by Clark Bolton
The fishing boat had no cabin and only a modest mast that sported a single triangular sail. It was manned by five men, all members of the same family. They had handed the five gold marks Murac had paid them, a small fortune to a fisherman, over to their wives before setting sail.
Autbek could see that the wives were more than happy with the gold but more than a little concerned about their husbands. “I think they could buy several boats with that!”
Berdtom nodded his head as he seated himself on a small bench near the bow. “Let us hope they don’t have to replace this one, nor any of the fishermen.”
Haspeth sat dejected in the stern, next to the fisherman who manned the tiller. “O’t, can you make this thing go fast, already feeling seasick!”
“Sorry, does not work here on the seas … only among the stars!” He was of course referring to the use of the levitation spell he had applied to the Bone-Cutter’s longboat. He had managed to speed the longboat but knew well enough that it would not work here.
“Takes energy to move a boat.” Castor called out to Haspeth.
“So, why look at me?”
“Are you not the supposed Energist?”
“Huh! We battle things, we don’t push boats!”
Castor and Autbek shared a glance; obvious to both of them Haspeth was being shortsighted. Looking to the others Autbek could see they were prepared to move, for Negorch had lashed himself loosely to the mast and the girls had settled on either side of the litter. Murac then took up oars with the fisherman and soon they were leaving the small dock behind.
“We are not forgetting anything, right?” Haspeth asked as he watched the dock slip away.
Murac rowed as he commented. “Nope, got water and a bit of food; that’s all we need. Oh and by the way there will be no hot food on this voyage.”
“Ahhh! I could light something up pretty easy, like a pot or a big fish.” Haspeth said absently.
“Or a boat.” Castor muttered.
Autbek had to admit it was not such a bad idea if it came to that. He or Haspeth could likely heat a pot without a flame if they worked at it hard enough. They also had the advantage of an Ausic ring which could summon a fire elemental if he could work out how to apply it. With that thought he double checked the pouch that hung low about his neck to make sure the rings they had come so far to collect were safe.
The fisherman knew the coast well for the next four or five days travel they were told. After that the waters they would be in were not traveled much from anyone from their village. They then told tales of sea monsters and of centaurs that roamed the beaches.
“Always.” Murac muttered as he let the sail do the work. “Never knew a remote beach without a monster on it, or at least an army of giant crabs to protect it.”
Autbek smiled back at the man, who once again seemed to be in his element. Of all the party members he traveled best; never grumbling much and always willing to press ahead. “Don’t you tire of travel?”
“I do, but not for long. You see, there is treasure and adventure … just around that next point there!” He pointed out ahead of the boat then laughed at himself.
“Adventure, yes, not sure about treasure.”
Four days out brought bouts of begging and a whole lot of verbal fights and muttering as Onaleen worked to cure the illness that had struck all of them, except Murac and the fishermen. She had tried to alter some of the spells she had on scrolls but Autbek refused to let her cast them.
“You can’t cure sea sickness so easily, Onaleen, much as I wish you could.” He and the others found it very difficult to keep food down and despite veiled threats Murac would not approve any landings though shore was nearly always in sight.
Haspeth raised the question again for about the tenth time that day. “Can’t we just stop on the beach for an hour, Murac! It won’t take us more than that to row there, and an hour to row back.”
Murac did not even turn his head as he continued to fiddle with the fishing line he held. “And an hour to kill the damn monster that shows to eat ya … and another two to drive the centaurs away after that. Adds up, lad.”
“As long as it ain’t a sphinx.” Haspeth muttered.
On the fifth day they sighted what they thought might very well be their destination. The maps they had seen on the Bone-Cutter had marked a point on the coast though it showed not what was there. Seeing now a great butte jutting out alone into the sea, close to where Murac and Berdtom guessed their destination to be from the stars the night before, they could not help but conclude this was it.
The fisherman did not like the place at all, and told the party so as they reluctantly sailed toward a long open beach near the base of the butte. There they landed the boat but refused to set foot upon the sand, leaving the party to move Luzac on his litter, as well as supplies.
Murac looked to Berdtom as they stood waist deep in the surf. “Once we walk ashore they will be gone like sea rats!”
Berdtom looked at the fishermen one last time. “I know, but we can’t force them to stay against their will. They fear this place and maybe for good reasons and I don’t blame them for being in a rush to return to their wives.”
Murac nodded his head as he turned to yell to the party. “O’t, last chance, they will leave as soon as I walk in!”
Autbek waved goodbye to the fisherman. “Thank them!” With that the party found themselves alone on a deserted beach.
They decided to walk around its north face to look for water and to find a place to camp where they could then setup the signal fires they had detailed in the sealed note they had left with the captain of the Bone-Cutter. Three fires, one blue, one red, and one green would be the signal. They figured Castor would be up to the task of providing the appropriate colors.
Onaleen gazed up at the butte as they walked. “O’t, it looks like a great snail with the way the rocks are curved and spiral at the top there.”
Luzac spoke often now as they carried his litter. “Don’t be talking of such things, girl, you’ll be bringing in bad luck. It’s just stone!”
