The Foreshadow of Balance
Page 17
CHAPTER XVI
The Port of Silas looked to Dylan to be like the other ports he had seen except much bigger. d’Gaz told him it was a deep water port which meant that they could sail right up to it and Dylan could see the masts of many ships as they got closer.
“What country is this?” Dylan asked looking at different maps.
“It is Bancealem, the Capital Country.”
“Is it like Thalm?”
“It is bigger than Thalm, here,” d’Gaz pulled out a map, “you see Thalm is here a little further away than the other countries of Sylvae, but maybe the third or fourth biggest. Thalm is seen as a little backwards, more trees than civilization.”
“The other countries don’t have forests?”
d’Gaz laughed. “Oh they do, this world is covered in them, but the joke is that Thalm has more trees than people.”
“It’s not a very funny joke.”
“No. No maybe not,” d’Gaz frowned.
There was a knock on the door and d’Gaz’s second in command poked his head around the door.
“The men wish you to speak, Captain.”
“Very well.”
d’Gaz stood by the wheel, above the men who stood on the deck.
“Well, we come to an end of our adventures together. Some of you will be happy to see the back of me; some will feel differently. So be it. At the very least you have made money under my command as those who retired and gave their berths to you did, but now I shall give up the command of this ship. My ship.
“I have travailed all through this world and seen many glorious and terrifying things. I have shared the woes and joys of my crew, the loves and losses. I am sad to leave both you, my crew, and this vessel that for so long I have called home.
“Perhaps now I can sleep in a comfortable bed and dine with civilized people,” there were some laughs and someone called out ‘You wish’, as another called out ‘It does become you’. “Settle down now. Have you chosen a Captain to replace me?”
There were shouts of ‘aye’.
“And does this Captain agree to the plans that you have made?”
More shouts of agreement.
“Then let him step up to me,” d’Gaz said and a man walked out of the crowd and up the steps.
“So, Martus, you have been chosen.”
“Aye, Captain.”
“Are you willing to take the responsibility of these men, their lives and this ship?”
“I am, Captain.”
“Then take the wheel and lead us into the port. Once I set foot upon solid ground you are the new Captain of the Irredeemable.
“Here’s to swimming with bow legged women,” d’Gaz cried and there were shouts and cheers from the men.
“No tears, Murtagh?” Mattaeus asked with a smile as d’Gaz came down to the deck.
“Be away with you,” d’Gaz replied as he walked to his cabin.
Kaitlin, Connor and Dylan stood at the front, or bow, of the ship and watched the port draw closer. Dylan could see that the buildings here were of stone and seemed much nicer than the ones in Onslow. In fact the whole town looked nicer, at least from a distance, and stretched along the water and back up a series of low hills.
“We have done so much and yet our Quest is only just beginning,” Connor said.
“It will be well, we are strong,” Kaitlin laid a hand on his arm.
“We’ll be alright, Dad,” Dylan said and put an arm around his Dad.
He didn’t like Kaitlin touching his Dad like that, didn’t like how much time they spent together on the boat. But then Dad seemed happier than he had for a long time and Dylan didn’t want his Dad to be sad.
But then he didn’t want anyone taking Dad away from him; he didn’t want to share him. Who was this woman? She wasn’t Mum so Dad shouldn’t act like she was. But when she smiled at him he smiled back and Dylan didn’t know what to feel. He wanted to tell her to go away, but he liked to see his Dad smile. He squeezed his Dad and went to look for Lucas; Lucas was nice, but he was simple, he didn’t have these problems and Dylan didn’t want to feel them.
%%%
And so they docked and Dylan set foot upon the Capital Country of Bancealem. The Port of Silas was loud and busy just like the other ports he had been to, but here there were more stone buildings and there were people dressed much nicer than anywhere else they had been. They walked away from the ship and Dylan couldn’t help but look at everything, the stone houses seemed new and strange and that was weird because every building on Earth was built from stone or concrete. Had he been away so long that the forests felt normal to him?
What if he was away so long that he couldn’t remember what Earth was like? Or they got home and it didn’t feel like home anymore? This worried Dylan more than the fact that they were going to rescue the True King. To be honest, he was trying not to think about that, or travelling to yet another new world.
