Act II

The next few days passed in a blur. After the incident at the mine, Bertrand Sr. had been doubly protective of his son, and the rest of the group didn’t get to see their friend until the day he and Neera headed off to the academy. She too had been absent for the remainder of the week.

Bertrand Sr. had been adamant about keeping the incident under wraps, so Wellynd wasn’t sure if Neera had actually told her mom what happened and Ursa was protecting her daughter, or if she just needed the extra help in preparation for Neera’s departure.

He and Klof, while they hadn’t officially started their apprenticeship, had spent the intervening days loading crates in the warehouse. Laine had gotten him to show Klof the ropes so he would be prepared when their work as sailors officially started.

When departure day did come, the townsfolk lined both sides of Mine street to watch the Observatory’s carriage roll into town. A Vertan barge had sailed down the coast right into Kellek’s watch and the black and bronze carriage had rolled right off the front of the ship and onto the shore.

Wellynd and Klof stood next to the hospice, watching on as the vehicle, pulled by two large oxen, rolled up the cobblestones. The two friends exchanged furtive glances.

They had briefly entertained the idea of not coming to see their friends. Wellynd felt like they had already sort of said their goodbyes up at the mine, and Klof wasn’t sure if he could avoid breaking down in tears. Whether it was over their friends leaving the island, or the fact that they weren’t going with them was unclear. Fortunately, Laine had overheard their conversation and told them to stop being so miserable.

He was right, of course.

It was, after all, the first time in 40 years that a citizen of Kellek’s Watch had been selected to go to the Revenshore Observatory. Folks were dressed in their celebratory robes and all of the shops were closed. Bertrand Sr. had even paid to have gilded banners bearing his son’s and Neera’s family crest hung from every building.

As the carriage drew closer, Wellynd heard the clutter of boots as the oak door in the alley behind them swung open. Steeling himself, and giving another supportive glance to his friend, Wellynd turned with a grin.

Neera and Bertrand walked toward them, their gold medallions shining brightly against their white apprentice robes. Just behind them walked a slightly older apprentice, no doubt their tutor, June. The young man had jet black hair that stood out against his own white robes. It took a second for Wellynd to notice that the robe was darker than Neera and Bertrand’s. It must have been some hierarchy thing, he thought.

June put his hands on the two apprentices shoulders and urged them forward. Behind June walked Bertrand and Ursa, their faces glowing with pride. As they approached, Neera returned Wellynd’s grin, but Bertrand grabbed the shoulders of his cloak and playfully tugged them up and down, tongue-in-cheek aimed at his two friends. Wellynd elbowed him as he passed, and Bertrand coughed and let out a laugh.

Looking up, Wellynd saw Bertrand’s father staring down on him. The man scowled before following after his son. Ursa gave the boys a wink. She was closely followed by Neera’s father, Nurin, who gave them a warm smile.

Turning to Klof, Wellynd leaned in.

“Think we can sneak onto the carriage?” he whispered.

“Yeah, I’m sure we can avoid the two hundred sets of eyes.” replied Klof.

“I’m obviously joking.”

“I’m not really in the joking mood” snapped Klof, a stern line etched into his brow.

Wellynd shrugged, “Fair enough.”

The two hurried after the procession as more townsfolk started to crowd in around the gilded carriage, which had now stopped in front of the hospice.

The crowd sat silently for almost a full minute. Bertrand Sr. stood behind his son, tapping his foot.

Finally, the door of the carriage swung open and a man with simple charcoal grey robes sprung out onto the road and scanned the crowd, eventually spotting June and ambling over to the small procession.

Wellynd hadn’t seen the man before. He had a clean shaven face and looked surprisingly younger than the other masters he had met.

The man patted June on the back before shaking hands with Neera and Bertrand. Bertrand’s father leaned in and said something to the man, who gave a brief frown and shook the magnate’s hand and chuckled.

Neera said something to the man, but Wellynd couldn’t make out the noise over the crowd. The master smiled and gestured with his hand.

