Wilhelm was waiting at the portal entrance to the Sanctum when Mrs. Clary, Jeremiah, and Matáo arrived for their mission to Oaken Meadow. He handed his traveling stones and one of the rings from his hand to Mrs. Clary and told her to be careful. He gave her a long embrace and then opened the portal to the Sentinel Tree near the city. The trio walked through the portal and it closed behind them.
He returned to his chambers to find Ryan and Chloé waiting for him. They began work on finalizing the plans for the trip to the Crescent Mountains. As much as Wilhelm wished to go with them, he needed to stay behind. Petra had agreed to travel with them for part of the journey, but refused to travel too far with them because he had other pressing matters that he had to attend to before he returned home to the Attikì Mountains where he lived.
Wilhelm and Ryan believed that they needed a third member for the expedition due to vague descriptions mentioned in the texts. The texts also recorded a few details that had Wilhelm wary that it would be a more dangerous journey for the group than first thought. He knew Nìa would want to go, but he and Ryan wanted her to stay behind. Chloé was becoming skilled at healing and Ryan had been training with swords since he was young.
They preferred to have a better suited magic user, but J?kob needed to stay behind and focus on his training. After a brief discussion, they decided to ask the remaining members of the Brotherhood. At breakfast, they announced their intentions, and asked for a volunteer to accompany them on their journey, which was a long shot of an idea. The two dreamers believed that the Megin Forn-leifar would be vital in defeating Jemot.
During breakfast they tried convincing the others about the importance of their pursuit and were unable to persuade any of them except for Nìa and when Jonah had heard that she wanted to go, he volunteered to go with them. Wilhelm and Ryan had been preparing for their departure for several days and now that the plan was finished they were ready to begin.
They went to the portal entrance after the mid-day meal and began to say their farewells. Jonah thought it strange that he hadn't seen his brother or sister at the dining hall before they were to leave, and he didn't remember seeing them at breakfast. He asked J?kob to keep an eye on them and to let the twins know where he had gone.
Wilhelm opened the portal that was nearest the mountains. Jonah and Petra entered first. Nìa removed the charm necklace from around her neck and placed it around Ryan's She gave him a kiss on the cheek saying, "For luck." They would have to walk a few days before they arrived at the dwarven settlement near the Quoe river and cross the bridge that connected the two dwarven domains.
Ryan smiled and he turned away. He and Chloé entered the portal and it closed behind them. Nìa, Wilhelm, and J?kob said a prayer to the Creator and whoever else would listen. They turned and began to go about their business. J?kob had a lesson with the elders, Nìa was to meet with Jessie to help her practice her healing arts, and Wilhelm was to leave in the morning for one of the heraes to begin defensive augmentations of the city.
J?kob had been learning to sever the link between himself and Wi?dwyr?, and had been instructed by the elders to block the mental connection with him as often as possible. For now, he tried to keep the bond closed unless they were flying together and he was really missing his presence, so he decided to visit with him before his lesson began.
When he entered Wi?dwyr?'s room, he found the twins sitting on the floor in front of him. He opened his mind and reached out to him and asked unheard to the others, "What's going on?" "I tried to tell you that they were here this morning. They arrived just after you left for your breakfast," replied Wi?dwyr?.
"They've been asking about the dragon amulet and I wasn't sure what I could tell them," he said. J?kob responded, " It's okay, what have you told them?" "No more than I've told you," he said. J?kob could tell that he wasn't being truthful and asked, "What else have you told them?"
"I may have mentioned the name of the island that my great, great, great grand-sire Wi?dwyr? the Blue landed on when he returned home," replied Wi?dwyr?, apologetically. "Where, exactly, is that?" asked J?kob. "My home, of course." "Are the amulets still there?" J?kob began asking questions as though Wi?dwyr? was hiding something from him.
"One is, but the other two were sent to different islands in our land. I don't know which islands they are on, because they are moved every generation. My brother, Ryuu, is the keeper of one of them. That is all I know, and I haven't told them anything about my brother," said Wi?dwyr?, relieving himself of a guilty conscience. Their conversation took less than a second and the twins hadn't realized that it had occurred.
"What are you two doing here? asked J?kob, and then said, " You never wanted to visit before." Joel responded by saying, "After your grandfather read from that diary of your great, great, great, whatever; we had become curious if your friend Wi?dwyr? knew anything about the dragon that was mentioned in the book." Jessie, pointing towards Wi?dwyr?, said, "He said that he was named after him."
