Good, Ivan said. It will take Max and me about a half hour to get there. We are on the opposite side of the cliffs from you.
Anders felt the pain in his head subside slightly as Ivan left his mind. Feeling stiff as a board, he half-heartedly attempted to stretch out his limbs before starting for the cliffs.
It took him longer than expected to walk through the thick vegetation carpeting the slope. Scrambling along the wet hillside covered with moss and ferns, Anders zigzagged uphill along the cliffs. The slope steepened as he climbed higher. Out of breath and weak in the knees, he finally made it to the top to see Ivan and Max waiting patiently. The two were sitting on a downed tree just upslope of the cliff’s edge. Anders was slightly irritated by how comfortable they looked.
Max waved him over to join them. He sat down heavily on the log, tired from his climb. Not saying a word, Anders looked out over the vast view of the ocean. The peaceful expanse from atop the cliff was spectacular. It cleared Anders of his irritation with Max and Ivan. The marvelous view was, however, an illusion of what had been and not what is. He sat for a moment in silence absorbing the singular moment of beauty before he would have to face the harsh reality of their predicament.
“What do we do now?” Anders asked Ivan, giving him a look as if he were truly lost.
“The only thing we can,” Ivan said seriously.
“And what exactly is that?” Anders was frustrated with the situation.
“We must find Red and any others that may have survived the wreck. Then we will continue our journey on foot.” Ivan got up off the log without looking at Anders or Max and began to walk down the hill from the top of the cliff.
“Well that sounds about right,” Anders said to Max.
“What do you mean,” Max asked.
“I don’t know what’s real anymore,” he continued. “Everything I thought I knew about my life has just been flipped upside down. An evil beast riding a giant hound attacks my home, murders my uncle, and kidnaps the only family I have left. Now this guy shows up blasting energy from his hands and he can even read my thoughts. Everything is all screwed up; it’s like a nightmare I can’t escape. What’s next, dragons and demons?” Anders said in a half-crazed voice.
“Be real, dragons haven’t been seen in the five kingdoms of Kartania since long before The War of the Magicians. They either went extinct or are too busy sleeping in caves to be bothered with the problems of humans,” Max said. “I know it’s been hard to face the reality of all this, but for now we need to accept what happened and move on. Pretending it never happened or running away from it won’t bring back the people who were taken from us. I don’t know if my brother is dead or alive, but I’m going to assume he’s alive and I’m not going to give up until I free him from the soldiers who took him.” Max was on his feet breathing heavily after letting his emotions rile him.
“You’re right,” Anders said, pushing his tired body off the fallen tree. “I need to accept that what happened is real and I need to do whatever it takes to find my cousins.”
Anders and Max caught up with Ivan on the beach after swiftly scaling down from the cliff with a rejuvenated sense of determination.
“Do you know where Red is?” Anders asked, once they were walking alongside him. He assumed Ivan could sense Red using his mind.
“He’s far away, so it’s hard to tell the exact location,” he pointed in the direction they were walking. “All I know for sure is that he’s alive.”
“Where will we go after we locate the remaining survivors of the wreck?” Max asked Ivan.
“We need to reach a spot where we can send a message to the Rollo Islanders before their warships sail past us. If we can send a messenger to intercept them with a planned location for a rendezvous, we can join forces and continue our search for Thargon’s ships.”
“Brookside is only a few day’s walk from here,” Max said. “I have family there who could help us.”
“Yes,” Ivan said as if he were remembering something he had forgotten. “There is a man there who goes by the name of Solomon, do you know of him?”
“Of course I know Solomon!” Max exclaimed. “He’s a dear friend of mine. Why do you ask?”
“He has a great wealth of knowledge and may be able to answer a few of my questions,” Ivan said.
“Are you sure we’re talking about the same Solomon?” Max asked.
“I know he is odd at times, but he’s been around for a long time and has helped me before,” Ivan said, confident that the old man would be of assistance to their quest.
“Sounds like a plan,” Anders said.
Together the three of them walked along the coastline searching for Red and any other survivors. Anders squinted to see a couple figures far off in the distance, moving along the beach. “Look!” he remarked pointing down the sandy shoreline in front of them.
“Yes, that would be our bull-headed captain,” Ivan said seeing Red’s silhouette in the distance. “And there are two others with him. Part of his crew.”
“That’s creepy how you can do that with nothing else but your mind,” Max said.
“Helpful, not creepy,” Ivan corrected him. “I’m not nearly as formidable as I once was. At one time in my life I could sense people from much greater distances, among other things. But those days are farther from me than I like to think.”
“Creepy, but amazing,” Max said, and Ivan gave him a look.
Anders felt better knowing that Ivan could tell whether the people far down the beach were friends or foes, although he was still unsure how he felt about the idea of having a sorcerer around. He wondered what had convinced his uncle that Ivan was dead; because he’d always told Anders since he was little that magic no longer existed in the world.
Did that mean Ivan was the last magician? No, because Thargon had used magic in Grandwood. Thinking about it made his head hurt, so he dismissed the thought to another time when he could devote more energy to it.
Red, along with two other men, had been surprised to see all three of them alive and well.
“The gods were good to let us live,” Red said, grabbing each one of them and embracing them with a soggy hug. “We drifted ashore late last night. After the ship went down, I found a piece of wreckage and was able to grab these two lads before they drowned,” Red said pointing to the men. “We have been up and down the shore, but didn’t see any sign of other survivors, until you.”
“It was a long, cold night. We were all lucky to survive it,” Ivan said trying to guilt Red a bit for sailing them into the storm. Red forced a cough, realizing Ivan’s implication. “We need to send word to your people before they sail past us where it will be harder to join them,” Ivan added, ending the awkward silence.
“I agree,” Red said. “I’m not familiar with this area. Is there a town close by where we can send a messenger bird?” he asked.
Ivan explained their plan to make the multi-day trek to Brookside.
“It’s about three or four days from here,” Max said. “I traveled to Grandwood on the trail just north of here. Once we bushwhack our way to the trail, the going will be easier than walking through the sand.”
“That sounds like as good a plan as any,” Red agreed, happy to have the next part of their adventure prepared for him.
“I have heard reports of goblins emerging from caves along the base of the Sharpstone Mountains, near Brookside,” Ivan added.
