by RG Long
“I’m just what?” Serinde asked, not sure whether or not she was going to allow Erilas’ words to sink into her.
“You’re just angry,” Erilas finished. “And I don’t know what else there is room for in your heart.”
With that, she turned to open the door to leave. Serinde nearly wanted to call her back and question about her intentions. She probably would have.
But the Enoth soldier who stood in the door, blocking Erilas’ path completely drove it from her mind. A fist flew and Erilas doubled over. Serinde made to rise, but another soldier rushed in and threw a heavy hand at her face.
Then it went dark.
21: The Empire of the Sea
The sea breeze bore their vessel on over the horizon. The purple flag of Enoth flew proudly on it and the other ships that sailed behind it. The Emperor's Pride was a fine ship and one the elf in the mask planned to use to regain the favor of the elf he had been mentored by.
He would not fail him again.
Prisoners were being led down to the lowest deck, where the oars for the ship were chained to the hull and the rowers were chained to the oars. He would work these men and elves into the ground so that he could find the escaped Wood Walkers and the others who had successfully evaded the wrath of the empire too many times to count. Their luck was soon to run out.
“No ship is to sail these waters without the leave of the emperor Rophilborn,” he announced to the newest collection of elves who were being led down to the oars. “You are breaking a royal decree and will work in order to pay for your crimes.”
This group was no one special. Just a few male elves and two females. Two of them looked so old that he wasn’t sure they would last the week. Still, he would use whatever strength they had to push his ships forward. He would find the Wood Walkers and utterly destroy them. He would show his master that he was worthy.
He feared no death. He feared no elf. His only concern was the will of his master. It was his only fear.
“How many does that make since we left the emperor?” he asked an assistant with a board and a parchment at his side.
“Twenty-two,” he said, making some notes and scratches on the paper. “Of course, three have died since we’ve taken them down. So, that’s actually a net of...”
“Yes,” he said, cutting off the young elf. “I understand. We will need more.”
“Yes, sir,” he replied, before making another annotation and walking off in the direction of the planning room.
He could see the map of Irradan in his mind’s eye. The south was already theirs. What was left of the forest of the Wood Walkers belonged to them as well. Darrion would soon be a part of their great empire, too. It would not be long before the sea was ruled only by the might of Enoth.
“Captain!” he shouted. An elf in purple with a yellow ship pinned to his coat came forward and saluted.
“Tell me more about the pirate fortresses of the north.”
22: The Master and the Map
“We’re approaching the Wood Walker forests!” came the call from the crow’s nest.
Ealrin leaned over the railing to see what he could of the shore. They had come with Denise along the shores as they had planned. The goal was to locate Amrolan’s master and divulge from him the knowledge he possessed about the Everring Tree before continuing on their search.
Amrolan seemed very positive that they would find the answers they were looking for.
“He is wise and gracious,” he kept saying. “He has studied these things for years without end. He will know where we should go.”
So Amrolan stood beside Denise as she steered them to their destination. The trip had been without incident so far. But Ealrin was wondering how long it would be before the dwarves from Death’s Gate and Elen got into a scuffle that ended up with someone being bloodied up by the other.
“Bah!” Gorplin yelled at them both. “I can’t bear it! Elen, Wisym, I know they’ve said some terrible things, but let it go. I’ll take them downstairs.”
Ealrin turned to see that, as usual, Gorplin stood between the two groups as a moderator. Having the respect of Wisym and sharing the same heritage as the dwarves, he was the one best suited for the task at hand.
Elen threw her hands up in the air and let loose a grunt of frustration. Wisym walked beside her, trying to speak soothing words, but, by the look on her face, she was just as angry. She was just controlling it better. Panto lay on the deck of the ship, observing all of this as his head lay on a bag of food supplies. No one had sought to wrest this pillow from under the bear’s head.
“Think someone will get thrown overboard before long?” Blume asked as she walked up beside Ealrin and leaned against the rail.
“I think they all should go for a dip,” Ealrin replied with a smile. “Then we may actually get some peace.”
Blume smiled, but didn’t say anything. Ealrin looked at her face and saw that she appeared a little gloomy.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, turning his body to face hers.
She didn’t answer right away. Instead, she took her necklace out and began to finger the green stone held by a rough claw. Then a single tear came down her cheek.
“This isn’t all my fault, is it?” she asked, chokily. “Tory and Jurgon and...”
Ealrin put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her into an embrace. They hadn’t hugged in a long time. Blume wrapped her arms around him and he held her for a long while as the ship continued to sail along the coast and elves bustled around the vessel. He did a lot of thinking before he spoke.
“We didn’t come here just for you, Blume,” he said slowly “We came to see why all of the terrible things on Ruyn happened. The demons and all. We did want to restore your magic. I still do. And maybe finding this tree will. But we were going off what we knew from that book. You couldn’t have known we’d be walking into another war. Or that more of our friends would die. You wouldn’t have come if you had known those things.”
