Book Two: The Spear of Calling — Chapter Four: The Spirit Beneath the Water

The silence lingered long after the emperor's eyes opened.

No one moved.

No one spoke.

The ancient ruler remained suspended above the crimson throne, studying the travellers who had entered his forgotten hall.

Yet his attention was not evenly divided.

His gaze rested first upon the fragment hanging from Caradawc's belt.

Then it shifted.

Toward Molasar.

The expression that crossed the emperor's face was not surprise.

It was recognition.

---

At last Caradawc stepped forward.

"Hail, Emperor Ganak."

The ancient Iksar inclined his head slightly.

"Greetings."

His voice echoed through the cavern.

"It has been long since I was aware upon this plane. Who are you and what do you seek from Ganak, wyrm scourge and slayer of Jaled-Dar?"

"I am Caradawc of Frostraiders."

The emperor considered this.

"Frostraiders."

The unfamiliar word rolled slowly from his tongue.

"A strange name."

"We are a fellowship."

The emperor's eyes narrowed.

"A fellowship?"

"Explorers. Warriors. Seekers of knowledge."

A faint smile touched Ganak's face.

"A rare combination."

---

His gaze returned to Molasar.

"You hear them."

The statement was so sudden that everyone looked at him.

Molasar blinked.

"Hear who?"

"The dead."

The cavern fell silent.

Even Cymru appeared uncertain how to respond.

At length Molasar shrugged.

"Sometimes."

The emperor laughed softly.

Not mockingly.

Almost approvingly.

"Interesting."

---

"What is he talking about?" asked Izzy.

Molasar looked embarrassed.

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do."

The emperor descended from the throne.

Slowly.

Like a memory becoming solid.

"You hear echoes."

Ganak's eyes never left Molasar.

"Fragments."

"Voices."

"Memories that linger after death."

Molasar frowned.

"I thought everyone did."

This time even Caradawc laughed.

"No."

"Apparently not."

---

For the first time since they had entered the chamber, Ganak seemed genuinely interested.

"The living rarely listen."

His gaze swept across the hall.

"The dead are always speaking."

Molasar said nothing.

But Caradawc noticed the way the Dark Elf's eyes moved across the chamber.

He was listening.

Again.

---

The emperor then turned his attention to the fragment.

Carefully he extended one clawed hand.

Caradawc removed it from his belt and passed it to him.

Ganak examined it in silence.

"The Jarsath."

His voice had softened.

"I never thought I would see one again."

For a moment the cavern seemed to change.

Caradawc glimpsed flickering images.

Warriors gathered around great fires.

Drums beating beneath starlit skies.

Ancient banners rising above jungle strongholds.

The vision vanished as quickly as it appeared.

Yet the feeling remained.

A memory remembered.

---

"There were five tribes."

The emperor spoke not as a ruler but as a witness.

"The Kunzar."

"The Nathsar."

"The Kylong."

"The Obulus."

"The Jarsath."

Each name carried the weight of centuries.

Each seemed to awaken distant echoes within the chamber.

Even Molasar appeared distracted, listening to sounds no one else could hear.

"What happened to them?" Izzy asked quietly.

"The same thing that happens to all kingdoms."

The emperor's expression grew distant.

"They believed themselves eternal."

His gaze drifted across the ruined hall.

"They were mistaken."

---

For hours they listened.

The rise of Sebilis.

The unification of the tribes.

The glory of the empire.

The wars.

The betrayals.

The slow decay that followed.

Again and again Caradawc found himself thinking of the spirits who had guided him.

Everywhere he travelled he encountered the same lesson.

Nothing was truly lost while it was remembered.

Perhaps that was why Ganak remained.

Not because he had conquered death.

But because something still remembered him.

---

Eventually the conversation turned toward Trakanon.

The atmosphere changed instantly.

The emperor's expression hardened.

The warmth vanished from his voice.

"The poison dragon."

The words sounded like a curse.

"He came as a conqueror."

"He remained as a tyrant."

The old hatred still lived within him.

Centuries had done nothing to diminish it.

"He still dwells within Sebilis?" asked Cymru.

The emperor nodded.

"As surely as I dwell here."

The ranger frowned.

"Then he can be killed."

The emperor's laugh echoed bleakly through the chamber.

"Many believed the same."

