Chapter 54

The swish of gentle waves accompanied the rowboat to shore. Zinjo and Gael rowed in unison. Aurelia noted they were the only three in the leaky tub. She glared at the seagulls who screeched every time she tried to speak. The sun warmed the air, but not too unbearable levels, and a soft breeze kept her body at a nice temperature.

Asleep on Gael's shoulder was the divine Al' Miraj, a bunny with an onyx horn on its head. The creature had to lead them to this place, but why? The same question played over and over in her mind. Aurelia did not know much about divine beings, but she suspected not all of them were good.

"Gael, why are we the only people on this landing party?" She asked in a mild tone, underneath a patch of worry raged like an ocean storm.

The seaman paused and wrung his bandana in his hands, "I am not a fool. Tess is depending on me, the men have orders to leave should they not hear back from us in a couple of days."

Zinjo stopped rowing and checked on his partisan, "Your choice leaves much to be desired. We didn't ask to be on the landing party."

The rough hands of Gael scratched the horned rodent behind the ears, "I am aware of that, but sailors are a superstitious lot and uncharted territory plays on their fear. You two do not have such superstitions, and I won't have to fight with you to explore."

"While I understand the reasoning, a heads up would've been nice," Aurelia kept her eyes on the shore for signs of life. "Why do think this island never showed up on any map before?"

The waves now carried the old skiff to shore at a slow pace. Zinjo left his oar in the boat. "Like Aurelia I understand, but the creature seems to have some sort of hold on you."

"I don't see it," Gael scowled and his voice dropped into a low deadly tone.

Aurelia glared at Zinjo and he shrank from her gaze. She leveled her stare on Gael, "If anything happens to Zinjo, I'll happen to you, and that will be unpleasant." she emphasized every word with sharp, crystal, clarity.

The captain turned to Zinjo, "She's vicious for a princess."

"She is worthy of admiration. The Lionesses of Kiazangi will embrace her as one their own," Zinjo's voice remained awed as he spoke.

The boat jerked a little as it hit the golden sand of the beach. Unlike Larylia, the unknown island had thick pine trees accompanied by a foreboding feeling. Aurelia looked at the boat and almost pushed it back into the water, "We shouldn't be here."

Zinjos feet dug into the golden sand next to Aurelia, "I agree with her, this place should not be."

The Al' Miraj leaped of Gael's shoulder and headed to the forest at a slow pace. It turned back to look at them and swung the horn in a motion that said, follow me. The trio looked at each other and shrugged before they joined the horned beast.

***

The island appeared safe on the surface, the small band found nothing untoward among the trees. They did manage to kill a couple of deer. Aurelia and Zinjo eagerly built a fire and began to cook the strips of meat. The Al' Miraj devoured the other whole.

"Wow, that thing can sure pack it away," Gael chuckled and set the beast on his lap.

The sizzle of meat on hot rock tantalized the taste buds of Aurelia, Zinjo's eye hadn't moved from the succulent steak since he started to cook, "We are still no closer to finding out why it is here."

Gael pulled out his world map and studied it, "What if the island was always here and people forgot about it?" It happens from time to time. Goods go in and out of style, and places fade into the tides of time."

"It's too bad we don't have an older map of the world at large, I'd like to know what this place was before. I think a lot of our fears come from not knowing who or what lives here," Aurelia turned the steak over and it hissed.

"Hmmm..." Zinjo bowed his chin to his chest, "We've stuck close to the shore perhaps we should go deeper?"

The Al' Miraj leaped from Gael's lap and stared up at Zinjo, "It would appear our fuzzy little friend wants to explore further," he commented.

Gael became a flurry of movement as he chose thick green leaves and threw them on the fire, he then built another fire, and three green leaves on it. Two columns of smoke wafted above the trees, "There the crew will know we are fine and need another day or two."

***

The deep forest reminded Aurelia of their encounter with the spider creature. The limbs of trees grew gnarled and sick. Tree trunks oozed strange liquids and smell. "I knew this place was too good to be true," Aurelia said in a weary tone.

Zinjo looked especially nervous and stuffed moss in his ears. Aurelia and Gael poked a little fun at him. Well, Gael did as Aurelia knew why he stuffed the moss in his ear. "Is that some trick from Kianzangi?"

Aurelia punched him in the arm, "Stop that, if you knew why he stuffed the moss in his ears you'd be doing it too."

Gael stopped laughing, "I'd like to hear the tale."

As they walked through the poisoned area Aurelia told the story. When she reached the end of the tale she giggled as Gael grabbed some moss and said something like, "It's better to be safe than sorry."

The Al, Miraj stopped at the edge of a small valley. There at the bottom was a small settlement. Gael yanked the spyglass from his satchel and peered down in the valley, "What are those?"

Aurelia peered through the spyglass, all the people were dressed in billowy robes and the woman wore crowns of gold and silver. A man dressed in a gold spun robe, raised his hands for silence.

Gael swore, "They know we are here."

Aurelia smiled and opened the parasol, "Let's give them a chance before we throw ourselves into a panic."

A loud bell rang out across the forest, and men dressed in wooden armor pointed to the forest and the leader nodded his head.

"Can we panic now?" Gael asked.