But I did.
The sea creatures left us when we were within sight of the Isle—and to no surprise, as only seconds after they had two boats appeared. They were brimmed to fullness with figures hidden beneath robes. None of the figures spoke, but the ships flanked our sides and steered us towards the Isle.
Everything was silent, except for what sounded and felt to me like a low loud pulse. As I stared at the isle as we drew closer, I wondered if it wasn’t my own heart. It beat with the image ahead.
A tall isle, of perfect largeness, its greatest mass hidden from view, but as a whole shaped like a mountain. In the dusk light the fires were brilliant—easy to spot from the ocean, just like the stories said. I remembered Scholar Padril telling me that was the first thing I would see on my voyage to meet the Cirali Warriors, and my father describing how the fires grew out of the earth itself. Just small things, no greater than a hearth, but magic—because they didn’t need fuel and never died out.
Despite the warmth of their light, I felt cold as the boat swerved towards a thin cove, directed as we were by the others. I could now hear the lapping of water on the docks and the waves crashing on the shore. There were shadows moving along the beach; the fires resided only on the mountains, and there were trees aplenty between the sand and them. Though I looked for the chimera, the skies were empty. I tried not to think of how I would have come to Yanartas before. I hadn’t felt so much like my rightful self as I did now since I’d left my home at Uldin Keep.
“Let me do the talking,” I told Estrid and Minstrel. We were very close to the dock.
Estrid started to object, but I put a hand up. I picked up my rice sack, untied the jewelry and passed both pieces to her. Minstrel had his lyre fitted firmly on his back.
“If they will not let you say,” I whispered. “Then I will make sure they give you supplies, and the coordinates to travel home. Everything as I promised.”
“But, Ellia, why are you so sure that they will let you—”
Estrid didn’t get a chance to finish her words. A dark figure from one of the boats jumped past our ship to the dock; he swept the rope attached to our ship up in the process and started to tie it off on a post. Three more figures jumped onto the dock; they came to stand behind the other man. The rest stayed on the ships.
The man at the front, finished with his work, stood up tall and dropped back his hood. His face was hard and rough, but full, as if he’d never gone uncomfortably long without food. He crossed his arms.
I stepped forward and bowed my head.
“Do you know on what shores you’ve landed?” he asked. His voice was stern, and it broke the prior peacefulness of the shore. I could hear the shifting of the figures around us.
“I do,” I replied, keeping my eyes low as was only appropriate.
“How many are there with you, and from what countries?”
“There is one from Karatel, my guide and captain of this ship. And one from Gilgatrox, a gnome and minstrel. I am Ellia.”
I had a strong sense of my two companions behind me. I knew the Yanartian would wait to hear my entire reply. I raised my head up to its full height, my chin falling into its accustomed tilt. “I request an immediate audience with the Warriors of Cirali.” I ignored his initial dubiousness. “I bring news of your allies in Shaundakul. It is of the direst nature.”
“What sort of news?” he asked. There was a slight change to his expression that let me know this struck a chord with him.
“I am sorry, but I cannot share that with anyone but the Warriors.”
He narrowed. “Yanartas does not accept unknown travellers upon its shores, let alone within its city to meet its leaders.”
“All the same, if your laws are what I think they are, you cannot ignore a request to be brought before them. This is why I have come and all I ask.”
“That law doesn’t apply to foreigners.”
“I am no foreigner. I am ally, a citizen of Shaundakul. And if I have it right you haven’t received word from Uldin Keep in weeks. Perhaps you’ve even been instructed to keep a lookout for dragons? Do you really think you should risk sending away someone claiming to know what’s happened?”
He tilted his head, studying me a moment. Then he waved a hand at the men behind him. They started tying off the Yanartian boats.
“You’re wrong about what we’ve heard and haven’t,” he said. “But you seem to know enough for me to trust your words. You’ll be brought before the Cirali. Whether you’re actually from Shaundakul or not will be determined then.”
