Chapter Four: Destination: Thelos

At the port of Thelos, where the river Eldaran met the Sea, and along the sandy beaches that formed the coastline there, the fog was even thicker that morning than it had been at Aligoth. In Thelos harbour, the captains of tall ships paced fretfully as they waited for the air to clear. Boats arriving from upriver came in slowly, clanging their bells to warn others to stay out of their path.

In the villages nearby, the fisherfolk mended their nets and their sails, or weeded their tiny garden plots, or smoked their pipes and sat, but they did not go out on the water. One of them was a thick-set, powerful man named Robon, with faded eyes and crimson cheeks. When Robon trudged out from his cottage at daybreak that morning and saw the fog swirling up on his doorstep he scowled. It hadn't been a good week; he had hoped to make up for that with a better catch today. He grumbled softly to himself and strolled over to the water.

The tide had gone out - the long beach was wide and wet. Robon stood for a few minutes and stared out at the flat sea and the fog. He felt like the day - gloomy, grey and expressionless. He glanced down the beach. The escaping tide had left its usual cargo of weeds and driftwood on the grey sand. Only a stone's throw away, yet in this weather barely visible, one log in particular caught the fisherman's attention, for it was larger than the others, and something about its shape reminded him eerily of a human body. But Robon was not a nervous man, and the resemblance didn't bother him. On the contrary, there was enough firewood in such a log to make it worthwhile for him to haul it home and dry it, and he made towards it.

But as he drew nearer, the dark shape looked more like a body and not less, and soon it was plain that this was indeed no log. Robon felt the icy touch of fear on his back as his hurried steps brought him to the drowned woman's side.

She was tall, very tall, and wore black garments under a black cloak. Robon had heard that the skin of a drowned person was grey; this woman's was greyish-green. Her eyes were closed, and her lips were pulled back in a ghastly grin over her yellow teeth. Robon could not tell how old she might have been.

For a minute the horrible discovery paralysed his mind. The fog was thicker than ever. It was as though he were alone in the world with nothing but the water, the sand, and the dead woman for company. But at last the grinning face became too much for him to bear. He bent down and reluctantly grasped a dead arm, and rolled the woman onto her front so that her face was hidden.

But this brought a new shock. Robon gasped, and jumped back with a startled cry, for now he could see the knife buried hilt-deep in the middle of her back.

A moment later, though, he was on his knees to study the knife more closely. The metal of the hilt was rusted, but it was also studded with bright jewels - rubies and emeralds. A strange story here! Robon thought. It was a rich murderer who could use a weapon like that. And now it was his for the taking, a fortune in jewels, his! His breath quickened as he grasped the hilt and pulled hard, and he laughed as the long blade came free. He hardly noticed that there was no sign of blood on the blade, and he did not stop to wonder why.

He rolled the woman onto her back again as though to conceal from his own eyes what he had done, and forced himself to look into the grinning face once more. Who had she been?

Then the grey-green eyelids snapped open and the ghastly grin was gone. Robon found himself staring into eyes like red coals, that seized his gaze and would not let it go. A skinny hand snaked out to clutch his throat, and the thin lips murmured, "Glad you showed up, dearie. You'll make just the slave I was hoping for."

Robon's face was without colour as he rose awkwardly to his feet, and his eyes were dull. He stood silent and motionless, staring at nothing, until the woman on the sand spoke again.

"There's a city near here, or a big town?" she asked.

Robon nodded.

"Good. Get me three other fellows, big, strong men like yourself, and fetch them here as soon as you may. Do you understand me, dearie?"

Again Robon nodded. He turned, and began to walk stiffly back towards his village.

"On the double!" cried the woman. "Do you think I want to lie here all day?"

Robon broke into a run, and soon was invisible in the fog.

The woman cackled, and again her lips stretched into a grin. Then she groaned heavily at a blast of pain from the bloodless wound in her back.

After that she lay in silence for a time, and seemed to sleep. But by and by there came a soft tread on the sand nearby, and a low chittering noise. The woman was alert at once.

