Snippet #2217829

Rolling seas, stormy waters. Three ships dipped and rose in the waves. The going was nothing but difficult. But they had been waiting for this. A few storms and the uneasy seasickness would not deter them. The Gray Folk had always meant to return to Alagaesia. They had been gone far too long.

Felix wondered what they would find there. Would it be much the same as it had been when his ancestors had lived there? When they had come together to bind magic to the ancient language? He remembered stories of strange short men who lived in the mountains, and of dragons. It was the latter in which he was most interested. Have the dragons taken over the land? Would the have to battle the ancient creatures? How would their magic compare to that of the Gray Folk?

Felix heard a soft sound behind him as he stood at the rail, then he felt something run into the back of his leg. He looked down with a broad smile at one of his youngest daughters. "What are you doing, child?" he asked, scooping her up into his arms.

"I play, papa!" the child answered, giggling as her father tickled her.

"Oh, do you? And running into papa's legs? I might need to toss you overboard for that…" He grabbed the girl's ankle and held her, dangling upside-down, over the edge of the ship. "What do you think? Shall I let you go?"

"No, papa!" she squealed, giggling all the more.

"No? Are you sure?" Felix loosened his giant hand around the tiny ankle ever so slightly and the child let out a piercing scream. The man chuckled and pulled her back to his chest, hugging her close. "I would never."

The child kissed him on the cheek then squirmed out of his arms, dropping back down to the deck, and taking off once more. He watched her go, then turned his gaze ahead to watch as the morning fog parted ahead of them. And then he saw it, in the distance. The dark shadow of the mountain range he would soon learn was now called The Spine.

The Gray Folk were back.