Valadel

Chapter IV

Danticus awoke lying atop a feast table, his temples throbbing. He opened his eyes groggily and looked around the banquet hall. Many citizens had also drifted into an alcohol induced slumber, sprawling out atop tables and the floor. He wiped the drool from his face and massaged the sides of his head, trying to rid himself of his headache. He stood up with great effort, and stepped right into a puddle of vomit.

"Ergh..." Danticus yanked his foot up and shook his boot clean, nearly vomiting himself.

Last time I'm drinking for a good while...

He looked for a face he recognized, but the search was in vain. Just drunken men and women who'd vow to lay off liquor for a while when they came too, just as he did. He stumbled through the opening between the great doors of the hall and sunlight pierced his eyes. Not a soul was in sight, most of the partygoers having left early last night or spending the night at the great feast hall. Danticus wondered just where his friends had left too, and to where he would follow.

The Horn of Jorden sounded, tearing through the silence like a knife through butter. The pounding in his head went from a simple pulse to the banging of a bass drum. He breathed deeply, doing his best to settle down his wild stomach, and rubbed his eyes with balled fists.

He sighed. Time to go to work...

He wasted no time in sprinting towards the town square, which was only just down the road and around the way, quick to assert himself in his new position. He stopped in his tracks as he discovered a giant crowd already amassed, talking rapidly and wearing faces of concern. Danticus pushed through the crowd, their whispers and conversation muffled from other whispers and conversations. As he neared the middle, he saw a red mantle flowing in the wind just ahead from underneath a blonde dome. Gallador was atop a dock platform, staring at something far out in the distance. He ran to the Arch Ranger, who was peering through a spyglass.

"Gallador, what's happening?" He asked

"Something we haven't seen in the entire age of man. I...I can't explain it."

"Well, what is it?" Danticus asked.

"Take a look for yourself," he said, handing Danticus his looking scope.

Danticus peered through and his logic couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. "It's a...a keep."

"Aye. A castle. A citizen claims he saw it rise out of the water over night during the feast. Joras has yet to see it."

"What do you think he'll order when he does?" Asked Danticus.

"Not sure. It's a problem, though. Any ship unfortunate enough to be caught in a storm wouldn't see it, probably slam right into the walls."

Horse gallops sounded behind them, as Joras arrived upon his armored steed. He shook his head in annoyance and dismounted. "That's the second horn this week!" he said with irritation, "What's the problem, Sir Thornshield?"

"A kingdom has arisen from the water," said Gallador, as if the news weren't unusual.

The king scoffed. "Do my ears deceive me? It sounds like you just told me a kingdom has risen out of the water. What games are you playing, Thornshield?"

"Take a look for yourself," Gallador said, holding his spyglass out for the king to take.

Joras snatched the scope from his friend and peered through the looking glass. His jaw hung and he brought the scope down from his eye.

"What in the name of the gods..."

The king pressed himself into the spyglass, as if that would help him see better. He tossed the instrument back to Gallador and rubbed his bearded chin, grunting and mumbling as he did so. A moment passed, and Gallador cleared his throat. "What are your orders, my liege?"