Kethril (35 page)

They took a moment to water the horses
before heading along the path. Liselle went first and Emmaoen took
the rear. They tied the reins of Tathan’s horse to Anilyia’s and
she led them both. It took another half hour to make their way
along the perilous trail until entering a canyon, where they
watered the horses again and remounted.

The canyon walls rose high above, making
them nervous. “Do you think Tathan’s alright, Liselle?” Anilyia
asked in worried tones.

“I have no doubt about the boys’ ability to
take care of themselves and each other.” Liselle smiled
reassuringly. “I know you’re worried, and I am a little too, but I
truly believe they’ll be fine.”

As if on cue, a low rumbling sound came from
above and behind them, causing all three to jump. They looked up to
see Vevin floating down in dragon form, his wings rustling against
the air. Then he folded the wings in and transformed to human shape
just before hitting the ground. He took a number of running steps
to slow down his momentum before turning to Liselle who had
dismounted and was running to him in joy.

They met with a thud and Vevin swung Liselle
around as they kissed deeply. Anilyia rolled her eyes while Emmaoen
frowned disapprovingly. After a moment, the two lovers came back to
the group. “We were just talking about you, dearest,” Liselle said.
“Have you seen the boys?”

“Oh yes. They’re on the ship in a valley
about an hour’s ride from here, waiting for you,” Vevin
answered.

“They caught the ship?” Emmaoen asked
eagerly.

“Well . . . Not exactly,” Vevin responded.
“They got it to agree to wait for Liselle.”

“Perhaps you should tell us what happened
while we ride,” Liselle suggested.

“Oh yes, very good idea.” He kissed her,
helped her mount and then hopped on Tathan’s horse. They continued
through the canyon, Vevin’s words echoing softly off the walls as
he told them what had happened. “I saw the ship and trailed it from
above in order to track it and to position myself to plummet down
in case you were in danger.”

Liselle realized that when he said ‘you’, he
was referring to her, not the others. She wondered if he even knew
he was doing it. “That was very smart, dear.”

“Oh yes, I know,” Vevin agreed. “I saw when
you were riding toward it. Sir Danth was running from another
angle. I didn’t realize how fast he could move, faster than a
horse.”

“I didn’t realize that,” Liselle replied.
“That’s interesting.”

“Oh yes, very interesting. Anyway, the net
appeared. I thought for sure that would stop the ship,” Vevin
said.

“That caught us all by surprise,” Emmaoen
agreed, still irritated by the fact that her plan hadn’t
worked.

“I thought about coming down and attacking
it, but didn’t since we wanted to capture it. When the ship started
trying to escape, it seemed even more important not to attack,”
Vevin said.

Liselle nodded. “I agree. It doesn’t want to
hurt anyone.”

“That’s what Tathan thinks too. He talked to
it even though it couldn’t talk back.”

“How did he talk to it?” Emmaoen asked.

“He put a bunch of words together and said
them out loud using his mouth,” Vevin informed her. The duchess
wasn’t amused but Liselle and Anilyia found it funny. “The ship
headed high into the air back toward the mountains. Tathan found a
magical, glowing bell next to the wheel. He talked to that.”

“Magical bells are common on ships, but they
do different things. I wonder what this one is for,” Emmaoen
pondered.

“It’s extremely powerful,” Vevin told her.
“There’s a great deal of magic radiating from it, maybe even
intelligence.”

“That’s extraordinary, but fits with
everything else we’ve learned about the ship so far,” Emmaoen
observed.

“Tathan thinks so too. He thinks Liselle
will be able to use the bell to communicate with it. I hope he’s
right. I’m interested to know what it has to say.”

“I’ll do my best, but I have no idea how,”
Liselle said doubtfully.

“Maybe you can look at the way the sails
flap, kind of like the petals of a flower do when they’re around
you,” Vevin suggested.

“Oh, that’s a good idea.” Liselle pondered
how she would do that.

“So Tathan is safe?” Anilyia asked to be
sure. “I was afraid the ship would try to shake him off or
something.”

