“But Captain, why don’t you take some of the men with you?” Sal suggested.
“Because you can’t afford to lose any more experienced sailors,” she answered sadly. “In my absence, you should recruit new men.”
“Very well, Captain,” Sal accepted with a sigh.
With a point of her finger and a grin on her face, she repeated, “Men, Sal. You’ll never leave port if you bring too many women aboard.”
Sal and the rest of the crew burst into laughter.
“Hey, you’re the one who felt we should wait out a storm brewing off the coast, and then you got sick eating oysters at that bar,” Sal reminded her.
I saw Lorena’s stomach turn just thinking about it. She looked away and held a hand up to stop him from talking about it.
“You didn’t expect us to just sit around and twiddle our thumbs, did you?” he added.
Lorena coughed to clear her throat. “But that wasn’t all you twiddled.”
Shaking his head, Sal argued, “Everything was fine until Felix and Hernando started fighting over that pretty, young thing. What was his name? Was it Lester?” he asked, looking to the sailors in question, trying his best to hold back chuckles.
“He told Felix it was Lesley,” Hernando spoke up, already beginning to laugh.
Felix pointed to Hernando. “You knew she was a man!”
Through giggling laughter, Lorena asked him, “How long did it take you to find out she had a rudder?”
“While he was dropping anchor,” Hernando answered for him, bringing everyone to tears.
“Take care of yourself out there, Captain,” Sal told her, holding a fist head-high in the air, followed by the rest of the crew.
Lorena returned the salute with a fist in the air.
“Hurry on back, Captain” Hernando added. “You never know what trouble Felix may stir up in your absence.”
“Just don’t sink my ship,” Lorena commanded, hanging a worn leather bag of supplies over her shoulder and stepping off the ship onto the pier.
“Bring some elf women back with you,” we heard Felix say as we walked across the pier back to the city.
People were already hard at work loading and unloading ships with goods, and the markets were busy selling fresh foods and spices. We walked down to Enzo’s store. He was brushing the mane of the horse we were to take on our journey.
“Thank you again for everything,” Lorena said to him, kissing his cheek.
“Try not to get into too much trouble, my dear,” he said before helping us load up the horse and sending us on our way.
We led the horse slowly through the busy streets. Further into the city, the air was rich with the aroma of foods being cooked at the many restaurants. We then passed by homes with kids playing outdoors before reaching the outer region of the city where people raised livestock.
“We should be able to acquire another horse at one of these farms,” Lorena told me. “I brought enough money to purchase one.”
I told her to save it. With no one around to frighten, I removed my hood to feel the sunlight on my face. I outstretched my hand and moved it slowly along in front of me.
“Ambros, are you okay?”
“Jackpot!” I said with a smile as the dirt started shifting at the edge of a field. The skeleton of a horse pulled itself from the earth and galloped over to us. “And what’s your name, fella?” I asked the undead horse while I rubbed its bony face. I laughed at the name that I heard his master say resonating through his bones. “Ralph,” I said aloud.
“I didn’t hear it say anything.”
Tapping on my head, I explained, “I heard it in here.” I placed my hands against the ribs of the horse, and a thick material began forming to cover his sharp spine.
Lorena mounted her horse, but I stopped her from leaving just yet. “While we’re here, I’d like to raise another that I sense nearby.”
Another patch of dirt began to move, and Lorena asked, “What do we need with another horse?”
A boney hand protruded from the ground and pushed at the soil to free itself.
“Not a horse. A human,” I clarified. “We need a watchman while we sleep, so we are not ambushed.”
I commanded the human skeleton to rise from its grave, and the dusty collection of bones scuffled over for me to examine. With several broken ribs and a damaged skull, the individual clearly met a terrible end. I climbed on my skeletal horse to continue our journey. “Let’s go, Ralph.”
I trotted ahead before noticing that Lorena was lagging behind. She was purposely riding slower so the skeleton could keep up. I stopped and waited for them.
