Gardan looked at the distant shore of Stardock, wishing he could ride to the academy instead of trusting fate to keep a barge right side up. Still, it was on an island. He had endured sea voyages before, but despite a lifetime living in a seaport he hated traveling over water, though he could never openly admit as much.
They had left Krondor by ship, traveling down the coast until they entered the narrows between the Bitter Sea and the Sea of Dreams, which was more of a giant saltwater lake than a true sea. At Shamata they had commandeered horses and followed the river Dawlin to its source, the Great Star Lake. Now they stood waiting for the barge to put in. It was poled by two men in simple tunics and trousers, local peasants by the look of them. In a moment Gardan, Brother Dominic, Kasumi, and six Tsurani guards would step aboard and be poled to Stardock Island, almost a mile away.
Gardan shivered in the unseasonably cool air. It was spring, but the late afternoon air had none of the warmth expected at this time of year. “I’m the fugitive from a hot land, Captain," said Kasumi with a chuckle.
Gardan’s voice had little humor in it as he replied, “No, it is cold here, but there’s something else. I’ve felt nothing but dark foreboding since leaving the Prince.” Brother Dominic said nothing, but his expression showed he shared the feeling.
Kasumi nodded. He had stayed in Krondor to guard the King, and when Arutha’s messages arrived he had accepted Lyam’s charge to accompany Gardan and the Ishapian monk to Stardock. Besides his desire to visit Pug again, there had been something in Lyam’s orders that made him believe the King counted the monk’s safe arrival at Stardock vital.
The barge put in to shore and one of the two bargemen stepped ashore. “We’ll have to make two trips to carry the horses, sir,” he said.
Kasumi, who was senior, said, “That will be fine.” He indicated five of his men and said, “These will go first; we will follow.”
Gardan said nothing about going second; he had no desire to rush the coming ordeal. The five Tsurani led their animals aboard and took up position silently. Whatever they might think about journeying on the wallowing barge, they maintained their stoic demeanor.
The barge put out, and Gardan watched quietly. Save for faint signs of activity on the far island, the southern shore of the Great Star Lake was deserted. Why, wondered Gardan, would anyone choose to live in such isolation? Legend had it a star fell from the sky, creating the lake. But whatever the lake’s origins, no community had ever arisen upon its shores.
The lone remaining Tsurani guard said something in his own language to Kasumi, pointing to the northeast. Kasumi looked where the man pointed.
Gardan and Dominic looked as well. In the distance, close to the horizon and coming before the approaching night, several winged figures could be seen gliding swiftly toward them. “What are they?” asked Kasumi. “Those are the biggest birds I’ve seen on your world so far. They appear to be nearly man-sized.”
Gardan squinted. Suddenly Dominic shouted, “Ishap’s grace! Everyone back to shore.”
The bargemen looked back from where they were making slow, steady progress. Seeing Gardan and the others draw weapons, they quickly pushed back for land. The approaching figures could now be seen as they raced toward the party on shore. One of the boatmen cried out in fear and prayed to Dala for protection.
The nude creatures were grotesquely human-shaped, male, with blue skins and powerfully muscled torsos. Shoulder and chest muscles flexed as giant batlike wings beat the air. Their heads resembled those of hairless monkeys, and each waved a long, prehensile tail. Garden counted: there were an even dozen of them. With impossibly high shrieks, they dove straight at the party on shore.
As his horse bolted, Gardan lunged to one side, barely avoiding the outstretched claws of one of the creatures. A scream sounded behind, and Gardan glimpsed one of the bargemen being carried aloft by a creature. It hovered for an instant with a powerful beat of its wings, holding the man by the neck. With a contemptuous cry it ripped out the bargeman’s throat and dropped him. In a spray of blood, the man fell to the water.
Gardan struck out at one of the creatures, which sought to grab him in the same manner. The blade struck it squarely in the face, but the creature only withdrew with a back beat of its wings. There was no apparent mark upon it where the sword had struck. It grimaced, shook its head, then launched another attack. Gardan fell back, focusing his entire concentration on the creature’s outstretched hands. Very humanlike fingers ending in long talons raked across the steel of his blade as he parried. The captain wished his horse had stood long enough for him to retrieve his shield.
“What manner of beings are these?” Kasumi shouted as the barge got close enough for the five Tsurani to leap for the shore.