"Did he tell you that he was also descended from him as well?" asked J?kob. "I hadn't made it to that," said Wi?dwyr? aloud. "He has been answering questions for us all day," said Jessie. "But, he hasn't answered one of the questions that we have asked several times," said Joel. Wi?dwyr? replied by saying, "The two of you kept asking question after question and would often ask another while I was trying to answer the others, I'm sure there were others that I may have missed."
J?kob knew that was untrue, dragons never forget. Wi?dwyr? reached for J?kob's mind and asked, "What shall I tell them? They are going to ask again." J?kob said, " Let me answer it." "So," said Joel, "Do you know where the amulet is or not?" "Which amulet do you wish to know about?" asked J?kob.
"The one that Wilhelm mentioned. The one that bonded him to the dragon," said the twins together. J?kob reached for Wi?dwyr?'s mind and asked if that was the one his brother kept. He answered aloud, "No. I do not know about that amulet." J?kob felt that he was being honest and thought to ask him about it later.
It was nearing the time for his lesson and he had to leave. Before he left the room he told the twins about his brother leaving for a secret mission in search of one of the Megin Forn-leifar, and that he was unsure of when he would return. He closed the man-sized door to the room behind him and said to Wi?dwyr?, "Try not to tell them too much, I don't like what they are asking. When the others return, you and I can go to find the amulets and bring them here to help in the fight against Jemot."
*****
Jeremiah crawled through the hole at the base of the tree and began to look around. He went to the stream where he had dispatched the two enemy soldiers when he escaped Oaken Meadow. He had hoped that their bodies and weapons were still lying there. He found the swords and a few pieces of the armor. The rest appeared to be carried off and scattered by scavengers.
He and Matáo began searching around the area for the rest of the armor. They found all but one boot and a greave of the same leg. They washed the armor the best they could to remove the stench that still remained. After the leather armor dried in the sun, they put on what they could and the three of them started towards Oaken Meadow.
They passed by Jeremiah's parent's farm on their way, and knowing that they had evacuated with the city, made him feel better when he had seen what the enemy had done to his family home. The house and barn had been set on fire and the animals had been put to the sword and left to die in their own blood. He could hear horses snickering in the woods behind where the barn was.
He and Matáo crept around the burnt remnants of the barn and made their way to the edge of the timber. They looked through the woods and saw two horses grazing on grass. They had saddles strapped to them. They searched around the woods looking for the riders as they moved slowly towards the horses, carefully watching for any sign of movement around them.
They came to the edge of the clearing that the horses were in. There were no signs of a camp, or any sign that enemy soldiers were around. They cautiously approached the horses. They could see where the saddles were starting to cut into the flesh of the horses and they took pity on them. They took hold of the reins and led them to Mrs. Clary.
"Caroline," said Jeremiah, "Can you heal these poor creatures?" "I believe they were the ones that followed me to where you and Chloé were hiding the night of the attack," he said sorrowfully as he patted the neck of the horse he was leading. He and Matáo removed the saddles and they could sense the relief that the horses felt.
Mrs. Clary removed several vials from the bag she kept with her. She began mixing the ingredients into a paste and spread it onto the wounds caused by the saddle straps and wrapped them with bandages. When she was finished she told the others, "They should be right as rain by morning."
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
It had taken the three of them the rest of the day to reach the farm and it was getting late. Jeremiah built a fire and they made camp. It would be good to have the horses, otherwise they would have to walk most of the night to make it to the city before sunrise and have very little time to gather information before they had to return. With the horses, they could make it there in a couple of hours.
Mrs. Clary took the watch so the boys could sleep. She decided that she would stay behind so she wouldn't slow them down anymore. She cleaned the horse's wounds several times in the night and used her magic to help the healing, and as she had said, the horses were completely healed when Jeremiah and Matáo awoke the next morning.
They saddled the horses and started towards the city and taking wth them only what they needed. As they approached the bridge into the city, they saw that it had not been rebuilt. There were soldiers guarding the remains of the bridge and they could see that the section had been turned into a ferry port. The soldiers' armor was different from what they had found at the tree. It was black and not crimson in color.
