Empress Aurora Trilogy Quest For the Kingdom Parts I, II, and III Revised With Index (Quest For the Kingdom Set) (48 page)

They scrambled
down the stairs, through the chamber, down the second set of stairs and back to
their chambers, the Yeshui hot in their pursuit. They scurried to assemble
their possessions and ran from the abode where they had spent so many pleasant
days.

Not until they
were out of the cave and back on the path in the plateau did the Yeshui leave
them alone. Then they slammed the door of the cave with a resounding thud. The
little band of Alexandrians stared at it, with heavy hearts as despair
threatened to engulf them.

“We had no
chance to bid farewell to Tashima and Chodena,” Kyrene mourned, tears brimming
in her hazel eyes like a flooded pool filled with fallen autumn leaves after a
hard rain.

“Nor say
goodbye to Kipui and Pembui,” Felix sighed. “How I shall miss Kipui’s feeble
attempts at humor!”

He looked at
Marcus, then at Dag, and the three of them laughed through their tears,
remembering a few of the pathetic jokes Kipui had invented.

“If only they
would have received the truth!” Marcus groaned. “Then we should not have had to
leave our dear friends. What more could I have said or done?”

“But, Marcus,”
Kyrene consoled, “they are a people who think they have reasoned everything.
Such become proud, and pride does not admit when it is mistaken.”

This
observation cheered Marcus somewhat, but not much. The others sighed or groaned
in mourning the friends they had to leave so hastily. Around them the night was
still raining stars.

Their
attention was captured by a star that was falling quite close. Suddenly there
was a dazzling flash of light that turned the night around them to day, and the
earth beneath them shook. Just beyond the far side of the lake a plume of smoke
rose in the air. The sky darkened and night descended once more.

They quickly
ran as fast as they could to the place where they had seen the plume of smoke.
As they rounded the edge of the lake they saw that the smoke was not confined
to one spot, but several. The smoke gradually cleared, and where it had
billowed they now saw several lumps of some gray metallic objects. Out of
curiosity Felix put out a hand to touch one, cried out and drew his hand back
again.

“It is burning
hot!” he exclaimed.

“What is it?”
Cort asked. “Where did it come from?”

Marcus looked
at the sky exploding with the cascading lights, then at the alien objects on
the ground.

“It is a star
from the heavens,” he smiled at Cort. “And it was sent by Dominio Himself.”

They were once
again on the River Zoe. The days grew longer and warmer as spring advanced. The
May days showcased a variety of wildflowers on the riverbanks that bordered
their course, delicate flowers that none of them had ever seen before; a type
of bluebell but smaller and more dainty than those in Valerium, a coral spray
with fragile fern-like leaves, a button-like flower that shaded from bright
yellow into a deep golden brown. These signs of life renewing itself cheered
their spirits, and reminded them that sadness, like winter, does not last
forever. The rain stops, the clouds part and dissipate to reveal the sun which
was there all along.

They continued
along, and the land became wilder and stranger. They passed tall conical hills
that seemed to consist entirely of moss and grass, and they seemed enveloped in
a steaming mist as the days grew warmer. They saw tall stalks of greenish
yellow that looked like reeds growing on the banks.

On and on they
whisked along, until they once again faced the open sea. Zoe lifted them out of
the river and deposited them safely into the ocean current. By now they were
all seasoned sailors, and found themselves anticipating with eagerness the
beauty of the sunsets and sunrises, the sea breezes and the salty scent of the
marine air. And the open horizon was more than welcome after a week spent in
the enclosure of the mountainside. It was June and they were young and felt
ready for whatever escapade befell them.

This was the
state of affairs when they came to the island.

The day was
fair, one of those rare days without a cloud to be seen. The sky was a pale
blue almost white in its glaring light, and the sea was a shimmering silver
calm, almost motionless. Had it not been for the current of the River Zoe
carrying them along they would have lain idle.

With a calm
sea and a cloudless sky, it was difficult to discern where the one ended and
the other began. Which is why they nearly passed the island.

For hours they
had not seen any sign of life. No leaping porpoises or flying fish had amused
them with their antics; no breeze stirred the air around them or the water
beneath them. It was as still and solemn as a wood in November after the birds
have departed for the winter, and the trees dropped all of their leaves until
the return of spring.

And then they
heard it; faint at first, then gradually gaining in volume. Felix, who had the
keen hearing of a fox, detected it before the others. He was in the midst of a
lively debate with Dag regarding the meaning of laying down one’s life for a
friend, as Alexandros taught.

“It means one
must die so his friend may live,” Dag stated firmly. “It is clear.”

“No, it means
more than that,” Felix insisted. “It should mean to give up even what is most
precious to you, the very thing that is your reason to live, don’t you see?”

Dag shook his
head and stood his ground. Felix tried to explain again.

