by RG Long
The elf had been pacing around the outside of the camp. She nodded and brought the sword Ealrin had used in many battles and within whose blade the spirit of an old warrior resided.
“I appreciate you referring to me by name,” the sword said as it exchanged hands. “Do you all have to continue to call me Ealrin’s sword so often when really I am in fact my own individual...”
Gorplin shoved the blade into the ground beside him and turned towards the box.
“Well!” Edgar huffed. “That was unceremonious.”
Gorplin ignored him for the time being. He had questions to ask.
“Why did you asked me to grab this box?” Gorplin asked as he turned the treasure over in his hands. “I can’t see the obvious way to open it. And it doesn’t look like anything all that special, either, other than being decorated well”
Wisym continued her pacing around their campsite. Gorplin assumed the assassin was off in the trees somewhere, scoping out their surroundings.
“All I could understand was that it was a valuable thing to the Garrison,” Edgar answered. “I can’t actually see what’s going on or how they were able to open it, but they seemed rather excited to find it and presented to the lady of the Garrison. Cyna, I believe her name was.”
Gorplin felt all around the box. He could feel no latch or any place where a lid might start on the base and where the lid of the box might begin. There were certainly strange markings all around it. Most of them were runes that he did not recognize, though there were other carvings that were pictures. None of the creatures depicted there were anything Gorplin was familiar with. It was a very well-crafted box, perhaps one that a speaker had sealed shut.
“Bah,” Gorplin huffed, as he sat it down in front of him. “I don’t reckon bashing into it’s going to do us any good.”
“I most certainly do not recommend that course of action,” Edgar replied. “They made it sound like if it was not handled carefully there could do them magical damage.”
“So why are we carrying it with us then?” Gorplin asked the sword incredulously. “I’ve been jostling it all over creation. What if I accidentally set it off?”
“You haven’t so far,” Edgar replied.
Gorplin huffed again, thinking that the sword must not have too much common sense left in its metal mind. He looked over at Holve and the dragon. They had been conversing all morning. The dwarf couldn’t tell if they were getting anywhere or not.
“What do you mean you can’t see?” Gorplin asked the sword. “Sometimes it feels like you know what’s going on before the rest of us do. But I guess you don’t have eyes, do you?”
“I said I can’t see,” Edgar replied. “I did not say I was unable to sense. There’s an important distinction.”
What the difference was, however, Gorplin would have to wait to find out. Holve cleared his throat and addressed the clearing.
“Firag and I have come to an agreement. He’s going to take us to Rerial.”
Gorplin clapped his hands together.
“Aye! That’s good news!”
“Under one condition,” the dragon breathed behind Holve as it flapped its wings and stirred up dust in the forest clearing.
Gorplin felt his face fall.
“I owe my life to a tribe that lives on the middle of the island of Redact. I swore to them that if I ever helped humans, that I would allow them to be tested by them first. If I do not hold up this agreement, they would end my life. And before I would allow that to happen, I would end yours.”
“Oh,” Gorplin said.
Silverwolf leapt down from a tree limb and landed right beside the dwarf.
“What kind of test?” she asked as she folded her arms in front of her chest.
The dragon breathed out a line of smoke from its nostrils before answering.
“Magic, of course.”
7: Memories
Lord Evan had said he would clear his morning to answer Ealrin's questions. In reality it would have been more prudent to clear the rest of the week.
Ealrin had a hundred questions, and Teresa couldn’t blame him. He was trying to piece together an entire childhood as well as, she noted, the events that led up to him flying in the airship away from Rerial that fateful summer.
“Was I being sent on some type of mission?” he asked as the breakfast dishes were being replaced by food for lunch. Lord Evan did not have many servants, but the ones he did possess were efficient.
And every one of them was a Skrilx.
Urt had come down to join them but had refused to sit at the table. Instead, he stood behind Teresa with his hands clasped behind his back. She didn’t quite understand his reasoning, but she knew it had to be hard for him to see his kind dressed in white loincloths and going around with their heads bowed, carrying trays of food.
They were not the Warriors they had seen on the island. Those Skrilx were strong and honorable. The ones who served them now were more alike abused pets than anything else.
“The city was actually under attack,” Lord Evan replied. “It was hard to tell if it was the Court of Three or some other aggressor. There were the metallic birds of prey that I hear you have had experience with, but also a dragon that did significant damage to our towers. We had feared your ship had been burnt and crashed into the sea.”
“And you said I was the youngest captain’s Rerial had ever promoted?”
“That’s right,” Lord Evan said with a look of pride on his face as he smiled at Ealrin.
Teresa wondered how it must feel for the man. He had thought his son had died in the attack. It’s been the last three years mourning him and comforting his daughter. And now Ealrin was back. He was even whole, save for his memories, and reunited with his family.
The experience made Teresa long for her own father. She reached for a glass of water in order to clear her throat from the lump that had formed there. She reached too quickly and knocked over the glass, sending the water spilling and the Skrilx servants flying to her side with towels.
