Sentria: The Age of Adventure (Book 2)

Chapter Twenty-Five: Treasure

The Iron Lass and her team of ten pirates left the ship for the island and I went along with them. It took some convincing, but she allowed me to come. I told her how much I had been through and had overcome and she was impressed, even if she didn't say it aloud. She did demand that Eldwyn had to stay behind; he was still drained after the maelstrom and she didn't want anyone slowing us down.

I walked in the back of the line through the hardly visible trail and looked out for any dangers behind us in the thick forest.  There were sabers on this island and rhinos that could attack at any moment. The Iron Lass wasn't fearful. She said that no beast was as fearsome as man.

"What happened to the previous two cabin boys?" I asked the sailor in front of me. He was a brown-skinned pirate by the name of Seaweed and wore a red handkerchief tied around his forehead. He had just graduated from cabin boy to pirate and he was one of the friendliest in the company.

"Dane and Grant," said Seaweed. "They were my friends. We were on Grayskull Island and the Iron Lass had it on good authority that the dragon Cyburn had died off. The gold was supposed to be ripe for the taking...but she was wrong. Cyburn was alive and vicious as ever."

I heard a rustling in the bushes and I turned around, tightly gripping the knife the Iron Lass had given me. It was just a scrawny tropical monkey with white fur and big round eyes. It grabbed a banana and climbed back up a tree. I turned forward and looked up ahead at the front of the line where our fearless leader was cutting a path with three others. She had to be carrying the burden of their deaths just like anyone else would. She was hardened, but I saw the softness in her heart. Her crew was the most diverse I had seen compared to the others of the Garden Coast, filled with women and men from all over, and she looked out for them. She was stern but not cruel and she ruled with an iron fist that held you tightly and securely in her grasp. If one disobeyed, she could also crush you if she wanted.

After a couple of hours, we got to the entrance of the cavern and everyone gathered together.

"Listen, all," said the Iron Lass, "when we go inside, we stay together. No one goes off on their own. It's very easy to get lost in the tunnels and if you do, we will not be going back for you. I won't risk more of my crew because you decided it would be wise to act foolish. Let's move." She and everyone lit their torches as we filed into the cavern.

Just before I entered the cave, I heard someone come up from behind me and I whipped around, knife out and pressed up against his neck prepared to slit it. "Eldwyn?" I asked in astonishment.

"I'm sorry," Eldwyn said, "it took a while to catch up to you."

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I couldn't stay behind. My head was full of worries."

"The Iron Lass commanded you to stay behind and I don't wish to be on her dark side."

"She will understand, I can help. I need to make things right after the storm."

I sighed. There was no other choice except to bring Eldwyn along. I couldn't send him back through the island alone, I'd rather take the Iron Lass' ire. "Come then. Stay close."

We entered the cave and caught up with the rest of them. The tunnels were enormous, like great halls, only instead of portraits, there were black, craggy rock walls and all manner of colorful insects that buzzed and crawled around. Water dripped from the stalactite ceilings as I watched our shadows against the walls. They were like distorted images from a shadow world, changing shape with each step. Eldwyn grabbed my hand and I gripped his tightly without saying a word. 

There were so many tunnelways inside that even I started to become confused, and I had a keen sense of direction The Iron Lass up ahead seemed to have everything under control, moving with a certainty that kept everyone believing in the mission. 

We made it to an open space without any other tunnel apart from the one that we entered through and the Iron Lass gathered everyone close. She saw Eldwyn and I thought that she would scold us, but instead, she smirked.

"We've made it," she said. "This is it. This is where we start digging. I want us to split off into groups as we dig close to the center. It's bound to be here somewhere. I can smell it." She walked away and everyone stuck their torches into the ground and started shoveling.

Seaweed was with us and he looked at Eldwyn, utterly confused and said, "When did he get here?"

"He followed us," I said.

Seaweed shook his head and we began digging. Eldwyn stood nearby without a shovel of his own and sat down watching us.

"This place is strange," said Eldwyn, looking around. "It's like it was created by hands."

"What is he on about?" asked Seaweed, shoveling a pile of dirt over his shoulder.

"The wind tells him things," I said.

"I knew a fire relic once." Eldwyn locked focused on the torchlight nearby. "He saw images in fire and foretold of future events. There's a myth that says that if a fire relic reach one-thousand years of age, they become dragons and fly to the isles to live out their days."

"I've never heard of that one before," said Seaweed thoughtfully. "What do they say happens to wind—"

"I found it!" said a pirate nearby. I looked over to him and saw that a green glow was upon him from the hole he was digging.

Jade crystals.

Before he could dig anymore, the cavern rumbled mightily like they were in the hungry belly of the beast. Everyone stopped shoveling and looked around. It rumbled again, louder. It was getting closer. Then a section of the rock wall came crashing down and everyone ran away from it.

"Raaah!" roared the giant, smashing through the rock wall. He had three eyes, two where they were supposed to be and another from his forehead and had on a brown loincloth. "Mok rok orr! Mok rok orr!" said the giant and came hurtling toward us. Everyone screamed and ran the other way except for Eldwyn who ran at him.

"Bronte, auk em braun!" he said, and a blast of wind kept the giant back. The giant tried to push against him, but he couldn't get past the powerful wind.

"Hear me!" said Eldwyn, putting his hands down and stopping his powers and the giant calmed down. "I know you can understand me. You are old and wise and I come to you with respect. You have been hurt in the past and driven out of your homeland. We do not wish to do you any harm. Please, let us take some of your jade. It will be used to feed these people and fund their exploits. I beg of you."

Eldwyn kneeled and pressed his hand to his chest. The giant looked at us. It was hard to tell what he was thinking and I held onto my small knife, more out of comfort. A simple blade couldn't pierce his thick skin

The giant didn't say another word. He just walked back through the tunnel he had created as if nothing had happened.

Eldwyn stood up and said, "Please, don't make me a liar. Only take what you need."

We dug more and took several bagfuls of the jade. There were still a lot more left, but the Iron Lass stopped them from taking any more.

When we left the cavern, it was night and we walked back through the tropical forest delighted with ourselves. This time, we were in the front with the Iron Lass who thanked Eldwyn for his intervention.

"It seems that your coming out here was meant to be," she said. "I'm not sure how we could have taken on a giant by ourselves."

"You aren't mad at me for disobeying?" Eldwyn asked.

"If I didn't disobey, I'd still be a lowly farm girl in Vilquist. Now, I am the richest piratess in all the seas."

It didn't seem to take as long returning to the ship as it did going to the cavern. Perhaps it was the concern for the unknown that made it seem longer. Imagining all the darkness out to get you prolonged the experience, whereas returning to the familiar bring a calmer sort of knowingness. When we returned to the sandy shores, however, we saw an unexpected sight. We stopped us dead in our tracks and stared in silence. Docked next to the Emperor King was a massive galleon, twice the size of the ship, and it had a green lizard on its sails.

The Green Lizard had come for us.