Richard Tuttle - Island of Darkness

MistyTrail’s face clouded in confusion. She remember when she first heard the reading of the Scroll of Kaltara and thought it was just a story, but then Lyra came to the Sakova and became the Star. How could she dismiss ancient scrolls after that?

“What did the scrolls say?” asked MistyTrail.

“The elves used to trade with the humans at Angragar,” recalled Mistake. “In fact, it was the elves who created the Qubari Jungle to hide the ancient city. They had been attacking it when they found out who their real enemy was.”

“They created the jungle?” MistyTrail asked skeptically. “That is hard to believe.”

“Perhaps for you,” conceded Mistake, “but I have been there. I entered the ancient city of Angragar. The city was partially destroyed by large siege engines, just like the scrolls reported. The city was guarded by hellsouls, just like the scrolls said. I also met trolls in the jungle who thought I smelled like an elf. They had no reason to lie, MistyTrail.”

“Smelled like an elf?” echoed MistyTrail. “What does an elf smell like? Do you think that you are an elf?”

“I think we are probably descended from the ancient elves,” nodded Mistake. “It would be strange for all of the elves to die at the same time. Some of them must have had families that lingered for years. I guess one of them was an ancestor of ours.”

“That still leads to the man without a hat being a relative,” MistyTrail pointed out.

“No,” countered Mistake. “It only means he might also be descended from some ancient elf. I am sure there must be plenty of people around with pointed ears.”

“How many have you known?” inquired MistyTrail.

“None,” conceded Mistake before she quickly added, “but that does not mean that they don’t exist.”

“We will wait,” MistyTrail said with determination.

Mistake shrugged and watched the scene below in silence. What bothered her most was not the wasted time spent to find the man with the pointy ears. What she was concerned about was the depression MistyTrail would go through when she found out the man was not her brother. Mistake had experienced enough of that to know the feeling.

“There he is,” MistyTrail whispered excitedly.

Mistake saw the man coming up in a bucket. She stared at his pointy ears and felt excitement course through her body even as she tried to tell herself that he was just a man.

“What are you going to do?” asked Mistake. “He will not be in this room for long.”

“You will see,” grinned MistyTrail as she watched the man step out of the bucket onto the walkway. “I have experience in playing with people from guarding the Sakova.

Mistake looked at MistyTrail with concern on her face.

MistyTrail wove an air tunnel and positioned it near the bottom of the stairs from the walkway. She waited anxiously for the man to approach it.

“Stop,” MistyTrail whispered through the air tunnel as the man stepped off the stairs. “Where is your hat?”

Mistake giggled softly as the man turned and looked around. His hand subconsciously went to his head to confirm the absence of his hat. His mouth opened to speak.

“Silence,” ordered MistyTrail. “You will not speak until I direct you to. Walk to your left slowly.”

The man stood and rotated slowly to find the person talking to him. He shook his head in wonder, but he followed the instructions. A few other workers came up on buckets and immediately left through one of the tunnels, but the man without a hat walked slowly to his left.

“Make another left,” ordered MistyTrail.

Again the man searched for the person giving him directions, but he complied. He ended up directly below Misty Trail.

“Stop,” she ordered. “What is your name? Say it softly.”

“Eltor,” the man said softly.

“What are you?” asked MistyTrail.

“I am a miner,” answered the man. “I have lost my hat. Can I go now?”

“No,” frowned MistyTrail. “Why do you have pointy ears?”

The man looked around again, but he did so in frustration. MistyTrail could see his hands clenching in anger.

“Answer the question,” MistyTrail said forcefully.

“All elves have pointy ears,” snapped the man. “Where are you? Who are you?”

“You must release him,” warned Mistake. “The whip man will back soon. The apes are beginning to look around like the work day is done.”

“I am a friend,” MistyTrail whispered into the air tunnel. “Are you free to return here tonight?”

“You don’t sound like a friend to me,” snapped the elf. “If I am found here standing idle I will be whipped.”

MistyTrail bit her lower lip as she contemplated her next move. Mistake nudged her to urge her to finish the conversation. MistyTrail sighed and dropped the hat into the large chamber.

“Do not look up,” she warned. “You will expose us. Come back here tonight when the room is empty.”

Mistake could tell that the elf wanted to look up really badly, but he didn’t. The hat floated down and landed a few paces away. Eltor walked swiftly to it and picked it up. He placed the hat on his head and walked hurriedly into one of the tunnels. MistyTrail collapsed the air tunnel.

“What if he betrays us?” asked Mistake as she heard the bellowing of the whip master approaching.

“He won’t,” MistyTrail said hopefully. “He is an elf.”

“So he says,” frowned Mistake. “I am not sure that I believe him. Even so, he does not know that we are truly friendly to him. We are taking a big chance here, MistyTrail. We don’t even know if he can return here tonight. They may keep the workers in cells for all we know.”

“If he does not come, I will go looking for him,” declared MistyTrail.

“You can’t,” frowned Mistake. “Suppose he is an elf. That means that the elves still exist. It means there is even less of a chance that he is a relative. I think if he doesn’t show we should leave this place.”

“Look,” argued MistyTrail, “our purpose was to find out where we are. Why do we need to risk going into a city when Eltor can tell us?”

“Alright,” conceded Mistake. “We will wait to see if he shows, but you are not going down there again. Promise me that, or I am leaving with the rope.”

The whip man entered the chamber and looked around. He shouted to the apes, and they all moved away from the wheel. They shuffled into the entrance to one of the tunnels, and the whip man stormed into a different one. The chamber was empty.

“I promise that I won’t go down there without asking you first,” declared MistyTrail. “That is the best I can do. Do not abandon your sister.”

Mistake appeared angry at first with MistyTrail’s response, but she soon chuckled.

“That is so much like a ploy that I would try on you,” she grinned. “We are very much alike. We will stay together.”

* * *

LifeTender and StarWind accompanied the Star of Sakova to the schoolhouse in Alamar. They tied their horses to a tree next to the building and walked in the front door. The students turned to see who was entering, but the Sakovans ignored them and walked along the corridor to the dining room. The room was empty, but the door to Temiker’s office stood open. StarWind moved swiftly to it and peered inside. She grinned broadly and waved the others over. Lyra and LifeTender entered the office. Temiker sat behind his desk and FalconEye dosed in a chair before it. Temiker rose to his feet and bowed slightly to his niece.

“You have arrived safely,” the Omungan mage greeted the Sakovans. “Did the Imperial Guards question you at the gates?”

“Not at all,” answered StarWind as LifeTender moved next to FalconEye. “Should they have?”