“You are certainly attracting the attention of some powerful interests, young James,” commented Bearclaw Irontooth, as he worked on his roasted boar ribs that were tonight's camp meal. Elana and Saturin sat two tables towards the barbeque pits. Soldiers ate, drank, and spoke loudly, occupying the various tables and benches. “The Elf King’s daughter doesn’t fly across the Great Ocean for just any old summoned off worlder.”

  James came to a sudden realization Lord Irontooth was inferring that his rescuer had flown across an ocean on her giant eagles. That could only mean, “Lady Ellebreth flew here from North America?” stammered James?.

  “North America? I am not sure what you mean by that but yes, she flew here on her father’s bidding from Borealia. Lord Glorandal Zelphar is his name. He rules the elf kingdom of that continent, and it would seem that you have come to his attention in some way. Perhaps this is related to a recent visit by your patron Oakleaf Gilderwood, who has been traversing the Northern Continent for the past year in search of rare medicinal plants for his Gardens of Taubra. I am imagining that Gilderwood’s description of yourself piqued the curiosity of the elven Wizard Lord. And now he sends his daughter to investigate the intruder,” finished Irontooth, looking towards James for a reaction.

  “She was incredibly beautiful,” replied James, entirely aware of the inadequacy of his response. But, really there was little else he could say. He was swept off his feet by her unique and unusual presentation.

  “Ah, there is that,” replied the Lord of Animalia. “But here is the thing James, the youthful appearance of Lady Ellebreth is deceiving. She is a bit old for you. The elves are a long lived race and even though the elven lady appears as a teenager might in your home world, she is in reality a centurion.”

  “A centurion,” repeated James, scrambling to comprehend the words that Bearclaw had spoken. “I thought that a ‘centurion’ was a hundred years old?”

  “Indeed. One hundred and three years of age to be exact. Older than myself! Elves live many centuries but have few children. Lady Ellebreth is Zelphar’s only child even though he is more than five centuries old. And likely to be his only child since the tragic passing of the elven queen. She died during a recent Chaotic incursion into the Northern Continent,” explained Bearclaw Irontooth. He continued, “The future queen of Borealia has taken notice of you, Sir James! The demons of the north have also shown their interest as well as some of the Empire’s most talented and powerful inhabitants.” He lifted his hand and gestured towards Saturin and Elana. “You are a very popular fellow, James. It is almost as if the fates of our world are entwined with the fates of your world, with you at the center of it all. I hope that you are prepared for what comes next!”

  “But I haven’t really met very many people in this world, and most of them are very young, like me. Elana and Saturin do not seem to be “powerful interests”, and many I have met are described as “acolytes”, replied a confused James, finding it hard to believe that he might have attracted the attentions of demons and elf kings.

  “Not one in a thousand citizens of the Empire are born with the talent to become an acolyte!” Lord Irontooth emphasized, with great intent. “Full wizards are astonishingly rare and in great demand throughout the land, especially for military purposes. Wizard Lords such as Oakleaf Gilderwood are even more scarce. How many practitioners of Life magic do you estimate there are in the whole expanse of the Empire capable of resurrecting a fallen soldier? Do you imagine such talent to be common? I know of just five such masters of Emerald magic, and you have met them all! The members of the Emerald council and Lord Elana. It has not escaped notice of the council that the first manifestation of Elana’s ability to retrieve the dead from the Underworld took place with your assistance.”

  James could hardly believe what he was hearing.

  Bearclaw Irontooth continued, “The remarkable successes of the Battle of the Gardens of Taubra were noticed by the members of my Animalia magical council. Several of our members attribute the victory over Gloamanthal to the presence of yourself in the mission. When our order became aware of the threat to the dragons of Islandia your name was the first mentioned. Saturin brought the news of the threat to the council meeting and she herself suggested you could be of vital service. Many of the council believe that Saturin is likely to be the next practitioner of Animal magic to be elevated to the status of Wizard Lord and council member. She is a remarkably talented mage.”

  “I see,” commented James, truly humbled to have attracted the interests of such people.

  “The way I see it, they are all trying to win you over to their cause. Even the demons! Everyone is trying to bring young James over to their side! Even me, I suppose! Ha! Ha! Ha!” and he guffawed loudly, causing the soldiers closest to glance awkwardly towards Bearclaw Irontooth. “I hope yer up to the task! The journey to Islandia is a long one and the eyes of Chaos have begun to gaze in your direction! Tomorrow morning we will meet with Erik Blarneysson at the Badendorf ship yards. There we board the Thunderfist and begin the voyage to Islandia. You’ve been through a lot today, young James. Get some sleep and be ready for an early start.”

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  “I will do that,” replied James. As he made his way to his sleeping tent James wondered what lay in store. He also wondered what all of these powerful people could possibly believe that he could do to influence events such as these? Demons? Dragons? Chaos trying to take over this world? Back in his own world James was lucky if he could get his homework in on time and achieve passing marks on Astronomy exams.