“So you’re just going to make him run?” Her voice carried a tone of anger and guilt.
“Lorena, it’s nothing but bones,” I explained a bit colder than I meant to. “It can’t get tired; magic holds it together, and magic fuels it.”
The dead human stopped next to us and scanned the surroundings with its empty eye sockets.
“Then why use human remains at all? Why not gather some sticks and stones to cast your fancy magic on?”
“Because bones hold a kind of residual memory that sticks and stones do not possess,” I explained. “I don’t have to direct every movement; they already know how to move. They just need the means to do so.”
I rode on, but Lorena again fell behind, riding next to the skeleton.
“He’s just going to slow us down,” she argued. “Look at him.”
I turned and politely said, “Lorena, my dear, she has been given the task to watch after you. You’re the one slowing her down.”
I regretted it as soon as I said it. I didn’t mean to let slip that the skeleton I had raised was a woman in life. I thought Lorena carried enough sorrow with her already with the loss of her friend.
“She? What was her name?” Lorena asked sadly. “How did she die?”
“Her name was Mariana,” I finally answered. “She was trampled by Ralph when he became spooked by wolves.”
Teary-eyed, she stared at the dry, dusty skeleton standing next to us for a long moment. “Will you put some clothes on her?”
I got down from my horse and stepped up to the bare-bone corpse. I held my hand out for her to take, and she placed her boney hand in mine. I placed my other hand on top and looked into her eye sockets. A thick, black cloth began to form around her wrist and spread over her body to form a hooded robe to hide her naked deadness.
Lorena waited for me to get back on my skeletal horse, and she rode on. She’s seen a lot of death the past few days, and I could tell it was weighing heavily on her.
Mariana ran along behind us, having no trouble keeping up as we continued on our journey down a well-worn road into a mountainous region. The only sound from her was the light thump of her boney feet meeting the dirt road.
After a long while of traveling in silence, Lorena asked, “You’ve been awfully quiet. What’s on your mind?”
She was right. I, too, had a lot weighing on me. I was heading home to Ashwood, where I haven’t been in well over a century. “I’m nervous. I’m not so sure if going back is a good idea.”
“You’re going to make sure your city still stands and find the answers to your questions. If you want answers, you have to go get them. They’re not going to just fall in your lap like a drunken sailor,” she explained. “Which reminds me…,” she added as she reached behind her to retrieve a bottle of wine from the satchel on her horse. She pulled the cork with her teeth and took a drink. “You’re making the right decision by going back.”
“As far as I’ve heard, Ashwood still exists. I just hope Pop’s notes have endured all these years.”
“Why didn’t you take them when you left?”
“HA! You should have seen the amount of notes he had. There was no way I could carry them all. I took only what Pop instructed me to,” my voice trailed off as I thought about why he didn’t have me take his important notes.
Noticing that I was deep in thought, L
orena packed her wine away and asked, “What is it?”
“Maybe it’s nothing, but I find it odd that he didn’t send me with at least some of his notes.”
“Well, it’s not like he could see the future and know that you would be interested in them someday.”
I laughed. “Actually, he could see into the future. There was reason behind everything he did.”
“Then he must have seen you would return, and perhaps he knew it would be for his notes.”
“Perhaps.” I rubbed my chin, wondering just how clear his visions were.
We traveled at a steady pace the entire day. We talked about the warm sun and the crisp, fall breeze. We shared stories about our childhood. We discussed our religious beliefs. Lorena was noticeably sad about losing Piper and several other crewmates, but she was a strong woman for not letting it slow her down.
Upon reaching a narrow stream, we decided to camp for the night. We tied the horses to a tree at the water’s edge and cleared an area where she started a fire. I closed my fingers loosely into fists and shook them in unison in front of me. A magical material formed to create a thick, white blanket. I spread the blanket out on the ground, and we sat next to each other where we could keep watch on the horses standing by the stream. I sent a silent command to Mariana to sit on a fallen tree and keep watch behind us. The sound from any approaching creature will resonate through Mariana’s bones and will alert me of possible danger.
