"I made a grave error young, Braxton Bray. The blood crystal I used to power the seal to Pharark's prison wasn't secure enough. He has already started to feed and gather minions. He grows stronger even as you lay dreaming. If he is not stopped, he will destroy this land. He is in need of power and will use many to gain it. He seeks the Sapphire of Souls.
"You must find and destroy the Sapphire before he gains the power it contains, for if he uses that unearthly gem, your world will slowly rot from the inside until there is naught but despair.
"The elves will point the way."
"Who are you?" Braxton heard himself ask.
"My name was Taerak," the wet, slick-skinned sea monster said. It was the same voice the white-feathered hawk had spoken with. "It was my earthly remains you found in the cavern. A very long time ago, I was you. When I earned my passage, a part of my soul was left behind to ensure that it was someone like you who carried on."
"But what about—?"
The question wasn't to be finished. The terrifying monster already slid into the lake, leaving Braxton struggling in his dreaming mind to make sense of what all this meant.
Braxton woke to Nixy's soft voice. The sun was high over the ship. He could tell by the way the shaft of yellow light coming from the open hatch made an almost vertical, mote-filled beam between the horse stalls. Nixy held out a piece of dried beef and had a sweet smile on her face. He smiled back and couldn't help but admire her simple beauty.
The memory of what he'd read in the journal, and the dream, lingered in the back of his mind. He wasn't sure why, but he suddenly felt wrong for having the feelings of attraction he had for Nixy. He somehow knew they would come to a bitter end, and he had no desire to hurt her. None at all. But to deny what he was feeling in that moment would be to live with a lie, and that he couldn't do.
"What troubles you so?" she asked.
"I had a dream." He looked at his piece of dried beef. "The beast that nearly killed my friend told me to find and destroy something called the Sapphire of Souls. If I do not, and it falls into the hands of the demon Pharark, our world will rot away."
"Pharark!" A voice burst out from the stall next to them. It was Prism's stall.
Before either of them could react, a dwarf was kicked across the pen by the startled horse. The hairy bugger hit the plank wall so hard it shook the whole ship.
Nixy ran to the dwarf's side and found, though he was badly broken, he was still alive.
"Was he eavesdropping?" Braxton asked, trying to decide if he should be angry about it.
"No. He is as drunk as a skunk." When she looked at Braxton her eyes were as full of relief as they were concern. "He must have passed out in the straw."
Dwarves poured into the stable area from their separate pen, which was connected by a swinging door that had been barred shut until then. They were all mostly inebriated, and a cacophony of concern and general pandemonium ensued until the voice of the lookout cut over them.
His call was repeated by someone above, and his words caused them all to heave out a sigh of relief.
"Land ho!" he said. "Jolin be ahead!"
The island of the elves was in sight.
Chapter Sixteen
From just behind the bow spirit, Braxton looked across the rolling sea at the distant speck that was the Isle of Jolin. It was much smaller than he'd expected. He could hold his hand out and make the whole mass of land disappear behind his thumb, but they were still a long way from its shore.
High up in the crow's nest, a man called out directions to the captain indicating the shallower parts of a reef that only he could see. Braxton had been told to avoid distracting the crew during the tedious process of passing over these underwater hazards, but that didn't stop him from asking one of them what a reef was.
It was a little past midday, and it was hot. The steady breeze felt good on his skin, especially when a wave would crash against the side of the ship and send a spray of cool mist over the rail.
"Not much is it?" A deep voice came from low beside him. It was Darblin. The dwarf was pale and had clumps of straw and something dark and sticky tangled in his nest of blue hair. In his beard, which was also dyed blue, there was a long dark area of matted stuff under his mouth. It was all quite disgusting, and Braxton was repulsed by the sight. In an attempt to avoid showing his distaste, he looked back to sea.
"How is your friend?" Braxton asked about the dwarf his horse had mule-kicked.
Darblin spat something large and yellow over the side of the ship. It almost blew back and hit him, but fell just short of the rail. "He will live, I guess.” The dwarf chuckled. "Yeer horse hoofed him a good `en."