"Is it you? Already?" she called softly. "Ah, but you travel quickly, my pet!"

A small, brown shape emerged from the fog as she spoke, a creature formed somewhat like a monkey. It approached the woman confidently, and settled on the sand close by her ear.

"Yes, my pet," she whispered, "yes, I am sure we can work together. First I have to get my strength back. But then we shall see what we can do!"

She listened carefully while the monkey creature chittered its reply.

Voltan and Yinna were deep in conversation when Blister returned to the camp later that morning. Five hours had passed since the children had been borne away by the Swallow. It had taken Blister that long to escape from her bonds, which she had finally done by rubbing the rope on the rough stone doorsill of the shed until it had worn through.

Voltan showed no surprise at seeing her.

"Ah, Blister! There you are!" he called to her as she crossed the square to the tents. "Did you have any luck at finding those two young ragamuffins?"

"Yes and no," Blister answered. "I found them, yes, but too late. They escaped downriver before I could stop them. The thief-boy flagged down a boat and it picked them up - they'll be in Thelos before long."

"You were right then," remarked Voltan. "As usual. They did head for the docks. And now they're gone. Well, well! At least they went in the right direction. I have to get started for Thelos myself - the map has changed its mind again.

"You were away a long time," put in Yinna. "This boat - did it come by just now?"

"Just after dawn," Blister unwillingly admitted. "I found them around midnight, and I was going to bring them back. But they - "

She hesitated.

"Go on," Voltan encouraged her.

"They overpowered me. They tied me up."

"That was naughty of them," said Voltan. At the thought of little Wist overpowering the fearsome Blister he started to grin, but quickly recovered himself as he caught sight of the scowl on his assistant's angular face. "Very naughty," he added, as sternly as he could.

Blister looked back at him coldly.

"They will have to be found," she said.

"Oh, quite, quite," Voltan replied. "They will have to be found. But there's no great hurry, I think. They won't come to harm in Thelos before we arrive there ourselves."

"They may not come to harm," answered Blister. "But there's something else. Yesterday when Wist and I were exploring I found a chain - gold, with a jewel in the front, the kind you wear around your neck. I was going to give it to you last night, but in all the excitement I forgot. Well, Wist took it from me when I was tied up. When she left she was wearing it around her neck. I don't need to tell you what a chain like that might be worth - coming from this town."

Voltan whistled.

"Or what it might do!" he exclaimed. "Anything like that, coming from here, is almost certain to have some kind of magic in it. Well, you're right. We'll have to get it back before Wist does something foolish, like selling it. Do you suppose that's what she means to do?"

"Naturally," Blister assured him. "They're going to need money in Thelos - what else are they going to do but sell the chain? Of course, they probably won't get a tenth of what it's worth. They're only children."

"Then what do you suggest?" asked Voltan. "They have a big head start on us."

"I will go alone to Thelos," Blister replied. "I can travel quickly. You follow at your own pace - no need for you to hurry. I will meet you at midday at Grey Garland Hall in Thelos, two days from now. The children will be with me."

"You're sure of that?" Yinna asked sharply.

"Don't worry," Blister told her. "I won't fail twice."

Five minutes later she was mounted and ready.

"Remember," she reminded Voltan from the saddle, "the day after tomorrow at Grey Garland Hall. At noon."

And with that she turned and galloped away.

Wist and Heron soon found that there was little for them to do aboard the Swallow. Even amongst the crew, only the one at the helm was actually busy, for the breeze was light and steady once the fog began to lift, and the river was straight enough that the sails needed little tending.

There were three men aboard, and two women, and they were a rough-looking lot even for sailors. One of the men, though, was cleaner and better-dressed than the others; he seemed to be the captain. He was also the only one who showed any interest in the children after they were aboard.

"Come down to my cabin," he told them as the Swallow made its way back into the middle of the river. "We do not expect to find passengers in such a place as this - I want to hear your story."

Wist and Heron exchanged glances. How much could they tell this man? On the other hand, what story could they possibly devise that he would accept, short of telling the truth? Yet runaway apprentices sometimes brought a good reward to anyone who returned them to their masters. Nervously they followed their host down the companionway that led belowdecks.

