The isles of the cutlass.., p.40
The Isles of the Cutlass Sea, page 40
‘Unless one is stupid enough to pay them a visit,’ said Falk grumpily. The old man had been the quickest of them to recover and now he pointed a warning finger. ‘Whatever we attempt, we can be sure that they are going to attack us with their necklaces as soon as we sail into their territory. Part of the curse seems to be their desire to shackle anyone they meet to their own terrible fate and bring them to the depths of the sea.’
‘As long as we stay close to Fjolmungar, I’m not worried at all,’ said Uldini, shrugging his shoulders. ‘What sea creature would dare to challenge such an enormous sea-snake?’
‘Then that fleabag isn’t all bad,’ grunted Trogadon, taking a drink from his wineskin.
‘So, we don’t know what we’re doing?’ asked Ahren hoarsely, his voice betraying his self-accusations. ‘I’ve sworn to the gods and now I will break this oath. What a fool I’ve been!’
Fisker’s hand slammed loudly on the table while Cassobo chattered angrily at Ahren. ‘Stop feeling sorry for yourself, it doesn’t suit you!’ said the blond Paladin angrily. ‘Your promise gave Aluna hope – the hope that the Paladins really are the champions of the gods, sent forth to bring an end to the Dark Days! If we accomplish our mission, her faith will be restored – and the faith of many others too.’
Falk nodded. ‘He’s right, boy. If we really do manage to free the Lost Tribe, then the Paladins will have returned from the land of legends for once and for all. Every bard will sing our praises, which will suit us down to the ground, for in the oncoming war it will not be merely us who have to believe in ourselves. All the poor souls who will have to take on the Dark Ones without the assistance of magic armour and weapon must also have faith in us.’
‘Well spoken,’ added Uldini, whose eyes looked cold and calculating. ‘The armies of the Eastern Lands will be swamped with volunteers once the news has spread.’
‘And we will free a tribe that has been enslaved for centuries,’ interjected Jelninolan, putting a stop any political ulterior motives that Uldini might have been considering mentioning.
‘So, are we going to give it our best shot?’ asked Falk, and everyone in the group nodded. Ahren felt somewhat better now that all his companions were willing to take part in this dangerous venture. It really was something to be considered an equal of the others around the table, but his vow had placed his companions under an obligation, without his having asked them first. The fact that they were going to share his burden without complaint, meant a lot to him.
‘The key to such an undertaking is information,’ said Fisker, whereupon Cassobo began to chatter loudly. ‘You don’t need to scream, my good friend,’ scolded the Paladin. Then he turned to the others. ‘Cassobo says we must camouflage ourselves and watch them. Find out what they do when they’re not ambushing ships.’
‘Not a bad idea,’ said Falk. ‘Is that possible?’ he asked the two magicians.
Uldini and Jelninolan exchanged questioning looks.
‘With a lot of effort,’ responded Uldini after a moment. ‘But not for long, and then they will be back in the depths and we won’t. We will just see our own silly selves reflected on the surface of the water.’
‘Can Selsena go in among them and spy?’ asked Trogadon. ‘She will hardly stand out, being a whale.’
Falk shook his head. ‘She might be able to swim by them once or twice, but I think an extended period alongside them can only arouse suspicions. And anyway, the Lost Tribe must eat from time to time, and I would be quite certain that whale meat is on their menu.’
A silence descended on the room, and when Khara finally spoke, a shiver of fear ran down Ahren’s spine.
‘Somebody has to mingle with them,’ she said, her voice trembling. ‘Either in disguise or as one of them.’
Uldini looked as if he had just bitten into a lemon. ‘The girl is right,’ he said hesitantly. ‘If it works, we can find out about the curse in more detail, which will help us in our goal.’ The silence that followed was even heavier than the humid air within the room.
‘I’ll do it,’ said Ahren eventually, having gathered up all his courage. ‘It is my oath, my idea. I have to stand up for it.’ Even if he was terrified at the thought of being pulled down into the ocean depths with one of those cursed necklaces around his neck, he knew he had to take on the burden of fate if he were going to help Aluna and keep his word.
