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They both stared at the cliff for several minutes before either of them spoke. It wasn’t just big, it was massive. There was absolutely no way they would be able to climb it. For a brief second Jasper considered asking Dekon to wish them up to the top but he knew it wasn’t worth the risk. They had no idea if the drift would be able to be traced out here.
‘I think this is as far as we go for the night,’ Dekon said. A light rain was beginning to fall as they pulled the skimmer up onto the very narrow strip of black sand near the cliff. Dekon looked at the sail and stroked his beard then quickly undid the ropes holding it to the mast.
‘Hold this,’ Dekon said and handed Jasper the end of one rope. In a short time Dekon had turned the sail into a cover that was big enough for both of them to shelter under. He cupped his hands and held them under the drips from the canvas.
‘Mud,’ he muttered and held his hands out in the rain to be cleaned. He waited a few minutes while the rain washed the canvas clean then tried again. This time the water was clean and they both drank their fill of fresh rain water. It wasn’t as good as food but it filled the belly for now at least.
‘It’s not so cold this far south,’ Jasper commented as the warm breeze quickly dried his clothes now they were under cover. Neither of them mentioned how hungry they still were and as darkness fell Jasper nodded off on the hard bamboo skimmer with the sound of rain on the canvas lulling him to sleep.
Jasper was awake with the dawn and the sound of birds drew his attention out to the muddy sea. Birds were diving at the mud and coming away with something in their beaks. He was hungry enough to consider that anything a bird could eat was possible food for them as well. Dekon was still sleeping and Jasper left him on the skimmer and went out onto the black sand to watch the birds. Sure enough, every bird came away with a beak full of something wriggly. Jasper hoped it wasn’t worms as even though he was hungry he doubted he would be able to force himself to eat worms. He had taken off his boots last night and he squelched out onto the mud in bare feet and was a little surprised to find it was quite warm. The birds, obviously not familiar with people, flew off squawking loudly at finding their hunting ground being taken over by a larger creature. Jasper dug around in the mud with one hand and drew back when his finger touched something that wriggled. He picked up a small rock and dug a hole with it. A second later two small crabs scuttled across it but Jasper wasn’t fast enough to catch them. The birds, having decided to share their bounty, had returned to dive for food a short distance away. Jasper watched them for a minute then copied them. A quick jab of his hand into the mud found several wriggling crabs and he closed his hand around them and hauled them to the surface.
‘Ow!’ he yelled as the crabs nipped at his hand but he kept hold of them.
‘What’ve you got there?’ Dekon asked as he stood at the edge of the black sand and watched Jasper walk back towards him.
‘Possibly breakfast,’ Jasper said as he washed the mud off his catch in the thin layer of surface water then held his hands cupped to show Dekon without letting the creatures escape. Two decent sized crab-like creatures were looking startled to be above ground and curled up into little balls. Dekon didn’t look very impressed and his eyebrows rose with disbelief.
‘You expect me to eat them? I’m not that hungry,’ the warf said with a slight curl of his lip. ‘I’d rather try to catch one of the birds.’
Jasper was the one to look unimpressed this time. He had grown up seeing most wildlife as food but even he drew the line at scrawny-looking sea birds.
‘Perhaps we should just get moving and hope there is something better not too far away,’ Jasper suggested. He threw the sea creatures back onto the mud and they scampered away and burrowed out of sight. Then he washed the mud off his feet and shook them as dry as possible before putting on the boots that Dekon brought to him. Dekon retied the sail back to its original purpose and they pushed the craft back to the edge of the mud. It wasn’t raining but the sky was heavy with clouds.
‘Which way should we go?’ Dekon asked as he looked up and down the coast. Jasper looked as well and there appeared to be nothing to indicate that one direction was preferable to the other. Jasper dipped one finger in the water then held it up to the wind to see which direction it was blowing. Being so near to the cliffs meant it was more of a swirling gust and he shrugged.
‘Whatever way the wind is going,’ he suggested. ‘There has to be a more accessible landing place than this.’
It took a few minutes to work out the wind but they were soon skimming their way along the coast and heading into the early morning sun.
‘South South East,’ Jasper said, mostly to himself, as he tried to bring up an image of Arlo’s map and draw an imaginary line where he thought they might have travelled. Then a thought struck him and he groaned out loud.
‘What?’ Dekon asked. The warf seemed quite happy to be the one to steer the skimmer and it didn’t appear to be any effort as he kept the sail turned to catch the wind.
‘The map,’ Jasper said simply. Dekon looked at him blankly for a split second then laughed out loud. He pulled the blue leather-cased map from his pocket and tossed it gently to Jasper. Jasper unrolled it and leaned against the mast to steady himself.
‘Map. Please show us where we are,’ Jasper asked.
