His words reminded the other companions of their remaining plight. Petrow voiced his thoughts, “You think we can somehow do anything in regards to that ship that brought them here? I don’t see how we could steal it.”
“Steal it?” Salgor questioned, “Do you know how to steer it o’ work the sails?”
Cat, Trestan and Mel got to their feet and looked down at their two companions below as the conversation continued. Trestan called down to the dwarf, “None of us here really know how to operate a ship do we? Certainly it is too big for us to even try. What else could we do?”
Salgor grinned and hefted his axe. “Well now, help out an aging dwarf with his memory.” From beneath the beard came a toothy smile, minus one tooth. “Isn’t this the same ship o’ mercenaries and sailors that we already beat up once? How many o’ them men did we leave lying behind o’ that bluff? Didn’t we just kill o’ capture all of their big, bad bosses today?”
Trestan and Cat nodded, already seeing the dwarf’s reasoning, “So we just walk down there like we own the place, and make whatever demands that we want. I’ll walk in there with my axe; Mel can take his wand…”
“The wand ran out of power. It’s nay good anymore.”
Salgor looked to Mel for a moment before replying, “Well, they don’t know that do they? Just walk around with a stick and wave it at people occasionally, they’ll jump to obey you. Hmm, it would help if we could offer a bribe as a reserve plan.”
Petrow continued rummaging through a bag when he responded, “Savannah had a good amount of coins and jewels on her. She won’t protest while we keep her tied up.”
Trestan spoke as well, “I admit, I took Bortun’s gold pouch as well. I had nay qualms about that one. Felt heavy but I didn’t count it yet.”
Mel and Cat shared a smile. Cat said, “Loung Chao carried a fair amount of wealth as well. I guess none of them trusted their goods to those sailors while stepping onto an island.”
Salgor chuckled, “Am I the only one that hasn’t looted my opponent yet? Anyways, I believe we have all we need to bully o’ buy our transport back to the mainland.”
“Whoa!”
Everyone looked over to Petrow. The young handyman stared wide-eyed into a large bag. The young handyman looked up at the sets of eyes that were on him, and he smiled a cocky smile back at them.
“I have a question,” he began to ask. “How many stones did we set out to retrieve?”
All of his companions held up two fingers, though it was Cat that responded, “Two. One stolen from Troutbrook, the other stolen from the mage guild in Orlaun.”
Petrow pointed across the floor at the relic stone that had been knocked out of Revwar’s hands when Trestan threw the disk. It rested intact and unbroken on the throne room floor.
“That’s one,” Petrow said.
He then reached into the bag and pulled out another greenish stone. White markings adorned its surface, appearing much like the first one although slightly different.
“Two.”
Petrow set the latest stone aside, and reached into the bag once more. As he pulled something forth from the bag, he upended it to show that nothing else remained hidden inside. Yet there in Petrow’s hand was something similar yet different from the original two.
“Three!”
Petrow held the third relic stone, wrapped in some kind of material. Something leathery and adorned with strange markings wrapped around the stone and obscured most of it from view. The material’s writing resembled Elvish markings.
While the others stared in awe, Cat put forth a suggestion, “One of those could be a fake. They had used fakes to replace the real stones at Orlaun and your village.”
Petrow shook his head, “This one with the strange wrapping did not come from our village, and Korrelothar did not mention anything in regards to their stone having a covering with writing.”
The blue-eyed youth looked to the sigils and inscriptions marked into the floor. Mel had shared with the others that the wizard intended to summon some kind of demon. The companions went silent as they considered the third stone as well as the motives that might explain any reason that a demon might be involved. It seemed that they had not solved all the mysteries regarding the theft.
* * * * *
The river opened up, giving him a view of a large lake at the base of some steep cliffs. The evening sunlight shone with a red hue across the lines of the ship, giving it the appearance of red sails. Trestan looked over the edge of the bow, watching the keel of the Silver Trident as it sliced through the calm waters.
