by J D Bowens
The older brother wiped the blood from his hands and turned to them, just noticing their presence. He eyed Synara and smacked his thin lips together. “Yes,” he said, “how can I help a sister of Serun?”
Dromedus stepped forward, his chest and back straight. “We are looking for four men,” he said. “I understand you encountered them recently. Your men were in a fight with them the other night.”
Gelwig’s beady eyes and wiry eyebrows pinched into a scowl. He answered before Dromedus even described them. “I know these men, yes,” he said. “A troublesome and dangerous group of heathens.”
Synara tried her best not to look too pleased. Dromedus gave a serious nod. “We believe these men to be heretics,” Dromedus said. “And to be traveling with dangerous unbelievers. Would you have any idea where they went?”
“I knew it!” Gelwig decried. He clapped his hands. “I can always spot a heretic. That’s why I had them followed. Let me send for Marcus, a Sword of Dacos.”
He hollered for the younger brother to return and fetch Marcus. After several uncomfortable moments in Gelwig’s presence, Synara saw a sandy haired man with a broken nose emerge from the entrance. “Marcus, those brothers you followed from the Pig in the Pot, they are heretics!” Gelwig exclaimed. “Please, tell this man what you learned.”
Marcus directed his attention to Dromedus. “They are the Edderick brothers. I had a man follow them the morning they left the city. The halfling who works with them was overheard saying that they were traveling to the Nor Sea.”
“Did they say anything more specific?” Dromedus asked.
Marcus shook his head. “I am sorry, sir. We were just relieved to hear they were leaving the city and er- decided not to pursue the matter any further.” He paused to scratch his nose. “The governors of Grenloch do not allow us to operate as freely as we would like. If I’d known they were heretics we certainly would’ve done more.”
Dromedus clapped the man on the shoulder. “You have done well enough and served the Quintetta well. We shall take the matter from here.”
Gelwig rubbed his hands together. “What shall you do with them when you find them?” he asked with gleeful curiosity.
“We shall do with them what we do with all heretics,” Dromedus said. “Burn them.” Gelwig gave a menacing, crooked smile.
Synara followed Dromedus out of the temple. “Do you believe you can scry them out once we reach the Nor Sea?” he asked her.
Synara bit her lip. “No, but I could use several gulls to search for them along the coast. It is not too large of an area to search from above. If Malin helps, we can cover more area at once.”
“Once we get closer to the Nor Sea you shall search out the easternmost shore, Malin shall search the western half. We haven’t much time to find them.”
Chapter 21
The brothers and the elves had spent a good part of the morning congratulating Kyran and Alyss before setting out to the Nor Sea. Consus and Milo had pretended to be surprised by the affair. Cleese embraced Kyran and then Alyss and then both of them. Ida, teary eyed and delighted, prepared a wonderful breakfast for everyone. The couple had agreed to get married in a month after the brothers helped the elves and Kyran had found them a home. Consus and Ewan both agreed that Kyran should leave one of the diamonds with the family as a sign of goodwill and his earnest intent to return.
Days later, Consus smelled the sea air long before he saw the shoreline. The light scent of salt water drifted on the wind of the late afternoon. The coast of the Nor Sea was composed of gray and black stones decorated with patches of slippery green algae and moss.
Kyran and Ewan led the way, and Consus rode beside Leiwyn and Karinne. He shared the saddle with Milo, who played the flute. They passed several fishing villages along the water's edge, and the salt air became filled with the scent of fish. Consus was tempted to cover his nose. He could only be thankful that they had not chosen to ride through during the summer when the warm winds carried the stench of the dead fish further.
Milo gagged and tucked away his flute. “What a wretched smell! I can taste it.”
“What are those?” Leiwyn asked. She pointed to a wide iron bowl that stood half as high as a man and was filled with ash and charred wood. A few gulls rested on the ground nearby.
“We call them the ‘Widow Basket,’” Consus explained. “They run all along the shore that encompasses the Nor Sea. In autumn, a fog drifts along the coast in the mornings and evenings. The nearby villages will fill these bowls with wood and oil and burn them so the fishermen can find their way along the coast without coming too close to the shallow waters and running aground.”