‘Out of the question,’ said Jelninolan in a voice of steel. ‘A Paladin under the control of the dark god? We know nothing about this curse. Who knows if it will open the way to the Adversary having complete control over your mind? Or what he might do to your blessing of the gods? A Paladin doing this is completely impossible.’
‘If I were to suggest myself now, that would sound cowardly, wouldn’t it,’ said Fisker, making an extremely poor attempt at a joke, which fizzled out in the tense atmosphere within the cabin.
‘Well…you can forget about me,’ said Trogadon. ‘Unless you want to search the seabed for me afterwards.’ He gestured straight down with his hand. ‘We dwarves drop at the same speed as the iron we like to forge so much.’
‘And I’m afraid we Ancients are ruled out too,’ said Uldini. ‘Either our magical instincts defy the curse, or we fall under HIS control and become terrifying weapons in the hands of our enemy.’
‘That just leaves me, then,’ said Khara, her voice quaking, and her face a deathly pale.
Ahren leaped up, ignoring the pain in his leg. ‘No, no, no! I refuse to allow it!’ he shouted. Someone else must go – Yantilla or one of the marines…’
Khara sat there, saying nothing, her shoulders stooped and her dark eyes downcast. It broke Ahren’s heart to see her like that, so he dropped to his knees beside her.
‘You don’t have to do it,’ he pleaded. ‘You of all people have already been a…’ He broke off, the word sticking in his throat.
‘A slave?’ asked Khara, looking him calmly in the eye, her face a mask of stoical acceptance. ‘At least I will have some idea of what I am letting myself in for. Do you really want to send some poor devil down into the ocean who has no idea of what you are demanding of him?’
Ahren shrunk back from the force of her questions. Tears of sorrow and shame filled his eyes, and he could not look at her.
‘Her past might indeed be beneficial,’ mused Uldini in a calculating tone, at which point Ahren wanted to do nothing more than punch him in the face. ‘Khara learned as a child to cope with the mental consequences of enslavement, so perhaps Jelninolan can protect a small section of her understanding against the curse.’
The elf nodded sadly and turned to Khara. ‘It won’t be much, but sufficient for you to be able to send a message to us at the appropriate moment – as soon as you have discovered something essential.’
Ahren tumbled backwards as soon as he realised that Jelninolan was willingly siding with Uldini and Khara. Stunned, his wounded leg gave way and he fell with a crash onto the floor of the cabin. ‘It was…m…my fault,’ he stammered. ‘I’ve done this to you. With my crazy idea.’ He waved his finger at Fisker. ‘I’m just as much a dirty swine as he is.’ He shook his head wildly. ‘No, I’m worse. I’m knowingly sending you into slavery in one of the darkest places of this world.’
Khara’s head was bowed, and her hair was hiding her face as she sobbed quietly, her shoulders shaking. Jelninolan crawled out of her hammock to comfort the young woman, and Falk stood up, a pained expression on his face. Culhen tried to get through to Ahren mentally, but the latter was so upset that he didn’t understand the wolf.
‘Ahren…’ began Falk, his voice soft, but suddenly Trogadon was beside the young Forest Guardian, grasping him hard around the neck with his calloused hand, so hard that Ahren felt he was in the jaws of a Glower Bear.
‘Let me take care of this,’ said the dwarf firmly, dragging Ahren out of the cabin. The young man tried to regain his balance so that Trogadon wouldn’t simply drag him across the ship. He felt stabs of pain in his leg, which darted through his body, but the merciless dwarf refused to loosen his grip, simply dragging the Forest Guardian along with him into his small workshop within the stowage, before throwing the stunned young man to the deck. Ahren slid along it and banged into the workbench from where he looked up at the dwarf, who was glaring down at him murderously. The squat warrior was fuming, and his hands were closed into fists.
‘This isn’t all about you,’ growled Trogadon in a low voice. ‘This is about Khara. That brave girl has realised that by offering herself, she will help us achieve our goal of gathering all the Paladins together, and you are doing nothing but feeling sorry for yourself and whining instead of being there for her?’
