A Gleaming Path

by Jeffrey Pawlak

  An ethereal image leapt from each of the other bandits, as well. Together, they soared toward Baldaron and onto his body, disappearing as they melded with his black armor.

  When all of the ghostly forms and droplets of energy had vanished, the bandits went still. Baldaron released his grip on the leader, and the red light in his eyes faded.

  Tauroc and the Rockclaw warriors glanced about at the dozens of lifeless bodies that now lay strewn about their camp, astonished by what they had seen.

  “If you have ever been curious,” Baldaron broke in, drawing only a few of the Baroso to pull their stunned eyes away from the dead bandits, “that is the form that Scourge takes when I absorb a living being’s soul, the essence of their existence.”

  Baldaron seemed to know that Tauroc and the Baroso were deprived of words. He turned from them and faced the Strife Wings, who now approached the camp.

  “I would have had more men to demonstrate my power upon,” Baldaron continued, glancing past the Strife Wings at the mangled bodies of the men who the monsters had mauled, “but my creatures left nothing for me to consume.”

  “Forgive us for the slaughter, Lord Baldaron,” Destrala said, she and the other Strife Wings bowing their heads. “If I had known you wished to absorb their strength, my sisters and I would have done our best to keep them alive.”

  “It is no grave concern,” Baldaron said. “Even if you had been aware of my plans, it’s likely asking too much of a man to survive your fury.”

  Destrala and her sisters grinned in response to Baldaron’s twisted compliment, revealing blood that still clung to their fangs.

  “What news do you bring me from your flights over Sleekleaf Forest?”

  Destrala’s grin vanished. “We managed to find the Princess and her allies several days ago, but they escaped our grasp,” the monstrous Strife Wing answered. “They fled underground into the tunnels. My sisters and I searched nearly every mile of the forest to see where they may have emerged, but they continued to elude us. We eventually lost any scent of them altogether.”

  “If they are not in the forest, then where could they possibly be?” Golric asked.

  “They may have taken to the underground tunnels beneath Sleekleaf Forest, once again,” Baldaron mused. “But if they intend to find the Radia of Hope, as I suspect, they will need to leave the forest. If they do not move by land at this time, then the only other way they could be taking is over the ocean.”

  Destrala’s eyes flashed with vicious eagerness. “My Lord, if you command it, my sisters and I will fly at once to the ocean. We will sweep over the waters for as long as it takes to find their ship.”

  Baldaron smirked. “No, Destrala, I will not have you do that. Instead, I ask that you three accompany my army for the time being while we remain here in the Arid Reaches. You and your sisters are among my most formidable servants, but the ocean is not your domain. That realm belongs to Garadev and his brothers.”

  Destrala’s lips curled in disgust. “You will leave such an important task to those brainless reptiles?”

  Baldaron was actually amused by her discontent. “I know that you are not fond of them, but there is no one among my army who is better suited to patrol those waters. Garadev and his brothers ruled that ocean before the Onda’s guardian monster drove them away. That defeat left them bitter, and hungry for revenge. When I found them and offered them an alliance, they did not hesitate to join with me.”

  “If the little water lizards and their precious guardian proved mightier than Garadev before, then they will do so, again,” Destrala argued.

  “They will have no chance, any longer. When I received word from some of my scouts that the Onda’s guardian went to slumber beneath the island of Waverock, I told Garadev and his brothers. They moved out with haste and attacked while she did not expect it. The Onda’s guardian is now trapped deep beneath that island. She will never breach the surface of the ocean again.”

  “We should be thankful for that!” Golric added. “The Onda’s guardian is far mightier than any order of Spiritcasters. If we had to deal with her ourselves, she would have caused us a lot of trouble.”

  Baldaron nodded in agreement. “And since then, Garadev and his brothers have continued to prove useful to me. They sank many trading ships, even a handful of the Tordalian navy’s vessels. They will be perfect for tracking down the Princess and her allies should they ever sail those waters.”

