First Comes The One Who Wanders (44 page)

He handed her a piece of some kind of root as they walked. "They say it helps with the headache."

Leilas popped it into her mouth. It tasted bitter, but she chewed on it anyway. "Have you had to babysit many drunken crafters?"

"There have been a few," he replied. "By the way, I might have led the captain of this ship to believe you’ve had experience navigating the sea."

"I've never even seen the sea," replied Leilas.

"I wouldn’t mention that to him," suggested the elf, "at least not until we're well on our way. I’m sure you can handle whatever comes up."

"Why do I have the feeling this trip is not going to go well?"

"I can’t imagine. I have every confidence there will be no trouble, on the ship anyway." He turned onto the street that led to the dock.

Leilas stopped in amazement at the sight before them. Water stretched as far as you could see in three directions. Blue-gray water rose and fell and broke into white caps against the rocks. Towering monoliths of red stone protruded from the water. Birds with webbed feet preened on the top of the stone towers and screeched with harsh cries to each other. Harsh barking noises joined in with the screeching of the birds. Leilas looked for what was making those noises. She soon realized they were coming from the seals and sea lions. She’d often seen pictures of these animals, but she’d never heard them speak before. She had to smile as Cephom’s words came back to her. The seals were telling the men to stay away from their territory. Perhaps if she’d had time, she could have learned to understand the words they were speaking.

Fascinated, she hurried to catch up to Erion. The smell of water, fish, smoke and spices filled her nostrils as the noise of the seals, birds, and men working filled her ears. As well as Cephom had described it, he hadn’t done this sea justice.

The Silver Seal wasn’t silver at all. It was a black ship with white sails. Men were busy hauling goods up the gangplank, while a tall, stout man, decked out in colorful satin tunic and breeches, called out orders. "Captain Finnias, I assume," said Leilas, as they approached the vessel.

"None other. Let me do most of the talking. Elves impress him." Erion led the way to the gangplank. "Permission to come aboard, Captain," he called out in a loud voice, over the noise of the dock.

"Who's there, now?" asked the captain, looking around to see who had addressed him.

"Erion and Leilan." The elf pulled her forward. "The crafter I told you about."

"So it is," said the Captain, squinting to see them through the sunlight. "I wasn’t really expecting you to come back. But we can use a crafter on the trip. Come aboard." He waved them up the gangplank. "We take off with the tide. Bilkins," he bellowed, practically in Leilas’ ear.

"Take them below and get them settled in," he told the hatchet-faced first mate, when he hurried to the captain’s side.

"They’ll have to share," he told the Captain, giving them a disapproving stare.

"Do I look like I care?" growled the Captain.

"Sorry sir," he muttered. "This way then. Be quick about it." Bilkins hurried off in the direction of a stairway. "I have better things to do than escort crafters around." Leilas followed after him, purposely going slow. Erion smiled at her small rebellion.

Bilkins led them down two flights of stairs, into a dark, narrow hallway and then opened a door into a room not bigger than her closet had been. There were two bunks stacked on top of each other and four drawers built into the wall. "Meals are at four bells, don’t be late or you won’t get any. The Captain expects his crafters to be topside when we cast off." With that, Bilkins turned and was soon out of sight.

"That wasn’t so hard," said Erion, throwing his pack on the bottom bunk.

"What exactly does a crafter on a ship do?" asked Leilas, placing her pack on the top bunk then sitting on the bottom bunk.

"Oh, you know–, the usual. Steer the boat out of the harbor, miss all the obstacles, keep the ship seaworthy, repair damage, calm storms, that sort of thing."

"Is that all?" Leilas asked sarcastically.

"That’s it," replied Erion innocently. "Simple as pie."

Leilas wasn’t sure she was going to fool the Captain into believing she was an experienced sailor when she didn’t even know what four bells meant. But crafting was crafting, she expected she could do it at sea as well as on land.

Their room was stuffy, hot and too small to do anything but sleep. They found their way back up to the main deck and watched as the men finished loading the cargo onto the ship. Leilas could feel the ocean begin to pull at the ship rather than push it and she deduced, rightly, it was time to head out to sea. The Captain didn’t ask for her help in negotiating the cove and she breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps this wouldn’t be too difficult after all.

"You keep a lively eye out for them sea monsters. They’ve been acting up lately, what with all those dark creatures about. We don’t want them capsizing us," said the Captain, as he left his place by the rail. "I’ll be in my cabin should you need me."

Leilas looked at Erion accusingly. Surely the Captain had mentioned this duty to him before they boarded. Somehow, he’d forgotten to mention it to her. Controlling animals was one of the hardest spells to master and one of the hardest to control, especially over a creature she’d never even seen. It took some crafters years to learn to control it. She knew the spell, but she’d never once used it.

"You’d better hope Sylph is watching over us on this trip," she whispered fiercely to Erion. "Because I have no idea what a sea monster looks like, much less what to say to it to make it not attack."

"No need worrying about something that hasn’t happened yet," Erion whispered back.

"Couldn’t you just have paid the man?"

"He didn’t want our money."

"Of course he didn’t. Why in the world would I think a bootlegger would want money?"

"You may find you have a great affinity for sea monsters," offered Erion, not answering her question. She didn’t really want an answer anyway.

She looked back at the dock, quickly receding from sight and forward to nothing but water. There was nothing she could do about the situation now. Taking a deep breath, she willed herself to be calm. "You never know," she replied. "I just may."

Leilas spent her days inspecting the ship for damage and repairing any that she found, watching the weather and learning to communicate with the animals that inhabited the waters. Erion helped her with this last task. Though he was a forest elf and not a sea elf he did have some ability to communicate with the sea creatures. Most of his time was spent regaling the Captain with stories. He must have known hundreds and the Captain never tired of his musical voice praising past feats of bravery and telling tales of love.

