Second Son (The Minstrel's Song Book 2)

by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

  “You do not need to give us anything,” Rhoyan assured him, “and yes, I do insist upon continuing.”

  “Well then, it is my duty to make sure you have food and water for three days,” Captain Murry sighed. “Not that I expect to ever see you again, but I wouldn’t want anyone to say that Captain Murry is not a generous man.”

  “Nobody would say that,” Calla soothed.

  The captain huffed and puffed and growled until Rhoyan thought it might be better to just accept the man’s offer; so he stopped arguing and started making his plans. Using the captain’s spyglass, he discovered a small dwelling about a mile or so up the shore, and he planned to go there first to ask if the inhabitants knew the best way to get inside the volcano.

  The next morning, Rhoyan, Calla, and Dru set out for the shore in one of the small rowboats. Captain Murry had been as good as his word: in the boat they found three sacks containing food and water. There was also a length of rope in each pack and other provisions that might be useful.

  They reached the golden shoreline quickly and they pulled the boat up into the tall grass at the edge of the forest. Then they made their way to the dwelling they had seen from the ship.

  The cottage was sturdy and clean. It had a thatched roof and green shutters on the windows. The yard was tidy and well-kept, bordered on one side by a great forest and on the other by the golden beach. Goats grazed calmly near the house and the animals eyed them as the three travelers approached. A thin trail of smoke wafted out of the chimney, indicating that someone was home.

  Rhoyan led them up to the doorway of the cabin. He knocked on the door and waited. A few moments passed but nobody answered. Rhoyan looked puzzled and knocked harder. The door swung slightly open as he knocked and he looked back at Calla and Dru.

  “It must not have been latched properly,” Dru said with a shrug. “Maybe nobody lives here.”

  “Then who takes care of the goats?” Rhoyan asked. “And who had a fire going inside?”

  They peeked through the slight opening into the dim interior of the house. All was quiet except for the sound of the ocean lapping at the shore.

  “Hello?” Rhoyan called through the doorway. “Is anyone home?” When he got no answer, he pushed the door open a little farther. “Hello?”

  He took a cautious step inside and peeked around the door. The inside of the house was dark and the shutters were closed. There were plates and a pitcher of milk on the table as though someone had been getting ready to sit down for breakfast. He entered the house. He was nervous about trespassing, but convinced by what he saw in the kitchen that someone was home, and he wanted to talk to whoever it was.

  Calla and Dru crowded close behind him and Rhoyan pointed silently at the light that was coming from underneath the other door. Dru nodded and Rhoyan began to walk across the room. Suddenly the world exploded. There was a loud yell and something large flew into Rhoyan, tackling him and knocking him to the ground. He heard Calla screaming as he hit the floor, but he could not see anything in the dark. His attacker’s hands were at his throat and he tried feebly to push the creature away, but it was strong. He was quickly losing his ability to breathe and spots were dancing in front of his eyes. Rhoyan knew he must act or he would lose consciousness. With a surge of strength he brought his feet up and kicked his attacker in the stomach. He heard a grunt and the hold on his throat was released. As Rhoyan staggered to his feet it registered that Calla was still screaming. His eyes were adjusting to the darkness and he could see the outlines of his two friends. They were unharmed as far as he could tell, so he ignored them for a moment and scanned the room for his attacker; but he appeared to have vanished. Rhoyan ground his teeth in frustration. Then something shoved him from behind. He allowed himself to go down, slapping the floor with his hands as Master Yevo had taught him. He rolled over and kicked out with as much force as he could. His kick connected with a crack and he heard his attacker lose balance and fall to the floor with a cry of pain. In an instant Rhoyan was pinning his attacker to the floor.

  “Open the door all the way, Dru!”

  Daylight flooded the dim room and Rhoyan saw what had attacked him. He let go of his opponent and stood up in utter surprise. It was a young man, perhaps sixteen or seventeen years of age. The boy had a look of terror in his eyes and a long scar running down one side of his face. He stared up at Rhoyan as the fear left his eyes.