  Destrala still did not appear to be swayed. “Garadev or one of his gluttonous brethren will probably just eat the Princess before they realize who she even is.”

  The great Strife Wing did not jest, but Baldaron still chuckled. “If she must die at someone’s hands—or jaws—other than my own, then that is at least a fitting demise for her.” He turned away from the Strife Wings and looked into the dark horizon. “And if by some chance Garadev and his brothers fail, and the Princess and her allies manage to cross the ocean safely, I will be waiting for them here.”

  7

  When Alamor awoke, the first thing he saw was a moist, glistening ceiling high above. As his vision slowly cleared, he glanced about his surroundings. He lay within what looked to be a yawning room hewn entirely out of greenish rock, like a deep cleft in the side of a mountain. The green rock was the color of jade, with veins of brightly-tinted sediment running over its surface.

  Alamor sat up, a sharp jolt shooting through his sore limbs. He gently stretched his arms to alleviate some of the stiffness that clung to his muscles, and it was then that he realized he was not wearing any of his armor, or even his cape. His sword and shield were also nowhere to be found.

  He was not alone. Tiroku, Rawner, Hinton, and Pauma all lay on the moist floor around him, each of them sound asleep. Just like Alamor, Tiroku and Rawner were also missing their armor; they were only garbed by the tunics and leggings they normally wore underneath. Their weapons were also absent, as was Hinton’s large satchel that contained his blast orbs.

  Alamor felt a cool mist caress his face. He looked ahead to the space’s opening, which revealed a fantastic view of the ocean and the afternoon sky. He stood and slowly began to make his way to the edge, his legs gradually remembering their strength.

  He eventually came to an overhang, and saw that the ground dropped away into a jagged incline down to the water, where it met with the ocean’s rhythmic waves. To his sides, Alamor saw that the land ran off over the ocean, forming thick, rocky masses. The terrain sported nearly every color in the rainbow as it rose from the water, its vibrant surface spangling from the constant surfs that struck and doused it with mist.

  Where are we? Alamor wondered.

  He spotted a narrow pathway that ran from the edge of the overhang further down into the landmass. He entertained the idea of following it, but he heard someone behind him groan, and he recognized that it was Rawner. Alamor looked back and saw the man slowly sit up.

  “Am I actually alive, or did I make it to the heavens after all of that?” Rawner asked, although he seemed to be wondering aloud more so than asking someone in particular.

  “Nope, it looks like we somehow survived the night,” Alamor answered as he went to join Rawner, kneeling before his good friend. “Don’t ask me how, though.”

  Rawner blinked rapidly to reclaim his vision. When he did, his brow furrowed, and he looked up and down his huge frame. “And what happened to my armor?” He glanced at Alamor. “Or yours, for that matter?”

  Alamor shrugged. “Don’t ask me that, either.”

  Nearby, Hinton and Pauma began to stir. Tiroku also began to come awake, although the Champion of Light was not the least bit groggy, while the Bachus appeared just as weary as Alamor and Rawner had been.

  “What in stone and soil’s name happened to us last night?” Hinton asked through a great yawn, and shook his fur dry.

  Pauma also shook free the remaining moisture that was in her fur. Afterward, her face bent into a grimace of pain. “Yikes! It feels like we fell down a mountains
ide. I tell you, this is a worse wakeup than from some of our wildest feasts back at the Bachu Caverns.”

  Tiroku lifted himself to his feet with hardly any struggle. “Are all of you okay, aside from some soreness?” the Champion of Light asked, casually brushing off his arms.

  Rawner also stood for the first time, although it did not come as easy to the big man as it did for Tiroku. “I’ll be fine after a few minutes. I just need to let the old body come back to life.” As Rawner bent from side to side to get some movement going through his body, he looked about the opening they stood in. “More than anything, I’d like to know how in the world we got here.”

  Alamor also wondered the same, but there was an even greater concern on his mind. “Or better yet, what this place is.”

  An unfamiliar voice broke in no more than a moment after Alamor finished expressing his thought. “Onda Reef,” it said.