Despite all that was happening in Silas they walked straight through and to the outskirts where, up on a hill, d’Gaz had a house. It was two storeys high and made of both stone and wood. It was big and Dylan realised that pirating must be well paid, and then he realised that d’Gaz stole the money to build this house. But it was from the Chinerthians so that was OK. Or was it? It was still stealing, but then the money they were using Bell and Lucas had stolen and they needed that. What was right? Having stolen money to do good, or not stealing? This was never explained in his Robin Hood stories.
They went into the house, which had a large lounge room and made themselves comfortable on couches, chairs and rugs on the floor. The walls were covered in paintings of ships and the sea as well as more maps. d’Gaz disappeared into another room with the things he had brought from the ship and then went and made them hot drinks that tasted like tea.
“Firstly we need horses,” he said. “Hallorn and I will go and buy some,” of the Stormclouds only Hallorn was with them, the rest had disappeared as soon as they were off the ship.
“Yes,” agreed Mattaeus, “and then we go to the Stormclouds.”
“How do we know where the King is?” Dylan asked.
“He should be where is has always been, but I will go out and check with my contacts here,” Mattaeus told him.
So they drank their teas and then d’Gaz, Hallorn and the Shadow Ranger left. Dylan wandered around looking at the paintings and Lucas went outside to look around, make sure the house was safe.
“One thing I don’t understand,” said Dad. “Why haven’t they just killed the True King?”
“They can’t,” Kaitlin said.
“Why not?”
“The Oaths we take are serious and Binding,” Bell told him. “Take Lucas and his Oath to protect your son. That is not just a promise, he can’t try, can’t be too sick or sleepy, he must protect him. He is bound to his Oath.
“While the King is alive, he, all of us, are bound to that, no one else can become King.”
“So you see?” Kaitlin asked. “By keeping him alive no one else can become a true figurehead to the World, no one can truly unite the people and lead a rebellion against the Chinerthians.”
“I understand,” Dad said. “Well, no, I understand what you are saying, but I still do not fully understand the Oaths and Pledges.”
“All in good time, Fifth Worlder,” Alura said.
“You fought with d’Gaz, right?” Dylan asked sitting down.
“I did, to defend the Port.”
“What was it like? War?”
“Well young Dylan of the Shed, it was not fun. Many good and ordinary people died to protect their country.”
“Then why did you do it?”
Alura gave a brief smile. “Well, for the same reason you are doing this. Do you want your World to become part of a war?”
“No. There are already too many wars on Earth.”
“You are a warring people?”
“I’m not,” Dylan protested. “Dad says war is bad, that it comes from people being greedy.”
“I know,” said Dylan. “But, no, I don’t understand. Aren’t we starting a war?”
“Yes and no,” Kaitlin answered. “What we are doing will lead to war, but not because we start it. And we hope to prevent another bigger war.”
“With Earth?”
“Yes. From what your Father has told me, any attempts to go through the Portal will end with the Fifth Worlders coming through to take our Worlds.”
“No, we are good people,” Dylan said, but then thought of all the wars on Earth, thought about Brandon Cole and the bullies.
Maybe the people of Earth weren’t that good, weren’t that nice. But he was nice, his Dad was nice. He frowned and Kaitlin knelt in front of him. He didn’t like it, it was too close, too personal.
“You are a good man, Dylan of the Shed, you are doing this to help our Worlds, to help us. You and your Father,” she looked up at his Dad and his Dad smiled.
He didn’t like that. Who did she think she was? He thought about the Deer Woman and his Mum. It seemed anything was possible here, so maybe it was possible to find his Mum. His Dad had said she went to a better place and Dylan had said they should go and find it, but Dad said they couldn’t find it, there were no maps. But d’Gaz had lots of maps, he had looked at them all, maybe here they could find this ‘better place’.
“I’m going to find Lucas,” he said, got up and went outside.
“I should go with him,” Connor said.
“Leave him be,” Kaitlin replied.
“But…”
“He is dealing with big changes for a small boy.”
Connor looked at her and smiled and then frowned. “He is. Too much.”
%%%
“There you are Dylan of the Shed,” Lucas said. He was looking down the hill at a thick forest. On the other side lay the port and in the distance, beyond the trees, Dylan could just make out another town.
