Source Of The River (14 page)

A
t the end of a
second day of strenuous travel, the trio came within sight of the ocean.
Descending one last grass-covered hill was all that was needed to bring them to
the coastline. The sun was setting fast, and they would have to make camp for
the night. If River was going into the sea, he would have to wait until first
light. His companions would never let him wander away in the darkness

Kaiya looked back
up the hill at the path they had taken. “It won’t be as easy going back up,”
she commented.

“Maybe you can
summon a hurricane to blow us back to the village,” Galen replied with a mischievous
grin.

“If only,” she
said.

River touched a
hand to his forehead, wrinkling his brow as if in pain. Galen noticed his
friend’s discomfort.

“Are you all right?”
he asked.

“Yes,” River
replied. “There are so many voices.”

Galen looked at
Kaiya, who looked around behind her to see if anyone was there. It was clear
that neither of them were hearing the voices that River could hear.

“The sea has many
voices,” he explained. He took a seat on the grassy slope and stared out over
the water. Still feeling as though someone were watching him, he chose not to
relay the matter to his companions. They had already expressed their concern
for his entering the water alone, and he had no desire to trouble them further.
Most of the day’s conversation had been kept light, and he hoped to continue
the trend into the night.

“Let’s make camp,”
Kaiya said, taking out her blanket. The air at this elevation was warmer, but a
chilly breeze still came from the mountains.

They built a small
fire, and it wasn’t long before Kaiya and Galen fell asleep. After an
exhausting day of walking over rough terrain, they had little energy left for
anything else. As his companions slept beneath the stars, River remained awake,
listening to the voices of the ocean. He felt a strong compulsion to enter the
water, but he refrained. His companions would be frantic if they awoke to find
him missing. For their sake, he remained close by the fire. After a while, he
drifted off to sleep as well.

In a dream, he saw
the ocean. Its magnificent blue spread before him, the brightness of day
reflecting in its waves. Before his eyes, the blue faded and was replaced with
an orange glow. The surface of the water caught fire, and all before him was
engulfed in flames. The fire leapt toward the sky, leaving behind nothing but
black smoke.

Shielding his eyes,
he dropped to his knees, coughing. Squinting, he tried to make out the figure
approaching him. Whoever it was meant to do him great harm. The strength of
magic within this person was unmistakably strong. Before River could react, a
great downpour doused the flames, and the wind blew the figure from view. River
was alone once again, staring out onto the blue of the ocean.

At the first light
of dawn, River awoke. He felt surprisingly calm after his strange dream.
Sitting up, he did not feel any magical presence that had not been there
before. His companions were still sleeping as he looked upon the sea. The deep-blue
coloration was intact, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The weather was
fine, and there was no hint of any impending storm. He shrugged the dream away,
thinking it to be nothing significant. In the back of his mind, he still felt as
if someone were watching. Perhaps it was Ryllak, still worrying for his safety
and nothing more.

With the sun
shining down on her face, Kaiya finally awoke. She sat up to see River already
up, but Galen was still fast asleep. Tossing her blanket aside, she stretched
her arms and gave a final yawn before rising to her feet. Giving Galen a nudge
with her toe, she said, “Wake up!”

He startled from
his sleep and glared at Kaiya. Squinting his eyes from the morning light, he
tried to roll over and return to his dreams. Kaiya wouldn’t hear of it. She
pulled the blanket away from him and tossed it to the side.

“Come on, get up,”
she said.

Slowly, he lifted
himself from the ground and brushed the dust from his charcoal-gray robe.
Taking in a deep breath, he let out a long sigh.

“Not much of a
morning person, are you?” Kaiya asked, laughing.

He grunted.

“I’m ready to enter
the water,” River declared. “I don’t know how long I’ll be.”

“We’ll walk to the
coastline with you,” Kaiya replied.

The trio made their
way along the beach, a cool breeze greeting them from the sea. The waves
splashed gently upon the wet sand, leaving behind a faint trail of white foam.
A white seabird drifted lazily on the breeze, his piercing call seeming to go
on for miles.

“Did you bring a bathing
suit?” Galen joked.

Smiling kindly at
his friend, River said, “I’m afraid I’ll have to go as I am.”

