The King's Ring (The Netherworld Gate Book 2)

by Sam Ferguson

  The storm still raged when the sun peeked over the eastern horizon. Sorbiy and Garret instructed the men how to create makeshift water containers to catch the fresh water. Then, when that was done they all removed their shirts. Garret tore each shirt in half and then tied them all together to form a covering from the sun.

  “Seems like a waste of time with the clouds above us,” Redbeard groused. “Besides, we aren’t far from land. We should be able to make it in soon, right?”

  Garret responded in a calm tone. “The sun has been known to send burning rays even through the clouds. It is especially strong at sea. Better safe than sorry. As for the distance to shore, well, a storm has a way of keeping things apart.” No one else said anything. The next several hours were passed almost entirely in silence, except for Sorbiy making adjustments to the heading or assigning breaks to the men. Even the most basic of tasks seemed to be overly complicated on the longboat. Food was almost nonexistent. The group saw a pair of sea turtles swimming by, but not even Garret could catch them. They dove down deep and disappeared into the blue waters before he came within five yards of either one. There was no privacy on the boat either. Even relieving one’s self now became a public affair. Luckily none of them suffered from the sun, thanks to Garret’s makeshift canopy.

  As the sun went down at the end of the day, the stars hid themselves behind thick clouds. The moon with her alabaster face peeked out at them from under the clouds until it reached higher into the night sky, then it too disappeared and its light failed to reach them.

  “Sir, how shall we adjust our heading?” one of the men asked.

  Sorbiy looked up to the sky and cursed their luck. He licked his index finger and stuck it up above his head. “We have had a warm wind driving us all day, but now there is an icy wind from the south.”

  “Another storm,” Garret said.

  “And it is going to be bad,” Sorbiy confirmed. “Maintain the current heading, and row for all you are worth. Maybe the gods will yet smile on us and the storm will pass up by.”

  The men set harder to their task, digging and pulling at the sea beneath them, but the gods did not smile on them that night. A great rush of wind drove them eastward and massive waves swelled up around them. The longboat rose up and down as if traversing rolling hills with each passing second. One of the men lurched over the side of the boat and retched, the others continued to beat the water with their oars. As the night wore on, the storm became worse. Icy hail mixed with large drops of warm rain descended upon the men. Garret tried to maneuver the canopy to protect them, but the wind rent it from his hands and tore it free from the longboat, leaving them all vulnerable to the elements. The large man cursed the wind and then moved in to take an oar in hand and battle the ferocious seas with the others.

  They fought hard for hours. Exhaustion set in upon them. The incessant, slamming waves devoured their hope as the boat lurched and crashed into the troughs between the steepening waves. The boat groaned and cracked in protest. Some of the oars snapped. The rudder’s handle splintered as the boat spun around to crash into a trough, nearly sending Sorbiy overboard had not Garret snatched the man back by the ankle and pulled him into the safety of the boat.

  “Pull in the oars, men!” Sorbiy shouted. “Just do what you can to hang on!” The boat then pitched with the bow shooting up as they climbed over a wave. A few moments later they reached the peak and almost came level again.

  “The sea will decide our fate now,” Garret said reluctantly. A great succession of lightning illuminated the area.

  “In the name of Osei…” Sorbiy muttered.

  Kelden turned to look as another flash of lightning tore through the darkness. The longboat was precariously perched atop a great swell over thirty feet above the next trough. The bow pitched downward into the descent. The next wave towered more than twice the height of the one they were falling from. The longboat picked up speed and the men all shouted.

  “Hang on men!” Sorbiy yelled just instants before the boat slammed into the trough. It was as if a god had picked them up and thrown them into a granite wall. The boat shattered apart and men were flung from it, devoured by the massive wave that drove Kelden and others back from his seat to tumble head over heels in the depths.