"I wanted to thank you for speaking up for me," Braxton said sincerely. "I would have said it to you sooner, but I wanted to wait until you were a little more sober."
"Ah well, yeer welcome, sir.” Darblin raised to his tipped toes because the rail seemed to be at the exact height of his eyes. "I'm sure yee'd have done the same." Apparently, seeing nothing of interest, he lowered himself back down to his heels, and then plopped into a cross legged sitting position. "Listen, ah, Braxton, is it?"
"Yes." Braxton turned and leaned his back against the rail and looked down, but just over Darblin as he continued.
"We must seem like a miserable lot to you and yeer las, acting like drunken fools and all, but we've lived underground all our lives, and all this—" He used his thick stumpy arms to make a broad gesture. "The sky, the sea, and this blasted unsteady boat, hell, everything above ground is hard on our senses. The brightness hurts me eyes, and the openness of it all is just plain maddening. The drinkin' is just a way to get us through the shock of it."
Darblin glanced around as if he wanted to make sure no one but Braxton was listening. "We've come to council with the elves `cause a something is wrong in the mountains, above ground as well as below. Something is stirring up the animals. Things are waking up that are best left asleepin'. My cousin Burglen, the one yeer horse kicked, told me you was speaking of Pharark. What ye know if such things?"
"All I know is that Pharark has gotten loose and is seeking something called the Sapphire of Souls. If he finds it, all will be lost." Braxton wondered if he should be telling these things to a wretched, vomit-covered dwarf, but something inside him made him feel Darblin was on his side. "I, we, Nixy and I, have come to see if the elves will help us locate it so I can destroy it before Pharark gets it. But to be honest, I don't even know who or what Pharark is."
"Pharark is one of the Destroyer's favorite demons, lad. If he is loose, all best be wary." Darblin's eyes looked up to meet Braxton's, and behind all the filth, Braxton saw grave concern in them. "It seems we have a lot to talk about with them elves."
Nixy appeared at the bow. She looked to be holding back a laugh.
Darblin rose to his feet with a grunt and excused himself. He stumbled when he started off and had to run to keep his feet under his head as the boat tilted. As soon as the dwarf was out of earshot, Nixy burst into a fit of giggles.
"What is so funny?" Braxton asked, trying to mask the seriousness of his previous conversation.
"The dwarves are down there goat jousting.” She laughed, and held her side as if she'd been doing so for some time.
"Goat jousting?" Braxton rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Sorry I asked."
"Oh, Brax, look!" Nixy pointed past him down at the onrushing sea. "There, and there."
Braxton followed her finger and saw what had her so excited.
A large, sharp-nosed fish, longer than a man, left the water and flew alongside the ship in a slow arcing leap. It landed with barely a splash and disappeared under the water only to surface again and fly higher and farther than before. In the air, its sleek skin shifted to a bright shimmering shade of blue, but as soon as it went back into the water, it glowed purple with darker blood red stripes reaching from its dorsal line down around its girth. Another similarly marked fish, and then another joined in, and it seemed for a time th
e magnificent creatures were trying to race the ship to Jolin.
Braxton looked to the helm and saw the captain and crew were just as amazed by the sight of them.
"What are they?" Nixy called out, not taking her eyes off their swiftly swimming escort.
"They are the mighty daraphalin, good lady," Captain Pickerell bellowed so that all could hear. "The stallions of the sea they are called. As rare as they are amazing, and said to be good luck for—"
"They are wonderful,” Nixy cut him off. She squealed like a little girl. "Just look at them leap."
"Amazing.” Braxton couldn't help but agree, but he had the sense it was more than Nixy who had stopped the captain's words.
Looking around, he saw a rather large shadow sliding across the sea. He was transfixed by it until it eclipsed the sun for a heartbeat. Suddenly, the shape of its shadow on the water was clear. He nearly snapped his neck when he looked to the sky to spot it.
