Upwind from the site, Quillen prepared a fire, and the small company gathered to eat. Eat well they did, for they had labored hard that day. Little was said that did not relate to the meal. Hasdel then spoke to Quillen. “How far do you think they have moved ahead?”
“They are two days ahead now and moving with little rest,” answered the hunter.
“Two days? You think that is all?” said the gava.
“The dwarf is slowing them, but not much. They are moving a little slower than we are.” Seemingly anticipating Hasdel’s next question, the hunter said, “At that rate, we could overtake them in five days.”
Five days! thought Kalo. He looked at Ty. In the dim firelight, he could tell Ty had looked his way too.
Kalo knew the decision had been made to go after the dwarf. No one had asked him, and he’d heard no one ask anyone else. No one appeared to object. It just seemed to be the right thing to do. But the thought of hiking for five days only to be outnumbered by a beastly foe made the young Riverman wish for a vote.
“Maybe four, if we quicken our pace,” suggested Quillen, correcting his earlier estimate as though he had heard Kalo’s thoughts. No one replied. For Kalo, the idea of a quickened pace was reason to stand and take a few strides away from the fire.
Then Hasdel raised his voice so all could hear. “I think we can do better than even four, if you are willing to use elven magic,” he said. Kalo turned back to face the fire, for the thought of elven magic intrigued him. Hasdel reached into his pouch and retrieved a ring. “First, before the elven magic, the prince gave me his father’s ring so that Lamus would recognize us as friends when Quillen locates him.” He held the ring up to the firelight. He then returned the ring to his pouch and took out the vial Prince Andre had given him only days earlier. Hasdel held the vial closer to the light of the fire for all to see. “Prince Andre received this as a gift from an elf prince when he was a young boy. He kept it as a remembrance of his meeting with one from another world, and he gave it to me. I meant to keep it always as a remembrance of my prince and true friend.” He paused, and Kalo suspected the messenger’s mind must have recalled the tragic event that had befallen the prince. Hasdel went on. “But I have just remembered that he gave it to me not as a keepsake but to fight the very evil that seems to be about us. As Kalo is my witness, the prince’s last words to me were to use this vial for a noble purpose. He thought we might need the power to hastily locate Lamus the Monk. Instead, we have a new need; it can help us find the dwarf.”
“And what magic is it?” asked Ty.
“It will give us the speed to overtake the gnolls,” replied the gava. “Shall we use it?”
“The dwarf may already be dead. Four days from now, I give him little chance,” said the hunter as he stood tall in the firelight. “I’ll use it.”
“And I. It is for a good cause,” said the gava.
Ty willingly agreed to the adventure, and Kalo nodded as well. The idea of tasting the elven potion enthralled him.
Quillen strode across the campsite and extended his hand to the seated Hasdel. “You have chosen to use the gift as your prince wished,” he said to the messenger. Hasdel reached out to grasp the hunter’s outstretched hand and nodded once quickly in affirmation.
Chapter 18
The sun had gone down and a chill swept over the land. A thin, foul odor of gnoll carcasses hung in the night air. Quillen had shoveled sand over many of the bodies, but the odor lingered.
The small company assembled around a fire near the site of the dwarf massacre. It was a time for gathering, for they had reached a milestone. Their flight from Riverlok had been successful; at least for now, the party had escaped the grasp of Mallivar. Only two days into their trek to find Lamus the Monk, they had discovered someone worse off than themselves. A dwarf, a huge dwarf by all measure, had been seized and taken west by a pack of gnolls led by a mysterious mounted being. These four had been transformed from a band of fugitives with an obscure mission to locate a reclusive monk into an alliance of men with the unambiguous purpose of rescuing a dwarf.
A feeling of kinship joined them together, for each one had made the decision to use the power of the elves and go to the aid of the captured dwarf. Prince Andre’s gift of elven magic would be their strength and weapon.
