The Sceptre of Samnos

The Emerald Oracle - Part 3

      They spent a day sailing around the island to get the feel of the boat and allow the three wizards time to learn the basics of seamanship. They would never be experts, as the study of magic occupied almost all of a wizard's mind and attention, putting sharp limitations on the other skills they could learn, but by the end of the day they thought they knew enough to be able to sail it if, the Gods forbid, anything should happen to Diana and her brothers.

     The next day they decided they were ready to find the Oracle and they set off for Arn, watched by a small crowd of villagers who shook their heads sadly as they rowed away into the choppy sea. They all felt a tingle of apprehension as the wind filled their single sail and they left the safety of the island behind them, and Thomas had to bail almost constantly with a small bucket to get rid of the briny green water that seeped in through a dozen tiny gaps between the boat’s planks. He looked over the side, and wondered how deep the water below them was, what kind of creatures they would find themselves swimming amongst if the boat foundered and sank. He swallowed nervously and bailed harder.

     It took them most of the morning to get into position, fighting the wind and the erratic currents that flowed chaotically between the islands, but eventually they managed to position their boat a couple of miles from the smaller island, on the opposite side from Greenwing Island, so that Greenwing's mountain was directly behind Arn's.

      "Now, if the Mad Woman was telling the truth, all we have to do is sail directly away, keeping the islands lined up," said Shaun, taking a deep steadying breath. "And make sure we sail straight! Remember the rocks!"

     The others needed no reminding. They could already see white foam off to their left, where the waves were breaking against a submerged object, and Diana said a prayer for all of them. This would probably be the most dangerous thing any of them had ever done.

      When they were all ready they hauled on the ropes to raise the sail. Shaun and Matthew then raised the anchor and the small boat surged forward. The wind was blowing a little south of the direction they wanted to go, so Matthew kept the rudder jammed as far as it would go to the right to keep them going in the right direction while Diana and Shaun fiddled with the rigging and the three wizards peered over the sides looking for rocks. As the hours went by, Greenwing mountain shrank until it vanished behind Arn, but when it reappeared to one side they knew they were off course and steered a little north for a while to correct it. Arn itself shrank beneath the horizon as they went until only the very tip of its mountain was visible, almost hidden in haze and seaspray. When it disappeared altogether they just had to try to steer a straight course as best they could and hope for the best.

      Suddenly Lirenna cried out and pointed. Off to their left, they were passing a line of jagged black rocks, some of them occupied by foam lizards that peered at them with complete disinterest as they bobbed past. Matthew turned the boat a little to starboard to get a safe distance from them, but then Thomas cried out that there were rocks on his side as well. To their horror, they realised that they were sailing down a narrow channel, less than a hundred yards wide, lined with rocks on both sides. To make things worse, the wind had turned a few more points to the south, requiring Shaun to take the sail in a little so that the rudder could keep them to the safe course, and as they went the wind got steadily stronger, requiring Shaun to take the sail in a little more. A sense of impending doom began to creep over them.

      A few minutes went by, however, and they still managed to sail a straight course. The rocks slipped safely by on either side of them for well over a mile, forming a suspiciously straight channel which they managed to navigate with only a little sweat and panic. Just when they thought they might make it, though, Jerry, sitting in the prow like a miniature figurehead, gave a cry of horror and pointed ahead. The channel ahead of them was blocked by a line of rocks just beneath the surface which, although they could not be seen directly, made the water foam and break above them. There was no way they could get past without tearing the boat's hull out, and the wind was now stronger than ever, blowing them straight towards them.

      Shaun hurriedly furled the sail completely and jumped for the anchor, intending to throw it out. If the water was shallow enough the anchor would, hopefully, hold them a safe distance from the rocks until the wind died and they could row to safety. As he pulled the slipknots holding it in place, however, Diana grabbed hold of his arm to stop him. "No!" she cried, her hair blown across her eyes by the wind. "This is just a test. The rocks aren't real, they're just there to scare us away. We must go through."

      "You're mad!" shouted Shaun. "We'll all be killed! We must go back!"

      "No!" cried Diana again. "You must trust me! I know the rocks aren't real! We must go through!"

      "How can you possibly know?" demanded Shaun. "How can you expect us to risk all our lives on your word? That old sailor was right, the Mad Woman lied to us. The Oracle isn't here. We have to go back."

      "You must trust me!” cried the cleric, pulling her hair away from her face. “You must have faith. My Lady led us here, we must believe that She wouldn't lead us to our deaths."

      "Di, you know as well as I do that clerics don't lead charmed lives. You can be killed just the same as anyone else. There's absolutely no way you can know whether those rocks are real or not, but since real rocks are a lot more common than illusory ones, I suggest we play the odds and get out of here. You know it's the only thing we can do."

      "He's right, sis," agreed Matthew. "We've got to leave. We can't complete your mission if we're all dead."

      Diana looked for a moment as though she was going to argue further, but then thought better of it and gave in. "You're right," she conceded, her head hanging in crushing disappointment. "I'm sorry. It's just that..."

      "That's okay, we understand," said Matthew as Shaun threw the anchor overboard. The boat lurched as it dug into the gravelly sea bed, and the boat stopped about twenty yards from the rocks ahead, moving a couple of yards further as the anchor tore loose and slid along the sea bed. The travelers felt their hearts jumping into their throats in fear, but a moment later they came to a halt as the anchor caught firmly between a couple of large boulders. They were safe. All they had to do now was wait for the wind to die.

      Since they had nothing better to do for a while, Jerry examined the submerged rocks so close ahead of them, one hand on his head to hold his hat on. Something about them bothered him. He was an illusionist, a wizard who had studied the art of deception in preference to any other school of magic (not that he'd had much choice, being a nome. It had either been that or divination). He therefore knew more about the subject than anyone else aboard the boat. His familiarity gave him a better chance of seeing through an illusion than any of the others, and Diana's suggestion that the rocks were illusions intrigued him. He studied them, therefore, looking for the tiny inconsistencies that would betray their true nature, and the more he studied them the more convinced he became that the cleric was right. He stared at the water ahead of them, looking not just at the rocks but the whole scene, trying to force his eyes to see the reality behind the illusion.

      He stared at them for minute after minute until he felt a dull throbbing behind his eyes, but he ignored it and kept on studying the rocks, and suddenly something seemed to click inside his head. What he experienced was similar to a black candlestick on a white background that suddenly becomes two faces looking at each other. He could still see the rocks, but suddenly they were shadowy, insubstantial things, mere tricks of the light that posed no danger to the boat. In their place, he saw clear, empty water stretching all the way ahead to the horizon.

      He cried out in excitement and told the others what he'd seen. With his help, the rest of them were soon able to see through the illusion as well, and in great excitement they raised the anchor and got under sail once more. There was only a little bit of residual anxiety as they passed through the illusory rocks, but they got through safely and cruised on. After another few hundred yards, the rocks to either side fell behind them as well and they entered a wide open area of clear water, empty of anything that could possibly harm them.

      Suddenly there was a shimmering in front of them as the image of the clear empty sea rippled and swam. The scene parted like a curtain and a vast, bulky object gradually came into view, slowly resolving itself into an island; the strangest looking island that any of them had ever seen. It was circular and seemed to consist almost entirely of sheer cliffs reaching high above them. At the top they could just see the tops of trees leaning over the sides, and they guessed that there was a flat, circular plateau at the top, covered by forest, among which they guessed the Oracle itself was located. The problem was to get up there.