Bartholomew Nelson and the World of Zathya: The Prince and The Heir

Chapter 13

Bart didn't even realize that he had fallen asleep until he awoke with his eyes staring straight up at the stars. The sky was extremely clear on this night and Bart could see nearly every star. He found himself starting to count them before he realized the temperature was higher than before.

"Why is it so warm," he asked looking around for Jason, but Jason was nowhere to be found. He stood up, almost too fast, and just about fell over trying to re-catch his balance. Jason was still absent and he started to panic a little. Then he saw Charlotte sleeping peacefully about ten feet away, which made him calm down a little. Of course he was still on edge and didn't know why Jason had vanished but he figured that if anything were wrong, he and Charlotte wouldn't be sleeping unharmed. Bart took a couple deep breaths and prepared to lie back down when he caught a small glimpse of the pond. The water was emitting a neon blue glow slightly above the water. At first, Bart was confused and started to rub his eyes in disbelief. "No way," he said walking closer, half expecting the glowing to stop and half expecting him to wake up from the weird dream that he was obviously having. Then again, with all the things Bart had seen lately, a glowing pond didn't seem to be that farfetched of a phenomenon. When he got up to the side of the pond, he knelt down and looked in, seeing fish swimming around with no problems and the glowing continued. He was scared to touch it for what it might do to him but the colors inside the water had him intrigued. As he placed his hand above the water he could feel the heat rising up and touching him. "That's why it's so warm," he said with a smile.

"The water is enchanted," a voice said startling Bart and almost causing him to fall in face first. He spun around to see Jason standing there beaming down at him, soaking wet.

"Scared me," Bart said taking in a deep breath and relaxing. "Where did you go?"

"I went to make sure I covered our tracks," Jason said looking behind him as if unsure if he did a good job. "I do not trust that Mafortian cannot find this place. He has been here before, even though that was a long time ago." Jason knelt down beside Bart and waved his hand above the water.

"Why are you dripping wet?" Bart asked.

"Had to take a bath, I felt kind of dirty," he said with a laugh.

"You said the water was enchanted," Bart said trying to ignore the thought of Mafortian and his men showing up and wreaking havoc on such a peaceful place and Jason taking a bath.

"Yes, it is," Jason said stretching a smile across his face. "Camathlion created this place as an entry way to Zathya when he originally created Zathya. This was the only way in or out of Zathya for a very long time." Bart looked confused at this revelation.

"Wait, you mean to tell me some guy created this entire place and all of Zathya? Who is this Camathlion, a God?" Jason laughed hard at Bart's question, making Bart feel like the question was the dumbest he had asked yet. He frowned as Jason collected himself and stopped laughing.

"I only laugh because it is so unnatural that someone wouldn't know who Camathlion is," he said finally calming down.

"Well excuse me for not even knowing this place or Zathya existed for fifteen years," Bart said sharply. "I think I can get a pass." Jason smiled.

"Indeed you can, indeed you can," said Jason. "Camathlion is no ordinary man, but he is no God. He is a majestic." Bart recognized the name from earlier when talking with Victoria. Jason continued on explaining, saving Bart the time it would have taken him to ask the question. "Majestics are beings of pure energy. We don't know where they came from, but Camathlion is one of them. They have extraordinary abilities. With that comes all the myths as well. Some people believe they come to them in many different forms to guide them. Some have even said that Camathlion himself has appeared to them in the forms of animals or as an elderly man to give them advice or take them to where they need to be."