An x appeared on the map amongst small wavy lines that Jasper assumed was supposed to indicate the presence of an ocean or water.
’So how do we ask how to get to Black Mountain? It wouldn’t have been called that when the map was made,’ Dekon mused out loud.
‘It was the only mountain around,’ Jasper said with a shrug.
‘Map. Location and directions to the nearest mountain please.’
The map zoomed out to show a large continent and their tiny x was at the top.
‘Sail East for three hours and disembark at Fool’s Landing. Proceed by wagon for two days South.’
Jasper let the map roll shut. ‘Thanks map,’ he said as he put it in his pocket and looked at Dekon. ‘Well, it looks like we’re going the right way at least, but I’m not sure I like the sound of Fool’s Landing.’
The sun was not far off its zenith when the mud started to become littered with rocks and boulders. Dekon turned the sail away from the wind and began to guide them slowly around the obstacles. The rocks became bigger and taller and some rose almost as tall as the cliffs.
‘Disembark. Head south by wagon for two days.’
Jasper jumped in surprise as the map spoke suddenly and loudly, although it was possibly the echo from the narrow channels between the rocks that made it sound louder.
‘I guess we’ve arrived at Fool’s Landing,’ Dekon said and brought the skimmer to a stop.
Jasper looked up at the huge columns of rock and nodded. ‘Okay, so the sea would have reached well up these, if not just above them, and made it almost impossible to navigate into shore.’
‘Which doesn’t help us get up there now that the water has gone,’ Dekon pointed out. ‘We could do with some steps to climb.’
Jasper stared at the rocks as the germ of an idea filtered through his mind. He couldn’t grasp it yet and he just stared and waited for it to fully develop.
‘Can you take us a short way back that way?’ Jasper asked.
‘Why?’ Dekon queried.
‘I don’t know but I think there might be a way up there,’ Jasper replied, still deep in thought. Dekon took them back through the rocks then caught the wind and spun the skimmer back to face the landing again. It settled to a halt and Dekon waited for a few minutes.
‘Well, how do we get up there?’ he enquired, trying to sound patient.
Jasper’s gaze travelled up and down the various rocks and then back again. It almost looked like very odd stairs. He frowned as the theory was good but the gaps between the rocks were bigger than he or Dekon could jump.
‘Any ideas yet?’ Dekon prompted again. ‘There’s not enough rope here to reach the top.’
The solution sprung to mind as Jasper looked at the rope Dekon was pointing to.
‘How likely are we to need this skimmer again?’ he asked the warf.
‘That depends,’ Dekon replied. ‘Are we coming back the same way? Are we coming back at all? I don’t think I want to walk across that amount of mud. Why?’
‘Have you still got your knife?’ Jasper asked as the final pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Dekon nodded and still looked confused.
‘These rocks look like we could use them to get ashore,’ Jasper said, feeling less sure of himself now that he voiced the idea.
‘With or without magic?’ Dekon asked as he looked up at the smaller ones.
‘All we need is a ladder,’ Jasper said and pointed to the bamboo skimmer. ‘We can use a ladder to climb the first rock, and then use it as a bridge between them.’
Dekon just stared at Jasper then frowned. ‘You mean you’re actually serious? You want to walk between those rocks on a homemade bamboo ladder from an old skimmer?’
Jasper had to admit it sounded mad but what other option was there?
‘There’s one thing that most warves dislike more than water,’ Dekon added, ‘and that’s heights.’
Jasper looked up at the tallest rock. Yes, it was a very long way up.
‘Map. Is there an alternate landing nearby?’
There was a brief pause. ‘Smuggler’s Cave. East end of Fool’s Landing. Low tide access only. Low tide is in six hours and ten minutes.’
Jasper and Dekon exchanged a look. ‘Well, I don’t think the tide could get any lower,’ Dekon remarked. He raised the sail and they headed out and around the huge rocks then back inland. Jasper scanned up and down the cliff but it was Dekon who spotted it first.
‘Up there!’ he said and Jasper had to look twice to see the slightly darker blackness of the cave entrance. The rock below it jutted out to form a shelf of sorts but there didn’t look to be any way up to it and it was at least three times his height up.
‘I suppose we could still make a ladder out of the skimmer,’ Jasper suggested, but he knew that such a long bamboo ladder might be rather dangerous to climb.
Dekon was stripping the rope out of the sail and Jasper watched and waited to see what he was doing.
‘Do you trust me?’ Dekon asked as he coiled the rope and handed it to Jasper then raised an eyebrow as he waited for the answer.
‘Of course,’ Jasper replied. The warf was really his only friend but he still looked at the rope and wondered just what Dekon had in mind.
‘We’ll take the skimmer as close to the ledge as possible,’ Dekon said and indicated that Jasper should pick up one side of it. They carried it until the mast was not far from the side edge of the ledge. ‘Right, hang onto the mast, and don’t drop the rope.’