He sighed. Would he have risked this journey if he had known? Then again, would he always wonder whether or not he could have done something differently? If he had been stronger, would Jurgon still be alive?
He shook his head.
“Blume, there’s a lot of evil in the world. And at times it seems overwhelming. From what I can see, though, there are also good people who are fighting darkness wherever they see it. I don’t think I’d rather be doing anything else. If that leads me into danger, then so be it. I’ll protect and save whoever I can along the way.”
Blume let him go just a bit, so that she was looking up at him while he held her shoulders. She smiled and he appreciated the warmth that came from her expression. Then she rose up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.
“You’ve saved my life more than once,” she said. “I can’t ever really say thank you enough.”
The spot felt warm where her lips had touched.
“How about we settle for not expressly trying to put yourself in danger for the time being?”
Her smiled widened and she shrugged.
“I’m fairly certain I can’t make that promise.”
He shook his head because he knew it was true. Blume Dearcrest was an adventure seeker as much as he was.
“Prepare to drop anchors!” Denise called over the waves as elves sprang to work. One forward anchor and one rear anchor were dropped into the sea. The ship lurched to a halt and Ealrin turned to see the coast they had settled by.
“Suns above,” he said.
The whole forest was blackened by the fire that had raged through the trees. Ealrin knew that the land of the Wood Walkers had been burned where they had fought, but not that they were this bad all over. Trees were bereft of limb and branch and stood as lonely markers of where a great forest once grew.
“Still think your master is in there?” Ealrin heard Holve ask Amrolan.
The stoic elf’s expression was hard to read. They were standing up by the wheel next to Denise.
&nb
sp; “We have to see.”
DWARVES, MEN, WOMEN, and elves all rowed to the shore. Teresa and Wisym shared a boat with Silverwolf, Elen, and Holve. Ealrin rode with Amrolan and Panto. He figured he had received a much shorter stick.
The bear was quite uneasy in the small vessel and, try as he might, Amrolan had a hard time quieting the beast.
“We’re nearly there,” he said as he pulled back his oar through the water. “Just a few more strokes and we’ll be close enough to get out.”
“Not with all that armor,” Ealrin said. “You’ll both drown.”
After several more moments went by, they were able to beach their boat. Panto jumped out as soon as he was able and sped to shore. Amrolan and Ealrin dragged the boat up past the tide line.
Gorplin had come with the other dwarves and they were the second boat to make land.
“Bah,” the dwarf said as he hauled their boat along. “There can’t be much left in there.”
“Gorplin,” Ealrin said, giving the dwarf a look. Amrolan was clearly distraught.
He leapt onto Panto’s back and called back as they rode forward.
“Follow the path you see between the largest trees. I’m going to check on my master.”
The two sped off without waiting for any further word.
Holve and his boat came to shore with Denise and her elves behind them. He walked up beside Ealrin and sighed.
“Have your sword out,” he said.
“You really don’t think there’s something left in there?” he asked, raising his eyebrow.
“With things like they are,” Holve said, taking his spear from his back and twirling it once at his side. “I expect just about anything.”
The group drew their weapons and began to walk into what was left of the forest.
“I’ll stay back with my crew to watch the beach,” Denise said, pointing two elves north and two other south. “We’ll signal if there’s trouble.”
“Please,” Holve said without looking back.
Silverwolf and Wisym went first, followed by Holve and Ealrin.
“We’ll hear anything before you do,” Wisym said.
“Not that we’ll need to with ten of us marching in there,” Silverwolf retorted. “Follow the bear tracks.”
And so they did. There was no longer any ash in the air, though smoke still rose from a fire some way off. The cold was lessened as they started on the path Amrolan had taken. This fire wasn’t as long ago as Ealrin thought.
“It’s still warm,” he said softly.
“Odd,” Holve replied, but didn’t elaborate.
The company walked through the blackened and burned trees cautiously. It didn’t take long to see that they were passing through the remains of a city or, as the elves had called them, gathering. This one was different than the one Ealrin had seen, however. From Elen, he had understood that these gatherings were mostly just a place for the elves to be. They cut down no trees and made no shelter that damaged the forest in anyway.
But this was different.
Here there were stone houses, or what was left of them. Circular stone walls filled the area. Some of them still had the wooden roof supports that had once held leaves or bark or some other type of material to form a roof. Some of the houses even had little rows of stones in front of them that formed gardens or paths to the door. Ealrin heard Elen scoff ahead of them.
It must be odd to see such things in a place that she thought would be like her own. Ever since she and Amrolan had seen each other, they had been at odds. If this was how Amrolan had lived, Ealrin could see how it contradicted everything Elen had done up to this point.
The houses all followed the same path. Soon they came to what must have been the center of the gathering. They walked into a large circle of stones taller than Ealrin. Their company spread out at this circle and examined what was, undoubtedly, the aftermath of a terrible fight.
Bodies of Wrents and elves alike were strewn all over the interior of the circle. Elves must have fought bravely to keep the Wrents from their homes. But what the Wrents hadn’t killed, they had burned. The fallen were nothing but charred bones now. Wrent and elf alike were turned to bone and ash in the flames.
