Haladras (14 page)

 “Who are you?” asked the old Mauwik. “And why have you
been so bold, or foolish, as to enter our realm?”

The old Mauwik folded his arms, waiting for an answer. Krom
stepped forward and dropped to one knee.

 “We come seeking thine aid, Chief Orthunk. Our need is
dire. We willfully put ourselves at your mercy.”

Krom’s words were full of reverence. The old chief eyed the
kneeling Krom with interest.

 “Seeking our aid?” replied Chief Orthunk, as though in
disbelief. “What aid? Who are you to come to us and petition favors?”

“You know me as Krom.”

Orthunk’s face showed a flash of surprise, yet he retained
his stern countenance.

“That is a name well known to us. Rise and come nearer. I
must prove this with my own eyes.”

Krom did as the chief bade him. The chief signaled to one of
his servants, who quickly brought a torch and held it closer to Krom’s face.

“My eyes are not what they once were.”

For several moments, the chief studied Krom, his eyes
narrowed, distrust written on his face. Slowly his gaze relaxed and a hint of a
smile formed on his lips.

“Krom,” he said, placing his hands on Krom’s shoulders.
“Many seasons have passed since last we parted. Your eyes tell of much hardship
and grief. I would hear of your journeys, but I judge that you come not to seek
refuge, nor to tarry.”

“Indeed, my noble chief. I would not ask refuge of you and
thus bring trouble upon you. No, haste is our ally.”

“Trouble?” scoffed Orthunk. “What trouble? We fear no
outsider. Let whoever troubles you come and find. He shall learn that the
arrows of the Mauwik are as true as their hearts.”

“I know well your courage and valor, my chief. Our plight is
grave. I can summarize all our troubles in one word: Morvath.”

The chief took a step back, as if the name had struck him in
the chest.

“These are dark tidings, Krom,” he said. “Dark tidings in
dark times.”

“Yes, my chief. But daylight always conquers the night.”

Krom turned and pointed to Skylar.

“There,” he said. “There is our morning light. Prince Korbyn
Ducädese, only son of King Athylian, true heir to the throne of Alhderon.”

Skylar felt an odd tingling sensation run through as Krom
pronounced these words. Orthunk fixed his gaze on Skylar and slowly walked
toward him. As the chief approached, Skylar felt as though the old man were reading
into the depths of his soul, searching his mind with his torch-lit eyes. After
what felt like hours, the chief broke off his probe. A touch of sadness mixed
with solemnity was in his eyes now.

“You father was a great man. A great king. I’m sorry you
never knew him.”

Then the chief turned back to Krom.

“Your cause shall not be hindered by me. What would you ask
of my people?”

Krom answered quietly. “We wish to ferjar.”

THIRTEEN

“F
ERJAR.” CHIEF ORTHUNK
repeated
the word to himself like one who’s between sleeping and has just woken from a
disturbing dream. “No Landdweller has ever been permitted to ferjar. Not even
in the days of Athylian, nor his father, when we had more dealings with the
Outside.”

Orthunk turned his back to the companions and paced toward
his hut, his head bowed in thought. After several minutes, he stopped, still
facing away from them.

“Which planet?” he asked quietly.

“Allega,” replied Krom.

The old chief shook his head emphatically.

“Impossible...impossible,” he replied, turning and pointing
toward the tree-shrouded sky. “The stars will not allow it. You come too late
in the season for Allega. Fenorra, yes. Not Allega.”

Krom cast a thoughtful glance at Lasseter and the others
before turning back to Orthunk. “If it must be so. You will grant this favor,
then?”

The old chief nodded slowly.

They were led by the chief up one of the many spiral
staircases that coiled around the trees like snakes. Orthunk’s guards had
returned the companions their things, which in their hasty and unexpected
departure from camp had been left lying on the ground. Skylar looked down into
the abyss of darkness below and wondered how high up they were. Hundreds of
meters, perhaps. The thought made him shift closer to the tree, away from the
edge of the stairs. Encumbered as he was by his pack and satchel, he would have
little chance of catching himself should he lose his balance.

They ascended the stairs until they left the light of the
city’s torches below them and Skylar’s legs began to tire. Still they climbed.
At last they could scarcely go any higher. The slate gray sky began to emerge
above them. They were coming to the top of the forest.

The staircase led them through a small opening in a platform
sitting near the pinnacle of the tree. It was a much smaller platform than the
one they had first been brought to, circular in shape. What remained of the
tree’s top pierced through the center of the platform like a tall dark man with
a pointed cap.

“Only one may ferjar at a time,” explained Orthunk. “A
forewarning: the man whose soul possesses too much darkness cannot pass; for
the light will destroy it and the man die.”

The word
ferjar
, as yet, meant nothing to Skylar.
Orthunk’s initial reaction to Krom’s mention of it had made Skylar uneasy. Now
he felt utterly afraid.

The man whose soul possesses too much darkness...
Skylar repeated Orthunk’s words in his mind.
What’s going to happen?