The dwarf stepped towards him and Ahren pressed back into the workbench, terrified that one of the dwarf’s fists was going to connect with his face. The shock at seeing the normally cheerful warrior so enraged was like a bucket of iced water being thrown over him, and the fog in Ahren’s mind lifted a little, as the sight of the squat man forced the thoughts within him into some sort of order.
At last you’re listening to me, said Culhen, relieved. There was nothing but chaos in your head for the last few minutes.
Wait until you’re in a situation like this, retorted Ahren, cowed by the warning finger that Trogadon was lifting as the dwarf took another step towards the young man.
‘You have been incredibly adult in your behaviour over the last few moons, and perhaps that has lulled me into a false sense of security, but now is not the time for you to revert to being Ahren the apprentice again. You are now a Paladin and will be confronted by many difficult decisions in the future. Sending your beloved to the Lost Tribe is certainly one of the most challenging, and the gods are well aware of the fact. I hope and pray that none will be more difficult than this one. But you had better get used to it or this mission will tear you apart. I thought that Uldini had already spoken to you in the Brazen City about the inevitable suffering that every prince, every peasant, and every warrior will endure in the oncoming Dark Days. This is Khara’s moment, and you would do well to pull yourself together so that you can be there for her instead of making everything more difficult for the girl!’ Trogadon’s voice had been growing louder all the time and now he was practically screaming.
Ahren stared at the dwarf, gobsmacked, and then he heard Culhen’s words in his head. This is the moment when you are supposed to nod your head furiously. The young Forest Guardian quickly followed the wolf’s advice, and Trogadon calmed visibly.
‘Good,’ he said. ‘I had just become accustomed to the mature Ahren. It would be a pity if he didn’t come up to the mark just when he was most needed.’ Then he reached out his hand and pulled the young Paladin up onto his feet.
‘The next time I’ll talk less,’ said Trogadon, lifting his fist dramatically. ‘You are a man now and I can clarify my points a different way if I feel like it.’
Ahren nodded again, then pushed himself past the grim-looking dwarf and walked down the narrow corridor leading back to the communal cabin. He stopped short when he saw Khara, her face tear-stained, walking towards him with a concerned look in her eyes.
She’s worried about me? The thought stunned him, and he felt as if he had been punched in the stomach. Suddenly, he felt terribly ashamed, and his first instinct was to turn and run away, but Trogadon’s words echoed through his mind. Khara was the person who needed all the help and courage she could get. He had to be there for her insofar as that was possible.
Well, then. said Culhen, delighted with the turn of events. That worked. Maybe I should drag you across the deck the odd time so that you will listen to me just as you did to Trogadon. Along with the wolf’s conceited tone, Ahren could hear a certain pride in his friend’s voice, which did him good and gave him strength. Everyone in the pack has their own role. Khara’s is the most difficult now, so it’s up to everyone else to stand by her.
‘Everything alright?’ asked Khara, her voice trembling. Ahren bit hard on his lip.
‘Of course. I’m sorry,’ he said in a low voice. ‘I would gladly have spared you what is going to happen, and the feeling of being responsible for it overwhelmed me for a moment.’ He stepped closer and embraced her, and she returned the gesture. Ahren stroked her smooth, silky hair and spoke soothingly into her ear. ‘Everything will work out fine. Jelninolan and Uldini will find a way of protecting you from the worst consequences of the curse. And with a bit of luck it will take no more than one or two days. You are clever, strong, and determined, and nobody can break you. You are certainly going to reveal the secret of the Lost Tribe in no time at all.’
Khara did not look at him but pressed herself closer as if she wanted to melt into him. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered. Then the pair walked back towards the others.
Ahren heard a sound behind him, glanced around quickly and saw Trogadon, leaning against the doorframe of his workshop with his arms folded. The dwarf looked at him and nodded slowly.
‘There you both are again,’ said Falk, trying to keep his face neutral as the pair entered the room. ‘We have just been discussing how we can refine our plan so that we can minimise the time that Khara will be bound by the curse.’