“It tried, but it can only lean so far and
Tathan is very difficult to knock off his feet. So is Sir Danth,”
Vevin said. “I continued to fly above it as it went into the
mountains. I thought it was important to see where it was going so
I could lead you to it. It was fast for a ship but Tathan convinced
it to land in a valley and wait. He stayed on the ship with Sir
Danth until I could get you. It took me a little while to find the
path and I had to listen for the sound of the hooves and your
voices.”

“We’re going the right way then?” Anilyia
asked.

“Oh yes. Before I landed, I searched the
trail. It goes through this canyon, up to a smaller valley, then
through another canyon along a river, and then through a smaller
canyon and then to the valley.”

“You said it would take us about an hour?”
Liselle asked. Vevin didn’t answer. His head was cocked to the side
and he was looking ahead. “Darling? You said it would take about an
hour to get to the valley?” Liselle asked again.

“Did you see that?” Vevin tilted his head
the other way. “I thought I saw something moving ahead and heard
some rocks clatter.”

Emmaoen pulled ingredients for her magic out
of a pouch. “I haven’t heard of skeethy attacks around here lately,
but this is the type of terrain they like.” “They sneak around and
wait for their victims. Let’s be prepared for an ambush.”

“Skeethies? Like that statue at the castle?”
Liselle asked.

“Exactly like that,” Emmaoen confirmed.

As if on cue, a horde of the hairy creatures
began pouring out of cracks in the canyon wall. It was surprising
to see creatures so big pushing through small openings. They roared
and snarled, creating a loud clamor that spooked the horses. The
steeds calmed when Vevin made a soothing sound filled with
magic.

It unnerved Liselle to hear the creatures
and see their beady red eyes. They waved weapons in the air and
banged them against the rocks to add to the commotion. Most had
clubs, with or without spikes, but many had old chipped swords,
rusty pitchforks or other scavenged weapons. They wore pelts and
skins, though a few went with nothing at all, which nearly caused
Liselle to gag. Anilyia blushed and turned her head.

The first person to react was Vevin. A
multi-pronged bolt of lightning filled the canyon, jagging through
the majority of the skeethies, burning and dazing them. The crack
of thunder echoed off the walls, deafening friend and foe
alike.

Liselle plugged her ears to contain the
ringing in her skull. She noticed that everyone else did too,
including Vevin. With concentration, she was able to send a tiny
bit of healing power into her ears, restoring the hearing. Removing
her hands, she could hear the screams of pain coming from the
skeethies.

She reached out to heal her companions and
realized that she had never done so without touching people. It
only took her an instant to figure out how to do it, but it would
take a little more energy. With a waggle of her fingers, she healed
their pain and made it so they could hear again.

A few of the skeethies that hadn’t been hit
by the lightning ran forward, yelling war cries. Emmaoen, who was
on the right side of Liselle, cast her spell. Words of power flew
out of her mouth as a gust of magical wind slammed into her from
behind. From her fingers came bolts of orange power that flew at an
angle to the side walls of the canyon. Upon impact, they shattered
the rock into shards that flew into the crowd of skeethies, killing
a score of the hundred or so that had come from the cracks.

The fight ended there. The skeethies that
could still run went back to their holes. Others crawled back or
just writhed in pain. Vevin waved for the ladies to go ahead. “Ride
hard and don’t stop. I’ll take the rear.”

Liselle dug her heels into her mount’s
flanks, but Emmaoen was faster and Anilyia was right behind her.
Most skeethies ran from them, but a few tried to jump up and attack
only to die from magical bolts of energy cast by Vevin. A minute
later, they were past the ambush and deeper into the canyon.

The river forced them to slow down when they
reached it. Fortunately, the trail alongside was in good condition.
The spray of rapids made the going wet though, so caution was
necessary. Emmaoen continued to lead the way, which was fine with
Liselle who took the time to compose her thoughts and work on how
to talk with a magical ship.

The ship was floating above the grass when
they rode into the spacious valley. Tathan was waving from the deck
and Anilyia moved ahead to greet him.

Liselle looked around at the valley.
Evergreens were interspersed with birch trees and plants were
everywhere, all of it surrounded by hills and mountains. Morning
would break in a little while, but Siahray and stars provided the
only illumination until then. Piohray had set an hour before. A
stream meandered through trees on the far end. Liselle took a deep
breath of the clean, fresh air and enjoyed the sound of wind
rustling the leaves. Off in the distance, wolves howled, making the
horses a little nervous.

