She walked to the water fountain and crouched over the edge. She put her hand in the water and took the object that generated the light. It looked like a key, made of some kind of precious stone. It had an octagonal shape and a complicated drawing in the center. Next to it was an envelope. She also removed that from the water but strangely as she did so, she realized that the envelope was dry. Some kind of enchantment, she thought. Prudence thrust both the key and the envelope into her clothing and with great relief turned to return, completely forgetting that a beastly creature awaited her with open jaws, ready to devour her.
Then Prudence began to wonder how she would get out of there in one piece as she listened to the horrible racket of the beast scratching the rock from the outside, seeking to reach her with its sharp claws.
Then she remembered that the shiny object in her pocket was something very powerful and that the envelope would probably contain some kind of indication of what to do with it, although she did not expect it to be legible for her. So she examined it, and tried to find some hint of how to use it. Then she read the note that was inside the envelope, which said:
“If you are reading these words, you have come very far. It certainly was not a simple task, and as you will suppose, it is not something that can be achieved alone. By then you will know that those who accompany you, believe in you and appreciate you enough to stay by your side, despite how bad the situation is. That's why you should never feel alone; they are your family now. The beast guarding this rune is quite frightening, as it is the only surviving Sennar specimen. They are very powerful creatures but they are practically blind. His life in the depths has made all his other senses sharpen. What you should do is rotate the ends of the rune, which is basically a key (you'll know later which door it opens). For now, let the light flood the place and swim as fast as you can. Stay safe and take care of the treasure you just found. In the wrong hands, its great power will be used for evil. At this point, I should ask you a favor—deviate from the task that you have been entrusted with. Do not destroy the runes. Use them. They are yours. That's all I could leave you. With infinite love, Mom”
Prudence could not believe what she was reading, but it gave her an unusual strength and made her determined to leave that cave anyway. She took the object by the ends and turned them in opposite directions, and as if by magic, a halo of light exploded through the object and suddenly the place was flooded with white light. Prudence noticed the beast's claws retreat from within the groove and saw the beast twist and scream, completely blind.
It was her chance to escape. Prudence dived into the water and swam to the remaining boat. When she was halfway there, she could tell that Dedric and Dunhill were helping Skuld up the boat. Genuss was all right; Nefyyd and Evard were on their way to help her.
They did not know how much time had passed since then, but when they came out of the cavern, night had already fallen. Prudence could feel the cold air brushing her skin and opened her eyes to rejoice in the starlight. She was on her back on the deck of the boat and it took a second for her to remember that the rune must still be in her clothes and began to look for it with despair.
"I found it," she whispered before everyone's eyes. "It was there under the water. Kotal was right. This was not where my mother's grave was. It was the place where the king's rune was hidden."
"The rune? Was there only one? Did not you find them all?" asked Genuss.
"There was only one rune, and this paper roll. It was under the water next to the rune, but when I took it out, it was surprisingly dry. It's a letter from my mother."
"Where is the rune?" asked Dedric.
Prudence extended her hand and showed it to him.
"It's the air rune. The first of the five. It would be very easy for them to be hidden all together. Sadly, I think our trip has not yet ended."
Then they knew that they should return to the port of Azmarath in the morning and claim the Entheas, which had been confiscated. It was either that, or sneak into King Gurdan's navy, under the watchful eye of hundreds of sentries who jealously guarded the waters of the Bay.
There was a jolt as the boat stopped. Dedric waved them down to follow him. Dunhill and Nefyyd were the first to get off; they pulled the boat and held it at the dock, ashore.
The first group of sentries was stationed on a watchtower. They were heavily armed and from there they could shoot the group very easily, so the only solution was to become invisible, and very quiet. And for that, Skuld had a few potions that would help them.
Skuld would use a potion diffuser, a very particular element she carried with her in the form of a slope. They came in all shapes, but Skuld's was an oval, and consisted of a glass vessel set in branches of gold that took the most beautiful forms. In addition, she produced three more diffusers from her bag of elements. These were shaped like spheres and were just as beautiful. She filled them with a bright purple potion.
"This is called the Dreamless. The diffuser will change its liquid to gaseous state. It will cause the breather to fall almost instantaneously into a deep but temporary sleep.”
In the darkness of the night, Dedric and Skuld came as close as they could to the tower, and rolled the orbs. The smoke quickly rose through the air and after a few moments, the sentries began to fall to the floor in a deep sleep.
When Dedric gave the signal, the rest of the group proceeded along the quay. The ship of the Company was docked very close to the navy’s building. There were only two guards guarding the balcony that overlooked the sea. The sky was dotted with stars and the wind produced small but numerous waves in the water.
Dedric tried to get out of his hiding place and sneak first, but Skuld pulled on his clothes and stopped him just in time to prevent one of the sentries from seeing him. Behind them, the group waited to follow them. Suddenly, two arrows flew across the sky, and then a storm of arrows loomed over them.
"Cover yourself!" Dedric shouted in despair as the arrows continued to fall.
