Seeing the Shepherds’ Goddess raising sail and easing away from them made Mikahl shiver. The little rowboat he and Hyden were in was heavily loaded with supplies that they knew were ultimately useless, and the slow rolling waves were huge. Mikahl let out a nervous laugh. Beyond the ship, the bright amber sun was setting.
“What’s funny?” Hyden asked, as he gathered up the oars and began to row them away from the sun.
“You and I, Hyden,” Mikahl laughed again, shaking his head in disbelief. “We’re either daft or just plain ignorant.” He turned away from the silhouette of the departing ship and looked at Hyden. Hyden had bright rays and a bunch of long dark hair in his face and was squinting. “We’re miles from land in a fargin rowboat, with the sun going down no less. What if we get switched around and row all night in the wrong direction? What if the current carries us right into Kingsport? We’d be caught and killed. What if…?”
Hyden spoke over him. “What if you quit acting like a worried old crone?” Hyden joked at his friend’s obvious nervousness. “In all of our travels, Mik, you’ve been the brave one. You’re the reckless swordsman, the one who shows no fear.” Hyden looked around them, and for a fleeting moment he felt as insignificant as an insect. “You’re afraid of the sea, aren’t you?” he asked with a grin.
“Not while I’m on a ship,” Mikahl admitted, with a scowl at Hyden’s mirth. His scowl faded as Hyden’s grin slowly turned into a shocked look of fear.
“Oh gods, Mik,” Hyden gasped, pointing behind Mikahl toward the sunset. “It’s a giant serpent!” Mikahl’s eyes grew wide and he twisted around clutching the sides of the boat.
Hyden burst into laughter. “You… are… as white… as a ghost,” he managed between guffaws.
“Stow it,” Mikahl growled. “That wasn’t funny.”
“Oh yes, it was,” Hyden laughed even harder. After a moment his glee subsided. He started rowing again and spoke in a somewhat serious tone. “You’d rather be out here at night, Mikahl, trust me. The sun would burn us alive, especially since you’re wearing your mail.” He shook his head at his friend’s lack of forethought. “Can you swim in that?”
Mikahl looked at him a moment then began peeling off his belts and packs so that he could get out of his mail.
“I don’t know why you even brought it.” Hyden began laughing again. “We’re supposed to swim through the underwater passage into the Dragon Queen’s dungeon. What were you thinking?”
Mikahl couldn’t help but laugh with his friend, though his laugh was tinted with sarcasm. “It’s a good day’s hike from where we’re making land, just to get to the lake.” He paused to get the shirt of armor over his head. “I brought it in case we’re attacked on the way.”
Talon called out from overhead, and after circling the rowboat, came swooping in to join them.
“Talon is our compass,” said Hyden. “You’ve forgotten who you’re traveling with, Mik. I’m a wizard with a familiar that can sense the land, even now. ”
“A jester and a glorified chicken is more like it,” Mikahl returned.
Talon cawed his disapproval of the remark.
“All right, Talon,” Mikahl conceded. “A jester and his chicken hawk.”
Talon flew to Hyden’s end of the boat and settled into a coil of rope on the floorboards as if it were a nest. Hyden rowed until the moon was above the sea, then turned the oars over to Mikahl.
It would be impossible to go the wrong way, Mikahl decided. The lights of Kingsport were tiny, yet clearly visible to the northeast. A glance over his right shoulder at them, every few pulls, kept him confident of his course. Before long, the sounds of the waves breaking against the rough shoreline told them that they were close. Talon took back to the sky and flew overhead. Hyden shared Talon’s vision, and the hawkling guided them safely to land.
“Should we wait until dawn?” Hyden asked.
“Aye,” Mikahl replied. “Let’s rest our arms, and at first light I’ll get my bearings. There is still a wild thing or two in this part of Westland. They don’t call Lord Gregory the Lion Lord for nothing.”
“There are lions in Westland?”
“Of course there are; far worse things too.” Mikahl shook his head as if to think otherwise was absurd. “Why would Westland’s banner boast a prancing lion if there were no lions in Westland?”
“Westland’s banner is the lightning star now,” Hyden reminded. “Or haven’t you been paying attention.”
Mikahl growled as they pulled the little boat up through the surf onto the shore. Once it was secured safely in the underbrush they ventured a few hundred feet inland and made camp.
“They call it a lightning star,” Mikahl said, “but I have to agree with Lord Gregory. It looks more like a fancy yellow snowflake.”
“They have a saying about yellow snow in the mountains where I come from,” Hyden said.
“Exactly,” Mikahl watched with curiosity as Hyden lit a small fire with a flame he conjured to his fingertip. “You’ll do loads of damage with that spell,” he commented dryly.