Matáo dismounted as he approached the two guardians of the ferry. "We seen some signs of a camp back th't way, but 'ere weren't no ones around," said Matáo, trying to sound like one of the men he had encountered before. "How far out?" asked one of them. "Abouts a half day's ride," said Jeremiah, trying to imitate Matáo.
Jeremiah stepped down from his horse and one of the guards noticed that he was missing a boot on his right leg and the matching greave. "Hold up!" he ordered. "What happened to your boot," he asked, drawing his sword. Jeremiah began to reach for his own and Matáo said, "The dumb arse got it stuck in the mud tak'n a piss. We's wuz look'n ‘round da campt an’ h'd went to step ov'r a log and fell up ta hes arse in a pit." Matáo started laughing at him and slapped him on the back.
The two guards began to laugh as well and put their swords away. There was a stable near the ferry so they left the horses there and rode the ferry across to the city. It didn't look the same to Jeremiah. The buildings had all changed and the storehouses were much larger than before. He saw men in armor that were crimson and some that wore black coming and going from the storehouses.
He walked by the Peacekeeper's headquarters and saw two men standing guard in front of it. One of the men standing outside of the center said, " Cap't don't wanna be disturbed. If you gots an'thin to report, tell it to yer l'ten't." The two of them continued on until they reached what was left of the Squirrel's Nest.
It had been partially rebuilt, and there were many men sitting around drinking what was left of the beer and meads that had survived the fires. They sat at a table and saw one of the men go to a barrel behind the bar and pour himself a drink. Matáo went to the bar and filled two mugs and brought one to Jeremiah. They sat and drank them slowly. They were listening to what the men were talking about, while pretending to be having their own conversation.
The workers were mostly talking about how they hated the Captain. They apparently felt as though he had unrealistic demands on the workers. They had been working for weeks rebuilding the barracks at the docks and a few of them had been working day and night on a special project. They listened trying to find out what the special project was, but they were being very secretive about it.
The men who had been working on the project were being careful not to give anything away. Matáo saw that the men were getting low on their drink so he went to the bar and filled three more mugs and he and Jeremiah went to sit with them. They sat and talked with the men. Matáo refilled their cups six more times before their lips became loose enough to start telling them what they wanted to know.
Jeremiah and Matáo had lost track of time, but when the men tried to get up and leave before they had given away too much, another man entered and said, "It's curfew boys, hit the hay. Lots to do tomorrow." He turned and walked away. Jeremiah and Matáo helped them outside, but instead of taking them to the docks, they led them towards the main gate. With the bridge destroyed, there was no need to guard it.
They took them to a place that Jeremiah knew about and tied them to a tree. The men were too drunk to realize what was happening to them, until it was too late. Jeremiah splashed water in their faces and began interrogating the men. It took him most of the night but he found out what he wanted to know. They heard an alarm sound in the city and they started to run.
They ran as fast as they could to the edge of the river. They couldn't take the ferry back to their horses and there were no small boats around. They began removing the armor and jumped into the river to swim to the other side. The water was cold in the fall night air, but the current wasn't too strong. Tired, cold, and wet, Jeremiah and Matáo pulled themselves out of the water and ran to their horses.
They each grabbed a saddle and started to quickly strap it to their horse. A voice from behind them said, "Stop right t'ere." They each reached for their swords. They weren't there. They had left them on the other side of the river with the armor. "W'eres yous tank yer goin'?" Jeremiah and Matáo, slowly, began to turn around to see who was behind them. Before they saw the face of the man who called to them, someone hit them over their heads and knocked them unconscious.
*****
Ryan had suggested that the group make camp. They had arrived at what remained of a small hovel the night before. This was the third such settlement, in four days, that they had seen since they left the Sentinel Tree from which they had arrived. They had spent some time at each village looking for things that they might be able to use.
All of the food had rotted and the animals slaughtered. They had been left lying in the open for the scavengers to feast on. The second village that they entered had a pack of wolves that had taken over the area. Chloé was thankful for Petra and Ryan fighting them off and Jonah shooting them with his bow, and they were able to make it through safely. They hadn't found much of anything at any of the villages, except for a few silvers and coppers that the attackers had missed.
This village was like the others. It had been completely burnt to the ground, and the animals killed. According to Petra, the bridge leading to the dwarven lands was less than half a day away, on foot. Ryan had decided to make camp here because it was getting late and there was a small cellar that the attackers had missed. He hadn't wanted the group to be trying to fight off any more wolves in the dark, so the four of them made their camp.