“Take for
example; two brothers inherit a small portion of land. It is not large enough
to support the different crops they both want to plant, yet they each own half.
Would it not be reasonable for one brother to give up his half so his brother
can plant on the remaining portion and reap a bountiful crop instead of …”

Felix broke
off his words, and a look of intense concentration came over his face.

Dag started to
speak, but Felix motioned him to silence. He strained forward to listen.

“Do you hear
that?” he whispered.

Dag and the
others listened, but could hear nothing.

“Listen,”
Felix said.

Still they
heard nothing.

“Ah, you just
can not win so you say you hear a noise,” Dag grinned at Felix.

“No! I
hear…there! Now do you hear it?” he asked, looking around at the others.

Now they all
heard. A voice of crystal clarity drifted to them from somewhere near at hand.
It was a voice almost angelic in its beauty, singing in a tongue they did not
know. It rose to heights of ecstasy, and sank to depths of despair. On each one
of them it took hold, entrancing them, captivating them as if by a spell. It
lilted in joy, and lulled in serenity, but it eluded them as they eagerly
searched the horizon for its source.

“Quickly, we
must find it!” Marcus shouted.

His zeal was
matched by the others who longed to discover the source. All felt that they
would never have peace for their soul again until they encountered the singer
and learned the song.

At last they
spied what at first seemed the hump of a whale lying on the ocean’s surface. As
they drew closer to it, however, they saw that it was a tiny island, lying low
in the water, nearly invisible until one happened upon it.

Their boat
drifted along and finally came to rest in a small beach. The isle itself was
flat, treeless, and composed of white sand so pure it resembled sugar, and in
the blazing light of the clear sky and calm ocean they would have missed it
completely had it not been for the song.

The song was
now louder, filling their heads with its melody. They stumbled out of the boat,
so mesmerized by the music that each wandered around. The unearthly light gave
a further air of unreality to the island, and for a moment they felt as though
they had stumbled into a dream.

Indeed, each
of them felt as though the desire of their heart would be realized in this
place of enchantment. All of them, one by one, as they wandered and separated
from each other, felt that on this isle all of their dreams could come true.

What was that
vision that beckoned just on the horizon?

“Mama! Papa!”
Elena cried, tears of joy welling from her eyes as she ran to meet them.

Cort saw his
parents also holding out their arms as they never had before. Kyrene saw the
face of a friend who died of fever when she was only a child. Dag saw his lost
love, Fanchon, running to meet him. But she disappeared before he could embrace
her.

Marcus saw
Tullia, standing straight and tall, waiting for him with one hand held out in
greeting. He ran to take it, but she dissolved into nothing and he clutched at
the air.

He turned and
met Felix, whose face reflected his own despair, and wondered if he had beheld
the same vision. For a moment his lips tightened and he wheeled away from the
faded vision.

One by one
they met with disappointment as the visions proved to be nothing more than
illusions. The song had changed now, and seemed discordant, jarring on the ear.

Elena placed
her hands over her ears to block the song. As she did so she looked downward
and screamed.

“Asps!” she
screamed. “This island is crawling with asps!”

And all of
them saw what they had missed before, under the spell of the song; slithering
asps, dozens of them, all of them heading for the little band of travelers.

“Head for the
boat, but keep your faces to the snakes,” Marcus ordered.

Moving almost
imperceptibly they backed up to where they left the tiny boat. The asps
followed them, now rising threateningly. The song, they realized, had stopped.

Upon reaching
the boat they did not board it in their usual manner, but waded into the water
with it, where one by one they seated themselves, then felt the current carry
them away.

“Praise be to
Dominio for His protection!” Kyrene rejoiced. “Those asps were meant to be the
death of us!”

Marcus agreed
with a bitter shake of his head.

“I am to blame
for our near demise,” he said. “We should never have followed a voice that is
unseen. That is what happened to Chloe, who listened to the voice in the
Waterfall of Wisdom. Surely the Astra lured us to this evil place under a spell
of temptation. Indeed, they are probably the asps in one of their forms. We
must pay heed and take care not to fall for such tricks again.”

The others
agreed, and watched the horizon carefully for any hidden perils on the silent
expanse of the sea.

They knew the
day would be hot and sultry. The sun had risen in a ball of flame so red that
is seemed as if the sky itself was on fire. Already this morning they were
perspiring and their robes clung to them like wet towels used after the baths.

The July
weather had been mild so far with fine days and smooth seas. Marcus didn’t mind
if the day was hot so long as it was fair. They had been at sea for more than a
month and eagerly watched for a sign of land.

The long days
had tested their tempers as they were continually in one another’s company,
with no amusement to divert them. Felix attempted to lift everyone’s spirits
with games of wit, and Kyrene entertained them with long sagas about the heroes
of her homeland in Solone. Cort became fretful at the inactivity, and Marcus
himself longed to walk on land again. Dag never complained, but kept an eye on
the horizon for perils, while Elena sulked at the boredom, and declared she
could not bear to eat one more fish.