Jasper looped the rope over his head and one arm then took hold of the mast with both hands.
‘Climb the mast,’ Dekon said firmly. Jasper flicked him a questioning glance then began to pull himself up. It was slippery from the splattered mud but it wasn’t that hard to climb. When he had gone as far as he thought was safe he looked down to see what the warf had in mind as the shelf was still a good distance away.
‘Hold on tight, and don’t look down,’ Dekon shouted and his voice echoed around the nearby stones. Jasper gripped tighter and couldn’t quite suppress a nervous gulp. He felt the mast move, as if it had been ripped from the skimmer, then he was being thrown upwards! He barely had time to register how dangerous this was before he rose above the ledge. He leaned towards it then let go of the mast. He landed on the ledge with a thump that jolted his right shoulder so hard that he gasped in pain.
‘Are you okay?’ Dekon yelled up to him.
Jasper was about to respond when something struck his leg with a hard blow.
‘Ooooww!’ Jasper yelled and saw that the bamboo mast had bounced and fallen on his leg.
‘You’re still alive then. Good. Drop the rope down for me.’
Jasper just lay there for a few more seconds and considered throwing the mast down at the warf so that he could see what it felt like.
‘You could have warned me what you were going to do!’ Jasper yelled as he sat up and checked that nothing was broken. ‘I still think it would’ve been better to build a ladder.’
Jasper peered over the edge and saw Dekon grinning up at him. ‘It wouldn’t have been as much fun. We had log tossing competitions back home and I always won!’
Jasper groaned and took the rope off then unravelled it down to Dekon. ‘Tie it around your waist.’
He looked for something to help him lift the warf up. He’d had no time to do more than confirm that yes, this was a cave, when the map spoke.
‘Head up the stairs to ground level.’
At least they were in the right place.
Jasper finally spotted a dull metal hook embedded in the wall and he looked closer. It looked sturdy enough and he guessed that boats may have been tied up to it in the past. He threaded the rope through then looped it around and threaded it through again. As a youngster, he had often had to take the weight of a load that was much bigger than him, usually for something illegal, and Arthur had shown him how to make it easier. He looked over the ledge at Dekon. The warf might be short but he was solidly built. ‘Try to walk up the wall as I pull.’
Jasper pulled the rope until it took the warf’s weight then pulled slowly to lift him up. He stopped several times to rest his arms and moved to hold the rope in the opposite direction so that Dekon didn’t slip back down. It took a few minutes to haul him all the way up to the ledge and if Dekon’s expression was any indication he too was now regretting not choosing the ladder.
‘I think we should take a rest here for a while,’ Dekon suggested as he collapsed to the ground without even untying the rope. Jasper sat down next to him and looked at the view. He tried to imagine what it had once looked like when the sea level was this high. A warm breeze blew in and for a brief moment Jasper felt at peace. He tried to remember the last time he had felt so calm but nothing came to mind. His life had always been complicated and he felt oddly more at home here in Elvale than anywhere else he had been so far in his short life.
‘It must’ve been tricky to guide a boat in here in the dark so close to the swell of those huge rocks,’ Dekon said as he sat up and looked out as well.
‘I wonder what they smuggled,’ Jasper added. The usual things associated with smuggling came to mind such as banned or expensive goods but Elvale smugglers may well have considered other things worth smuggling.
‘Probably food,’ Dekon replied and it chased away all of Jasper’s calmness. All he could think of now was how hungry he was and even Dekon’s suggestion of birds wasn’t sounding so awful.
‘We should get moving,’ Jasper suggested. He got up and unhooked the rope and waited for Dekon to untie the other end then he coiled it and looped it over his head again.
‘I see a light far down the tunnel,’ Dekon said as they both stared into the darkness. The entrance was huge and much larger than Jasper would have expected a secret entrance to be.
‘A light? Where?’ Jasper asked as all he could see was inky blackness. He dug in his pocket and brought out the small container of tinder sticks. ‘I have these but I doubt they would last long.’
‘And this mast looks too water-logged to burn well,’ Dekon added. ‘Besides it’s not a good idea to take open flames into tunnels. You never know what type of gases are trapped down there and the flame would also use up any air you need to breathe.’
‘Is that why you used those glowstones in the mines?’ Jasper asked. The longer they stayed out here talking the longer it was before he had to go into the blackness of the cave.
‘Yes,’ Dekon replied with a sigh. ‘What I wouldn’t give for a pocketful of them now.’
Jasper was impressed at how little the warf actually wished for then a thought occurred to him. ‘What about Arlo’s stone? That glowed.’
‘And how much drift would it create?’ Dekon asked, but he sounded like he was considering the option. ‘It only glows when Arlo shows up.’
