Wielder's Rising (2 page)

“Don’t forget me.”

* * * * *

Traven awoke with the sun streaming into his eyes and a smile on his face.  It was the third time that he had dreamed of the princess and the crown in the last week.  The princess and the crown were always there, but the details surrounding them had changed with each dream.  This was the first time the princess had done more than place the crown on his head.  She had asked him not to forget her, and he didn’t want to.  However, he knew that she would soon be married to Commander General Gavin.

It would be best to forget her.  It troubled him to be having such vivid dreams about the crown of Kalia and the engaged princess, but he definitely preferred them to the nightmares of the cave and the serpent that had plagued him before.

Traven turned over in the luxurious bed one last time and stretched.  He then rolled out of the bed and began to get ready for the day.  He had been in the palace for just over a week.  The first two and a half days he had been unconscious.  After finally regaining consciousness he had been nursed back to health.  It had taken another two days before he was up and walking once again.  He was still not back to full health, but he was feeling much stronger.  He hadn’t been able to figure out what exactly had happened to weaken him so badly.  He knew that it had something to do with his father’s stone exploding, but other than that he couldn’t explain it.

The might stone was no more now.  It lay shattered across the floor of an ancient room deep in a cave in the marshes north of Calyn.  He planned on returning to the ancient room someday but didn’t have time for it right now.  Two days prior he had watched from his palace window as a procession left to lead the second part of the Royal Kalian Army east to Candus.  There they would prevent the rebel army in Balthus from advancing into Kalia.  Despite being a soldier, he hadn’t marched east with the army.  Instead, today he would be leaving on a ship heading north.

He felt as though he should be marching with the army.  He had been training hard for the impending war and would have felt more comfortable marching with the other soldier.  He was a soldier after all and should be fighting with his comrades.  However, Professor Studell had different ideas.

Upon waking to find himself in the palace, Traven had been given the golden chest that was found in the ancient room among the ruins in the marsh.  He had somehow been able to open the box when no one else had succeeded.  Inside there had been several jewels, two might stones, and a map.  The map had ancient writing on it and supposedly stated that whoever opened the chest must follow the map to a place called Faldor’s Keep.  Nobody seemed to know of such a place, and Traven was fairly certain that by now it must be ruins like those of the ancient city in the marsh.

However, the philosopher felt that it was incredibly important that he travel to this place.  He had discussed this with the High King while Traven was still recovering and convinced the High King to give Traven the special assignment of going to Faldor’s Keep to search for anything that might help in the coming battle with a wielder.

Traven wasn’t sure if Professor Studell really thought there would be something there that would help in the war or if he just wanted to go searching for more ancient writings and artifacts.  Regardless of Studell’s true intentions, the High King had granted the professor’s request and sent a letter to Traven informing him that his assignment would be to accompany the professor to Faldor’s Keep instead of marching with the Royal Army to Candus.

He supposed he should be excited to see something new and have more adventure.  But after his last experience with adventure, he wasn’t sure if he wanted any more of it so soon.  He hoped the trip to Faldor’s Keep wouldn’t be too eventful.  With any luck they would quickly find whatever Studell was looking for.  Then he could catch up with the army in Candus before the battle began.

Traven finished getting dressed in a new set of his black clothes that the royal tailor had made for him.  He then buckled on his belt and grabbed the bundle at the base of the wardrobe.  It contained the golden chest, which had the two might stones and some of the jewelry still inside.  The day before, he had sent a couple of pieces of jewelry to be delivered to his grandparents.  He had also written a letter describing his current circumstances and mission.  He wondered how they’d react to the gifts and news.  No doubt they would be surprised.  He smiled at the thought of what they might say when they received his package.

He turned his thoughts back to the golden chest.  He had wanted to leave it in the palace.  It would be hard to travel with and could attract unwanted attention.  He had originally only planned on bringing the chest’s contents.  However, Studell had been adamant that he bring the actual chest.  Traven hoped that he would be able to find out what the might stones were for while they journeyed.  The extra jewels he could sell if he ever ran out of money, but he doubted that would happen.  He had plenty of gold tallies.  Professor Studell had already taken possession of the scroll.

