by D N Meinster
“I did,” Doren stated. “Not inside, but out. The front door was open, and the yard was filled with hundreds of footprints. They were here. They might still be here.”
“Do you think we scared them off?” Aros asked. It sounded like they might’ve run out of the manor.
“I’m not sure,” Doren responded. “But I don’t want you to accidently shift into a pack of them.”
“Aw man,” Aros whimpered, seeing where the conversation was headed. “Come on. I’m not that helpless.”
Rikki and Doren both glanced at each other.
“You know I can see you, right?” Aros said. Did his friends think he was helpless without them? They had seen him use his clawblades before, so he couldn’t guess what they were worried about.
Doren and Rikki broke into a fit of giggles until they finally responded.
“Doren’s right, Aros,” Rikki said. “We don’t want you to run into these creatures alone.”
Aros didn’t even try to hide his downhearted expression. “I can take them.”
“Probably, but let’s wait until we actually find one,” Doren said.
Aros didn’t argue, though he did grumble, “I could just spin and see what happens.”
“Don’t make me take that cloak away from you,” Rikki warned.
Doren let out a chuckle that seemed to rattle the house. He could definitely imagine Rikki having to do that.
Aros stared frigidly at Doren before he turned his focus to the window. There was only wintry weather behind the glass. Snow was piling up in places that it had probably never touched. He couldn’t make out any footprints nor any creatures lying in wait for them. They’d merely come up with an excuse to postpone teaching him to shift. What good would that do?
“Anything we need to see here before we leave?” Rikki asked.
“Let’s just go,” Aros said, absentmindedly sticking his hand out toward his friend.
“It might be a nice place to come back and sleep,” Doren stated, eyeing the bed with a certain yearning. It seemed like decks since they’d last slept on a mattress that comfortable. Though they’d have to figure out some way of keeping the manor safe if they planned to sleep within it.
“I can agree with that,” Aros said, his surly feelings toward Doren slipping away with ease.
“I’d prefer somewhere warmer,” Rikki said as she put her staff within her friends’ reach.
“Wait,” Doren said again, this time thinking of something his friend might appreciate. “You might wanna check out that closet.”
“Why?” Aros asked like doing so was torturing him.
Instead of answering, Doren stared downward at Aros’ feet.
“Oh, right!” Aros said, zipping off to the closet. He dove into the hung-up clothes and fumbled around searching for some kind of footwear. When he only found sandals on the floor, he searched the higher shelves but came up empty. It made sense that there weren’t any type of boots as the owner did live on a tropical island.
Aros emerged from the closet with two pairs of sandals in hand. “Do you want one?” he asked Rikki.
He got an answer when the smaller set floated out of his hands and toward the Grand Mage.
She examined them, tapping a finger on her nose as she tried to figure out what to do with them. Aros started to wonder if she knew how to put on sandals.
“Got it!” she exclaimed, and a belt zoomed from the closet and ensnared the hovering sandals. With a tap of her staff, the belt merged with the pair, leaving two odd-looking shoes hanging in midair.
Rikki let go of her staff as she pulled each from the air and tugged them onto her feet. When she was done, she said, “I can do the same for you, Aros.”
Aros gazed down at the sandals he’d already slipped onto his feet. “It’s good enough,” he said, content with the protection they offered. He’d always preferred sandals to any sort of formal shoe, and he wasn’t going to lose the only pair he had until he got back to Kytheras.
“Then…” She stuck her staff back out.
As Doren reached for the silver rod, he told Aros, “You might want to take your blades out.”
Aros merely grazed the hilt of a blade on his back as he grabbed hold of Rikki’s staff.
“Here we go,” Rikki said, and the walls of Tunsev Manor began to fade away. Taking their place was an all-encompassing white, lacking any detail of the environment of which they were about to end up.
Heavy sleet slammed into them once they finished shifting. They were unable to determine where exactly they were or if any trees, structures, or urchins were in their vicinity. Each of them sunk into the snow as they stood, flabbergasted by the climate of the new island.
Doren opened his mouth to speak, but he was choked by the flakes before he could get any words out.
“Do something!” Aros begged, holding his arm up to his face.
Rikki jolted her staff upward, sending a ripple into the sky. For a brief moment, the sun broke through the clouds, shining down on the trio. The last flakes touched down and the blizzard came to a quiet end.
Aros looked up, only to see the clouds rapidly drifting to fill the hole Rikki’s magic had created.
“We need to move, quick,” Rikki urged.
“To where?” Doren asked. They were on Rise, but they didn’t exactly have a map to their destination. In fact, that was what they were there to look for. But how exactly were they supposed to find it with weather like this?
Both Rikki and Doren turned to Aros. Of course, they expected an answer from him because he’d told them to go to Rise. But he didn’t have any more information than that. He only knew what the Goddess was willing to speak.
Aros closed his eyes, quietly asking for aid. And, for the first time in recent memory, the Goddess provided.
“By the shore to the east,” Magenine whispered in his ear.
Aros repeated Her words.
“She really doesn’t want us to dawdle,” Doren commented, surprised to get such a specific answer so soon.
