Wednesday, February 5, 2014

#WednesdayBriefs: Myths, Secrets and Love - chapter 11

Happy Wednesday and welcome to another installment in Rodric's quest, adventure, thing. 
If you don't remember what happened last week or want to catch up, please click here. Otherwise, read on! 


Myths, Secrets and Love 11



"Say what?"

Arjä laughed.

“They deemed you were honest in your quest and helped. That, Captain, is the map that will lead you toward the man you love.”

Rodric opened his mouth to protest but no words came out. He shuddered as he recalled the heart wrenching desperation he had gone through just thinking that he had never found Fergus. It was time he came to grip with reality. Clearing his throat, he glanced down at the weather-beaten map in his hand.

“Devil’s Island.” He looked up at Arjä, who was staring back at him with twinkling eyes. Rodric scowled. “Stop looking so smug. Have you ever heard of this place?” He waved the parchment in the air.

Arjä smile’s vanished. Her almost white hair fell over her face as she nodded.

“It is not a friendly place,” she whispered.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He looked down at the confusing map. There were oceans and mountains he’d never heard of. How could Fergus have ended up there?

“Most who go there, don’t—“

“Don’t.”

Rodric’s head snapped up as he realized what she was about to say. Fergus could be dead already. It was something he always suspected. A pirate’s life was always shadowed by death, but no one paid the Lady of Eternal Darkness much attention. Since Ferguson’s disappearance, though, Rodric had been unable to shake off the feeling that she was on to them. Lady Darkness was watching their backs, waiting for the perfect moment to strike and take their last breath of life from them. They had avoided her several times, but maybe this time they’d gone too far. Maybe this time, Fergus had not been able to escape her clutches.  After all, why would the men that had kidnapped Fergus keep a hostage that had nothing to offer? He was poor as a beggar, the last treasure he had collected on the boat Rodric was captain of. Rodric dug the heel of his foot into the sand. He was still alive. He clung to hope like a madman clings to a coil of rotten rope. Fergus was alive, he’d know otherwise. Rodric ran his fingers through his hair before staring at the map again.

“How do we get there?”

Arjä shrugged. “Devil’s Island is in a different plane of existence. From what I understand we must be invited to go there, otherwise—“

Rodric almost choked on his own spit. A different plane of existence? An invitation? Had the fairies poisoned him? Was he still dreaming?

“You’re telling me—“

“There are more worlds than one, Captain Rodric.” Arjä crossed her legs and opened her palms for him to see. “What do you see?”

Rodric glanced at Arjä, his eyebrows raised. “Your hands.” Had the fairies poisoned her too? The young unicorn maiden had definitely not been this mysterious and wise before.

“Look again.”

“Your hooves,” he whispered.

Arjä smiled and pulled back her hands.

“Most humans will only see hands. Even when presented with the obvious they will still tell you that they are hands. They do not wish to see what lies beneath. You are not like them and neither is Fergus. You see the magic.”

“But other worlds—“

“Where do you think some of us came from, Captain?” Arjä’s lips quirked. “There is constant movement between worlds, even if most do not know it.”

“And now Fergus has moved to another world?” Rodric shook the parchment.

“So it seems.”

“All right.” He sighed. “ Supposing I believe all this, how do we get there?”

The unicorn princess's eyes brightened with a violet sheen he'd only seen in the Queen of the Arvynen before. 

“Dragons.”


To be continued...

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