‘Falk has explained to me that you have taught Khara how to use the Void,’ said Uldini, skilfully skipping over Ahren’s emotional outburst. ‘That could certainly assist us. We might try to anchor her reason during the Void. That would partially protect her from attacks by the Adversary. At least to the point where we can disguise the fact that she is a spy.’
Ahren nodded, trying at the same time to hide the fact that he was shaking all over. He wanted to be strong for Khara, so he smiled at her encouragingly as the two of them sat down beside each other, hand in hand.
‘We should keep our plan as simple as possible,’ interjected Falk. ‘The more complicated it becomes, the more can go wrong. Fjolmungar will certainly be able to keep us safe from any potential predatory raids until we are in position. That should not be a problem.’
Ahren nodded intently. ‘We should sail right into their midst. I would imagine that the secret of their curse lies right in the middle of their territory.’ He realised that he could keep better control of his emotions when he actively helped in the planning process.
Falk nodded slowly. ‘Good idea. The best thing for us to do is to sail to the group of islands where Aluna’s ancestors used to live. Even if the Lost Tribe undoubtedly have control over a considerably greater area now, it will be easier for them to find us there. If Khara can infiltrate them in that location, then our chances of success will be all the greater.’
Uldini looked over at Jelninolan, who nodded and spoke in a weak voice. ‘Uldini and I will work with Khara during the next few weeks, until we arrive there. We are going to have to sail around the Vortices of Creation anyway, which will give us plenty of time to prepare. I will teach her many helpful techniques to help her against the repercussions of thought control, and Uldini will anchor specific commands in her subconscious.’
When Khara heard those words, she pressed Ahren’s hand so hard that it hurt. The young man couldn’t imagine the effect that those words were having on the young swordswoman.
‘Everything we are going to do will be for your protection,’ said Jelninolan with feeling.
‘I will ensure that no matter what happens you will give a signal for us to rescue you as soon as you have discovered what we need to know,’ added Uldini, reassuring the young woman.
‘What exactly are we trying to learn?’ asked Ahren, still slightly confused by this part of their plan.
Much to his horror, Uldini shrugged his shoulders. ‘It could be anything at all – something that maintains the curse. An immortal High Fang as King of the Lost Tribe, a charm net that we cannot sense, a ritual that the newly-caught must undergo, or the manufacturing process of those damned necklaces, which as we already know, fall apart as algae once they have been cut through. Somehow, they must be able to create new ones, into which they then inject the curse.’
‘And that is precisely our ray of hope on the horizon,’ said Jelninolan to the group. ‘The curse is actively creating new members for the Lost Tribe. Which means it is not some self-contained charm that was uttered centuries previously and still enslaving the original population. No, it must be a magic that constantly renews itself and spreads the curse. Something permanent is necessary for it to be effective – a place, a person, or an object that represents the source of the curse and equips every new necklace with its unholy force.’
Khara stiffened as she heard the words. ‘Does that mean I will remain one of them until the source of the curse has been broken?’ she gasped.
Uldini nodded sadly. ‘Unfortunately, yes, my dear. Until now we have never been able to break the curse on individual victims.’
‘Can we not simply find the source using magic?’ asked Ahren hopefully.
Uldini stared at him long and hard. ‘Oh, ye gods,’ he said slowly in a voice dripping with sarcasm. ‘Why didn’t we Ancients come up with that idea over all the centuries?’
‘What Uldini is trying to say,’ interjected Jelninolan, ‘is that during the Dark Days there were three attempts to break the curse before the Lost Tribe were given up as a lost cause. All attempts ended in failure.’
‘That doesn’t sound good,’ said Falk. Ahren felt Khara beginning to tremble beside him. He laid his arm around her shoulder and gently rocked her.
Uldini made a reassuring gesture with his arms. ‘What Ahren said to Aluna on the beach regarding our chances of success was completely true, in fact. I haven’t dealt seriously with the curse myself yet, and Jelninolan’s Storm Weaving seems to show a strong affinity to wind and water. Working together we will find a way.’
