by L. M. Roth
“They are the rulers of the wild places,” Judoc continued, her eyes once again riveted on the fire. “They once ruled from the heavens but they did what was forbidden and were diminished and fell to earth. There, they were banished to the hills and valleys, the trees and the fields.
“Some say they walk in the places where no man has set his foot, and they guard their domain with fierce and jealous anger, punishing the unwary. And it is they who bless the crops or curse them at their pleasure. It is not wise to stray from the paths, for there are those who have done so; and never returned.”
Table of Contents
Chapter I
The Old Ones
Chapter II
An Icy Heart
Chapter III
A World of Water
Chapter IV
A Father’s Fame
Chapter V
The Healing Spring
Chapter VI
The Choice
Chapter VII
Felix Has a Plan
Chapter VIII
Rivers of Living Water
Chapter IX
The Mountains of Moogotypan
Chapter X
A Rooftop World
Chapter XI
The People of the Forgotten Tongue
Chapter XII
Stairway To the Sky
Chapter XIII
The Temple of the Starry Hosts
Chapter XIV
Night of the Star Showers
Chapter XV
Song of the Siren
Chapter XVI
Isle of the Flaming Flowers
Chapter XVII
The Flame Throwers
Chapter XVIII
Mountain of Fire
Chapter XIX
To Never Walk Alone
Chapter XX
The Sacred Stones
Chapter XXI
The Rays of the Sun
Chapter XXII
Confrontation On the Mountaintop
Chapter XXIII
The Cliffs of Albinium
Chapter XXIV
Tidings From A Distant Land
Chapter XXV
An Unexpected Return
Chapter XXVI
The Grove of Oak Trees
Chapter XXVII
A Warm Welcome and A Hostile Encounter
Chapter XXVIII
A Friend For Cort
Chapter XXIX
A Dark Festival
Chapter XXX
The Circle
Chapter XXXI
The Secret of Life
Chapter XXXII
Farewell To Good Friends
Chapter XXXIII
News From Lycenium
Chapter XXXIV
Encounter With the Empress
Chapter XXXV
It Was She and She Alone I Sought
Chapter I
The Old Ones
A fine mist had settled on the water during the night. As they stored their baggage into their trim little boat, the group of faithful companions paused to prepare themselves for the rigors of the journey ahead.
An impossible task was what the Empress Aurora had assigned to him, reflected Marcus. To bring back the Fountain of Youth, a star from the Heavens, the Rays of the Sun, and the secret of life, she had said. And how, he asked himself, could he possibly accomplish that? Where would he even begin to search?
I hope this quest is more successful than the last, Felix thought to himself. For surely the Empress will not pardon Marcus for a second failure. To fall short would make not only the life of Marcus forfeit, but would mean leaving his father and mother to suffer in their imprisonment as well.
Felix reproached himself for his own part in the tragedy of the Maximus family. If only he had not been so blinded by his own desire for Tullia, he thought. A fool he was, mistaken in what he perceived as her love for him. Yet, she rejected Marcus as well. But for his folly both Marcus and his parents would be safe from the wrath of Aurora. Felix shook his head in sorrow and glanced ruefully at his friend. But Marcus was lost in thoughts of his own and did not see.
Kyrene also noticed the absorption of Marcus and pondered on the enormity and impossibility of their task as well. We cannot accomplish it without the help of Dominio, she thought. Oh, how we need You, Dominio, she silently prayed.
Dag wasted no time on reflection or meditation: he spent his energy in packing the boat with their bundles. Cort assisted him in this endeavor, being careful to do all that Dag requested of him.
Elena watched the Trekur Lenders load the small yet sleek craft, and then inquired of Marcus how soon they would embark. Marcus started at the question and roused himself from his reverie. He looked at his companions as one dazed. He blinked his eyes and brought his focus back to the present.
“Is everything ready?” he asked Dag.
The great man nodded his burly head.
“Then,” said Marcus, “we will depart at once.”
The River Zoe lapped at the boat.
“Zoe,” Marcus implored as they set out, “carry us to where You will. Take us to the lands where we will find the objects of the Empress Aurora’s desires. Come to our aid that we may fulfill this quest.”
As if in answer to his prayer, the boat moved as though gently nudged by an unseen hand. It glided on the quiet river, and then moved more rapidly as it entered the current. Away from the harbor it sped, leaving behind the magnificent city of Potentus, capital of the Valeriun Empire, and its marble bridges and ringing bells. Rapidly the narrow river harbor of the city opened out into broader channels, then gave onto the open sea. Soon civilization was but a memory, as they found themselves on the blue expanse of the ocean, with nothing to obstruct the view of the horizon as far as the eye could see.
As they started to pick up pace, each one pulled their cloaks more tightly about their throats. For the January morning was brisk, and the sailing on the open sea stirred the air around them, causing them to shiver.
Kyrene and Elena drew their hoods over their heads and blew on their hands to warm them. Felix shuddered, and huddled down into his cloak. Dag and Cort seemed impervious to the cold, accustomed to the frozen forests of their northern homeland. Indeed, Dag chuckled at the feeble attempt of Felix to warm himself. Felix scowled, but was too miserable to offer one of his usual witty retorts.
