Chapter Four: Banks of Silver
"So, how long have you known Jayden?" Tywin asked.
"Since we were both seven years old," Bastion replied.
The young Templar walked side by side with Bastion while Syrus walked in front of them. Leading the group was Jayden as Chumley walked alongside him and protecting the rear were Lovis and Alexis. Miles away from the village of Loudrus was the Silver Lake, Jayden and his friends were walking northward along its banks to reach their destination. Bastion looked to Syrus and then back to Tywin and asked, "Something has been on my mind since I have seen the both of you. What exactly are a Templar-Recruit and an Apprentice Mage doing so far from the Circle?"
"We didn't run away if that's what you're asking," Syrus replied.
Tywin then reached out his hand and patted Syrus and the shoulder, "Me and little man here were part of an envoy to Celic, the King was hosting a visit from some foreign dignitary brought this contingent of mages with them and so our First-Enchanter thought that the Circle's presence should be felt. As for the numbers, there were ten mages in total and two Templars for each mage. At the Court we all saw the king and I remember being excited about it"
"You got to see him," Syrus added, "I was stuck in the middle and I was too short to see him"
"I did offer to lift you up so you could see,"
Chumley slightly turned his head, "I sodding hate it when humans offer to lift me up, it's really annoying"
"As I was saying," Tywin continued, "When the event was over we were on our way back to the Circle, along the way something happed which caused myself and Syrus to be separated from the group and getting lost in the process"
Bastion wondered what happened exactly, "So how did the two of you break away from the main group?"
Tywin didn't reply straight away, instead he looked toward Syrus with a look of hilarity which he was trying hard to contain. Just as his sniggering was starting to become louder and just before the young Templar burst out into laughter his friend turned to face Bastion and revealed in an embarrassed tone, "As we were talking a…a butterfly flew into my face, I panicked and ran off into the nearby woods. Tywin chased after me, took me back to the main road at which point the other Templars had left us behind"
Without thinking Bastion simply started laughing, Tywin shortly joined him while Syrus simply lowered his head in shame.
Jayden was too focused on reading the map than to converse with his friend, the young noble instead continued to ensure that he and his group were on the right course toward their destination depicted in the map. Since they had left Loudrus they had followed the map perfectly, they had made their way toward the west when they reached the Silver Lake and were to advance to its moth northern point. As hard as he tried Jayden's focus was torn, although the map required his attention he also captivated by the Silver Lake's idyllic appearance. Small wages occasionally climbed up the banks of the lake only to retreat back into the waters from whence they came.
Chumley looked out in the lake yet he was not as captivated his friend was, he looked out to the lake and seemed to notice the vast amounts of fog that dwelled in the middle of it. Such a mass was bizarre and raised more questions than it answered.
"Jayden," Chumley said, "What exactly is that massive ball of fog doing in the middle of the lake?"
Jayden came to a sudden stop and which point the whole group stopped with him. The young noble pointed out toward the sea and felt an urge to tell a tale in a dramatic style. Placing both of his hands on his belt Jayden spoke, "Well, the story behind the fog tells dates back to 5:24 Exalted it is supposed to hide the legendary floating wooden castle of Flonis de Rannequin. He was the son of Gualhartz de Rannequin, a very wealthy duke from Orlais who was married to the Arlessa of Draton and as he was their only child he was heir to the Arling of Draton and the Duchy of Rannequin. When the Emperor of Orlais found out the heir to the wealthy duchy was a foreigner he went to him, he made him an offer that if he were to renounce his claims to the title that he would be offered a large amount of coin in exchange"
"So effectively he paid him not to be a duke," Bastion interrupted.
"As I was saying," Jayden continued, "The Emperor gave Flonis about nine thousand Sovereigns for renouncing the title. His mother, the Arlessa, was furious about he did and disowned him. He didn't seem to care though, with that kind of coin he could build a massive palace and still live a very comfortable life until he died. Flonis was an ambitious man, he had always dreamed of building a castle of his own and with his new found wealth he had the chance to do so. With an incredible idea that came in a dream of his Flonis decided he would be the first noble to have a castle that would be made from wood and would float upon water. He chose the Silver Lake and there he began to make his dream a reality. Four long months of hard work and design Flonis's castle was finished and it stood proudly in the middle of the grand lake. Because of his illustrious castle and lifestyle Flonis gained the nickname 'Prince of the Lake' and after a while he became a figure of interest. One day as hunting in a nearby wood Flonis stumbled across an apostate, a young woman with fiery red hair and a ferocious personality. Her name was Kathryn and the moment Flonis saw her he fell in love with her. Flonis invited her back to his castle, the two spent years together as they withdrew from the public life. Their love affair came to a sudden end when the Templars heard rumours an apostate was living in the castle. Before they could lead an assault on it Kathryn cast a spell on castle, a result of that being a large cloud of fog surrounded it and has remained there ever since. Legends of say that Flonis's fortune is hidden within the castle"
"Someone must have tried to get some of his fortune at least," Lovis stated.
