The Orphans' Promise (34 page)

“It was big, very big. And strong too.”

“Completely black. Not just dark-colored. Totally
black
.”

“It was naked too. But it was sexless. Its skin… wasn’t really skin. It didn’t have any hair, or feathers. It was… something else.”

“Fish scales?” Rey laughed, before Lana’s shocked expression silenced him.

“But what was it?” Léti insisted. “A man or a beast?”

“I don’t know. Both at once. Depending when you looked.”

“It was always changing form. It grew eyes and arms like mushrooms. It stood like a man, but moved like a wild animal.”

“A Mog’lur,” Bowbaq confidently concluded.

Classifying the strange apparition within Ark mythology helped the giant to better accept it. It was just as dreadful, but less distressing.

Corenn asked, “Have you ever heard of a Mog’lur, Lana?”

“No,” the Maz admitted. “But
The Book of the Wise One
doesn’t mention many demons. I don’t mean to offend you, Bowbaq, but I think Mog’lurs are unique to legends from Arkary.”

“And the Broken Castle,” Rey added, cynically.

“Bowbaq, I’m happy that you could help Grigán,” Léti congratulated him, disappointed that she wasn’t able to do the same.

“I was so scared,” the giant said, his tone barely above a whisper. “I saw the demon knock him over. I ran and struck it as hard as I could. Séhane’s guards came to help, but the monster’s wounds healed up after every blow. It didn’t bleed. Then it grew another eye. I thought we were doomed. Then suddenly, it was simply gone.”

“Maybe you killed it?”

“No,” the giant and the warrior answered in unison.

“In my opinion, we couldn’t kill it,” Grigán added.

Bowbaq moved in close to examine the warrior’s arm, hanging in a sling. It wasn’t broken, but it was terribly bruised. It was the first time the giant had seen Grigán injured. It was hardly a reassuring sight.

“The Züu could never cross the glacier that stands between them and my family,” he announced. “But the Mog’lur… it… it can go anywhere. We must find our enemy
very soon
.” It was a plea. Everyone hoped it wasn’t already too late for Bowbaq’s wife and children.

Corenn stood and paced about, thinking.

“It’s possible that Séhane’s death is in no way related to Ji,” Yan pointed out. Despite the possibility, even Yan didn’t believe this idea.

“After the warning at the assembly of barons, I’d be surprised if it were a coincidence. And it fits with our theories about the portals and the other world.”

The heirs looked at each other, wide-eyed. Corenn had just spoken, out loud, about Ji’s mysteries in front of Lana, and without any ambiguity. She had betrayed her promise.

“Our ancestors abandoned this orphan promise long ago,” the Mother reminded them, as if reading their minds. “And I think the circumstances are grave enough to allow an exception. Lana is just as mixed up in all this as we are now. It’s best that she knows why we’re in peril.”

They all agreed, and with her heart racing, the Maz prepared herself to hear their secrets. She imagined they would be interesting, though they were more troubling than she had hoped.

“I would have liked to have seen that,” she murmured, when Corenn had finished the story.

“It was magnificent,” Rey admitted. “Truly breathtaking. But somehow we all walked away… saddened.”

“Why?”

“It’s a mystery. The feeling of a lost paradise, something like that. Frustration at not being able to go inside.”

“What do you think is behind the portal?” Grigán asked the Maz.

“I don’t know.
The Book of the Wise One
mentions lots of marvelous places that fit the description. There are a few more legends found in the appendices, but I’ve hardly studied them. They don’t have much to do with the Moral.”

“A shame. Do you recall a few of the legends?”

“They won’t help us much, I’m afraid. I think one of them was about cursed children, imprisoned in a marvelous country… another confirmed the existence of an ancient people, hidden away in the mountains and protected by gods… yet another was about spirits that were reincarnated as children. But please, don’t trust my memory.”

“You don’t know any legends about a land of demons?” asked Bowbaq.

