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Erion walked down a hallway adorned with huge paintings on both sides. They were huge expressive paintings of great quality. The frames of the paintings were built on the combination of the richest woods and showed an elaborate hand carving. The hall had a vaulted ceiling that hung at a great height, at least fifteen steps high. The vault, like the hall, was divided into sections delimited by white and stylish finest marble columns. Elegant arches connected the columns by drawing a spider in each section of the vault. One could observe an affluent and complicated ornamentation in each of the sections in which the vault was divided by the arcs.
The floor was constructed by marble and semiprecious stones and showed essentially three colors: white, green and pink. The joints between the various sections of pavement were marked in silver. They had been recently polished and every step shone with multicolored flashes.
Many people were arranged on both sides of the aisle, in a perfectly symmetrical placement. They were dressed in the most luxurious and richest clothes that Erion had ever seen. The ladies showed spectacular jewelry of all types: rings, necklaces, earrings, bracelets. In many of them there were stones of great size. There was a bit of everything: emeralds, sapphires, diamonds and rubies. Some of the ladies had more valuables over all the gold that Erion had gotten in his life. Their dresses were made with the most sophisticated fabrics: silk, cashmere, satin and other fabrics that Erion couldn't recognize. Men didn't lag behind the women and showed some clothes just as rich and elaborate. Many of them had scepters or other similar objects in hand, indicating power positions. Most were made of gold and had large gems embedded. The most curious of everything was that they all looked at Erion and greeted him effusively and respectfully as he passed. Some of them even made small bows.
Erion had reached the end of the hall and was now deeper in a circular room. The ceiling was a dome, also circular, that was more than a hundred steps in diameter and fifty steps high. It was even more spectacular than the dome of the hall that he had just crossed. It was smooth and was completely covered by large incredible frescoes showing various scenes of life at fairs, caravans and stores. The expressiveness of the faces of the characters in the paintings, as well as the almost lifelike scenes, was what most impressed Erion.
The room was full of all kinds of dignitaries; there were about a couple of hundred people there. Their clothes and accessories were even more amazing that the ones from the people in the hall. Erion didn't even know how to describe it. He never imagined that such a luxury was possible. It was unlike anything he had ever seen, even remotely. Multiple lamps hung from across the ceiling and each had hundreds of lights. They all had ornaments that, at first glance, might seem glass. But Erion's trained eye realized that all those lamps were carved with diamonds. One of those lamps could rival all the treasures of the crown of most kingdoms.
At the back of the room there was a step of low height, just fifteen fingers, but had a large surface and was crescent shaped. Above him was a large armchair in the center that looked more like the throne of an emperor of the Second Age. On either side of that big chair there were eight luxury chairs, of a very similar quality and design, although all of them were a bit smaller than the throne. They were symmetrically arranged following the shape of the crescent. In front of each of those sixteen chairs was a man who, by his bearing and the luxury of his clothes, Erion could define him as a king wearing his best uniform.
Erion walked slowly and ceremoniously through the center of the room while everyone present kept bowing as he got closer. Finally, he reached the half moon and one of the sixteen men, namely the one that was located to the right of the great throne, indicated with a respectful and proud gesture to take a seat in his place. Erion then saw that he pointed to the huge throne. Somehow he knew that this was his rightful place.
When he finally stood in front of the chair and was about to sit down, he felt a huge pang in his side. It was as if a bee the size of a fist had nailed its big stinger and had injected all its venom. The pain was unbearable and he felt himself faint.
Erion awoke when he felt gentle taps on his shoulder. He opened his eyes. It was Ithelas that warned him that he would do the last watch. The young man stood up and slowly remembered the dream he just had. Again, as the dream of the swamp, it seemed unlike any other dream he had ever had. It was a hundred times more alive, a hundred times more real. It was as if he had actually been there. Only waking up in his bed did he realize it had been nothing more than a dream. The young man asked himself what it meant, and then his mind went back to his duties.
He didn't mind having to make the final watch. He had slept like a log the rest of the night and felt reasonably rested. The vigils when he was alone with Mithir were much more complicated. Everything was easier in a larger group like this one.
They also had Samar. It was a luxury to have an elf because they didn't need to sleep. They only needed a strange kind of rest, which they called trance, for four hours each night. So, Samar had convinced them for her to guard always during the first half of the night. In this way, the others would only have to do two guards after her. While this may seem a minor issue, it allowed the entire group to be more rested and stronger during the day. That freshness could determine the difference between life and death in battle.
Erion placed his crossbow at his back and climbed nimbly up a thin tree with few leaves in its canopy. The young man found that the visibility was good from there in all directions. It was almost dawn. Erion took a swig from his canteen. He had sweat a bit overnight and felt quite thirsty.