"We must get out of here!" exclaimed Skuld. But then Genuss thrust her hand into Skuld's bag and took two more of the spheres and nailed them to her arrows. Being a great shooter as she was, she quickly pointed and pulled at the sentries who were attacking them.
Then she repeated the procedure one more time and a second arrow pierced the air. As soon as the shot hit the balcony, all of them dove into the waters, seeking refuge. They began swimming towards the Entheas.
Quickly, Skuld's Dreamless potion scattered through the air and pierced the noses of the sentries.
"Someone had to do it. We do not have all night," said Genuss as soon as they got onto the boat.
The last to climb was Dunhill, who had the task of loosening the moorings. After stumbling over the edge of the boat and rolling over the deck, he stood next to Dedric at the boat's command. Evard and Nefyyd drove the boat away as quietly as possible. When they were a considerable distance from the dock, they dropped the white sails that would propel them toward safer waters.
CHAPTER 14
About three hours had passed since the company of the Rose had left the bay of Azmarath and had embarked on board the Entheas. They were returning to the Village of Linmehl in the middle of the night.
“What a wonderful sky,” Prudence whispered to Skuld as they both admired it while they waited at the kitchen’s balcony for some tea. The sky was a black canvas that night, full of changing shades and peculiar patterns of mist.
"I'm very tired. I'm going to take my tea into the room and then I'll rest for a while. I can no longer stand and it seems like it will be a long night," said Prudence before retiring.
For a long time, Prudence sat down at the small table by the window of her cabin. Skuld had prepared a concoction with various relaxing herbs to leave behind the chilling episode of the cave. Prudence's cup was perched on the table beside a candle lamp, in the light of which the air rune glowed. The letter her mother had written to her also rested on the table.
Prudence took it in
her hands and ran her eyes over it again and again. If this is only the first rune, it is strange that this letter does not contain the slightest trace of where the rest can be found, Prudence thought as a group of night clouds diminished the beam of light entering from the outside. Prudence turned the letter over and examined the opposite side of the paper, but it was empty. There was nothing. No clue as to which way to go to find the second rune.
There must be a mistake. My mother must guide me on this trip. She must have left instructions somewhere. Prudence took the envelope that she had already certified that was empty, but examined it once more in the hope of finding something else by magic.
Resigned, Prudence put the paper on the table and took the mug of tea that was steaming in front of her. She took two sips, not too abundant, and placed the mug on the table again, just as a sudden brutal movement of the ship caused Prudence to swing into the ship's wall. The concoction spilled all over the table and over the letter in its entirety.
Prudence struggled to restore her balance and hurried to rescue the letter from the pool of tea that was now on the table, but it was too late. Prudence lifted the wet paper, careful not to break it, but as she did so, the candlelight illuminated it from behind and revealed the layout of a map.
Still as a statue, Prudence’s eyes fixed unblinkingly on the paper. There was a hidden map on the letter, revealed after contact with a liquid. She would have never expected something like this.
But as amazing as it was, she felt the ship make another even more violent turn that almost put everything upside down. As soon as she could regain balance, she stood on her feet and walked outside the Entheas to see what all that maneuvering was about.
"What's going on?" Prudence asked as she peered out from inside the boat. Outside, on the deck of the Entheas, everyone was running anxiously to help.
"What is going on here?" Prudence insisted after the lack of response from her companions. “Dedric, can you please answer me? You are scaring me. What is going on?!” she demanded as she stood on the deck and followed him. Dedric looked at her in the eyes but didn’t answer immediately.
“They have found us,” he exclaimed as he looked up to see Dunhill at the helm.
“Found us? Who are you talking about?” she asked.
“Them,” Dedric said as he pointed at something in the horizon. Prudence turned immediately to see what he was referring to.
Then Prudence looked toward the horizon and in the distance, she saw the grim figure of a gigantic ship of black sails emerge from the fog like a ghost.
Prudence rubbed her eyes to clear her vision. Perhaps what she saw was a product of poor sleep and lack of rest. But a few moments later, when Genuss stood up and took a long view, cursed in elf words she could not understand and hurried to the command room, she realized that what she had seen was actually there.
"Whose boat is this?" Prudence demanded, shouting after Dedric who was hurrying toward the command room.
“The Azarias,” he muttered after taking a look through the lenses Genuss had handed him. “We need to change our course again,” he commanded, and so it was done.
The ship swung violently to the right and sought to avoid a collision course with the enemy ship that was approaching in full speed.
After the ship stabilized again, Dedric checked in the distance if the maneuver had managed to avoid the danger but to their surprise, the Azarian ship had also changed course and was heading straight toward them.
“They are approaching too fast!” Dunhill shouted as the Azarian ship was only a very short distance away. It was so close that they could see that the deck of the ship was packed not only with Azarian soldiers but also with orcs.
“They are going to hit us! There must be something we can do!” Prudence exclaimed in panic.
“Go with Genuss, find Skuld and prepare as many weapons as you can. Bring them to the deck. Dunhill! All to starboard! I'll drop the anchor now!” Dedric commanded. Prudence felt terrified by those words.