They stared silently into the radiance of the fire the hunter had built. Hasdel stood and walked back to the burial mounds in the dark, guided only by the light of the flame and moon. He moved slowly among the rows of graves they had made, his hands clasped behind his back. The messenger of the king studied every mound and then returned to the circle with the other men. The others had not moved during his absence, only vaguely aware that he had left them and had now returned. They stared into the glow of the flames. Hasdel spoke boldly to all. “Rest well. Tomorrow, with the help of the elven power, we will overtake the depraved creatures who slaughtered these noble allies of the realm.”
Kalo did not sleep well, though Hasdel had suggested they might. Digging the graves had tired him, and he fell asleep easily, but the ground was hard and cold, and he awoke several times. He lay facing the others, and more than once, he saw Ty move to change his position. Quillen sat in his usual upright posture, leaning against a rock throughout the night. It was difficult for Kalo to tell whether the hunter slept at all.
Before the sun had risen, Hasdel woke Ty and Kalo with an offer of warm broth. Quillen appeared to be in deep meditation as the three of them sat sipping the broth and eating dried meat and bread provided by Hasdel. Kalo and Ty took their cue from Hasdel and ignored the hunter. Soon Quillen stood and took the meal on his own.
When the sun gradually rose in the east over a ridge, the smell of the gnoll remains had grown stronger. Kalo had finished smoking his rum-soaked leaf the evening before, and he longed for it now. The odor of gnolls mixed with his taste, and the foul scent now rested on his tongue. He set his broth down and tucked the root that Hasdel had given him to chew on in his tunic for a later time. He said nothing to the others about the affect the rotten odor was having on him; he could see that they were far less aware. He let them eat.
When all had eaten, Hasdel rose and spoke. “Men, today we go after the dwarf. With the aid of the elves, we may even overtake his captors by nightfall.” He held out the elven vial in one hand and his own cup in the other. Each man in the company thrust his own cup next to the gava’s. Without another word, he poured a drop into each cup. For a moment, they held their cups together as a toast, though no words were spoken. Then they all drank the water of the elves.
Hasdel held the tiny elven vial aloft and turned it upside down to show it was empty before placing it safely in his pack. Then he spoke. “The contents of the vial will give us the strength and endurance of an elf. Let us sit for a time as the power comes to us.”
Kalo stepped away from the circle.
The other three sat as Hasdel had suggested. After a short while, Ty asked aloud, “What will it feel like?” Neither Hasdel nor Quillen replied.
Soon, Ty lifted his arms as if they were floating and swirled his head freely about. He breathed deeply, swelling his chest as if a strength had begun to fill him. He stood and began to laugh foolishly. Hasdel and Quillen were standing now as well. The power of the elves had come to the three of them. “So this is what an elf feels like?” said Ty, stepping about in sudden quick moves, first to one side and then to the other. His moves were so rapid that they appeared a blur to the other two men.
Ty leapt higher and higher, and each time he landed as gentle as a cat. “Unbelievable! Kalo, look at me!” he shouted. Hasdel stood by, watching Ty with amusement and marvel.
“Come down, Riverman,” he called out. “Contain your energy. This power is ours today because our mission is worthy and the elves wish it.”
“Can we use the power anytime we like?” asked Ty with a broad smile.
“We men know little of magic, but I think not,” speculated Hasdel. “I think the power works for
us now because of what we are about to do. It is a selfless act we undertake, a good deed in our hearts. It is a daring act and filled with great risk. We need this aid if we are to have a chance. So I believe the elves will it.”
Quillen looked to Hasdel, nodding as he spoke in his deep voice. “Well said, messenger.”
Ty spoke up. “Because we are acting as would elves!” His voice was full of confidence.
Hasdel smiled. “Gather your belongings, Riverman,” he said to Ty. To Kalo, who stood quietly alone outside the ring where they had drunk the water of the elves, he said, “Come, lad. It is time to travel.” Then, to Quillen, he said, “Lead the way, hunter, and we will follow.”
