Chapter 15: The Light of Aerynon
Samantha is now outside, being guarded by ten Knights of the Old Order (who are kids and teens, remember), while several look out from tree branch perches.
As the sun rises, Sam starts to miss New Orleans, which had been destroyed by a hurricane recently. In real life, as well as in the book.
Donum (the sixteen-year-old high ranking Knight) gives Sam the Kylanthian Cuff (the lightsaber), while muttering that it's a waste of his time. Sam jokes that she would probably suck at using it anyway. But Donum says, "Orders are orders."
Sam's turn to use the sci-fi weapon nearly kills her teammates:
A hero in the making, people.
Whose idea was it to put little kids in charge of a war?
Donum begins training Sam.
Sam does just that, and is told that her performance is "average". After all, "this is the Xanthium Blade." I actually just quoted his dialog verbatim right there. I guess the implication (since he's certainly not making it explicit) is that this blade is special, and knowing the basics isn't good enough for someone who'd wield such a special blade.
Hey, you gotta give Samantha credit. She knows she sucks at this.
Donum doesn't find that funny, and soon they take to sparring. Eventually, Sam gets exhausted and says she's not cut out for this, but Donum tells her that getting used to fighting is a pretty important part of, well, being a fighter.
Yeah, Samantha Stone is a spoiled child because she's never had to fight in a war before. Damn, I guess that means that every elementary schooler in the US must be spoiled if they didn't grow up in the projects and learn how to fight. Hell, nearly the whole world is spoiled then!
Sam suddenly starts to get really good, because she's the hero and it's that kind of story.
Several Knights of the Old Order chuckled. Donum, too, finally laughed.
Sam picked up her face, spit out some dirt, and asked, “Are you sure you guys got the right Samantha Stone?”
Hey, if she got spectacular that quickly, well, that's Mary Sue power. So yeah, I think they got the right Samantha Stone.
Chapter 16: The Raptaurus
Now it's time to practice riding kallions. You know, those flying horse-like things.
Arstaef (who's Sam's age) continues to practice as Thelwyne (also ten) watches.
Thelwyne then informs Sam that Malachi the parrot said that her dad wasn't very nice. Considering how Malachi talks, I wonder how he relayed that information. Maybe he said something like "Sam dad! Sam dad! Mean guy! Mean guy!"
Then Sam finally gets around to realizing how little a lot of this story is making sense, and asks one of the vital questions:
“Aerynon is an island north of Bimini,” Thelwyne explained.
It is? See if you can find it.
“Your world only sees one dimension. We’re in the second dimension.”
Okay, so that's more of an explanation. But Sam doesn't understand this "dimension" thing.
“Oh, right, physics. See, I’m only in sixth grade. We get to that in seventh.”
I do question a ten-year-old being in sixth grade. Apparently Sam really is a Mary Sue.
“Yeah.”
“They just passed through a portal into this dimension.”
So that explains it! So that means we have lots of lost pilots and their passengers/crew stuck here in Aerynon. I bet most of them are dead by now.
“In our case, your Darwin was wrong. We are descended from there.” Thelwyne pointed to the sky. A bright star outshone even the sun. A pinprick of light visible even against a white sky. “Argonon. Many years ago, our ancestors formed a colony here.”
Lol, so Aerynonians, who look exactly like humans (although racially are said to be Caribbean in appearance) aren't actually humans?! So Sam's not a human? Or a half-human half-Aerynonian? Nothing really up to this point implied that these people were anything other than human beings who just lived in another world. But apparently no, they're like elves or something - human-like, but not technically human. I guess.
And apparently they descended from space. So how did they get there in the first place? Did they just come into being, or did they evolve up there (thus making Darwin right)?
Sam asks about her dad being human, and she's told that it remains to be seen if being half-human will be a source of strength, or if it'll be her Achilles heel. Which possibly means that these Aerynonians, being technically not human, grow and develop very differently from us regular humans. That might explain why so many kids are in charge of important things!
But hey, there's always the possibility that Samantha being a Mary Sue, her human side will actually make her special rather than a wimp by their standards. After all, look how quickly she learned how to handle the notlightsaber, and the kallion!
Suddenly, a screeching raptauras, similar to a prehistoric pterodactyl, broke through the surface of the ocean and flew toward them. Covered in copper-colored scales, the creature had a forty foot wing span, twenty inch claws, and a twenty-four inch narrow beak.
So now they have not only their own version of humans, and of horses, but also of pterodactyls. Which haven't gone extinct apparently.
Thelwyne and Arstaef leap into action, and tell Sam to run. Sam "runs" by tripping and falling behind some boulders. Pathetic human.
The two have a big fight with the beast, attempting to lasso its feet, and Donum shows up and starts shooting. Thelwyne joins in the "bullet assault" (exact words), and the pterodactyle-like creature escapes by diving beneath the surface of the water.
I guess this world's birds are different.
After the fight, Thelwyne and Arstaef have a brief chat.
“It weakens every day it seems,” Thelweyne replied.
“I saw yours flicker.” “Nearly (hiccup) lost it completely this time (hiccup),” he said.
Funny, I thought being afraid was supposed to cure your hiccups!
Samantha decides to then tell them about the Mermaid's Quest.
“Gwenyth came to see me last night.” “You saw the keeper of the Light of Aerynon?” Thelwyne asked. Sam nodded.
I guess Sam must indeed be special if that mermaid chose her! Sam shows the amulet that she's wearing and points out that the mermaid she saw looks just like the one on the amulet. Wow. Of course that amulet would turn out to be special.
Sam explains that the mermaid told her to find the Light of Aerynon, but of course she has no idea what to look for or where to start.
“Each (hiccup) cuff contains a small piece of the whole. This is what you’re looking for. Only it’s much larger.”
Sam looked down at the tiny jewel in her hand. It was red and contained a strange glow from deep within. Instantly, she knew exactly where she had seen the Light of Aerynon before and who had it. “Oh no,” she said. “I am definitely not getting involved in this.”
Ohhh shit, foreshadowing!