Milo scoffed. “Oh again, a terrible story. The villages started doing this a long time ago to scare away the sirens so they wouldn’t call away the fishermen at night.”
Leiwyn arched a suspicious thin eyebrow. “Oh, is that so, Master Milo?”
Consus shook his head with a smile. “That story I know he’s making up. I’ve never heard of any stories of sirens calling men into the water. I’m sure their wives would notice.”
“Well, it’s more interesting than the truth,” Milo said. Leiwyn laughed, and even Karinne smiled.
Ewan halted the group near a couple of trees just in view of the coast, a sheer cliff that dropped hundreds of feet to the water. “This is the place. If there is a cave around here, this is where it will be.”
Consus observed their surroundings. The hilly terrain had given way to flat plains of long green grass. A group of deer scattered and ran to a nearby forest that ran to the cliff’s edge. As Consus approached the shore, he could see that there was no safe way down to the water where the caves might be.
All around the sea was a steep cliff wall. It looked as if a great giant had reached out of the heavens and scooped up a chunk of earth. Waves crashed into the wall and gulls soared above, diving into the water then flying back into the sky.
There’s nothing here. There were no ancient structures. No staircase descended the cliff wall. No indication anyone had ever lived there. If there is a cave, how will we get down?
He looked to Ewan who stroked his wooly beard. “Good thing I brought so much rope,” he said.
Kyran grimaced as he studied the steep drop into the water. “We’ll know more once the moon shows itself,” he said.
Consus and the group sat near the Widow’s Basket. They gathered kindling and a few tree branches to start a fire. For a while, Ewan struggled to light it in the wind. Kyran poured a little oil from his lantern onto the kindling. Ewan turned his back to the wind and leaned in close to the kindling. He struck the flint and steel together. Sparks flew into the kindling and burst into flame. Ewan leapt back, his beard just avoiding the fire.
They shared a meal as the dwindling sun gave way to the coming moon. Clouds drifted through the sky to become silver blankets against a dark canvas blotted with starlight. They packed away their belongings and Milo tied the horses to a tree. Consus again studied the sea and was disappointed. Nothing had changed since the moon arrived.
Ewan appeared crestfallen as well. “I don’t see nothing,” he harrumphed.
Kyran pulled a couple of torches from his pack. He handed one to Ewan and another to Karinne before lighting them. Consus walked to the edge of the field and stared over the cliff wall into the waves below. It’s a long way down and too dark to tell if there’s anything worth finding. Everyone else joined him at the edge, silently looking.
Leiwyn pulled the parchment from the scroll case. “The conditional spell should work. Maybe we’ll discover something new. I can only hope that the moon is enough.”
Ewan stepped back. “Wait, can’t that be dangerous?” Leiwyn ignored him and held the parchment up to the moonlight.
Consus watched the silver light glow through the paper. He held his breath for several beats waiting for the paper to do something. The ink appeared to shine under the stars but nothing more. Consus sighed, “I can’t believe we came all this
way for nothing.”
A strong gust blew up from the trees and around them. The horses whinnied and stomped by the tree and tugged at their reins. Consus raised an arm to keep the dust from getting into his eyes.
“The paper,” Leiwyn cried.
Consus looked up and saw the wind had blown the paper out of her hands. It now floated in the wind like a leaf just over the cliff’s edge. The wind died, and Consus waited for the paper to fall into the waves. Instead, it hung in the air as if caught in an invisible web. The paper radiated under the stars and turned from an aged yellow shade to ivory white. It twitched and folded itself several times until it had the likeness of a bird. The paper bird flapped its wings and flew back over their heads.
Ewan ducked out of the way. “I knew it was dangerous.”
Consus watched the bird fly back out over the cliff’s edge. “How did you manage that?” he asked Leiwyn.
“I don’t know,” Leiwyn gasped. “I haven’t done anything.”
