Althea came to her senses first. She stood up and turned to face the tavern crowd. “Everyone!” she called loudly to get their attention. Once she had it, she continued. “Everyone, I want to thank you for your patronage here today, but I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to leave now so we can close up. Some important business has come up, and we'll have to leave in the morning, so we need time to prepare. We will return as soon as we can, so I hope you will come back then.”
The scrapping of chairs followed her announcement. There was some muttered grumbling as customers filed out of the pub, but also some calls wishing Althea and the others good luck and a quick return.
Once all the patrons were gone, Althea locked the door behind them, then went to the kitchen to inform Dani of the early closing and to invite her to join them at the table. Then Althea rejoined Loren and the others. Dani joined them a few moments later with a tray of sliced fruit, bread, and cheese, in case they were hungry.
Anju smelled the food from where he lay by the fireplace, keeping watch over the dining room. He got up, stretched, and walked over to sit beside Loren, who reached over to pet the white wolf without thinking. Anju gave a small whine and pawed at the elf's leg. Loren grabbed a piece of cheese from the tray and gave it to Anju, who almost nipped Loren's fingers in his eagerness to get the morsel.
“So this is Elvish?” Tarn asked Loren, pointing to the open book for emphasis.
Loren nodded.
“Then you can read it and tell us what it says,” Althea said hopefully.
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“Remember, I was really young when Kinski took me to Rahtzberg. My parents had only recently started teaching me to read at that time. So I don't know how much, if any, I can read of this book.”
“Oh,” Althea replied with a small frown of disappointment.
“Why don't you take a look anyway and see if you can read any of it?” Tarn suggested.
Loren shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”
Tarn passed the book to Loren, along with an admonishment to be careful with the pages, as the book was old. Loren nodded his understanding as he took the book in hand.
The elf's gaze dropped to the writing on the pages. Fanciful groupings of lines, curves, and dots formed symbols that filled pages. The Elvish script seemed almost a work of art in itself. The only thing marring it was the occasional mention of Aerith's name, written not in Elvish but in the Common script used by humans for everyday communication. Loren had not seen Elvish in so long, he found his eyes kept being drawn to Aerith's name, as it was more familiar and easier to read.
Loren forced himself to focus on the Elvish script and tried to recall what he had learned as a boy from his parents. Some of the groupings seemed a little familiar to him, but he thought something seemed not quite right with the script.
“I don't think an elf wrote this,” he said.
“How do you mean?” Tarn asked.
“Just something about the writing seems a little off. It's like someone not entirely familiar with Elvish had written this, maybe copying from the original or something.”
“Hm. I wonder who it could have been. This will bear some consideration. So, are able to read any of it?”
“Some of it seems familiar. Give me a few moments to try to remember.”
Tarn nodded and Loren returned to studying the text. After a few minutes, Loren sat back in his chair and heaved a small sigh. “I'm sorry,” he said with a small shake of his head. “I can only recognize a word here and there, and not enough to make any sense.”
Tarn gave a slight nod of acknowledgement. “Well, thank you for trying, anyway, Loren.” He turned to Raven. “Is there anything you can do, Raven? Perhaps a translation spell or something?”
The black-haired mage shook her head. “I'm sorry. The only spell like that I know works on human languages only.”
“Well, that's great,” Althea muttered in disappointment. “So, what do we do now?” she asked the group at large.
Tarn and Raven shrugged, at a loss for ideas.
Loren sighed in resignation and frowned. “It seems to me we only have one choice,” he said, his voice lacking enthusiasm. “We'll have to take the book to the elves themselves and hope they'll translate it for us.”
Althea stared at him incredulously. “Are you crazy, Loren? Do you have any idea how hard it would be for us to get anywhere near an elf village, let alone into one?”
“Actually, yes, I do,” he replied flatly. “I am an elf, after all. That's why I'm not too happy with the idea myself. I know that, as an elf, I stand the best chance of getting them to help us translate the book. I also know that, because of my past and my time among humans, I may not exactly be welcome among the elves.”
“But...” Althea began, but quickly faltered at the loss of a decent rebuttal.
“I don't think we have any other choice,” Tarn stated. “We need to know what's in that book, so we'll have to chance it.”
Nods of agreement greeted his statement. Loren still looked rather displeased about it, though, even though it was his idea to begin with.
