The Isle of Ilkchild (The King of Three Bloods Book 4)

by Russ L. Howard

  The image faded and none other appeared. He waited another moment before returning the stones to the pouch. The mood of the crew was subdued. What he had seen was beyond anyone’s expectations.

  Finally, Mendaka broke the silence. “I perceive that this place is the Garden of the Lords which they have held in reserve for this people. Is it not written in the Elven Prophecies?”

  Fromer demanded indignantly, “Art thou talking about the Garden of Eden? How canst thou put thy trust in stone gazing? It’s nothing more than blasphemous devilry!”

  “I cannot say if the two gardens are the same,” said Sur Sceaf, “but we Herewardi consider the Garden of the Lords to be the place our Ur Father began the Race of Man. We call it Neorxanawang.”

  “Grand Father and Grand Mother God,” Mendaka said, “established their first home on a sacred mound on earth.”

  Hartmut nodded, “I do not believe it matters what you call this place. To me, it only matters that this place may serve as the garden to grow the crops of freedom and tolerance for the world we have all been seeking.”

  “Poppycock!” Fromer twisted his face. “All god-fearing people stopped believing in continuing prophecy and seers long ago.”

  “I agree with Hartmut.” Ilkchild asserted. “If we start arguing about words and geography we might as well just surrender to the Pitters and give up our hopes for growing freedoms and the sovereign city-states the Roufytrof have promised us.”

  “But what about all of our plans to move to Ur Ford?” Elijah inquired. “Are these stones to be taken as a sign that we are to change our course? Hath they revealed a new road map to be followed?”

  “A good point, Brother Quailor,” Muryh declared. I believe the gods brought us here deliberately. Here is where the free world will begin to grow. As the Elven Prophecies state, ‘There is an isle in the sea where none may come to hurt or make afraid’.”

  “This is chust all nonsense. Did any of you see any pictures in those stones,” Fromer asked with an ominous frown on his face, “because I certainly didn’t.”

  Mendaka bristled, “How dare you question the inspiration of my brother. He is a man of truth and genuine integrity. Just because you have never developed second sight doesn’t preclude others from having it.”

  “I’m not questioning thy friend’s integrity. I’m saying it’s chust the vain imaginations of his heart. If we climb to the top, all we are going to see is grass, sedges, and a bunch of sea birds. That doesn’t sound like a promised land to me. And we Quailor are not wont to live from the sea.”

  “That’s not what Sur Sceaf was seeing.” Mendaka declared. “He described a paradise.”

  “My people are expecting to move into the farmlands of the coast along the Sixes river and around Ur Ford.” Fromer glared at Sur Sceaf, “So was that a false promise to have the fertile farmlands for yourselves? Or a mere excuse to get us stuck out hither to serve your ships that you might get rich on filthy lucre from whale oil?”

  Sur Sceaf managed with great difficulty to contain his temper. “Brother Fromer, no one will be compelled to come here against their will. If you or any of your people prefer to stay on the lands we originally allotted to you, you may stay there unmolested. That is solely your choice. Please don’t let me dissuade you from it. I’m only saying an island is far safer and far more defensible, but we have not made a firm decision yet as to whether this island is safe enough or not. However, if I am to believe the stones we are fated to settle here.”

  Mendaka declared, “It was no accident that all of us ended up here alive. The gods have led us here. And I am willing to make any sacrifice required for this isle. There is something about this island that speaks to the depths of my soul.”

  “As it is written in the Holy Scriptures,” Hartmut reminded him, “the Lord will lead his people into a land flowing with milk and honey.”

  “Hartmut speaketh truly, but it’s chust that an impulsive change of plans always disturbeth me,” Elijah owned. “Perhaps it’s chust the curse of old age. But I have not the background of open revelation to rely on. Our god spake long ago, but we believe he ended the dialogue with his Holy Scriptures. I’m not the only one for whom change will be hard. Many will find it difficult to repurpose our settlement. In the past year our people have changed more than we’ve done in the past hundred years and it was not easy to get my people to change the first time. Now thou askest us to do it all over again, and there is nothing we fear so much as change.”

