Goodbye To A Dream
been kind to them. He sent them with dried fish to sustain them along their journey. He had spoken fresh life into the companions, renewing their hope after such a difficult journey.
His talk with Coal had taken so long the others were almost finished preparing the Lady Leila for departure when he finally rejoined them.
Before they left, Enkeli handed a small hardened wooden token to Ezel without a word. As the gnome turned it over in his hands, he examined the markings and the design. The image was of an ornate tree surrounded by seven distinct runes the gnome did not recognize. He had never seen such markings and assumed they were of some ancient language.
Ezel signed his thanks for the gift, even though he was unsure of its purpose. The old wizard winked again and motioned for the gnome to rejoin his friends before they launched the boat without him. The wizard waved to the companions as they followed the Stranded Coast around the first bend north.
Before they disappeared, Ellaria yelled back to him, “Thank you, Enkeli! You have been a kind friend to us.”
“And I will send another!” Enkeli hollered back with a wave of his hand, his burgundy and gold robes blowing in the sea breeze.
Ellaria’s features scrunched. She did not know what he meant, but she was glad to have someone like the old wizard on their side.
They were on the water no more than an hour before they spotted Crossdin in the distance.
“No, no, no. This isn’t right!” Coal paced the boat quickly, his confusion turning to laughter as he did. “How did ...”
“I thought you said it would be several days?” Orin asked. He worked the levers to steadily propel them up the coastline.
“It was supposed to.”
The dwarf shook his head in amazement. Ezel signed to him, and Coal’s face shone with realization.
“Ezel thinks Enkeli’s tunnel through the storm took us farther than we thought,” the dwarf translated. “Who am I to argue? The gnome knows more of magic than I!” He laughed heartily.
The gnome’s hands moved fluidly as he insisted he did not understand the magic of the wizard but guessed based on their current circumstance. The friends shared a synchronized shrug, and Ellaria laughed at their display. Even Orin smiled at the joy in his friends. The surprise put all the friends in a jovial mood. Orin worked the levers faster, feeling a renewed sense of urgency. They had made up some time, and he cared only that they had, no matter how.
Coal smiled to himself. Wizard magic was strange magic, but maybe wizard magic wasn’t so bad.
As they drew nearer to Crossdin, they began to pass larger fishing ships bustling with activity. Fishermen moved along like ants on a hill, working in a seemingly chaotic rhythm but wasting no effort.
One crew gawked at the sight of the Lady Leila, dwarfed by the much larger fishing vessels.
What a strange sight we must be, Orin thought to himself. Two bedraggled humans, and an equally ragged dwarf and a gnome. Their tiny boat coming in from the sea. A strange sight, indeed.
Coal took control as they entered port. He deftly maneuvered the boat through the traffic. They pulled alongside a long dock where a small boy stood, holding a rope. A little girl sat on a crate next to him, closely watching his every move.
“Hello sirs!” He called to them. “Got a rope for you here, sirs!”
“There’s a lady, too,” the little girl corrected him.
“Shush, you!”
“Alls I’m sayin’ is that all you said was ‘sirs,’” she poked at him.
“And my lady,” he acknowledged Ellaria and shot a scowl at the girl next to him.
Ezel moved to the bow of the boat and reached for the rope. The boy looked quizzically at him. The bald gnome covered in tattoo runes must have been quite the surprise, for he looked to Orin for an answer.
“He’ll take the rope,” Orin smiled and nodded for the boy to pass it to Ezel.
The deep gnome recognized the boy’s tentativeness, and the runes on his hand flared to lift the rope through the air. Ezel swirled his hands, and the rope danced in the air, forming shapes. He made a horse, then a ship, then a tree, and finally a castle. The little girl laughed and clapped with glee. The boy stood, astonished, his mouth wide. Ezel used his magic to tie an easy knot onto the Lady Leila, securing her to the dock.
Coal flicked a coin over to the gnome, who caught it midair with magical blue swirls and floated it to the boy, landing it in his hand.
“Wow!” the girl said to him. Jumping off the crate and looking over his shoulder at the coin.
The boy recoiled at how the girl hung on his shoulder and held the coin tight in both hands as though it were some far greater treasure. He turned to Ezel and said, “Thank you, sir!” Ezel signed back with his hands that he was very welcome, and the boy ran off, trailed closely by his little admirer.
“That was very kind, Ezel,” Ellaria said.
Ezel shrugged a laugh.
“Folks don’t see many gnomes about these days. Even fewer see grey gnomes like Ezel. Most of them live underground now. In all my travels, I have met few like him. Well, none like him!” Coal said fondly.