Some of the crew shouted out concern. The captain yelled out the order to get below decks so loud that it startled Nixy, who was still gawking in awe at the beautiful fish. Even still, she didn't seem to want to take her eyes off them. It wasn't until Braxton said the word dragon that she seemed to understand.
Braxton watched as it sped past the ship, unable to move from where he held on to the rail with a white knuckled grip.
"It is bigger than the ship," Nixy said. "And it is coming back."
"It is alright," Braxton heard himself mumble. He never took his eyes off the dragon's sky-blue colored belly. "He isn't after us."
Braxton thought that if it wasn't for the reflecting glints of the sun on the wyrm's shiny scales, and the shadow it threw, it would have been invisible to them. Its bulk was a deeper shade of blue. Braxton knew instinctually that from above, the color would blend with the color of the cobalt sea.
The dragon was gaining speed and looked as if it was about to swoop right in the ship. Men were falling and jumping out of the rigging. One of them landed badly on the deck near he and Nixy. He was so terrified that he ignored his clearly broken ankle and limped toward a stack of barrels and dove against them for cover. Everyone was scattering and trying to hide or get below through one hatch or another. All save for Braxton and Nixy who stayed at the rail, and Captain Pickerell, who held the ships wheel as steady as a statue.
"If it isn't after us,” Nixy slid behind Braxton, putting him between her and the quickly approaching dragon, "why is it coming right at us?"
"It is hungry." Braxton leaned out over the rail as far as her grasp would allow him. He wanted a better view of what he knew was about to happen.
The dragon folded its wings back and extended its tail into a rigid line behind it. Its head jutted proudly. Faster and faster it came, its massive hind legs easing forward, the claws at the end of each open and ready.
Darblin's head poked up out of a nearby hatch. "The Goth be damned," he said as he saw what was coming and then ducked back into the hold.
Everyone left on deck took a gasping breath at the same moment the dragon dipped toward them. One crewman yelled out and sobbed, and more than one whispered a prayer.
The dragon plunged out of the sky right at the ship, but at the very last moment, and with only the slightest twitch of its tail and wings it swept right over the bow, so close that Braxton might have been able to reach up and touch its belly. The blast of air that followed caused the whole ship to lay over sideways. The mainsail filled with so much rushing air that one of its ropes ripped free with a loud CRACK!
Hardened sailors cried out like maidens. Nixy fell to a crouch at Braxton's feet. Only Captain Pickerell and Braxton held their ground and witnessed the amazing act.
As the ship righted itself, the captain began screaming out orders. The terrified crew seemed sluggish for they were all amazed to be alive.
Braxton's blood was on fire. His body was tingling with excitement. He thought the medallion might be tingling, too. He'd seen every bit of it. He saw the dragon change course and how it had used the ship to keep its shadow from scaring the school of playful daraphalin until it was too late.
The dragon had snatched one of the unsuspecting fish from the air, mid-leap, without even getting its claws wet. And off it was going gliding across the wavetops toward Jolin, where it would probably land and eat its meal.
Braxton had to sit down beside Nixy to catch his breath. He grinned at her embarrassed look.
"What happened," she asked, clearly confused by his excited glee.
"The dragon was fishing.” His grin felt as if it might split his face. "It was fishing for a daraphalin."
Chapter Seventeen
The next time Braxton glanced at the horizon, the distant speck of land had grown considerably. Still, the whole island looked to be no larger than the lake back home. He could hike all the way around that body of water in two long days. He couldn't help but wonder how much of the island that dragon called home. The elves were surely smart enough to live away from the amazing beast. At least he hoped so.
The only structures he could make out were a lighthouse and a large boxy rectangle at the landward end of an empty dock.
The lighthouse looked taller than anything on the island. It was made of stone and mortar, wider at the base and narrowing as it rose. He could make out a man, or an elf, standing inside the open bayed area at the top where there was a lantern and reflective dish similar to the one Captain Pickerell used to navigate at night.
