Yes, I knew that. I’d grown to manhood as a whelp roaming the streets looking for a quick filch of a leg of lamb or a loaf of bread.
I heaved a mighty sigh. He had me. The man was far too gifted with words to try to outfox verbally. I gave him a slight nod. His smile returned. “Good, I am glad to hear that your time in the castle beside the Ivory King has not eradicated all of your empathy for those who struggle to survive. Now, we must find Porgo and set to sea.”
“This trip has shown me a side of you that I would never have assumed you had.” I reached out to rub a charm dangling from a fine chain off his ear. “Someday I would like to get to know all of you.”
“Someday you shall.” He turned his face into my hand to press a kiss to my palm.
I followed him to the docks, unable to let my guard drop as we pushed around vendors, sailors, drunks, whores, and a few unsavory sorts. Pirates and illegals—all I was sure. The half of me that upheld the law of Celear as a sworn guard warred mightily with the dirty street urchin that stole anything not nailed down so that he and his mother would not go hungry.
We found the Simin Draya with ease. She was the sleekest ship docked at Shar-Aab. Porgo hurried down the gangplank to greet Teryn with a hug and a bow. His gaze touched on me.
“Huh, still alive. I’m impressed. I had ten gold wagered that a mainlander wouldn’t survive a moon passing in the desert,” the wind whisperer said before striding at Teryn’s side to pass along some vital information. I was too tired, too hungry, too thirsty, and far too dirty to try to spar with the man. In a way, Iwas pleased that I’d proved the bastard wrong. Costing him ten gold was a bonus. “As soon as you two are settled, we’ll set off.”
Teryn dropped down under the awning with a huff. I sat in the middle of the ship, my back to a mast, and did my best to ignore the sway of the ship. A small burp escaped me. Gods and demons, I hated being on the water.
“Here.” Porgo tossed me a familiar tin of paste. Praise Ihdos. I’d been too worried about having my brains bashed out by a cleric—a term I would use loosely for that dwarven healer—to ask about the sea illness paste. “We have a full day asea. I don’t need you hurling your gizzards all over my deck.”
“Thank you,” I called to his back, for he was already walking off.
“I think you have earned his trust and friendship. That is good, for he is a man who will always be loyal once you gain his confidence,” Teryn stated with a tender smile before he wiggled back into the pillows to fall sound asleep.
Feeling the wind starting to rise on the back of my neck, I removed my helmet and opened the tin. The stench of pearly barnacles assaulted my nose, but I pulled a large glob from the slimy paste with my finger, eyed it, and then smeared it on my tongue. The taste made me gag, but I let it sit while the sails billowed with the salty air our captain was summoning. Once the paste had melted, I swallowed it down, capped the tin, and let my chin rest on my chest after rinsing my mouth with some tepid water from my hip flask. Funny enough, I trusted Porgo to see us safely to the Blood Fens. Seems faith grew when both sides gave it a bit of sun and water.
During our day and night on the ocean, I washed the grime of the desert combined with the stink of quadoth from my skin.I cleaned the viscera of the undead from my armor. I sharpened my sword, and I readied myself for what might meet us when we arrived at the basalt pillars.
Teryn had taken the time to read, sip tea, and eat small mounds of figs in honey. I rested beside him the final night, pulling a whetstone over my blade, eager for this to come to an end. My guts were sour, acidic, but the paste was aiding me in not losing the food I had taken into me. Porgo was close to buckling when we finally sailed up to an island lit by the twin moons. A small isle, it looked out over the sea to lands that to this day remained uncharted. The people of Melowynn needed a navy to explore further, and that, along with the demise of the queen’s family, had come to a halt because they were the only ones on the mainland with the skills to build ships and sail them. Now that Lady Raewyn Frostleaf, our new queen, was on the throne, seafaring was once more being given its due. Hence the need for ports and discussions with harbor masters, royal officials, and honored sea captains.