Ezel nodded his thanks to the dwarf for his kind words.
“You’re the only gnome I’ve met, and I am thankful for you. Me life is better for knowing you,” Ellaria said.
Ezel signed something to her. She thought she caught some of it. They had spent a lot of time together, and she had made special effort to learn some of his sign language during weary hours in the boat. Nonetheless, Coal translated for her, “This has been a surprising journey for us so far. And we’ve shared some difficulties along the way. But Ezel ...”—Coal interjected himself into the sentiment—“Ezel and I are glad to be with you, as well.”
Ellaria smiled, leaned down, and kissed the top of the little gnome’s head. For the first time since they had met, Orin thought he saw some color blush on Ezel’s grey face. Their journey had been full of surprises thus far, least of which was the fair woman who beamed at the guardian. Her red hair flickered like fire in the breeze coming off the sea.
“I’ll speak with the dockmaster,” Coal said. “You lot should gather up what we have. We’ll need to find transport to Galium. I’ve been thinking it might be better to get our horses there. There are plenty of wagoners that travel between Crossdin and Galium. Once there, we can take the northern road all the way to Whitestone.”
It was the best plan he could come up with and the fastest route to Whitestone.
It still sounded like a long journey to Orin, but he had also run through the scenarios and accepted Coal’s plan as the most viable. “Agreed,” he said. “I’ll join you with the dockmaster if these two can handle the gear.”
“We can handle it,” Ellaria assured them with her smile.
Ezel nodded his agreement.
“Very good,” Coal said. The dwarf paused and tugged at the bottom of his black braid. He inhaled deeply and shot a discouraged glance at Ezel, who regarded his oldest friend and pondered the root of his worry. Without further delay, Coal hopped on the edge of the boat, stepped to the dock, and strode off. Orin hustled out as well and fell in step with the dwarf’s determined stride.
“Shall we?” Ellaria asked Ezel.
The gnome clapped his hands and rubbed them together. Then he signed, “Let’s get to work.”
Orin and Coal had been gone a long while, and Ellaria and Ezel completed the work of moving their supplies and repacking for the next leg of their journey across land. They sat on some crates at the end of the dock, enjoying the sights and sounds of the port. Massive ships moved along the water easily, defying their immense weight.
Footsteps along the dock behind them caught their attention, and the pair looked back in hopes their companions had returned. Instead, two sailors approached. Ezel shrugged to Ellaria, and they turned back to watch the water.
“This the one?” one of the men asked the other.
“Think so,” the other replied.
Ellaria had the strange feeling they were closer than expected and turned around just as one of the men hopped into the Lady Leila.
“Hey!” she hollered.
The man looked up in surprise.
Ezel whirled around, blue faery fire in his eyes. He flourished his hands, and ribbons of blue power swirled around the man, lifting him into the air and flipping him into the murky port waters.
“Whoa!” the other man screamed, holding his hands out as Ellaria drew her bow on him.
“There’ll be no thieving of our boat today!” Ellaria warned him. “Me friend and I will be seeing to that.”
“We’re not thieving anything!” the man wailed.
The man who had been thrown into the water sputtered as he broke the surface. He hacked, trying to clear the water out of his lungs, and grabbed onto the side of the boat for support.
Over the man’s shoulder, Ellaria spied Orin and Coal running down the dock.
“What are you doing?” Coal hollered.
“These two were trying to thieve our boat,” Ellaria explained, holding her bow steady.
Orin slipped past the man and put his hand gently on the bow. “These men are from the dockmaster.”
“What?”
“We went to speak to the dockmaster,” Coal said, placing a calming hand on the terrified man’s back. “We needed to sell the boat to have enough money for our transport to Galium.”
Ezel’s fiery lights went out, and his hands dropped to his side. He understood the discouraged look Coal had given him earlier. Owning his own boat had been the dwarf’s dream since their experiences on the Gant Sea long ago.
“You didn’t think to ask me?” Ezel signed to him.
“What would you have me do?” Coal signed back, not wanting to burden the other two with the argument. “We didn’t have enough coin to pay our way. We’re going on land from here. And when all this is done, how would we have gotten it back to the Palori River, anyway? We barely survived the Tandal Sea the first time.”
Ezel couldn’t argue with his friend. All of Coal’s points were valid. They wouldn’t leave Orin and Ellaria on their own. What could they do with the Lady Leila here? They had no connections, and attempting to traverse the Tandal Sea to find a riverway to get them back would almost certainly mean their deaths. No, none of that would do, but he was sad for his friend. His dream was lost.
