His senses were assaulted with new sights and smells as he made his way out of the city and onto the docks. Huge boats lay anchored in the harbor, towering above him. He had never seen boats so large. Despite their size, the open ocean behind dwarfed them. The scent of the docks was far from pleasant. It smelled of rotten fish and salt water. He watched as men from different lands moved around busily. After asking a few different people which ship was the Arrow, a dockhand directed him to where it was anchored.
Traven slid down from Pennon and led him towards the large ship. There were many ships that were larger, but the Arrow was still bigger than half of those in the port. He looked the large vessel up and down. It was narrow with a long pointy front that would cut right through the water. He watched as sailors on the ship hustled back and forth preparing the ship to sail. He took a deep breath and led Pennon forward.
He walked up the wooden plank carefully, trying not to think of the water swirling below on either side. Once he was on the ship he didn’t feel much better despite its large size. He glanced around at the sailors scrambling across the deck tightening ropes and preparing to shove off. They all seemed perfectly at ease. Traven wondered how someone could feel at ease when there wasn’t solid ground beneath his feet. A sailor hurried towards him and Pennon.
“Are you Traven?” the gruff man barked.
“Yes, I am,” he replied.
“I’ll be taking your horse below if you don’t mind. We need to get him below and secure so we can push off.” Traven thanked the sailor and handed him Pennon’s reins. He glanced around the deck as Pennon was led away by the gruff sailor. On the other side of the deck he could see Philosopher Studell excitedly looking out to sea. Traven carefully walked over to join him.
“Isn’t it a great day for sailing?” Professor Studell exclaimed when he stepped up beside him. The philosopher was extremely excited to be going on the journey. He had been ready almost from the moment he had first read the scroll. He had impatiently been waiting over the last few days while the preparations for the voyage were being finalized.
“I guess it’s as good a day as any,” Traven replied. “Does the boat always rock this much?”
“This is nothing,” Studell answered. “Wait until we get out on the open sea. The waves are much higher away from the docks and out of the harbor. That’s when sailing gets fun!”
Traven steadied himself against the side of the ship and tried not to think about the boat rocking more than it already was. Though he had been told they would only be on the ship for five or six days, he already knew it was going to feel much longer. At least they would make it all the way up the coast in a mere fraction of the time that it would take traveling on land. He thought he might even be able to beat the Royal Army to Candus if Studell found what they were looking for quickly enough.
“Prepare to shove off!”
He turned to see a large, scruffy man standing at the helm of the ship. He had bushy red hair, a sunburned face, and a stance that said he was in charge. The sailors instantly began to untie ropes and wind them. Traven watched with a little regret as the ramp was pulled up and the boat lurched away from the dock. It was too late to turn back now.
“What’s wrong?” Studell asked with concern. “Did we forget something?” Traven realized how pitiful he must look and traded his frown for a smile.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” he replied as he glanced at the open sea.
Studell shrugged and turned back to stare out to sea as well. The vessel slowly made its way through the other ships and out into the harbor away from the docks. Traven took a few more deep breaths as the boat got further and further from land. He didn’t understand how everyone else on ship didn’t seem to mind. Finally the Arrow was past all of the other ships in the harbor and picking up speed as it headed out into the open ocean.
He turned back and watched Calyn grow smaller and smaller. When he had first seen the city with the ocean behind it, he had never dreamed that someday he would be sailing out of the city and onto the never-ending blue expanse beyond. As they got further away, he noticed an increase in the swaying of the boat. Studell had been right about the rocking, but Traven was happy to find that it didn’t bother him as much as he had thought it would. Perhaps the rocking of the boat wouldn’t be too bad after all.
“And we’re off and racing.” Traven turned and saw the large, scruffy man who had been at the helm of the ship walking towards them. “Sorry I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself. I’m Captain Willie of the Arrow, the fastest ship in the sea!” Traven accepted the captain’s outstretched hand.
“It’s good to meet you,” he replied. “I’m Traven.”
“Now that we have the formalities out of the way, I’ll let you know how this trip is going to work. I normally don’t accept passengers on my ship, but I couldn’t refuse a request sent from the High King, may he live long and prosper. So I ask that you stay out of the way of my sailors, and we’ll stay out of your way. You’ll find a guest cabin at the bottom of the stairs to the left. It is small but cozy.” The large captain’s face broke into a smile as he mentioned the room. “We’ll follow the coast north and should be in Jatz in four or five days depending on the wind. We’ll dock there, unload our goods and restock our supplies. We’ll then sail you to wherever you want on the coast of Faldor’s Watch.” The captain paused for a second and then went on. “What are you doing there anyway? There’s nothing up there but sand and rocks.”
“We are following a map to Faldor’s Keep,” Professor Studell declared as he slipped the ancient map out of one of his large pockets and waved it in front of the captain’s face.
“Oh, you’re treasure hunters,” Captain Willie chuckled. “With all due respect, I think you’d have better luck finding gold around the mines of Arcad than the barren deserts of Faldor’s Watch.”