The paper bird descended at an angle along the cliff face like a duck landing on a pond. Consus felt the ground beneath him shake. An earthquake? He tried to steady himself but fell forward over the cliff. Leiwyn snatched his arm but was pulled down with him.
“Oof,” he cried. He had fallen onto a stone landing just a couple feet below the cliff. This wasn’t here before, he realized. He looked down and saw that an entire stone staircase had appeared out from the side of the cliff wall. Several more steps were just now appearing as the glowing paper bird continued its descent. The bird came to the end of the path and landed on the ground, halfway down the wall. The rock in front of it parted and gave way to a large dark cavern.
Consus rose up from the ground. Leiwyn stepped down from the cliff edge to join him on the magical staircase.
“Well, er- I suppose that is the cave,” Ewan said.
“And I guess we needn’t any rope,” Milo said.
Consus did not laugh at the halfling’s remark. Do the old gods really exist? he wondered.
Leiwyn gave a gleeful laugh and an excited grin. She said something in elvish to Karinne who did not reply and appeared just as shocked as Consus. “Let’s not stand about,” she said and then began down the path towards the cave.
“Hold a moment, shouldn’t we test the path and make sure it’s sturdy?” Kyran asked. His voice cracked a little as he spoke. “I mean this did just leap out all of a sudden-”
Milo pushed past the brothers and bounded after Leiwyn. “It seems to study enough to me,” he called back. “Hurry up; I want to see what’s inside the cave.”
Leiwyn shrugged her shoulders and continued down the path. Consus followed her, his steps cautious, grip tight on the hilt of his sword, his brothers and Karinne behind him.
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It had taken Malin, Dromedus, and Synara a few days to travel from Normead to the Nor Sea. They had split up earlier that morning to search the opposite shores: Dromedus and Synara to the west and Malin to the east.
He used the eyes of the gulls to scan the cliffs around the sea. Far above the water and the shore line he glided, the wind passing beneath his wings. He discerned the figures of five people and the halfling under the limited light. There they are. He watched as a path appeared on the cliff wall, and a cave revealed itself.
“I have found them,” he said aloud as he came out of the trance. He steadied himself as his consciousness returned to the ground. He sat on the forest floor, a small army of twenty or so soldiers around him. “They are but a quarter mile from where we are now, just along the cliff face. Have Synara and Dromedus returned yet?”
“No, they are still searching the other end of the coast,” one of the officers said. “It will be another hour or so before they return.”
“That is too long a wait. We must act now if we are to retrieve the Stone.” His lips curled into a wicked smile. What an opportunity.
He could swoop in now and kill the brothers and take the elves for himself. He could retrieve the Pilgrim Stone himself. Surely any ancient magic that had been left by the former tenants of the cave would have long since dwindled away by now. It would be a victory that even Zamari would have to recognize. Perhaps, Synara would even be punished for not accomplishing the same.
“We still do not know how powerful the elves are. I heard they killed a group of brög with blue light.”
“Any gifted half-wit can use divina magica to kill a brög; you’re trained soldiers. Besides, I doubt the elves are as powerful as you have heard. I am more than capable of handling an amateur spellcaster.” Simpletons and lazy morons. They will come up with any excuse not to work.
“Master Malin, I believe it was Dromedus’ directive that we remain in position until his return, should we find them.” The officer spoke with a defiant tone that Malin did not appreciate. He rose from his seat on the ground and glared at the man.
“Do you serve Nemoth or Dromedus?”
The officer gulped before answering, sweat beading on his forehead. He looked to his fellow soldiers at first averting Malin’s gaze, but Malin would not let him escape. “I serve both, m-”
Malin slashed at the officer’s face with his fingers, tearing clumps of skin and flesh away, leaving a horrific scar on his cheek. The officer leapt back yelping and clutching his face as blood ran down upon his neck. He looked at Malin and with a snarl drew his sword, but as Malin chanted in a whisper, the sword clattered to the ground. The officer’s face began to turn purple, his eyes red and bulging from his head. He gasped and then choked as he fell to his knees clutching his throat. In a moment, he lay on his back still, silent, dead. The soldiers around him took a collective step back and avoided looking at Malin.