Soft footfalls approached from behind. He turned, and was pleasantly surprised to see Cat. She put on a smile for him, “You were maybe expecting one of the crew to put a knife in your back?”
“Nay, they won’t try that here. If they planned to try anything against us, they would have done it by now. As it is, I think they were happy to be rid of the other band. Once we dock at Barkan’s Crossing we will leave them, and they will be in a good place to pick up a profitable cargo to take anywhere. Besides, despite their earlier anger and resentment towards us, they liked the gold we gave them and the pipe weed Mel shared.”
Trestan looked beyond Cat to the deck of the ship. The crewmates made ready to drop anchor in the nearby port. Salgor oversaw them and shouted a few words as they went about their tasks. The dwarf had shared drinks and tales with the sailors, but he made it clear he was in charge right from the start. Given the fighting ferocity of the dwarf that they witnessed during the bluff battle, none of the sailors argued the point. Next to the dwarf, Mel smoked contentedly on his pipe.
Trestan looked back at Cat, extending an arm around her waist. The half-elf allowed him to pull her close, and together they stood on the bow of the ship. Trestan and Cat spent a lot of the sea voyage in private conversations, as romantic bond began forging them together.
As they looked over the lake, Cat asked Trestan, “I still worry about the outcome of that fight. I’m troubled that this isn’t over yet.”
Trestan nodded in agreement. “Aye. I’m worried as well that they seemed to disappear on us.”
Trestan and Cat relived the memories of when they left the keep behind them.
Petrow was looking through the hole in the floor, searching for something in the cellar below. “Did Revwar look dead when he fell down here?”
The others rushed up behind him. Mel, Salgor, Cat and Trestan stood together as they stared down. They could see the dark red stains of blood on the pile of stone, but the elf wizard was no longer laying there.
Salgor looked ready to leap into the cellar. “He isn’t getting away! I’m going to kill him twice over if I have to!”
“Wait,” Cat held out a hand to stop the dwarf from plunging into the hole. “We barely survived the fight, and our escape plan is based on intimidating the crew of that ship to accommodate us. Let’s find that cleric and take her with us if we can, but now that we have the relics I’m not about to have us risk our necks again!”
Salgor’s argument was pushed aside as the companions raced into the cellar behind Petrow’s lead. The young handyman brought them to the where he had tied up the cleric…but the door to that room stood wide open. The cloth gag was visible where she had been laying, but there was not even evidence of the leather bonds which had kept her prisoner. Just like wood, leather was also a piece of a once-living creature, and well within her goddess’ influence. Once her gag came off, whether she had removed it somehow or Revwar had gotten to her first, getting rid of the leather bonds was as easy as a prayer.
Salgor desired to hunt them down and spill more blood, but Cat would not let him lead them into another fight. The half-elf spoke logically to all of them. “It is more important that we get the stones and ourselves to the ship and away from this island. Let Revwar and Savannah worry about how they will get off of an island in the middle of nowhere. As for us, we did what we could, and we took back what they stole. I doubt even Savannah could restore Loung Chao or Bortun to li
fe, and I sincerely doubt they have another way off the island since they needed the boat in the first place.”
Trestan and Cat let those memories run through their minds again, anxious about the implications if Savannah and Revwar ever got off that island. There had been no sign of the two troublemakers during the companions’ escape to the shore and the ‘negotiations’ with the sailors for passage back to the mainland.
Cat sighed, “Well, things went better than expected, considering everything that went wrong.”
Trestan hugged her close, “We survived this far, and that’s important. I didn’t expect any of us to come out of this unscathed. I’m looking forward to going home again, and seeing what else the future holds for me.”
“If we have a future.”
Trestan raised his eyebrows, and she continued. “Well, there is the small matter of explaining to Korrelothar why his rare flying machine left with us and why we walked back under our own feet.”