  “Who are you?” the young man asked.

  “You attacked me, I think I’ll ask the questions,” Rhoyan said fiercely. “Start off with your name, and then you can tell me why you jumped me.”

  “You’re in my house,” the boy muttered defiantly.

  “All right, fair enough,” Rhoyan let the boy go and helped him up. “My name is Rhoyan, and these are my companions Dru and Calla. Why did you attack us? Or do you always attack innocent travelers who knock on your door?”

  “My name is Colas, and I thought you were a seheowk. They are not uncommon in these parts and we have been seeing them growing bolder in these past few months.”

  “Well, you can see we are not seheowks, so perhaps we can speak civilly now,” Dru growled.

  “We knocked and called out,” Rhoyan said, his tone skeptical. “Why would you think we were seheowks?”

  Colas shrugged. “We’ve heard tales of seheowks mimicking human voices...” he flushed a bit. “Forgive me, we don’t get visitors here, especially unannounced ones. The truth is... well, the truth is I panicked. We live out here all by ourselves, it can get easy to become a bit paranoid.”

  Rhoyan nodded. “Fair enough. We won’t trouble you long, we are looking for a way to get inside the volcano. I was hoping you might know a path to the mountain.”

  Colas stared at him as though he were insane. “Inside the volcano?” He walked over to the door that led into another room and opened it. “It’s okay. Ma, Ina, you can come out now; we have visitors.”

  A short woman came cautiously out of the room. She had dark brown hair streaked with gray and a careworn face. She was holding the hand of a young girl. She smiled apologetically at them.

  “We’re not used to friendly visitors out here,” she said. “Forgive our rude welcome. By way of apology, will you have some breakfast with us?”

  Rhoyan nodded and the woman set about the small kitchen, finishing preparations for the meal and opening the shutters to let more light into the house. The girl, about four or five years of age, clung to her skirt, staring at the strangers with large brown eyes. Colas motioned for the travelers to sit.

  “My mother and sister,” Colas explained as he joined them at the table. “Pa was killed by seheowks a couple months ago while out fishing. Ina hasn’t spoken since. The seheowks have never been so brave before, to come so far out of the forest. We’ve been living in a state of constant vigilance and a certain amount of fear ever since. When Ma heard you knocking she was frightened, thinking the creatures had come back to finish the rest of us, that’s why we were hiding, and why I attacked you. I’m sorry about that, by the way, but out here one cannot be too careful, it’s better to attack first and apologize later if you made a mistake.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” Rhoyan said sympathetically, “I assure you, my friends and I mean you no harm.”

  “I figured that,” Colas said with a wry smirk, and then he sobered. “Forgive my sarcasm,” he said apologetically, “living here on the outskirts tends to make a man forget his manners. It’s been a long time since we saw another civilized being, years, in fact.”

  “The outskirts?” Calla asked.

  “That’s what we call it,” Colas explained. “There’s a village further in, past the woods, the only one on all of Emnolae. More of a city, really, though you might not call it that. We live out here on the beach because Pa wanted to get away from the crowds, as if there were ever real crowds on Emnolae.”

  “Doesn’t it get lonely?” Calla asked. “Being away from your people, I mea
n? I can’t imagine living away from the group for so long.”

  “I don’t know,” Colas said, “I’ve never been into the village. I guess I’ve gotten used to the outskirts, and I have my family to talk to, and the occasional visitor. But anyway, you want to get inside the volcano? It’s been sleeping for many years, but it rumbles every now and then, I wouldn’t want to get closer to it.”

  Before Rhoyan could answer, Colas’ mother set some food before them. She looked long and hard at them.

  “Why do you seek the Hand of Yorien?” she asked abruptly.

  Rhoyan stared at her in open shock. “How… how did you know?”

  “There is only one good reason to seek a way inside our volcano. You are searching for something within the mountain itself, something you deem so precious you would risk everything to obtain it. That, or you are very foolish.”

  Rhoyan hesitated. “Perhaps I am very foolish.”