A low whine came from beside Loren, and the elf looked down to see Anju on the floor beside him, his head resting on his outstretched paws. Loren thought he seemed to be echoing his discontent with the new plan, but then he noticed the wolf's blue eyes were trained on the tabletop. With a small shake of his head, Loren grabbed a piece of cheese and tossed it to the wolf, who snatched it out the air.
Althea frowned slightly at the two of them, then asked, “So, where is the nearest elf settlement?”
Tarn and Raven shook their heads, and Loren shrugged. A dejected look crossed Althea's face, and Loren started to say something in response, but Dani interrupted.
“I, uh, think I might know where there are some elves,” the young girl timidly said.
Althea and the others turned to face her, surprised. It was not only the idea that she might know something that would help that startled them, but that they had pretty much forgotten she was even there, having been so caught up in their discussions.
“You do, Dani?” Althea asked her without trying to seem too eager. She could tell the girl was a feeling a little nervous and did not want to frighten her any more than she might already be from everything she had heard them talking about.
The girl nodded. “A while back, I was running some errands for Father, and happened to pass by a group of sailors at a riverfront stall. They were just returned from a trip to a town to the north. Caldana, I think. One of them was chatting with the young lady in charge of the stall, telling her stories about the town. I heard him mention to her that he had heard rumors there of an elf settlement not far from the town.”
“Caldana, huh?” Tarn said. “I've never heard of it. Where is it?”
“It's to the north of here, along the river. We have businesses that trade there, so ships come and go there fairly often.”
“How close is it?” Loren asked her.
“About five days by land. If you take a ship, about two days, I think.”
“Only two days?” Althea remarked. “All right, then. A ship to Caldana sounds like a good idea to me.”
Loren could tell from her tone that she had made up her mind about it, and he sighed. “Two days by ship?” he commented dryly with a small frown. “I guess that doesn't sound too bad. I suppose I could stay cooped up on a ship that long.”
“Well, it does sound like our best option, since we are in a hurry, after all,” said Tarn. “Plus, I think it would be safer. It would be harder for Kinski to track us if we travel by ship, right?”
“I suppose so,” the elf replied. “All right. A ship to Caldana it is. Dani, we still have to discuss a few things, so why don't you head down to the riverfront and see if you can get us passage on a ship heading for Caldana – one leaving in the morning, if possible. Since it's getting late, I'll send Anju with you. I doubt anyone would bother you with a wolf by your side.”
Dani nodded, happy to be of some help to her employers in their time of trouble. As she left the table and headed for the door, Anju followed after her without any prompting from Loren.
* * *
Dani stood at the end of the cobblestone street, facing the river. Dusk was falling, bringing with it the first stars of the evening and the rise of an almost full moon. Large cargo ships were docked all along the bank of river. A large warehouse flanked the young girl on either side as she looked back and forth along the river, pausing occasionally to watch the hustle of cargo being loaded onto some of the ships. Far down to the right, the lamplighter was going from post to post, lighting the oil lamps along the riverbank. Down to the left, a group of sailors were laughing heartily as they headed into a building which Dani thought to be either a pub or tavern. When a rat suddenly scurried by in front of her, she jumped slightly and let out a small cry.
She looked at the white wolf sitting nonchalantly beside her. “When Loren asked me to find them passage on a ship heading to Caldana, I thought it would be easy,” she said, more to herself than to the wolf, “but I have no idea where to even begin.”
Anju glanced up at her for a moment, then looked up and down the river, cocking an ear first to the right, then the left. He did it a couple of times, then yipped once at Dani and took off running to the right.
Stunned, the girl stared after the wolf for a moment, then ran after him, calling, “Hey! Wait! Anju! Where are you going?! Come back here!”
She chased the wolf along the riverbank for three blocks. When she finally caught up to him, he was sitting at the loading dock of a large cargo ship and staring at the open door of the warehouse across from it. A tall, lanky man with a graying beard stood by the door, supervising the mix of sailors and dockworkers as they carried crates out of the warehouse and onto the ship. He wore tailored pants and matching jacket of a dark blue color, leading Dani to think he was probably the captain of the ship, or at least the first mate.
“Hurry up, now,” he called out in a deep, gruff voice that surprised Dani. “We haven't got all night. The captain wants to set out for Caldana at first light. Don't forget, he's very particular about keeping to his schedule and we don't want to make him angry. You all know how he gets when he's upset.”