From there he could hear all kinds of strange sounds from the lush forest. Some of them corresponded, undoubtedly, to animals or beasts completely unknown to him. He put his hand under his shirt and pulled out the amulet he had around his neck. It was shaped like a dove.
“The amulet!” Erion said.
He had completely forgotten it, with everything that had happened. Yesterday he could have used it to make the recognition of the area and have avoided Samar's whole exercise. And more importantly, they could have been there when the beast attacked and, perhaps, have avoided Ithelas' injury. Erion felt guilty. Later he would talk to the others.
He concentrated again on the guard. The camp's security now depended on him. They didn't know the dangers they could find in this strange and distant land. Yesterday had been a major wake-up call. However, the rest of the watch passed without major incident. The sun came out and not long after, you could already feel its heat; the colleagues began to rise one by one. Ithelas prepared a hot soup for breakfast and, after a while, everyone was sitting by the fire eating and making plans for the day.
When they finished, they put out the fire, collected the tents and loaded them on the mule. Erion explained about the amulet and that he felt that he didn't remember having that option. Then he made a small demonstration that left everyone surprised. He used the occasion to take a quick look around and orient himself in the right direction towards the depression where the cave was located. When he returned to the earth he shared with the others what he had seen.
“We're on a large island, as we imagined. Most of the island is covered by this forest, but the land in this area and beyond, to the south west, is more rugged, like a hilly area. The rest of the island looks plainer. I've also seen a walled city in the distance, to the east, but it's far, perhaps a day's journey,” said Erion.
They began walking. They were all fresh and rested, but had to be cautious. Ithelas and Samar led the way and Thost brought up the rear, with the brothers at the center of the group. The foliage of the forest didn't let them see very far and it was an added difficulty in trying to orient themselves. They walked for about three hours until they reached an area where the ground began to descend. They followed the slope; the cave should be in the depths of the depression.
Finally, they reached the slit. They had reached the edge of a kind of basin. The slope was much higher from there. Climbing
equipment probably wouldn't be needed to descend, but not by far. They had to make some decisions.
“I don't think that the mule can go down here; certainly not with that load. Even without it, I don't think it can go down. Also, I'm not sure we can take it through the cave, if it's very deep,” Erion said.
“It's true. I think we'll have to leave it here,” Thost admitted.
“We have to pick up what is essential and leave the rest behind,” Samar said.
“We should find a place to bury or at least hide what we're not going to take and release the animal. This gives it a chance to survive,” the cleric said, supplicant.
No sooner said than done; they sought a place where there was a large rock with a small crevice. They unloaded the equipment and released the mule. The hardest thing was coming; they had to decide what to take and what to leave behind. It was too much equipment to be able to carry it all, especially through such rough terrain.
The tents occupied a lot of space and though they were comfortable, weren't essential. It was the first thing they placed under the crevice. They carried a lot of torches, possibly more than necessary. Mithir recommended each taking one and leaving the others behind, and they did. The food and especially the water weighed a lot, but seemed indispensable. However, Ithelas told them to take only a small canteen each and some cornbread. He would take care of the food and water. Erion remained quite puzzled, but Mithir gestured him not to worry, because Ithelas knew what he was doing. Thus, they continued reviewing the inventory and left some things, but kept most in their backpacks. It's hard to leave something behind when you do not know if you'll need it. When they finished storing their belongings under the large rock, they placed a few sticks and stones in front to cover the opening and then two large branches that hid it perfectly.
They made their way back into the slot and began the descent. The slope was steep but there was plenty of vegetation such as small trees and some bushes, where they could lean to make a controlled descent. They continued down laboriously for half an hour. With the exception of a few slips and a scare, they reached the bottom of the slope without incidents. They had not yet reached the deepest area of the basin when they saw a large opening in front of them with an almost vertical drop. Fortunately, it was not very high, perhaps twenty steps. Erion fixed a rope in one of the nearby trees and descended, with great skill, running the rope and giving small jumps down with his feet on the vertical wall. In less than a minute he was down. As the end region of the slit was completely dark, they could hardly distinguish it. The rays of the sun were not vertical enough in this time of day to reach that part of the “basin”.
“Everything all right?” Ithelas asked loudly.
“Yes. No problem,” Erion replied.
“Can you see the cave?” asked Thost.
“Yes, I think so. I see an entry,” Erion said after a while.
They all took turns to go down. Erion lit his torch and they could see better where they descended and where they stepped. Thost was the last one down and soon everyone was gathered around Erion. They followed him as he walked to the opposite side of the wall to the entrance of the cave. They had found it.
CHAPTER 2: THE SOLDIER, THE GNOME AND THE WIZARD