The party smiled amongst themselves at his grouchiness as they thought it a sign of his improving health. He still could not walk much but could now eat solid food and had the energy to complain frequently.
Murac lead the way and after an hour or two called a halt. “This will do I think. We got cover from the butte there and I see some pools of water maybe in this creek bed here.”
When no one objected strongly they set up camp and then prepared to light fires once night had fallen. The fires they spaced thirty paces apart and once lit Castor used an illusion spell on each to make the firelight the proper color.
It was not until the fourth night that they got their answer for sure that a vessel was indeed coming to pick them up. As before strange colors could be seen in the moonless sky and then lightning danced about until finally thunder boomed directly over their heads.
Castor called out from the darkness beyond the light of the fires. “I see it; it’s not as big as the Bone-Cutter!”
Autbek looked wildly around, not knowing which direction Castor was referring to. It took another minute before he saw the vessel. “Is that a longboat?”
Murac was mobilizing everyone at this point. “Grab your packs! Haspeth get some spells on that litter!”
No one looked forward to another boarding like the last one, but all expected it. As the longboat approached they were happy to see that it was coming in much lower than the Bone-Cutter had done and could now see an earthy bluish glow surrounding it. In fact it looked to be landing at first but then it stopped about the height of a man above the ground then pivoted in the breeze.
“I don’t see anyone, Murac!” Autbek called out as he walked cautiously toward the bow of the boat.
Castor called from the darkness again. “There is only one in the boat, O’t, and it ain't no Jeszak either.” The crew of the Bone-Cutter had been exclusively Jeszak, as far as race, except for the grotesque h
elmsman.
Murac then leaped up to grab onto the bow of the boat. Pulling himself up over the side he gazed at the giant figure at the tiller. “May we come aboard!” He asked the dark figure but got no reply.
The rest of the party gathered near the bow with Negorch and Berdtom manning the litter. They could not see the sailor yet as Castor came to join them. “As big as those giants we killed!” Castor whispered to Haspeth who then decided to back up a bit to better see his possible target.
Murac was not having any luck with communications. “O’t, better come up I think!” As Autbek floated up and over the edge of the boat the massive sailor turned its head slightly toward him.
Autbek cast a language spell and then held up his ring. “I’m the one who wrote and sealed the letter.”
The sailor paused then spoke in a voice that to Autbek was reminiscent of the sphinx’s. “Another seal.” With that the sailor pulled out what looked to be the letter Autbek had written but it was difficult to see in the dark. Only the boat’s bluish glow reflecting off the Ausic seal gave them a clue.
Autbek nodded and then pulled a scroll from his tunic and then touched his ring to it as he concentrated silently. In the near darkness the light produced during the making of the seal impressed himself and so he hoped this fellow would be also.
The sailor put away the letter with what sounded like a grunt of acknowledgement, after which he signaled to Murac for the others to climb aboard. The party quickly lifted up the litter and soon all were packed into a space considerably smaller than what the fishermen’s boat had provided.
With a turn of the tiller and manipulation of some strange dials next to it, the giant sailor caused the boat to turn and rise at an impressive rate. In a couple of minutes the all too familiar winds started buffeting the boat as it gained altitude, and once again they hung on for dear life as the clouds parted to reveal again the black starry sky.
In this way they found themselves among the stars again in a vessel made of what the dwarves thought to be stone. Their pilot called himself Gra-Niiht, though they were unsure if that was his name or his race, and since he responded poorly to the questions they asked him, they left it at that.
They did manage to determine that he had been given the letter at the Spinning-Rook; the place the captain of the Bone-Cutter had promised to deliver it to. He seemed to understand where they wanted him to take them and as far as they could discern he was taking them directly to Astrum.
Autbek sat thinking with brow furrowed for a while after the ship had been traveling for a time. “I want to stop somewhere else first.” He announced suddenly.
Onaleen was sitting next to him. “What do you mean?” She was gaining comfort from the fact their journey was almost over and clearly did not want to hear this from him.
“Tom, I want to stop at the Spinning-Rook. This may be our last chance ever to do that.”
Haspeth shook his head in disbelief. “Why bloody well there? Can’t we just go home?”
“You want the soot from the fireplace there, don’t you?” Castor asked.
Autbek nodded his head as he looked to Berdtom and Murac. “Once I get that soot, I can send messages there with a fire-note spell whenever we want someone like this to come!” Murac nodded his head in understanding but Berdtom looked concerned.
“It’s a big risk, O’t. Are we sure Luzac is up to it, and if he is what will the cost be?”
They had not even agreed yet on the cost of getting to Astrum he realized, but he knew if he did not try for the Spinning-Rook or somewhere like it he would regret it always. “It’s worth it. That is if Luzac thinks he can make it ok.”
All eyes turned to the dwarf. “As long as these short legs of mine don’t have to do any running lad, I’ll make it ok.” Onaleen reinforced what Luzac said with a smile and a nod.
