Berg looks at Mashaun for a while before getting that look. “Dalistra, the Dalistra that Magdalenia is looking for, the princess that is mentioned in the prophecy, the—”
Mashaun interrupts, “Yes, the very same one...” He stops when a knock at the door that breaks the tension in the room. A dumpy short woman with graying long blond hair wearing a loose fitting off shoulder dress enters the room. She says something and turns around to walk out the door. Mashaun gets Dalistra, but she stops him and points at their weapons before saying something. Dalistra tells Mashaun that all the weapons are to stay here. Mashaun starts to pick up Dalistra, when the woman shakes her finger, before curling her forefinger. The party leaves their weapons on the table and follow her.
She leads them to a boat that takes them to a bathhouse, where they each have a servant help them with a bath while someone takes their clothes. They are given a clean set of clothes, and the girls each have a long ballroom gown that takes Mashaun by surprise when he first sees them, thinking that they are gorgeous. They get back into the boat with some help and find themselves at the palace again.
In the center of the room, the tables form a wide U with Berg already seated. They seat the group on the same side as Berg. When the king and the queen enter, everybody stands, as do they, bowing their heads and waiting for everybody else to sit down. The king claps his hands, and the food comes in one after another. Most of it is fish or shellfish, along with aquatic plants, but there is a lot. During the meal, they have jugglers, acrobats, dancers, and other performances in the middle of the U.
After they eat their fill and the entertainment stops, a rather lanky older man stands in the middle of the U and faces the four.
“Your ability to speak our language is, let’s say, needs some work,” he says, and the crowd chuckles.
“However, you did try, and we give you credit for that.” The crowd gives its approval by bowing their heads.
He then introduces each one in both languages, starting with Mai, Tera, Ericka, Berg, and Mashaun, each standing in turn.
“You are no doubt wondering why this grand feast in your honor,” he continues. Actually, they didn’t realize that it is in their honor, and that just fills them with lots of questions.
“It has been many years since any human has visited us, and we would like to learn more about what has happened in the last fifty years,” he says. Looking at them, he clears his throat and continues, “Oops, how about the last ten years,” realizing that they are all somewhere between their teens and mid-thirties.
They all look at one another, wondering who is going to speak. They all look at Mashaun, and he tells them, “No way.” He is at home in the wilderness, but not in front of crowds. Just as Berg starts to hobble to his feet, Tera puts her hand on his shoulder and stands up. She tells them about Shen Sherin, Magdalenia, and the slave trade, which draws a gasp from the crowd.
She follows with the meeting of the city of Thesilar and the crystal growers, the invisible city, which brings murmurs from the crowd, with everybody looking at the king. He quickly raises his hand, and everybody leaves except for the group. Looking around, they notice that the guards seem tense and nervous; barring the doors after everybody else has left. Looking around, the king wants to know more about the invisible city but are disappointed when Tera tells him that they went around it, spending days lost in the forest before finding the dock where they got the boat.
The group looks on as the king’s court hangs its heads before telling Tera that the king has sent an envoy to the city but they never returned. When they saw that boat, they were hoping for some good news. Berg realizes that the city guards think that they are the emissaries from the city, which is probably why they opened the gate and forced them into the city. Tera continues with the attack from the Tsaub, nearly losing Mashaun. She tells them that his envoy most likely didn’t make it to the city. She tells them about that attack where Berg caught the arrow.
“The awrks,” the translator tells her.
“Awrks? I know about the orks, but what are awrks?” Tera asks.
“The orks and the awrks have been fighting for many years for control of the area. The orks are friendlier and are excellent craftsmen. We traded with them for many years. The warlike awrks have made it all but impossible to get upriver. That was an awrk arrow in Berg’s leg,” the translator tells Tera.
Tera remembers the awrks at the cave. That seems like a lifetime ago.
“You’re obviously not here to set up a trade route, so why are you here?” he asks her.