Blume shuddered and Ealrin grabbed her hand.
“It’s terrible,” she said, her voice cracking.
“And it’s why we have to stop it,” Ealrin replied. “To fight the darkness.”
A cry pierced the air and they all brought their weapons up to defend themselves. It didn’t take long, however, for Ealrin to realize that the cry was not one of battle or fight. This was a cry of despair.
“This way,” Wisym said, indicating a path that led off from the circle. It seemed the fighting here was heaviest as many more skeletons and bodies lay broken there. The group followed her, the dwarves taking up the rear.
The path was straight and led directly to a large, circular, stone building. It may have been a gathering place of the elves who lived here, like a town hall. Crude barricades had been constructed to close up holes in the walls that may have served as doors or windows to let the light in. Bodies of both races lay all about the building. One of the barricades had been torn down and a large black stain on the wall surrounded the opening.
Panto was at the outside of the building, sniffing and grunting. He was far too wide to enter the building through this way.
Amrolan came out from the door, carrying a bundle wrapped in cloth. Tears ran down his cheeks as he looked at the assembled crowd in front of him.
“My master,” he choked, as he carried the bundle passed them all and out of sight of the building.
THEY SPENT A LONG AFTERNOON cleaning up the city. They dug two large graves and buried the elves in one and the Wrents in another. It was hard, disconcerting work. Amrolan instructed them where to dig and where they could find tools to use. Ealrin was surprised to find metal tools of all varieties to do the work. Then again, Amrolan was clad in beautifully crafted armor. This gathering was certainly different than the others of the Wood Walkers. Amrolan was careful to guide them from damaging the roots of some trees and ensuring that nothing was done to hurt the rest of the forest.
Elen was silent for most of the labor. She worked diligently, but kept eyeing Amrolan as he instructed them.
Finally, when they had cleared away all they could, they dug one single grave and placed the bundle Amrolan had carried out of the town hall into it. They covered it with dirt and then stacked rocks over it, as instructed.
When all was completed, Amrolan bowed his head and stood for a moment in silence. Then he straightened up and spoke.
“We honor you, fallen friends and neighbors. Thank you for your sacrifice. Surely you held the Wrents as long as you could. We honor you, master, who was wise in council and brave in heart. I am left alone in my sorrow. Return to the earth and bless it. And may the violence you died trying to stop be put to rest as eternally as you now are.”
He choked a little and his voice broke.
“I thank you,” he managed, before turning away and walking away from the graves they had dug. Ealrin sniffed back a tear. Not because he knew any of these elves himself, but because he had known loss and it brought a fresh sorrow to his heart remembering those who had gone before him.
Amrolan had only made it three steps, however, when the howling began. They all looked up and to the south, the direction the noise had come from. Denise was calling through the trees, “Wrents!”
They ran back to the boats and shoved off as quickly as they could. Amrolan and Ealrin were having difficulty convincing Panto to return to the small rowboat. As they struggled, twenty or more Wrents burst from the woods.
At their side, unnoticed by Ealrin, was Teresa. Her two blades were at her sides.
“Come on!” she shouted at the Wrents as they approached them. Panto roared at them as well. Everyone else had already shoved off and were rowing back to the ship. Ealrin felt like swearing, but drew his sword instead. He had sheathed it
to help push the bear into the boat.
“Bane of my friends and my master!” Amrolan yelled as, he too, drew a sword and faced the Wrents. “Destroyer of forests and family! Come and taste my wrath!”
They came barreling towards them on the beach. Ealrin eyed one and thrust his sword at it before it could use its spear to drive a hole through his chest. Teresa was there and hacking away at the beast before Ealrin even had a chance to make contact. She was a flurry of blows and strikes. Her swords flashed and danced as she hewed and hacked every Wrent within her reach.
Only Amrolan fought with as equal a drive. His was for revenge, Ealrin knew this. What Teresa was fighting for, Ealrin wasn’t sure. But he backed away and stood beside Panto, who roared at the Wrents as they approached. Neither of them got near Teresa and Amrolan as they tore through the fox beasts. Within moments, every one of the twenty who had charged them lay dead on the beach.
Both of them stood panting at the expense of their labor. Their swords dripped with the blood of Wrents. Teresa kicked at one of their bodies and yelled at the top of her lungs.
Ealrin felt her pain and anguish in that yell. Maybe he did understand why she was fighting after all. There wasn’t any time to discuss it, however, as a hundred Wrents came barreling out of the woods and howled as they approached the company.
“We’ve got to go!” Ealrin shouted, sheathing his sword and pulling both of them towards the boat. Even Panto seemed to understand the urgency of the situation. He hardly fought as they pushed him into their small vessel and rowed out to sea. Their ship was still waiting for them, but they had to make it there first.
Several of the Wrents risked the waters and came to swim out to them, swords and spears in their teeth. Teresa hacked at any who got too close while Amrolan and Ealrin rowed with all their might.