If this mission to bring back the prince and princess failed, so too would the negotiations. That seemed to be the plan of the Court of Gray Ice as far as I could see. Kidnapping our heirs had surely gotten the king’s attention. If one of his children came home with a scratch, I feared that any peace between the elves would be wiped away like frost on a windowpane.
“This is the end,” Porgo announced, lowering his arms with a groan. With a huff, he went to one knee, his tattoos fading as he struggled to stay conscious. The short but fast journey had done him in, his arms dangling like dead fish at his sides.
I glanced from my sword to the sheer cliffs of the basalt pillars. The sheer white sides of the island stood out sharply under the glow of two moons. They were close, yes, but not touching yet. We would see full alignment on the following night. We had made it. Just.
The ship bobbed on the soft waves. I rose and padded over to lower the anchor, my mouth coated with barnacle paste. I feared the taste would linger on my tongue forever. Teryn went to tend to our bone-weary captain, pushing tea and small bites of bread at him while I cranked the large wheel. A splash off the port side let me know the anchor had hit the water. A few dozen more feet wheeled off before the rope went slack. The anchor now rested on the sea floor.
“I will rest while you parley,” Porgo was saying when I returned to where Teryn had led him to rest amid the pillows. “A few hours will do. My magicks are drained. Mahouk, you must not allow them to intimidate you with their numbers. I know this sort. I ran with rebels for many seasons, and they are as clever as a desert fox.”
“So am I, my friend,” Teryn assured him. “We will see you shortly with the children in hand. You did see to your end of the plans for after the conclusion of this negotiation?”
“Yes, yes, of course.” Porgo took a sip of red tea, his bald head reflecting the moon glow like a lantern. He was a handsome man in a rough, uneducated manner. “I know you will bring the young ones out. I have faith.” His seafoam gaze flickered to me. “Protect him with your life, mainlander.”
“You have my vow.” I placed my fist on my breastplate and lowered my head.
Porgo said nothing, just nodded, and we left him to rest. Teryn changed into a harrier, leaving his robes and earring behind. I picked them up and stuffed them into a small bag over my shoulder. Holding the bag aloft, he dove to pluck it from my grasp. I gazed at the Silvura with no small amount of trepidation. The sea below was calm. Flecks of white foam floated on top of the gentle crests.
“Shall I fetch a pillow for you to rest your chest on as one does a child learning to swim?” I heard from behind me.
Salty bastard.
I leaped over the side, and the water swallowed me up. With a gasp, I came to the surface. The sea was warm. With a belch, I began swimming to the shore. My strokes were strong, if not graceful. Porgo would surely laugh, but I managed to keep my head above water until I could find purchase on the sandy shore. Wading out of the ocean, saltwater running from me, I took a moment to look skyward. Far above was Teryn, circling, while I stood here soaking wet with salt drying in my ears. Once more, I wished my people had not given up on our magical heritage. Flying would be much easier than climbing but climb I must.
The harrier swooped down from the night sky, landing on a small ledge where I could begin the ascent. The bird—Teryn—called out three sharp kek-kek-kek calls. Raptor speak for “Grab here!” I presumed. Hoisting my bag onto one shoulder, I tied a short length of rope around the central handle of my shield and then looped that over my left shoulder.
“If I fall, remember the love that we made fondly,” I told the harrier. It snapped its beak at me in aggravation as I grabbed hold of the rock with two hands. Taking to wing, Teryn flapped upward a bit and to the left, landing where he felt I could go next. And so we moved, foot by foot, up the dark stone walls of the basalt pillar, until we reached the round opening of a cavern midway up the cliff. Heaving myself over the lip, I crawled in and lay on the cool rocky ground to catch my breath. A gust of sandy wind blew into my ear. Teryn returned to his elven form as I lay with my cheek in the dirt.
“You climb like a monkey,” he said as he placed his hand on my heaving back.
“If monkeys climbed…like me, they…would be extinct.” I eased myself up to sitting, pleased with myself for keeping in shape. A fat guard is not an effective guard as things crop up inthe line of duty that require a hardy constitution. Scaling the side of a cliff in the dark was just one odd example among many. “Their predators would pick them off with ease.”