Though his first comment confused me, I was satisfied enough with his decision. I would find out everything I needed to once I was there. “Once I meet the Warriors I’m confident they’ll know where I’m from,” I said.
For the first time, he smiled a little. “Are you? Well then, perhaps I should introduce myself. I’m Lodan Falstar, fourth rank in the first and highest order of the Warriors of Cirali…. Shall we go then?” he asked.
My eyes grew wide and probably a little ridiculous. I had just met my first ever Warrior of Cirali and I hadn’t even realized.
Little did I know I was even more clueless than this.
*
It took half an hour to ascend the path to the city of Yanartas, and even less time to travel through it. Minstrel and Estrid were brought along. Though this made little sense to me, I was just grateful they weren’t being shipped away.
I usually would have been more attentive of the surroundings—I’d only dreamed about them my entire life—but my attention was too occupied with the meeting ahead. The encounter with Lodan had weakened my confidence.
I did look when we passed the flames, rising up a few feet off the ground from holes like magic.
Once we reached the city, I didn’t have the option to look either way. They blindfolded us while they walked us to the meeting chamber of the Warriors. I didn’t need to see to know what was around me. The home of the Cirali was a complex built into massive trees. Everything going up instead of taking up space on the ground. I knew their buildings were different from Shaundakul in that they were made of wood rather than stone, none of them very sturdy, and open to the fresh ocean air. Bridges, pulleys, balconies, and ladders connected the city together.
It was obvious to me when the platform we were standing on was being lifted up.
The only thing I was truly disappointed about, was that I was not able to see any of the chimera. And I didn’t hear any of them either.
Finally we were prodded into what was clearly a closed-in space. I heard the sound of chattering as a door closed from behind.
“Who is this you bring before us, Lodan? That we must gather so late.” That was a women’s voice. She was clearly above me.
Someone snapped their fingers. The sound of footsteps moved around me. “Three visitors from across the sea,” Lodan answered. “One from Gilgatrox. One from Karatel, and finally a girl claiming to come from Shaundakul. You may remove your blindfolds.”
As I brought my hands up to remove the cloth, I heard words sounding all around and above me. When I could see and my vision adjusted to the generous light of the room, I understood why. I was surrounded by a high table, behind which a mix of a dozen or so men and women sat. From the patterns on the walls it was instantly obvious that the room was the carved-out inside of a tree. The ceiling went up very high, into a dome. A chandelier hung from it, attached with balls of yellow and orange that glowed mysteriously and provided light for the chamber. There were a few exits, but the largest was behind me, where Minstrel and Estrid stood next to a pair of guards. Minstrel looked as if he were about to faint from excitement. Estrid looked as if she was about to faint from shock.
Seeing they were safe, I turned my attention to the men and women high around me, who I knew to be the Warriors of Cirali. Each face was like a gem instantly carved into my mind. A man with a long beard and kind blue eyes. A woman with fiery red hair wearing a green dress. A younger man with blond hair
and lightning bright eyes. I craved the customary routine of introductions, where I would hear the name, rank, order, and chimera title of each member—but then I was certain I could assume each of these belonged to the first order.
As I saw Lodan—whose hair was brown and garb was rugged—take a seat in with the others, I tried to address the lot. “I am not claiming to be from Shaundakul, I assure you that I am. And as I told Lodan Falstar, I have urgent news to bring before you.” I had mostly their attention now, so I went on. “Uldin Keep has been destroyed.”
One laughed, the red-haired woman, in a way that so affronted me that I could hardly bear it. “Do you think we don’t know this? Will you tell us next that the Akadians were the ones responsible, or perhaps that it is not the first country they’ve destroyed?”
“How can you know that?” I replied immediately. “When?”
The lightning-eyed man raised a hand. “As of yesterday only. Lyrie, please do not excite your passion over something we’ve barely discovered for ourselves.” As the red-haired woman, Lyrie, crossed her arms, the man turned his attention to me. “For us the news came straight from Akadia. Like I’ve said, it’s the first we’ve heard of anything. So we know they’ve overtaken Birmha, Kanth, and the other western lands, but we know little of what happened at Uldin Keep—other than that it has been destroyed and that the king and our ally, Savras Solidor, is dead.”
