The Terral Gate

Chapter 8

“We have to go back!” Kat confronted Gale. Everyone was caught off guard and struggling to understand what had just happened. Gale was stunned for a moment. “You heard me. Turn this boat around!”

“No!” Gallus stepped in front of Kat, grabbing Gale’s arm and lowering it as the captain was motioning for someone near the wheel to turn them around. “He’s going to be fine. He wants us to keep going. Trust me.” Gallus made eye contact with Gerberkan, MJ, Kat and Darwin. “He will find us,” Gallus yelled confidently, “but we have to keep going and you have to rid yourselves of these targets before it’s too late!”

Everyone remained still. Gallus seemed to do a good enough job convincing the crew to move on because nobody turned the ship around.

The rest of the trip was spent in silence. Gale didn’t even yell any orders at his crew. They just did their jobs with a reticent quietude.

MJ, Darwin and Kat stood listlessly at the stern of the boat until they approached the docks of their destination. Meanwhile Gerberkan had retreated to the beds under the deck to endure the fever and sickness that had stricken him. Gallus came down to offer him a glass of water.

“It’s easy to forget how sailing can dehydrate you,” said Gallus. Bud, who had awoken from his nap during the chaos above, walked over and licked Gerberkan’s arm.

“Not thirsty,” grunted Gerberkan. Gallus said nothing, but set the glass on a wooden crate near the bed before heading back up to the deck. Gallus doubted his decision to leave Lodi behind. He doubted it quite possibly more than anyone else, but he couldn’t leave room for that sort of weakness. It didn’t matter at that point, anyhow. He had to honor Lodi’s request. He had to get them to where they were going.

Gale’s ship finally arrived at the small port village of Woodsong and it was secured to the dock he offered his help to the party.

“Look, you lot saved our skin from something horrible what we’d never seen before. We’re gonna head straight back out and if there’s any sign of your friend I’ll make sure we get him back here one…” Gale winced at his own sentence before he could finish. “...one way or another…”

The group nodded, thanked Gale as vocally as they could after losing one of their own to the mysterious sea beast, and departed. The waves of the sea crashed noisily on some nearby rocky cliffs. The group agreed to find a place more inland to spend the night to avoid hearing the water constantly remind them of the day’s events. Lodi would know which way to go if- no, when- he made it to shore.

They ended up stopping in a small village called Ilun’daire when their exhaustion took the best of them. The village was abuzz with a few nervous-looking elven civilians along with many more humans in what looked like the same kind of armor Lodi had worn. Their armor was different in that it was crudely painted red and white.

“Alright, this is it. I need to sleep!” Gerberkan exclaimed as the group headed for a small inn. Mar’Jania looked around the village for a moment.

“I don’t have a good feeling about this place.” she said. The others looked at her wearily.

“Why is that, MJ?” Gallus inquired, letting go of the inn’s front door. MJ hesitated. Darwin offered his assessment.

“Those are Purists, guys. Members of The Order that broke off and formed a group that fights with a more,” he paused to find the right word, “specific belief-”

“That certain races- the impure ones- don’t belong on this world.” MJ finished.

“Impure races?” Gerberkan asked.