“We merely wish to resupply and continue on our way,” Tera says politely.
The king asks through the translator, “Where are you heading?”
“Your Highness, we are seeking the city of Thesila,” she tells them. They all gasp, negatively shaking their heads in silence. “Not for the riches that are supposed to be there and are probably long gone. We wish to visit the ancient sites of Thesilar, Thesilau, Thesilay, and Thesila.” Tera follows up with “We are historians, and we have already been to Thesilar.”
They ask her for the real reason they are going to the Thesila if not for the riches. Tera repeats the same story several times, trying to convince them that is the real reason, but to no avail. She needs a new tactic and decides to sidestep the answer. She asks the translator how he learned her language. This brings a hush to the room as the guards take a few steps closer until the king waves his hand, stopping them, before giving an affirmative nod to the translator.
“I have been here for nearly a hundred years. I woke up in a cave and sold to a merchant. I used to be a translator, and it didn’t take me long to learn their language, so I was given to the lord Kavelan, who became king some fifty years ago. OK, I answered your question, so will you answer mine? Why are you really going to Thesila?” he asks, ending his monologue.
Tera asks each one to stand and tell the king where each was born, in their native tongue and asks the translator to tell each of them where they are from, and he agrees. He has a little problem with Berg. However, he thinks Berg is from Africa; he guesses Mai is from the Philippines. Mashaun is from America while Ericka and Tera are from here.
“You have proven that what you say is true. We have heard that we can return to our world from the city,” Tera tells him.
“I know why you are seeking the cities, but that’s an old wives’ tale. In any case, you have to get past the hook-billed dragons that guard the entrance. Several of our people have tried, but none has returned. It is a foolish quest, one that will get you killed,” he tells Tera.
“Maybe yes, maybe no, but in either case, we are still going. All we ask is that we can replenish our supplies and be on our way, and from the sounds of it, you know where the entrance is. We would be most grateful if you could tell us how to get there,” she says humbly.
After he translates her story, the room is deathly quiet, like a cemetery on a moonless night, as they wait for some kind of reaction from the king. After a few tense moments, the king finally says something before standing and leaving the room with the queen and the advisers following.
“Yes, you will get your supplies, and I will show you where it is on one condition,” the translator tells them.
“Yes. . . what do you mean ‘I will show you’?” Tera says hesitantly.
“I’m going with you. The king is dying, and he gave me my freedom some time ago. I would like to return home also,” he says pleadingly.
It takes them by surprise, but it seems as though they have no choice and agree. He introduces himself as Alandra and looks forward to going home after being here a hundred years. He agrees to meet in the morning when they will get whatever supplies they need before leaving. He politely begs them not to leave without him before almost running out the door with excitement.
The group returns to their quarters, where the guard leaves them without saying a word. They sit down at the table to discuss their new travel companion, whom no one wants, but they kn
ow there isn’t much of a choice. They tell Tera that she has handled herself well in the king’s presence. She informs them that is not her first time in a royal court, reminding everyone who her mother is. Several hours later, Alandra surprises them by showing up and offering to take them out to eat, which they gladly accept, not knowing when the next good meal will be.
He takes them to a nice place that overlooks the wall across the fork in the river. They can feel all eyes on them and can hear whispers as they get a table by an easterly window. Pointing to a tiny peak backed by a golden sky, he tells the table, “That’s where we are going,” as they look at it for a long time. They can’t believe that they are so close yet so far from finally going home.
“How long will it take to get to the entrance?” Mai asks Alandra.
“It will take a few days to get to the trail, after that is the guard, from there, I don’t know,” he says in a hushed tone.
“Why so quiet?” Berg asks.
“We get so few strangers that they’re not trusted, and I am sure word has spread that I will be leaving with you. This city is slowly dying. Just look around at all the children you don’t see. How many have you seen since your arrival?” he asks them.
