Elfborn: The Quest

A Final Rescue

The plan was only partially formed, the two Elfborn now only a half dozen steps from the guards as they slipped past one of the closed doors that had yet another chamber beyond when a strange sound abruptly cut through the din as easily as an arrow penetrates the air. As it reached their ears, both men noticed the guards jerk to attention as they too seemed to crane their necks to get a better sense of the sound.

With their own Elfborn senses straining to hear it through the noise around them, Lash and Garrett both found themselves listening to what was almost a sing-song string of syllables in the smooth, sibilant tongue of the Manadim. The syllables rose and fell in a symmetric cadence that strangely evoked visions of cool forests, running streams and thick wild grasses, places straight from their Hybernian home. But before they could truly hear each word, if they were words indeed, the singsong stopped.

Only to begin again, a heart beat later. This time, however, its effect was immediate. As the first syllables touched the air, all work and activity of all kind, ceased. Even talking amongst comrades abruptly became whispers as every man walked out from where they had been laboring into the broad space directly in front of the warehouse, by far the largest open space in this part of the naval base.

And, much to Lash and Garrett's delight, that included the two guards. Without a word to each other, they simply walked away from the door, heading towards the group that was quickly assembling in the center of the open area. If they noticed the irregular shadows along the wall of the warehouse to their right, they didn't make a sign, walking straight without looking to the left or the right.

It was with the cessation of every other sound that Lash was able to determine the singsong was coming from a slender tower some distance away. The tower projected up from the tight knot of buildings that looked to be some sort of administrative complex, closer to the city at the mouth of the secondary bay. It was needle-like, with a balcony that ran around its perimeter near the tower's peak. It was from this balcony a man wrapped in colorful robes stood, hands to mouth as he emitted the smooth singsong chant.

Once again the chant stopped. And, as the last syllable leached from the air, as one the entire mass of men, standing shoulder to shoulder like brothers though there were soldiers, sailors, and officers of all kinds making up the crowd, knelt onto the ground. There they bowed forward until their heads touched the stone beneath them.

Only when the sing song chant started up again, this time with slightly different sounds, did the men raise themselves from the ground to touch their faces with their hands. The hands covered the faces in obvious reverence as they waited for the singsong to end, their lips moving as they repeated the words to themselves.

It was an opportunity they couldn't ignore. Tearing themselves away from the sight of the men bowing in unison, easily several hundred moving with one mind and one purpose, the two Elfborn darted towards the door. Reaching out, Garrett took hold of the simple handle and gave it a turn downward. And found himself grinning as the door opened without a sound under the light pressure of his shoulder against the salt and wind-weathered wood.

Stepping inside, the two men swiftly closed the door behind them. And instantly regretted the loss of fresh air as the stench of rotting flesh smashed into their senses like a battering ram. A smell only slightly lessened by the fact that, despite having walls nearly hot enough to cook on, the chamber inside was cool, almost chill when they first stepped out of the sun and into the shadows within.

"Hoi, that's rank," Garrett gasped, tears coming to his eyes as he clamped a hand over his mouth and nose in a vain attempt to block the putrid scent from entering his nostrils.

"A day in the Meridian at the mercy of the elements and sea life will do that," Lash grunted, his face a mask of icy determination even as Garrett screwed up his nose, the smell of death clawing its way up into his head via his nose.