Jeremiah’s eyes were burning. He was wet, and he was cold. They all were. It was nearing mid-morning and there was a light drizzle of rain when the three of them had emerged from inside the Sentinel Tree. They made it to the nearby village and acquired some horses from a stable hand as quickly as they could in the rain. When they began their journey, the rain was mild and pleasant; and the road to the capital city was only a little muddy.
By midday, the road had become cumbersome as they trudged their way through towards the capital city. The wind had picked up a little and the rain was getting harder. The day was beginning to cool off due to the northern wind and lack of many trees to block it from blowing on the party of travelers with its full force. By evening fall, the group had only managed to traverse half of the distance that they had intended when a fierce storm came upon them.
The group began to seek shelter, from the lightning, the frigid winds, and the rain, and to rest themselves along with their horses. They found an abandoned farm house off the side of the road that had a barn that was in better condition than the house. They led the horses inside the barn and Jeremiah gathered some of the broken beams from the house that was falling apart to start a fire. He tried to light it, but his flint was too wet from being in the rain all day. Wilhelm gathered up some straw that was scattered around the floor and placed it under the small pile of wood. He said, “Elda,” and the straw began to smoke. He blew on it and flames began to rise towards the wood piled on top. It wasn’t long before the weary threesome were huddled around the flames drying their clothes and warming their bodies.
They had only brought enough food to last a single day, but with the rain, none of it had been eaten that day. The unfortunate travelers ate some of what they had brought to give them some strength and they wanted to save some for the next day because they were unsure of how long the storm would last or how long the rest of their journey would take them. They decided to try and get some sleep because time was beginning to fight against them now and when the sun rose the next morning, they would have to leave whether it was still storming or not, because by Wilhelm’s calculations, the fleet would arrive at the capital city by evening fall, four days hence. It would take them the better part of another day just to reach the capital city which gave them less than two days to convince the king to halt the defensive attack.
Jeremiah gathered some more wood for the fire and placed it on top of the embers. The fire was warm and the three of them laying next to it began to feel soothed by its warmth. Chloé had already laid out her bed role and was curdled up in her blanket. She watched the flames dancing on the wood, swaying back and forth from the light breeze in the drafty old barn. As she watched the flames begin to lick the logs that had been placed on top and they began flittering around, she could hear the storm raging outside. Except for the thunder, the sounds began to lull her. She began to think about the captain and all the people en route to the capital city. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep and began to dream.
In her dream she saw a man. It was Captain Bridgewater. He was standing at the helm of a ship, in the midst of a violent storm. He was yelling at his men, “Drop the sails before the wind blows us apart,” he ordered as lightning struck somewhere nearby. Her vision began to pan outward and she could see the ship rocking back and forth on the waves caused by the storm. The vision panned out further and she could see the rest of the vessels struggling to stay afloat as the waves smashed into the sides of the boats.
She watched as several of the ships began to crash into each other. She saw the masts of many of the ships break in two, and fall over the side of the vessels. She could see men and women with pails hurrying around trying to empty the boats of the water that was coming over the sides; while others were casting out ropes in order to retrieve the souls who had been thrown overboard by the storm.
The scene began to fade away, and next she saw that it was daybreak. The storm was over and she saw relief on the captain’s face. He looked exhausted from the battle with the storm. It was over at last. Her vision panned away from him and she saw the looks of grief on the faces of many of the voyagers. They had won the fight with the storm, but Chloé could see that they had lost a few or more of the refugees to the storm. The scene faded away and Chloé began to wake.
She had awoken to the sounds of birds whistling in the trees. They went outside to stretch their legs. The sun was warm on their skin, the wind was soft and warm as well. They hurriedly began to gather up their camp and they led the horses out into the road. It was still muddy, so they would have to be careful or one or more of the horses could break a leg. With any luck, the group should arrive at the palace gates by nightfall. She told the other about her dream in the night as they continued on their way. They trudged through the mud left over from the storm; hoping with all hope, that nothing else would hinder them on their journey.
*****
Nìa had spent the majority of her first day in the palace trying not to get lost. Ryan had shown her around more of the palace than Master U’lias had and it was bigger than she had first thought. After they had eaten their breakfast with the king, The two of them had gone for a walk so she could see more of the palace.
It wasn’t until they were at the midday meal in the dining hall that she discovered that Ryan was, in fact, Prince Ryan, named after many of the kings that had ruled the lands of Tenroha. She also learned that he was the youngest of the king's children. He had five older siblings, two sisters and three brothers. Since he was the youngest and last in line for the throne, he didn’t care much for state’s affairs and such. He spent most of his time in the many of the various libraries that were located in the palace learning the histories of the realm and other such things.
Nìa had been searching the palace trying to find him all afternoon. She had been to four of the libraries already and was on her way to a fifth. She was following the directions that one of the stewards would give her, but this particular library was tricky for her to find. She had passed the same statue for the third time trying to figure out which way to go.