Hyden laughed and shook his head. “Go to sleep, Mik. I’ll take the first watch.”
Mikahl lay back and closed his eyes, but he dared not sleep. If he did he might dream, and that was the last thing he wanted to do now that he was back in Westland.
Dawn came sooner than either of them expected. They decided to leave the excess supplies Raspaar’s crew had loaded into the dinghy for them. They ended up flipping the boat upside down over the stuff and covering it with brush, but it was a hasty job and would only be camouflaged from distant passersby. Anyone who came close would be able to spot the deception. They hoped that they wouldn’t need the boat to make a retreat from Westland later, but neither truly thought that a clean escape in the little tub was a likely conclusion to this incursion. This was an all or nothing gambit, and both of them were committed to it.
“Hyden strung up his elven longbow before they started, and Mikahl donned his chain mail shirt and made sure Ironspike was loose in its scabbard. Each of them shouldered a leather pack of rations and waterskins, and then started off.
Hyden found himself searching for signs of lions. He’d never seen a lion, save for a sketch of one in one of Dahg Mahn’s volumes. He saw two paw prints, and plenty of geka scat, even a feeding area were some long dead carcass had been strewn about by the predators, but he didn’t see a lion.
“The gekas must stay close to the lake,” Hyden observed. “They’re amphibs by nature.”
“Then why would they leave the marshes?” Mikahl asked. “Why would they leave a naturally protected environment that suited them?”
It was a good question. The zard were amphibs too. Hyden had read about them in books that Phen showed him in Xwarda’s Royal Librarium. Why would they leave their natural habitat for the Westland plains? He pondered the question as they continued through the day. It was an uphill hike the whole way, and they were both happy to come over a rise early in the evening and see the great shining surface of Lion Lake glittering in the shallow valley before them. It was too late to attempt the swim, and they were too far away. They skirted the shoreline toward the castle, being sure to stay in the cover of the wooded hills as they went. It wouldn’t do to have one of the zard-men on the high gray walls spot them creeping around. They moved away from the water, back over the rise. There they could build a fire and not be seen. They made camp and rested after eating a solid meal of salted beef, bread, and dried fruit. Then the two of them eased up to the ridge and looked out at the looming mass of stone and steel that they would soon be inside of.
Hyden had Mikahl point out Pael’s tower. It was the one closest to the southern corner of the castle. Hyden made a smug face. It wasn’t nearly as impressive as Dahg Mahn’s tower back in Xwarda-now his tower, he corrected the thought. He hoped that saving Phen and the Princess, and stealing back the Silver Skull would be as easy as winning through Dahg Mahn’s trials had been. In his heart he knew better.
Talon swooped in, landed on a nearby tree and began preening himself. He was tired from watching over them all day.
Mikahl didn’t see a great hulking castle across the glassine expanse: he saw home. A wealth of emotions flooded through him as he gazed at the place where he was born. The joy, relief, and comfort one should feel when returning home was absent, though. Anger at seeing those zard-men patrolling the walls, and the disgust that flared every time he saw the lightning star took their place. He ground his teeth. He had a mind to draw Ironspike, call forth his bright horse from its symphony, and go riding over the walls wreaking havoc. The longer he sat there, the harder it was to keep from doing just that. His thoughts must have shown plainly on his face.
“You’ll have your chance, Mik,” Hyden said from beside him. “They want you to come running into their traps. Don’t oblige them.”
“She’s just right there,” Mikahl argued, but with fading conviction. He knew Hyden was right. They had to be cautious and stick to the plan. One more sleepless night wouldn’t kill him. “We should go long before the sun rises,” he said trying to calm his anger. “We should use the cover of darkness to get up against the wall.” He sighed and turned away, putting his back against a rock. “We’ll have to stay in the water a while. I doubt we could find the marked stones Lord Gregory told us about in the dark, but I think it’s a better plan than trying to swim in the daylight.”
“Aye,” Hyden agreed, remembering what the trout looked like in the lake from Talon’s perspective. The tower guards would be able to see them even when they were underwater. He thought that he could probably climb straight up the wall if he had to. Getting there was the trick. He gave Mikahl a pat on the shoulder. “Just be sure you leave your chain mail here. I’m not going to spend the morrow dodging arrows while I’m diving to pull you up from the bottom.”
Inside the castle, Spike followed Cole down into the upper levels of the dungeon. The wizard had put the Silver Skull in a leather sack and was toting it over his shoulder. Spike had to stay a good distance behind because the scorpion-like creature that Cole had bound was following him as well. Phen was trying desperately to see through Spike’s eyes, but it was hard. Sometimes he could, and sometimes he couldn’t.
