The Path of Dreams (The Tome of Law Book 2)

by Matthew W. Harrill

  “Curtis said that there are ships that would take us where we need to go from your harbour.” Keldron said, changing subject.

  “Indeed he was right,” the guard agreed while his companion watched the road. “There are ships to anywhere from our docks. That is why your arrival here brings a smile to our faces.”

  Keldron looked confused, to his credit. “I don't understand.”

  The large guard grinned down at them all. “What my tiny colleague here means is that everybody comes to this city on ship. They all leave by ship. If there is a place you need to get to, there is most likely a ship that can get you there on account of all the major cities being coastal. What probably got Curtis' goat was the sudden appearance of six riders from the landward side. We don't get many people travelling to Leallyra from inland, hence there only being the two of us on guard at the gates.” The gates themselves were small, only really big enough for two people on horses to pass side by side. Unlike the reputedly huge gates of other cities, these were defensible by way of their insignificance.

  “It would take an army a year to pass through these.” Belyn said looking up at the trellis that hung ready to impale an intruder.

  “Exactly.” The small guard replied. “And should you wish to try your hand at piracy, the harbour is guarded by ballistae and catapults. Our Lord Duke Jhander likes to keep things calm and prosperous.”

  “With a city halfway between Qua'Clira and Bays Point I can understand why.” Belyn agreed.

  “Anyway, we mustn't keep you good people,” the guard concluded. “Our captain might not be too fussed with the security at the gates, but we will get a real roasting from Curtis if he hears we were doing any more than checking identities.”

  “One last thing,” asked Keldron, “how do we find the harbour?”

  The guards both grinned. “Go on through and just follow the road.” The large guard said with a bow. “It's the Grotesque that you are after, and you can't miss it. She sails on the morning tide, so take a look around our city should that be your thing. There are inns a plenty down on the harbour side, and some of them are even reputable!”

  Keldron waved his thanks, and as he rode through the gate, he saw exactly what had made the guards grin. A road paved with pale yellow stone led as far as the eye could see, until it ended at the seafront, at the very edge of their vision. As it was slightly down slope, it was easy to see that it would still take them most of the rest of the day to reach it.

  “Oh my,” Yerdu said as she rode through the narrow arch.

  “That takes some beating,” agreed Raoul from behind. As if on cue, the mist decided to part for the final time that day, and where there had been foggy banks of white moisture, there was now a blue sky that tapered off into distant white, with the sun almost directly overhead. Seagulls danced in the sky, their piercing shrieks combining with the salt air to leave the travellers in no doubt that they had finally reached the coast.

  “For your first view of a proper city, it could be much worse,” observed Belyn to the tribeswomen.

  They rode along the road for a long time. Yerdu and Joleen drank in the sight with obvious gusto, to Keldron's secret amusement. Each house was constructed of the same stone and roofed with slate, therefore providing the distinct colour that emanated from the entire city. Shops were visited, and Keldron found himself dipping into his purse several times before they had even reached halfway. If Joleen and Yerdu had thought the simple city road impressive, all the rest of them were dumbfounded by what they saw at the midsection of the city. Four roads joined, and at this point there was a huge square, wide open and with nothing in it. A simple sign proclaimed its use. 'Festival Square'. At the corners of the square rose four temples, decorated ornately in different colours, with bas-reliefs of faces and figures in marbled dance. They rode towards the temple immediately to their left, stopping a man who was sweeping the steps.

  “Can you tell me what temple this is?” Belyn asked of the man, who stopped sweeping, and looked up at him.

  “There stands the temple of Holy Yogingi, the bringer of wind.” The man said with complete reverence. “The temples across the square belong to the worshippers of Matsandrau the Sun Lord, Ilia the Goddess of Earth, and Panishwa the God of Water.”

  “What about the others?” Keldron asked the man. “What about the lesser sects? What about Ondulyn and Jettiba? What about the Law?”

