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Realm of Druids

Page 31

by Mark Hogenelst


  Shalia turned and pointed. ‘Keep going to that one.’ Barney saw that she had indicated the same long rocky, barren-looking isle he had seen from the cove earlier. The name ‘Crimson Isle’ suited it somewhat as a reddish hue around the lower part of the coastline came into view. The upper part of the isle was still hazy though. He knew, however, that distances over water were deceiving and that at their current pace they were still over an hour away. Despite his unpleasant adventures so far, the time in the ‘Jolly Mug’ was quite pleasurable as he inhaled the warm salty air which seemed to soothe some of the horrors from previous days. There was always that feeling of a calm peace being on the water as if all the problems and concerns were left behind on the land.

  He asked Shalia questions about herself and her elf clan, the moors where they lived, what other creatures dwelt there and why they had not exposed themselves to mankind before. She replied to his last question by saying, ‘mankind animals are seen as mere beasts, with no magic value to us, no particular threat and therefore unimportant. Your kind does not remember the old ways, your forebears degenerating from corruption and greed to where you are now. You were once the most powerful in the realm and did not need to fear any other species causing your decline. You managed to that all by yourselves.’ Barney grunted between breaths, thinking on what she said. Shalia continued ‘Other species have now grown powerful around you and look at you as livestock to be harvested for their gain. Honestly, we weren’t even sure if we could communicate with you.’

  Barney stopped rowing. ‘What do you mean!’ He yelled in a gruff sort of voice. Shalia replied calmly, realising that she had unintentionally upset him. ‘The Wildpack pick off your travellers that explore too far into the moors, and you saw what the witches’ did. Life essence or souls of intelligent animals have value, even of your kind. There was recently a caravan of travellers from another mankind village in the far eastern mountains. The Duskfall wolves had sighted them moving out of the safety of their mountains. It was agreed that the elves would have been received far better than the wolves when the time came to warn the mankind caravan of the dangers in Trunarth. We were on our way to warn them as they entered the New Territories, home of the Wildpack, but the hounds got to them first.’ Her voice trailed off. ‘A war is coming, and mankind will be involved whether they like it or not.’ Barney looked at the skin blistering off his hands; he winced and picked up the oars to keep rowing. His freckled face was now bright red from a combination of exertion and the beating sun. They were over halfway now, and Barney turned to look and could just see a white line on the rocky beach of the isle from waves rolling up the rocks.

  For a while after that, Shalia didn’t speak but sat cross-legged with her eyes shut in some sort of meditating trance. Her marble staff lay across her lap, and her hands were never far from it. The monotonous sound of small waves crashing on the coastline in front of them and seabirds singing out above in some crags was broken as Shalia spoke. ‘Head south around the coast of the isle until I find what I am looking for.’ She pointed in the desired direction as Barney repositioned himself on his bench seat and changed his grip on the oars to turn the skiff. At midday, the sun was unusually warm. Shalia noted Barney’s discomfort and stated, ‘the influence of the witches’ enchantments does not extend far offshore, and the foul weather they command usually stays with them.' Barney replied in short sharp breaths as he fought against a slight current to turn the skiff. ‘I don’t know much about the witches’ spells and things, but I always thought it was just naturally colder in the south.’ ‘Perhaps you are right.’ Said Shalia, contemplating on his last words.

  A squawking seabird high above caught Barney’s attention as he stared into the sky with one eye shut as the big grey and white bird flew in front of the sun. He looked back at the water and jumped slightly then laughed to himself. ‘What is it?’ asked Shalia startled and glanced around. ‘Nothing, just a turtle.’ Barney replied. ‘I thought its shell was a rock we were about to collide with.’ A giant sea turtle floated on the surface of the water just below the bow of the skiff. It's chequered coloured brown, and green shell rose several inches above the water. Numerous barnacles dotted its full shell indicating that it was likely of some considerable age. A great square head with small round curious brown eyes stared curiously at them for a moment. It gave a peculiar grunt as if warning them to go no further, then snorted and slowly submerged itself below the water to disappear into the dark blue depths. Barney turned and looked at the shoreline. He wondered where they planned to beach the skiff and disembark among the high jagged inhospitable looking black rocks. He still couldn’t make out the source of the reddish colour just above the waterline.

