“I rather enjoyed the voyage,” Arconn said with a laugh.
“As did I,” Alex agreed, rubbing Shahree’s neck as he spoke. “Though it is good to be back to a normal mode of travel.”
The others laughed as they made their way out of the stable. Arconn led Thrang’s horse along with his own, and they found Thrang waiting for them at the front of the inn.
“Ishly suggests that we follow the coast road south,” said Thrang, climbing into his saddle. “He says there is a good road from Darvish to Kazad-Syn, and Darvish is only four or five days south of here.”
“Are you sure you want to stay so close to the sea?” Alex asked with a smile.
“As long as we’re not in it,” said Thrang with a grunting laugh.
They quickly fell into line behind Thrang and rode out of Dunnstal. Alex looked back once before the city was lost to view, wondering what stories his friends from the Seekerwould be telling at the inns tonight.
***
The coast road was a good one, and it was still early on the fifth day away from Dunnstal when they reached Darvish. Darvish was a much larger city than Dunnstal, with high stone walls around it. The gatekeepers were friendly enough, however, and let them pass after only a few questions. Thrang decided they would spend the rest of the day in Darvish and ride on toward Kazad-Syn the next morning.
“A few weeks out of the saddle and I’m not fit for a long journey,” Thrang complained.
The rest of the company agreed. They were eager to explore the city of Darvish, but Thrang insisted they find an inn before anyone went exploring. They were surprised to learn that there were few rooms available in the city.
“A busy time of year,” one innkeeper told them. “The calm sea doesn’t last all year, after all, and many merchants don’t like shipping their goods when the weather is bad.”
Eventually they found an inn that had three rooms available, and Thrang was quick to take them all. Thrang and Thrain would share one room, as would Nellus and Barnabus. Arconn and Alex would share the third room with Kat, though their room was actually a small suite, with two bedrooms attached to a fair-sized sitting room. Alex was concerned that each of the bedrooms had only a single bed, but Arconn wasn’t troubled.
“I do not need to rest like you,” Arconn reminded Alex. “I will be quite comfortable in front of the fire. Though I’ve noticed that lately you can go for days without sleep as well.”
“Only when I need to,” said Alex. “And I don’t think there is much need today.”
With the sleeping arrangements taken care of, they all set off for a look at the city. Alex was surprised by the number of dwarfs in the city, but Thrang explained that Darvish did a great deal of trade with Kazad-Syn as well as with several other dwarf cities.
“My brother owns some property here,” Thrang said as they walked along a crowded street. “He’s done a lot of trading, and he’s paid for ships to trade at most of the larger ports on the sea.”
“He must be prosperous, then,” said Nellus as they entered the city’s main square. It was filled with hundreds of little tables covered with all kinds of goods and items for sale. “It seems there is a little of everything here.”
“Darvish is one of the largest ports on the Eastern Sea,” said Thrang. “Thorson says they are a hard people to deal with, but always fair.”
“Thorson would be your brother, then,” said Arconn, looking at Thrang.
“Yes,” Thrang answered. “He’s quite a bit younger than I am, but he’s done very well for himself.”
Alex could tell from Thrang’s words and the look on his face that he was proud of his younger brother. It was strange to hear Thrang talk about his brother, as Alex had never really discussed family with any of his friends. For a moment Alex thought about his own family, the family that Salinor had told him to look for. Would Mr. Roberts know something about his family? And if not Mr. Roberts, then who?
“I’m going to look for some new boots,” said Barnabus, breaking Alex’s train of thought.
“You should take someone with you at least,” said Thrang.
“You don’t think there is any danger here, do you?” Thrain asked.
“No, but we should stay alert all the same,” said Thrang.
They agreed, so Nellus and Kat went off with Barnabus to look for boots. Thrang insisted that Thrain stay with him, which left Alex and Arconn free to wander the city together.
They worked their way through the open market in the square, looking at several items and even buying a few. The people of Darvish didn’t seem at all surprised to see a man and an elf together, though a few of them did take a second look at Alex when they noticed his staff. It was a pleasant morning, and at midday Alex and Arconn bought some food from one of the market stalls and went looking for a place to sit and eat.
“A fair city,” said Arconn as they walked along. “I wish we had more time to spend here.”
“I expect Thrang wants to see his brother,” said Alex, spotting a patch of green that looked like a public park and pointing it out to Arconn. “How much do you know about Thrang’s family?”
“I know he has several brothers,” Arconn answered as he and Alex sat on a bench in the shadow of a tall tower. “Families are not often discussed between adventurers, though I don’t know why.”
“Not something that comes up as part of the adventure,” said Alex.
“No, I suppose not,” said Arconn.
“Do you know anything about ancient books?” Alex questioned, changing the subject because he didn’t want to consider how little he knew about his own family.
“How ancient?”
“I would guess that they are older than the elvish writing, maybe older than the magic writing as well,” Alex answered.
Arconn thought for a moment. “Why do you ask about such books?”
“I have some,” said Alex. “The dragon on the Isle of Bones gave them to me. I’ve only looked at one of them, and only for a few seconds, but I could see it wasn’t written in either the magic letters or the elvish language.”
“Why would a dragon have books?” Arconn questioned, as much to himself as to Alex.
“I don’t know,” said Alex, wishing Salinor had explained things a bit more. “He told me to take them and that they had a great deal of lost knowledge in them.”
“I would say almost anything in them would be considered lost knowledge,” said Arconn, looking up at the sky. “I’ve heard stories of such books, but nothing more.”
“And what do the stories say?”
“These ancient books are rare,” Arconn began slowly, as if trying to remember. “The oldest of them would date from the time just after the creation of the known lands, before the different races spread out from their own lands.”
“So they tell about how the lands were created and who did what? Where each race came from and things like that?” Alex asked.
“Perhaps,” said Arconn. “Who can say for sure? What I’ve heard is mostly rumor and legend. I don’t think the oldest elf alive could say what was true about such books.”
“And what do the rumors and legends say?” Alex pressed, noticing that Arconn hadn’t really answered his question.
“They say such books can be dangerous,” said Arconn. “Some of the legends say that the books give power to the reader. Depending on who the reader is, such books could either be very dangerous or possibly very profitable.”
“Or both,” said Alex, considering Arconn’s words.
“If the books the dragon gave you are from the ancient times, you should be careful when exploring them,” Arconn advised. “Perhaps you should ask Whalen about them.”
“Yes, I suppose I should,” said Alex thoughtfully.
“Masters,” said an old-looking man, interrupting Alex and Arconn’s conversation.
“May we help you?” Alex asked.
“I would like to ask why you are here,” the old man answered.
“We are traveling through your city on our way to Kazad-Syn,” said Arconn.