by Ben Hale
For the most part, the next few hours passed in relative peace. Sailors went about their business while the fighters and Thacker’s family rested or talked in muted tones. At first Taryn assumed their subdued behavior was due to the encounter with the elves, but as the afternoon passed no one began playing or laughing. No banter or teasing from sailors, fighters, or the family lightened the mood. As time passed it became clear to Taryn that the elves had been a catalyst. It, whatever it was, was beginning to affect them too. Even as Taryn leaned against the rail to watch the sluggish river, he found that his own heart beat faster for no apparent reason. Try as he might, he couldn’t shake the feeling of icy fear that sank deep into his belly.
Liriana’s shoulder bumped his as she joined him—causing him to flinch.
“You feel it too, don’t you,” she whispered.
He nodded and responded without turning, “I don’t think we are as bad as the elves, or even the people in the city—but it is definitely beginning to affect us.”
She was silent for a long time, long enough for the sun to begin to set. “We do have a problem though,” she finally said.
Now he did turn to her, with one eyebrow raised.
“How are we going to get you to Azertorn?”
He blinked and furrowed his brow as he realized that she could enter the forest but the elves wouldn’t allow him. A flood of questions instantly bombarded his mind. Where was he going to start now? How was everything that was happening going to affect him?
Liri must have been able to read on his face what was going through his mind, because she placed her hand lightly on his forearm. “We will figure it out, I promise.” She looked at him until his expression lightened and he focused on her. “Together . . . we will go to Azertorn and find your family.”
At her statement he sighed deeply, and then smiled and nudged her. “I know Liri, I just don’t know how.”
They stayed there on the rail until the sun had set and darkness began to encircle them. No one disturbed them, possibly because it seemed they didn’t want to be interrupted, but more likely because everyone was too preoccupied with their own fear to notice anybody else.
Taryn spent the time considering options on how to bypass the elves watching their ship . . . in a forest they knew by heart and that he was unfamiliar with. They both knew without saying that their original route to the city wouldn’t work. If they guarded one ship this well, the elves were sure to be watching roads and cities far more carefully. Their only chance lay in slipping past the elves and heading towards the city before they arrived at Tallendale. Tonight, he came to realize, would be their only chance. Smiling sadly, he told Liri what he thought and they began devising a plan to slip past scores of the most alert race in Lumineia.
Chapter 11: The Giant’s Shelf
Taryn eased himself down the rope and into the silent water with Liri right behind him. Darkness enshrouded everything around them in the cloudy night—but the two weren’t taking any chances at being seen, so they slipped into the river on the south side of the boat. With the Sea Dancer obscuring the view from the north, it was a simple matter to let go and sink underwater.
Taryn entered the murky river still holding Liri’s hand and took a deep lungful of air before silently disappearing from view. Inky stillness engulfed him like a cold blanket. His pack drifted downward, tugging him with it until he drifted ten feet underwater, suspended in the cool current. Every few moments the clouds would part, casting an otherworldly glow of soft moonlight that penetrated the water and illuminated Liri’s form beside him. Counting the seconds as he forced himself to stay under, he tried to allow his body to drift naturally in the slow river and give their ship time to move far enough away that the watchers wouldn’t see him surface.
With his whole body screaming for air, he forced himself to gradually empty his lungs and then waited until the last possible second before bringing his face to the surface. Like just another ripple in the water the two of them surfaced for air every few minutes until he felt it was safe to move. Squeezing Liri’s hand to let her know he was going to swim towards shore, he took one last breath but this time lifted his eyes out of the water as well. Only rising enough for a quick glance, he chose a dark alcove and ducked underwater one last time. Then he began pulling himself slowly through the water. Thirty seconds later his hands came in contact with the muddy bank and he slowed his movements.
Easing himself above the water, he scanned the darkness for several seconds before lifting himself clear from the river. Once he was out of the water, he darted to the trunk of a large tree to dry himself off. Grabbing the sealskin bag that had been tied to his leg he pulled dry clothes out of the waterproof material and quickly changed—with his eyes searching the darkened forest around him. He had to admit to himself that he couldn’t tell if his anxiousness was due to what he was doing or whatever IT was . . .
Within a minute Taryn was strapping on his weapons and working his way east to find Liri. They had decided to come ashore in different locations just in case one got caught. Slipping through the forest with the sound of a shadow, he had to go only fifty paces. Hearing an owl hoot, he turned in the direction of the sound to find Liri stepping out of the river with water glistening all over her body. Both of them smiled at the sight of the other. He had always been able to distinguish her owl hoot when they played games together during early training—and the memory of a happier time stood out in stark contrast to their present circumstances.
The memory faded all too quickly, and Taryn turned away to allow her to change clothes. Two minutes later they set out towards Azertorn with Liri in the lead. Uncomfortable silence enclosed them in the dark forest with nothing to mark the passage of time. It only took Taryn a moment to identify that something felt out of place.
