The Catastrophe of the Emerald Queen (8 page)

 
Mordalayn stepped forward once the light had gone and picked
up the man’s sword. Without hesitating he threw it out across the
lake, the blade spinning wildly as it arced through the air before
splashing into the water.

 
Mordalayn turned to Jared. “Keep your hands and feet inside
this boat, if you do that then the boat will not overturn, even in
a storm. Do you understand?”

 
Jared
was white, still terrified by what he’d
seen.

 
Mordalayn could see his fear
and said more gently. “The lake is guarded, as is the perimeter.
None may swim or hunt here, although that in itself is not a death
sentence
.”

 “
What
happened to him?”

 “
He tried to harm
me
.” Mordalayn replied. “For
that he paid with his own life. The guardians of the border lakes
do not tolerate aggression…unless of course they are the ones
dispensing it.” 

Jared glanced at the shore. The
remaining soldiers had returned to their master who was already on
his horse and signalling them to join him.

 
Jared looked back at
Mordalayn. “You tried to save him? He was trying to kill
you
,” he asked,
confused.

 
Mordalayn
looked grim. “The man was a soldier. His master
is cruel. I only kill if I have to.” He unhooked his cloak and
placed it around Jared’s shoulders. “Here, it’s a long journey and
it may be cold. Take this.”

 
With no further word, he
turned and sat on the bench in front of Jared and took the oars.
Heaving hard to take the strain of the current and the weight of
the water
, he began to row
towards a destination that was for Jared unknown.

Chapter
5

The sun, though huge in the sky
was only as warm as a spring day and Jared wrapped the cloak he'd
been given around himself, more to feel safe than anything else.
The dock was now empty and the soldiers had gone. Mordalayn rowed
hard, the oars slipping into the water in perfect unison as he
heaved. For a long time there was no conversation then he glanced
back towards Jared.

 
"Are you tired boy? Sleep if
you wish, there are cushions in the hatch at the back near your
feet
.”

 “
How on earth does he think I
can sleep NOW?”
Jared thought
angrily.

 
"No, I
can't sleep, in fact I don't think I'll ever be able to again" he
snapped, pulling the cloak around himself.

 
Mordalayn half turned. "Look,
I know you must feel overwhelmed by this but....
.”

 
"You'll tell me later. I
know
.”

 
Mordalayn paused for a few moments then pushed the oars into
the locking position and stood. He sat to face Jared and the boat
rocked slightly.

 
"Jared....please be patient. I
am sorrier than I can tell you that you have become involved in
this but...." he looked up as a flock of crimson birds
squawked
past them noisily, wheeling up into the
sky.

 
"This world is in turmoil. We
cannot sustain ourselves while the queen is in this
state
.” He paused then said,
"She is Our Lady, the guardian and keeper of this world. While she
is hurt we are greatly vulnerable.”

 
"That...man you stopped in her room. Who was he?"

 
"He comes from the dark, a
weak individual with no honour. Our enemies gather and they have
great reason to believe that this world should end in its current
form
.”

 
The
boat rocked slightly in the water. Jared glanced over the side and
saw the water rippling gently in the wind.

 
"I have to get you to the
Shores" Mordalayn said, taking the oars again. He sat down and
began to row hard. "Around to your right you can see what we're
heading for
.”

 
Jared
stared sullenly at the floor of the boat for a few moments and then
looked out to where Mordalayn had pointed. In the distance and
still obscured by the mainland was some sort of large building, a
vast entrance gawping at its front. As the boat slowly edged round
the curve of the land Jared saw that it was huge. The construction
was dark grey stone, gleaming wetly like it had recently been
rained on. The opening was rounded but came to a point and a large
tip of narrow stone pointed out from the apex of the
doorway.

 
There
was no door visible, only a dark maw. The building continued back
from the vast entrance like a gigantic snake, the view of the
mainland currently blocking the sight of the rest.

 
As Mordalayn rowed Jared
glanced around him. To their left was dark green land mottled with
red. The land itself was very high with tall, thin trees dotted
about and slightly ahead and to the right a small hut, alone on the
hillside. A path ran in a rickety fashion, crookedly zig zagging
along the steep face until it terminated at the top. A few animals
could be seen clinging to the cliff face, munching on the grass
that grew in abundance on its surface. On the other side of the
boat the water ran out into an expanse of blue, the mist about a
mile beyond them hiding the land on that side.
There were only grey shapes visible through the
fog.

 
As
Jared turned back he saw more of the huge building they were headed
for. The impression he'd had of the opening resembling a mouth
turned out to be accurate. With a start Jared sat up and realised
that he was looking at an enormus, sculpted recreation of a face
with the mouth wide open.

 
They
gradually inched up on it in the boat under Mordalayn's constant
hauling.

 
The
huge face appeared to be helmeted. The artwork was unbelievably
detailed and flawlessly sculpted. The nose guard extended down to
form an overhang in the entrance and the eyes of the soldier were
open wide. It looked as if anything entering the mouth of the face
would be swallowed. The sun played in vivid spills over the metal,
splashing over the surface. Jared stared awestruck.

 
As they
came nearer and rounded the land on their left Jared could see
people working. Some appeared to be tending to fields while a few
men were riding on horses near them as if supervising the work.
Mordalayn rowed closer, taking their small vessel to within about
100 metres of the dock. No-one paid them the slightest notice at
all. Eventually they came to a docking area close to the gaping
entrance. Mordalayn whistled to a group of scruffily clothed men
standing near the dock. They looked up and moved to the silver,
riveted mooring points.