The Maz’s eyes widened in fear. The question made her realize the true danger they might be in. How had she not thought of it sooner?

“The
Jal’karu
,” she stated, pointedly. “The land from where the black gods are born and nurtured. It’s in
The Book
.”

It was one of the heirs’ worst fears. But it would remain only a theory so long as they hadn’t read Maz Achem’s journal.

“Jal’karu, that’s not an Ithare name,” Yan commented. “It sounds kind of like Bowbaq’s Mog’lur.”

“True. Do you know where the name comes from?” Corenn asked.

“Ethèque,” Lana answered with certainty. “It’s in the first texts of
The Book
. Those that were transcribed from oral tradition.”

“The drawings of Ji’s portal were of that same origin. The same goes for Arkary’s great arch. Perhaps the Ethèques built them. We’ll have to look into them.”

The others wondered how Corenn planned on looking into the oldest people of the known world, who had disappeared several dozen eons before. But the Mother had an idea. It involved a special detour that, like everything else that was likely to be of any help to them, also involved a certain danger.

Two eventless days passed by. Grigán’s arm was still injured, but he managed to devise a few more exercises to satisfy Léti’s hunger for improvement. The young woman, now equipped with her rapier and armor, was becoming quite the fighter. The warrior knew she was skilled enough to become a truly formidable one.

Again, Corenn and Yan separated from the group to discuss magic. The Mother promised him they would move on to more technical lessons soon, perhaps after they met with Usul. For the young man, his theoretical training was almost done, and he could barely wait to put it into practice.

Meanwhile, Rey discovered a new passion for the Eurydian cult, scrambling for any excuse to get closer to Lana. Even though she knew his true motives, the Maz played along and discussed the universal Moral with him for decidays on end. No one felt like betraying the actor as the one who, historically, had followed these virtuous principles with the least fervor.

Bowbaq had fallen more quiet than usual. His battle with the Mog’lur had shaken him even more deeply than the events on Ji. This time, his family was in danger, and the giant began to doubt himself again. Unbeknownst to him, the third day of their voyage would see a major change in his character.

The
Othenor
left the Median Sea for the Rominian Sea, and the heirs gathered on deck to talk about their nearing destination. Corenn and Grigán knew enough about it to satisfy their curiosity, and they listened to the leaders of their group as they shared their knowledge, Bowbaq included.

The Land of Beauty was an archipelago of more than thirty islands ranging widely in size. They all belonged to the Guoris, a somewhat primitive people, but the lands still held inexhaustible riches.

The Guoris had endured several Rominian assaults from the north, during the time of Two Empires. The Land of Beauty maintained its freedom in large part due to its geography. Each island had to be conquered and held individually, which cost the invaders too much time and resources. The stakes weren’t worth it, and Romine gave up. After these failed conquests, the Guoris learned to prevent future attacks.

By and large they weren’t a warring people. Their only excursions consisted of the occasional trade with the Baronies and the sultans of Jezeba. But they used their occasional earnings to build up a war fleet strong enough to make any would-be invader think twice.

The money was quickly exhausted to meet the high cost of their growing fleet and army of mercenaries. To maintain their defenses, the Guoris had the idea to rent a few of their coveted islands. The tenants would have complete sovereignty on their island, and be protected by a fleet, an amenity included in the rent they paid.

It was a surpassing success: A third of the Land of Beauty’s islands were now occupied by Loreliens, Goranese, Rominians, Jez, and Junians who were wealthy enough to pay the extravagant rent. The fleet was manned entirely by mercenaries. The Guoris returned to their tribal life, unconcerned with the rest of the world, and stockpiled a fortune that they hardly touched.

“My friend has lived there for more than thirty years,” Grigán shared. “He might be able to arrange a visit to the Sacred Island for us.”

“How do you know someone so rich?” Rey asked in surprise.