  The sweeper shrugged his shoulders. “They are present, in a minor capacity. There are chapters in the guild quarter, but the Dukes of old decreed that only the four named would have temples dedicated to them on the square. It has ever been thus, and forever shall be.” The man resumed his sweeping.

  The party rode away across the square, enjoying the spring air, and the sight of the temples.

  “Would they join us, if they had seen what we have seen?” Belyn murmured to Keldron.

  Keldron shrugged. “Who knows?” Like us, they are city folk, and may care little for the goings on in the countryside. They are certainly protected well enough from anything that has bearings on other worries than sea travel. To issue an army from here would be madness, and for one to attack would be suicide. This place is just too out of the way.”

  “I meant the orders.”

  Keldron looked up at his big, red-haired friend. “Belyn, I think that until we find something significant enough for us to convince the orders that there is more at risk than the lives of rural farmers, they will not lift a finger to aid us. Until we reach the temple on Caighgard, we are on our own.”

  “I hope there is something we can find on that island to aid the tribe.” Belyn prayed out loud.

  “There is, old friend. I just have a feeling that we are onto something bigger than we realise. Something bigger than all of us.” “I don't know why, Kel, but you have my complete faith.”

  “I am going in there.” Raoul said as he looked up at the Wind Guild Temple.

  “Why?” Asked Belyn. “You can't hope to gain anything by going in there.”

  “They are guildsmen, just like us. They know focussing, just like us. They will see the kinship and help us.”

  “On your head be it,” Keldron said, resigned to the fact that they were not going to dissuade him in this particular mood. “We will wait for you out here.”

  Raoul stalked off towards the Temple of Wind, which stood bright white in the morning sunshine. He pushed through the door and entered the foyer of the temple, a pristine white affair like he guessed the rest of the guild was. Nobody was there to greet him, so taking it upon himself Raoul bypassed the desk behind which a representative normally sat and entered the guild proper. He had not gotten far when a pair of white-clad acolytes approached him.

  “Can we help you?” One of them asked, wrinkling his nose in distaste.

  “Yes. My name is Raoul Za, of the Order of Law in Eskenberg. My friends and I have been travelling for a very long time, and seek news of the world and things happening within it.”

  “Well spring will be here soon enough, Raoul Za,” the other acolyte replied smugly, “soon you will be able to air your clothes out properly. Is there anything else we can help you with?”

  Raoul frowned. This was not going as planned. “I seek more specific news of a guild nature. Specifically if anything has happened to my own guild since I have been gone. I know that every member of this temple will know of anything happening in the world. It is the Guild way.”

  “The guild way of vagabonds perhaps,” the first acolyte replied disdainfully. “If you are who you say you are, where is your proof? Even if you are of the Law Guild, what do we care of a group of stuffy old men that do nothing with their skills except stagnate? Everybody knows the Law Guild of Eskenberg only exists so that a group of living fossils can claim that they have a say in the running of the Duchies. We do not care for such people here, nor do we recognise any representative of that guild.”

  “But do you know anything? Anything at all.”

  The pai
r smiled back at him. “If we know anything and perhaps we do, we would not divulge that information to any wandering beggar off of the street. Now get you gone, before we call upon the power of our God to remove you.”

  Raoul glared at the two of them. It was clear that they were going to offer no help of any form. The pair of them reached for something under their cloaks and Raoul put his hands up in defeat. “I am going. Take word that there is a great evil afoot in the Duchies. It might reach even here, if it has not already.” Shaking his head, he turned from the two acolytes and exited the guild. Once outside he let rip with a stream of blistering curses, enough to turn the faces of the recently appeared temple guards a deep shade of red. As he tired of this, Raoul saw his friends approach him from across the plaza.

  “They wouldn't listen,” he sighed as they got within earshot.

  “We guessed as much,” Belyn chuckled, “but you had to try, did you not?”

  Raoul swore once more for good measure and mounted his horse.