  Shalia stared closely at her staff, which seemed to become blurry to his vision as he tried to focus on it. Then she said, ‘Hold us outside the edge of that group of high rocks until the water recedes.’ Barney saw three rocks jutting from the water in a line each one taller than the next. They were a short distance offshore and looked quite ordinary as they were like other rocks around them. The tops of all three were covered in white bird droppings. Between the current of the outgoing tide and the slight breeze that had sprung up, Barney strained to hold the skiff in place. He could see through the clear water where the submerged part of the black rocks extended deep into a blue haze. He thought he caught a glimpse of the hulls of several wrecked skiffs down there as well. ‘Have you been here before?’ He asked her curiously.’ No.’ She replied, ‘but I have received certain instructions from others that have.’ Barney was about to say ‘Instructions from who? Then he looked at the marble staff she clutched tightly in her hands.

  ‘Now row around the rocks and directly towards the coastline.’ She said. Barney immediately complained, ‘What? Nothing’s there, but a wall of bulging rocks covered in red seaweed and jagged shells.’ Having said that, he followed her commands and did as she asked. As the skiff neared the black rocks, they bounced around a bit from the rough, choppy water, which seemed to have waves going in all directions after crashing against the rocks. Barney hoped Shalia could swim as he thought they were about to be dashed against the rocks. Barney clenched his teeth, let go of the oars and gripped the side of the skiff waiting for the crunch of timber on the line of rocks. Some waves carried the skiff the last of the way into the rocks. The current took over, and the small skiff was thrown sideways. Barney yelled in fright and a moment later without warning a large single wave had thrown the Skiff onto calm water. It had not been dashed against the rocks looming in front of it as Barney thought would happen, but between two round black boulders up a narrow water passage not easily seen. It was cleverly concealed and led straight into a small cove behind with the surface of the water like a millpond and a tiny sandy beach.

  47.

  THE KEEPER OF THE CAVES

  Above the beach in a tall black cliff sat a yawning cave mouth with a protruding overhang. It appeared that there was no other way off the small beach except this cave or the dangerous water passage they had just traversed. A high line of red slimy sharp rocks enclosed the small cove. Soon the skiff had beached with a soft crunch on the coarse sand, and Barney scolded himself for throwing all the ropes out of the skiff with the fishing net back in Brinetown Cove. After several minutes of listening to Barney’s concerns about allowing the Jolly Mug to drift away; Shalia helped drag it a little way up the beach with the intention of being above the reach of the tide. Barney puffing and wiping the sweat off his brow with the back of his shirt sleeve, assured her they needed to do this, even though Shalia insisted that they were not coming back. Barney commented, ‘Now I know why it’s called the Crimson Isle.’ He looked around at the red seaweed that covered the bottom half of the rocks and noted that there was still a great deal of the same red stuff floating about in the water.

  There were a few short strings of brown seaweed mixed into the tide wash and even an old shoe. Barney did not have time to dwell on the adventures of the shoe as Shalia urged him
along and towards the cliff, muttering to herself that they had wasted too much time already. He drank the last of his water from his small leather canteen, tightened his sword belt and looked up the beach to the mouth of the cave. In the rocky overhang was a flat surface of a rock face. On this pitted rock face was a crude carving of a sea dragon. The engraving was deep but eroded. However, Barney could still see what it was, a prawn like shape with long pincers, a broad fish-like tail and bulging eyes. They had these sea dragons in the sea at Saltwood. They were about the size of a man’s thumb and lived in schools offshore. Shalia saw Barney's questionable gaze. ‘I am sure this is the right path. This is the cave where the keeper is said to dwell. It had been centuries since an elf had needed the Arch, I hope the keeper has not forgotten his bargain with my ancestors.’ Shalia frowned and seemed to be in deep thought for a moment then continued. ‘Of course, other species have used this Arch as well.’