Finally, Mai says, “None? With all the travel we have done, none, not one child here or in the crystal growers’ city, why?”
“But there are children in Shen Sherin, and my home of Tenskie,” Ericka says.
The others think for a moment and then nod their heads in agreement. They stop talking when the servant comes to take their order. Alandra gives her a round cylinder about the size of the pen with a gold band around one end. The servant puts the pen-like object in a slab about the size of a business card twice as thick as the pen device, touches a few places on the blank slate before returning it to Alandra; they watch in amazement.
“Yes, we are quite advanced here inside the wall, which is one reason for our distrust of outsiders,” he tells the group.
“I’m afraid that advancement does not apply to our weapons. Once we are on our way, I will tell you more,” he continues quietly.
They are careful of the small talk during the meal, always conscientious of others trying to listen to the conversation. They head back to their room, and Mashaun asks Alandra to stay with them so they can get an early start. He just wants to keep an eye on him; like the townspeople, he doesn’t trust him either. Alandra shows Mashaun a way to the roof, where he takes a reading with the sextant, recording the numbers in his notebook before recording it on Berg’s map. Alandra looks on with curiosity, as Mashaun takes his usual sleeping spot with his feet at the door. They all tell Alandra that that is Mashaun’s sleeping spot so they are not surprised during the night. More than once, it has prevented a surprise attack. Alandra just nods his head and finds a corner.
CHAPTER 28
Thesila
Early the next morning, they have a bite to eat before going to several stores for their supplies and swinging by Alandra’s place to pick up some personal supplies and a rucksack. At the boat, Alandra has to turn over his pay stick and couple of strange metal devices before they will allow him in the boat. They gently push them away from the dock before Ericka takes the helm and steers them out another gate into the torrential river. Just as the boat reaches the gate, someone on the dock starts frantically yelling at them, and Alandra nervously tells them to go as the current catches the little boat, sending it quickly downriver.
Once in the river with no one following, Mashaun asks Alandra. “What is that all about?” Alandra pulls out a little metal disk, telling them that it has information about the city and the world. He plans to take it back home to write about his life here. Dalistra tells Mashaun that he’s lying. She can tell by his voice. Mashaun nods his head affirmatively, letting it drop for now while keeping an eye on him. The others listen to the whole conversation, and they don’t buy his story either, but they can’t put their finger on why, though it sounds true enough.
During the monotonous journey downriver, Alandra tells them that sometime in the distant past, a woman of superior intelligence arrived in the city as a slave. According to the story, she bought her freedom by teaching the townspeople how to make the devices that they saw and many others that they didn’t. She also used her feminine charm to manipulate the townsfolk. Some of the elders didn’t like her methods and banished her by putting her on a raft and sending her downriver during a heavy rain.
“I understand that they were going to destroy all that she had done, but some townspeople hid the devices until all the elders had died before revealing that some of her stuff survived. That is why they have some stuff that is so advanced and why they don’t trust outsiders.”
Alandra ask Mashaun where’s he really from? Mashaun tells him the United States, Alandra gives him a blank stare. Going down the line, Mashaun tells him Africa, South America, and the Philippines, still the same blank stare. Being a little sarcastic, he asks Alandra Earth, which receives the same puzzled face. When Mashaun asked him about his answers in the throne room, Alandra tells him that he is a natural linguist. I knew where they were from because he had heard those words before.
Frustrated, Mashaun pulls out some marbles, puts a yellow one down, and says Sun. Then he puts a couple of pebbles down before placing a green ball down saying Earth. Alandra faces lights up as he changes the yellow one for a red one and removes one of the pebbles, telling them the red is the star and the green is home. They look on with astonishment, Berg almost shouting with excitement. “You know what this means! The portals connect to different worlds. But why?” They all went silent as they each pondered the implications of such a find.