I chilled at the words; it was difficult to think that my father had met most of these people, yet they didn’t even recognize me. They must have known of my existence at least. Had they heard that I’d been killed with my father?
“But you say that you’re from Shaundakul?” he went on. “Were you there during the battle?”
I nodded. “It was a supposed to be a routine attack by the goblins,” I said. “We usually fought with them three of four times throughout the year. This time the Akadians convinced us to fight in one large battle at the base of Uldin Keep. The plan was to overwhelm their numbers—instead of picking them off with our dragons as we always had. They suggested we would do more damage this way.” I had a difficult time remembering the battle, not only because of all the deaths and horror, but because of who had experienced it with me then. “But the Akadians betrayed us. It was all a set-up. They retreated just as the battle was starting, and the goblins were much greater in number than we’d been led to believe. There were thousands of them. They had weapons for bringing down our dragons. They had wyverns.”
“Wyverns?” a silver-haired woman repeated. “With goblins?”
“It’s absurd,” another man added.
“My lord and lady I couldn’t agree more, but all the same it was so. They were given to the goblins by an Akadian named Malatos Lox. He is one of the three commanders of the Akadian army, and he was the man behind the attack on Uldin Keep.” I spoke these words with confidence while blinking back flashes of Cyric standing beside him in the temple.
“We’ve heard of this Lox,” the lightning-eyed man said. “According to our knowledge, he was also the man behind the destruction of Birmha, Carba, and recently its neighbor Zuta. Were you aware of this?”
“You must not say so much, Alek,” one of the female Warriors chided.
The lightning-eyed man shrugged a hand, as if to say it didn’t matter.
I answered without acknowledging them. “No.” I gripped my jaw. “But I wouldn’t doubt it. I’ve met Lox. He’s an evil man and I believe he could be responsible for anything.”
“Where did you meet him?” Lodan asked. “At Uldin Keep?”
“Yes, there and also in Akadia.”
“You’ve been to Akadia?” an elderly man suddenly interjected.
“She could be a spy,” Lyrie threw out.
My eyes flamed. “I’m not spy,” I said. “I was captured and taken to Akadia after Uldin Keep was destroyed. That’s why I haven’t been able to come to Yanartas until now. I was there for weeks.”
“And how did you get away from Akadia?” the lightning-eyed man, Alek, asked, with his brows low. “I don’t think they’re in the business of releasing their conquered citizens?”
“They’re not,” I agreed. “My departure was exceptional.”
“Such a story,” Lyrie scoffed. “She’s a spy.”
A few members around the table wore expressions that suggested they might agree with this opinion.
“Why would I have to hire a Katellian boat and captain if I were a spy? Why would I be travelling with a gnome?”
“Perhaps they are spies to,” the old, bearded man said. “The Akadians assimilate many races.”
I spared a glance at Minstrel and Estrid, both of whom were looking at me with the uncertainty they had first exhibited towards the Warriors. I had a feeling those looks were about to get worse.
“They’re civilians,” I said, “They shouldn’t even be mixed up in this. I won’t allow you to threaten them.”
“And who are you to have come here before us with all but useless information?” Lyrie raged. “Or tell us what we can or cannot do with trespassers?”
Alek sighed, not that it seemed he was about to argue with her.
Lyrie threw a hand out in my direction. “She hasn’t even told us her name. She could be the Akadian queen for all we know.”
I squeezed my fists tight. I could hardly bear anymore that I was positioned so far below them. I couldn’t stand that I had been blindfolded. I couldn’t stand to be spoken to so. I had had enough of it in Akadia. “My name,” I said, not loud but forcefully with my head held high, “Is Ellia Solidor. I’m the daughter of Savras Solidor, your ally and king of Shaundakul. I am not a spy, and I can assure you that I want nothing more than the destruction of Akadia. I have come before you as an equal to request that you help me win my people back from the Akadians. These are the grounds on which I present myself. Are they sufficient?”