After gathering all of his things, Traven left the palace room and headed down to the stables.  He found Pennon already saddled and ready for the journey.  He slipped his bundles into Pennon’s saddlebags and pulled himself up with some effort.  It amazed him how weak he still was after having rested for a whole week in the palace.  He thanked the stable hand who had prepared Pennon and headed out of the stables, through the palace gate, and into the great square.  He turned around for one last look at the Grand Palace of Kalia.  It was still as awe inspiring as it had been the first time he had seen it.

He had never imagined when he first arrived in Calyn that he would see the inside of it and had never dreamed that he would actually be a guest in it.  He sighed as he turned his back to the grand palace and nudged Pennon forward.  He would never be welcomed back into the palace as a common soldier.  He didn’t expect to be.  He knew that his place was not in the palace.  Nonetheless, it had been an incredible experience to be there for the past week.  Traven tried to put thoughts of the palace and the princess behind him as his horse trotted towards the docks.  He knew that the ship would be leaving soon, and he didn’t want to be late.

His senses were assaulted with new sights and smells as he made his way out of the city and onto the docks.  Huge boats lay anchored in the harbor, towering above him.  He had never seen boats so large.  Despite their size, the open ocean behind dwarfed them.  The scent of the docks was far from pleasant.  It smelled of rotten fish and salt water.  He watched as men from different lands moved around busily.  After asking a few different people which ship was the Arrow, a dockhand directed him to where it was anchored.

Traven slid down from Pennon and led him towards the large ship.  There were many ships that were larger, but the Arrow was still bigger than half of those in the port.  He looked the large vessel up and down.  It was narrow with a long pointy front that would cut right through the water.  He watched as sailors on the ship hustled back and forth preparing the ship to sail.  He took a deep breath and led Pennon forward.

He walked up the wooden plank carefully, trying not to think of the water swirling below on either side.  Once he was on the ship he didn’t feel much better despite its large size.  He glanced around at the sailors scrambling across the deck tightening ropes and preparing to shove off.  They all seemed perfectly at ease.  Traven wondered how someone could feel at ease when there wasn’t solid ground beneath his feet.  A sailor hurried towards him and Pennon.

“Are you Traven?” the gruff man barked.

“Yes, I am,” he replied.

“I’ll be taking your horse below if you don’t mind.  We need to get him below and secure so we can push off.”  Traven thanked the sailor and handed him Pennon’s reins.  He glanced around the deck as Pennon was led away by the gruff sailor.  On the other side of the deck he could see Philosopher Studell excitedly looking out to sea.  Traven carefully walked over to join him.

“Isn’t it a great day for sailing?” Professor Studell exclaimed when he stepped up beside him.  The philosopher was extremely excited to be going on the journey.  He had been ready almost from the moment he had first read the scroll. He had impatiently been waiting over the last few days while the preparations for the voyage were being finalized.

“I guess it’s as good a day as any,” Traven replied.  “Does the boat always rock this much?”

“This is nothing,” Studell answered.  “Wait until we get out on the open sea.  The waves are much higher away from the docks and out of the harbor.  That’s when sailing gets fun!”

Traven steadied himself against the side of the ship and tried not to think about the boat rocking more than it already was.  Though he had been told they would only be on the ship for five or six days, he already knew it was going to feel much longer.  At least they would make it all the way up the coast in a mere fraction of the time that it would take traveling on land.  He thought he might even be able to beat the Royal Army to Candus if Studell found what they were looking for quickly enough.

“Prepare to shove off!”

He turned to see a large, scruffy man standing at the helm of the ship.  He had bushy red hair, a sunburned face, and a stance that said he was in charge.  The sailors instantly began to untie ropes and wind them.  Traven watched with a little regret as the ramp was pulled up and the boat lurched away from the dock.  It was too late to turn back now.

“What’s wrong?” Studell asked with concern.  “Did we forget something?”  Traven realized how pitiful he must look and traded his frown for a smile.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” he replied as he glanced at the open sea.