  They walked the short distance in the heavy sand and shingle that made loud crunching noises with each step. Barney looked fearfully around as though the sound they made might alert someone or even worse, something. However, the only other sound to be heard was from the rhythmic roll of small waves washing upon the shore. Now they paused and stood in the last of the exposed sunlight. The next step would take them into the shadow of the cave and then into...goodness knows what thought Barney. Without a word, Shalia entered. Barney bit his bottom lip, shrugged and followed closely behind her, his eyes opened wide trying to identify the shadowy shapes around them as his ears strained to detect the faintest noise. The beach sand eventually gave way to an uneven rock floor and the light became dimmer, struggling to penetrate the deeper recesses of the cave. The inside of the cave looked ordinary enough though, as Barney expected the inside of one to look like, but the elf kept stopping and looking at her staff. It was radiating small peculiar black images into the air that he couldn’t identify. Barney’s eyes became accustomed to the failing light, and he was surprised that he still had reasonable sight. The air was still and humid the further they went in, now completely isolated from the comforting cool sea breezes they had been subjected to just minutes before. The broken remains of an old wooden skiff lay haphazardly against a wall. It was in roughly two splintered halves as if it had been struck across the middle by a great force. Along the other wall was an assortment of white and yellow bones, curiously sorted into piles of differing sizes. Barney looked away, and then as if registering what he had just caught in his sweeping view, glanced back. An almost bleached white grinning human skull lay on top of one of the bone piles. He shivered and hurried his pace to stay close to Shalia.

  After a few more moments, Shalia stopped again, and Barney bumped into the back of her as she held her hand up to Barney for him to be still. A low deep slithering wet sound came from the dark ahead of them. Barney took a step or two back and peered into the dark, trying to identify the source of the noise. Was that water he thought? No, it wasn’t he decided, as the outline of a great bulky shape came into his view directly in front causing him to grip the handle of his sheathed sword tightly. The slithering sound stopped, to be replaced by some sucking noises and then a deep reverberating voice spoke. ‘It had been a long time since an elf has come to my isle.’ A pause and then a deep inhaling wheezy sound as if the speaker was having difficulty breezing. ‘It has been even longer since a mankind animal has so willingly entered my cave. I grow weary of eating fish and crabs.’ The voice appeared to be coming from the air above and in front of them. A deep chortle, then followed by the slithering sound again, but closer this time.

  An overpowering stench of rotten fish and decay flooded their senses. Barney got a pretty good idea what the unknown speaker meant by that last statement and pulled his sword free from its scabbard with a slight scraping sound of steel sliding over leather. With his free hand, he took hold of Shalia’s arm. She resisted, pulling herself free from his grasp and said in a low whisper out of the corner of her pursed mouth, ‘we have to go forward, and this is the only way. I will handle the matter.’ On the edge of the fading light, a long thick purple coloured tendril lazily wound its way along the floor like a snake out of the dark towards them. Then another and another. Barney held his sword in front of him facing one advancing tendril and then the other. Shalia seemingly ignoring the danger they were in, held her staff up in front of her and spoke calmly, ‘Clara Lux’.

  Nothing happened initially, and then her staff began to glow, softly at first then intensifying. The jewels at both ends of her staff came to life and then the whole shaft. It cast a brilliant white light that illuminated a wide area completely encompassing them. The tendril things or whatever they were, quickly retreated back into the shadows and beyond the cast of the light. What Barney saw next, carved an image in his memory that he was unable to remove from his mind for a long time. A giant oblong-shaped purple head suddenly towered above them out of the dark with two enormous pale eyes the size of dinner plates. The head widened at the bottom onto which eight long thick tentacles were attached. Three of which that had been reaching towards Barney only moments ago, the remainder elevating this creature off the ground. Some of the limbs now flayed about a bit in front of this thing in a vain attempt to block the light from its sensitive eyes. Shalia spoke. ‘I know you Haergus, keeper of the isle. We do not seek grievance with you, but wish to simply pass.’

