She smiles. "The lantern must be hung from the ship's figurehead. The figurehead is hidden beneath the ice, but I can melt you a path to it. The ship and lantern together can create a portal elsewhere, through which the ship may pass. I shall take the ship back to Whitethrone in Irrisen, and send you back to Skelg with your reward. You may tell him that I wait for him in Irrisen."
She looks up, suddenly vulnerable.
"Will you help me regain my home?"
Natalya nods and holds her staff high over her head, chanting softly. A ball of flame appears before her. She whispers to it, and it flies headlong toward the ice wall at the front of the ship, melting through the frozen barrier ahead.
After a few minutes, there's a clear way through to the ship's figurehead.
With the path to the figurehead cleared, Natalya follows Tsakolk.
"As I said, place the lantern on the figurehead and light it."
... Natalya steps up to the beacon, touches it, almost caresses it, and whispers a few words. Suddenly a vast portal, far larger than the ship, opens up. Beyond it, the group can see a land of icy mountains, lined with pine and fir trees.
Xaaven feels the sense of inner cold disappear from his body.
Natalya sighs.
"Irrisen," she says. "The portal is large enough to have drawn all existing portals away, including those that may afflict you. Wait."
She touches the lantern again. A smaller portal opens, while the larger one remains clear. Beyond the smaller gate, the party can see the basement of Skelg's manor.
"Tell Skelg I shall come for him, as he is my lord and master. And take this ..."
She reaches beneath the figurehead and takes a small case, handing it to Tsakolk.
"... as a mark of my gratitude."
She looks to the group.
"You had better be going back to Skelg. A portal this size will not stay open long, and the ship must return home."
The group returns, via the smaller portal, to the manor. Tyros and Skelg are waiting. Skelg seems to be recovered from his condition, though he looks tired and haggard.
He smiles. "It seems you succeeded in your task. I am ... better. Do you know what caused the illness? And did you find Tirfyr?"
|
"I'm still not fully clear on that to be honest. Only that the lantern made portals. Portals designed as transport to Irrisen. The lady Natalya and her ship have returned and await you there Lord. As for Tirfyr... I'm afraid he was lost. Though what forces were responsible is beyond me... But the curse you endured was the result of a mini portal, opened up within you by the lantern itself..."
Tsakolk trails off, he knows his tale is not well told.