Marcus was too preoccupied to take notice of the sudden chill. It was January when last I set out on a task, and now it is January once more. Shall I find success on this journey that eluded me on the other, he wondered. Shall I fulfill this quest and thus be able to free my parents from their long imprisonment?
They glided through the mist. Marcus could not recall when he had encountered a wall of silence such as met them now. Not a breath of wind stirred; the current alone carried them away by the will of Zoe.
It was now five days since they had departed from Valerium with the admonition of the Empress Aurora upon them. A bitter journey it was in the full grip of winter’s ruthless claws.
The River had widened and they were on open sea once more, with Zoe staying them on the course it had set for them.
“Where are we going, I wonder?” Marcus mused aloud. “Dag, we are heading on a northward course. Are you familiar with these lands?”
Dag shook his head.
“Cort?”
“No, I have not seen these lands,” Cort replied with a shrug of his shoulders. “Or know of them.”
Felix glanced a question at Marcus.
“Are you troubled, my friend?” he asked.
Marcus paused before answering.
“I am not troubled,” he replied. “Yet there is a sense of caution in my spirit. I feel we must proceed with care in the land we are about to enter.”
Kyrene nodded her head emphatically.
“You are right, Marcus,” she said with a catch in her voice. “I sense we may well be heading into danger. Does no one else feel it? For there is some spirit in this country tha
t is hostile to Dominio and will give us no welcome.”
The others looked around uneasily; then glanced at one another.
“Yah,” Dag muttered. “You are right. Now I feel it as well.”
“What, Dag? What do you feel?” Cort questioned him, as his blue eyes opened wide in his anxious young face.
“One of the Old Ones,” Dag answered in a hushed monotone.
“Old Ones?” Felix inquired. “What are they?”
He looked around him on the open expanse of water, alert for any danger hidden in the mist.
“Who are they,” Dag corrected him. “They are those who came first. They own the land. They do not like men.”
Felix reflected on this answer.
“They do not like men, you tell us. What of women? Children? Do they like them?” he asked with a glint of mischief in his brown eyes.
“No one,” Dag said with finality in his deep voice.
As this terrible information was digested by those in the boat they all looked at Dag in the earnest hope he was simply teasing them. But there was no twinkle in his eye to lighten his words; no smile relieved his furrowed brow.
It was Felix who at last broke the silence.
“Well,” he said. “Well, well.”
For many hours their boat carried them along the course set by Zoe. The cold grew more intense, and their hands and feet felt like blocks of ice attached to their cloak clad torsos. Dag and Cort alone felt little discomfort, accustomed as they were to a northern climate. Their fur lined boots kept their feet warm and dry, and their kapakes of bear pelts insulated them well from the frigid air.
Kyrene and Elena shivered miserably in the bitter cold, used as they were to the balmy breezes of warmer lands. Felix, seeing their discomfort, pulled a woolen blanket out of his bundle and wound it around them as they nestled together for warmth. Kyrene smiled her thanks and Elena whispered hers through chattering teeth.
Marcus looked straight ahead and saw what looked like a lump on the horizon. He peered into the distance.
“I do believe I see land ahead,” he announced to the others.
“How wonderful!” Kyrene cried out. “It will be wise to find shelter before nightfall.”
“Yes,” Felix agreed. “I would not want to be caught on this icy sea after the sun sets, for it is giving us the only warmth to be had.”
They sailed along as the land grew nearer. Each fastened his or her gaze on it as though willing it to draw closer. One hour passed, then another, but the land seemed no nearer than it had an hour before.
At last they saw what appeared to be mountains right on the water’s edge. Marcus had never seen mountains of this shape before; for they were not the usual rocky peaks that one thinks of when one mentions mountains. These were neither of a great height, nor were they jagged; but they were smooth granite that rose steeply and were rounded at the top, rather like a hill. Not a flake of snow clung to their peaks nor coated their sides, for the smooth surface made the snow cascade off, leaving it curiously bare.
Zoe carried their boat into an inland cove. They entered it, the looming peaks surrounding them on every side, as if threatening them with an ominous warning for daring to enter their domain.
Still, Marcus and Dag decided it would be a good place to shelter for the night, as the mountains blocked any icy blasts that the night might bring in its wake. They brought the boat ashore, and found a primitive sort of cave formed by a rocky overhang covering a corner formed by two adjoining rock walls. They decided the cave was large enough to shelter them all, so after making a small fire to warm them, there they made camp and huddled down to await the break of day.
They woke to the sound of the wind. Like some wounded beast it howled in the black of the icy night, of the morning that had not yet dawned.
Marcus and Felix had grown familiar with the eerie sound when they journeyed through Trekur Lende the previous winter. But for Kyrene and Elena the wail of the wind made them clutch first their furs, then one another in alarm.
“Is it wolves?” Elena stammered with widened eyes.
Kyrene paled, yet faced the eerie sound with her customary serenity.
“No, it is but the wind,” Felix reassured them with a merry gleam in his eye.
“The wind?” Elena questioned. “Why, it sounds like a thousand devils unleashed from the pit of Hell!”