“Don’t worry! Don’t worry!” Lord Evan was saying over Teresa’s apologies. “It really is time for me to be going! There’s still quite a lot to do today. Teresa, Blume, I’m going to send some messengers so that you both can tour the school of magic. Teresa, you said that your own country has an accomplished school for speakers? I’m sure both you and Blume would enjoy seeing what Rerial has to offer. As for you Ealrin.”
Lord Evan turned back to his son, beaming.
“I’d like to bring you to introduce you to the king. He and I have some matters to discuss about the fleet of our ships. I’m sure he would be most interested to hear the short version of your travels. He was very sympathetic to me when you disappeared and I’d like to show him that you are doing well.”
The servants finished mopping up the area where the water had spilled. Teresa looked over her shoulder at Urt who was watching and looking uncomfortable. Something about leaving him here, in this tower apartment with just the servants around made her pause.
She decided to intervene.
“Do you think Urt could come with us?” she asked Lord Evan.
Looking back from his son to Teresa, he took a sip of water from his own glass and set it down delicately.
“Ah. Uh...” he began looking nervous.
Teresa saw him look from Blume, to Ealrin, to Urt, and then back to her. Was he considering something? A sympathetic look crossed over his face and he smiled.
“Yes,” he said nodding his head. “I think as long as he goes with you, Princess, it will be alright. But remember, the people in Rerial are still rather skittish of the Skrilx when they are out on their on their own. I don’t suggest, Urt, let you go very far from princess Teresa.”
The Skrilx nodded his head and that was that.
Pushing back their chairs, the company parted ways.
8: Magic
Wind whipped through her hair as Blume thought it was funny that she was about to see the third school of magic she had ever b
een to. There was once a time in her life when she was thrilled to find out that she was going to a school for speakers at all. It was hard to tell if that was a better time than this or not.
Having spent so long on the continent of Ladis, with its fear of speakers and outright ban of them, the thought of using magic freely in the presence of others had taken some getting over. She knew that, as far as she could tell, the nation of Redact as a whole had a much more welcoming view of those who could speak to the elements.
She wondered if Jurrin was going to join them at any point. He had quickly shown her their three books that he had managed to keep safe with pride. The one Silverwolf had reclaimed and that had shown them where the ancient Everring tree was, the book of spells Jurgen had from his small home in Big Tree, and the newest addition to their ancient texts, a book about the founding of the Theocracy and the demonic influences that had inspired its religion.
Blume doubted whether most libraries in the world would trade every other book in their collection for just one of these three. The book of magic alone had taught her more than any of the two schools she had visited alone.
And right now, they sat inside a sock drawer next to Jurrin’s box of spices for cooking.
Blume felt odd taking the books out to look over them without his permission. Even though none of them technically belonged to Jurrin, he had taken care of them all along their journey. The halfling had become the keeper of them.
Oh well, Blume thought. She would ask about them later.
Right now, she was stealing herself for the journey they would take from one of the giant towers of Redact to another.
The most sensible thing to do would be to climb down the tower, take either the stairs or magical platforms constructed for such a purpose, make their way over to the structure that housed the school of magic, and then climb up that one. That would be sensible. But Rerial had airships. Who needed sense when they could fly?
Blume, Teresa, and Urt stood on the balcony with a gentleman who wore a thick coat with the colors of the nation: red, black, and gray. As soon as they had approached this platform, he had pressed a small piece of rimstone to the wall that had lit a much larger glass globe above them. Blume guessed this signaled to someone out there that they required an airship.
And there were several to choose from.
Now that the morning had begun in earnest, ships were flying all over the sky between the towers. Most of the vessels were small ships that held only a handful of people, though a few of them looked like they could rival Ealrin's broken vessel.
There was only one in the air at the moment that was larger than that. It flew slowly from the military tower to the Royal Palace. Blume watched in wonder as the massive vessel dominated the sky between the towers. Men she could not count walked the deck, balanced on the riggings, and peeked out from ports along the side of it. The flags of the king, which Teresa had pointed out to them, flew proudly at the head.
The magic that it took to keep the ship sailing in the air must have been monumental. How much Rimstone was housed within that military airship?
Blume didn’t have long to wonder what type of magical power was needed before one of the smaller airships pulled up next to their platform. The Rimstone that had been glowing above their heads stopped glowing as soon as the ship stopped beside them. It floated in midair, waiting for them to board it.
“And you all travel like this often?” Teresa asked as she looked down at the small ship.
Blume chuckled to herself. As tough as the princess was, Blume got the impression she did not enjoy the prospect of flying in the ship that was so small. Not that she had ever known the princess to enjoy flying at all.
Feeling brave, Blume stepped toward it as the hatch near the head opened, making a very loud squeak. A man with goggles covering his face leapt onto the platform and opened a door just behind the hatch he had leapt from. He held the door and waved them in.