"Well there is a little saying to explain that," Jayden stated, "Very few go into the mist and even fewer come back out again"
"What's that over there?" Syrus asked as he lifted his hand pointed toward something in the distance.
The group stopped what they were doing looked in the direction of where the young apprentice pointed toward. On the northern banks of the lake facing southward stood a worn down statue of a griffin with what appeared to be a rope around its neck. Jayden took another look at the map and realised it must have been the location of the first key. The young noble put away the map and ran along the banks of the lake at great speed, before they could say or do anything the others had no option but to follow behind their self-appointed leader.
After a few minutes of running Jayden reached the statue, he carefully examined the worn down details of this once mighty griffin for any sign or clue to where the key would be. As he ran his hands across the bumpy surface of the stone he looked down to the ground, just peeking through the dirt was the lid of a small metal box. As he knelt down to pull the object out of the ground Jayden dusted off the dried mud to reveal a detailed inscription of the Grey Warden crest. The others approached when Jayden lifted the lid to find what he was looking for, inside lay the first key they had been in search of. Jayden lifted it proudly in the air for everyone to see, "We found it, the first key we were looking for"
"Technically it was the second key we have but ok," Lovis corrected.
While everyone enjoyed the glee of the moment Alexis noticed something, close to the shore was a large boat that had a drape over it. Second to that there seemed to be a long line of rope that was tied to the bow of it, the rope disappeared in the water with no indication was the other end was attached to. Alexis pointed this out to the rest of the group, "Someone has left a boat along the shore"
The group stopped what they were doing and went to see what the boat was doing there. As they moved closer Tywin seemed to be the only one who went to examine the rope in the water. With a strong and firm pull he found the rope reached outward toward the lake. As he pulled it further it gave a strong indicator that whatever it was attached to was in the very heart of the lake. Jayden went to look for himself and became fixated on what could be out in the large cloud of mist.
"Did it say of anyone every coming back from the castle?" Tywin asked.
"No," Jayden replied, "Not that I know of anyway"
Syrus went to look at the rope and thought of what it could mean. With only one possibility in his mind he shared it with the others, "What if….if….if someone had gotten to whatever dwells in the lake and didn't want to get lost. This person or persons might have left a trail to guide them back out when they were ready to leave. You said yourself, no one has ever come back out again but what if they didn't because they got lost"
"Although that's a very clever idea there seems to be one big problem," Lovis added, "But how can someone travel across water without a boat?"
"They left a maker," Alexis said, "A way of telling others that someone had made it to the supposed castle in the lake but also needed something heavy enough to keep the rope from sliding back into the water"
Chumley went over to the boat and pulled the drape off from over it, it revealed the rowboat was of simple design and held no clues to its origin. Chumley thought to himself about the boat and the story Jayden had told him and theorised why someone would want to get to middle of the fog, "The castle, you said it holds all of Flonis's wealth right? Well, I think, someone or a group of people want to get the gold for themselves and they might have used another boat to get there while this one is what they used to tie the rope to"
Jayden looked out toward the fog and then turned back to look at the boat, "Ok, I have a proposal to make. The legends say there is a castle out there filled with gold, we may have an opportunity to get there and even become rich because of it. So, who thinks we should go?"
"What about the keys?" Bastion asked.
"We can still get those in time," Jayden replied, "This would be a slight and quick detour"
Tywin, Lovis, Syrus and Chumley raised their hands. Jayden then put his hands together and thought of how they could get to their destination. As he put the second key away into his pocket he pointed toward the griffin station, "Ok Syrus, you untie the rope from the boat and go and tie it to the statue, as tightly as you. Tywin, Lovis, Bastion and I shall move the boat into the water and place it alongside the rope so we can follow it"
"You heard the man," Chumley cried, "Get moving time is rusting!"