‘It’s a cave. I thought rock absorbed magic drift?’ Jasper pointed out.
Dekon’s expression brightened and he nodded in agreement.
‘We should go in as far as possible first though,’ Dekon said. ‘Arlo would probably not stay long if we call him where it isn’t safe.’
They both entered the cave with a slightly more optimistic attitude and Dekon even began to whistle. It echoed around the dark cavern and made Jasper a little nervous. What if there was someone nearby to hear it? He almost laughed at himself for worrying. When had he become so timid?
They walked slowly and carefully through the cave until the entrance was a good distance away then Dekon took out the stone and placed it firmly on the rock floor. It immediately began to glow and lit up part of the cave. Then Arlo’s small image appeared and he looked around in surprise.
‘Where are you?’ he asked, peering beyond the blue light. ‘Aren’t you there yet?’
‘No, we’re in Smuggler’s Cave,’ Jasper replied feeling a little annoyed at the wizard’s expectation that their quest would already be done.
‘So why did you call me?’ Arlo asked. ‘I was about to have lunch.’
Jasper’s stomach rumbled loudly at the mention of food and Arlo gave him an odd look.
‘We haven’t eaten in a while,’ Dekon remarked.
‘You’re in a cave, aren’t you? Has your genie curse gone?’
Dekon and Jasper both looked embarrassed to have missed that key point. Jasper wondered if they had been too hungry to think straight.
‘I wish I had enough of my favourite food and drink to last two days, and a sack to carry it in,’ Dekon said loudly and firmly. Instantly a large flour sack appeared next to him.
‘I’ll go make my lunch. Let me know when you get there,’ Arlo said. The light from his stone began to fade and Jasper was about to protest but Dekon opened his hand to show a dozen small yellow glowstones. They were so bright that even when Jasper blinked he could see spots. Dekon threw them in a small circle around them and the entire cave was flooded with light. Jasper considered taking a look around but the smell of food was too distracting. Dekon reached into the sack and brought out a small ham and a loaf of bread. For a short time they were both silent as they devoured the food. Dekon dug in the sack again and produced a small jug and offered it to Jasper.
‘It’s not ale,’ he said with a grin. Jasper took it and had a small sip. It was sweet and delicious and unlike anything he had ever had. He took a long swig and sighed with contentment. As Dekon packed away the leftovers Jasper stood up to take a good look around. It was massive and the roof was so far up that the light from the stones barely reached it.
‘I don’t think this cave was ever completely dry before the sea vanished,’ Dekon said and pointed not too far up to where a wide rock had been chiselled to be flat on both sides. Large metal rings were embedded along it.
‘It’s a wharf,’ Jasper said in surprise then saw Dekon’s odd expression and realised it sounded like warf. ‘A jetty, to tie boats up to.’
‘They probably came in on low tide and stayed while they unloaded at high tide,’ Dekon guessed. ‘We could do with that ladder about now.’
‘That looks like the low tide mark,’ Jasper said as he picked up a glowstone and tossed it closer to the wall. Sure enough, just above Jasper’s head-height was a set of steps cut into the rock wall. The walls were not smooth and a quick look told Jasper that he could easily climb up to the first step.
Dekon gathered up the glowstones and they quickly pulled themselves up to the steps. In a few minutes they were both on the jetty looking back down into the cave.
‘I bet they could fit a few boats in here at a time,’ Jasper said as they saw how much bigger it was from up here. Behind the jetty was a large room cut from the rock and a set of stairs went up the side of it. Dekon covered the stones and a small light filtered down the stairs.
‘I guess that’s the way out,’ Dekon said, handing half the glowstones to Jasper as they headed for the stairs. The long stretch of stairs angled back towards the coast and came up in the blackened ruins of what had once been a massive building. What it had been was impossible to tell but its walls looked as if they had been melted. They tapped the glowstones to turn them off and put them in their pockets.
‘That’s the only mountain around here,’ Jasper said and pointed out across the land. Everything in sight was barren and looked like a melted plastic toy. Some shapes were almost distinguishable but it took a lot of staring to see what had once been a building. A slightly black haze hung over the ground and Jasper didn’t like the look of it. The mountain was so far in the distance still that it seemed an unobtainable goal. Added to the fact that if there once had been roads they had all been destroyed. It wouldn’t be an easy trip at all.
‘We have company,’ Dekon said, pulling Jasper away from the cliff edge.
Jasper spun around and expected to see someone standing behind him but there was nobody there.
‘Where?’ he asked.
Dekon pointed out into the Sea of Mud and dropped down to his stomach then crawled to the edge. Jasper followed and as they peered over the edge they saw two skimmers zipping in and out of the large stones.
‘Perhaps it’s nothing to do with us,’ Jasper suggested hopefully but even from here he could see the black and red clothing of the queen’s guard.