Earth Magic

by Kenneth Price

  Hardly even noticing that their clothes were soaked through to the skin, the four friends sat together on the deck. Aidan mumbled something about knowing what it felt like to have a horse fall on him. Pallas smiled, and Colin grumbled. Relieved at their narrow escape, Elwin leaned back against the gunwale and watched the receding shoreline. Even Colin's horse had managed to stumble off to the north and out of harm's way.

  Feeling that the immediate danger was now behind them, Elwin began to inspect the boat.

  It was the common type of vessel found in Reidh. Like the people themselves, their boats were not the grandest or the most awe-inspiring, however they were, if nothing else, extremely practical. The vessel had a dual purpose. It could function either as a fishing boat or a small cargo boat. Its gunwales were low, standing only two feet above the deck, making it easier to haul in heavy fishing nets. All sleeping quarters were below, leaving the deck open for the crew, fish or crates. From past experience, Elwin knew there would be two cargo holds. To keep the vessel balanced, one hold would be located towards the bow and the other in the aft. In between the two cargo holds would be a small cabin. The boat had only one cabin where both captain and a small crew of five would sleep and eat their meals. These were small vessels, and every inch of space was used practically, and there was no room for a captain to have his own separate cabin. In Reidh there really was not much difference between the captain and his crew anyway.

  A crew member on one boat could easily be a captain from another. The vessel, which Jon named the 'Sea Bird', was twenty-seven feet in length and seven feet in width. Forward of mid-ship was the Sea Bird's single mast, where its rusty-colored sail was taut, straining against the strong winds. The Sea Bird was a gaffed rigged vessel, having a spar that extended the upper edge of the sail out away from the top of the mast. On most spring days, the harbor would be dotted with gaffed sails, but the recent storms kept the sailors at their moorings. With the endless winter like conditions, it was hard for Elwin to remember it was now late spring.

  The sun was beginning to set. Jon was holding the tiller with both hands, steering the Sea Bird towards the center of Owens Bay. They could not see either the harbor or Port Murray yet because both the harbor and town were hidden behind a long sandy spit of land. Along the shoreline, trees grew sporadically. Mostly, the long shoreline were sandy beaches with great dunes which were now covered in snow and ice.

  "Reef in that sail!" Jon ordered. "I don't want her to blow out! And sheet her in! She's luffin' a bit. We're headed for open water boys, so tie down any thin' that's loose. We're in for a real blow!"

  By twisting the long boom, the crew wrapped the bottom of the sail around the boom at the bottom of the mast. Now that the sail was shorter, the boat heeled a little less.

  Aidan, who had his race’s fear of the sea and had never learned to swim, was now terrified. He clamped onto the railing. His white knuckles were as pale as his face. "This is worse than riding!" he exclaimed. "Can't we hide somewhere? We could wait until morning... maybe this storm will lift... I really don't think we should be trying to go out to sea today... Do you?"

  "Now's our chance," Jon answered. "Those soldiers that were chasin' you four will be ridin' for town and be warnin' their friends that you've put to sea. If that happens, those two Strigiol Man of War ships will haul anchor and block us in. It is now or never."

  "But the Strigiol ships will see us anyway!" Colin protested. "Once we round that point," he pointed indicating a snow-covered strip of land off their port side, "we will be in clear view, and it's not dark yet."

  "By the time they see us, it will be too late," pronounced Jon. "The Strigiol ships are faster than us, but she won't be able to get her crew aboard, raise her anchor, and set sail and still be able to catch us before we reach the bay's mouth. By that time, it will be dark. The Strigiol captain is no fool, he won't try to navigate the mouth in the dark and in this kind of weather. She'd never make it. She'd be smashed upon the rocks."

  "And we can?" asked Aidan doubtfully.

  "We had better," Jon answered with a laugh. "Cause that's what we're doin'."

  Jon turned his attention back to his boat. "I said trim that blasted sail!" A crew member leaped into action. Grabbing hold of the sheet that leads to the end of the long boom, he braced his feet against the gunwale. Putting his weight into it, he brought the big sail in tighter. The flapping stopped, and the boat leaned a little more to one side, picking up speed.

