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Book 2 in the Gatekeeper's daughter series. (book 1: The Gatekeeper's Daughter is posted here on wattpad and is now available in Kindle and Trade Paperback on Amazon)
Be sure to get the one by David (Dave) Randall
IV Eben Breier
Audra watched through the mist as the unfamiliar shapes of Eben Breier's docks emerged along with the few ships docked there and the ghostly apparition-like shadows that moved through the milky early morning fog, doing whatever tasks they might be aboard ship on on the creaky wooden docks of the old coastal city.
Behind Audra were her companions for this quest, whatever their loyalty to her might be. Closest to her on her left and right was Skyla Barius and Elvie McNight (formerly known and Distynce Silverwilt) whose red hair seemed to defy the thick fog. Just behind Audra was Alestra in her hooded cloak. Gloria Thistlevale and Livy Tilirim were next right and left respectively followed by Anne DuLoc and Urchin. Lastly there was Deelia Wilder and Venda Sil who both had uncertain glances at Audra in there own turn.
Without present thought for what was around or behind her, Audra's eyes were fixed forward and to the task at hand. They were to go to the Hammer Head Inn, and make contact with a guide named Jael Koenigg, who would take them up river from Eben Breier to Hovelton and then overland to Duskwatch. From there the party would cross the feared Lifeless Lake without their guide on the ferry to Deadwatch and then over road through The Barren Wastes to the haunted citadel of Necrolim where the Necromancer keeps his sovereign vigil over the dead who keep The Barren Wastes firmly under his rule and utterly free of life and opposition.
Behind Audra and her companions were only the three ponies who would carry not only the body or Aramos, but their provisions for the journey.
Seeing them off was Captain PD Athus, who despite the charm and beauty of his passengers, would be happy to depart as quickly as possible after Audra and company would disembark. His orders were to go out to sea by not more than a days sail or find suitable port, possibly in Allund's town more than 210 miles to the north, and only return once contacted by Audra herself. Audra would use a paired talisman as Greylin called it. It was a device that would allow simple communication between two people over great distances.
In this way the ship and her crew could wait near enough to Eben Breier to come quickly to pick up Audra and the others, but also not cause too much of a stir in the otherwise superstitious people of Eben Breier, whose loyalty was not known. It was likely that the enemy would have eyes and ears in all corners of the world, and it was best to keep as low a profile as possible.
Greylin reasoned quite logically, that people would be accustomed to seeing small groups of elvish females traveling in groups to see the Necromancer. Of course they were always traveling for the purposes that suited the Necromancer, and this fact usually made the bands of female elves less likely a target for the less than savory types likely to be encountered along the way.
When the ship was stopped and the gang plank raised up to the ship's deck. Audra quietly thanked Captain PD Athus, and asked that if she survived, that he might take her along on one of his journey's to the west someday.
Captain Athus agreed, and hoped that such a thing would be possible, as he knew that her mission was necessary for the preservation of the Empire, of peace and for all that he himself cared about and held dear. “My Lady, I will ask the Gods for your safe return, and will wait within a days sail for your signal. When you return and after this is all settled, I would be honored to take you wherever in this wide world you should dare to venture.”