Hunner’s compass rolled down from Rikki’s sleeve into her palm. She held it out in front of her, moving her arm into different positions until the way forward was revealed. “East,” she said, pointing.
“Think you can—”
Rikki was already on it. She planted her staff into the snow and parted the mounds so a path forward was available to them. It was narrow, as they’d have to walk single-file, but it was sufficient. She set off first, and her two companions followed.
“Blades,” Doren reminded his friend.
“Right,” Aros replied, and he took his clawblades into his hands as they proceeded.
Doren still had his shield out, and he scrutinized every direction as they moved forward. It was difficult to make out anything in the snow. Everything appeared to be white. If the urchins were as well, it would be impossible to see them.
Aros’ arms shook as he held his blades, the cold getting to him worse as they went. Even a light flurry began to fall the further east they traveled. Either Rikki’s magic hadn’t stretched that far, or it had worn off.
“How warm is that armor?” Aros asked. He wondered if it had been a bad idea to trade it after all, since he still couldn’t shift and the cloak definitely wasn’t keeping him from freezing.
“Not any better than your cloak,” Doren said, his teeth chattering together. “Do you think the Bellish put in a way to heat it up?” He was about to start playing with the grid on his armor, but Rikki did an about-face and grabbed his hand.
“Maybe I can heat us up.” A small flame rose out of her staff and into the air. It spun around itself, growing with each rotation until it was bigger than a bonball.
Doren and Aros squished against each other as they tried to get closer to it.
Rikki created another fireball to hang by them, and then another.
“Great idea,” Aros said as he did his best not to hug his own personal ball of flame.
“What the Bellish armor lacks, I
can provide,” Rikki said, winking at her boyfriend.
The fireballs bounced along next to them as they continued eastward. Doren wondered if they actually made them easy targets for the urchins, but he refused to say his thought aloud. He didn’t want Rikki to extinguish them. The heat they provided was worth whatever conflict might ensue because of them.
Aros kept his arm almost on top of the fire, but because his cloak was enchanted, neither he nor the material were burned by such a close proximity. Though the cool air was still evident every time he saw steam escape his lips, his body was less traumatized and his arms were once again steady. If the urchins showed up, he wouldn’t be a trembling mess.
The way forward took the trio through snow piles that were easily twice Doren’s height. They marveled at the white walls as they passed through.
“Trees,” Rikki surmised. “Buried trees.”
“They’re mountains now,” Doren responded.
Aros held back a temptation to stab one of his blades into the snow mountains. What if he did it and they collapsed on them? He even slid one blade back on his magnet to try and tame the urge.
The blizzard was picking back up as they emerged from the recently formed mounds. Visibility was decreasing, but out ahead of them, the Unending Seas were within view.
“There’s the shore,” Rikki said.
“How are we supposed to find the Mayor out here?” Doren asked. The sand was lost beneath all of the snow. And it occurred to him that the Mayor they were looking for may not be alive. He may be buried beneath it all.
Aros traced the remnants of Rikki’s path with his eyes. It was already being lost to the snowfall. “I can ask,” he suggested, ready to call for the Goddess’ voice once more.
Doren looked to Rikki, who went quiet once the waters came back into view. “Rikki?” She was concentrating on something to their right. Had she spotted the urchins?
Doren followed her line of sight until he saw what she was staring at. He blinked multiple times to try and make sure he wasn’t imagining it; that it was actually there behind the snow.
A ship nearly as tall as Castle Tornis had run aground on Rise; its bow was sinking into the snow while its stern still touched the seas. Its wooden exterior was faded so that it was nearly as white as its surroundings, though the ice crystals that had embedded themselves in its hull gave it a certain sparkle. While its sail was missing, its masts rose out of the deck intact. Most of the vessel appeared to be in a well-maintained condition. This was not a shipwreck. It was something else.
Had the ship just washed ashore? Or had it been intentionally guided to land at its current position?
“By the Goddess,” Aros mumbled, finally noticing what his friends were staring out. “I’ve never seen a boat like that.”
“That’s not a boat,” Doren corrected him. “It’s a ship.”
“Are they all so massive?” Aros asked.
“No,” Rikki said. “They’re not. Can you read the name on that ship?”
Doren squinted, trying to see the letters embedded on its side. But with the wind and wintry weather picking up, he could barely make out that there was anything there at all. “What does it say?”
Rikki looked him in the eyes as she said its name. “It’s the Cartographer.”
There was a spark of recognition in Doren’s eyes, but Aros was only confused by the name’s significance.
“Why does that matter?” Aros asked.
Doren gazed at the ship with newfound appreciation. “The Cartographer was lost over three hundred years ago. It shouldn’t be here.”
Chapter Five
Climbing Aboard
Their entire journey so far had taught them that not everything recorded in history had been true. The kingdoms were supposed to be entirely isolated, but they were not so. The staff and necklace she wore were supposed to have been buried with Amelia, but they had not been. Thalians were supposed to be extinct, but that had not been the case. Here, they’d stumbled upon another untruth that was written as fact. Yet, somehow, it was more shocking than any of the other instances.