Lorena took her hat off that had been keeping the sun off her all day and uncorked her bottle of wine for another drink. She unbraided her thick, blonde locks, letting them fall over her shoulders. “You know, you have a very unique look.”
“Thanks,” I said emotionless, watching the burning wood of our campfire.
“No, I mean that in a good way,” she laughed. She stared at me long enough to make me feel uncomfortable. “You have hair like fine silk, skin like a moonlit night, and eyes, eyes like the sun.”
“Thank you,” I smiled, finally looking at her. “That makes me feel good.”
“You’re welcome, hon,” she said with a wink.
I walked over to the horses and looked into one of the satchels that Enzo had packed for us full of food. There were fruits, vegetables, and a couple loaves of bread. I took two stalks of celery and broke off a chunk of bread to divide with Lorena.
“What are you carrying in that little pouch?” she asked, pointing to it hanging from my belt.
Hesitantly, I answered, “A handful of my mate’s ashes.”
“Jinxie,” she whispered sadly, remembering her name. “I’m sorry.”
While shifting the burning wood of our campfire around with a stick, I told her what I hoped to accomplish in Ashwood besides warning them about the dragons’ increasing power in the east and figuring out why I see living people as if they are dead. “Pop created me,” I began. “I have no mother like everyone else. He grew me from his right eye in a vat of elixir that he concocted. After his death, I left Ashwood to live with the Light Elves of Lylandria where I met Jinxie. I was no one in Ashwood, but in Lylandria, I was someone. I was interesting because I was different. And Jinxie made me feel special every day that we were together.”
“How’d she die?”
I was barely able to utter, “Dragon breath.”
Lorena gasped. “Oh, Ambros, I’m so sorry.”
“Her death pushes me to succeed.”
“And will you?” she asked.
Doubting myself, I finally answered, “I must.”
She put an arm around me and leaned her head against my shoulder to comfort me while we sat by the crackling fire.
We sat quietly together for a long while before her snores alerted me that she had fallen asleep on my shoulder. I quietly laughed at the nasally sounds she made as she slept before gently laying her on the blanket we had been sitting on. I created another blanket in the same manner to place over her and made a separate bed for myself.
It was quiet, except for the wind blowing dead leaves from the trees and the trickling of water breaking over rocks in the stream. I took a deep breath to relax and closed my eyes to sleep.
I had just gone to sleep when a sense of danger startled me. I threw the blanket off and got to my feet. The fire still burned, and Lorena still slept. Everything seemed to be fine. I hurried over to Mariana who was still sitting upon a log.
“WHAT?” I quietly yelled in the skeleton’s face, so I wouldn’t wake Lorena.
Mariana’s mouth opened, and she raised a boney hand to point at a dung beetle that was making its way through the leaves toward the camp. I snatched it up and crushed it in my fist in front of her face. I threw it down and wiped my hand on the cloak that covered her shoulders. Returning to my bed by the fire, I went back to sleep.
I found myself under water. I knew I was dreaming, but I didn’t try waking myself; I like exploring beyond the veil of sleep. I had no trouble breathing, but I couldn’t tell which way was up and which was down. There was just enough light and pressure around me to tell I was surrounded by water. I chose a direction to swim, hoping to reach the surface or find bottom, so I would at least know which direction was up. As I swam, the dim light that illuminated the water stayed the same, growing neither lighter nor darker. I decided not to change course and kept swimming.
I felt as if I’d swum miles, but the brightness of the water looked the same—gloomy. I continued on and began to see a shape of someone in the distance. I hurried toward them. It was an elf! I opened my mouth to speak but water rushed in to silence my words. I pointed to him, to me, and then into the direction we should swim. He nodded, and we swam together, finding another elf alone in the water. The three of us swam, finding more and more elves. Some were alone and others were already grouped together in the dark waters. Among the crowd, I caught a glimpse of Jinxie! I swam quickly past everyone to get to her. I reached out to embrace her, and . . . .