Trestan rolled his eyes and groaned. “I don’t look forward to that meeting.”
Together they lingered, looking across the lake. Standing together with arms entwined around waists, they were comforted by the closeness they had found in each other. The two of them looked forward to the chance of getting a warm bath in one of the inns in Barkan’s Crossing. Even so, Trestan admired a slight scent of perfume coming from Cat’s hair, and he found himself stroking his fingers through her raven strands. The overland journey from here to Troutbrook promised to be an easy one compared to the walking and fighting that had gone on before. The young man looked forward to one last road before arriving home again.
Cat interrupted his thoughts. “What do you plan to do now? You pledged service to Abriana, and I assume you aren’t going to turn back on that vow?”
Trestan pondered a hidden motive behind her question. It was a thought that had been on his mind throughout the boat trip. “I won’t turn back on that vow, I can’t.”
Trestan turned to look directly at Cat. “I realized this vow doesn’t bind me to anything that I don’t wish…that revelation came to me even as you seemed to be dying in my arms. Through Abriana, I can help make my own hopes and dreams come true. Even more than that, I can work to help others achieve what they love. I don’t know what path lies before me in her service, nor do I know where to start, but I am committed to traveling wherever she guides me. I will have to study and train, and that could take some time. Maybe even a few years.”
Cat did not reveal any emotion behind her eyes. The woman turned to look once again at the distant shoreline. “There is a seminary in Kashmer devoted to her. I’ve seen it many times when I traveled through there.”
Trestan nodded, “Then that would be a good place to start.”
He too began to look across the water, as Cat spoke again. “How soon will you go there?”
Trestan shrugged. The new turn that his life was taking left him unsure about many things in regards to his future. He found that he looked forward to this new change to his life, yet at the same time he was delving into the unknown.
“I won’t be leaving right away, I know that,” Trestan said. “I plan on spending some time in Troutbrook with my father. He will likely be behind on chores and work, so I should help him around the smithy. I don’t know what ramifications we will face for stealing and losing Dovewing, so I don’t know what punishment we will face for that. I also…”
Trestan hesitated a bit before speaking again, “Please tell me you will stick around for a bit before you do any more traveling.”
The arm wrapped around his waist gave him a reassuring squeeze. “I don’t have any reason to move on anytime too soon. I’m in nay hurry to leave.”
“Good,” Trestan shifted his feet, uncomfortable that his next words might not come out right. “I still plan on making you a little gift. I also…want to spend more time with you.”
They held each other close, standing on the bow of the ship as it sailed closer to the lower harbor of Barkan’s Crossing. Trestan and Cat enjoyed the vista presented before them. Rising above them, almost blocking out the setting sun, the silhouette of the town settled around the top of the ridge. The river from the mountains spilled over the ridge as it had for centuries, cascading down the rock face into the far end of the lake. The few clouds in the sky revealed pink highlights. The red rays of the sun sent colored sparkles through the spray of the waterfall. The water seemed to be mixed with sparks as it thundered down. As the water moved across the lake and out towards the sea, it reflected the colored sky as the bow of the Silver Trident sliced a pathway along its surface.
Cat glanced at Trestan out of the corner of her eyes. The young man did not seem like the same village boy that once offered to treat her to drinks. The young, scraggly mustache did not seem any different, and Trestan still had a few black flecks of soot from the smithy embedded in his fingers. Despite these similarities, this young man had grown and changed. Gone were the rope belt and patched trousers, the uncertainty, and some of his youthful innocence. In many ways he remained a simple man, straightforward, true and honest even after the dangers of the road. Now Trestan stood straighter, ready to take the destiny of a paladin. He bore scarred and dented armor, and his countenance revealed a new reservoir of strength that was hard to scour in the face of danger. The fine elvish blade slung over his back perched ready to defend any friend, and yet the man had grieved for at least one of those enemies taken by that blade. His gaze looked at the waterfall before them with a mixture of that youthful yearning coupled with the beginnings of new wisdom. Trestan had become something more than the young, poor man she had first known.