  Aidan held on tighter and his pale, blanched skin took on a greenish tone.

  As they rounded the point of land, they quickly saw that Jon had been right. They could easily see the Strigiol ships and the town behind them. The captains of the two Strigiol ships must have been able to see them as well. However, the ship made no attempt to weigh anchor. It seemed that the captain and his crew were content to watch and see if Jon's boat would clear the rocks, or be dashed against them.

  Just as the day was coming to an end and the evening light faded into darkness, Elwin peered off to the east. He thought he could just make out a dark line cutting across the horizon. The rocks, he realized.

  Above the dark line, Elwin saw massive waves... the largest he had ever seen. To see waves at that distance meant that they had to be huge.

  How are we ever going to get through that? wondered Elwin. Then the light faded, and both the rocks and waves disappeared into the night.

  Another night without stars or moon settled over Owen's Bay. The only sound was that of the boat pounding into the waves and the whispers of the hard-working crew. Elwin felt himself slip into the rhythm of the waves. The constant and rhythmic rise and fall of the waves was almost hypnotic.

  "Blast it all!" shouted Jon, breaking Elwin's trance-like state.

  With his feet spread wide so he could sway with the waves that tossed the small boat, Elwin stood next to Jon. From where Elwin was standing, one could tell that the water in the large bay was getting rougher. However, he sensed that was not what was bothering Jon.

  "What's wrong?" Elwin asked.

  Jon pointed off to the east.

  Elwin narrowed his eyes, but no matter how much he strained, he couldn't see what Jon was talking about. "What is it? I don't see anything."

  "That's just it!" Jon shouted over the sound of the wind that was beginning to blow harder. "The lighthouse is out. There is no blasted light!"

  Of course! Elwin suddenly realized, they have turned out the light. Without the lighthouse to guide us past the rocks, they think we'll turn back. That must be why the warships never bothered to chase us. They're back there waiting for us to return! Elwin looked at Jon. He knew Jon better than the Strigiol soldiers did, and he knew that Jon would never turn back. Lighthouse or not, Jon was going through. At best, they think we will be dashed against the rocks. Elwin could not help but wonder if they might not be right. But, like everything else lately, there was no choice, and both he and Jon knew it.

  Elwin heard the rocks long before he saw them. The waves crashed against the spit of land and boomed in his ears. The constant pounding of the waves drowned out both the pounding of the Sea Bird's bow and the howl of the fierce cold wind. The sound became a constant reminder of what would happen if Jon could not keep them off the rocks. Huge waves now rolled in through the invisible mouth of the bay and tossed the Sea Bird about as if she were a cork. Despite the waves that washed over the deck, drenching the crew and passengers alike, Jon was sweating as he leaned into the tiller, trying to keep his boat on course. Since the lighthouse was out and nothing could be seen in the dark, Jon had to steer from instinct alone.

  "There!" came a shout from a crew member who had been stationed on the bow. He pointed off the port side with his left hand. His right arm was wrapped securely around the forestay to keep himself from being washed away as the bow dipped into the waves. He was following the old adage and rule of the sea: ‘keep one hand for the boat and the other for yourself.'

  "The rocks!" the bowman yelled. "T
wo degrees off the port bow!"

  Elwin squinted into the dark. He raised a hand, trying to protect his face from the water that was constantly spraying and washing across the deck. There in the dark, he saw the faint outline of the rocks. With each wave, the small vessel was being pushed closer and closer to the deadly wall. In only moments, the gray boulders that could turn a ship into a pile of toothpicks could clearly be seen. They were too close. The large, gray menacing shapes rose twelve feet above the turbulent green water. The rocks were no more than two boat lengths away. Time seemed to slow. Jon struggled to keep them off the rocks, yet he hardly gave them a glance. Instead, he watched the sail and the next wave that threatened to shove them closer to the boulders. Wave after wave broke over the wall. Spray came down like a rainstorm driven by a fierce wind.

  Every free eye watched the rocks, hoping that Jon could somehow keep them from crashing into them.

