Richard Tuttle - Elvangar

“The girls seemed to have recovered well from the incident last night,” remarked the Emperor. “I guess the Fakarans are built of hardy stock. Most Khadoran youngsters would still be hiding from the hellsouls.”

The girls returned with more plates and repeated the performance, ending with a low bow to the Emperor. This time Halman could not help but chuckle when they left.

“You will explain this, Halman,” the Emperor said. “What is going on?”

“I thought it would ease tensions to explain who you are,” admitted the Torak soldier. “It appears to have taken the girls’ minds off of last night. I hope you do not mind.”

Marak’s confusion quickly faded and was replaced with a smile. “You have talents that have not yet been discovered, Halman. Your discovery last night that decapitation can vanquish these creatures is but another reason of why I value your services so much. What do you think the chances are of finding another horse in this area?”

“You will not have much luck in that endeavor,” answered Crawford as he brought a pitcher of coffee to the table. “In a few month’s time your chances will be greatly improved, but not now. The people in these parts are farmers, and they have no horses to spare. Perhaps in Meliban you will have more luck.”

“Caldal and I can continue to ride double,” offered MistyTrail. “It is not a problem.”

The Emperor nodded, and the innkeeper retreated to the kitchen.

“We need to be more alert in our travels from now on,” announced Gunta. “There will certainly be more attacks on us before we reach Angragar.”

“Caldal and I can take turns scouting ahead,” offered Eltor. “We will not be mistaken for a Khadoran Emperor.”

“Don’t leave Mistake and me out of this,” interjected MistyTrail. “I am used to traveling unseen in a forest, and I am sure Mistake can as well.”

The Emperor smiled broadly as he pushed his empty plate towards the center of the table. “You have all shown your ability to be part of this group last night. We will ride with a forward scout from now on. Everyone who wants to scout will have a chance to do so. Now it is time to get on the road.”

The travelers rose and headed for the rear door of the inn. Emperor Marak extracted a small pouch of gold as he rose. He paused at the door to the kitchen on his way to the door. The innkeeper and his daughters had left the kitchen to watch the group leave. Emperor Marak handed the pouch to Crawford.

“You ended up with more work than you bargained for when you accepted us last night,” smiled the Torak. “I hope this will be enough to compensate you for your troubles.”

The innkeeper opened his mouth to protest, but Marak had already moved away and stood in front of the two girls. He bowed to the first girl and kissed her hand. He repeated the procedure for the second girl and then stood and smiled at the two of them.

“It was a memorable night for all of us at the Western Woods,” he said with a smile. “Remember what was good about it, and push the other thoughts away. As long as there are men in this world like your father, mankind will not lose hope in their future. Be well.”

The girls were giddy with excitement as the Emperor walked out the door. They rushed to the door to watch the Khadorans leave. Crawford exited the inn and put his arms around the girls as Halman led the procession out of the stables.

* * *

“Land ho!” shouted the sailor from the rigging, his arm pointing slightly to the starboard side of the bow.

“Stand ready,” Captain Mynor shouted to the small crew of the Sprite. “We are now in the enemy’s territory. Be ready for evasive action at any moment.”

The Sprite was the sleekest and fastest of Khadoran vessels. It carried a crew of only four besides the captain. It was a small ship built for speed and not for the heavy burdens of cargo. Captain Mynor stood at the helm and corrected his course slightly to starboard. Beside him, a member of the crew recorded the change in direction. The crewman kept a detailed log of the travels of the Sprite, and it would be up to him to chart the Island of Darkness as the captain circumnavigated it.

The other two members of the crew stood at the stern rail, one on each side of a barrel of oil. They carried bows and had scores of arrows readied to shoot at pursuing ships. If the Sprite were chased, the barrel of oil would provide for flaming arrows to keep the enemy at bay while the captain tried to outrace the pursuer.

Captain Mynor was excited at finding the Island of Darkness. He had plotted the course of the Khadoran ship that had sighted the sailboat carrying the elves. He had then used that information to chart a hypothetical course for the sailboat. Backtracking along that hypothetical course from Raven’s Point had brought the Sprite to its current position. Now that land had been sighted, the captain was thrilled. He knew the possibility existed that the Motangans would attempt to attack the Sprite and capture the crew, but Captain Mynor had other plans for the voyage. He was prepared to lure the Motangan vessels far out to sea and then outrace them back towards the island. No matter what happened, he was determined to properly place the Island of Darkness on the charts for Khadoran seamen.

* * *

Emperor Marak’s party rounded a bend in the trail and saw Eltor in the distance sitting stationary on his horse. The party immediately halted. Mistake swiftly wove an air tunnel and directed it towards Eltor.

“Speak softly,” she ordered the elf. “Why have you stopped?”

“There are several people in the forest between us,” Eltor answered. “They are on your left about halfway between us. They let me pass by, but I did not think I could turn around to warn you. I figured that you would stop when you saw me sitting here.”

Mistake repeated the elf’s words to the Emperor. The Torak used hand signals to order the party to dismount. They tied their horses to trees and huddled at the edge of the trail.

“MistyTrail,” ordered the Emperor, “I want you to swing around to the left to get behind those people. We need to identify them before we attack. Can you do that without being seen?”

“Easily,” grinned the Sakovan. “I will use an air tunnel to let you know who they are and how many there are.”

The Torak nodded as MistyTrail slipped into the woods. He turned to the Chula shaman.

“We need some type of distraction to keep their interest away from MistyTrail,” he said. “What can you do?”

“I can provide a distraction for her,” the Chula grinned, his whiskers dancing from the movement of his lips.

Without any further explanation, Axor slipped into the woods. Everyone was watching him as he slipped behind a tree. They were expecting to see him move further into the forest, but they never did. Instead, a large tiger moved silently through the trees towards the supposed position of the hidden people.

“Where did he go?” Caldal asked softly. “Does he know there is a tiger in the forest with him? He may get eaten before he distracts anyone. Perhaps I should go help him?”

“Remain here,” ordered the Torak. “A Chula shaman is very much at home in a forest. He will not be attacked by any tiger. Everyone ready your bows.”

The tiger moved slowly, its nose sampling the air with every step. Within a few minutes it had sighted the first of the humans. The tiger watched the human for several moments before circling behind the man. It saw three more humans as it crouched low among the underbrush. Suddenly, it smelled MistyTrail. The tiger moved deeper into the brush so she would not see it.

“I see four men,” MistyTrail reported softly through the air tunnel. “I cannot tell if they are hellsouls or not. What should I do?”