Kalo had felt the liquid move down his throat and radiate throughout his young body immediately upon drinking the potion. He had feared he was becoming ill, so he had quickly stepped out of the circle. Now, as he stood motionless a few yards away from the others, he felt his limbs grow numb as the elven power filled him. The numbness turned to weightlessness, and his arms slowly lifted away from his sides. His eyes closed, and a vision unfolded in his mind. Before him stretched a vast body of water. He stood high on a grass-covered ridge, looking far into the distance over the water. An outside force penetrated his vision as though trying to pull him from this place in his mind. He focused on the rolling waves of the water before him and fought off the force, for he wanted to stay. It was a place he had never been, but this did not matter; for some reason, he knew the place well. He moved freely about the space in his mind, exploring the terrain. He touched each stone jutting out about the ridge and weaved among the blades of lush grass that swayed in the coastal breeze. While he felt a familiarity, he also felt an uneasiness, an unsettling. As he pressed his mind to go deeper, he learned the unexpected. This is the land of my father, he thought. Yes, he was certain. The thought excited him, and he tried to open his eyes but could not.
Suddenly, the vision faded, and he was brought back to the present. The cool, wet smell of the water was gone, and he became aware of the smells of dried grass and weeds. Then a stronger odor overtook him, and his eyes opened, revealing the land about him. The colors were so brilliant it was difficult to see, and the smell had grown into a stench. His eyes were closed, and he stumbled backward. The sound of his step hitting the ground surface startled him so that he looked down and saw nothing. His senses were pulling in many directions all at once. Kalo reached up to cover his nose. Squinting against the glowing visage of his surroundings, he could make out a distant figure. He saw Ty looking back at him, one hand cupped over his nose and mouth and the other waving fiercely. Kalo could hear Ty’s muffled calls. “Come on, Kalo!” The smell of the decaying gnoll bodies was overtaking him. He had both hands to his face. His eyes filled with tears, and he could not see. Kalo heard Ty call again and stumbled forward a few steps.
Soon he was moving toward the sound of Ty’s voice with his hands away from his face. Ty was only a few yards away, waiting for him.
“Where are the others?” asked Kalo. His voice was a coarse whisper, and he cleared his throat.
“They went ahead. As soon as we felt the power of the elf water, Hasdel said, ‘Lead the way, hunter,’ and off we went. When you didn’t follow, they sent me back for you. They didn’t see you freeze.”
“I didn’t freeze.”
“Oh?” said Ty, spreading his arms and tilting his head back with his eyes closed. “What do you call this?” He then brought his arms down. “You scared me, little brother.”
“You haven’t called me little brother in a long time.”
“You haven’t scared me in a long time. When I saw you couldn’t move, I grabbed you and shook you and tried to drag you away. But you held firm. After a while, the smell of the dead gnolls became too much for me, so I moved upwind. I’ve been standing here calling to you, trying to wake you.”
“I now remember I felt you pulling on me. How long was I frozen?”
“Half an hour, maybe.”
“No.”
“Yes,” said Ty.
Kalo didn’t reply. Instead, he looked slowly about. “Look how radiant everything is!” he marveled.
Ty looked about too, but quickly. “Yes, everything is very clear.”
“Clear?” said Kalo. “The colors are brilliant!”
Ty looked around again, but even quicker than before. “Maybe the elf water affects each one differently.”
Kalo smiled at the wisdom of his good friend. “You’re probably very right, Ty.”
“Do you feel strong? I do,” smiled Ty.
Kalo had been so absorbed in the product of his senses that he had not felt the change in his physical being until now. “Yes,” he said. “I feel free. I feel loose.”
“Me, too,” said Ty. “Let’s run.” And he darted off.
Kalo remained, still looking about.
“Kalo! Come on,” called Ty.
The younger one broke the spell that was holding him fascinated. He overrode his senses and ran after his friend.
Chapter 19
The small company of four men had begun the journey west with a grace and speed previously reserved for elves under the spell of their own magic. Quillen, the long-legged hunter, set the initial pace. It was a smooth, steady stride. The two men journeyed on ahead. They had seen the elf-born speed of young Ty and were confident the two boys would have little difficulty rejoining them.
