally. How they could think of starting a family in the middle of the war? Ahab was going to find out and have them both executed.

She was in a dream-like haze as she talked about how wonderful Adam was. Amaris was only half listening. Her mind was still far away, calculating the best means of attack on the guarded prison. It was not until John shook her shoulder that she realized Audrey had gone. Her eyes met his. “Where’s your mind at, Mare?” he asked.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Amaris inquired, ignoring his question.

“Yes,” he replied enthusiastically, “What do you have in mind?”

Amaris smirked at him. “I think I know how to get into Flykai.”

Flykai was located on the border of a town called Ponlane. When Atlantis submerged, the city-state had quickly formed into its own country of sorts. Atlantis held many ancient cities as well as many modern cities and towns. Ponlane was one of the first cities formed after Atlantis relocated under the water. In its formation, the city was glorious, holding much grandeur. It was the capital city for a long time. However, when the prison was built back in 1874, the population of the city quickly dispersed.

The prison was moved from the dungeons of the Cleito Palace. Now, it held Atlantis’ most dangerous criminals. No one had ever successfully escaped from the prison. But that was about to change. Amaris was the greatest Retrieval Specialist in all of Atlantis. Flykai’s record was about to be obliterated.

Amaris knew it was risky to bring John along with them because he was still recovering, but that was the very reason he wanted to go with them. He was tired of being the sick person in the bed. So, Amaris brought him with her. Besides, Damon was staying to help Matthias with the technological aspect of the job. She knew he was excited about it, so she did not bother telling him she wanted someone to go along with her.

Then, John said he wanted to go. So, Amaris let him come.

After the destruction of the moon, Keepers flooded the villages and cities at night. The camera in the sun still worked in the night. Meanwhile, someone in Ponlane was working on fixing the broken camera.

Together, Lyla and Damon hijacked the prison’s mainframe. While they had always had control of the cameras, Damon was finally breaking down the firewalls and taking control of the entire Flykai mainframe from the safety of Jasper City.

To protect themselves further, Damon suggested viewing the castle from the forest. Matthias, Damon, and Lyla left for the forest the day before the rest of them left for Ponlane. Amaris told Damon to use the treehouse on tree 28,828. It was closer to the prison, but also safely in the forest. He nodded and left, ecstatic to be back home.

Amaris wanted to go with him.

John and Amaris waited for the shifts of the guards to change from the base of one of the few trees outside of the prison gate. When it came, they made their way to the prison. The prison, like the castle, was surrounded by a murky moat. The water here, though, was boiling hot. John and she swam across in the clothes that Audrey had made. It was meant to protect their skin from burning in light of the hot water. Now, they were huddled against the wall, slowly drying themselves. Hopefully, they would not be leaving a trail as they ran through the prison.

“Hello, Princess,” Amaris heard the familiar voice whisper, she groaned inwardly. He had started calling her that when he put the connection between herself and the king together. It was obnoxious. John greeted Dimitri kindly, delighted at the help they had received. Amaris quietly asked him what he was doing there and he launched into a very thrilling story of how Matthias had sent him to help them. Great. “How much he paying you for this job?”

“50 yars,” she answered. Neither of them spoke for a long while, and that was just fine with her.

“Are you ready?” John asked them quietly as they watched the patrol man walk by. The sun was beginning to set over the mountains. Perfect. Amaris watched the clouds begin to form themselves above them.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she replied.