Despite his apprehensions, Skylar remained silent as Orthunk
continued to give further instructions.

“The first to go must stand there,” he said, indicating a
circle near the platform’s center, “and look directly up into the heavens. Once
you have found Naaros among the stars, fix your gaze upon it; free your mind
and heart of earthly shackles; and you shall find yourself coursing through
space on a beam of light.”

“Coursing through space!” exclaimed Skylar involuntarily.

“Yes, little prince,” said Orthunk. “What did you expect?”

“But that’s impossible. We have no means of propulsion. Nor
apparatus for breathing.”

The chief laughed softly.

“Do not fear, little prince. You shall understand better
than I can tell you. It is the nature of the light to reveal what is hidden.”

This reassurance from Orthunk did little to convince Skylar that
they weren’t all mad. Not wanting to seem cowardly, however, he asked no more
questions. The other companions looked as calm as the Haladrian desert on a
breezeless morning.

Krom stepped forward.

“I shall go first,” he said in a tone of command. “Endrick
shall follow me. Then Lasseter. Skylar. Grim.”

Everyone but Skylar nodded assent. Confidently, Krom took
his place at the spot Orthunk had indicated before.

“Farewell, good friend,” he said to Orthunk. “May next we
meet in happier times.”

Then Krom lifted his eyes heavenwards. Several moments
passed, so that Skylar began to feel awkward. Like the time a strange boy at
the Academy had tried to convince him that his pet lizard could answer simple
questions by nodding or shaking its head. Skylar had sat there for a good five
minutes while the boy rattled off dozens of questions. All the while the lizard
sat motionless, never making any motion which resembled a nod or shake of the
head. He’d felt uncomfortable then, watching the boy’s desperation grow with every
unanswered question, just as he did now as he watched Krom standing there,
nothing happening. Not that he truly expected anything to happen.

Without warning, a blinding flash of white light burst from
where Krom stood. Skylar raised his right arm to shield his eyes, but the light
had vanished before his hand reached his face.

Skylar gaped at the spot where Krom had stood. It was empty.
Completely and utterly void of any sign that a man had stood in the spot just
moments before.

How can it be possible?

Endrick only hesitated a moment before stepping forward to
take his turn.

“See you all on Fenorra—if the light doesn’t burn me up
first, or I don’t take a wrong turn at Felos.”

Another blinding flash followed and Endrick vanished.

Lasseter followed.

Skylar felt sick to see the spot where Lasseter had stood.
Not only because it meant his own turn was at hand, but because he didn’t know
if he would ever see his uncle again.

“Do not fear, my prince,” came the voice of Grim. “The light
is our ally.”

Grim’s words were calming and granted Skylar the courage he
needed to walk forward and take his place on the spot from where the others had
vanished. Heart pounding painfully, Skylar looked straight up and tried to
remember Orthunk’s instructions. So many questions flooded his mind. Not the
least of which was, where would the light take him?

He found Naaros gleaming brightly in the night sky. A star
his uncle had taught him to recognize.
Free your mind and heart of earthly
shackles
, he repeated in his mind.
Free your mind...free your mind.

Involuntarily, the words of Grim’s song of Elydar entered
his mind. As the words flowed he found himself desiring to go there. No sooner
had he thought this than he felt an extraordinary stillness.

It was like nothing he’d ever felt. The stars had grown
brilliant beyond imagination, and so large that he felt he could reach out and
touch them. He looked down and realized he no longer stood at the top of the
tree, but floated in space. Yet, as though he were still on Quoryn, he saw Grim
and Orthunk as clearly as if they stood in front of him. Everywhere he looked
it was the same, as though everything were before him all at once.

Skylar felt no sense of motion. Yet he knew that he was
moving. Moving so rapidly that no mortal eye could see him. He did not breathe.
And yet, he felt no need to. And without knowing how he knew, he understood how
to go where he wanted.

Scanning the space around him, Skylar located Fenorra, a
gray, craggy planet, sprawling with mountains. Effortlessly, he spied Krom,
Lasseter, and Endrick standing on top of a mighty peak, the full light of day
beaming down on them. Keeping his eyes focused on the companions, he directed
his thoughts to that one spot, thinking only about being there. And as suddenly
as the stillness and peace overtook him, it was gone. A frigid mountain wind
struck him from the side, and the other three companions stood before him.

No longer buttressed by the unseen force that carried him
across the galaxy, Skylar’s body felt heavy, his legs weak. He sank to his
knees, panting heavily. Lasseter came and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Fine job, Skylar,” he said. “Fine job. The weakness will
wear off. Here—drink.”

Lasseter handed him a water skin, from which Skylar drank
greedily. Before he withdrew it from his lips, a flash of light burst around
them, leaving Grim standing beside them in its wake.

“Glad you made it, Grim,” said Endrick. “I was beginning to
think you’d been burned to dust.”