I awoke suddenly, finding myself kicking the blanket off. The sun had already risen, but it hadn’t been up long. Only a few embers remained of our campfire. I looked over to check on Lorena, but she wasn’t there. I looked to the horses. They were both standing at the water’s edge where we had tied them. I got up and looked around to find her standing waist-deep, naked in the stream with her arms around her chest. I turned around, feeling ashamed that I caught her bathing.
“It’s okay,” she explained with a shiver in her voice. “You didn’t see anything. Not that I wouldn’t let you. I was hoping to take a bath before you woke up, but the water is much too cold.”
I heard her step out of the water, but I remained still.
“All right, I’m covered.”
“Can I trust you?” I asked with a laugh.
“No, but you can’t stand there staring at the trees forever.”
I turned around, and she was indeed covered. She had used her blanket to wrap around herself. I picked up each of the other blankets, and with one quick shake, they disappeared, returning to the magical realm from which I made them.
Holding her arms up, Lorena said, “You can take this one, if you want.”
I declined with a shake of my head and turned away again when I saw her begin to remove it to, hopefully, put some clothes on.
“Come on. It’ll be fun. This has been a long trip already, and we’re out here in the woods alone.”
She ran her fingers through my hair and rubbed my ears. I quickly turned to face her. “I said—”
Before I could finish, Lorena pulled me close and kissed me. Her tongue reached past my lips, and I felt a bare leg slide up the back of mine before she pulled away, biting my lip in the process. I blinked to regain my balance and took a breath of air after she had taken it away.
“Well?” she asked with her hands on her naked hips.
I was speechless. I stood there for a moment longer before turning away to stamp out the last remnants of the campfire.
“You’re dead!” she yelled at me, throwing her white blanke
t, hitting me in the back of the head.
I shook it away like the others and untied the horses.
Lorena quickly dressed, got on her horse, and rode off ahead of me, splashing through the water to follow the road that continued on the other side of the stream. Mariana and I hurried to catch up, and she finally slowed, so we could travel together.
With a sigh, I began to apologize. “Lorena, I’m sorry. I can’t deny that I didn’t like it…”
“Of course you liked it; I’m gorgeous,” she interrupted.
“Yes, you are a gorgeous woman, but my heart still aches for Jinxie,” I continued explaining. “Not only do I feel I would be cheating on her, I’m not in love with you.”
Without looking at me, she argued, “Who said anything about love? I just wanted to roll around in the leaves with you.”
“I’m sorry, but I follow my heart. Either my heart’s in it fully or it’s not at all.”
“Ugh,” she grunted her disapproval. “You’re so black and white.”
Rubbing my head and looking at my pale arms, I responded smartly, “Well, yeah, I am.”
“Leave your heart out of this!”
“Hmm, I wonder if I could do that,” I began to think aloud. “I’m sure it would be messy; I’d have to break the ribcage. To keep the rest of my organs from failing, I would have to keep my blood circulating by magic. You may have to help me put it back in, though, or I’ll be permanently undead.”
Shaking her head, she asked harshly, “What are you jabbering about?”
“You said I should leave my heart out. I was just thinking how I could do it.”
Stopping her horse, “I did say that, but I didn’t mean literally! I didn’t mean for you to kill yourself!”
“Kill myself? That’s ridiculous,” I argued, slapping lazily at her. “I think I know enough about the body to keep myself running. And perhaps I would prefer to be undead.”
“Ambros, you scare me.” She then rode on.
“No, just think for a moment,” I told her, catching up to ride side by side. “Pain and suffering reminds us that we’re mortal. If we’re balanced between life and death, we wouldn’t be affected by either.”
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