She stood in front of the statue of an ogreish man that was supposedly one of Ryan’s ancestors. She couldn’t see how he could be, Ryan was very handsome and this statue was of a man who looked as though his face was smashed repeatedly like a blob made of clay taking shape. His face was stretched long. He had a pointy nose, and his ears appeared to be dripping down his neck. She looked in the direction that she was supposed to go trying to see anything that she may have missed. She continued down the corridor of kings of the past and at the end of the passage she saw the same insignia carved into the wall that had been on Ryan’s cloak.
The directions that the steward had given her was to turn left at the coat and the doorway was a few steps past the knight. She had walked this passage several times and hadn’t seen a coat. Then she remembered one of the books she had read. She then realized that he must have meant coat of arms and that the insignia must be a coat of arms. She went to it and followed the rest of the directions and made it to the library where she found what she had been searching for, Ryan.
She turned to walk through the open door and stopped as she saw Ryan seated at a desk looking through old scrolls and he let out a loud yawn. Nìa giggled when she heard it. The sound of her giggling startled Ryan and he looked up to see Nìa standing in the doorway. “I have found very few things in this world that can tear my eyes away from these old scrolls and parchments, but it seems, alas, that I have found one more,” he said smiling at her.
“I’ve been searching for you for hours,” She said, trying to hide her excitement. “I did not know that there were so many places to store books and scrolls here. I have been to no less than four other libraries before I found this one. Why would anyone need this many?” she asked. Ryan looked at her with a flirtatious smile and said, “We set them up by subject matter. For instance, this one here contains everything we have pertaining to our family history. It has everything from our lineages passed down throughout history all the way back to the time that the Attikì Mountains were raised. Much of the history before that time has been lost, but it is here to remind us of where we come from.” “In fact,” he continued, “This very scroll that I was reading tells of our family crest.” “What does it say?” she asked. “It says that it has been the symbol for our family for over eight-hundred years,” “It also describes why each symbol was chosen. It really is fascinating to read,” he said.
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She saw, on the wall behind the desk, another large insignia woven into a tapestry. "Well then," she began to ask, "what does the crown and sword mean?" "They tell the tale of the lost sword known as Sannr in the ancient tongue, which means ‘justice. It was lost many generations ago and no one today knows its location. It is said that it was imbued with magical properties and that it has never been in a battle that was lost," he explained.
He went on to describe, in detail, many of the ages passed battles, that legend told, of the sword's history. She listened, mesmerized by the sound of his voice as he told the tales. He watched the look on her face as he narrated the many tales. He saw in her eyes that she was spellbound to the stories and picturing in her mind's eyes the events of the many various battles. "It is also said to kill a wielder that the sword deems to be unworthy, but that is believed to be just a superstition," he finished.
Nìa was lost in daydream; watching the battles from wars gone past in her thoughts. He paused the story and just watched her. He was silent for a few moments before she noticed that he had ended the tale. "Are there more relics like that one that you know about? she asked.
"There are," he replied. "Each of the images on the crest represent one of five ancient and powerful relics that have been lost to legend and time," he began to explain." "But there are only four images on the shield," she said, interrupting him. "That is true, my lady," he said, agreeingly. "The fifth one is only known by a few," he continued. "And I will get to that soon enough."
He began to tell her about each of the symbols one by one. He had already told her the tales of the crown and sword, but began an even longer tale in regards to the rest of the relics and what he knew of their legends. He began with the armor and moon. He told her that it was known as Náttúra, which meant ‘virtue’, and that the last known whereabouts of it was with the dwarves of the Crescent Mountains. He regaled her with the tales of legend in which, it was said, that Náttúra was present.
Nìa sat and listened, nearly hypnotized by him, as he recounted the many tales of a bow known as Hamingju-mikill by, dwarf or man. He told her that the bow has always been been in the hands of the elves of the eastern provinces, and that they alone knew its true name, but the named used for it by dwarf or man means ‘very lucky,’ because it always hit its mark.
He then began to tell her of the amulet known as Dreka-galdra, or ‘dragon’s magic,’ in the common tongue. “Very little is known about this trinket and history only has ever recorded one user of this amulet,” said Ryan, then he said, “Like the rest of the relics, it dates to before the mountains arose and the land was tore in two. It is said that it was forged with the aid o the dragons by a wizard of the highest order. It is also said that he used it to raise the mountains to what we see today.”
“That is four,” said Nìa, “What of the last one?” she asked. “Ah, yes,” he replied. “The final relic is the oldest and even less is known today of its past.” “In all my research, I have only seen one reference to it,” he began. “It was known, only as, Verndari by the ancestors and none of the tales have survived of it wonders, only a mere mentioning in passing. Its name means ‘protector,’ and is believed, by historians, to be an unbreakable shield of unknown size or shape.”
“Where is it now?” asked Nìa. “No one knows,” he started to explain. It was a lost relic long before the time of the rising.” She stared ta the tapestry on the wall and wondered about the shield and where it could be. She noticed a window that she hadn’t seen before and realized that it was dark outside. Then she noticed that she was starting to get hungry and her stomach beckoned for food. She giggled and said, “We must have missed the evening meal.” Ryan stood from his seat and said, “This happens to me all the time. Come with me.”