Rikki turned her head away from Doren and back to the ship, almost expecting it to have disappeared in the interim. But there it was, resting on the snow-covered beach.
Growing up surrounded by desert and stuck in a castle, Rikki had never seen an actual ship. There were drawings of them in her books, and she’d spotted boats in Faunli. But this? It was more fantastic and unexpected than even the AGTs in Belliore.
“The Cartographer,” Rikki stated in amazement once more.
Only Doren seemed to grasp the implication of what they were witnessing. Even though Aros probably hadn’t seen a ship before either, he didn’t fully understand what was so important about this one. They’d have to explain it to him.
“Do you want to give him a history lesson or should I?” Rikki asked.
“History lesson?” Aros asked.
“Go ahead,” Doren insisted.
Rikki was glad to oblige. “Over three hundred years ago, after King Aergo had united Ghumai, he called for a joint expedition to map the entire world. Volunteers were called for and teams were composed of citizens from every kingdom. It was the first time all five kingdoms would be working together. One team was to chart the lands; the other, the seas.”
“The land team made it through the Enduring Mountains and back to Castle Tornis,” Doren interrupted. “We wouldn’t have a map of our continent without them.”
Rikki harshly cleared her throat. “The other team was sent out on the Cartographer. They didn’t know how far the seas went, or how long it would take, so they were stocked with over a year of supplies. But once they set sail, they were never heard from again.”
“The ship was lost at sea,” Doren added. “It never returned home.”
“But…” Aros pointed at the ship.
“Aergo sent mages to search for it,” Rikki said. “They were lost, too. Everyone on board was assumed to be dead after that. They never attempted another rescue or sea-fairing mission again. All ships stayed within sight of Ghumai.”
“We don’t know what the Twileans have been up to since the Parting, though,” Doren said.
“Do you think they were trying to map the seas? Or out searching for this ship?” Rikki doubted they’d attempted anything even close to Aergo’s vision. Besides, the Islands hardly had enough trees on them to construct a ship even half the Cartographer’s size.
“We don’t know,” Doren reiterated.
“Its crew can’t still be alive, can it?” Aros asked with concern.
“There were mages,” Rikki stated. “But if they’d lived, why wouldn’t they shift back?”
“You two want to go onboard, don’t you?” Aros asked them.
Rikki didn’t see how they could avoid it. This must’ve been what Magenine wanted them to see. But even if it wasn’t, she wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to step aboard such a historical object. It was possible no one had set foot there for hundreds of years. Would they find remains up there? A clue to where it had been and why it had never returned? They’d be making history, and they’d be able to answer one of Ghumai’s enduring mysteries.
“We have to,” Doren replied. “What if that’s where the Mayor is?”
“You think…” Aros eyed the Cartographer like it was suddenly more important.
With a thrust of her staff, Rikki carved a path in the snow that led straight to the ship. “No more dawdling,” she said, remembering Magenine’s words.
Aros and Doren both nodded. “Right.”
Rikki took off for the Cartographer, her fireball keeping pace at her side. But as she went, the blizzard picked up and the fire seemed to shrink. Flecks of ice and snow pummeled her face as she went, while harsher winds began to freeze the extremities her cloak didn’t conceal.
By the time she made it to the base of the ship, the fireball was extinguished and her friends were lost behind a white veil. As she searched for a si
gn of them, she considered what her best options were. Could she attempt to conceal herself and the ship behind a shield of her own making? She didn’t have enough practice to necessarily conjure up one just to protect herself. How was she supposed to create one that could contain the Cartographer?
She could try manipulating the weather again, but the effects of her magic on the sky were limited. But if it gave her friends time to get reach her, it would be worth it.
There was no third option.
Rikki’s channeling crystal went green as she heaved it upward toward the sky. A ripple tore through the precipitation and, for a moment, it seemed like the clouds were sucking up the snow that had already fallen.
The winds died down as the blizzard tapered off once more. Aros and Doren weren’t too far away, and they trudged over to her, their legs sinking into the mounds with every step.
While they made their way over, Rikki examined the hull of the ship. There was no obvious way to get on board. No rope. No ladder. No doors. It was going to take magic. She could try floating them up, but that was a long way to send them. What if they fell?
She could shift them all up there, but she had no idea what exactly they would find. What if it was just a giant hole and there was no deck? They would fall in right away. It would be better to work with what she could see, and that meant attempting to alter the ship itself.
Rikki leaned her staff against the ancient wood and pictured a design in her mind. She saw a ladder, built into the side of the ship, on which they would be able to climb up. The channeling crystal flickered and a narrow strip of wood began to change shape. Bits of the hull were receding, leaving rungs that looked like they could have been carved into the ship when it was built. The newly formed ladder stretched all the way to the deck. It would be a steep climb, reminiscent of their time at Enduring Mountains.
“Already solved a problem?” Doren asked as he came to her side.
“I altered a historical artifact,” Rikki replied, feeling guilty over the modification.
“That’s a long way to go,” Aros commented, gazing upward toward the top of the ship.
“Better start, then,” Doren said, shoving Aros toward the ladder.