---

Ganak looked again at the fragment.

"The pieces of the medallions were scattered when the empire fell."

He slowly opened his hand.

"Their histories were broken with them."

Caradawc listened carefully.

"There are three medallions whose pieces remain scattered across Kunark."

"Their pieces must be recovered."

"Made whole."

"And remembered."

"Why?" asked Phephe.

Ganak looked at her.

"Because the past does not surrender its secrets willingly."

His eyes shifted toward Caradawc.

"And because some doors should only be opened by those who understand what lies behind them."

---

Caradawc understood the implication.

The medallions were not simply treasures.

They were keys to something greater.

And somewhere beyond the history Ganak had revealed lay Veeshan's Peak.

But Ganak did not tell them to go there.

Not yet.

Instead he looked toward the others.

"This is not work for five adventurers."

"No," said Molasar.

"It is work for a fellowship."

Ganak nodded.

---

Cymru stepped forward.

"If these medallions are scattered across Kunark, the Frostraiders need to know."

"Yes," said Ganak.

"Then I'll take the news."

Woonz immediately moved beside him.

"I'll make sure you get there quickly."

Minot lifted his weapon.

"And I'll make sure nothing stops you."

Cymru looked at the three of them.

Then at Caradawc.

"Are you certain?"

Caradawc nodded.

"Take the information home."

Phephe smiled.

"We'll follow the other path."

Cymru understood.

He turned towards the tunnel.

The wolf warder moved ahead of him immediately, ears raised as it led the way back through the darkness.

Woonz followed.

Minot came behind.

Within moments the three had disappeared into the tunnels.

They were going to hurry the information back to the Frostraiders.

The discovery belonged to everyone.

---

The cavern seemed strangely empty after they left.

Ganak watched the darkness where the three had disappeared.

Then he turned back to the remaining five.

Caradawc.

Phephe.

Izzy.

Kabuki.

Molasar.

"You have another path."

Caradawc frowned.

"What path?"

"The one that brought you here."

Phephe looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

Ganak's gaze settled upon the two Barbarians.

"The spirits have called you."

Neither answered.

They did not need to.

They had both felt it.

Since leaving Freeport.

Since arriving in Kunark.

Since beginning the journey together.

Something had been waiting for them.

---

"There is a lake," Ganak continued.

"Within the Emerald Jungle."

Caradawc felt the familiar sensation return.

A faint pressure behind his eyes.

A whisper at the edge of hearing.

"Something waits beneath its waters."

Phephe took a step forward.

"A spirit?"

Ganak nodded.

"It has watched the jungle for longer than the living remember."

"What does it want?" asked Izzy.

The emperor's expression became almost amused.

"If I knew that, I would not be sending you to ask."

Kabuki smiled.

"Fair enough."

---

Molasar looked towards the water beyond the chamber.

His expression changed.

Caradawc noticed.

"What is it?"

Molasar hesitated.

"Nothing."

"You heard something."

The Dark Elf frowned.

"Not a voice."

"What then?"

"A direction."

Caradawc stared at him.

Molasar pointed towards the tunnel.

"East."

Ganak smiled.

"The dead sometimes know the road."

---

They left the emperor behind.

The journey through the tunnels was quieter now.

Cymru, Woonz and Minot were already far ahead.

The remaining five moved together.

Caradawc and Phephe walked near the front.

Izzy and Kabuki followed.

Molasar remained at the rear.

The medallion fragment was safely secured.

Yet Caradawc could still feel its presence.

Not calling him now.

Waiting.

---

They emerged into the jungle beneath a grey afternoon sky.

The Emerald Jungle stretched endlessly before them.

Huge trees rose above the canopy.

Vines hung like curtains.

The air was heavy with moisture.

Somewhere in the distance a creature screamed.

Kabuki looked around.

"I thought the Swamp of No Hope was unpleasant."

Izzy smiled.

"Kunark has a sense of humour."

"It doesn't seem very funny."

"No."

Izzy looked towards the trees.

"It doesn't."

---

They travelled for several hours.

Molasar occasionally stopped.

Each time he seemed to be listening.

Eventually Phephe asked him what he could hear.

"Water."

"We can hear water."

"Not like this."

Molasar pointed ahead.

"There."

They continued.

The sound grew louder.

Then the trees opened.