The river becomes twice as wide, meandering through the plains under the glaring sun. The hours turn into days before the river flows into a large lake where the distant shore fades into the horizon, Alandra tells them to follow the northern shoreline for a couple of days and they will see the entrance to Thesila and the two stone statues. By the early afternoon of the second day, they go to a cove that looks like it ends in a rock cliff, but Alandra tells them that it actually turns there.
Ericka heads up the cove, through a narrow passageway that opens on the left that leads to a small bay. At the other end of the bay is a rock road that disappears up a narrow canyon. On each side of the path are two statues of hook-billed dragons made of blue stone about twice the size of a horse. They look like a cross between a lizard and a centaur with bearlike claws for feet and an eagle beak for a mouth.
The dragons look out into the bay with their catlike eyes, which seem to follow the little boat, while Ericka maneuvers around the bay, looking for a good spot to land other than in front of the dragons. When they pass by the dragons, they notice dozens of bones scattered on the ground around the dragons. Worried they look in the water where there are dozens of small broken boats lying on the bottom. Not liking the feel of it, Ericka quickly turns the boat away from the dragons while Mai notices that they are moving toward the water with slow, powerful steps. One of the dragons scoops up a ball of water and hurls it at the boat like a rock as Mai yells for Ericka to watch out. Ericka zigzags the boat while heading back into the bay, but the entrance is gone. It could be an illusion, but if she guesses wrong, the boat would crash into the rocks, and they would end up in water.
The dragon golem hurls another ball of water, falling short of the boat, and Ericka keeps the boat out of range for now, but they need a plan. They watch the water for anything, fearing that there must be something else besides the golems as the archer's fire an arrow that just bounces of the two statues at the water’s edge. The sheer cliffs that surround the bay are at least fifty feet high and have that familiar look of being grown. The rain of water from the splashes is soaking everybody and filling the boat with water.
“Nobody says a word. Ericka, get me by that rock over there,” Mashaun says sternly.
She gets the boat next to the cliff, and Mashaun jumps to the cliff, grabbing hold of a s
helf that isn’t there. Alandra starts to say something, but Mai quickly covers his mouth and tells him to shut up in no uncertain terms. Berg and Mai begin to see the rocks as he climbs, yelling encouragement, and even pointing to handholds and even a small shelf so that he can rest about halfway up. Alandra and Tera watch in amazement as he seemingly grabs on to air. Ericka keeps the boat moving in a random direction as the golems continue to hurl water rocks. Each water ball gets closer until one lands next to the boat, soaking everyone. The climb is slow and strenuous; however when Mashaun makes the top only to find that it is only a five feet wide. The cliff circles the bay with no rock or trees to the rope off. The other side drops down into another bay.
Looking over the other side, he finds a large rock to tie the rope to before throwing the other end down to the water. Alandra wants to be next, but he is no match for Berg and Mai, so after a brief argument, it is decided by a boulder nearly hitting the boat. Mai is on the rope, heading up the cliff as Ericka swerves the boat away, leaving Mai with only the water beneath her. One by one, they climb the cliff with Tera, Alandra, then Berg, and the last is Ericka. When she lets go to grab the rope, the boat starts to drift toward the golems, which is something she had not noticed before. Within minutes, the little boat sinks, joining the other boats at the bottom of the cove. She briefly thinks about all those who went down with their boats.
They proceed down the narrow path that overlooks the bay and the two golems, which have moved back to their original positions.
They can see dozens of ships of all manners and sizes resting on the bottom. They try to find theirs, but it’s impossible among the carnage. Once Once they pass the golems, the ridge begins to widen, easing the tensions of walking on such a narrow trail, turning into a grassy area sloping down away from the canyon trail. It narrows to just a few yards across. On the other side is a grassy hill also sloping away from the trail. They feel open and exposed as they travel along the ridge, ever vigilant for an air attack, which they are sure would come. The ridge ends at another cliff, the trail below opening into a large octagonal area.
Thesila Prophecy - The Journey Home Page 25