  “You do not have the look,” the woman nodded wisely, “you seek after Lewstor’s prize.”

  “I confess, you have guessed aright. Can you help us?”

  “I can.”

  Rhoyan waited, but when no more information was forthcoming he asked, “Will you help us?”

  “Ah,” the woman said quietly, “will I? That is another question altogether, and you have not answered mine yet. Why do you seek the crystal fire? What is it that you would learn? What do you hope to gain?”

  Rhoyan was silent for a long moment. “At first I thought I only wished to do something with my life before I was imprisoned once more by responsibility, but now I find that I do not know the reason I am here. All I know is that curiosity tugs at my heart and I feel as though I must find this thing, perhaps to prove something to myself, perhaps to prove something to another, I do not know. I have sent myself on this quest without a real purpose. Maybe that is what I am seeking: a purpose.”

  “Perhaps,” the woman replied.

  Rhoyan waited, feeling that it was no longer his place to speak. Silence enshrouded the little group, and Rhoyan felt as though the air itself had grown thicker. In the end, it was Ina who spoke.

  “It is enough,” the child’s voice rang out clear, cutting through the web of silence that had been spun around them.

  Everyone jumped, startled by the girl’s words. Colas turned to his sister, amazement and joy written on his face. The child stared back at him, tears streaming from her eyes.

  “They are not here for selfishness,” she said, pointing at Rhoyan, “he was sent by the minstrel, he will bring the healer. It is enough. Help him find what he seeks.”

  “It seems my life is to be forever dogged by stories and prophecies,” Rhoyan muttered darkly, a frown creasing his brow.

  The woman led them to the door and pointed into the forest. “When you leave our cabin, turn inland and you will find a path that leads through the forest. There is the path, do not stray from it. When it branches off, take the left-hand trail and continue. When the path emerges from the forest you will find the ruins of what was once the greatest castle in any lands, the home of the High Kings. Beyond the palace you will see the fiery mountain that holds the treasure you seek. The way into the mountain is secret and hidden, but I believe you will find it; the door is within the ruined castle. Rhoyan, listen well: cling to your Oath, for truth will serve you well on your journey.”

  “The home of the High Kings?” Rhoyan asked, a little awed by the implications of what the woman had just told him. Then he jumped slightly as if he had been struck by a chill wind. “How do you know about my Oath?”

  “Many things meet here at Emnolae. All the roads of history have led here. It has always been this way. This is the center, the heart of all Tellurae Aquaous. Emnolae is a land that has not forgotten the magic or the myth-folk or our own past, but it is also a land that has also been dealt with cruelly, so the remembering is a torture, an infected wound that will not heal. I am the gate-keeper, and also the keeper of the memories.”

  Rhoyan took the woman’s hand and held it gently. “One day you will be rewarded for remembering,” he whispered softly.

  She looked at him, tears in her eyes, and he saw how much her memories cost her. She stared at him through her tears with a look that could have been either gratitude or madness. Then she patted his hand and kissed it.

  “That’s a good boy. I hope you succeed where so many others have failed.”

  “He will not find what he is looking for,” the little girl spoke again, “not yet. But he will find something else.”

  A shudder went through Rhoyan at her words, but he set himself squarely and led the others into the forest. The path, they soon found, was easy to follow, being even and well-marked; however, the forest was not a pleasant place to travel. It was unnaturally silent and its darkness soon became oppressive.

  “To see daylight again,” Dru muttered after they had journeyed for a few hours, “I’d give anything. I’d make a torch, but I somehow doubt it would do much good in this forest.”

  Rhoyan said nothing, though he silently agreed with his friend. There was something about the darkness of the forest that was more than just an absence of light. It seemed as if the darkness itself was a living entity surrounding them with its presence, shutting out any light that might try to penetrate its being. They could only see the dim shapes of the trees that pressed in on them from either side and the white stones of the path.

  Calla shivered and pressed close to Rhoyan. “I don’t like it here,” she whispered.

  Rhoyan shook his head. “Neither do I.”