“We’ll be waiting
for you,” Kaiya said. “Good luck.” She wasn’t sure what else to say. Not
knowing where the opal would be found, she couldn’t offer any real advice.
Though she’d been to this beach before, she rarely entered the water. She
wasn’t a strong swimmer, and she certainly couldn’t go to the bottom. It was
curious that River didn’t seem nervous. Even someone like him surely couldn’t
feel at home at the bottom of an ocean.

Galen seemed to be
reading her thoughts. With a laugh, he said, “Don’t get too comfortable down
there. You might not want to come back.”

River dismissed the
joke. “The water is a part of me, but I belong in the Vale. I’ll see you both
soon.”

With those words he
slowly walked into the surf and disappeared beneath the blue. Galen and Kaiya
watched, wondering if he might resurface immediately. Perhaps he would find the
artifact as soon as he was submerged. Nearly half an hour passed before either
of them spoke.

Finally, Kaiya
broke the silence. “I guess this might take a while. What shall we do to pass
the time?”

“Let’s have a walk
along the beach,” Galen said, staring off into the distance. “There’s a patch
of trees not too far away. Let’s go and have a look.” Galen had never been
outside the Vale, and he was interested to see more of the landscape.

“I’ve never been
much past here,” Kaiya admitted. She had only traveled to this beach with her
father to meet merchant ships. They used to sell wool to customers in the
Sunswept Isles, but the trade had ended some years ago. The Enlightened Elves
did not like depending on others for anything, and they preferred dealing with
their own kind instead of the dwarves.

“It will be an
adventure for both of us then,” Galen said. “Let’s go.”

Taking one last
look at the ocean where River had gone under, Kaiya checked to see if he was
returning. Seeing no sign of him, she nodded to Galen. They walked along the
sand and enjoyed the salty fragrance of the sea. The forested area was only a
few miles away, and Kaiya wondered if it was the same forest that would
eventually lead to the Vale.

“Is this the way to
your home?” she asked.

“Not really,” he
replied. “You’d have to stick to the mountain’s base and follow it to the Vale.
It would probably take three of four days, but I’m not really sure. I’ve never
been this way, and I don’t often look at maps.”

The beach stretched
on endlessly before them. After a while, they turned away from the ocean, bound
for the forest in the distance. The tall trees stood menacingly, hiding the
dangers inside.

D
espite being
pelted with saltwater spray from the speeding ship, Telorithan leaned heavily
upon the side rail. The orb in his hand was warm, and he could sense himself
coming closer to his prey. As they continued toward the shore, he noticed a
change within the orb. Peering inside, he saw River entering the ocean and
slipping beneath the blue.
Where is he going?

The orb’s orange glow faded as his target moved
farther from its gaze, hidden within the deep expanse of the ocean. Striding to
the front of the ship, he held the orb out into the wind. As it shimmered, he
changed directions until the flames within became red.

“Sailor,” he called to one of the elves behind
him. “We must change course. Head northwest to those islands.” He pointed into
the distance where three tiny islands jutted above the waves.

The sailor nodded and ran to inform the captain of
his passenger’s request. Only a moment later, the captain himself came to speak
with the sorcerer. His skin was darkened and rough from many years beneath the
sun, and his dirty brown hair was cut short.

“We’ll lose speed heading that way,” he said.
“There’s a reef that we’ll need to avoid.”

“I must reach those islands,” Telorithan insisted,
staring into his orb. The elemental was heading straight for those islands. It
was alone, and the second presence was nowhere nearby. His body tensed in
anticipation. He could almost feel the elemental’s power within his grasp.

The captain signaled his steersman to change
course and the ship slowed almost instantly. Ships from the Sunswept Isles used
special enchantments to allow them more speed and to aid their travel against
the wind, but they did nothing to protect a ship from a reef. They would have
to proceed with caution.

“We won’t be able to drop anchor there. You’ll
have to take a rowboat if you intend to set foot on those islands.”

Telorithan shot the captain a hateful look but
knew there was no use arguing. The ship was far too large to make it over the
reef, and he could not waste his magic for travel.

“Fine,” he grumbled, making his way to a row of
small boats tethered on the deck.