Anju weaved his way through the stream of carted cargo to approach the man and sit beside him, and Dani followed after.
Catching the wolf's movement from the corner of his eye, the man looked down. “Well, well. What have we here?” he muttered as he crouched down to face Anju. “Come looking for a handout, have we? Well, I'm afraid there aren't any scraps around here, so you'd better move along.”
Dani stepped up beside Anju and placed a hand on top of his head. “Excuse, me, sir?” she ventured timidly, nervous about whether she would be able book passage for Althea and the others or not.
The man stood up and replied, “I'm sorry, miss. Is this your dog?”
The response was not what she had expected, and it confused her slightly. The man towered over Dani by a good six inches or more, forcing her to look up to meet his dark eyes as she stammered, “Um, yes. I mean, no. Um, well, sort of. He belongs to a friend.”
“He's a very beautiful animal. I don't think I've ever seen his like before.”
“Thank you.”
“You're welcome. Now, unless there's something I can help you with, miss, you should probably head home. It's getting late and I'm rather busy at moment.”
“Actually, there is something. I believe I heard you mention that you're heading to Caldana in the morning?”
“That's correct.”
“In that case, I was wondering if it would be possible for me to book passage on your ship? Not for me, but for some friends of mine who have had some very important business in Caldana suddenly come up.”
He took a moment to consider, then replied, “Possibly. But you'll have to ask Captain Naavare. I'm only the first mate, and the captain has the final say in these matters.”
“Where is the captain?”
“On the ship, supervising the loading of the cargo into the hold. I'll take you to him.”
“Thank you.”
* * *
Night had fallen completely by the time Dani and Anju returned to the pub, and they could see the glow from the lanterns in the dining area leaking out the windows. As they opened the door and went inside, they saw Loren sitting at a table by the fireplace, alone and staring into the flames with a mug of ale sitting in front of him, next to a white envelope.
At the sound of the door opening, Loren looked over to see Dani and Anju had returned. He smiled and waved them over, but to Dani his smile seemed halfhearted, echoing the haunted look in his brown eyes that he tried to hide. It saddened her to see the normally sweet, jovial elf like that, and as she walked over to join him, she hoped all the trouble that he and Althea had found themselves in would be resolved soon. They were such good, kind people, Dani thought, and did not deserve all the pain the were having to go through.
Dani sat in the chair next to the elf. Anju made a quick circuit of the table, sniffing the ground for scraps, before sitting down next to Loren.
“How did it go?” Loren asked her, setting his hand on the wolf's head from habit.
“Good. I found a ship leaving for Caldana first thing in the morning. I told the captain you all needed passage, and he agreed to take you.” She gave him the name of the ship and the captain, and where to find it.
“Great! Good work, Dani.”
“Thank you, Loren. I'm glad I could be of help.”
He gave her a small nod of acknowledgement. “The others have already retired for the night, so why don't you head on home now, Dani. Oh, and if you would do me a favor?” He handed her the envelope. “Make sure my friend Quinten gets this. And if you would, make sure word gets around that Althea and I have left the city. Don't say why we've really gone or where. Just say we left on a monster hunting job or something. Hopefully when Kinski gets here and learns we've gone, he'll leave and not bother the city.”
“Of course, Loren. Anything to help.”
“Thank you, Dani.” He stood up. “Well, come on, then. Time you headed home. I'll lock up behind you.”
Dani stood and Loren escorted her to the door. She was just about to walk out when Lorend said, “Oh, wait, Dani. I almost forgot.”
“What is it?”
“Althea wanted me to ask you if you would mind staying here while we're gone, to watch over the place and keep it running. You don't have to, if you don't feel comfortable about it. But it would put Althea's mind at ease a little, knowing her pub was in good hands.”
“I'd love to.”
“Great! Thank you, Dani. You've been a big help to us.”
“I'm just glad to help in any way I can. Good night, Loren.”
“Good night, Dani. And thanks again.”
As she walked away, Loren shut the door behind her and locked it. Then he put out the fire in the fireplace, turned off the lanterns, and headed upstairs with Anju to rest before their early start in the morning.
Richard has faced the Turning Point" in his life. In this Part 2 it is yet to be seen if he will survive the "confrontations" that will happen as a result. The reason for the PG rating is the same as for the first book "The Dragon and The Rose - Par