  Mendaka’s voice was elevated. “My people will welcome the new hunting grounds and untouched earth.”

  Hartmut took his hat off. “Struggle and toil is life. It’s all very promising. I say we explore the possibilities.”

  Fromer hissed, “Pssst! Hartmut, thou slippest more and more into heathenry everyday. Ye Herewardi heathen and thy savage friends are used to moving all over the earth and turning over every stone beneath your feet, not content with what God hath already given you. Why else do you move all over the earth? God wanteth his people to live in stability according to his holy laws, as set forth in the scripture, which we have tried to do for the past five hundred years. We shall not have this change.”

  Elijah said, “Fromer...”

  Fromer interrupted, “If we deviate from the laws we’ve followed for five hundred years, we risk losing God’s favor forever.”

  Fairchild loudly cleared his throat, “Well, if your god is so opposed to change, why did he not smite you to death on the trek?”

  “It would be blasphemy to presume to speak for God,” Fromer asserted. “I believe we must live our lives in accordance with the Holy Scriptures, but I was out voted.”

  “Brother Elijah,” Hartmut said, “May I ask thee to suspend thy judgment of this isle until we have properly explored it?”

  Sur Sceaf shot his old friend a grateful look. “Brother Elijah, I understand your reservations, but I too would ask you to suspend your judgment for the time being, just for the sake of harmony.”

  “As always, a very reasonable request. I shall do as thou askest,” Elijah declared. “I’ll wait and see what we come up with in our explorations before I reject the suggestion. God help me to convince my people”

  Mendaka fingered his snake amulet. “And perhaps your god will give you a sign.”

  Fromer gasped, “It is a wicked and adulterous generation that seeketh for a sign.”

  Red Fox offered, “It is a simple enough matter. If we get to the top and it is a fertile paradise, we will know the stones speak truth. If we get up top and it is as Brother Fromer says a rock pile and a waste howling wilderness then we either stick to the original plan or find the place the stones showed us.”

  Sur Sceaf said, “As always, Red Fox speaks wise counsel. It behooves us to follow that advice.”

  “Here! Here!” The others added.

  “Does anybody have anything more to add for the benefit of this council or our welfare in general.” Sur Sceaf paused and waited a minute. “If not then we hereby--”

  “Lord Sur Sceaf!”

  Xelph approached, huffing, and sucking anxiously for breath whilst holding his hand up to wait. As he waited for official admittance, he signed, “Very important news,” and would not break eye contact with Sur Sceaf. Instead of beginning the usual ritual of examination for re-admittance, Sunchild looked to Sur Sceaf who signed, “Admit.”

  “What is it Xelph?”

  Xelph signed, “Awful” and tried to catch his breath. After a moment he managed to gasp out “A creature! Looks like a fearsome grizzly...but three times that size...shoulders like a buffalo and shaggy mane and beard.”

  Several of the crew members leaped to their feet. Others looked at each other in disbelief. Xelph approached the altar.

  Sur Sceaf said, “Where did you see this creature?”

  “On the rocks at the far edge of the bay.” Now that he had caught his breath, his voice took on an urgent quality that left no doubt of his sincerity. “Truly, I couldn’t
believe my own eyes. The beast devoured a large seal like most bear eat a soft fish, and its roar was even greater than the roar of the sea.”

  Xelph’s report brought everyone close to the altar where he stood.

  Fromer declared loudly, “I told you so! This is a demonic domain. We may count ourselves lucky if we even come out of this land alive. We should fall to our knees and beg God to deliver us straight away out of this unholy place.”

  “Nonsense,” Elf Beard roared. “Every treasure hoard has its guardian dragon.”

  Elfdane, who rarely spoke in meetings asked calmly, “Then how shall we disarm the monster guardian of this isle? It sounds like it’s a grendel!”

  Mendaka spoke up. “First we must know what it is before we can know how to slay it.”

  As was the custom when gathered in a council fire, there was much signing, so that eavesdroppers could not understand all that was going on. It was simply habit. Sunchild signed from his station near the entrance, “Have answer.”