  Kelden felt something with his hand and grabbed onto it out of desperation. A moment later he broke the surface, holding onto a hunk of the hull just large enough to help him float. He caught his breath and then felt another sinking sensation. The water dropped around him, sucking him downward. Lightning flashed above, but it failed to illuminate the area around him. It appeared as though he had been sucked into a black valley between waves. Then, in an instant, Kelden was ripped from the wreckage he was holding and twirling in the sea with the momentum of another wave as it passed by. It seemed as if he had been thrust into the dark abyss of a watery hell. Pressure assaulted him on every side and his ears screamed in sharp pain until they popped. Quickly he reoriented himself and swam to the surface.

  He sucked in a huge gasp of air as his head rose above the water. He could hear shouts of men who had also found their way back up. Another flash of lightning revealed a large section of the boat had remained intact, albeit it now floated upside down in the water. Kelden swam hard and managed to reach the overturned boat.

  However, his smile quickly faded as he heard the shouts of the other men growing more distant. The storm was separating the small group as fate decided who would survive and who would be left behind. Kelden put his hands to his mouth and shouted for Redbeard.

  A muffled shout returned the call. Kelden looked down just as something knocked on the inside of the overturned hull. Kelden slipped down and ducked under the wood to find a small pocket of air under the hull. Redbeard was inside, holding on with his arms locked around one of the benches.

  “Let’s get onto the top,” Kelden said.

  “Nothin doin!” Redbeard shouted back. “Here at least I have something to hold onto. We go above, and there is nothing. The water swelled beneath them and Kelden scrambled to wrap his arms around the adjacent bench.

  “Where’s Pinhead?” Kelden shouted.

  The water broke nearby and a massive form lurched up from the depths. It was Garrett and Pinhead.

  “Hold on!” Garrett instructed.

  “Where’s Sorbiy?” Redbeard called out.

  “Dunno,” Garrett shouted back. “Couldn’t find him.”

  “Hold on, we are going for a ride tonight!” Redbeard shouted.

  They could hear the men above screaming and wailing as they rose up with one wave and then fell down into the valley before the next wave swept over the top of the capsized hull. Soon afterward they heard others scrambling atop the boat, pushing the hull down and reducing the air bubble slightly.

  “We can’t stay here,” Kelden said.

  “You take your chances up there if you like,” Redbeard replied. “I’m staying right here.”

  Kelden shook his head and adjusted his grip. “I’m not leaving you,” he swore.

  “Better to stay here for now,” Garrett said.

  They rode out the rest of the storm clinging to the benches and spitting water from their mouths when the swells threatened to steal their air bubble. They could hear others clambering onto the top, but Kelden did not leave Redbeard. True to his word, he stayed with the dwarf until the waters became peaceful, and the sun rose high above the sea. Near the end, Redbeard almost fell asleep by the time the sunlight pierced the waters around them, but Kelden reached out to steady the dwarf’s hands and shouted to keep him awake.

  “We need to move,” Kelden said.

  Redbeard shook his head.

  Kelden squeezed the dwarf’s forearm. “The storm is gone, and we need to go out now. We can’t dangle here forever like teabags.”

  Something splashed into the water and the boat jerked to the side. A moment later Sorbiy popped his head up and had a big, toothy grin on his face. “Fancy seeing you here,” he said.
>
  Kelden laughed despite himself and nodded with his chin at Redbeard. “If you get him, I will meet you on the other side.”

  Garret smiled and wrenched Pinhead from the bench and disappeared under the surface. Sorbiy grabbed Redbeard and did likewise. Kelden followed and then they all climbed up the overturned hull and spread out. Kelden let out an exhausted sigh and lazily flung an arm over his eyes.

  Redbeard cursed Sorbiy as he wrung out his beard and muttered something about a stupid bean pole. A moment later he flopped back onto the deck and was snoring within a minute. Garrett struck the water with a single oar, trying to push them along.

  “Where are we going?” Kelden asked.

  Garret shrugged. “Well, with the sun at our backs, I am hoping we are headed west.”

  “What of the others?” Kelden asked Sorbiy.

  Sorbiy shook his head and a sour grimace pulled at his face. “Haven’t seen or heard anyone else.”