  They rode the rest of the way through the city down to the docks. Once they had passed the festival square, the city changed profoundly. Where there had been houses there were now mansions, where there had been shops there were now markets. Housing gave way to the splendour of the guild and merchant quarters, separated from each other by the arrow-straight main road that pointed to the sea like a weathervane in an easterly breeze. The flocks of squawking sea birds increased as the creatures vied for scraps in the waste bins of the merchant houses and inns, but that was as far as mess went.

  “This city is unreal. Way too clean.” Raoul observed as he watched the passers-by.

  “What's the matter, brother?” Belyn chuckled. “Not enough grime and dirt to make you feel at home?”

  “Absolutely,” Raoul replied. “A city is not right if it does not have a bit of muck in the corners of streets. It adds to the flavour.”

  “I find it nice to be back amongst people,” Yerdu agreed.

  To the pleasure of them all even Malcolm cheered up, joining in the general merriment with a song about sun chimes.

  As they rode out through a small gate that separated the sea front from the rest of the city, they all looked on in stunned appreciation. Lazy seagulls floated on the breeze while below, on a mass of cerulean infinity, several ships rocked at their moorings. Wavelets lapped up against the small pebbly beach that nestled in against the sea wall, rhythmic in their consistency. Ropes stretched and groaned, and the salty tang of the air mixed with the smell of pitch. Above it all, there was a scent of freshness, of mystery. The six of them sat there on their horses, dumbfounded with a sight they had never before witnessed.

  Keldron stood up in his stirrups, looking across at the ships that were moored up at the nearest dock. “I wonder which one is the Grotesque.” He said aloud.

  “Move along please, you are blocking the road,” announced a voice from behind them. They turned to see another of the guards that seemed to appear with such efficient regularity to deal with problems of any level.

  “Can you tell us which of these ships is bound for Caighgard?” Raoul asked the man.

  “Ain't none of them.” The guard replied. “Two of those are bound for Ulecio, and the others are headed further off in the wrong direction for you. Those as were leavin' for Rhothamy left already, so I would say yer best bet is to try for the northern dock, along the promenade a ways.” The guard pointed off to the northwest, where the city extended as far as the eye could see. In the extreme distance, more ships could be seen.

  “What about down there? Could they be going from there?” Keldron looked the other way, and the guard followed his eyes and shook his head.

  “Duke's private moorings. Accessible only from the palace. If you would be so kind to move along, we try to keep things easy here as it can get a bit crowded.” They began to move off and the guard called again. “If you could lead your horses we would be obliged.”

  Raoul waved a hand to the guard in thanks as they all dismounted. “Officious fellow, wasn't he?”

  “Polite too,” Agreed Belyn. “All from the same mould, I bet. This Duke must be powerful to be able to afford his own docks.”

  “Well you can see his palace from here,” Joleen said, and they all turned around. Above the guild quarter rose an imposing building, the only building that looked out of place in the entire city. “I bet that is where your fancy river comes out.”

  Keldron smiled simply in response. “Maybe, but since we are headed in the other direction, we will never know.”

  They walked along the promenade, taking in the sights and smells of an ocean-facing city. At one point they stopped to eat a meal of fish that the fisherman claimed had been caught that morning. The meal consisted of a plate of pieces of white and orange striped flesh with a tangy fruit sauce, a meal that Yerdu in particular found to be delicious. It typified their impression of the coast. Fresh and flavoursome with a hint of salt. As they continued their journey with the gently lapping waves for company, the ships at the northern moorings grew larger. One in particular stood out above the rest. It was a galleon with three masts, a true monster of the ocean. As they neared it, the ship proved to be about a half again as big as any other ship at the dock. It had three gangplanks running down from its deck, and these were crowded with sailors loading and unloading cargo. Malcolm made himself useful by asking a passer by the name of the ship, and the mumbled response he got left him smiling.

  “Have you ever seen a vessel so fine?” He said to the others.

  “What are you getting at?” Belyn asked the tribesman.

  “That big ship, that is the Grotesque,” Malcolm said.