“We have precious few hours of daylight left,” said Krom.
“We would do well to get off this mountain and reach the gates of Dura Cragis
before nightfall. Lord Orphlyus I know to be loyal to Athylian. He may be able
to provide us with a shuttle and escort to Allega.

“If I am not mistaken, we stand above the northeastern point
of Horned Vale, in the Boldúrin mountains. Once in the vale, our journey to
Dura Cragis should be less than a league. Let us be off.”

The companions shouldered their packs and began the cold
descent off the mountain. Skylar, still in a daze and puzzling over how he had
traveled across space in the blink of an eye, fell-in behind Lasseter. Their
going proved arduous, for they found no clear path leading down. Many times
their progress was stymied by an unexpected chasm or cliff wall. Weariness
slowed Skylar’s steps. They had not slept. And it was well into the night on
Quoryn by now.

When finally they made it off the mountain and down into
Horned Vale, the sun hung below the tops of the mountains, bathing the valley
in a premature twilight. Krom’s estimate as to their location had been
accurate. Dura Cragis was just under a league from where they now stood. Due
north from their corner of the vale, chiseled into the side of the black
mountain, Dura Cragis could clearly be seen.

After a brief stop to rest and eat a morsel of food, the
companions resumed their journey. They followed along the base of the foothills
of the mountains, where the trees and vegetation grew denser, to protect their
march from any unfriendly eyes. It was nearly dark by the time they came just
outside the city walls. Dura Cragis rose before them proud and defiant, a
mighty stone fortress, as impenetrable as the mountain into which it was
carved. The lights of its buildings and towers burned golden, lending an air of
life to an otherwise cold and dead mass of rock.

The companions halted just inside a line of trees, staying
out of view from any sentinels.

“I shall go,” said Grim “There may be unseen danger. I know
Orphlyus well. I shall petition him on our behalf then come and bring back
word.”

Krom considered the matter from several moments, looking out
at the mountain city. After a while, he nodded.

“Very well. We shall wait for you a little farther back into
the woods. Be cautious.”

“I shall return in no more than an hour,” replied Grim.
Removing his pack, he then set out into the open, heading straight for the
gates of Dura Cragis. Skylar watched him until he could see nothing but a black
blotch, which gradually melted into the deepening night.

Time crept by slowly. Within the cover of the trees, as they
were, without a fire or torch, the darkness was complete. The other companions,
as Skylar saw them were naught but black shadows against a dark gray canvas,
striped with the thick black lines that were the trees around them. Despite his
weariness, sleep eluded him. But he didn’t wish to sleep. An undeniable concern
for Grim’s safety gnawed at him.

An hour passed. Krom left the companions to look out across
the clearing, only to return shortly after with no news of Grim.

Two hours passed.

Three.

Skylar’s nerves were tense.

“Shouldn’t we go after him?” Skylar blurted out when he
could bear the waiting no longer.

“No, Skylar, we should not,” came the low voice of Krom out
of the darkness.

“But he said he’d be back—”

“I’m well aware of what he said.”

“Are we just going to keep waiting? He may be in trouble.”

A sickening silence followed.

“We shall not wait. I very much suspect there is trouble.
Real trouble. Grim most certainly would have returned by now if not. That is
trouble which we cannot afford to put you in. We must get away from this
place.”

“And leave Grim!” Skylar’s voice had risen to a near shout.
“We can’t just abandon him.”

Despite Skylar’s anger, Krom remained calm. Yet he spoke
firmly and with a finality which left no room for argument.

“Grim will take care of himself. It is not my wish to leave
him. But we have no other option. You are the future of the empire. Grim would
not have us risk your safety to help him. Let us depart.”

In the darkness, Krom gathered his belongings, turned and
started heading back the way they had come. The other two companions stalled
for a moment. Feeling desperate at the thought of leaving Grim, Skylar made a
plea to Lasseter.

“Uncle?” was all he said.

“Come, Skylar,” he said softly. “This is easy for none of
us. But it must be so.”

Then he turned and followed behind Krom. Wordlessly, Endrick
waited for Skylar, who glanced back toward Dura Cragis once more, bowed his
head then reluctantly set off behind the others.

They trudged on for an hour or more, keeping to the
foothills which wrapped around Horned Vale, moving ever father away from the
fortress city, away from Grim. Though he could still see the dark silhouettes
of his companions, Skylar felt utterly lost and alone—a wanderer benighted on a
cold, unfamiliar planet. Every step he took in that dismal state deepened the
intensity of it. He was walking away from where he knew he ought to be.

Soon the mountains began to turn westward, forcing them to
either ascend their rocky heights or head west. Krom led them west. Shortly
after, they came to a break in the trees. Krom stopped just inside the deep
shadows of the forest. Skylar looked out.

Not a hundred meters from where they stood stretched a road
running north and south. Though no moonlight illuminated the scene, it was
evident that the road came from the mouth of some tunnel through the mountains.
And despite the late hour, there were shapes on the road. Skylar could hear
them better than see them. The sound of legions of boots crunching on gravel
filled the icy night air like an army of ghosts marching to battle.