Ecliptica Read online

  It turned out that someone else was looking for the Ecliptica pieces, some young man had been seeking out small silver objects across Gol. Following what little she could about the location of this man, Rossa headed out towards Picinto and his last known whereabouts. The city’s guard, the Blackbird, were more than forthcoming about information on this man. It turned out that he was more than a mere nuisance, he had been a thorn in their side for a little over seven years, but recently he had vanished from the city. It transpired that he had opened up a relic chamber that was unknown to the city architects, in which Elvish writings and runes were found from the very earliest days of the city.

  Exploring these ancient ruins spread more light on the legend of the Ecliptica in a day than Rossa had turned up in all the time she had spent in the library. It was during this time that she met an elderly scholar who had run into the young man.

  “Oh yes,” he started, looking over Rossa’s shoulder as he spoke, “I remember that day very well. Golden eyes that boy had, I have never seen eyes that colour in all my travels. Most unusual indeed. I remembered reading many years before about a golden eyed man and the legend of the Ecliptica. I had always passed it off as a myth; no mortal man or woman can possesses golden eyes, without exceptional circumstances. Finding this place after I ran into him confirmed that the Ecliptica is indeed real. I believe that one of the six pieces was buried here all along, under our very noses.”

  Rossa spoke at great lengths with the scholar and found the possible locations for two other pieces. One was said to be buried in the ruins at Mount Esdraksen and another was rumoured to be in the hands of an old explorer in Port Gol.

  Being a sensible type, Rossa picked the Port Gol piece as the most likely to be collected next and, with high hopes of finding it first, she quickly departed Picinto and made her way to Port Gol in search of her own piece of the Ecliptica.

  ~ 11 ~

  The port was in the far distance behind them, although the smell of the docks still carried on the air. Nethalie thought of the fishing boats moored in the harbour and all the bustling people that filled Gol almost to bursting. Turning, she looked at the path she had travelled. A dusty road, grooved with years of horse and cart travel, led from her feet straight back to her home.

  “Not wishing we were still back at that old store already?”, Rossa called from a short way down the road, “we’ve only been walking for a few hours.”

  “I’ve just not been this far outside the port since my mother died. I had forgotten how big it was and how sprawling across the land.”

  Turning to look at the road ahead, her eyes were welcomed by an old sight. A beautiful green canopy of the southern forests stretching out in the distance. The great hills of the rolling lands surrounded them as Nethalie breathed in the air. A smile slowly crept its way onto her face and she welcomed it as a mother would welcome their child back into her arms.

  "Yes, yes...and what a wonderful blue sky and such amazing wildlife. You really do need to get out more; this is nothing compared to the things ahead. Flowers taller than you or I, giant mountain cats that are as timid as new born kittens and let’s not even talk about the different foods that are out there." Rossa's eyes were gleaming as she thought of the amazing dishes she had encountered on her travels. Her stomach groaned. "That reminds me...we should stop for food soon."

  "But we've only been walking a few hours..," Nethalie said in her best imitation of the Bluecap.

  "Ha...ha...very funny. It is important to stay well fed and watered when walking great distances. You never know when you will get another chance to stop." With that, she strode off the beaten track and found a felled tree to hop onto.

  Giving a sigh, and realising that she too was hungry, Nethalie wandered over, sat herself down on the log and swung her pack to the ground before reaching in for the fruit loaf.

  . . .

  Another day and a half of walking passed as they travelled further away from Port Gol and further into the unknown. Nethalie found that she rather enjoyed the company of Rossa. It was refreshing to have someone who was excited about life and adventure. The old routine of running the store seemed almost like someone else's life now. As they journeyed together, Nethalie found out more about her new companion and how she came to be seeking the Ecliptica pieces. It turned out that Rossa a bit of a history buff; travelling from ruin to ruin, dig site to dig site. The Great Library in Port Gol was littered with parchments, tomes and artefacts that Rossa had donated. The Bluecap was also forthcoming with the fact that she had, on many occasions, slipped items out of dig sites to sell to traders.

  “More than a fair few would have ended up in your little shop. I’d wager good leven on that, and that I would be able to pick them out too,” Rossa chuckled as they walked ever onward.

  “We’re not really planning on walking all the way to...wherever it is we are going, are we?”, Nethalie’s aching legs quick to change the subject.

  “What would you do if I said that we were? Are your little feet complaining sweet cake?”, Rossa teased, while in truth her own feet were begging for a rest.

  “I would probably throw you in that lake up ahead. Though I’d probably jump in straight after you.”

  “What lake?”

  “The one a few miles up ahead, can’t you see it?”, Nethalie teased back, knowing all too well that Rossa would not be able to yet.

  “Do I have to give your shins a reminder that not everyone is abnormally tall and owl eyed like you,” Rossa said, giving a slight smile, “though I have to say, a quick swim sounds rather good right about now. Besides, it’s not long until nightfall; there should be a good place nearby to pitch up for the night.”