The cellar had some salt pork hanging, some dried corn, and many potatoes that the group decided to make a meal out of the night before. Their journey to the dwarven lands was taking longer than they had thought and the food that they had brought with them was all but gone. They packed several of the potatoes and the salt pork for the rest of their trip.
It was nearing midday when they reached the bridge. Jonah could see that the road had a lot of travelers recently. The ground was dry, but it was clear to him that several heavy wagons and many men had passed through the area within a moon's time. The footprints were too big to be made by a dwarf and the wagon tracks were unusually narrow. He also found evidence that this same group had passed through going the opposite way several weeks prior.
Not knowing if they were to be returning this way, the travelers quickened their pace and arrived at the dwarven settlement at the base of the Crescent Mountains before nightfall. The town was called Fjalls-r?tr, or foot of the mountain. It was situated at the base of the first mountain in the long chain of mountains. The dwarves that constructed the city, carved it from the mountain itself. Every building was cut and shaped inside of it and there were many tiers that stepped up the side of the mountain.
There were many farms that had fields ripe with harvest outside of the city as well. Ryan and the others saw many tiny people working the fields and gathering the fruits of their labor. When they arrived at the city gate, Petra began introducing the group to some of his friends. Ryan, at the suggestion of Petra, did not want the dwarves to know his true identity. The two kingdoms were on friendly terms and the majority of the dwarves were peaceful. But, there were a few dwarves that wouldn't want to pass up an opportunity for a ransom payment.
They decided that he would use the name Thayne while they were in the dwarven realm. After Thayne and others were introduced, Petra explained that they were traveling to Hjarta-fjalls and were seeking a place to stay for the night. They hadn't brought much coin with them, but a few of the silvers that they had found, had bought them all rooms for the night and a hot meal.
Thayne (Ryan) and Jonah went to one of the taverns to talk to the locals. When they had begun their journey, Jonah was disappointed that Nìa hadn't joined them, but after they were attacked by wolves, he was glad that she had stayed behind. He still resented Ryan for the way Nìa was around him, but he had proved himself in battle against the wolves, and he respected him for that, at least.
Petra had gone to attend to some business in the city, but assured them that he would return in time for them to leave in the morning. He was escorting them as far as Hjarta-fjalls. Chloé was tired from the long walk to the city and wanted nothing more than a bath and a bed. She left Thayne and Jonah to fend for themselves at the tavern. After a long and relaxing bath, she went to her room and went to sleep.
As she slept, she saw visions of a giant rock standing in a clearing that was surrounded by trees. Her vision showed her that there was some kind of writing etched into the stone. It was a language that she had never seen before. Beneath the writing was a hand print that looked as though it was drawn with blood. Her vision changed. Now she was in the Captain's quarters of the Peacekeepers of Oaken Meadow. She recognized many of the items in the room from her visits with Thomas.
The desk had been moved to be under the window and in the center of the room were the four beings that she had seen in another vision, the night of the attack. To her shock, she saw Matáo tied to a chair that was placed in the middle of the creatures. She saw Jeremiah too. His hands had been tied to the wall and the man from her other visions was speaking to him.
She saw a mist begin to drift through the window and it began to encircle Matáo. The mist began to take a form. It was of a man, but it was a cloud of mist as well. It spoke. She couldn't hear what it said. She watched as the man of mist spoke to the other man in the room. The man, not of mist, struck Jeremiah across the face with his hand. Jeremiah spat at him. The man who had struck Jeremiah, was about to hit him again, but he stopped, he looked towards the window.
The man then ran to it and looked outside. Chloé could see what looked like the light from a fire was emanating from outside the window. The man ran out of the door quickly and the man made of mist walked to where the man had been standing beside Jeremiah. He reached his hand out and grabbed for Jeremiah's throat. The mist wafted around it and lost its shape. Chloé was happy to see the man of mist look as though he were screaming the word, "No!" in a long and drawn out scream of rage.
The man of mist stopped and looked directly at Chloé. His form changed to a formless cloud and quickly moved to where her vision was being shown to her. Though his misty lips didn't move, she could clearly hear him when he said, "It won't be long before I will take what is owed to me." The cloud shifted and then drifted back out the window and she heard, "I'm coming for you all."