“Do you like the Twin Magicians?” Dylan asked.
“Why yes, they seem fine to me, a good addition to our Quest.”
“I don’t.”
“No?” Lucas looked down at him.
“I dunno. I don’t want to go on a Quest, I want to find my Mum.”
“Your Mother? Where is she?”
“Dad said she’s gone to a better place, somewhere with no maps.”
“Oh,” Lucas said and felt sad for the boy.
“But d’Gaz has lots of maps, I bet we could find her,” Dylan looked up at his Protector.
“Well, yes, maybe so, but one thing at a time, you do not think?”
“I dunno, I guess.”
“Come,” Lucas kneeled down, “sit on my shoulders to get a better view,” and Dylan climbed up.
“Would you help me find her?”
“I would help you do anything,” Lucas said. “We could roam the World like this,” and then he started running around the house. Dylan grabbed hold of Lucas’ head and screamed and then laughed.
“Faster,” he shouted.
%%%
By the time d’Gaz got back with horses, Hallorn had just returned and Mattaeus was telling them what his contact had said.
“Ahh, d’Gaz, I was just saying that the True King is still held at Articus.”
“As I feared,” d’Gaz replied.
“Where are Lucas and Dylan?”
“Playing hide and find, I believe, though the Man Mountain is not hard to find,” d’Gaz grinned.
“I’ll go fetch them,” Kaitlin said and left.
“It will not be easy,” Alura told them.
“It was never going to be easy,” Mattaeus replied.
“The Stormclouds will help, we should go to them,” Hallorn said.
“Yes,” Mattaeus agreed. “It is our next order of business.”
“What plans are afoot?” Lucas asked from the door.
“We ride, Man Mountain, I got you a big horse, I hope it will forgive me,” d’Gaz grinned.
“Is there no magic to shut him up?” Lucas asked looking at Alura.
“Believe me I have tried,” she sighed.
%%%
The next day they set out early and rode away from the port. Connor had wanted Dylan to ride with him, but Lucas had insisted that Dylan was with him. Connor didn’t like it, he liked that Dylan had someone to protect him, but he felt that that person should be him. He felt useless in his job as a father; that someone else had to protect Dylan because he couldn’t. But he knew that in these worlds that was true. He didn’t understand them, didn’t know what creatures or enemies were out there.
Still he didn’t like it.
He thought about telling Kaitlin how he was feeling, but he didn’t know if she would want to hear it. He liked her, she was kind and caring, but he had only known her a short time. He couldn’t help but think she would make a good mother for Dylan. He still loved his wife very much, but he knew that Dylan needed a mother, that he couldn’t grow up just listening to Dad.
Kaitlin wasn’t the first woman he had thought about like this; it seemed more and more lately that he thought about the women he met that way. Would she make a good mother for Dylan? But he could never bring himself to take the next step and so each relationship fizzled out.
The roads were good and wide and busy with carts coming in and out of the port. They rode as fast as they could and Dylan was both scared and excited sitting in front of Lucas. He held on to the big horse’s mane tightly and felt a long way from the ground that blurred under his feet. He tried not to look down.
They saw a lot of Ruling Guards as they rode and they slowed down every time they passed some, but thankfully they were never stopped and questioned.
After maybe two hours they slowed down and Hallorn took the lead. They trotted along until there was no one in sight and then Hallorn led them into the forest. Here they had to go slower, it took them half an hour to find a path and when they did it was overgrown by the trees around it. After another hour or so Dylan spotted a man in the trees. He was well hidden, but Dylan saw him as he moved slightly.
“There are men in the trees,” Dylan whispered.
“No doubt, Dylan,” Lucas whispered back. “Stormcloud watchmen, we are growing close.”
And yes, suddenly Hallorn stopped and they did the same. In front of him stood two men dressed in green and armed with bows and arrows.
“Ahh, greetings, Hallorn,” one of the men said and lowered his weapon. “You have made it.”
“We have, with few troubles.”
“And no one following us,” Mattaeus rode up from the rear.
“We know,” the man said. “Pass by, Thunderground awaits you,” and with that they disappeared back into the trees.