“I got him out of some trouble in Manive, dozens of years ago. Some pickpockets had caught up with him, and I helped him out. Over the years he has amply repaid the favor. His name is Zarbone.”

“
Zarbone?
” the actor repeated, suspiciously.

“He’s no Zü. He’s Goranese.”

“Where did he make his fortune?”

“Frankly, I don’t know. I think he owns a lot of land in the Grand Empire. He also deals in antiques. He’s obsessed with collecting—so much so that he renamed his island
Collection
.”

“I would really like to have my own island,” Léti said, dreamily.

“You wouldn’t like your neighbors,” Grigán warned. “The Züu have an island in the Land of Beauty. The Valipondes too. Zarbone suspects that the island closest to his hides a sacrificial temple for K’lur.”

“He’s not sure?”

“Of course not! The tenants are masters of their island, but they are forbidden to set foot elsewhere. For us, too, to meet Zarbone, we will have to get through the Guoris’ mercenaries. The Land of Beauty is one of the most heavily defended places in the world!”

“Let’s hope the islands are better defended than Séhane’s castle anyway,” Rey remarked.

It was then that Bowbaq jumped up, a surprised expression on his face. His companions could see that it had nothing to do with their conversation. The giant was listening to something, but the others couldn’t hear a thing.

“Someone is talking to me!” he whispered seriously. “In my mind. An erjak!” He rushed to the edge of the sloop to look out over the horizon. Sure enough, there was another boat in view, but it was several leagues away.

“They can reach your mind from that far?”

“No, Léti,” Bowbaq responded with an absentminded air. He was troubled by the interior voice. “Not human. It’s an animal erjak. It’s the first time that an animal has ever started the conversation!” he joyously announced to the group.

Hoping to see the animal, the giant peered down into the water, trying to penetrate past the fading light. With the connection to the animal, the giant feared the immense expanse of water less. Besides, after confronting a Mog’lur, the fear of drowning seemed absurd.

“What are they saying?” Yan asked, as everyone else tried to see something under the water’s surface.

“He says: play,” Bowbaq said in an emotional voice. “It’s a message of friendship. I need to see him. I need to respond!”

“There!” Grigán said, pointing off the bow. His eyes were more discerning than anyone else’s. “Gyole dolphins.”

A group of four dolphins were racing fifty yards in front of the sloop. Bowbaq rushed to the bow and admired the merry animals, who seemed to be able to reciprocate Bowbaq’s same level of intelligent thought.

He concentrated and reached the closest one’s mind and entered it with ease. The animal didn’t have the typical reaction of rejecting him right away.

“He understands!” the giant exclaimed, tears in his eyes. “He asked me why humans never respond!”

The heirs enviously watched joy overtake the northerner, knowing well that they would never experience anything like it.

Bowbaq thought he could easily reach the
deep mind
of his new friend, but he resisted the temptation, fearing the avalanche of marine sensations that could overwhelm him.

The dolphins escorted the sloop for a while, until the
Othenor
met the other boat. It was then that everything went wrong.

Bowbaq felt the shock of a harpoon in his skin as if he himself had been the impaled dolphin, as if he really had shared its
deep mind
. He felt the animal’s agonized suffering as the whaler’s crew pulled their prey to the ship. He heard the desperate, incomprehensible cries of the other dolphins in his mind as if they were screaming in his own ears.

“Yan, could you bring us closer to that boat?” he asked, brow furrowed.

The young man obeyed. He did not know what the giant had in mind, but agreed without a second thought.

“Bowbaq, it won’t do any good.” Grigán tried to dissuade his friend, feeling the approaching conflict. “They’re only doing their jobs.”

“It’s not even for food,” the giant grumbled, growing even more furious. “It’s just for money!”

As the
Othenor
got closer to the whaling ship, its crew began bustling about the deck. A dozen or so bronzed men stood at the ready, weapons in hand, and the whaler captain changed course to bear down on the heirs.