Rosa’s untimely questions were driving him mad. Not only did they break his concentration, they were taking away his confidence. It seemed that every time his mind was relaxed enough to see with his familiar, she couldn’t help but ask a question.
Phen saw Cole pass a hallway that he remembered. It led to a smaller hall that went to the base of the tower where he’d gotten on Pael’s lift. Yesterday, Phen learned the command to lower the device. There were a few terrifying minutes of waiting to see who or what was coming back up on the lift after it suddenly eased down out of the room. Cole had come up with a tray of food and a pitcher of water. He set the items on the floor and looked around curiously. Seeing nothing but Rosa’s huddled form and the stirred up dust, he’d huffed, stepped back onto the lift, and spoke the command for it to lower.
Phen tried to make a mental map of Cole’s passage from the point he recognized, but it was no use. Too many turns and archways, and then two sets of stairs. Phen saw the wizard come to a dark alcove with a great iron door centered in its far end. Cole rapped on the steel and a head-high window opened inward spilling orange torchlight in a rectangular beam. A pair of dark skittish eyes looked out. Then after a loud clank the door creaked open. Cole spoke to the man at length, allowing the hell-born scorpion, and then Spike, to ease into the area. Spike had to scurry past them all into the deeper shadows in order to keep Cole’s venomous pet from seeing him.
The dungeon guard was terrified of Cole’s new creature. His fear caused the wizard to cackle with delight. Soon Cole’s zard assistant arrived. Phen overheard part of their conversation.
“Let us see if that thing running loose down there can survive my new friend,” Cole told the zard.
“Thinkss we’ll be rid of it soon,” the zard said.
“I hope so. I didn’t mutate that breed bastard so it could take over our lower levels,” Cole snarled. “The giant Flick caught me has probably starved to death by now. It’s a pity we had to leave it in chains. He might have been able to rid us of the breed freak.”
“A curiouss battle, Masster Cole,” the zard commented. “One I would haves liked to ssee.”
Cole nodded his agreement. “Escort this hell-spawn to the lower gate, Zalvin; maybe it will rid us of our problem so that we can at least examine the pure blood’s internals before it starts to rot.”
“Yessss, Masster Cole,” Zalvin gave a short dutiful bow. Cautiously, as if leading an angry dog, the zard urged the scorpion down a darkened stairway and disappeared.
After Cole left, the dungeon master shut the iron door behind him. The instant the door banged shut, Phen lost contact with Spike. He began to worry about his familiar. Phen tried and tried to reestablish his link with the lyna, but just couldn’t do it. With a frustrated sigh he put his head in his hands and tried to think.
“Are yew all right, Pin?” Princess Rosa asked.
He started to correct her pronunciation of his name, but decided that it would be pointless. To her, she was saying Phen. It was her Seaward accent that caused her to pronounce it wrong. Earlier he had asked her what the people of Seaward call the little appendages that helped a fish swim. “Feens,” she’d replied. After that he gave it up.
“I’m all right, m’lady.” He forced a smile. “It’s just that I need to get that Silver Skull away from here.” He doubted that Queen Shaella even knew Cole was tampering with its magic.
“Eat and rest.” Princess Rosa was barely older than him, but her smile was motherly. She offered him the bigger part of the meal that had come up. “Getting some rest will help you think.”
“Aye,” he agreed and reached for a piece of the hard bread on the tray. “What’s this?” he mumbled. He could see the corner of a gap in the floor. He snatched up the bread and took a bite, and then held it in his mouth as he moved the tray over and began dusting the filth off of the wooden floor. In a matter of moments he revealed a rectangular trapdoor with a finger hole in one end to use as a handle. He stuck his finger in it cautiously and raised the hatch, revealing a ladder that led down into the darkness. Chewing his bread, he smiled at the Princess.
He cast an orb of light into his palm, causing Rosa to yelp, then he leaned his head into the hole. Phen was delighted at what he saw down there.
“What is it?” Rosa asked, peering down to see what had the boy grinning so broadly. “It’s just a room full of old books.”
“No, m’lady, it’s much more than that.” He grabbed one of the sausages from the tray and started down the ladder. “It’s Pael’s library. There’s more power hidden in this room than anywhere in the world, save for maybe Xwarda.”
“What will you do?”
“Hopefully, I’ll be able to find a spell that will help get us and that Silver Skull away from here.”
“Do be careful, Pin,” Rosa said rubbing the stump where her fingers used to be. “Pael’s was such an evil sort of magic.”
Phen reached up and gave her good hand a squeeze. “It wasn’t his magic that was evil, Princess,” Phen said, hoping that it was true. “It was his heart.”