  *****

  When the five of them finally came close enough to shore that they were able to walk in the shallow water, they were beyond exhausted. Even Garret struggled to put one foot in front of the other as they waded out from the gentle waves and up onto the sand. Each and every one of them fell to their knees on the sand. Sorbiy thanked Osei for deliverance, while the dwarves both bent down and were busy kissing the wet sand.

  “Any idea where we are?” Garret asked.

  Kelden nodded. “About one hundred and twenty miles north of Kobhir. Not quite half way to Khatthun.”

  Sorbiy rolled onto his back and stretched out on the ground. “That is an awfully precise distance. How in Hammenfein could you know that?”

  “While I am on holiday, I sometimes take a ride up the coast. I have camped not too far from here.” He pointed up the sandy coast to a hill where a line of tall cypress and yew trees grew. “There is a spring not far beyond those trees. I watered my horse here before.”

  “I don’t suppose you happened to leave any boots or shirts?” Pinhead groused.

  “No,” Kelden replied flatly.

  “How about rum?” Pinhead asked. He stood up from kissing the sand and moved to poke Kelden in the chest. “Don’t think I have forgotten about the jug of rum you owe me!”

  Sorbiy cut in as he rose to his feet and twisted his back to the left and then to the right. “Water before liquor, my good dwarf.”

  “That’s rich, coming from a sailor,” Pinhead quipped.

  Sorbiy’s eyes went wide and he frowned at the little dwarf. Pinhead just started walking, grumbling to himself and muttering about how intolerable humans were.

  “Bah, don’t mind him,” Redbeard said. “He gets grumpy when he hasn’t eaten for a while.”

  “Or when he is thirsty, apparently,” Garret observed.

  Redbeard nodded his head and then thumbed at his brother. “I best go on after him,” he said as he unceremoniously jogged to catch up with his brother.

  “Alright Kelden,” Sorbiy started. “I figure on the sea I outrank you, but on land, you should probably take the lead. What’s our next move?”

  Kelden nodded and pointed at the two dwarves. “Let’s get them to that spring. Fresh water will do us all some good. After that, we need to make our way to Rasselin. I have a score to settle.”

  Garret held his hands out and shook his head. “I don’t mean to sound like a whining child, but you do remember we have neither shirts nor shoes, yes?”

  Kelden nodded again. “Come on, I’ll show you a few things.” They followed Kelden up the slope of sand and into the soft grasses of the forest beyond. Redbeard and Pinhead stopped when Kelden caught up with them and waited until he got his bearings and then pointed off to the north. He led them through the trees for about fifteen minutes before they came to a grove of a dozen catalpa trees.

  “These trees love the water from the fresh spring,” Kelden said as he showed them the way through the tangled webs of branches completely covered in massive, heart-shaped leaves. Each of the trees was roughly thirty feet tall. Their big, thick leaves nearly blocked out all of the sunlight from above. White flowers and long bean pods hung in clumps from the branches.

  Kelden reached up and plucked a leaf off at the stem. He turned and handed it to Garret. The large man held the leaf with both hands in front of his chest. “That nearly covers your chest by itself,” Kelden said. “It we are careful about it, we can use the stems to link these together so we can cover our torsos.”

  “You want me to dress myself in leaves?” Pinhead growled.

  Kelden shrugged. “I am crossing the desert, and I intend to get there without burning my flesh off. If we make at least two coverings for each of us, and then pack a roll of extra leaves, we might be able to make it.”

  “The leaves will dry in the sun once they are taken from the trees,” Sorbiy said.

  “That’s why we will take extra with us. We’ll wet them before we leave the spring and just hope that the leaves packed inside the rolls will retain some of their moisture for when we need to trade them out.”

  Redbeard reached up to a low hanging branch and snagged a leaf. He set it on his brother’s head and then let out a whooping laugh as the leaf curled down over Pinhead like a great, green bonnet.

  Pinhead turned around and slugged Redbeard in the mouth. He reached up and snatched the leaf from his head and threw it at Redbeard for emphasis.

  “You can eat the flowers and the seeds in the bean pods,” Kelden said. Pinhead looked up at Kelden with a sharp eye. Kelden nodded and affirmed it was possible. “You have to boil them first, otherwise they are terribly bitter, but it will help until we can find some better food.”