Cat leaned in close to him as he turned his remarks towards the scene before them. “It’s a beautiful sight.”
Cat couldn’t help but be inspired to borrow and modify one of Trestan’s own phrases, spoken right after the battle on the bluff. “I didn’t expect to live long enough to see this sunset.”
CHAPTER 29
The crew of the Silver Trident did not attempt any violence upon the party before docking at Barkan’s Crossing, though many unfriendly comments were muttered. The band of friends left the ship without incident. The crew did not intend to return to the island, thinking Revwar and his accomplices had perished. Although Revwar had flashed gold to the original captain of the ship, the real payment had been the quiet assassination of the same captain for the benefit of the first mate. This left the ship’s coffers low on funds. The crew of the ship proved eager to leave the whole affair behind them and pick up trade goods again now that they were in a good port.
The companions ventured with good spirits through Barkan’s Crossing. The long adventure finally seemed over, any weight lifted from their shoulders. The group once again took up rooms at the Eagle’s Nest, overlooking the scenic waterfall. Salgor proved good to his word in paying off the damage he had done to the inn’s table. The dwarf did not plan on staying to take up the job of bouncer again. Salgor Bandago traveled a lot as a habit, but his reason this time involved a sense of responsibility.
“Nay darned elf wizard is going to give my friends grief about losing his dangerous flying toy,” Salgor had proclaimed. “If he gives you trouble, I’ll be there to keep him in line.”
The companions celebrated their night in Barkin’s Crossing. They had gold from the pouches of fallen enemies, coupled with the joy of being alive after all their trials. Petrow’s speech became slurred as he chatted with Salgor more about dwarfs in general. Trestan and Cat found the opportunity to dance to a minstrel’s lute, though an expensive elf wine made the graceful woman tipsy. Meanwhile, Mel added to the smoky atmosphere of the room with fresh pipe weed. Several locals watched these adventurers with interest. Local residents knew that adventuring types were often loose with their gold and their tongues, telling much of the world. Trestan found himself entertaining a group of boys not much younger than his age. They sat around him in patched clothes and dirty faces, listening with wonder as he described t
he flight over the unicorn herd. Later Trestan realized that it hadn’t been so long ago that the situation had been reversed, and he had been one of them.
Although the companions still bore bruises and scars from the fight on the island, they slept well that night. In the morning, they sought out a temple and healing services to ease their aches and pains. The long quest seemed over, but they still decided to purchase healing draughts…just in case.
The five of them began traveling up the north road towards Troutbrook. Once again they traveled by foot, but it was a pleasant journey. The planting season touched the land, creating a flowery landscape. They shared the road with the many early-year merchant caravans traveling from village to village around Kashmer’s Protectorate. Through all the sights and pleasantry of the scenery they had nice conversations. They had only known each other for a relatively short time, so they still discovered many interesting subjects such as their different cultures and distant lands.
They passed a section of road in which Mel seemed distracted. The gnome did not contribute much to the conversations, an odd sign upon itself. When Cat brought it up to him, he explained the reason for his preoccupation. They walked close to Mel’s home village, and the gnome had been giving thought to his family. Mel explained that he wasn’t sure about what he wanted to do in regards to his exile from his father. The gnome simply said he was giving it a lot of thought, and as he did he continued walking with the rest of his companions to Troutbrook.
* * * * * *
The five of them entered Troutbrook from the direction of the bridge, striding over it to face a small crowd gathered near the Church of the Sacred Harvest. Amongst the crowd stood High Priest Gerlach alongside the elf Korrelothar. The priest and his acolytes wore their formal robes. Korrelothar still dressed in the fashionable clothes of Orlaun, topping the outfit with his plush cap. Those two imposing figures waited impatiently for the companions to approach. Word of the companions’ return reached the village before they did.
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