Chapter 34 Endora
When the morning comes, we are all rested.
Thank the Goddess the night was uneventful.
We have breakfast and pack up our belongings and travel two more hours to the coast line.
Once there we look into the water and see two islands far in the distance, one Aylin is familiar with, as it is our territory and one that is not.
“Look over there, Luna. there is a boat” Archer points out. We travel down the road to a staircase that leads down to the waters edge. The boat floats, tied to a pole and a man in a black cloak sits on a rock near the shore.
He bows as we reach the boat, “Hello Queen Celest, I have been instructed to wait here for you, to make sure you have a boat for your travels across the river.”
He walks to us, his body hunched over and reaches his hand out to me from under the cloak and I hesitate for a moment.
He has long green boney fingers. His nails are black and look like long talons.
The green travels up his arm to wear it slowly fades back into light brown skin.
I need to trust in what people have said.
The disease or curse does not affect everyone, just witches and warlocks.
So I reach out and shake his hand. When I do he looks up and smiles at me.
What I see does frighten me. His facialskin sags into a green, leather-like pallor, erupting with dark, purplish moles and clusters of weeping blemishes.
A prominent, waxy wart grows from the tip of his nose, his chin has elongated and hardened into a jagged, skeletal point.
His smile I'm sure once pleasant to look at now contains crooked broken yellow teeth.
His irises drained of all their natural color, glow with a faint, putrid yellow aura.
“Olly waits for you,” He exhales and the scent of burning sage, and damp soil emits from his mouth. I nod to him, “Thank you.”
We go back to the wagon and grab our essential belongings.
Upon returning the boat the man was gone.
We climbed into the boat and sailed in the direction of Endora.
I hope I was not too late to help him, I think to myself.
The journey is easy and we make it to the island in about one hour.
Jurgen ties the boat up and we stand on the beach looking at a deserted island.
There are no people and no homes. “This was a waste of time.” Aylin says, “There is nothing here!”
“Aylin I don’t think that is true look over here,” I say pointing at the trees.
“There is a good wind blowing and those trees are not moving, something is blocking the wind.”
I walk over with my hand out and my hand touches a surface that was unseen by the naked eye.
“See, there is a barrier, I need to find the rock with the cat’s eyes, remember?”
“Oh, that's right, we will help you look,” he says and goes to usher the men.
“No Aylin, I need to do this, just wait here,” I tell him.
He looks defeated but doesn't argue. The three men go and stand by the boat chatting.
I look all over the beach, when suddenly I am compelled to reach out and trail my fingers against the barrier, my fingers slide across the surface, light purple lines trail behind them, but I find nothing.
Off to the side there is a group of rocks but nothing symbolizing cats eyes.
I have been looking for a few hours and feel defeated.
“Hey Celest, I think we are missing something.” Aylin says. “Maybe we should have some dinner and then look some more?”
The other two agree and begin to take out the stuff for a fire and begin to cook. By the time we finish it is starting to get dark and the sun is setting behind us. I am cleaning dishes when I see it.
As the sun dips below the horizon, the eyes appear.
“There they are,” I yell. “The cat's eyes,” I ran over to the rock that had just appeared, standing just beside the group of rocks I saw earlier.
I look up to the night sky and it fills with stars.
“It makes so much sense now!” I place my hands upon the rock and say, “I have loved the stars so fondly that the night is a welcomed sight.”
The barrier opens….