Chapter Fifteen: Flames, Both Red and White
Tranith Argan: Book 1
It’s time to flee. Felanar and family must leave Brindledown before the enemy reaches them.
For once, Felanar woke Bren. They had told the neighbors they would be sailing to visit Chafrar’s relatives in the north, when, in fact, they intended to sail west. Felanar hoped if anyone came looking for them they would be directed to the north and thus be thrown off the track for a time.
The family got up and had a quick breakfast while Sera made sure everything was put away and in place and that they had not forgotten anything. The pre-dawn sky was still dark as they grabbed their packs and walked out into the cool morning air.
“What did you do with your horse, Bren?” asked Felanar as they began their hike down toward the fishing dock.
“When I reached the edge of Brindledown yesterday afternoon, I told him to return to the outpost where I had been stationed during your training. He’s a good horse, and well trained. I, too, have learned a few elven tricks and we have understood each other very well ever since. He’ll be looked after there and will be quite safe. He actually likes it here better than in Tranith Argan. Says they feed him better food in the south.”
While Felanar and Bren spoke, Kara was trying to encourage her parents about what they were to experience.
“I can’t wait for you to see Elaria. It is the most beautiful land I’ve ever seen. So green and lush and hilly. You can smell a thousand fragrances on the wind!”
Sera smiled at Kara and said she looked forward to meeting elves while Chafrar tried to smile despite being disgruntled about hiking away from the only life he had known.
By the time the first streaks of dawn were visible on the horizon, they reached Chafrar’s boat and began loading their packs.
“Do you really think anyone will ask after us?” Chafrar inquired of Bren. He clearly found this thought unlikely. Being in his familiar surroundings, the threat of danger seemed remote to him.
Bren looked back at the father as he loaded the last pack onto the boat. “I’m sure of it. The only question is timing. Will it happen sooner or later? Let us hope it will happen long after we reach our destination.”
“You don’t think Ravesfel is making too much of this business?” Chafrar was clearly not convinced.
“You do not seem to have grasped the importance of this news. Now that I’ve heard the tale, I think it would have been folly to remain even one more day in Brindledown.” Bren spoke in a hushed but urgent tone. “Your son is king! This alters everything, a thought that will not be lost on the enemy. He will stop at nothing to kill Felanar. Hasn’t Ravesfel made that clear?”
Chafrar stammered, “Well, yes, he has.”
“Then I suggest you ponder the import of his words, for our lives may be in danger at this very moment.”
The family boarded the boat as Bren’s words lingered. The familiar surroundings didn’t seem as inviting as before. They pushed off and sailed out onto the lake. The morning light cast back the darkness and soon they could see the first stirrings on the dock behind them. Perhaps some of the fishermen of the village noticed them sailing already, but, if so, would only think that Chafrar and Felanar were making an early start.
Chafrar and Felanar looked behind them as the boat sailed west. Chafrar with a longing look as one who was undertaking a journey he did not want. Felanar stared thoughtfully back and wondered if he would ever see Brindledown again. Certainly he would never see it in the same way and the inhabitants would never view him the same. What would they make of the news, when they heard? Would they be proud that one of their own was king? Would they scoff?
“Bren,” said Felanar as he turned around, “I’ve been pondering something for a couple of days. I am a High man–”
“Yes, my lord, the very highest of men,” Bren interrupted.
“No, no, I mean I am not a Low man after all. All those prejudiced feelings in the village, all those times they made fun of High men, they were making fun of me even if they did not know it. Yet I’m no different from them. Or at least they never viewed me as such. What I’m saying is that Ravesfel is right, there really is no difference between High men and Low. We are all the same.”
“So Ravesfel has told me many times,” said Bren, “though to hear the Regent talk you would say the old man is insane. Yet you were different from your villagers, though we did not know it. You are a High man, and of royal descent. You can hardly be said to be no different than a Low―I mean than a villager of Brindledown.”
“No, but I am the same as them,” protested Felanar. “No one saw me as being of royal blood, or even an ordinary High man. To them I was a Low man even as they were. If they could not tell a difference, is there a difference?”