With the help of two sailors, Telorithan climbed
inside and was lowered to the water’s surface. “Return for me before
nightfall,” he instructed them. “If you don’t, there will be trouble.” His eyes
flashed red, and the young sailor nodded quickly.

The ship turned away from the reef, and Telorithan
began to row. He was less than a mile from the island, and the orb still buzzed
with activity as it sat upon his lap. The elemental was close. He did not yet
know how he would convince it to surface, nor did he know the creature’s
purpose in coming here. Though he had no idea what it was searching for beneath
the waves, he hoped that being bound in an elf body would force it to come to
the surface for air.

I will not fail.

Coming ashore, he paced back and forth across the
sand. Noticing this anxious activity, he forced himself to stop and took a seat
upon one of the many large stones littering the island’s surface. He did his
best to clear his mind, focusing only on his own energy. Drawing in a deep
breath, he held it for a second before releasing it. As he stared into the orb,
he willed the elemental to come to him.
Here is what you seek.

* * * * *

Hundreds of feet below the
surface, River glided through the depths. To his relief, salt water was as easy
to maneuver through as fresh water. He had expected it to be different from
what he was used to, but he felt as natural here as he did in the Blue River of
the Vale. Within the ocean were thousands of water elementals. In his elf form,
he wondered if any of them would know him or consider him their kin. With luck,
one of them might come near and help him in his search for the artifact.

All manner of life greeted his sight as he
searched for the opal. A school of small yellow fish played in the bubbles
created by a giant clam’s vibrant purple lips. An octopus scurried away from
River’s shadow, hiding itself in a tiny opening in the coral. Some of the fish
seemed curious about his presence, a few of them nipping gently at his robe. In
his heart, he wished he had time to explore and take in the wonders of the sea.
That would have to wait for another time, though. Today he must find the opal
and return to the dwarf village as quickly as possible. Lives were depending on
him, and he had no time for play.

In the distance, he spotted what appeared to be a
drop-off and possibly an underwater cave. That seemed a likely hiding place for
an artifact that didn’t want to be found. As he rotated in the water to
investigate the area, he felt the presence of magic pulling at him. It was not,
however, coming from the direction of the cave. What he felt was coming from
the opposite direction. Beyond the reef, there was shallow water that came up
to a sandbar. There might even be a small island nearby.
Would the ancients
have hidden it on land?
The only information the Spirit had given him was a
vision of this area. He had assumed the opal still rested at the bottom, but
perhaps it was on a beach or had long since embedded itself within the coral.

The presence of magic was unmistakable. Energy was
radiating toward him, calling him to join it. Taking a last look at the caves,
he decided to follow the magic. It was an artifact of great power that he was
seeking. Surely its presence would be easily felt by someone like him.

Making his way to the sandbar, he paused for a
moment. He knew he was only a half-day’s journey by sea from the Sunswept
Isles. If this was indeed the artifact he was sensing, why had the Enlightened
Elves allowed it to sit idle for so long? Their race highly prized magic, and
they would most likely kill each other to possess such a powerful item. Of
course it was possible that none of them could sense it. Perhaps it took the
skills of an elemental or a closer bloodline to the ancients themselves.

Being of the race of First Ones gave River an
inborn magical ability that was alien to the Enlightened Elves. All of them
could perform some minor spells, but it took immense study to master a single
form of elemental magic. The determined ones spent centuries studying to earn
the rank of Master. They were held in the highest regard by all those beneath
them, and the elite rank was required to hold any position in their government.

In contrast, the Westerling Elves learned magic
easily. Their close connection to the earth itself granted them this gift, but
that did not make them more powerful than their island kin. The Enlightened
Elves who became Masters would be formidable opponents should they choose to
be. Westerling Elves did not focus on any type of magic that could bring about
destruction. Instead they focused on sustaining life, and protecting the land
and creatures around them.

The pull of magic became stronger as he reached
the sandbar, and he decided he must investigate. It was entirely possible that
no Enlightened Elf with the skill to detect it had happened upon the artifact.
It was also possible that none of them had the ability to sense it at all.
Determined to find out what he was sensing, River brought his head above the surface
of the water. Indeed, there was an island before him. There were no trees, only
an abundance of cold, jagged rocks. The presence of magic was unmistakable, and
his hopes were high that he would soon be heading back with the opal.