  Belyn let out a roar of a laugh. “But of course it is. It is so grotesquely huge that it could not be identified otherwise!”

  Upon reaching the dock, Malcolm and Belyn left the others while they climbed aboard the ship. A short while later they returned, smiling.

  “We have passage,” Belyn announced triumphantly.

  Joleen looked with considerable apprehension at the wooden monstrosity that was supposed to keep her safe across countless stretches of water. “And that has got you smiling?”

  Belyn grinned. “Nope. But I would hate to ruin the surprise. We are not going to need the horses, so let's find a nice inn to stay at, and sell them.”

  Raoul stretched his hands up into the air, exaggerating a comfort that they had not felt in long moons of travelling. “Finally a proper bed beneath my back, and no lumpy ground.”

  Joleen stuck close to Keldron as they wandered around the promenade. “What surprise?” She said.

  “I don't know,” he replied.

  “Go on Malcolm, what surprise?” Yerdu urged.

  “I can't,” Malcolm replied with a grin at her persistence. “He made me promise.”

  Yerdu groaned at his morals and walked on forward, unhappy at not having her curiosity satiated.

  They found an inn nearby and managed to sell their horses in exchange for rooms for the night, meals and a small sum of gold on top. When Yerdu saw the look on his face she nudged him. “What's got your face tied up like that?”

  He sighed. “Just thinking about the virtues of humility, dear. Money is not exactly a problem, But I was outrageously cheated at the paltry amount I received in exchange for such fine horses.”

  They ate another meal of fish in an alcove of the busy inn. The alcove chosen by Joleen was most agreeable for it had a large window over the harbour, not to mention deep plush red seats that were the perfect tonic for extensive living from saddle and on the ground. As they ate the sun began to set, turning the sky red and the sea a luminescent reflection of the heavens. The slow but persistent movement of the waves brought the ocean to life, and the ships bobbed on the surface in the evening glow. They watched in fascination, for none of them had ever seen this before.

  “It reminds me of home.” Keldron said in fond remembrance. “The way the sun used to play over the surface of Lake Eskebeth. It i
s so much more.”

  “How so?” Asked Raoul, who had never really seen the advantages of Keldron's eyrie in the Law Guild.

  “The movement for one. Eskebeth was huge, but for all that it was, it was only a lake and did not have waves like that. It did have a glorious glow, just before the sun passed beyond the shadow of the mountains. Nothing like that.”

  Keldron relaxed watching the sunset. There was a brief red flash and then it was gone, leaving just the red trace of its passing on the horizon. All excitement finished with, he turned back to the raucous atmosphere within the inn. Jugglers and acrobats paraded around a stage set up in the middle of the floor, so that everybody could watch. Ale was flowing freely, as the cheering and applause that accompanied every trick became louder and louder. After their meal Raoul stood, leaving his chair in the direction of the innkeeper.

  “Where do you think you are going?” Belyn called out.

  Raoul turned back. “To get another pint. To sample the local brew before we are taken from it and stuck on the sea for the Gods only know how long.”

  “I don't think so my friend,” Belyn said firmly. “Last time you were let loose in an Inn, you kept us waiting half the next day. None of that this time. We are all to be up early tomorrow, for the tide is at dawn and we cannot miss this ship.”

  Raoul sighed, his shoulders slumped and he sat back down. “It is for my own good, I suppose.” He said with great resignation, and closed his eyes. Keldron felt Raoul draw in his concentration.

  “Put it back.” Belyn said sternly, and they felt the focus dissipate.

  Raoul looked up, his eyes bright. “I have never done that before.” He said, his face animated with discovery.

  “What did you do?” Belyn asked quietly.

  Raoul leaned forward. “I had a hold of the flask of Orit, and was bringing it back, when I heard you telling me to put it back, so I did so. Well we have always taken from that room, but never put into it. Who is to say that we can't take an object and put it there? Who is to say that we can't take ourselves and put ourselves into a place?”