  Fromer huffed, “We are all equal here! Why do you keep we Quailor ignorant of the conversation? We have every right to give our input.”

  Sur Sceaf signed, “Sunchild, speak.”

  “We of Ur Ford were visited by such a creature some ten years before when I was but a boy. It was first spotted by fishermen who saw it floating in from the sea on a large island of ice, and then it swam to shore where it ranged in the tall grasses and willow thickets along the Sixes River. Going to and fro at its listing to the loss of much livestock.”

  “What didst thou call this creature?” Hartmut asked, clearly intrigued.

  “A grass beast, but some said it must be some other beast of legend, like the Waheela of the North. It was near impossible to fight. Many refused to even go near its ferocious rage. Eventually it took many dogs, fire, bowmen, and spear men to bring it down. That was after many days of losses: human, hound, and livestock.”

  Clearly fascinated, Fairchild asked, “How did you kill it?”

  “My father told me that they discovered it feared fire, so after tracking it down with hounds, they trapped it in a ravine by setting the grass on fire. Then they set the hounds on it and charged with spears while the hounds distracted it with their biting. My father said, it was weakest in the upper chest. Obviously its heart must be there for those were the spears that stopped it.”

  “Did thy father describe how big it was?” Hartmut asked.

  Sunchild nodded, “He said it stood three man lengths high and when skinned, the hide alone weighed close to four hundred pounds. It was stored in my fa bro Baldur’s cabin and burned down with that cabin nine years ago. Many who had not participated directly in the hunt declared it was a hoax or some tall tale, or just a rogue grizzly. So people only talked about it in smaller, more private circles. There was a time I asked Rabbi Amschel about such a beast and he said he had known of such creatures in the Northern Rockies as well as dire wolves of unusual size. I believe these creatures come out of the far north.”

  There was hardly a face that didn’t express some sort of fear on it. Even Sur Sceaf felt a shiver. “Os-Frith! Peace, my brethren, this tells me that with a coordinated effort it can be killed. We shall arm ourselves well and from now on we will be far more vigilant than we have thus far been. Thank you, Xelph, for being so vigilant and observant.

  “We have been given two warnings, first with the attack of the shark-wyrm and now with the presence of a grass beast. The danger of this place cries for recognition. Let us not wait for a third warning. The cost could be too great.”

  “It already is,” Fromer declared. “The peril of our mortal souls is at stake if we stay. You call it a beast, but it soundeth to me like unto a demon from Hell. I want to stay here in the cavern and wait to be rescued. I certainly do not wish to go out and look for trouble. I shall not tempt God.”

  “Stay if you wish, but the stones have spoken and the council has decided we will explore this island for three suns and then return to this chamber. Then if Raven’s Tongue and Turtle Duck have not arrived, we will fix our boat ourselves and head back to Ur Ford. Besides sea fare was not too great. I have a notion fresh meat and herbs will do us all good.”

  The others signed agreement with the exception of Fromer.

  “Oh! And Red Fox, when you finish the totem, place a flask with a message in it telling Raven’s Tongue to stay out of the waters, to beware of the trolls in this land, and that we will meet him on the fourth day from when we last saw one another, here, in the cavern by the sea.”

  * * *

  After breakfast had been eaten and the supplies had been packed onto the Raven, Raven’s Tongue announced, “We shall have to wait for this fog to lift a little more before we launch. In the meantime, Long Swan and Shark-Moon-Boy go see if you can find a way up this solid granite cliff. If not, scout around to see if you can find any hint of where Sur Sceaf’s crew might be.”

  Long Swan and Shark-Moon took off up the beach. They traveled for eight plough lengths studying the cliffs, but the rock wall proved to be unyielding with no easy place to scale their formidable heights. With the fog melting off, they decided to head back for the whaler. Walking along the edge of the high tide line, Long Swan spotted a float half buried in the sand. His heart leapt. He picked up the glass ball and examined it closer. The float bore the ewe’s foot with the hive between it, Sur Sceaf’s trademark.