Their only
pleasure was in the spectacular sunsets and sunrises that are only to be
glimpsed at sea. Sunsets of violet waves and orange clouds that looked like an
image from a fancy, with sunrises that featured rose-tinged clouds piled so
high from the sea that they looked as though they would climb to the heavens
themselves.

The day came
at last when they spied a break in the line of the horizon. Actually, they were
several masses in a chain of islands. Excitement broke out among them as they
anticipated a respite in their voyage.

“Is it a large
island, or a small one?” Cort inquired. “I hope it is enormous so I can spend
an hour running around it!”

“I wonder whether
it is inhabited, and what its people are like?” Felix commented.

“And if they
are amicable,” Marcus added.

“Yah,” Dag
agreed. “That would be good!”

“I hope there
are no asps,” Elena shuddered.

Kyrene put a
comforting arm about her.

“We will take
whatever adventure Dominio sends us,” she said, with eyes sparkling with
excitement.

“You do not
fear danger?” Elena wondered, in a tone of doubt.

“I do not like
danger,” Kyrene confessed, “but it is more to my liking than boredom, which I
had in plenty in Solone! So, I will enjoy the exciting escapades of my travels
before I return home once more to the monotony and safety of dull routine.”

Felix chuckled
in appreciation. Marcus also admired Kyrene’s daring spirit. He realized he would
miss her when the time came for her to leave them. When would that be, he
wondered? When their task was accomplished? Or was it possible that she and
Felix…

Marcus was
suddenly diverted in his musings by a glance at Elena. Her black eyes were
flashing at Kyrene, and her lips were tightened to a straight red line. He was
puzzled by the girl from Esperanza, so docile on the surface, with hidden fire
just below. Did she merely attain to a demure veneer as became maidenly
modesty, or was she really deceptive and kept her true nature hidden from the
world?

A cry from Dag
disturbed his meditations.

“Land!” he
called out.

And there
arose from the sea a large island with a conical peak at its far edge. The
terrain was rugged, yet covered in a lush green. Surrounding the island were
smaller ones of varying size, some of them, those closest to the island, were
as jagged as the main island. The outlaying islands were flatter, but still a
lush green.

To the weary
little band of voyagers they were a sight as welcome as a refreshing rain on a
hot summer day. With a sky of cerulean blue dotted with fluffy white clouds
overhead, it seemed as if paradise itself beckoned to them with arms opened
wide, and they were more than willing to accept the invitation.

They came to the
nearest isle, a small one of perhaps a mile in circumference. They opted to
debark here and stretch their cramped legs as well as scout the lay of the land
before proceeding.

They drifted
into a natural harbor bordered by strange trees. They were clearly visible from
their boat, with trunks that bulged outward, then grew upward. They had no
branches except at the top which billowed out in fringes of feathered fronds.

As the boat
came into shore, the turquoise waters paled to aqua, then peridot green. Where
the beach met the water it turned from green to white, reflecting the tiny
white pebbles on the beach. For it was not sand that they trod upon but a hard
white substance consisting of pebbles, reminiscent of the white stones that
were abundant near the house of Xenon on the Isles of Solone.

The hills rose
ahead of them and eagerly they walked or ran in their direction, delighted to
exercise and explore. Here and there they glimpsed the wildlife of the island;
low-lying reedy green plants, trees that bore a strange kind of purple fruit
that resembled a plum, but was larger and tasted first sweet and then sour, and
the oddest of all was a flower that resembled the flames of a fire. It was
yellow at its center, and spewed out long spiky petals of orange that darkened
to red.

After their
first tour of the island they returned to the boat, where they held a council
to determine a plan of action.

“Shall we make
camp here tonight, or leave and explore the rest of the islands?” Marcus asked.

“I vote we
leave and explore the rest of the islands,” Felix answered promptly. “For there
is no sign of life here and we must have been sent to this place for a reason.
But it is not on
this
island.”

“I say we camp
here a bit,” Dag disagreed. “It is good to feel land once more. And we need
some rest.”

The others had
no preference, so Marcus cast the deciding vote.

“I vote we
camp here tonight, then explore the rest of the islands tomorrow morning.”

So it was
decided, and after they made a fire using some branches from the trees where
they found the purple fruit, they made a meal of freshly caught fish, more of
the purple fruit, and some berries Cort found growing on bushes not far from
the flaming flowers.

They
investigated further and found a cave near the shore where they stowed the boat
for the night. They decided to sleep out in the open under the trees with the
feathery branches. As the sun sank below the horizon they marveled at the
beauty of the sight framed through the fronds. The full moon rose in the sky as
they lay down to sleep in its pale light.

When they rose
in the morning, they discovered they did not need to leave the island to search
for signs of life. For standing in a circle around them were half a dozen or so
young men with bronzed skin, clad only in a brightly colored cloth that covered
them from the waist to the middle of the thigh. They had curly dark hair, brown
eyes, and carried long poles of wood sharpened at each end. And they pointed
them directly at the Alexandrians.