It was relatively easy work and Leilas was enjoying the respite from her travels. No one and no thing had bothered them on this leg of their journey. They'd been at sea two weeks when the first inkling of trouble appeared. A sea dragon began to follow them. It stayed far enough away the Captain wasn’t too concerned. Leilas knew it was watching her for someone. The peace she’d been feeling on this voyage disappeared, replaced by the heavy burden of what lay ahead.

"What do you suppose it’s doing out there?" asked the Captain uneasily after the third day of being followed.

"Watching," said Leilas, looking up from the rope she was repairing.

"I figured out that much, boyo. I meant why is it watching us?"

"I wouldn’t worry too much Captain. He’s not concerned about your illegal cargo," replied Leilas. The Captain stammered some denials before he stuck his pipe in his mouth and walked away. Leilas smiled to herself and went back to the rope.

Dragons were a tricky lot, full of magic and cunning. For the most part, they left people alone. They didn’t have much use for weak humans. Crafters and elves were a little more interesting, but usually only worth a glance or two. The fact that this dragon was watching with more than a passing interest told Leilas it had been pressed into service by one powerful enough to command its respect. Master crafters who were also gaunts came to mind, as well as Rengailai. It would only take a thrash or two of this sea dragon’s tail to capsize this ship. Yet, it kept its distance and just watched. What game was Rengailai playing and why? Leilas fretted over the question while she worked, but was no closer to a solution when she was done with her repair.

"They say," said Erion, when she broached the subject with him, "that Sylph sometimes takes on the form of a sea dragon. Perhaps you are not looking at this in the proper light. Perhaps this creature is here to protect you."

Leilas watched this creature with new eyes, wondering if it could have been sent by Sylph to protect them on their journey. She’d run into so many traps set to ensnare her, she hadn’t thought about the times it seemed she’d been rescued.

The idea that this creature had been sent by Sylph or maybe was Sylph intrigued her. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to try to communicate with the creature. When she’d believed it was evil, she was content to leave it alone. Now, she was curious. If it was sent by a dark crafter, trying to communicate could provoke it into action. If it wasn’t, well that was what she was trying to discover.

By the next day, she’d decided to try to talk to the dragon. She finished her chores then looked out to where the creature was lolling in the water. Its blue and green scales sparkled like jewels, its red eyes winked at odd intervals. It maneuvered through the water like a snake. Throwing caution to the wind, she cast the spell to converse and greeted the creature respectfully. It opened its eyes a bit wider when she spoke, then closed them again.

She thought it had heard her. Its eyes had done something, but she couldn’t be sure. Gathering her energy, she cast the spell once more and greeted the dragon again. This time it snorted and rolled away. Disappointed, Leilas respected the dragon’s silence and went about her duties, content to let the dragon watch from a distance.

The days passed quickly. They were already nearing the Isle of Mer. The Captain and the men grew more anxious the closer they came. Activity increased below deck and cargo was arranged to be unloaded at the Port of Merland. Leilas stood with the Captain as they navigated into port, although again, the Captain didn’t ask for her help. She had seen the obstacles he avoided and memorized them for future reference. She might have a need to know such things.

Yelling at the men to get the cargo unloaded, the Captain supervised the lowering of the gangplank. "We won’t need you or your elf friend until we are ready to sail, when the tide turns. If you have a hankering to go exploring," he said to her when the walkway was in place.

Leilas decided that was his way of telling her he didn’t want them around while he was conducting business and that was fine with her. She would take this opportunity to see how the people of the sea lived. Finding Erion below, they donned their cloaks and left the ship.

The Isle of Mer had been named for the mer folk who lived in the sea near the island. The people of the island were mostly fishermen and traders, buying and selling goods from the ships that passed through their port. Open stalls crowded the port and many vendors lauded the worth of their wares. Leilas and Erion wandered the narrow street slowly, looking at all the goods being offered.

Stopping at one table which was covered in medallions, Leilas studied them for quite a while. She searched for the Amulet of King Ley, but if it was here, it wasn’t for her to find. At a table tucked away behind the others, there was a man selling maps, spells, parchments and other written works. Leilas began looking idly through the maps. She looked at several before she lingered over one that was old and faded. Then she set it aside and looked at several others. Finally, when the vendor was certain she was just looking and not one to waste his time convincing his wares were valuable, she casually asked the price of several. She pointed to the old map and the man quoted her a low price. She shook her head and he looked at the worn condition and lowered the price. Reluctantly, or so it appeared, Leilas picked up the old piece of parchment and studied it again for several minutes, then agreed to the price. She tucked her purchase into her tunic and walked away, only then did she let her excitement show. The man smiled at her back, and then was gone.

"A bit spendy for a map that's out of date, in all likelihood," remarked Erion.

"Cheap if you consider it shows us exactly where we need to go," replied Leilas.

"Where is that?" asked Erion, stopping to buy some apples.

"I’ll show you when we get back to the boat. Is one of those apples for me?" Erion threw the round fruit in her direction. She caught it with no trouble and took a large bite.

They passed the day peacefully, though most of the people glared at them in distrust. It was a bad time to be a light crafter in this part of the world. Although the Isle of Mer was part of the School of Sea’s domain, the School of Fire was but a week away by boat and most of the crafters in these waters lately were Fire crafters.

"I suppose if we were going to run into trouble, we would have by now," said Erion. "It’s hard not to notice a forest elf and a crafter you can’t identify, especially in a town where most people are fishermen or sailors."