*****
J?kob sat on his bed, wondering how the others were doing. He had borrowed a few scrolls from Wilhelm’s chamber, and he was reading a scroll about the origins of the Tribune of Magi. It was very boring to read, but it contained many secrets of the order that J?kob had been unaware of. His eyes were starting to hurt, so he placed the scroll on a table and laid down on his bed to rest his eyes.
As he lay there, he began to think that Wilhelm and the others should be returning soon. “By now,” he thought to himself, “the others should have already made it to the palace and would have already informed the king of the situation of the refugees.” It was very late and the trio had been away from the sanctum, except for briefly, for nearly two days, and he was certain that they had been successful on their mission.
Matáo and Jonah entered the room, their clothes dripping with sweat. They had spent the evening sparring together, like most evenings, and had came to the room exhausted and hungry. They each began to remove their sweaty clothes and picked up something to fill their bellies from the table of food. “Have you heard anything of the others?” asked J?kob, to the pair of would be warriors.
“No. Have you,” replied Matáo, taking a bite of a hunk of cheese. “I wonder if the others have reached the palace yet,” J?kob said in an inquisitive tone. “Why don’t you ask Nìa. She has that charm thing that lets you speak to her from any where. Doesn’t she?” replied Matáo. “She does, that is if she took it with her. I had forgotten about it,” said J?kob, beginning to become excited about using the charms that he had crafted for the two of them.
He sat up on the edge of his bed. He closed his eyes and wrapped his fingers around the bejeweled copper horseshoe charm that rested around his neck. He then uttered the word, “Opna.” J?kob waited a few moments for the magic to activate and then he said, “Nìa, can you here me?” He held his breath and waited in silence, beginning to feel anxious, for her response. After a few, but what seemed like long moments, he heard inside his head, “J?kob? Yes I can hear you,” coming from the other side of the land of Tenroha.
Relieved, he let out a loud sigh and asked, “How are things at the palace?” “Wonderful,” she said slowly as if taking her time and in a tone that he had never heard her use before. She began to tell him of about the palace and all the people she had met. She told him about the king and queen and their many children that she had met and all of the places that she had seen in the palace.
They spoke to one another for a long time. J?kob told to her what he had been doing at the sanctum, while she filled him in on the goings-on of the palace life. She told him about Ryan and what they had been doing since she had arrived. Every time she brought him up, the tone in her voice changed. She would begin to speak slower and often drift off in thought, not saying anything. It was starting to irritate J?kob.
“Have Wilhelm and the others arrived yet?” he asked, and then went on on saying, “They left here, early, yesterday morning.” No,” she replied, and then asked, “Why are they coming here, and who are they?” J?kob began to tell about Wilhelm, Jeremiah, and Chloé. How they had discovered that the armada of ships that were on their way to the capital city were, in fact, refugees from Oaken Meadow that were seeking aid and safety from the king,
He explained to her that they were on their way to the palace to try and stop the king from making a terrible mistake. Nìa had seen many of the preparations that had been made to the palace and other things that had been done to fortify the city against invaders. She told him about how the soldiers of the king’s army, along the some members of the Tribune, had repaired and been testing several ballistas, along the palace walls and around the gaits of the docks that had been left over from a time before peace was made with the dragons.
She went on to explain the many traps that they had placed in the river itself. Some were to damage the enemy ships, while others were meant to prevent them from escaping. J?kob was horrified by the news and he didn’t know if he more horrified by the defenses that had already been made, or that Wilhelm and the others hadn’t arrived yet.
There was a long pause. J?kob called to Nìa. There was no response. He called for her again hoping that the charms had not ran out of magic. He began to charge his and could feel inside it that he still had plenty of magic in it. He prayed that hers was still charged. He called out a third time to her. “I’m trying to find Ryan,” she said, “Give me a moment.” After what seemed like an eternity to J?kob, and then he heard, “I found him.”
She asked him if there was a way for him to speak directly to Ryan. J?kob told her that if Ryan was to place his hand around the charm that he should be able to speak with him. Ryan placed his hand over hers and asked J?kob if he could hear him. J?kob could and asked him the same question. When it was discovered that he could, J?kob began to retell everything that he had told Nìa about the refugees and tried to explain to him that the capital city was not in danger.
After several moments, Ryan said, “This is not too hard to believe, and would be an atrocity for our people, but without proof, I know that my father will proceed with his plan. We have been at peace for far too long, and he has been waiting for a reason to go to war.” There was a long pause from both sides and then Ryan said, “One of the stewards has just informed me that there are visitors at the gaits. I believe that your friends have finally arrived.” Then he said, “I will see what can be done. The visitors claim to be on an import…..”
Everything went silent. J?kob called to them, several times, but there was no response. Nìa’s pendant must have ran out of its magic. J?kob was relieved that he was able to inform the prince, at least, of the refugees and he hoped that that would be enough to save them. Matáo and Jonah had been able understand most of what was going on through what J?kob had been saying, and J?kob could see in their eyes that they too hoped he had done enough.