Felix chuckled.
“I quite like it!” he commented. “It has an air of mystery, as if the voice of Dominio Himself were calling me to the light of another day.
“Therefore,” he stated as he rose somewhat abruptly, “I intend to rise, and begin that day.”
After they broke their fast they ventured out of the rough-hewn cave and journeyed on into the interior of the land. The sun had not yet fully risen, but in the pre-dawn they could still see well enough to travel. They quickly left the coast behind and saw before them a vast forest that stretched in every direction. A footpath was visible although covered with snow, and this they took as they warily entered the forest.
They felt a faint wetness on their faces. Looking up, they saw minute flakes of shimmering ice fall from the darkened sky. As it continued it joined the blanket of white on the ground and overlaid it with a silver shine.
Marcus recalled the rocks of quartz he used to gather as a young boy. The earth beneath his feet shimmered with the same sparkle, as though hundreds of quartz rocks had been pulverized, and flung in the air, only to fall to earth in a carpet of crystal.
When the sun rose, it revealed a world of glittering beauty, as they saw young trees clad in icy limbs, each one dazzling in its splendor, their branches clinking together in the wind made a tinkling sound like rain falling on silver.
Through the wood they wandered. The towering pines were brushed with white on their boughs. The frigid air made their eyes water and their fingers tingle. Here and there sprouted weeds encased in ice that caught the rays of the morning sun, turning the mundane growths into objects of unusual beauty.
A squirrel leaped in the branches of a tree directly overhead, shaking down a powder of white on their heads. The sudden shower of icy cold was shocking, yet invigorating.
Marcus was none too pleased with the rivulets of frozen water that trickled down the back of his neck, sending a shiver through his body.
Dag stamped a foot where the splash of snow had landed in a furry boot. He abruptly stopped in his tracks, and leaning on a nearby tree, removed the boot and shook out the invading stream. Felix laughed, only to stop and cough when the great man flashed a scowl at him. Felix hummed a little tune under his breath and looked straight ahead at the path before them.
Chapter II
An Icy Heart
On and on the path wound, deeper into the heart of the forest. As they journeyed on they gradually became aware of a heavy silence. No breeze penetrated this abundant growth, and all but a few birds had flown away for the winter months. The woodland seemed empty and lifeless in the absence of their song.
The snow continued to fall lightly around them, hushing their steps in the quiet forest. The sky had darkened from the pale hues of sunrise to a soft gray the color of doves cooing in the mild air of spring.
Gradually, Marcus felt a growing sense of uneasiness, like that on the River the previous day. What was it that made him feel they were not alone in this wintry wood? Was there a sound of snow disturbed from its branch where no bird perched nor wind touched? Was it an impression of a downed limb trodden on where no woodland creature scampered on the forest floor?
He looked about him warily and met the eye of Dag, who silently nodded. So he sensed it also! Dag shook his head in warning to Marcus, but moved a stealthy hand toward his long spear strapped to his back. Without a sound he loosened the bonds and gripped the spear in a sure grasp.
Marcus wished he could use his sword, Logos. But he had been warned by Xenon to never use the fabulous sword in violence, and to that end Marcus had vowed. Still, the warrior in him w
ished for a weapon of his own to wield, should the need arise.
He glanced at the others to detect whether they also sensed danger. Kyrene’s eyes had widened and she peered from right to left as if to spy out hidden enemies. Felix slowly stopped whistling as a frown creased his forehead, and his still puckered lips ceased their song. Elena watched the path at her feet and trudged on, numb with cold, oblivious to all else. Cort scampered along as though glad to be in a northern land once more.
Suddenly, Marcus’ attention was caught and held by a vision ahead of them. At first, he thought a mound of snow had risen in the trees to the right. Once his eyes focused through the snow still falling gently to the ground he realized what he had mistaken for a snow bank was a cloak of white fur, covering a young woman who peered out from under the hood at them with eyes of blazing green. They were as deep as the emerald stone, and glittered with the same air of mystery.
Seeing that Marcus had spotted her, the woman stepped out boldly on the path. She was tall, easily as tall as Marcus, and she showed no fear at being alone on a forest path encountering strangers who may prove to be enemies.
Indeed, Marcus detected an air of challenge in her, as though she mutely dared them to proceed on their way.
“Hvore ert pue?” Dag asked her in his native tongue.
The woman laughed in a deep voice that sounded like the dry rustling of autumn leaves blowing in the wind, and evoked the smoky scent released from them when a careless tread crushed them beneath the feet of a casual stroller.
She gave Dag a sidelong glance from her lowered head and smiled at him with a mocking air, her teeth of glistening white revealed through the cherry red of her full lips.
“It is I who should ask who you are, stranger,” she replied in the Common Tongue. “For you are trespassing on the lands of Arvid, son of Arne, and he will brook no intruders on our ancient grounds. You are now my prisoners, and I shall take you to Arvid, who will decide your fate.”
Felix started to chuckle, only to cut it off due to a swift jab of Kyrene’s elbow in his side.
He cleared his throat and wiped the smile from his face as if with an unseen hand instead.