There were no normal forest sounds—no animals, no wind, nothing. He resisted the urge to grab Liri’s arm to ask her about it, recalling her words before they’d disembarked. She’d shared an elven secret with him, that the trees spoke to the elves and might hear them if they spoke aloud. For some reason he couldn’t put his finger on, it seemed like she’d been reluctant to tell him—and not solely because it was an elven secret.
Resigning himself to waiting, he followed her through the maze of trunks. Pushing on until past dawn, they holed up in a shaded gully for the day, electing to set up camp in a secluded cave. Taryn, still wide awake and with senses heightened, volunteered to keep watch while an exhausted Liri slept through the morning. They switched after a quick meal in the early afternoon and he caught a few hours of sleep while they waited for the relative cover of darkness to return. Sometime after dusk he felt a light touch on his shoulder and snapped awake, ready for danger. She shook her head with a yawn so he buckled his weapons on and rose to his feet, stretching.
Stifling another yawn, Liri stood up beside him and handed him some bread, meat, and cheese. For some reason she seemed annoyed so he caught her eye and raised an eyebrow.
She shook her head and leaned over, whispering into his ear so quietly he barely heard her, “You could go forever I swear.”
Her pursed lips and furrowed brow made him want to laugh so he bit his lip to avoid making any sound, but he couldn’t help his shoulders shaking in suppressed humor. Liri flashed him a frown that didn’t reach her eyes and smacked him on the shoulder before gathering her things. With a last soundless chuckle he helped her with her pack and fell into step behind her, trying to finish his dinner in silence.
All night they traveled through the forest, avoiding trails or roads. Taryn also noticed that Liri seemed to be following a very indirect route, moving north, northeast, and then due west before turning north again. Leaning forward and tapping her shoulder he wiggled a hand in a curving route and gave her a questioning look. She nodded and formed her hands into the shape of a house, then slid one hand around it. Taryn nodded, satisfied that she knew the forest well enough to avoid any of the numerous villages that dotted the vast expanse o
f elven woodland.
Despite their efforts, they still had to detour twice around elven patrols that they barely heard in time. After the second patrol, they decided to try crossing the large road that lead to the great bridge on the Blue River. Avoiding detection in the crossing would be difficult, but once across, their passage should be easier. With wide, empty ocean to the west, there should be fewer patrols, Liri had reasoned. There was less to protect from that direction anyway.
Traveling west, they found the road just before the first rays of dawn streaked the sky. Seeing no one, they dashed across before the light could reveal their presence and continued north towards Azertorn.
Discovering another good hiding spot, they rested during the day once more before continuing on. Taryn found himself enjoying the walk with Liri, but began to understand why she hadn’t wanted to tell him about the trees. He felt discouraged by the lack of conversation and guessed that Liri felt the same. She had always been easy to talk to, but he hadn’t realized until now how much he liked the conversation. Every time he saw some plant or a track from an animal he had to resist asking a question.
Sighing in frustration, he forced his attention from the elf walking in front of him and looked at the trees instead. Even at night he could tell how beautiful the forest of Numenessee was—despite the unnatural silence. Giant trees, some hundreds of feet tall, left little light to penetrate to the undergrowth. Their enormous limbs seemed to extend out protecting arms over the smaller plants and brush, leaving him with the impression that the entire forest lived and breathed as one.
Taryn and Liri continued throughout the night and stopped when dawn began to lighten the forest. Finding a huge tree that had fallen across another, they decided to camp in the cave-like space underneath the massive trunk. Just before Liri fell asleep she murmured, “We only have another hour or so before we hit the Giant’s Shelf and the city.”
He nodded and whispered, “Good,” and then only loud enough for his own ears he added, “But then how am I going to get in?”
The daytime passed quickly with the two of them getting some rest and keeping watch. Before Taryn knew it, Liri was shaking him awake an hour before dusk. When he saw the early hour he looked at her questioningly, but she nodded reassuringly and leaned in close to speak to him.
“I want to show you the city with some light,” she whispered, keeping her voice low, her eyes sparkling.
“What about guards?” Taryn asked just as quiet.
She chuckled softly, “They will be protecting the forest. The city has its own defenses and I doubt they will put any scouts this close.”
His puzzled expression only made her more amused.
“You will understand when you see the city. No one gets into the city without permission.”
He opened his mouth to protest that was exactly what he needed to do but her grin widened and she put a finger on his lips. “Except you Taryn.”
Her confident demeanor spread to him and he reluctantly set his worry aside, his thoughts lingering instead on the place where her finger had brushed his lips. Still distracted, he gathered the rest of his gear and hurried to follow his guide as the sun began to sink into the horizon. Fading daylight filtered through layers of branches to cast beams of orange and red as the two glided through the deepening shadows.
True to Liri’s word, only an hour passed before they pushed through some brush to find themselves on the bank of a large lake. As he looked across the expanse of water in front of him, Taryn gaped openly in wonder as he took in the view of the Giant’s Shelf and the city of Azertorn.