“I am sorry,” he signed to the dwarf.
“I am, too.”
The dockmaster’s man slowly pulled his sopping friend back onto the Lady Leila. The two untied the boat and worked the levers to maneuver it away from the dock, weaving it away until the companions lost sight of it.
“Well,” Coal cleared the lump in his throat. “Onward then.”
They found where the wagoners gathered. Various workers—dwarves, men, elves, halflings, and more—loaded wagons. The group even ran into a female surface gnome with golden ringlet hair. Her skin was almost as golden as her hair, and her eyes were a vibrant blue-green, like the sea.
Coal nudged Ezel, who was staring, and encouraged him to talk to the she-gnome.
Ezel quickly stopped staring, and she giggled at his embarrassment. Ezel shoved Coal, who laughed as well.
Amid the various peoples, the travelers met a halfling named Tobin. The crew loading the plump halfling’s wagon was quick with their work. Tobin was shorter than Coal but taller than Ezel by a hair, that is, his wild curly hair edged him just taller than the gnome. He gnawed at his pipe happily as he blew swirling rings of smoke.
The dockmaster had recommended Tobin as a quality wagoner with fair prices and a kindly way about him. As the dockmaster had been fair to them, they had taken his recommendation without a second thought. And thus far, his words had proved faithful.
“Are we ready then?” Tobin asked Coal.
“That we are.”
“Good, good. You lot can climb into the back here. You should be plenty comfortable! I pride myself on making your riding experience the most comfortable of any wagon you’ve taken before. Really, it’s all a part of the journey experience for folks who ride with me. If you’re a happy rider, I’m a happy wagoner!”
Orin, Ellaria, and Ezel looked into the back of the wagon and found all the supplies had been pushed to the front and the sides. A couple of pillows and furs sat in the middle, creating a cozy little nest.
“Well, go on now,” the halfling waved and pointed his pipe. “Plenty of room for all of you. Best wagon in all of Crossdin. Or Galium. Or probably Tarrine, if I dare guess. What can I say? I try to run a hospitable wagon. You know, there are others who cart you along with no consideration for comfort. Not me! If you’re a comfortable rider, I’m a comfortable wagoner!”
The three climbed into the wagon, more than happy with the accommodations.
“What has you traveling to Galium?” He asked Coal as they strode around to the front of the wagon, Tobin inspecting it as they rounded.
“We bear grave news.”
Tobin stopped, furrowed his brow, and asked, “Messengers? You know Georl runs letters, don’t you? Mind you, he’s probably not as fast as me. I would take you to Galium to hand deliver your message quicker than his letter cart.”
Coal shook his head. “This news we must carry ourselves,” he said sullenly.
“Grave, indeed,” Tobin mused, popping his pipe back in his mouth. “Well, I’ll get you to Galium as quickly as I can. I’m looking forward to seeing my sweet little Button.”
“Button?”
“My daughter. She’s only a tyke, but as beautiful as her mother, she is. Married the most beautiful dwarf woman you’ve ever laid eyes on, I did.” He grinned, his teeth clamped hard on the end of his pipe. “Some of the dwarf men weren’t so happy. Borgan even wanted to throw fists, you know. But my wife reminded him, Galium’s been my home just as long as his. Then she tells him her love for me is greater than any he has ever known or maybe ever will! You believe that? Firecracker, that woman!”
Tobin snapped the reins, and his two horses lurched the wagon into motion. They rolled along the path that wound through the rest of Crossdin. Tobin continued to narrate the whole way.
“You ever been to Galium?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Beautiful place, it is. One of the most impressive dwarf fiefdoms, I’d care to wager. Lots of activity from surrounding places. The castle is built right into the mountain—what a sight in the early morning twilight. Been my home my whole life. Well, not the castle, you see.” He laughed. “Live in the hillside community, of course. Lots of beautiful rolling hills out that way ...”
The halfling wagoner didn’t seem to breathe between his words, and if he did, it was to puff a few rings of smoke from his pipe. The dwarf wasn’t sure how the halfling had enough air to keep talking, but Tobin’s words didn’t cease.
Coal peered back over his shoulder. Ellaria’s eyes met his. Her wide grin told him she found his pain to be quite humorous. He tried to see Orin and Ezel, but they were hidden behind supplies. Coal imagined they were already being rocked to peaceful sleep by the wagon. The wagoner continued to talk, not distracted in the least by Coal’s shifting. The dwarf rolled his eyes at Ellaria and looked forward again. He was going to have a long trip.