Studell shrugged and turned back to stare out to sea as well.  The vessel slowly made its way through the other ships and out into the harbor away from the docks.  Traven took a few more deep breaths as the boat got further and further from land.  He didn’t understand how everyone else on ship didn’t seem to mind.  Finally the Arrow was past all of the other ships in the harbor and picking up speed as it headed out into the open ocean.

He turned back and watched Calyn grow smaller and smaller.  When he had first seen the city with the ocean behind it, he had never dreamed that someday he would be sailing out of the city and onto the never-ending blue expanse beyond.  As they got further away, he noticed an increase in the swaying of the boat.  Studell had been right about the rocking, but Traven was happy to find that it didn’t bother him as much as he had thought it would.  Perhaps the rocking of the boat wouldn’t be too bad after all.

“And we’re off and racing.”  Traven turned and saw the large, scruffy man who had been at the helm of the ship walking towards them.  “Sorry I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself.  I’m Captain Willie of the Arrow, the fastest ship in the sea!”  Traven accepted the captain’s outstretched hand.

“It’s good to meet you,” he replied.  “I’m Traven.”

“Now that we have the formalities out of the way, I’ll let you know how this trip is going to work.  I normally don’t accept passengers on my ship, but I couldn’t refuse a request sent from the High King, may he live long and prosper.  So I ask that you stay out of the way of my sailors, and we’ll stay out of your way.  You’ll find a guest cabin at the bottom of the stairs to the left.  It is small but cozy.”  The large captain’s face broke into a smile as he mentioned the room.  “We’ll follow the coast north and should be in Jatz in four or five days depending on the wind.  We’ll dock there, unload our goods and restock our supplies.  We’ll then sail you to wherever you want on the coast of Faldor’s Watch.”  The captain paused for a second and then went on.  “What are you doing there anyway?  There’s nothing up there but sand and rocks.”

“We are following a map to Faldor’s Keep,” Professor Studell declared as he slipped the ancient map out of one of his large pockets and waved it in front of the captain’s face.

“Oh, you’re treasure hunters,” Captain Willie chuckled.  “With all due respect, I think you’d have better luck finding gold around the mines of Arcad than the barren deserts of Faldor’s Watch.”

“We are not searching for gold, my good captain,” Studell fired back.  “And we are not treasure hunters.  We’re on a mission in search of knowledge and understanding.”

“Whatever you say,” Captain Willie said with a shrug.  “We’ll have you there within a week, and then you can do whatever you want.  We’ll see if you have anything when we return to pick you up sixteen days after we drop you off.”  Traven could tell that the captain still thought they were foolish treasure hunters.

“Thank you,” Studell said to the captain.  “Now if you will excuse us, we will retire to our quarters.”  Studell turned from the captain and beckoned to Traven.  “We have some important things to discuss.”  Traven followed the professor to the stairs and down below deck.  Behind him he could hear the scruffy captain chuckling to himself.

At the base of the stairs there was a long narrow hall.  Studell opened the first door on the left.  Traven had to duck through the doorway to walk into the room.  Once he straightened back up inside, he decided it really wasn’t a room at all.  It appeared to be more of a closet.  Captain Willie’s comment and smile about the room being cozy now made sense.  There were two small bunks attached to the right wall for sleeping in and about three feet of space between the beds and the left wall.  The room made him feel claustrophobic.  His saddlebags were already in the back corner along with several bundles that he assumed must be the philosopher’s.

“I can’t see anything in here,” Studell proclaimed.  Traven noticed a small lamp attached to the left wall and lit it.  “Much better, much better!”  Studell blinked and looked around the small room.  “It is quite small, isn’t it?”  Traven nodded in agreement.  “Oh well, we won’t be spending that much time down here anyway.  I enjoy being on the deck.  But for right now I think it best that we have some privacy while we discuss our plans.”

Traven stepped to the side as Studell reached past him to shut the door.  Studell then sat down on the bottom bunk and motioned for him to sit next to him.  Traven sat down but had to remain leaning forward so he wouldn’t hit his head on the upper bunk.  Studell pulled the scroll back out from his pocket and began to open it.  Traven was excited to finally see what it looked like.  Studell had been studying it ever since he opened the golden chest, and as far as he knew, the philosopher hadn’t let anyone else look at it.