  “What are we supposed to boil them in?” Pinhead pointed out.

  “Right,” Kelden said as he looked around. After a moment he shrugged. “We can eat them without boiling them. They won’t taste very good, but they will sustain us well enough.”

  “You want us to dress in leaves, and eat seeds?” Garret asked as he held his leaf up in front of his face.

  Kelden sighed and shrugged. “Not sure what else to do. I lost my shirt in the battle, along with my boots. Those of us who had shirts left gave them to you to make that sun screen on the boat.”

  Garret ceded the point and flattened the leaf against his chest. “Feels like silk,” he told Pinhead.

  The dwarf kicked the dirt and folded his arms as he let out a huff.

  Kelden pointed to the water. “You go ahead and get some water. When you have had your fill, then we can set up camp for tonight. Pinhead, you can build us a fire. Sorbiy and Garret, start collecting leaves and stems. You can also shred some of the bark from the nearby cedar trees. The strands can be used as rope or thread if you like. Redbeard, gather the seedpods and flowers. I’ll be back in a little while.”

  “Where are you off to?” Sorbiy asked.

  “I’ll go a bit farther out and try to find some birch trees. If I find enough of them, I can weave shoes out of the bark.”

  “Ha!” Garret snorted as he slapped Sorbiy on the arm.

  Sorbiy shook his head and looked up to the big man. “I think he is serious.”

  Kelden laughed and nodded. “I know it sounds ridiculous, but it will keep our feet from burning. I will gather the bark, and then weave it around your feet.”

  “Are you born from plants or something?” Redbeard asked. Everyone chuckled a bit, even Pinhead broke his scowl and laughed.

  Kelden shook his head. “I wasn’t always a soldier,” he said. “I spent my youth in a small town in a forest like this one. My father taught me how to use the plants to survive if I ever needed it.”

  “I bet he never figured you would need it quite this badly,” Redbeard commented as he looked up to a large, heart-shaped leaf.

  “No, probably not,” Kelden said. “But all the same, we practiced these skills on several occasions. Go ahead and get the water. I’ll be back soon.”

  CHAPTER 13

  Kai and Seldaric stood n
ear the bow of the ship on the seventh and final day of their sea voyage. They watched silently as the docks and walls of Tuport came into view. Tall, blue roofed towers anchored each corner of the granite wall beyond the docks and warehouses on the gently sloping hill. There were many ships, all of different sizes, throughout the bay. Some were docked, others were sailing out, and the rest were floating lazily in the water. Some looked to be fishing vessels, or sailing ships of a personal nature, but most appeared to be merchant ships.

  “It will be good to be on land again,” Kai said.

  “Don’t you like the water?” Seldaric asked.

  Kai shrugged. “I like to look at it, so long as I am looking at it from somewhere on dry land.”

  Their ship gently rocked over and through the waves as they came nearer to Tuport, the western most city on Selemet Island. During the journey they had not seen another sailboat despite the crew assuring them that their boat was the fastest one available from Bluewater, but that did not seem to matter to Seldaric. He felt confident that they would apprehend the human assassin.

  One of the crewmen called out to Liloriel, advising her that she should come up to the deck. A few moments later she was standing between Kai and Seldaric.

  “How do you know where to find him?” Kai asked Liloriel when she approached.

  “That is easy,” Liloriel smiled. “We need not find the assassin per se. We can instead focus our attention on the two remaining relics. There is an old Sierri’Tai castle in the south west portion of Selemet Isle. I will go there and alert the other Svetli’Tai Kruks of the danger.” Liloriel pulled a rolled parchment from the folds of her red robes and handed it to Seldaric. “Follow this map. It will lead you to a tower. There is an elf by the name of Elroa who lives there. Jahre entrusted the King’s Ring to Elroa. You must protect him at all costs. Once you have found him, bring him north from the tower to Telshir. That is the seat of the Selemet High Council. We will ask for their help in protecting Elroa and the ring. Once I am done at the Sierri’Tai castle, I will meet you in Telshir.”