They found the inside of the boat more spacious and better lit than they had expected on seeing it from without. The companionway led into a galley area with a small coal-burning stove, and a table. Towards the bow were bunks for the crew and big storage lockers for sails, anchor, and rope. To the stern an open hatchway on one side led to a storage area filled with crates of provisions and supplies. On the other side was a door, and it was through here that the captain led them into a small cabin.

He waved them onto the bunk and sat down himself on the single stool. Between him and them was a table with a chart spread out upon it, not of Valinay only, but of the wide Sea and all the lands that touched it. The captain saw the children staring at the map and chuckled.

"Aye, the Swallow travels far when need be," he told them. "Maybe you've heard of Thrannor, of Sharkoon, of Eladeria, of Roke?"

The children nodded.

"I met a woman from Thrannor, once," Heron said. "She was shorter than I am, and she wore a sword - a curved one with writing on the blade."

The captain laughed again.

"You'd see stranger sights than that if you travelled long with the Swallow, lad," said he. "And go where few have gone."

He stood up suddenly, and planted his powerful arms on the tabletop as he leaned forward for a searching look at each of the children in turn. Wist tried to look unconcerned as her eyes met his, but for some reason she found his gaze hard to bear, and quickly looked down. He stood straight again, grunted, and rubbed thoughtfully at his beard.

"So, whom did you run away from?" he asked abruptly. "And what were you doing in the witch city? That pretty thing you have around your neck, girl - did it come from there?"

Wist's hand went to the gold chain almost against her will. She suddenly realized that it had been foolish to leave the chain in plain view - she should be wearing it under her tunic.

"N-no," she stammered. "It's my mother's. She gave it to me to w-wear to remind me of her while I was away from home."

"Ah! So it was your mother sent you to Aligoth! Not very nice of her, hey? And where's your daddy? Shouldn't he be looking after you?"

Heron spoke up before Wist had a chance to reply.

"You shouldn't talk to my sister like that," he said, putting an edge of anger onto his voice. "The fact is that our father was a sorcerer. A year ago he journeyed to Aligoth hoping to find an enchanted cloak that's mentioned in some of the old tales. He never came back. Our mother tried to stop us from going after him, but we wouldn't listen. We went into the witch city ourselves, trying to find some trace of him. That was two weeks ago. Yesterday our provisions ran out, and we gave up the search. I don't think now that we will ever know what happened to him."

The captain looked interested.

"Your father, what garland did he serve?"

Wist glanced at Heron. He did not look back.

"The grey," she answered.

"And was he a tall man?"

"Middling tall."

"Well, perhaps this is just too much of a coincidence," the captain said musingly, "but it was just about a year ago that I gave a ride upriver to a sorcerer of the grey garland, a tallish man just like your father. And strangest of all, he asked to be let off at the docks of Aligoth, just where I picked you up. Tell me, was your father's name Maugwyn?"

"Yes," Wist began to say, thinking what a lucky chance this was to back up their story. Heron had been too long a thief to go for bait like that, however, and he firmly said, "No".

He was a little too late.

"What?" said the captain. "Surely this is strange. You say no, and yet I am sure your sister was just about to say yes. Weren't you?" he demanded, suddenly staring Wist full in the eye.

"I was going to say, 'Yerril'," Wist answered coolly. This time she forced herself to return his gaze. "Our father's name was Yerril. And he didn't start for Aligoth from the south like your man, but from the north. On a horse."

The captain continued to hold her gaze for several seconds after she had finished speaking, as though he were weighing the truth of her story in his mind. Wist kept her face calm, but inwardly she was quaking. She did not think she could stand up to much more questioning.

Then, unexpectedly, the captain laughed.

"My apologies," he said, holding out his hand to them. "Of course you know your own father's name. And I am indeed sorry that he appears to have met his doom, though we all must some day. And I will wish to hear from you the tale of your fortnight in Aligoth, for it is a wonder to me that you entered there and came out alive, when so many have not. But that is for later. Now I will see that you are given a morsel or two to eat - did you say that you haven't eaten since yesterday? Follow me into the galley, now, the pair of you, and we'll see what we can find."