  Everyone’s eyes shot to the edge of the overhang, where a creature stood next to the pathway. It looked like a lizard, but was man-sized, and it stood on its hind legs with its arms crossed. Its dark blue scales were like sapphires, while its underbelly was cyan, white around the edges. A long tail fell behind its body, the whip-like appendage occasionally writhing as the creature stood. Its head was smooth and narrow. There was an intelligent look in its eyes and smile as the creature watched the group.

  Hinton nearly jumped when he first looked upon it. “What is that thing!?” the Bachu exclaimed.

  Tiroku approached it without any hesitation. “He is an Onda,” the Champion of Light answered.

  Even though Alamor had never seen an Onda in person, he knew that Tiroku was correct. The Onda were an aquatic race said to be among the most intelligent creatures in Tordale. They rarely ventured on land, and even fewer, if any, lived on the continent proper. Instead, they kept to the oceans, making their home on a variety of islands.

  Tiroku offered his hand as soon as he came to the Onda. The aquatic creature accepted the gesture with a hand that was webbed with pale blue skin in between his fingers. “Well met, my friend,” the Champion of Light greeted. “My name is Tiroku.”

  “And you can call me Sharq,” the Onda replied. They released their clasps, and Sharq’s eyes moved past Tiroku to Alamor and the others. “May I be introduced to them, as well?”

  Tiroku introduced them one by one, telling the Onda their names and where they hailed from. Sharq acknowledged each of them with a friendly nod. The Onda was clearly pleased to learn more about them. “It’s nice to finally know some things about all of you,” Sharq said, a smile appearing in one corner of his snout. “You have been sleeping since you arrived here. Of course, it’s hard to blame any of you for that; you all are lucky just to have survived such a disaster as what you found yourselves in the other night.”

  Tiroku took on a serious gaze. “Then it was you and your kind who brought us here?”

  Sharq nodded. “Some of our scouts spotted your ships days earlier, and once our leader learned that you were a party associated with the royal family, she sent us out at once to warn you about Garadev and his brothers. Obviously, we weren’t able to reach you before those monsters did, but at least we got there in time to save several of you from certain death.”

  “Is this ‘Garadev’ that you speak of one of those monsters who attacked our ships?” Tiroku asked.

  “He is,” Sharq confirmed. “Garadev is the biggest and most powerful of the three that you encountered the other night. If you can remember any of it, he was the one who sliced your ship in half with that water beam he can spew. The other two are his brothers. The red one is called Rotour, and the blue one is Saphos. They may not be as dangerous as Garadev, but they’re still formidable beasts. Together, they make an even deadlier threat. When all three gather, they’re the bane of this ocean.”

  Rawner showed a stunned, grave expression. “So that thing and the other monsters took out all three of our ships?”

  Sharq nodded at Rawner. He was clearly not happy to make the gesture. “Unfortunately, your vessels were just some of many that Garadev and his brothers have destroyed recently. They have been menacing these waters for some time now, attacking all who sail in these parts.”

  Rawner’s expression sank even more. “So many soldiers lost, then,” he said in a low breath.

  “We believe that there are more who survived,” Sharq said. “This morning, one of our scouts returned and told us that he spotted some thirty men and women sailing in life boats several miles to the south. He said they looked like Tordalian soldiers, and that they were eventually taken in by other Onda on a smaller island. So long as those monsters don’t find that island, they should be safe.”

  Alamor glanced in Tiroku’s direction. “Those monsters must have been what caused those trading ships to go missing a few weeks ago,” he said. “They probably destroyed them all.”

  Sharq spoke up before Tiroku could even acknowledge Alamor. “If we’re thinking of the same ships, then I can tell you that you’re correct. My scouting party came upon the wreckage of five Tordalian trading vessels not long after they were attacked. Everything I saw of their remains told me that Garadev and his brethren were the reason that they sunk to the bottom of the ocean.”

  “Were you able to find any survivors?” Tiroku asked.