Neera and Bertrand walked back over to Wellynd and Klof.

“So.” said Neera.

“So.” replied Wellynd.

“This sucks. Yes. It’s great. But it also sucks. You are going to come and visit, right?” asked Neera.

“Well, we’re starting on the ship tomorrow so I don’t know…”

“Shutup.” interjected Bertrand “You guys need to come and visit. How else am I supposed to smell the sweet scent of fish guts and seaweed without jumping off the wharf.”

Wellynd laughed. “Yeah, yeah. You’d need to walk down there without dying from exhaustion to do that.”

Bertrand scoffed. “We’ll have to have another race in a few months' time then. I mean, I’ll probably be gliding through the clouds by then, but, I’ll take it easy on you.”

“Yeah, yeah. We’ll see about that...”

Smiling, Bertrand gave a nod to both of his friends before heading back towards the carriage.

Wellynd looked at Klof, his head slightly bowed, frowning.

“Uh. I dunno. I think we can manage to make our way out there after the storms end, right Klof?”

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“Yeah, maybe.”

Neera eyed him while wiping her sleeve across her face. She abruptly lurched forward and hugged Klof, who, after a moment’s hesitation, returned the embrace.

“I’ll miss you” he said, finally, before turning away and straightening his back.

Neera stepped back and considered Klof, before turning to Wellynd.

Wellynd stepped back and made a surrendering gesture.

“You don’t want to be seen hugging a known criminal. People’ll get ideas” joked Wellynd.

Neera smirked before embracing Wellynd. Wellynd hugged her back.

“Whatever happened in the cave, I know it wasn’t me, and I know it wasn’t Bertrand. You did something. You should be coming with us.” she whispered in his ear.

She squeezed him one more time before stepping back.

“I’ll look in the library at the Observatory and see if I can find out what happened.”

“But…” Wellynd started.

“BUT” interjected Neera “You’ll have to visit so we can follow up.” And with that she turned on her heel and walked towards the carriage, the grey-robed master gesturing towards the open door.

The two remaining friends watched as everyone boarded the carriage, the master making a silly salute before shutting the door. The oxen huffed at the urging of the driver, and they began to make a wide turn in the street before heading down towards the shore.

“What was she talking about with the library?” asked Klof, as they watched the carriage disappear around the bend, the townsfolk cheering and walking after it, some of whom waved flags portraying the Crest of Ars Illuve and Arta.

“Something about whatever happened at the mine. Said we should all look into it.” replied Wellynd, not looking his friend in the eye.

“Hmm.” hummed Klof. “Don’t know what she thinks we can find out here. Weird. See you tomorrow.” He gave Wellynd a strange glance before sticking his hands in his trouser pockets and walking off down the road towards his house.

Wellynd stood silently as the din of the crowd grew more distant, and all that remained was the sound of Klof’s boots scraping against the cobble.

Turning the opposite direction, he set off to Briarberry cottage. With all the commotion over the past few days, he’d tried to ignore thinking about the floating stones or the incident with Klent.

He had started to read the book he’d taken from the Observatory, but had quickly realised that the language was far too academic to learn anything from a quick skim.

Right before he turned onto the trail, Wellynd looked up the mountainside toward the mine.

Bertrand’s father had probably sealed the whole place off by now.

There was that small hole on the other side of the mountain. He ruffled his hair as he tried to calculate how long it would take to get over the mountain and whether he’d even be able to locate it. His apprenticeship with Laine started tomorrow and he probably wouldn’t have any free time in the coming months.

He sighed and turned back down the trail.

It’d have to wait.

~

When the storms hit Ars Illuve, many of the island’s residents, especially those on the coastal towns, like Kellek’s Watch, went into something close to hibernation. While many of the shops stayed open, much of the industry that characterised the town shut down. The fisherman only went out for a few hours in the early morning, merchant vessels rarely braved the turrid waters, and even the mining operations were reduced to a single shift a day, as the steps were far too much to brave in the high winds.