  Barney realised he now knew what this creature was, a giant mollusc octopod. He had seen similar bodies of some over the years washed ashore, the size of a small dog, but never one as ridiculously big as this. It was rumoured that they lived in the black voids of the deepest ocean recesses. What was even more alarming was that the creature could talk! The pale eyes blinked rapidly several times and then half-closed. ‘The light! Why do you bring it here?’ Asked the creature in a deep mournful voice. Shalia replied, ‘To ensure we have safe passage to the Arch stone without fear of molestation.’ The octopod stared and said nothing for a short while then he spoke ‘Your kind had imprisoned me here by their enchantments to guard this isle and your magic stones. There was a time before the mankind tribe had settled on the coast near here that elves would pass by constantly. Now they have abandoned me, to be held here by those invisible bonds.’

  Barney almost felt sorry for the creature. He imagined it taken from the depths of the sea and through some elf magic, had been given a long life of imprisonment in the dark caves of this isle. The octopod named Haergus shifted his bulk slightly with some disgusting wet sounds and inclined his oblong head towards Barney. ‘It was many years ago since some mankind animals were caught in a storm and became marooned on my isle. They wandered into my cave to escape the storm, and eventually succumbed to my charm.’ He chuckled again. Now he made a slurping noise as if he was sucking on a tooth. ‘So, what is a mankind animal doing with an elf I wonder?’

  Shalia spoke again. ‘That is not a concern of yours. Will you let us pass?’ Haergus’s now unblinking eyes stared at them for a time, and he said nothing. His large, almost luminescent eyes reminded Barney of the full moon. Haergus felt betrayed by the elves and sought revenge. However, he was wary of their powers and was ever cautious. ‘Very well’ he said. Barney saw a long wide mouth open as he spoke. A white ridge of bone was exposed under a top lip, while several rows of jagged teeth protruded from the bottom jaw. Shalia whispered to Barney quietly. ‘Be on your guard, this may be a rouse.’ With some loud repugnant wet sloshing sounds, the Octopod shuffled his great bulk to one side. Several purple tentacles rose slightly off the damp rock floor with vulgar popping noises and indicated off to one side where the cave narrowed to a sort of tunnel. Barney and Shalia stepped cautiously forward; the light from her staff illuminated the entrance to a narrow but tall tunnel.

  Barney waved his sword threateningly at the grinning octopod as he went past. Haergus was unconcerned as he rubbed some of his tentacles together. When this elf and mankind animal had fallen victim to the creatures in the trench, he will recover thei
r bodies for a tasty morsel. The ground past here was littered with bones, mostly fish but also bones from larger animals. They were all covered in a black mould with some of the more prominent bones broken into pieces. Green slime dripped off the walls and pooled on the ground. The constant sound of dripping water and the decaying smell remained. Scratching noises were coming from the walls in front of and above them. Shalia held her staff higher into the air and they both caught glimpses of some crustaceous looking spiders about the size of Barney’s hands. They scuttled sideways and backwards as if like Haergus, wished to avoid the light. Red eyes on short stems moved independently to each other from a spider-like head with small pincers. 8 long oddly jointed legs protruded from hard spiky grey and black shells. ‘The Giant Crab Spiders.’ Whispered Shalia. ‘They are for the most part harmless, though somewhat disconcerting.’ The crab spider’s legs clicked all around them for while on the tunnel stone walls. Soon that noise stopped as they had rounded a corner and felt relieved. Hundreds of tiny white starfish clung to the damp walls and emitted a warm yellow glow between them. The light of Shalia’s staff faded, and they could see quite well without it now. A distant sound of roaring water echoed down the tunnel towards them. ‘What now?’ Barney whispered desperately, thinking a flood was on its way. Shalia replied, ‘That was the easy bit, now we pass through the trench of raging tides.’

 

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