My muscles were shaking. The Warriors were silent. I heard a thud behind me.
I turned around and saw that Minstrel had fallen unconscious into the floor. Estrid stared at me with wide, deer-like eyes for a moment, then she bent down to Minstrel to pat his face. I wanted to go to them, but one of the Warriors spoke.
“What is this?” said the silver-haired woman. “A girl shows up on our isle and claims she’s the daughter of Savras Solidor and we’re to believe her?”
“Savras did have a daughter,” Lodan commented thoughtfully. “And the age would be close.”
“But I thought we were told she was killed in the battle of Uldin Keep,” a very, very old man who had yet to have spoken creaked out.
“That could have been inaccurate,” the brown-haired woman beside Alek said.
Alek finally spoke. “There’s an answer to finding the truth of this,” he said calmly. “Savras told us himself… me, Tory, Lodan, Elminster, and Lyrie,” He bobbed his head to each of them in turn, “That his daughter possessed a crown that would only reveal itself in her presence. Do you all acknowledge this?”
The brown-haired woman, who I guessed now was Tory, nodded. As did Elminster, who was the very, very old man.
“He said its jewel was the same color as her eyes, did he not?” added Lodan. “She certainly seems to have exceptionally bright eyes.”
To my surprise this drew a few nods. I was reminded that I was among friends; not only friends, but the guardians I’d dreamt of since I was a girl.
“It’s true!” I said delightedly. “My crown does do that. I didn’t know it for most of my life, but just recently when I was captured and separated from it, my friend… well he realized. That’s how Malatos Lox discovered who I was.”
Almost all brows dropped skeptically. “The Akadians know you’re the princess?” Alek asked.
I nodded. “It is in part what gave me the opportunity to escape.”
Alek’s brows dropped lower. He shared a glance with a few of the Warriors beside him. Elminster shook his head subtly.
“How about producing this crown then?” A
lek asked. I couldn’t help but notice there seemed to be much less life in his question than he had exhibited before.
My chest slowly fell. I thought of falling and searching for my crown among the rocks. “But… I can’t,” I confessed. “I lost it when I was escaping the city. I don’t even know if it survived.”
Lyrie rolled her eyes. The silver-haired woman pressed her lips. The whole table seemed to breathe a sigh, Alek among them.
“My lady, you seem very brave to have travelled so far, and perhaps you have good motives for coming before us, but without the crown or any proof, you must know that we cannot accept you as the daughter of Savras Solidor.”
“But I am!” I argued.
“Do you have a dragon?” the silver-haired woman snapped.
“No. I did. She was killed by the Akadians.”
“Do you have any proof at all?”
“My father knew you. Didn’t he speak of me at all? I can tell you anything. My mother died in childbirth.”
“Every citizen in Shaundakul would have known that,” said a man that had yet to speak.
“It’s not that we don’t believe you,” Alek said, holding a hand out to me. “Please understand. It’s just that without proof your claim doesn’t mean anything. Whether you truly are or aren’t doesn’t matter. We can’t prove it any more than you can.”
My eyes found the floor. It was only a moment before I realized the answer. “Do you know of my father’s powers?” I asked.
Alek cocked his head; he met eyes with Lodan, who gave no response as far as I could see.
“He could disappear,” I told them. “It’s a trait of my ancestors, look.” I held my hand in the air and waved it into smoke. . I didn’t relish the look people gave me when I disappeared completely, but even their faces at this weren’t much better. I reappeared it. “I can make my entire body disappear. So could my father.”
“I’m afraid we know nothing of this,” said Alek. “If it were an exceptional power perhaps it would mean something, but there are many that have learned this skill.”
I put my hands over my face and felt like tearing my hair out. I’d come all this way and had no way to prove who I was. Why had it been that Tobias could discover it so easily, and even Lox had believed, but they wouldn’t? All these thoughts made me think of the temple; Tobias falling to his knees, Lox’s sword through his stomach, and Cyric standing by. Cyric—who was now lost forever?
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