Tathan and the princess were kissing as the
others rode up. Sir Danth was leaning against the railing, ignoring
the lovebirds. A gangplank allowed them to board and they
dismounted before walking the horses up next to Anilyia’s.

“Liselle, come see if you can communicate
with the ship.” Tathan waved her to the aft where the wheel was. He
gestured to a golden, glowing bell hanging from a post next to the
wheel. It was etched with runes. “I talked to the bell and told it
that we didn’t mean it any harm. Sometimes it rings in response,
but I can’t understand it.”

The bell rang as though it understood what
he had said. It was a clear tone that resonated through the air.
Liselle listened to the sound and noticed that bell glowed a tiny
bit brighter when it rang. It wasn’t immediately clear what the
ship said, although Liselle could
almost
understand.

The fact that everyone was assuming she
could talk to the ship astonished her in some ways. In a moment of
self-reflection, Liselle realized that she believed she could talk
to the ship too. Normal people couldn’t do such things and it made
her wonder if perhaps she really was a child of a god or goddess.
She also wondered if that would be a good thing or a bad thing.

The bell rang again, a bit more urgently.
Liselle examined it, trying to discern any kind of language or
message. When nothing came clear right away, she looked at the
sails to see if they communicated anything.

“What is it saying?” Tathan whispered as
though trying to hide his words from the ship.

“Shush. I need to concentrate and it will
take longer to figure out if you insist on whispering at me,”
Liselle replied absentmindedly.

“Oh . . .” He stepped back to give her
space. The others did too as though it might help.

The sails and rigging were gently flapping
in the mild breeze, but there was no message in them. Liselle put a
hand on the intricately carved wheel and stared at the bell. There
was a minute vibration coming from the wheel. Liselle could feel it
through her feet too. Still, the message wasn’t clear.

Liselle relaxed her normal senses, like
sight and hearing. She reached out and touched the bell, running a
finger along the side and over the flared lip. “Hello. My name is
Liselle.”

“Hello, Liselle. My name is Aermoirre.” The
bell chimed. The glow of the bell shifted color slightly and the
vibration of the wood altered just a touch. The bell made the
words, but the rest made the inflections in the speech. It was
different than flowers or rocks, but similar in a way. In any case,
Liselle understood.

The ship seemed to understand human speech,
which was good because Liselle had no clue how to chime, glow or
vibrate in ways that would be understood. “Hello, Aermoirre. It’s
very nice to meet you. You’re a beautiful ship.” Tathan had told
her in their travels that it was always good to start with a
compliment. Liselle would have done so anyway. She liked saying
nice things.

Tathan took a step forward. “It has a name?”
He waved at the bell. “Hi, Aermoirre. Liselle’s right, you are a
beautiful ship.”

Liselle was certain the bell blushed. “Thank
you,” it replied.

“It said thank you,” Liselle told
Tathan.

He nodded at the bell. “Anytime.” Turning to
Liselle, he told her, “Ask it why it’s attacking the villages.”

“Yes, I know what to ask,” Liselle replied
in exasperation. “It’s very hard to have any sort of a conversation
when you keep interrupting me though.”

“Sorry.” He took a step back.

She looked around at the others. None of
them seemed intent on interrupting. Liselle turned back to the
bell. “I’m sorry if my friends upset you, especially Tathan. He’s a
bit rude sometimes.”

“Hey!” Tathan exclaimed indignantly. Liselle
smirked.

“Tathan is the one the shadows watch?”
Aermoirre asked.

“Umm . . . yes,” Liselle answered with a
thoughtful glance at her cousin. The phrasing was interesting.

“What?” Tathan asked, taking another step
forward. When Liselle didn’t answer, he took a step back and folded
his arms impatiently.

The humming sound became a purr. “I like
him. He’s very handsome and daring. My mothers would like him very
much.”

“Oh . . . your mothers?” She left the part
about her cousin being handsome alone. He had enough women who
thought that and didn’t need a ship flattering him too.