Anders pulled his mind away from the sapphire and the tendrils of energy snaking into his skin vanished. He blinked, suddenly aware of his surroundings. He was aware, actually, of everything. Suddenly he felt eyes on him. All the eyes of the elves and dwarf soldiers were on him. He looked down at them. When he did, they returned to what they were doing.
Zahara’s roar must have drawn their attention, Anders thought.
Anders, Zahara said, her voice much calmer and quieter than it had been before. That was too much.
I know, Anders said ashamed. I couldn’t help myself. I felt like a moth drawn to a lamp, I couldn’t control myself. It felt so good. I wanted more. Anders shuddered at the thought of losing control and becoming entirely enveloped in the crystal’s energy.
If we need to use that again, I’ll be the one to draw it out, Zahara scolded him.
Alright. You do it next time, Anders agreed.
As Nadir and Ivan led the elven ships closer to the narrows, Anders and Zahara buzzed with their newly harnessed energy. Anders’ senses felt finely tuned. He could sense the expanse of water tightening between the two landmasses before them, the eagerness and fear emanating from those on the ships at their side, and the light disappearing on the darkening horizon. He felt the workings of the world itself, an ebbing and flowing of energy.
“We’ve timed it perfectly,” Anders heard Nadir say to Ivan. Even Anders’ hearing had sharpened considerably. “With the cover of darkness, we should pass right through the narrows unseen.”
“Now we just need to hope there aren’t any orcs still crossing,” Ivan replied.
“If there are, I’d likely give them a wallop that they’d never felt before,” Remli said, pulling the short-handled axe from his belt and thrusting it into the air above his bushy head. When Remli did this, the axe handle passed inches from Ivan’s face. Ivan moved deftly to the side to avoid having the axe head mark his face.
Ivan reached out and pushed the dwarf’s axe down and away while saying, “If any orcs are crossing, Zahara and Anders will take care of them before we have a chance.”
Not if there are a hundred or more, Zahara said to them with her thoughts. She’d been listening in as well.
Why not? I bet we could take on a hundred or more orcs now that we’re well trained, Anders said to Zahara. He was sure that he could take on more with the abundance of strength he currently felt.
I think the energy from the crystal has given you a confidence in our fighting abilities that you previously lacked, Zahara scolded him.
Well, I bet we could take on half that on our own, Anders insisted.
Don’t let that cocky attitude get us in trouble. You might think differently if there actually were a hundred orcs directly in front of us right now, Zahara said.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, Anders said, the arrogance almost oozing out of him.
Anders, Ivan’s voice came into his mind. I want you and Zahara to keep your senses at attention for the next part of this journey. We’re about to enter the narrows and I want to know if you sense anything strange. Natalia and I will be keeping an eye out, too, but your abilities are sharper than ours right now, so we’ll be depending on you and Zahara to be the lookouts.
Okay, got it, Anders said as he and Zahara began to search the area in front of the ship. Anders longed for the opportunity to test his enhanced abilities, yet kept his wish that they’d come across a group of orcs hidden from Zahara.
Less than an hour had passed when Anders saw Zahara’s triangular ears point at attention and her gaze focus in one direction. Zahara’s scaled ears moved, pinning back against her skull as she quickly shot her mind to a darkened corner of the shoreline ahead. Anders narrowed his eyes and peered through the darkness. The new moon was dark, almost absent from the blackened sky as they advanced across the sea. Anders couldn’t see where the water ended and land began. He could only see the riffling water seamlessly shade into the black canvas that was the rocky shores of Southland.
Lacking the ability to see or feel whatever had drawn Zahara’s attention, Anders asked, What is it?
I thought I sensed something in the distance. It was only there for a moment but vanished before I could tell what it was.
I just searched where you were sending your strongest scans and I couldn’t sense anything there.
Should we investigate?
If we weren’t so close to our designated meeting place with the Lumbapi people I would typically say ‘no’ and just keep an eye out for anything else that might come from that direction, but here and now, I feel differently. I think we should go to the place where you sensed a glimmer of something. With our company so close to Merglan, it could be a trap. Maybe he knows we’re coming and has set a trap that we’re sailing into, Anders said.
This is a good place for an ambush. They could attack from both sides of the narrows, Zahara added.
I’ll tell Ivan that we’re going to investigate, Anders said.
Ivan received him without hesitation, What is it, Anders? Is there something approaching?
Not exactly, he replied. Zahara saw something near shore. It could be orcs; we need to take a closer look to be sure.
If it’s a trap, keep an eye out for airmines. Fly carefully and give yourself plenty of distance to escape if Merglan’s planned something.
Okay, we’ll be careful, Anders said and spurred Zahara toward the dark shore.
Blanketed by darkness, they moved warily as they flew closer to the place Zahara had identified. For all Anders knew, a concealment spell cast by a sorcerer as powerful as Merglan could completely hide a large group of enemies. They would have to rely almost solely on their senses to ensure they wouldn’t be ambushed. As Zahara slowed, a shadow piqued Anders’ senses.
I just felt something, he told Zahara.
I did, too. There’s definitely something strange going on here.
Keep low to the water and continue quietly. If there are orcs ahead, we can take them by surprise by attacking lower. If they’re looking for a dragon, they’ll be looking up not down, Anders said.
Zahara did as he wished, flying lower over the water. Zahara’s belly was nearly breaking through the waves as they glided closer to the strange feeling that had caught their attention. Suddenly Anders was hit with a strong presence, like walking into a hot room on a cold winter day. He felt the wave of danger come through them.
Orcs, he said to Zahara.
Realizing he didn’t need to tell her, that she was already aware of them, feelings of anger and hatred for the orcs’ evil ways welled up inside Anders. The energy from the crystal hummed through his veins, heightening his emotions as they approached. Anger boiled up inside him, pushing out all other feelings. He was losing himself in hatred, for the evil creatures that had helped capture his cousins, killed his uncle and destroyed his previously peaceful life.
How many? Anders asked, his attention focused on one thing as Zahara angled toward a dark shape in the water.