Ty and Kalo pressed on together. They ran effortlessly across the dry land, up and down the small hills that rolled their way. They came upon the two men and passed them, calling out as they did. The hunter and the gava kept to their set pace. In time, the two boys circled back to join the men, and the company traveled on together, Quillen in front by perhaps a hundred yards, Ty and Kalo next, followed by Hasdel. Occasionally Kalo would take a brief detour to race up and down a steep hill or jump across a wide gorge. He was in sheer ecstasy. Ty would drop back at times and then burst forward with blazing speed. Quillen and Hasdel continued steadily forward, pacing themselves, making no attempt to quiet their two young companions. This went on all day. The four did not stop to eat. Eating did not occur to them under the spell.
Then it ended. And it ended with much the same abruptness as it had begun. Earlier in the day, Hasdel and Quillen had felt the magic first, then Ty, and finally Kalo. The magic left them in the same order. Hasdel approached to find Quillen standing a distance from a vast gorge, his hand raised to halt the others. “They are close,” said Quillen when the four were together.
The other three did not speak for a time. The young boys from Riverlok looked about in silence. They stood still, turning their heads randomly about. Hasdel, too, took time to absorb the place where they had come to rest. The gava turned slowly in a full circle, studying the terrain. He nodded slowly to himself when he completed his contemplation.
Hasdel then spoke. “How far, hunter?”
“The Shimmerstrand is less than two hundred paces west. I think the gnolls are camped just a few hundred paces beyond that, still on this side of the gorge,” said Quillen. “Their trail is only an hour old,” he added.
Hasdel turned and spoke softly to the two boys. “The Shimmerstrand is a vine bridge across the gorge built by the elves hundreds and hundreds of years ago. It is the only crossing of the Silvertongue River between Cayleon and Riverlok, except for Twin Bridges far to the east.”
The hunter spoke. “The gnolls either are planning to cross the gorge and head south or are waiting for a party to join them from the south.”
“Is the dwarf with them?” asked Hasdel.
“Yes,” replied Quillen, “and by his stride, he still appears healthy.”
“Good,” said the gava. “We are not too late. We will rest here until nightfall, and then we will advance. Agreed?”
The hunter nodded.
Ty and Kalo found flat ground and lay down. Quillen and Hasdel left them.
“Wasn’t that wonderful?” said Kalo to Ty.
“Yes, it was, but the strength has left me now. I could feel it leave me as soon as we stopped,” said Ty. He stretched out his body, lying on his back. He closed his eyes, and a smile came to his lips. His smile gradually faded, and he was asleep within moments.
Kalo had felt the power leave him as well. He suddenly grew very weary, and he too lay gently down on his back in the dry grass. A dull sense in his mind drowned out all sounds. He closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep. The vision Kalo had felt when he first came under the spell of the elven magic partially returned to him. In the brief moment he was conscious, yet on the edge of sleep, he realized he could remember the vision without the magic, and it filled him with joy.
Three hours passed, and Hasdel came to where the two boys were sleeping. He knelt in the grass next to the boys, placed his hands on their shoulders, and spoke to them. “Lads, wake up.”
It was dark, and the two young Rivermen sat up and tried to look alert. The light from the moon was enough that the three could see the forms of the others. Hasdel handed each of them a piece of dried meat, and they began to eat at once. He gave them water to drink, and they drank all they were given. Nothing was said for a time as the gava fed the two starving boys.
“Where is Quillen?” asked Ty with a mouthful of dried meat.
“Shimmerstrand,” said Hasdel.
Ty moved closer to Hasdel. “What did you say was so special about this bridge earlier?”
“The vine footbridge was built by the elves long ago in another time. It spans the gorge the Silvertongue River cut through the soft rock of this highland plain. The crevasse is two hundred feet wide and over three hundred feet deep at this point. It is the only crossing of the Silvertongue River for days in either direction.”
“Why is it called the Shimmerstrand?” asked Ty.
The Ruins of Melda Page 11