  That night the two travellers enjoyed a good meal and a cooling swim. Nethalie could not help giving Rossa a shove into the cool water as she stood on the bank dipping her toe in. Rossa plunged in head first and Nethalie had laughed so hard she had to sit down.

  A very soggy Bluecap climbed out of the lake and dripped her way over to Nethalie.

  “Not...funny,” she said, as she stood in an ever growing puddle around her feet.

  “I’m sorry,” Nethalie sniggered between giggles as she looked up at Rossa. “Well...a little bit at least. You were very graceful as you went in if that’s any consolation.” She got to her feet and cautiously made her way up the bank.

  ‘Aaaggghhh..,’ was the next sound she made followed by a colossal splash. She had made the mistake of forgetting Rossa’s ability to use magic. The Bluecap had simply vanished from her puddle to in front of Nethalie in less than a blink of an eye. Once where she wanted to be, she returned the favour.

  “Really...you had to cheat did you?!” Nethalie spluttered as she surfaced.

  “If it’s any consolation...you didn’t look at all graceful as you went in,” she mocked and then burst into laughter, “but your face was worth it.” Then, with a huge splash, Rossa jumped back in.

  The cool lake water made a welcome break from the baking heat of the sun and, when they finally decided to get dry and have some food, the sun was beginning to kiss the tree tops once more. Nethalie found she was quite skilled at making a fire, so once they had found a good supply of kindling to keep it going all night, they hung their wet clothes near it to dry. A steady spire of steam rose from the clothes as they dried out. It was probably a good thing to have gotten them soaked through, washing out the two days travel they had already been through. Sitting by the warm fire, wrapped in blankets, they heated their evening meal and chatted merrily. They also planned out their next day which, to Nathalie’s relief, involved hiring mountain ponies from the next village they came across to take them the remaining distance to Isimir. Her feet could not have felt happier about this news.

  “When I was working back in the Great Library I met a few people, some of whom owe me a favour or two.”

  “I’m not sure I want to know why all these people owe you favours.” Nethalie rolled her eyes.

  Giving a cheek
y smile Rossa looked at Nethalie, “I didn’t say it was anything like that, what kind of a Bluecap do you take me for!

  Nethalie looked at her for a few moments, trying to see any hint as to if Rossa was going to give up any names.

  “Sometimes I’m not sure what to make of you Rossa. One moment you seem like this great explorer who has worked in dig sites all over the realms. The next moment…you almost sound like a professional thief.”

  “My, don’t you have an active imagination there. We’ll save my past exploits for another night round the camp fire. Maybe we can have a sing-song too.”

  “I think compared to the routine of running a store; anything would seem unusual and exciting. To be honest, at this point, I’m just glad we’re not going to have to walk the whole way to Isimir!”

  “I told you before, I am not carrying you!” Rossa said and then slid straight into laughter. It was so infectious; Nethalie could not help but laugh too.

  As the fire bugs fluttered around them when they finally settled down for the evening, Nethalie lay thinking for a while. She could not remember ever having laughed so much in her entire life; mind you she had not had much to laugh about, save for her time with Kalisle. For that, she would be ever grateful to Rossa. Running the store back at Port Gol seemed almost unimaginable now and the thought of returning to that life made her slightly sad. What an amazing turn of events her life had taken in less than four days, yet she would not change it back and give any of this up for all the leven in Gol. As she watched, above the moon-lit water the fire bugs swayed to and fro in the cooling air. Smiling to herself, Nethalie danced her way into her own dreams of ancient ruins, hidden chambers and a strange little race of golden-eyed desert cats.

  ~ 12 ~

  Marik was a difficult man to find. Drake and Zeek followed the instructions that Gracie had given, but still found themselves well and truly lost, Drake feeling as though he had been played for a fool. Still, it gave them a chance to talk aloud for a while.

  “It would seem that Gracie’s palm needed a little more persuasion than I thought. I wonder if they play many travellers the same way?” Drake commented as he walked passed what appeared to be the same tree for the third time.

  “Jumping to a conclusion about our innkeeper will not help our current situation youngling. Remember, she said that Marik may not want to be found. We do not know the first thing about this person; it may be the area is enchanted somehow to prevent his ponies escaping or from unwanted thieves from finding them. Perhaps it would be worth heading back to the inn and setting out on foot once we have collected some supplies and a map?”

  “It would. However, there is one small flaw to this, oh so wise, next move…” Drake stopped and pointed to a familiar boulder, “at this rate we will have to call this our new home and await another lost, Marik-seeking soul. We are most definitely walking in circles. Nothing really looks any different and I have no idea which way we came from any more.” He sighed and took another look at what could soon be his shelter for the foreseeable future.

  “All the comforts of home…”

  “Do not be so disheartened youngling. For every situation there will always present itself a solution.”

  “At this point I would offer to wed any one, or thing, that could lead us out of this depressing patch of land.” He gave the boulder a nudge with the toe of his boot.

  “I’m flattered and thrilled…old Springwind here was looking for her soul mate!”, came a voice from behind him, “and it sounds like you are all too happy to have conversations with things that won’t talk back.”