“To that I have no answer, my lord,” Bren quietly responded.
“I think Ravesfel is correct, and the old ways of thinking are wrong,” said Kara. “My brother will certainly open some eyes when he takes the throne. Imagine how people in Tranith Argan will feel having a ‘Low’ man as king! That will make people think.”
“You’re right, Kara, it will. It might go a long way toward healing the rift between the peoples. There has been tension between High and Low for too long.” Bren seemed to enjoy this thought, and indeed he had always lived his life in such a way as to make anyone he dealt with feel important.
The sun was rising in the cloudless morning sky warming the air. The wind was light but steady, and they made good time on the lake. With the fishing equipment pushed aside there was plenty of room for the five of them. Sera and Kara sat on a bench near the bow and looked forward, talking quietly about the journey, the elves, and Kara’s life growing up. It was as if they were getting to know each other all over again, only now with their respective new roles of princess and subject. Kara tried hard to counter this and keep Sera from feeling uncomfortable, and kept putting her hand on Sera’s arm as they spoke.
Chafrar and Bren sailed the boat. They spoke in a matter-of-fact manner about the sails, the weather, the Straits, and anything but their destination. Bren sensed that Chafrar wasn’t interested in knowing more about elves.
Felanar sat and stared at the water. His eyes drifted back toward the rapidly receding shore. He saw the dark of the forest and the hills beyond. The light was dimmer over the farthest hills, and they were darker than the foreground. He thought about those hills and how they seemed to stand forever watchful over the land. What were kings to such hills? Did they care about the things that were so important to men? Certainly Felanar thought himself no better nor worse than any other man in comparison to the world around him.
He sighed and turned around in the boat and absent-mindedly stared at Chafrar and Bren. Both men were sitting side by side facing Felanar, but whereas Chafrar was focused on the rudder, Bren was staring past Felanar and into the distance behind them. Felanar gradually noticed this and asked Bren what he was staring at.
“I’m not sure,” he slowly responded narrowing his eyes in concentration. “Do you see something back where the docks would be?”
Felanar wheeled around in his seat and strained to make out the now distant dock. At first he saw nothing but the same dark line of forest and the hills. He thought perhaps he could make out some of the houses by the lake, but they were too far away. Then something bright caught his eye, a glint of metal perhaps.
“Yes, there, something bright!” Bren leaned over the side of the boat and stared in the direction he had just pointed. “Do you see that?”
“Yes,” Felanar said, “I see bright gleams of light. What is it?”
Kara now climbed over as she also saw the reflections. “Look,” she exclaimed, “over to the left, there are more of them. It’s armor or swords reflecting the sunlight.”
Bren agreed. “It is definitely the gleam of sun on metal.”
“What would be the cause?” asked Felanar. “Who would have such equipment in Brindledown?”
Bren turned to him with a worried look on his face. “No one of the village, that’s a certainty. No one who lives there, that is. But it seems others have arrived who do not belong and that is what we are seeing.”
“Are they after Felanar, do you think?” asked Kara.
“It must be so,” Bren responded. “What else would soldiers be doing in Brindledown? My lord and lady, we have escaped just in time. Do you believe the danger now?”
He looked at Chafrar, who made no response, but kept looking back at the distant shore, his fear obvious on his drained face. For the first time the reality of their situation hit Chafrar. Sera moved over to sit by her husband and they sat tightly pressed together, arms around each other.
“Look!” exclaimed Felanar. All eyes turned to where Felanar pointed. At first nothing new was seen, but then a small, dark dot in the air that had been hidden by the dark backdrop of the hills emerged. A burst of flame reached down to the ground and they all knew that a dragon had reappeared.
Sera cried out in alarm and Kara moved over to her side. Flames continued to rain down on what must be the village, though they were too far now to make out any details. Thoughts of devastation flooded their minds and they imagined their beloved village being torn asunder by one of those cruel beasts.