“Remember who you serve,” Malin said. “You serve Nemoth alone, and right now I am his voice. You will do as I say.”
Chapter 22
“What do you expect we will find?” Consus asked. His mind raced as he imagined a grand temple hidden within the cave. Did a treasure of ancient tomes await him? Or perhaps some forgotten relics of the ancient priests. Oh, maybe I will be so fortunate to find a journal from one of them.
“Bats and rats,” Ewan replied, “and maybe worms.”
Consus had neared the entrance of the cave when a small cluster of rocks fell from the ledge above him and bounced off the path and into the sea below. He held his torch above his head to see the source of the disturbance but saw nothing more than a still shadowy figure, mostly like some nocturnal forest creature. Please, don’t let that be wolves.
“What is it?” Kyran called.
“Just some animal, I believe,” Consus answered. The shadowy figure disappeared behind the ledge above. There was a glint of light reflecting off a metallic source. Consus swore he saw a sword.
That definitely wasn’t an animal. He paused and held a finger to his lips as he turned to Kyran. His brothers paused and considered the shadows above. Ewan nodded, notched an arrow in his bow with one hand, and waved the other at Kyran.
Kyran reached into Ewan’s pack and tore a piece of cloth from a blanket. He tied it to Ewan’s arrow. He held the torch to the cloth until the fire took and then Ewan shot the arrow into the shadow above the cliff. It lit the sky as it travelled and several other shadowy figures were revealed.
A gurgled howl followed the body of a man as he fell from the cliff. His body landed between Consus and Leiwyn. The burning arrow stuck out of his broken neck as a small puddle of blood gathered beneath his skull. Consus looked back to the ledge and saw shadows rise up.
“Attack!” a voice commanded.
Arrows rained down upon them, and Consus danced out of the way as they hit the stone near his feet. His hands trembled as he looked for cover. Who is attacking us?
Kyran and Ewan also dodged the arrows and leapt to the cliff wall for cover. Ewan cursed and muttered as an arrow whizzed past his head and snapped into the ground. “What a rotten mess. Come down and fight me like a man.”
Leiw
yn behind him spoke in another language. The arrows continued to fall but now bounced off an invisible shield. Consus gasped as some remained still and floated in the sky above them. The arrows soon stopped. Consus looked to his brothers, Milo, and the elves. Everyone appeared to be unharmed by the assault.
“I guess you’ll be getting your wish,” Kyran said to Ewan. “Steel yourselves.” He pulled loose both his swords. Consus calmed himself, unsheathed his own blade, and took a defensive stance.
“Hail Nemoth, father of blood and shadows!” a voice declared. It was echoed by many other voices and Consus shared a confused glance with his brothers.
Three men leapt down from the ledge above and landed near Kyran. One stumbled and attempted to stand, but Kyran lunged forward. He thrust his blade downward between his shoulder and neck, into his heart. He blocked the attack from one of the other men with one sword and pulled his other from the corpse. The two remaining men hacked and slashed at Kyran as he danced between them, balancing his foes with the twin blades.
Consus saw more men appear at the top of the path. They charged down, their blades gleaming like steel teeth in the moonlight. Ewan turned and fired several arrows, most of which hit their target. “By my blood and stones,” he cursed as some of the men dodged his arrows. His next volley of arrows struck their targets. “Ha! vi et animo!”
Karinne raced up the path to meet those who had evaded Ewan. They attacked her as one, but she blocked all their attacks with several swift parries and moved behind them. Her quick and agile steps against the slippery wet stones were hard for the men to follow.
A large man swung his sword again in a vertical arc, but Karinne dodged the blade and took a low crouch. With a kick, she swept his legs out from under him. He fell face first toward the ground, but before he could hit the stone, Karinne buried her sword in his back, through his heart, and then withdrew the blade. She jumped over his body and continued attacking his comrade.
Another man leapt down from the ledge behind Kyran.