Wist was too taken aback by the sudden change in the captain's manner to do more than rise and follow as he had said, but Heron said, "When do you expect that we shall arrive in Thelos? Will it be this afternoon?"

The captain shook his head.

"Not till morning, just before the tide runs out. We on the Swallow have our reasons for not wanting to spend more time in the port of Thelos than need be - never you mind what they are. Tonight we will stop at a little cove - a quiet place we know about, where no one will bother us. But don't worry. You'll see Thelos soon enough."

He opened the door and started forward for the galley, the children following. But they glanced at each other, and Wist saw the strange expression of uneasiness that crossed Heron's face for a moment, then was gone.

By the time, a few minutes later, that Wist and Heron had started to feast on bread and cheese from the captain's larder, Voltan and Yinna had readied their horses. Soon they were passing out of Aligoth and back towards the high road to Thelos. Voltan heaved a long sigh of relief as they left behind the grotesque statues at the gate.

"If I never have to come back here again it'll still be too soon," he told Yinna. "And if I knew a spell to turn Aligoth and all its mysteries into a field of potatoes I'd use it right now!

"If that's the way you feel, why did you come here in the first place?" Yinna wanted to know. "You could have stayed away."

"If I could've, I would've, trust me. I've got this map, you see, a magic one that an uncle of mine gave me on the day I was born. It tells me where to go, and too bad for me if I don't. This time it told me to go to Aligoth. I can't tell you how glad I was when I looked at it this morning and it pointed me back to Thelos."

"This map pretty much runs your life, then?" Yinna inquired. "It makes the decisions for you?"

"Yes. I mean, no. Well, sort of. Every time I've gone against it I've got into trouble. You can't argue with a Destiny Map. I'd be silly not to do what it says."

"Hmm, maybe," Yinna said thoughtfully. "Anyway, I can't agree with you that Aligoth is so dangerous. I'd heard all the rumours too, of course, and to tell you the truth I was a bit nervous about going there. But now that I've seen it for myself I think it's as harmless as any other town would be if it was empty of people. Eerie, of course, but not evil."

Voltan shook his head.

"Don't be fooled," he said sombrely. "We were lucky - we came upon Aligoth at a quiet time, and were not harmed. But I have had comrades who lost their minds in Aligoth, so I know that not all the rumours are lies. I tell you, I couldn't sleep for worrying last night."

"About Wist, more than yourself, I'd guess," Yinna said with a smile.

"No, not about Wist, about me. I went to a soothsayer once, when Wist was smaller, to see if she'd ever become a great sorcerer. I'm the impatient type, you see. I can never wait to find things out in the regular way."

"And what did the soothsayer tell you?"

"Well, for one thing, that Wist would not come to harm as long as I was still alive. So I was sure that nothing would happen to her, even in Aligoth. I was the one who might be in trouble."

"And will Wist be a great sorcerer?"

"That was another thing," said Voltan, frowning, "another reason I didn't make more fuss about her leaving. The fellow said, no, she never would be a great sorcerer. Not if she stayed with me."

"You know, I felt the same way, a bit," Yinna told him sympathetically. "I'm a pretty good thief when I want to be, and I think Heron could be as good as me or better. But I don't know if being a thief is right for him really. Thieving isn't as respectable now as it used to be - in my grandmother's day, for instance. I think Heron could succeed at another trade, and maybe it'd be better for him in the long run."

"Your grandmother was a thief too?" Voltan inquired.

"Yes. Lirileth the Unseen, people called her. She was the one who stole back the Ceremonial Stones from the ogres of Thundering Pass, and returned them to the White Garland Council."

"I've heard the story," Voltan said. "That was your grandmother? Very impressive. My father's mother was a juggler with a troubadour show out east - not in the same league."

Yinna grinned.

"Not everybody's grandmother can be a hero," she said. "And Lirileth couldn't juggle."