Berdtom and Autbek moved to sit as near as they dared to the tiller and took turns speaking with Gra-Niiht, both finding it frustrating as the sailor seemed unable to converse in a normal sense. Though he spoke some, there were often frustratingly long pauses, and at times he seemed to simply ignore them.
Gra-Niiht did reveal that the sandals he wore on his massive feet bore the Ausic seal, identical to the one on the letter Autbek had wrote and sealed. This led them to conclude it was the Ausic seal that had interested Gra-Niiht enough to accept them as passengers.
“I think he may be a mage of some type.” Autbek confided later to Haspeth, and Castor, and to just about everyone else on the boat since it was difficult not to be overheard in such a confined space. “If you watch he mumbles and gestures with his hands in order to control the tiller sometimes.”
Berdtom nodded his head. “Yes, I see what you mean, and it explains a lot. Like why he is able to navigate out here alone.”
“We’re invisible, or nearly so.” Castor announced softly.
“Huh? You mean he ignores us; like we don’t all see that!” Haspeth scoffed.
“Nope, I mean the glow around the boat. I’ve been studying it, and now I’m sure. We are invisible to anyone outside this boat!”
Autbek looked about for a moment then concentrated on casting a detection spell that would allow him to better analyze the aura about them. “Yes, it is definitely illusion magic of some type.”
“Bloody darn useful!” Haspeth announced as he looked about. “We could sneak up on a few wyverns then I’ll bet! The hide is worth money I’ve heard.” He looked about to see if anyone else might be interested in some hunting but got no support.
Berdtom turned the conversation back to Gra-Niiht. “Whatever we get him to do for us there is still the matter of payment. We have enough gold perhaps, but then again he seems not so interest in it as far we can tell.”
Autbek was convinced Gra-Niiht would take them and after a time he got confirmation of it. As far as payment the only thing he get out of Gra-Niiht was that he would ask something of Autbek in the future, but would not express exactly when. Nobody liked the idea of being in debt to Gra-Niiht, but after a time they gave it little thought as the stars rolled by.
“Land ho!” Murac called out the next morning. They thought of it as morning anyway, since most had been sleeping but they really had no way of knowing.
Autbek sat up and looked to the bow where Murac was standing, to see a tiny point of land off in the distance. They had seen a few boulders float by the previous day but this looked to be different though it was still far in the distance. “Looks like we are heading right for it. Hope it’s the Spinning-Rook.” Turning to Gra-Niiht he asked him to confirm.
The sailor nodded his head slowly and then went back to his motionless stance at the massive tiller. He rarely moved from it and seemed not to sleep, though he did close his eyes at times.
Murac turned and caught everyone’s attention. “Let’s make this as short as we can. If this is anything like I imagine it will mean the longer we stay the more likely we are to draw unwanted attention.”
Berdtom and everyone else were in agreement on this point. Get in, get the soot, and then get back to the boat. “The five of us will go, as we planned.” Meaning Autbek, Haspeth, Castor, Murac, and himself, leaving the girls and the dwarves in the boat.
They began pointing out other vessels as they neared the Spinning-Rook, and for the most part the ships appeared to be traveling away or traveling toward the rock. For now it appeared they were in the smallest vessel in this part of whatever plane they were traveling.
The Spinning-Rook turned out to be a beehive of sorts, with branches of stone jutting far out from its center in nearly all directions.Each was a dock but oddly each seemed to decide what direction was up or down, so as they approached some ships appeared turned on their sides and some nearly upside down.
“Ahhh, this is so bloody weird, O’t.” Haspeth exclaimed as he looked up onto the deck of a ship where sailors were looking up at him. “Why don’t they fall?”
Autbek furrowed his brow but had no answer. “I don’t know
, it seems the stone itself decides which way should be up for each ship.” He realized after a while that he had been mistaken for each of the long stone docks had a light and a dark side, with the lighter side being smooth. It was only the smooth side that they could see people walking on.
When they docked they were greeted by a handful of strange looking dwarves. At first they were hopefully that Luzac and Negorch would be received well by such but then as they drew near it was clear they were a bit different. Their eyes were bigger and reflected the starlight like those of an animal.
“Not my kin!” Negorch announced as Gra-Niiht tossed a line to them. Murac also pitched a line which the foreign dwarves snatched up. As the dwarves secured their boat Gra-Niiht spoke a few brief words with them, apparently hiring them to watch his boat.
In short order Gra-Niiht led the five of them to the interior of the rock. They felt fortunate that they did not have to walk far into the cavernous hallway before coming to what was apparently an inn. Gra-Niiht raised his hands slightly and spoke what was a very long sentence for him.
“Here … this has the fire needed.”
Autbek nodded and then the five of them entered the main chamber of the inn. At first he thought it too large to be an inn but then saw servants moving about filling orders for patrons. The patrons themselves seemed for the most part to be Jeszak, or at least Jeszak-like, but a few large bloated creatures could also be seen as well as dwarves and possibly humans.
Berdtom cautioned them to be silent unless spoken too as he and Autbek went up to what appeared to be the bar. The innkeeper was not human but neither did he appear far from it. He was the same height as a man but had the eyes and features of another race, and had impossibly thick forearms and hands.