Swords of Talera by Charles Allen Gramlich

Author:Charles Allen Gramlich
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC.
Published: 2011-02-06T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

ISLAND OF THE KLAR

A fish leaped in the dawn, and another, their scales catching and breaking the light into glistening, rainbow jewels. Each of the creatures stretched over forty feet long, their muscular bodies rippling with power. They were of a species called vimen and are the largest true fish of Talera. Their flesh is considered a delicacy, probably because they are difficult to catch.

Beyond where the vimen crashed back to the sea a low mist coiled on the waves. Vulls and terthins hunted baitfish near us, and when successful flew off toward that mist with raucous cries that spoke to us of land. Rhandh said that the rising vapor marked the island hold of the Klar.

We stayed well away from that island during the day and kept our sails furled. The watch saw few Klar vessels but there may have been more; the violet sails and ebony hulls of their ships are difficult to detect against the dark ocean. We also had to be sure that we ourselves were not seen. The Darkling was faster than any Klar pirate ship but only so long as the wind held, and that wind had gusted fitfully for the past few days, spending its effort in piling up gray clouds to our south.

The clouds rolled toward us and by mid-afternoon they covered the sky. The wind gusted more strongly and a fine drizzle began to drift across us. I did not think we’d get a storm but there was likely to be more rain.

Night came early beneath the clouds and no moons could be seen. We put up our sails and went swiftly in toward the low shore. The island that lay there was situated along the same great geologic rift as Jedik’s Isle. It, too, was volcanic in origin, though both volcanoes had been dormant for centuries.

Unlike at Emira, the cinder cone no longer existed here. Sometime in the distant past an eruption had blown away much of the peak, and the hub of land that remained was just a memory of a greater island. Only part of the outer rim of the volcano remained, like half of a melon rind. The sea had poured in to quench the last fires, leaving a still lagoon surrounded on three sides by rock. We slid quietly past that harbor, where the black silhouettes of ships lay peacefully at anchor.

“The Klar homeland,” I murmured.

“No,” said Rhandh, who stood beside me.

I turned on him, startled. “What do you mean?” I demanded.

Jedik, too, eyed him questioningly. “Yes,” he said. “I think you should explain yourself.”

“You see this island,” the Vlih said, “where the Klar ships are at anchor, and you think it is their homeland. That is what you are intended to think.”

“You told us this morning when we first saw the mist that the slaver’s hold was here,” I said. “Have you then lied to us?”

“The homeland is here,” Rhandh replied.

“You speak in riddles,” Jedik said.

Rhandh pointed at the sea. “The Klar homeland lies there.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.