“We are not searching for gold, my good captain,” Studell fired back. “And we are not treasure hunters. We’re on a mission in search of knowledge and understanding.”
“Whatever you say,” Captain Willie said with a shrug. “We’ll have you there within a week, and then you can do whatever you want. We’ll see if you have anything when we return to pick you up sixteen days after we drop you off.” Traven could tell that the captain still thought they were foolish treasure hunters.
“Thank you,” Studell said to the captain. “Now if you will excuse us, we will retire to our quarters.” Studell turned from the captain and beckoned to Traven. “We have some important things to discuss.” Traven followed the professor to the stairs and down below deck. Behind him he could hear the scruffy captain chuckling to himself.
At the base of the stairs there was a long narrow hall. Studell opened the first door on the left. Traven had to duck through the doorway to walk into the room. Once he straightened back up inside, he decided it really wasn’t a room at all. It appeared to be more of a closet. Captain Willie’s comment and smile about the room being cozy now made sense. There were two small bunks attached to the right wall for sleeping in and about three feet of space between the beds and the left wall. The room made him feel claustrophobic. His saddlebags were already in the back corner along with several bundles that he assumed must be the philosopher’s.
“I can’t see anything in here,” Studell proclaimed. Traven noticed a small lamp attached to the left wall and lit it. “Much better, much better!” Studell blinked and looked around the small room. “It is quite small, isn’t it?” Traven nodded in agreement. “Oh well, we won’t be spending that much time down here anyway. I enjoy being on the deck. But for right now I think it best that we have some privacy while we discuss our plans.”
Traven stepped to the side as Studell reached past him to shut the door. Studell then sat down on the bottom bunk and motioned for him to sit next to him. Traven sat down but had to remain leaning forward so he wouldn’t hit his head on the upper bunk. Studell pulled the scroll back out from his pocket and began to open it. Traven was excited
to finally see what it looked like. Studell had been studying it ever since he opened the golden chest, and as far as he knew, the philosopher hadn’t let anyone else look at it.
Traven’s eager gaze fell upon the ancient scroll. The map was an outline of Faldor’s Watch and the western coast of Kalia. The only thing marked on the map was a single dot near the southern tip of Faldor’s Watch. Below the map were a bunch of ancient symbols that Studell had called the old tongue.
“That’s where we’re going?” Traven asked as he pointed to the dot.
“Exactly,” the philosopher said with excitement. Traven’s hopes of finding the ruins disappeared as he looked at the small dot. If there were ruins right on the coast, he was sure that plenty of ships would have seen them before.
“Don’t you think others would have already found these ruins if they’re right on the coast as this map suggests?”
“What are you talking about?” Studell exclaimed as he stared back at him. “Faldor’s Keep is not located on the coast. It’s at least a few days’ journey inland.” Traven took another look at the map and then glanced back at the philosopher. He pointed at the dot once again with a questioning look at Studell.
“It looks like it’s right on the coast.” Studell looked from Traven to the map and back to him.
“That’s not where the ruins are,” he said with exasperation. “That’s just the starting point. The map explains where to go from there. Can’t you read the directions?” Studell paused as if waiting for him to answer and then started laughing. “Oh, sorry. What am I thinking? Of course you can’t read the directions. They’re in the old tongue.”
Traven was reminded again of Studell’s interesting personality. The man often forgot that others didn’t know as much as he did when it came to history and other academics. He also seemed to expect others to know exactly what he was thinking without having to explain anything.
“Perhaps you could read the directions to me,” Traven said, smiling. “I would like to know where we’ll be heading once we land.”
“Of course, of course,” Studell replied. “Sometimes I just think too far ahead. That’s why I brought you down here to the cabin. I wanted to discuss the map with you where others wouldn’t be able to overhear. You can never be too careful you know.”
Traven leaned back over the map as he waited for the philosopher to begin reading. He had been anxious to find out specifically where they would be traveling and what they were supposed to find at the ruins of Faldor’s Keep.
“The map has the starting point fixed here as you can see,” Studell began while pointing at the southern tip of Faldor’s Watch. “These first symbols state that the one who opened the chest must follow this map to Faldor’s Keep where he will find ‘what he has been searching for’. I’m not sure what that necessarily means, but I suppose we’ll find out when we get there. Below that are the directions for getting to Faldor’s Keep from the starting point that is marked on the map.
“First we must find the exact spot to start from. The directions state that it will be a small cove near the most southerly tip of the peninsula. There are two large rocks that jut out of the water several spans out in the ocean in front of the cove. This is how the cove is to be identified. Once we leave from Jatz, we will have the captain sail to this point and look for the two rocks. When we find them, he can drop us off at the cove and our search for the keep will begin!”
Traven wrinkled his brow in thought. The map didn’t indicate what was at the keep. It left him wondering what it was that he was supposed to be searching for. The only thing mentioned on the scroll was that at the keep he would find ‘what he was searching for’. What was he searching for? Perhaps he was looking for a weapon that could be used against the wielder leading the Balthan Army. At least that’s what Studell had convinced the High King of. The vagueness of the statement of what would be found at the keep concerned him. It basically meant that anything could be waiting at the ruins of the keep; if in fact anything was there at all. He turned his attention back to the philosopher as the scholar continued reading the directions.
