Chapter 76: Floren

While I have helped Tayn escape from the clutches of the Floren sailors, we are far from safe. I had never heard of the Floren until half an hour ago. Tayn said that he had previously encountered Floren in Bardos, and the sight of the Floren flag fluttering on the ship anchored offshore made him realise the danger he had blundered across. The sailors held Tayn bound and gagged in their longboat overnight while I was frantic with worry when Tayn failed to return to our camp.

My excellent hearing ... a common feature among Elf Maidens and the Tomyris race ... meant I heard the sailors long before they or I could see each other. Tayn should have been alerted in the same way, but he claims that he was distracted. Apparently the cause of the distraction was the lingering vision of my naked body, which he had unceremoniously dumped in a cold stream. More likely he was in a bad mood after accidentally destroying his tent in the throws of sexual passion. Tayn and I enjoy the rougher forms of sexual play when we fuck, but that doesn’t excuse his carelessness.

I focus on my current predicament. The Floren sailors appear to have given up chasing us. The threemasted sailing ship currently anchored offshore is larger than most ships that sail these seas. Unlike ships that engage in honest trade, the Floren ship seems to be fitted with plenty of cannon. According to Tayn, the Floren sailors carry pistols, which no peaceloving mariner would normally do. Jaro and Tayn had previously told me that the city states dotted along the western mainland coast are unfriendly towards each other, and some are openly hostile. I would like to convince myself that the ship and its crew are only armed for their own protection. Unfortunately, Tayn’s capture suggests a more sinister purpose to the ship’s presence in these waters.

Although Madiana has been the homeland of the Tomyris for centuries, the island has been effectively uninhabited for the last hundred years. Only recently have the surviving Tomyris reemerged from hibernation and begun resettling their island. The fortunate ... if unwilling ... arrival of nearly two hundred deported Thurnian elves has tripled the size of the Tomyris population, and made the chances of the community flourishing that much greater. Now everything is put at risk by a hostile ship from the western mainland. What if it seeks to plunder the undefended Tomyris settlement at Kainga?

Tayn has undertaken to warn those in Kainga while I travel north to where the Aegle Tower is located. My friend Arona and two of her adolescent helpers should be there, and I need to warn them about the Floren ship.

My route north is along the gently sloping ground between the sea to my left and the steeply rising ground a few hundred metres to my right. Trees and shrubs provide me with cover, but there are times when I must venture onto the beach to avoid rocky outcrops. Fortunately the Floren ship shows no interest in my movements, although I don’t discount the possibility of another Floren shore party in the area. While the Aegle Tower is partially hidden in the trees, a pair of sharp eyes would detect the tower’s location from offshore. Numerous seamen will have seen the tower over the centuries, so the tower’s location may well be known to the Floren. That thought makes me hurry onwards to warn Arona of the danger.

It’s lateafternoon by the time I reach the beach where we first landed in search of the Aegle tower. There’s no sign of a boat on the beach, which I take to be a good sign. While there are many indents in the soft sand, I can’t tell if they are fresh footprints, or the remains of our own footprints from weeks ago. I carefully follow the discreetly marked trail that leads to the tower. There’s no sign of activity, although that doesn’t unduly alarm me. Arona and her assistants are likely to be busy inside the tower.