“Right this way!” he said happily. “To the school of magic, I hear!”
“That’s right,” Blume said as she took his hand and allowed him to help her into the ship.
It was no larger than some carriages she had ridden in, though it much more padded than the last prison cart she had been unfortunate enough to find herself inside. A soft looking red fabric held down by tiny black pins covered every surface: walls, chairs and ceilings. Blume chuckled to herself, wondering if the placement of the pad was to help passengers sustain fewer injuries. The only place that was not covered in the fabric was the circular glass windows.
All of the seats faced forward and there were ropes laid down in the chairs. Having flown with Ealrin enough, Blume guessed that these were to help keep them in their seats in case of any tight turns.
She chose one at the front and sat herself down. She grabbed the two ropes and tied them tightly around her waist. As Ealrin was the only one she had ever flown with, she didn’t know if erratic flying was the norm or the exception.
“Coming?” she asked behind her as she saw Teresa walk slowly onto the ship and Urt following her dutifully behind.
“I think I prefer ships that are slightly larger,” Teresa said she sat down and fumbled with the ropes at her waist.
“All set everyone?” The goggled man asked as Urt sat behind Teresa and took hold of the ropes in his hands. “The name’s Jaxon Dillinger! They’re expecting us, so let’s be off! Here we go!”
And with the sensation of falling out of the sky, the tiny airship dropped.
9: Friends or Enemies
Laserie was unsure what to think of the creatures she had met in the forest. They seemed calm and docile. Laserie did, however, note their large muscles and the weapons they carried with them.
Surely neither of those were for show alone.
Laserie sat on the stump of a tree as several of the Skrilx walked around her, patrolling the area and casting her glances over their shoulders.
She didn’t know if she felt like a prisoner or someone they were protecting. If she was there captive, they were treating her very well. They had allowed her to drink from their water skins and had given her some food to eat. Mostly dried fruit and meat.
If they were protecting her, Laserie wondered what might lurk in this her forest that was more of a threat than they were.
“You say you were looking for an acolyte who came from your tower several years ago?” the Skrilx who had spoken to her first asked. Acred was his name. While she had been sitting on the stump, he had sat down cross legged on the forest floor and observed her. For a while this had made her uncomfortable. She didn’t remember ever being able to stare for such a long time without breaking eye contact or looking away. When she had finally realized that he did not mean her harm or necessarily desire for her to return his gaze, she had relaxed. If only slightly.
“Yes,” Laserie replied, swallowing and looking around the others.
“She certainly passed through the same glade as you have,” the Skrilx said. “Unfortunately, she spurned our advice and continued on alone. I’m afraid to say our scouts reported that she never made it to the other tower.”
Laserie swallowed again. She was upset to hear of the acolyte’s passing. However, there was a nagging feeling in her spirit.
“What is the thing that had prevented her? Why was she unable to make her way through the forest unhindered?” she asked, not knowing if she feared the answer or desired it.
The cat like being shook his head.
“It is a menace we do not speak of,” he said. “A magic of deception and betrayal. We do not fear it, but we also do not engage it unless it is necessary. Your acolyte thought she could handle the dark power without aid. She ultimately fell to its might.”
Laserie recognize that all the other Skrilx scouts had stopped pacing and were now looking at the two of them. They were giving them their full attention.
Laserie reached out to feel the air around her. She breathed out deeply and shut her eyes as she felt the
Rimstone in her necklace glow with power. There was something in this forest, she could feel it. Something ancient and powerful. It was a force both strong and terrible and yet familiar. Like she had encountered it before. Or heard of it in ancient tales.
Laserie gasped as she clenched her fist and opened her eyes.
“The plague,” she said without knowing of what she spoke. It was a foreign term to her, and yet it felt as if she had named the ancient power, she had been aware of lurking around them.
Acred nodded his head.
“Pestilence and disease and death,” He said. “It is an ancient foe.”
The other Skrilx warriors bristled and held their weapons close to them. Laserie thought she could feel the forest growing darker as they spoke of the power that lurked just beyond the shadows.
“And if you have any hope of getting past it into the tower of your kindred, you will need our help.”
10: The Commander of the City
The suns weren’t even up to shine on the group of soldiers who had lined up outside the military tower. Commander Polk walked up and down the rows of soldiers he had commissioned to join him. The markets were going to be busy this morning and he wanted them to be vigilant. None of them seem to worry as much about the threats that happened inside the kingdom as he did. No matter. This was the office he had been appointed to and it was his sworn duty to ensure the safety of the royal family and the continuation of the kingdom.
“Today,” he said as he inspected his troops. “I wish for you all to find yourselves in the dark places of Rerial. Search out the marketplaces and the black markets. With the movement that’s been happening in the Court of Three and beyond, I have to assume that there is a dark plot at hand. The king’s life is in danger. It is our sworn duty to protect him. The only way we can do this is by staying vigilant and showing ourselves to be smarter than those who would lyric in the shadows.”