A sheer cliff stretched at least a thousand feet straight up in front of him and extended as far as he could see in either direction. The massive plateau blotted out the view of the sky and dominated the vista so completely he couldn’t even capture the entire expanse of rock without turning his head back and forth—and yet the city of Azertorn drew the eye far more than the cliff ever could.
Twin waterfalls roughly seven miles apart fell uninhibited the full height of the Giant’s Shelf. Slamming into the pool of water with tremendous force and sound, they created huge quantities of mist and fed the large body of water that Taryn and Liri faced. From their position at the southwest corner of the lake, one of the waterfalls fell almost directly in front of them and the other almost out of sight to the east. The elven city of Azertorn had been carved from solid rock in between the waterfalls.
A bowl of stone had been completely removed to create expanding tiers of rock the higher you looked. Each tier of a hundred feet contained buildings that hadn’t been built but rather sculpted straight from the stone. The lowest and smallest portion of the city began a quarter of the way up the cliff face. Starting there, and in the exact center of the bowl, an absolutely massive tree grew at least five hundred feet high with branches so large they were used as pathways to interconnect the separate levels.
With the last vestiges of sunlight and the countless lights glowing on the huge tree and each of the eight tiers, he was able to see that detailed carvings covered the visible stone sections of the citadel—but most of the rock was blanketed with greenery. Trees, flowers, and other vegetation blossomed over the entire city, creating hanging gardens on and between each level.
Below the first tier, only one opening existed. A single large stone door inset at the base of the cliff led to a flat bridge stretching out over the water to the forest. Above the entrance door two hundred and fifty feet of bare stone separated the lake from the city.
Taryn gazed in open admiration at the sheer beauty of the elven city, but he found himself far more impressed at how defensible it was. Protected on both sides by the waterfalls as well as the cliff, with the lake and the very height of the city to the front, the only real place to attack would be from above the plateau—but even there it would be impossible. Liri had told him that the river that fed the two waterfalls split north of the city, forming a fast moving, ever flowing moat around the walls of the city. In every feature, Azertorn had been built and carved to be the strongest fortress ever created, and he found himself wondering how any army could ever breach its defenses.
Liri cut into his thoughts abruptly when she whispered, “The tree is called Le Runtáriel. The elves brought the seed with them when they migrated from the east and it was planted when the city was carved.”
Taryn nodded but couldn’t respond. He just stared at the magnificent city and tried to comprehend how such an amazing structure had been created.
Without warning the door at the base of the cliff burst open and armed soldiers rushed onto the bridge.
Liri cursed under her breath, “The trees must have heard me. We have to leave—now!”
She grabbed her gear and started to run west, but Taryn caught her arm, spinning her to face him.
“No . . . if you are caught with me then you will be killed for sure,” he said, his voice intense.
She started to object but he cut her off. “If they come here and find you, they will be suspicious but may not even look for me. I will find another way into the city, and I will meet you at the base of the tree tomorrow night.”
Liri hesitated for one precious second before she agreed, “OK, but don’t meet me at the tree. The entire bottom tier is the barracks for the army.” She smiled a tight-lipped smile which he returned. “So meet me at my family’s house. The House of Runya is on the seventh tier, second from the top in the northeastern corner. Look for a crest with an eagle—but how will you get into the city?”
Taryn glanced at the elves which were already almost across the bridge. “I will figure it out,” he said as he grabbed his pack. “If I have to, I will climb the cliff and come from the north.”
Her eyes widened. “But I don’t think that’s ever been done before . . .”
She trailed off as Taryn bolted west without another word. As he ghosted his way through the trees, he guessed he only had twenty or thirty seconds before they found Liri, and maybe another minute or tw
o before they would come looking for him. He darted west first and then threaded his way through the trees and around the lake to the north. When he reached the cliff, he turned west again and sprinted as fast as he could with the Giant’s Shelf only a few feet to his right. Wind whistled around him as he raced along the flat rock—but he wasn’t running blindly.
His eyes scanned the rock above him, searching the face for a path to climb. He saw plenty of handholds and footholds, but not a route he could scale fast enough. Hiding in the forest was out of the question. The elves would find an intruder in their home quickly and efficiently—and he had no doubt that the consequences would be severe.
A shadow in the stone above him caused him to slow down. Peering up he skidded to a stop when he saw that it was a small crack about a hundred feet off the ground. It looked to be less than a foot wide and only a few feet tall, but it would have to do. He studied the rock below it until he’d planned his route and then continued along the cliff for a hundred yards before turning into the forest, glancing backwards as he disappeared into the gloom.
He didn’t have much time to leave a false trail and get back to his hiding spot before the elves found him—but the pounding in his ears made it difficult for him to remember what to do. Would he get caught? What would he do if he did? The questions swirled through his mind, distracting him even as sweat began to bead on his forehead. Woodlore had not been one of his strengths in training, but he did his best to recall what he could, praying it would be enough.
Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to focus and run faster. Rushing through the trees he began touching trees and leaving footprints. Spotting a large tree with strong limbs, he leapt onto the first branch fifteen feet off the ground and scaled the trunk as quietly as he could.