  Shouting, the sailor stationed at the bow kept Jon informed of the distance between them and the rocks. He started at sixty feet, and then it went to fifty, and then to forty. Every time he yelled, they were closer. Elwin began to cringe each time the bowman bellowed out. He almost wished the man would stop; it was never good news. Yet Elwin knew Jon needed the information. "Twenty feet!" the bowman yelled. Then suddenly Elwin could see the end of the rocky spit. The dark form of the lighthouse stood before them. It looked as if they were going to just make it. But rounding the point was the hardest and most dangerous part. It was there that they would face the full fury of the storm.

  They started to round the point. Just then, the biggest wave yet suddenly hit the Sea Bird. Without warning, the green water heaved upwards. The wave grabbed ahold of the boat and lifted her up higher and higher. The wave spun her about, shoving her towards the silent dark lighthouse and the rocks. The boat pitched heavily over to one side. The starboard gunwale was buried deep into the wave. Icy water poured over the gunwale and across the deck.

  Elwin was hit by the force of the wave. Losing his balance, he was washed backward. Horrified, he realized that he was going to be swept over the side and into the angry sea. Frantically, he reached out for anything to grab, but he could feel nothing. Helpless, he slid down the deck. Acting swiftly, Colin tied a line around his leg and leaped after Elwin. Elwin saw a blur, then his descent stopped with a jerk. With his leg fastened to the line, Colin was able to wrap his arms around Elwin's ankles. Colin held tight. From his new position, Elwin could look over the gunwale and down at the deadly rocks. The wave had taken them above the rocky spit. Elwin's stomach twisted. He knew that despite Colin's heroics, he was going to die... they all were. Once the wave let them down, they would be thrown against the rocks. They would be smashed. He wondered how he was going to die, there seemed to be only two choices. He was going to be crushed against the rocks along with the boat, or Colin would lose his grip, and he would be thrown into the icy waters. Either way, the end would be the same. In that icy water, one had little time and no chance. The frigid water would kill a man in moments, but in these huge waves, he doubted he would have even that much time. It would only take seconds for the waves to take him down to a cold watery grave.

  Elwin braced himself for the crash he knew would come, but it did not. With an almost superhuman effort, Jon, who had not been washed off his feet, was still at the helm, thronging his weight he pushed the tiller one way then heaved it back the other way again. Like a top, the boat spun and snapped upwards, righting itself. The Sea Bird's bow was now turned out away from the rocks. Then the wave crested just off the stern of the boat, and like a log in the surf, the Sea Bird was pushed away from the rocks. Like a sled in the snow, they raced down the green sloping wave. The white foaming crest danced behind them. Quickly they picked up speed. The wave that had nearly taken them to their watery graves now pushed them away from the danger, and out into the open sea.

  Across the boat, there was a loud sigh of relief. The Sea Bird rose upon the next wave, and the crew saw they were clear of the rocks. The breakwall and lighthouse were now off their stern, then the Sea Bird dove into the next mountain of water, the spray was everywhere, but Jon held the boat on course, and the small vessel rose up upon the next wave. Letting go of Elwin's ankles, Colin rose to his knees. Elwin looked up at him.

  "Thank you! You... saved my life, Colin!"

  "It is a vassal’s duty to protect his Lord."

  Elwin sighed. It was just like Colin to reduce his heroics to that of duty. At times Colin was too much the Ceredigion lord. However, there was pride in Colin's eyes; pride of saving both his prince and his friend's life. Elwin smiled and slapped the big man on the shoulder.

  "Thank you, all the same."

  "Look!" a voice cried. It was Pallas.

  Elwin twisted his neck to look back towards the breakwall. On the top of one large boulder stood a dark robed figure. Blood red robes whipped and snapped in the gale-force winds, but not a drop of water touched the Red Robe. Elwin gulped as he felt the eyes of the Red Robe upon him. Elwin remembered the wave that had nearly killed them, and he knew without a shred of doubt that it had been more than the wind that had created the wave; much more. It was impossible for someone to have been standing out there. The waves should have swept him away, but each wave; as if it loathed to touch the Red Robe, parted leaving him as dry as if he were miles from any water.

  The boat dove down into another watery valley, and when she crested the next wave, the Red Robe was gone as if he had never been there. Without a word, the crew turned from the impossible vision, hoping it had not really been there.