  Thrilled that, sure enough, it bore Sur Sceaf’s mark, he summoned the boy to his side. “Shark-Moon look at this. It is Sur Sceaf’s device. At least it means he sailed somewhere close to this island.”

  Heart pounding Long Swan raced back to the camp with the boy struggling to keep up. As he neared the boat, he shouted for Raven’s Tongue, who met him half way. After examining the ball carefully, he called for the others.

  “Comrades, the sea current is flowing southerly so this float must have come from the north. Sur Sceaf is therefore north of us, not south of us as we supposed. We must face the possibility that there has been trouble for this float to have hit the sea. They could be shipwrecked or marooned somewhere.”

  Turtle Duck declared, “I see this as a good omen, not a bad one. It could be they are carving up a whale near here and the floater just worked itself loose.”

  “Then all we have to do is walk up the beach until we find them.” Shark-Moon-Boy exclaimed.

  “The ship is faster,” Flammalf the map maker said. Quickly he retrieved his maps of the Herewardi coasts and spread them out over the dry sand. As the others bent over to see better, he traced the coast line with his finger. “As you can see, neither this map nor any of the others I’ve drawn show an island out here, but here it is.”

  Makah announced, “That is because no one has ever returned from this far out to give testimony of its existence.”

  Herman the Giant suggested, “Maybe we should go by land.”

  “No, no, no,” Turtle Duck said. “It would be faster to go by sea. We don’t know how far away they are and if they are cutting up a whale they’ll need our help as well as our equipment. Come, let us launch. The sun is melting away the fog. It will be smooth sailing.”

  * * *

  While previously exploring, Xelph had come across a stony path meandering upward, which he believed would take them up into the headlands. But as they prepared to leave, Ilkchild stared deeper into the cavern at what appeared to be small caverns above the chamber where the stream spilled down.

  “We could follow this stream from where it must enter at the top.” Ilkchild asserted. “If we are going to live here, we should explore the caves anyway. Can you imagine the wines and cheeses we could store in here?”

  Sur Sceaf considered the possibility. “That’s highly logical, but why don’t you check out the back of the cave to see if it’s indeed accessible. Take ten minutes and see if it’s doable or not.”

  Ilkchild took off before Sur Sceaf had even finished. His thick blond hair bounced with the usual youthful spring in his gait as he sw
iftly ran up the interior path above.

  Sur Sceaf was grateful the young blood had returned from the land of the dead. He was pleased to see that his skin was taking on its usual color and was slowly yielding up the ghostly palor.

  Just as Sur Sceaf was about ready to call for Ilkchild to return, the young blood yelled from above. “These smaller caverns have an alluvial fan of red scree spread out before each entrance. There are two caves which run parallel and sometimes join the other cave through which the stream runs. One cave is dry and dusty and has the same gnawed upon bamboo culms, the other is wet and slippery.”

  Looking up, Sur Sceaf guessed the entrances of the caves were about fifty feet above the chamber he was standing in.

  “With your permission,” Ilkchild called, “I’d like to take half the group and follow the stream up.”

  Pleased that Ilkchild was eager to assert his leadership and that the other route had a known danger, Sur Sceaf agreed.

  “You young bloods, Sunchild, Fairchild, Xelph, and Elfdane go with Ilkchild.” Sur Sceaf glanced around until he spotted his old friend. “Elf Beard will accompany you for shadow leadership. Should he request command, surrender it to him immediately and without any questions. The rest of us will take the cliff route.”

  As the crews divided, each preparing to go their separate ways, Fromer whined, “Well, what about me?”

  Sur Sceaf glanced back at him. “I thought you wanted to stay here.”

  “How do I know you will come back? No, I’ll go with Elf Beard.” He glanced toward the back of the cavern. “Besides, I doubt thou shalt get very far.”

  Elf Beard looked none too pleased, but kept his silence.

  Sur Sceaf reached for his pouch with the seer stones. “Ilkchild, do you want me to scry this cave out for you?”

  His son shook his head and yelled back down. “It shouldn’t be necessary. You all need to get started. We’ll just follow the stream upward. It’s that simple.”