“From the small cove we will need to journey along the coast for about a day until we reach a break in the cliffs that we can follow up into the desert beyond. We will follow the break until we reach the ‘shimmering hills’ of the ‘Dune Sea’. From there we continue due north for a set amount of time until we come to the ‘Keeper’s Staff’. It will be a tall rock formation that reaches up into the sky. Just north of the ‘Keeper’s Staff’ will be a small spring were we can replenish our water supply. At the spring we turn east towards the ‘Twin Guards’, two similar mountains right next to each other. From there we will head due north again to the ‘Blood Mountains’. In the midst of the ‘Blood Mountains’ lies Faldor’s Keep!” The philosopher turned an excited look towards Traven. “Fascinating, isn’t it?”
He didn’t know if that was the word he would use to describe it. He knew from his time at the merchant academy that the only thing on Faldor’s Watch was one huge desert. He wasn’t certain that he wanted to venture into it with only vague directions to follow. However, he supposed it would have to do since the directions on the scroll were all they had.
He could only hope that with some luck they would find the ancient ruins. Who knew, maybe they actually would find a treasure hidden there.
2
Traven sat up and hit his head with a loud crack. He groaned and let himself fall back onto the small bunk. He had jerked awake as the boat lurched suddenly and sat up without thinking about where he was. He rubbed is head and hopped down off the upper bunk. The rocking of the boat had actually helped him to fall asleep the previous night, and with sleep his dreams had come once again. He didn’t mind his dreams of the Princess Kalista and the crown of Kalia, but he was left wondering once again why they occurred so often and what they might mean.
The last time he had a recurring dream it had led him to the cave in the marsh and ultimately to the golden chest. He still couldn’t figure out how he had dreamed of an actual place he had never seen before, but somehow he had. Was it possible that his new recurring dream would lead him to something else important? If so, he had no idea what it could be. He couldn’t understand why the crown of Kalia would have any importance in his life.
He quickly dressed himself and grabbed his sword as the boat lurched once again. He hoped he would be able to get some exercise and sword practice in before it got too busy on deck. Studell was still snoring quietly as he slipped out of the room and went up the stairs. The sun had not yet cleared the horizon, and there were only a few sailors up and about. He breathed in the fresh ocean air deeply with a smile. The small sleeping quarters had been stuffy and stale.
He almost lost his balance as the boat lurched once again. He noticed several sailors standing together looking to the northwest. He followed their gaze and immediately felt uneasy. Angry looking black clouds boiled in the far distance. Large waves were rolling towards the ship from the approaching storm. He wondered if they would have to find a place to dock the ship before the storm hit. At least the storm appeared to still be fairly far away.
He loosened himself up and started to exercise on an empty section of the deck. Soon he had his sword out and was methodically going through his forms. It felt great to be doing them again. Over the last several days, as his body had slowly regained strength, he had been working his way back up to the intensity of his practices before the kidnapping and rescue. He was happy to see that his body finally appeared to be close to full strength. He was very grateful for the strength he had regained, especially with the search and journey that lay ahead of him. He let his mind rest as he continued through his sword forms. Soon the sun was peeking over the ocean and gleaming off of his swirling sword.
“What have we here?” boomed the voice of Captain Willie. Traven turned towards the captain and sheathed his sword.
“Just practicing my forms,” he muttered to the scruffy captain.
“Thanks,” he replied.
“Now I don’t feel as bad putting you and the philosopher on shore alone at Faldor’s Watch. I’ve heard tales of the beasts that wander the desert there. At least now I know the philosopher will have some protection.”
Traven hoped there weren’t dangerous beasts roaming the desert. He would prefer not to have to use his sword. The memory of his most recent sword fight with the thieves was still fresh in his mind. The captain turned to look at the approaching storm and shook his head.
“It looks to be a nasty one,” he stated.
“Are we going to dock on shore before it hits?” Traven asked.
“Nope,” the captain responded. “There’s really nowhere to dock until we get to Jatz. Besides, we’re safer out here in the open water than near the rocky shoreline.”
Traven looked from the dark storm clouds to the approaching waves. He didn’t feel safe out on the open water with the storm approaching but tried to quench his fears by telling himself that the captain knew more about a ship on the ocean than he did. He was sure of one thing; the lurching of the ship that had been happening all morning was not going to get any calmer as the storm got closer. He was already beginning to feel queasy and wasn’t looking forward to more movement.
“Don’t worry about it,” Captain Willie said slapping him on the back. “We’ve been through plenty worse with the Arrow. The only thing this storm is going to do is give us a ride and put us about half a day behind schedule.” The captain started to walk away but stopped and turned back to face him. “You might think I’m crazy for asking, but can I take a quick look at your sword? I swear the stone in its hilt is twisting the light.”
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