  They walked on, setting a quick but cautious pace. They did not talk much, and when they did it was in soft whispers. They did not like to admit it, but each of them felt that the forest was listening, straining to catch every word. It was an uncomfortable feeling.

  “I don’t like to stop here in these woods,” Rhoyan whispered to Calla and Dru as the end of the day approached, “but we ought to rest and eat. I can’t go on much longer without some food.”

  Dru and Calla agreed and they sat down on the path. They all felt far too conspicuous, but they were unwilling to disregard the instructions of Colas’ mother.

  “I doubt we would ever find it again,” Dru commented as he ate, the food making him feel much better about their situation, and therefore making him more conversational. “If we were to wander off the path I mean. I think this forest would hide it, somehow.”

  Rhoyan and Calla agreed with him. Calla glanced about nervously, as though she were afraid the forest might be getting ideas from Dru’s words.

  “Let us hope we have no cause to leave the path then,” Rhoyan replied. “I think we had better get moving again.”

  They continued walking when Calla stopped. “Look there!” she gasped, pointing ahead of them. “Daylight!”

  Forgetting their caution, the three travelers dashed towards the light. In their haste to get to what appeared to them as the edge of the forest, none of them noticed that the trail turned sharply to the right. They kept running straight and then suddenly the light vanished like a door slamming shut. The darkness quivered for a moment as though it was laughing, and then it too became still once more. They stood in frozen silence for a moment, staring about in blank confusion. It was Rhoyan who spoke first.

  “Wh…” his voice failed him for a moment; he cleared his throat and tried again. “Where did the path go?”

  Creeping horror overwhelmed the little group as they realized their error. They stared at one another helplessly, unsure of what to do next.

  “We can’t have run too far into the woods,” Dru said. “Perhaps if we backtrack a little we can find it?” There was a question in his voice and he stared hopefully at Rhoyan.

  Rhoyan realized that his two companions looked to him for strength and leadership. He felt a sudden twinge of guilt for having brought them into this mess. He knew they would never have come on this quest if it had not been for his insistin
g. In fact, he suddenly remembered with a guilty pang, neither one of them had wanted to come to Emnolae in the first place, but here they were. Furthermore neither one had voiced a single word of complaint. Even now, lost in the middle of a malicious forest, they still looked to him to get them out of it. Rhoyan gritted his teeth, he could not be afraid now; he could not let them down, not when they were counting on him to be strong for them all.

  “Courage,” he whispered to himself, relying on his Oath once more. He felt its protection enfold him and his fear vanished.

  The Oath seemed to encompass Calla and Dru as well, they both began to look more cheerful and less frightened. Calla wiped her tears away. Dru stood straighter and nodded back the way they had come.

  “We can at least try to find the path,” he said.

  Rhoyan nodded, and they began to make their way slowly back the direction that they had come. They retraced their steps carefully, but could find no sign of the path. After they had gone a fair distance, despair began to settle down on them again.

  “We’ll never find it,” an exhausted Calla murmured, “we will be stuck in these hateful woods forever.”

  “I don’t understand,” Rhoyan said quietly. “We didn’t run for that long, my guess is that we were only a step or two off the path.”

  Dru half-yawned, half-sighed in defeat, “I think we might as well give it up,” he said rubbing his face with his hands, “and start looking for a way out of here instead.”

  “I think the path is the only way out of here. That’s why Colas’ mother told us not to stray from it.” Rhoyan fell silent, remembering the other things that she had said.

  Suddenly some of her words stood out sharply to him, “Truth will serve you well.” Rhoyan closed his eyes and whispered the word, “truth.” He kept his eyes closed, fearing that it was a foolish hope, but then he heard Calla gasp.

  “The path!”

  Rhoyan opened his eyes and he laughed aloud at the absurdity of the situation. He was standing on the path, he had been standing on it the whole time, but the illusion of the forest had blinded him to it. Calla and Dru stared at him nervously, as if they feared the loudness of his laughter might disturb the forest again.