Laine Albright, however, went out for several runs per week. His crew delivered regular ore to all their normal ports of call, but his real money was made in the extra runs he took to Fellun Kellek. Due to the increased strain on supply in the black market, skald could be sold at a premium price.

Klof stared, mouth agape at the grizzled sailor.

“What do you mean next month? We’re going out there?” Klof cried, pointing towards the portcullis, a crack of thunder rumbling outside the warehouse to emphasise his point.

Laine chewed on his cigar, eyes surveying the two boys who stood in front of him.

“Welly didn’t tell ya, eh?”

“He did, but I thought he was joking”Klof replied, looking at Wellynd for support.

Wellynd grunted and shrugged his shoulders.

“Don’t worry. We’ve done it hundreds of times. Yeah, you’ll get a little wet. But your dad tells me you’re a good sailor.” said Laine.

Klof scratched the top of his head “Yeah, I’m alright. Dad started taking me out fishing as soon as I could walk. But during the summer.” He turned to look at the Brinebreaker that was lightly bobbing in the docking pool. “Can that thing even handle a twenty foot wave?”

Laine looked a little taken aback. “The Brinebreaker? Of course she can!”

Wellynd nudged Klof as they watched his uncle stride toward the boat. Talking about the Brinebreaker was one of the few things that got the man excited. Laine took his cigar and tossed it into the water before hopping onto the boat and walking up to the bow. He stared down at the two friends as they walked closer to the hull.

“This boat is the fastest, sleekest, most elusive clipper in all of Elaudri.” Laine waved his hand out towards the sea. “She breaks the waves when she needs to, and she slips over them when they’re too big. Every crew member has to be working constantly to keep things afloat, especially when we get close to Vellen Kellek, and there’s no better crew than these lads. We also have the best damn guster on the whole island.”

Wellynd and Klof grinned at each other. This was what they’d been waiting for.

Laine noticed the exchange and raised an eyebrow, “Yeah, yeah, that’s right. Henry’s gonna take you two out onto the beach today to see if either of you can gust. Having a secondary guster would allow us to get further, faster, and potentially avoid the fatal swells that come rumblin’ off the desert. And Henry’s also gettin’ kind of old.”

Klof rubbed his hands together.

“And if either of us aren’t good at gusting?” he asked.

Laine stared down, his brow furrowing. “Well then you’ll have to find work somewhere else.”

“What?!” Wellynd yelped, before clicking his tongue as a mischievous smile crawled across his uncle’s face. Laine threw his head back and howled, holding on to the rope bound to the mast to support him.

“We’ll see what else you’re good for. Just deal with Henry for now, Welly. See what you can do” he finally said.

“Yeah, yeah. Where is he, anyway?”

“Should be making his way to Recluse’s Cove now. You two can head over now and probably beat him there if ya run.”

Klof looked at Wellynd and then up at Laine “Why can’t we just practise on the beach outside here. What’s the point in making an hour’s trek?”

Laine chuckled again, “You’re soon going to learn that all magic-users, even us lowly Kosun, like to keep our tricks o’ the trade to ourselves. It’s what makes us valuable. I know as little about Henry’s craft as he does mine.”

“And what is your craft? Insanely sailing into deadly waters?” Klof asked.

“Hah. That’s one of em’. You’ll find out. Go see Henry for now.” The sailor replied before disappearing atop the boat.

The two boys glanced at each other before the Klof broke the silence with an exasperated sigh.

“Well...I guess I shouldn’t have expected a normal first day with your Uncle as boss.” said Klof.

“Yeah. He’s not so bad. You’ll see.” Wellynd said, turning back up toward the path. “You wanna take the high road or walk the beach rocks?” he asked, glancing backward.

“I guess let’s take the rocks. Tide should be low for a while yet.”

Spring in their step, they set out towards the secluded bay up the coast.