 
Mordalayn threw them the ropes
from the bow of the boat and two of them reeled them in, lashing
the lines securely around the metal with a complicated series of
knots. Then he leapt nimbly from the bo
at in one fluid skip. He turned, tossed the nearest of
the men a coin then extended his hand to Jared who stood, unsteady
on his feet and handed the cloak back before stepping up. He took a
deep breath and lunged forward. His shoe scraped on the loose
grains of stone as he gained purchase on the solid floor and then
staggered forward. Mordalayn took him by the
shoulder.

 
"Come boy, we need to hasten.
I promised you an explanation and one you shall
have
.” They moved towards the
huge entrance before them. A small, bright purple creature with an
unbelievably long nose passed them pushing a small hand cart loaded
with odd looking vegetables of some kind, the smell rich and sharp
in Jared's nostrils. The creature was mumbling irritably to itself
as it pushed the cart on, the wheels trundling noisily against the
stone, one of them squeaking intermittently. The creature grumbled
on, seemingly loathing whatever it was doing.

 
There
were people milling about in every direction. It reminded Jared of
ants entering an ant hill. The huge entrance was now completely
over them. Jared craned his neck to look around. The inside of the
entrance was like a dome, dark red in colour and his eyes took a
while to adjust to the change in light.

 
Most people ignored them or
failed to notice their passing. One or two
bowed their heads or spoke a greeting to Mordalayn A
tall, spindly creature with long skinny legs and webbed feet even
bowing as he passed.

 
The
entrance hall reminded Jared of when his family had gone to Rome
and visited the Vatican. The ceiling there had nearly caused him to
fall over backwards trying to look at it all at once.

 
Ahead
the hall narrowed to a large tunnel. At the entrance to it were
several soldiers. As Mordalayn and Jared approached a tall man in
silver armour stepped forward. He nodded acknowledgment to
Mordalayn, saluted then looked Jared up and down quickly, appearing
agitated.

 
"Greetings Takoba" the man. “May I ask who is the
boy?"

 
"Greetings to you Captain. I
need to take him to The Council chamber
.” He put his right hand on Jared's shoulder
reassuringly.

 
"Who is he?" the Captain asked
again
, looking
nervous.

 
"Wait
here" Mordalayn said quietly to Jared then gestured to the Captain
to step to one side. He spoke quickly and rapidly in the man's ear.
The soldier looked at first surprised and twice glanced over in
Jared's direction. He nodded at whatever Mordalayn was saying and
then signalled to two of the other guards who had been watching
them.

 
"Take
the Takoba and the boy to the council chambers" the Captain said,
staring intently at Jared.

 
The two soldiers the Captain
had nominated as escorts moved silently in sync to step either side
of them. They began walking to a large wooden and ornate door. The
Captain said something to another officer who glanced with a
shocked expression at Jared. Mordalayn put his hand on Jared's
shoulder and gently nudged him forwards. As they approached it the
door on the left hand side swung inwards with a groan and
hit the wall with a loud bump. The
guards moved, one taking up a position to the front of them and the
other to the rear. They were expressionless.

 
The corridor on the other side
of the door was dark and Jared's eyes took some time to adjust to
the gloom. Some way ahead of them was a brighter area that looked
like a larger room. The guard at the front marched quickly,
Mordalayn keeping up easily, Jared stumbling along briefly as he
tried to increase his step. The walls either side seemed to
be
made of jagged rock but it
was very dark and Jared couldn't really see.

 
They came into a brightly lit
area that took Jared's breath away. Hanging from the ceiling was a
huge chandelier like
a
crystal tree hung upside down. The jewels in it glittered with a
dazzling display of white light, cut with flashes of rainbow
colours. The floor was paved with what appeard to be white marble
and in the centre of the room in a circular pattern below the vast
chandelier was a dark, ruby red pattern of tiles. There were
various soldiers and people moving about, one or two wearing white
and gold robes, like priests. Doorways in arched frames led away in
several places, via little flights of steps.

 
"Stand here" Mordalayn said as
they arrived at the centre of the room. The two soldiers took up
position either side on one of the dark tiles while Mordalayn
turned around and stood behind Jared. "
Don't be scared and don't worry. This is a short
journey" he said gently. Jared felt his stomach lurch slightly as
the tile began to move. The circular pattern of other tiles,
identical to the one they were standing on, then flowed around and
one at a time lined up in front of theirs. With no sound at all the
tiles formed a line and then theirs moved forward. The tile in
front of it slid underneath and replaced it in the first position
and every time they cleared a tile the one ahead slid back to take
its place.

 
They
moved towards a large gap between two small flights of stairs.
Again the corridor was dark and at the end Jared could see bright
light. As they entered the dark tunnel the tile they were standing
on lit up slightly, illuminating the space around them. The walls
here were smooth and black as ebony. Jared felt slightly scared but
stood still as Mordalayn said. The tile continued on, its successor
silently replacing the space it left as they carried on their
journey. After a few minutes of travelling the tile reached the lit
up area and Jared could see there was a vast wooden table in the
middle. It seemed that wherever he was, the people here did not do
things on a small scale. There were no doors and the room was dome
shaped with only the table and the entrance they had come from. As
the tile they were on stopped, the soldier at the front stepped
clear. Jared glanced over his shoulder and saw that the corridor
was pitch black. The tile itself had dimmed.