  Drake spun around and was delighted, and suspicious, to see another person at last. His expression dropped to dismay to see that Springwind was, in fact, a tired looking pony a tall man was leading. The pale skinned man was beaming at him as Drakes eyes met the pony’s.

  “Careful now, or she may want to take you up on your offer.” That was too much for the man and he began laughing out loud. Drake could not help being caught by the idea himself and, walking up to Springwind he stroked her head and bent to one knee. This only caused the man to laugh even harder and Drake joined in wholeheartedly.

  “Proposing to a beast of burden is somewhat unusual,” Zeek muttered, failing to see how this situation could cause so much giddiness. Dragons were noble creatures and to make a joke of such a serious choice in one’s life was unthinkable. A dragon paired for life, a joining of souls until the end of their time in the skies.

  “Sorry Zeek, but you must see the funny side to this whole situation and besides, I’ve not actually proposed to Springwind,” Drake replied. Zeek’s lack of amusement and failure to respond quickly sobered him to this new situation.

  “I am rather hoping you might be Marik?,” Drake asked as he stood and brushed the grass from his knee.

  “Your hopes shall be answered then. I am indeed he,” Marik replied, wiping away a few stray tears from his cheeks. “That is quite possibly the best first meeting I have ever had with anyone caught up here. It’s my own little spell I cast to keep unwanted guests away and anything that may fancy a pony for a snack. It’s not the most complicated of spells, but it does the trick.”

  Zeek suddenly became a very active presence in Drake’s mind. “Be wary youngling, if he is a magic-user he may be far more dangerous than he appears.”

  Drake took the warning and changed his focus for a few moments to check the flow of magic around them. Marik did not seem to be drawing on any of the sources around them. He looked back to the man in front of him, slightly more at ease, but ready to act should any signs of trickery appear.

  “My name is Drake, Gracie sent me to find you. I was told you had the best mountain ponies in Isimir.”

  “Ah, good old Gracie. She does like to leave out a little information when sending people up here, so they get all in a muddle. Much like the first time she tried to come up here, only to bring me some food from a leftover feast. It took me a while to find her, she came to rest at this very same boulder as well. It’s not that she means any harm, she knows I am always wandering the area keeping an eye out for any unwanted guests.”

  “You mean she knew for certain I would get lost up here and wander around your enchantment? Not that it was just a possibility?” Drake asked, trying not to judge the woman for leaving out the part where he would definitely get lost.

  “We all have our own bit of fun out here lad. It’s the best way to keep us all on our toes, just in case anything comes across the border. Besides, some folks don’t even get a warning from Gracie if she doesn’t like them, she must’ve taken a bit of a shine to you,” Marik smiled as he spoke. Drake could see that living so close to danger had its rewards in the form of good coin, but also the potential daily dangers the town might face. Gracie had been kind enough to warn him at least.

  “Well, if you have the leven, you can have your pick of pony.” Marik patted Springwind gently on her flank. “I know you’ll already have one willing steed,” he gave another hearty laugh and then began leading the trio along a path. “Follow me,” he chuckled.

  Drake could feel a prickle on his neck as he made his way along the path behind Marik. Listening, he could hear the man muttering a few words under his breath.

  “He must have a phrase for lowering whatever sort of enchantment is in place,” Zeek observed, “a most ingenious way of using such a spell. Indeed, one I have not seen before.”

  “I had no idea it was possible to use a barrier spell to mislead someone’s sense of direction. I thought they were used for deflection?”

  “That is true, but the sight of a person or beast could be deflected from seeing the truth of their surroundings. A combination with some other magical phrasing with a basic barrier spell and it is a very possible spell to cast.” Zeek sounded impressed with Marik’s understanding and use of magic.

  “Remind me of that next time we get caught in that kind of situation.”

  Drake followed his guide down the snaking path to a small
hut, surrounded by a collection of fenced paddocks and a large open fronted store house. There were at least twenty ponies, of a wide variety of size, colour and breed. It was good to note too that all of them looked healthy and well looked after. It seemed that Marik cared a great deal for the ponies in his care.

  “Would you care for a hot tea, or a sniff of something stronger, before we get down to business?” Marik asked.

  “A tea would be most welcome, thank you.” This would be a perfect chance to rest his increasingly sore feet and to talk to the man some more, perhaps find out how he came up with the unique barrier spell.

  Leading Springwind into one of the larger paddocks, Marik removed her harness and replaced the length of wood that kept the ponies secure. Springwind whinnied and then trotted off across the grass to the other ponies, as if to begin telling them of the events she had witnessed and the near marriage proposal from a strange young man. Drake smiled as he watched the pony trot away, then he followed Marik into the hut. The space inside was filled with a strange collection of objects, most of which Drake had never seen before, much less knew the names of. Three doors gave mention that there were more rooms off of this central one. Marik made his way to a small metal cooking stove that housed a glowing fire inside. He picked up a jug of water and filled a pan to the brim before placing it atop the stove.