“Alak! My boy, Alak!” cried Sera in dismay. The horror of the dragon attack on Felanar and Chafrar was too fresh in her mind. The thought of her oldest son facing such a beast terrified her. “We must turn back!” she exclaimed. “Felanar, do something! You can stop the dragon!”
Felanar responded slowly, “Perhaps I can stop a dragon again, perhaps not. I don’t know what caused that dragon to fly off. It might not happen again. But we must try something. Turn the boat around!”
“My lord,” said Bren, “your safety is paramount. I cannot allow you to jeopardize your safety.”
Being addressed in that manner by Bren reminded Felanar of the change that had taken place in his world. No longer the carefree fisherman who could act on instinct to help others, he now had to think about the throne and all that it represented. Slowly his mind turned on these things until he reluctantly said, “Bren is right. I cannot go back.”
He paused again and then said, “Besides, from this distance it would take time to return. What would be left of the village by the time we returned to the dock?”
Sera looked at him wildly and only turned toward Bren as he spoke up in confirmation. “Besides, there are soldiers there, waiting to kill your son. They will not be frightened off.”
“Look!” Kara cried out and pointed toward the distant shore.
Something new had appeared. Another flame was seen, but not red like the dragon’s. This flame was bright white, and instead of coming down from the sky, it flew up from the ground. A few more bursts of this white light gleamed across the lake and then they heard a faint sound. It could be barely made out at this distance, but the water amplified it just enough. It was a rumbling sound followed by a cry of agony from the dragon. Then the flames stopped and they saw no more.
“Bren, what was that?” asked Felanar, with his eyes wide open.
Bren stared thoughtfully at the spot where the flames had been and then turned to face Felanar. He smiled as he answered, “Ravesfel. That’s what that was. Ravesfel has returned!”
Sera implored anxiously, “What do you mean, Bren? How could this be Ravesfel?” She was desperate for any news that might indicate her son had been spared in the village.
“Do you not remember what I said about Ravesfel last night? He is not a man like us and he needs no one to protect him. Don’t be fooled by his appearance. He has power beyond your comprehension.” Bren spoke with pride of the man he had worked with for so long. “I’ve not seen this power before, but he hinted to me about it once. I’m sure that’s what we just saw, Ravesfel’s true power revealed in its glory.” He stared thoughtfully behind him again as his face turned dark. “It must have been a terrible thing to behold. Did you not hear the scream of that beast?”
Felanar thought about his first encounter with Ravesfel and the fear he felt in the presence of a High man. What would he have felt if he had known the old man possessed such power?
“Bren, what do you think will happen now?” asked Kara. “Will they still follow after us? By now they know we have fled the village, but perhaps Ravesfel has scared them off.”
“No, Kara,” Bren said. “Unless they are all dead, they will not stop in the chase. They may fear Ravesfel’s power now, but they fear the Dark One’s even more. Vélakk also was a Guardian, and is of Ravesfel’s nature, but he exercises his power with cruelty. No, they will not give up as long as they live, for they fear him most of all. However, the village is safe now, I would guess. They will not want to directly face Ravesfel in his power. Alak should be safe for now, Sera, but we are not.”
“Then we’d best make haste to Elaria,” said Chafrar. The others turned back at these words and they saw Chafrar’s had regained his color, and he looked determined. Bren laughed and said, “At last we agree!”
They had no knowledge of the extent of the forces after them, or what resources they held. It seemed unlikely they would have boats readily available, so perhaps they were safe for a time. If they made good time across the Straits they could elude anyone giving chase. Or so they hoped.
As the day turned toward afternoon, and they had seen nothing of note for hours, Felanar noticed Kara staring at the sky. His eyes followed hers and he saw several birds flying in circles high overhead.
“They’ve been following us for a few minutes,” she said to him quietly. “At first I thought nothing of it, but now I’m not so sure.” She glanced down at Felanar and continued, “I think they are spying on us.”
As if on cue, the birds stopped circling overhead and flew off, two of them in the eastern direction whence they had sailed, and the rest in a northwesterly direction.
“Back to their masters,” Felanar said to Kara. “Two to the soldiers that were at Brindledown and the rest to Shanaar, I would guess.”