Beyond the lighthouse and dock, the island was covered in thick green foliage. In some places the forest ended, as if part of the island had fallen into the water leaving only a rocky ledge for the waves to crash against, but for the most part, the tree line ran out into the water until only the tops of the trees could be seen sticking above the waves.
He remembered the story he'd heard at the inn back in Camberly. Had the sea risen here? It surely looked like it had. He couldn't imagine those trees growing like that, rooted in soil submerged in salty water. He was aware there were tides and such, but he didn't pretend to fully understand them, but even so, he doubted those trees had grown like that.
Each rolling wave came in and caused all the shoreline branches to bob and sway in unison. The way the branches danced together was hypnotic.
Braxton saw something else that amazed him. There was a cloud expanding and retracting from a long stretch of shoreline. For long moments, he stared at it, trying to figure out what it could be. As hard as he tried, he couldn't imagine what could cause such a phenomenon. Then it hit him. It wasn’t a cloud. It was life.
The sea seemed angrier there, and as each wave retreated from those trees a large hovering flock of black and white birds settled back on their perches only to be shaken away when the next wave came rolling in.
Braxton watched them, wondering why they didn't tire of the repetitive movement. Why didn't the birds just move down the shore to an area less affected by the sea? Or better yet, why didn't they move a few trees inland where the waves didn't shake the branches at all?
His attention was drawn away from the avian spectacle by an insistent nudge from Nixy. He followed her finger again and saw that a dozen or more elven bowmen had stepped out onto the dock. They had arrows nocked, but not drawn, and Braxton had to wonder if the ship full of dwarves was expected or if this visit was a surprise.
"Drop anchor!" the captain called. "As soon as the line is tight, put a rower in. Gypsin, Leory, you're pulling oars."
The elves made no threatening moves when the dinghy carrying the captain and two crewmen bumped against the dock. Captain Pickerell showed no fear when he spoke to them, but Braxton couldn't hear the conversation. Eventually, one of the elves smiled and everyone aboard visibly relaxed.
When Captain Pickerell returned, he said he had no intention of staying anchored at Jolin for any length of time. Braxton was worried about Prism and Bolt. They would have to be lowered, one at a time, with a sling onto a small rowing barge, and ferried to the dock like the
goats were now being done. The idea of the process unnerved Braxton greatly. He didn't want anything bad to happen to either of the horses.
After tiring of his pesky questions, Captain Pickerell ordered Braxton and Nixy to go below and gather their things. They would be transported to shore separately from their animals, and that was the end of it.
In the end, all the concern and arguing was a wasted effort. After a longer conversation with the elves, Gruval returned to the ship. He spent a while arguing vehemently with the captain. When that was done Captain Pickerell announced that The Luck of the Little would remain at anchor. The crew didn't like this news until the captain explained that the dwarves were paying heavily for them to wait.
After everyone understood the agreement, Gruval told Braxton and Nixy that the elves had invited them to council. Prism and Bolt could remain on board the ship, and the dwarves would cover any extra expense Captain Pickerell tried to charge them for the extended stay and the return voyage. It turned out that on the island, quarters were being readied for them all, and after they were settled, there was to be a feast.
Braxton was excited. He and Nixy had gathered their things so they were told to take the next longboat to the dock.
Elves, he thought. I am about to meet elves!
Nixy squeezed pleasantly close to him on the bench-like seat they shared on the longboat. In response to her show of affection, Braxton put his arm around her shoulders and was even more pleased when she leaned into him and put her head on his chest.
"I can't believe it," Braxton whispered to her softly. "Leaping daraphalin, swooping dragons, and elves, all in one day."
"Don’t forget the goat jousting dwarves," she added with a grin.
"I'm afraid I missed that."
"Oh, it isn't quite as gripping as being swooped upon by a hungry dragon." Her tone was full of mock seriousness. "But mark my words, it is quite the spectacle."
Braxton realized he hadn't seen or heard anything from or about his would-be killer since he'd gone to bed the night before. He pondered this as the crew heaved on the oars pulling them closer and closer to the dock.
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