A vast lake stretched before them.

Its surface was perfectly still.

No wind disturbed it.

No insects skimmed across it.

No birds flew above it.

Even the jungle seemed reluctant to approach the shore.

Caradawc stopped.

He knew this place.

Not from memory.

From the spirits.

---

Phephe stepped beside him.

"You feel it."

"Yes."

Izzy looked between them.

"What do you feel?"

Caradawc searched for the right words.

"Something is waiting."

Kabuki rested her weapon against her shoulder.

"Then let's find out what."

---

They had taken only a few steps along the shoreline when the jungle erupted.

Frogloks burst from the trees.

One.

Two.

Then several more.

Kabuki reacted instantly.

Her weapon came up.

Izzy raised her shield.

Phephe and Caradawc called upon the spirits.

Molasar's hands began to glow with dark energy.

The Frogloks attacked as one.

They were organised.

Determined.

And unlike the creatures they had encountered earlier, they were not trying to drive the party away.

They were trying to take something from them.

The battle raged along the shoreline.

Kabuki held the centre.

Izzy kept the warriors standing.

Caradawc and Phephe weakened the attackers with their magic.

Molasar's spells tore through the Froglok ranks.

One creature broke through the line.

Caradawc struck it down.

Another came from behind.

Phephe stopped it.

Finally the last Froglok fell.

Silence returned.

---

Kabuki wiped her weapon.

"That was deliberate."

Izzy nodded.

"They wanted something."

Molasar was already searching the fallen creatures.

"Here."

He held up two objects.

Caradawc immediately recognised their significance.

The first was ancient.

The second equally so.

Both bore the markings Ganak had described.

"The medallions," said Phephe.

Caradawc stared at them.

The Kunzar.

The Nathsar.

Two complete medallions.

The very objects Ganak had spoken of.

---

For a moment no one spoke.

Then Izzy looked towards the jungle.

"We should take these back."

Caradawc shook his head.

"Not yet."

"Why?"

He looked towards the lake.

Because the calling had returned.

Stronger than before.

The spirits were waiting.

"We were sent here for something else."

Phephe nodded.

"Then we keep moving."

Kabuki looked at the medallions.

"Are you sure?"

Caradawc secured them carefully.

"We'll take them back."

"Eventually."

---

They continued along the shore.

The deeper they travelled into the Emerald Jungle, the quieter the world became.

Molasar stopped again.

This time he did not speak.

He simply stared at the water.

"What do you hear?" asked Phephe.

He shook his head.

"Nothing."

Caradawc looked at him.

Molasar corrected himself.

"That's the problem."

---

They reached the centre of the lake.

Or as close as they could determine.

The water remained unnaturally calm.

Caradawc felt the spirits gathering around him.

Phephe did too.

She reached for his arm.

"Do you think we have to go in?"

Caradawc looked across the black water.

"I think we do."

Kabuki sighed.

"I was afraid you were going to say that."

Izzy smiled.

"At least we know how well Caradawc handles being underwater."

He looked at her.

"That was one time."

"It was memorable."

---

Caradawc stepped into the lake.

The water was cold.

Phephe followed.

Then Izzy.

Kabuki hesitated only briefly before joining them.

Molasar remained on the shore.

"Are you coming?"

He looked at the water.

Then at Caradawc.

"I think something beneath it already knows I'm here."

Caradawc smiled.

"Then we'd better not keep it waiting."

Molasar stepped into the lake.

---

They walked deeper.

The water reached their knees.

Then their waists.

Then their chests.

The surface remained perfectly still around them.

No ripples.

No waves.

Nothing.

Then Caradawc stopped.

A light appeared beneath the water.

Far below.

Blue.

Faint.

Moving slowly upward.

Phephe reached for his hand.

The light grew brighter.

Molasar looked down.

His face went pale.

"There are voices."

Caradawc held his breath.

The light reached them.

The entire lake seemed to breathe.

Then something rose from beneath the surface.

Not a creature.

Not exactly.

A spirit.

Ancient.

Silent.

Waiting.

Its eyes opened.

And the voice that followed did not come through their ears.

It came through their spirits.

You have come.

Caradawc looked at Phephe.

The spirit continued.

Then the calling has begun.

And beneath the waters of the Emerald Jungle, the next stage of their journey finally revealed itself.