  _______________________________________________________________________

  The dockyards were incredibly crowded and industrial. The stench of coal burning, livestock in cages, burning food and inadequate septic facilities all combined to produce a overbearing singular odor. There must have been a hundred ships of all sizes tied to the Badendorf docks, many of military purpose. Finally Lord Irontooth led James and his fellow adventurers onto the dock berthing the steamship Thunderfist. A group of helpful soldiers acted as porters, carrying the travelling gear that Bearclaw had deemed necessary for James, Elana, Saturin and himself.

  The steel ship stood out starkly in the midst of the rest of the assorted wooden sailing and oar powered vessels. Black smoke belched from the coal burning boilers as the dwarven ship lived up to its name by sporting a long iron cannon housed within a rotating steel turret. Every other naval vessel at the docks had cannons lining their sides, but the dwarfs had constructed a turret arrangement reminiscent of a modern battleship from James’s world. That said, the boat was not much more than 30 meters in length, a far cry from the naval ships that James had sometimes seen at the docks in Thurso.

  A stout dwarf, presumably the captain of the ship, stood with his back towards James as he occupied himself with some task inside the wheelhouse of the vessel. With a start he noticed James and his party approaching his vessel and turned to greet them. It was Erik Blarneysson!

  “Ahoy sailors!” shouted the dwarf. “It’s about goddam time yer all made it down to the docks! We’ve been waitin since sunup for yees! The tides willn’t be in our faver tee cross the Ziderzee sandbar at this rate. Git yer baggage aboard! We’ve got to launch this beast as soon as wee can!” and with that he turned to a couple of other dwarfs who had appeared on the boarding planks. “Git down and help these folks aboard, you lot! Thorgill! Dalli! Git down there and git these folks aboard! Throw ‘em onto the deck if they gives you any trouble!”

  With great haste the party boarded the steel battle boat and in just a couple of minutes the lines were cast off and Erik Blarneysson was navigating through the complex mass of craft milling about the river harbour. “Honk! Honk!” bellowed the steam horn as Blaneysson cursed and swore his way along the river, finally reaching open water and turning westward towards the Norgeland Sea.

  The Thunderfist hummed with power and steam engine must have been achieving 12 to 15 knots of speed, somewhat aided by the current of the River Reik. Viewing the capital city of the Empire from the water was remarkably pleasurable. Most everyone on the water gave the powerful dwarf ship a wide berth, and James enjoyed seeing the endless array of wooden buildings lining the banks of the Reik. Canneries, tanneries, small factories of all kinds. Homes of all descriptions, food warehouses and markets, and occasional military fortifications sporting cannons and brightly uniformed Badendorf soldiers.

  “Thar he is!” shouted Erik Blarneysson, pounding James on the back and reaching for his hand. “Walcome back to the land, Master Jamersson! Sorry to be so anhospitable back at the dockyards thar, but the captain musta keep ta a skedule! Brother Thorgill can take the helm fer the next few leagues. Eets grate ta see ya lad!”

  Erik’s handshake was truly crushing in strength, but James endured the pain, happy to be able to finally speak with his dwarven friend. “Great to see you too, Erik!”

  “So they’s shanghaid yee inta another crazy world saving scheme agin! I’m surprised ye fell for another wild goose chase, but I yam glad ta see ya nonetheless! Islandia! I’ve been there many times an there’s no more beautiful land on the whole Earth! The Fingals branch of the Blarneysson’s family live in Islandia, and I look forward to intraducin ya ta them! Welcome aboard the Thunderfist! She bees unsinkable! The strongest ship in all of the seven seas!”

  “I’m glad to be aboard!” replied James, with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. Then James came up with an idea. “Captain Blarneysson, I wonder if you might have a chart or a map of the route to Islandia? If so, I would like to see it, if I might.”

  “Na need ta call me Captin young James, Erik weel do jus fine! And yas indeed I do have a chart. Come over to our plottin table an I’ll show yee.” With that Erik led James to a smooth wooden table with tall chairs, upon which Erik placed several instruments and rolled out a map of what was to James, the North Atlantic Ocean.

  “Thees is ware we’s goin,” explained Erik Blarneysson. “Islandia.” Sure enough Erik traced out the route around the northern end of what James knew to be the British Isles, and continued on to what in James’s world, was the island nation of Iceland. On Erik’s chart, the depiction of Islandia was covered with drawings of volcanoes and flying dragons.

  Iceland! James had always wanted to travel to Iceland. He looked around the cabin at Elana, Saturin, Bearclaw Irontooth and Erik Blarneysson. He knew there were great dangers involved. But, despite that, he was starting to think that this was going to be one hell of an adventure.