  “Not from those ships,” Sharq answered, “which is why it’s something of a miracle that so many of you survived, at all. No other crew attacked by those monsters have lived to see a day afterward. Myself and the Onda who carried you back here to the island weren’t sure if all of you would make it, but remarkably, you all hung on. It would seem that fate is intent on keeping you in this world for a little while longer.”

  “You said that you rescued several of us,” Tiroku began, drawing Sharq’s attention. “Was it more than just us five?”

  “Yes, we were able to save a few of your other companions.” Sharq explained. “And if I had to guess, they were definitely on the same ship as you five. They looked as if they came directly from Tordale Castle judging by their outfits.”

  Raissa! Her name immediately flashed in Alamor’s mind. His heart began to race as he breathed a quiet, but hearty sigh of relief. She must still be all right, he thought to himself, overjoyed to hear that she was with their company.

  “Speaking of outfits, what happened to all of ours?” Rawner chimed in. “The same for our weapons?’

  “My scouts claimed most of what you all carried with you the night that they found you; everything is being kept in our armory,” Sharq explained. “We have made sure to clean them thoroughly and dry them so that they do not rust. You can grab everything at some point today, perhaps alongside the rest of your companions. Most of them awoke earlier this morning, and if I’m not mistaken, they’re currently speaking with our leader. If you want to see them again, I’ll take you to her chamber. As it is, our leader has also been anticipating an audience with you five.” Sharq turned and took a few steps down the path that ran deeper into the island. “Just follow me. I’ll show you the way and introduce you to her.”

  Alamor and the others glanced about at one another for a moment, as if silently consulting before they started to follow behind Sharq. The Onda took them down the narrow trail, which clung to the side of the cliff before it turned and fell into the heart of the island.

  Sharq was quick to indicate its namesake for Onda Reef. Far off from where they walked, a sprawling mass of coral stretched out into the waters, rolling on into the distance like one of the fields in the Plains of Oston. The reef was completely submerged beneath the ocean’s turquoise waves, but the waters were so clear that, even from a distance, one could make out the innumerable varieties of coral, algae, and marine creatures that came together into a thriving marine ecosystem.

  As they continued over the island, the ground became slick from the constant mist that doused its floors, occasionally making Alamor or one of his companions slip as they walked. Sharq was as steady as if he strode over dr
y grass, his feet designed by nature to traverse wet surfaces.

  There were many of his kind about the island while Sharq led them on. The Onda did not have any form of housing that they constructed on their own, not even small huts. The interior portions of Onda Reef were carved into the rock itself, Sharq explained, but unless the ocean conjured a violent storm, most Onda preferred to spend their days outside in the open air.

  Alamor and the others saw that the Onda sported scales of varying color. Some were deep blue, like Sharq, while others came in shades of purple and pink. Although a few could be spotted basking in the warm sunlight atop tall rock formations, most of the Onda kept to the many pools and streams about the island. Some lounged comfortably within the waters or conversed with one another, while others went about their regular labor harvesting various weeds, shells, sediments, and other materials that the island produced for its inhabitants. The most common that Alamor saw were huge mussels, some bigger than his shield. Their shells were jet black, but when they were pried open, their insides were milky white, like snow.

  There were even a few Onda that Alamor saw who leapt from the waters like arrows shot from bows, diving right back in afterward and continuing to swim with grace that no other species in Tordale could equal.

  As the terrain upon Onda Reef climbed higher, the vibrant rock formations began to build up into the main portion of the island. It was truly a wonder that only nature could have erected, like the prized jewel of the oceans. Alamor thought that the island must have looked like a fortress from afar; the land continued to rise as it neared the heart of the island, where it eventually came together into a mountainous cluster of the vivid rock.

  But no fortress built by living hands was this beautiful, Alamor knew. Even Tordale Castle, in its full splendor, could not compare this. It seemed that every time he looked in a different direction, he saw the island take on a new, sparkling shade. In one area, the ground seemed to be made out of solid ruby, in another, out of amethyst, and in another, out of pure gold. The rock seemed to know no ends when it came to its array of colors.