Prepare as many weapons as you can? Bring them to the deck? Was Dedric thinking about fighting? If that was the plan, they were surely going to die that night. The seven could never stand against a battalion composed of orcs and Azarias. Again, Dunhill derailed the rudder, this time to the right. The anchor drowned in the depths of the waters. It buried itself between the rocks at the bottom and caused the ship to rotate completely to the other side, as if they had taken a course back to Azmarath. They all held onto what they could not to fall into the water during the violent maneuver. Now the ship of the Azarias was behind them, but the speed at which they sailed was much greater than that of the Entheas and they came closer and closer.
“They are getting too close. They will reach us!” Dunhill exclaimed.
By that time, the entire Entheas crew was on the deck. Prudence, Genuss, Skuld, Evard, and Nefyyd waited for Dedric's next command.
"Everyone take a weapon and defend yourself as best you can. We'll have to fight!" he finally said.
“Prepare to be boarded!” Dedric shouted to the rest of the group.
As the Entheas sailed mightily through the waters of the Gaalean Sea, they waited in silence as they watched the powerful figure of the enemy ship approaching.
A couple of moments later, the Entheas ended up side to side with the Azarian ship.
Prudence could see that among the multitude of soldiers and orcs that could be seen on the deck of the ship that was now in front of them, there was an individual who stood out from the rest. His size seemed to be larger than that of the soldiers. He was almost as tall as the orcs and his dress was more complex and different than the rest, as he wore a large, black armor with an outstanding neck. Next to him was a young woman, who, like the man who appeared to be different, had very white skin and black hair. They both had short hair in a similar way, and the two seemed to be extremely ruthless and most important of all, they both stared at Prudence.
Then the enemy ship struck the side of the Entheas, and many ropes were thrown by the attackers. Enemy spears were buried in the wood of the deck of the Entheas, and in the twinkling of an eye, dozens of Azarias and orcs swiftly plunged into the Entheas, wielding their swords.
The orcs could easily be distinguished among the multitude of soldiers because their white eyes shone in the night and their pale skin glowed in the light of the moon. As for the Azarias, their black attires blended with the shadows of the night and their faces were obscured by their black hoods.
As soon as the first intruders set foot on the deck of the Entheas, the first row of orcs was shot by Evard, Nefyyd, and Dedric, who fired their arrows so quickly and accurately that none of orcs remained standing.
Prudence watched Skuld making great efforts to defend herself against two Azarias who attacked her mercilessly.
She saw Genuss slay three orcs in less than two seconds. Then she saw the young woman with short hair neutralizing Genuss with a powerful force that emanated from her hands. As much of a skilled and great fighter that Genuss could be, she had not posed the slightest hassle for the mysterious girl. Dedric fought back to back with Dunhill as he had abandoned the rudder to fight the invaders, but the enemies seemed not to stop coming. Time seemed to go too slowly, in fact it seemed to not be passing. At least that was what Prudence felt, as she was stunned by watching the chaos unfolding around her.
Suddenly, Prudence found herself alone, amid the deck of the Entheas, while her companions struggled furiously for their lives, and while all they heard were the sounds of the metal of the swords clashing with each other. There were too many orcs and Azarias. The scene seemed like a real nightmare from which there was no escape.
Then, in the midst of her despair and the horror around her, she saw an orc furiously approaching her.
Uncertain of how to react and what to do, Prudence thrust her hand into her pocket to check that the rune was still there, and threw herself into the boat in search of a hiding place. She sneaked into the kitchen and hid insi
de a closet.
For a few moments, silence was absolute, until Prudence heard the footsteps of the orc, who had followed her into the kitchen. Prudence could smell the nauseous odor emanating from it, and she could hear the beast sniffing for its prey.
Prudence held her breath and closed her eyes tightly. Her muscles were petrified with fear, as she knew the slightest movement would betray her. It was then that a wooden shelf inside the closet gave way, causing a scandalous sound. The orc immediately turned in Prudence’s direction, and peered into the crevices of the wood inside the cupboard. It was then that Prudence opened the door of the closet with all her strength and threw herself out of it, pushing the surprised orc to the other side of the kitchen. It fell onto a stack of chairs, shattering them completely.
Prudence took advantage of this moment to flee, and ran to the dining room, in the center of which was a large table. Prudence headed towards the other end of the table. The orc quickly recovered from his fall and followed her. The agitated breathing of the orc impressed Prudence, for it made his muscles inflate in an intimidating way. What could Prudence do to overcome that bestial creature that was made to kill? Just when things could not get any worse, the orc took the table and broke it in the middle. It made its way to Prudence as if that obstacle was but a grain of sand.
Prudence ran back into the kitchen and hid herself behind the door. When the orc crossed the threshold, Prudence knocked him out with a pan she had taken from the counter. The orc made a dry noise as it collapsed and his body crashed into the wood of the floor. Prudence ran to one of the counters, opened the drawers and took a few knives, which she instantly put to use. She went out to the corridor leading to the deck and met with an Azaria soldier, who tried to take her by the arms. Prudence closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and let him closer, just to bury the knife in his stomach.
The Elven Tales: The Company of the Rose Page 11