  Though the waves were just as big out at sea, they now seemed smaller. The danger of rocks and the robed figure were lost to the darkness behind them. Jon now followed a new course that took them out to sea.

  After a few hours of battling the storm, the winds suddenly decreased and the waves died down into gentle rolling swells. The sky cleared and stars that they had not seen in a long time dotted the night sky. Brilliantly the bright stars stretched from horizon to horizon. It was as if the storm only surrounded Reidh County and did not extend out to sea more than a dozen miles.

  Elwin stared at the sky. A warm breeze blew in his face... the warmest breeze he had felt since he left the Murray Keep. That already seemed like a long time ago. Elwin loosened his cloak and let the warm night breeze begin to dry his clothing. He took in a long deep breath, letting the warm breeze, the stars, and the gentle rolling of the sea eased his tension. He almost felt happy.

  Helped by Pallas and Colin, Aidan was eased down through a hatch and into the cabin below. Colin lifted Aidan onto a narrow bunk, and Pallas gave him a drink, telling him that it would make him feel better. Aidan moaned and claimed that he wanted to die. Soon the drugged liquid took effect, and the golden-locked Elf fell off to sleep. Leaving Aidan to get his rest, Colin and Pallas returned to the deck and joined Elwin, whom they found staring out at the night sky.

  "Wow!" breathed Colin, "I never thought there could be so many stars!"

  "It is like this at sea," replied Pallas. "Once you are away from the lights, trees, and hills of the land, the skies come alive.”

  "Look," Pallas pointed to the north. A part of the sky glowed with streaks of red, green, and white. The colors waved and shifted like ghosts that drifted on the warm night air.

  "The gods are givin' us a light show."

  Turning his head, Elwin recognized Jon's deep, gravelly voice.

  The big captain, having given the tiller over to one of his crew members, took a seat on the edge of the gunwale. He too looked at the strange and mysterious shifting lights. "Those are the Northern Lights,” Jon went on. “Some say they are a sign of good luck, and others say it foretells of dangers to come. Maybe a little of both. Aye?"

  "I have heard," commented Pallas, "that in Aleach they say the lights are the ghosts of the dead and will reach down and steal the souls of the living."

  "I think the nomads of Aleach are overly concerned with the dead,"
said Elwin, thinking of what he had learned from the monastery's library. Aleach was a harsh land of grasslands that sweltered in the summer and froze in the winter. The high grassy and arid lands of Aleach were beyond the kingdoms of Kambrya and were inhabited by fierce nomadic and rather superstitious people. It was also where Elwin was going. In Aleach, he would find the Woods of the Mist and the home of the Guardians of Light. According to Elwin's research, in the heart of Aleach's expansive grasslands there was a forest surrounding a single mysterious mountain. For religious reasons, it was a mountain and forest that no one in Aleach ever visited. It was considered a sacred place in the Aleach belief system. According to Elwin's readings, the mountain had once been a volcano but now was dormant. It was on that mountain that the young prince believed he would find Leina, his sister. Count Dovan had wanted to ship Elwin off some place safe, but Elwin was determined to go after his sister.

  Jon shrugged his shoulders, "Everybody has their own stories." He looked up at the shifting colors of the aurora. "But I prefer to see them as a sign of luck. At sea, one needs all the luck one can get."

  Colin leaned against one of the stays that held the mast in place. "All I can say is that it is beautiful, and it's great to be away from that storm."

  Elwin could not help but smile. It seemed so out of place for the big square faced Colin to speak of beauty. It was kind of like a Troll talking about his rose garden.

  "Never seen anythin' like it... that storm, I mean," Jon stated. "Almost unnatural, it was."

  "Almost," Elwin echoed, thinking of the Red Robe but he did not want to talk about him.

  He did not want to even think about him, and he hoped no one else would either.

  "I did not think your small boat could take those waves," said Colin. "They were so big."

  "It was her size that saved us," claimed Jon. "We were small enough to fit between those waves. A larger vessel would have been twisted apart trying to withstand the force of two or more waves at the same time. We did not have to withstand the force. All we had to do was to go with it. It be the smallness of Sea Bird that saved us, my young man. That and a little luck."