by Ian Rodgers
“Sad, but true. I first met Lily in a situation where I had to rescue her. And not to disparage her, but she’s a tad too headstrong to be allowed on her own. She thinks everyone will fall into line around her, even after all this time.” Gaelin sighed, partly in exasperation, but there was a touch of fondness in his voice as well. “She’s only fourteen, you know? Not even an adult yet! I cannot help but feel it’s my job to look after her, at least until I can help her dream come true.”
A chilly breeze flittered through the air, sending shivers down Gaelin’s spine from the sudden drop in temperature. The stars now dominated the darkened sky, with the moon lording over them all.
“And what sort of dream would lead a young man and woman to venture into a den of danger like Riggs?” Vala asked, eyes dancing with curiosity.
“It’s not my place to say. You should ask her, if you want to know,” Gaelin said. He saw her face twist in a grimace and he laughed softly.
“Yes, I know she’s not exactly the most openminded person. But please, give her a chance. She needs friends other than myself, and I think it would do her good to lose her bias against elves.”
“You have none of your own?” Vala inquired with a raised eyebrow. Gaelin shrugged helplessly.
“I will admit, I have a lot of biases. But those were taught to me as a child, and I have since learned that some of them are simply false. Not that I don’t think the Second Elfish Domain isn’t a piece of work, but I shouldn’t treat its citizens based on the actions of the ruling body. I experienced that myself after I left Partaevia. More than a few people refused me service outside of my country’s borders because of what the emperor and his policies have done to others. And they thought they could take it out on me instead.”
Upon Gaelin’s revelation of his homeland, Vala’s face had taken on an unpleasant expression, but she fought it down. Partaevia’s non-human prejudices and policies were not his fault. Plus, he had stated he was trying to change. That much was worth the benefit of the doubt.
“Did they really treat you so poorly?”
Gaelin nodded, a look of annoyance on his face. “Pannon was the worst, but Tashel wasn’t much better. Only in the places that served as Adventurers’ Guild bases did I get more equal treatment. After all, to become an adventurer you have to give up your nationality to an extent, and bigots don’t last long surrounded by people with weapons or magic. The stupid gets beat out of them early on one way or another. If anything, the Guild weeds out such mentalities of national superiority simply because borders mean nothing to them.”
A smile crossed his face as happier memories came to him. “After I met Lily and crossed the border into Varia things did change. I can see why they call it the greatest country in the world. Nobody cares if you’re man, woman, elf, or dwarf there. Don’t be a jerk and you’ll make lots of friends and have no troubles.”
“Ever since Sanc Aldet, I’ve started to hope Lily actually can make her dream come true. Because after all she’s been through, I think she’ll be able to make changes for the better.”
“You have a lot of faith in her,” Vala said, surprised. He nodded with a smile.
“I have to. I’ve saved Lily’s life enough times I feel like I’m invested in her to the bitter end.” It was said with a joking inflection, but there was genuine warmth to his words.
“Sorry, I guess we got a bit off track,” he said as a bit of ocean spray sprinkled down on their books, drawing their attention back to them.
Neither elf nor human noticed a slender, red haired figured slink off from the shadows of a nearby mast and head up to the cabins on the upper deck. Only a lumbering man-bear with a roiling stomach did, and he was too busy trying to claw his way over to edge to care.
.
Vala was walking back to her room, mood buoyed. The conversation she’d had with the human had been a lot of fun! It was nice to see fellow fans of literature. She’d honestly not expected that from a Fighter type adventurer. Books were the sort of thing you’d expect a mage to carry around religiously. It felt nice to be wrong about something like that.
Plus, he was a nice man. One of the nicer humans she’d met since coming to Orria as well. To think someone like him came from Partaevia!
She chuckled to herself as she entered her cabin. It was cramped, but at least it was warm, dry, and not filled to the brim with snoring sailors. She pitied poor Bigg Guy, and now Gaelin, for their sleeping arrangements.
As she prepared for bed, she paused as she registered another person in the room with her. And a strange feeling of magic that didn’t belong to anyone she knew. She looked over and saw the other human, the red-head, sitting comfortably in the hammock across from her cot.
The archer – for what else would she be with a bow? – had her stuff placed underneath her hammock and watched Vala with her arms folded while wearing a slip-on white cotton night dress. Yet there was a sense of wrongness that lingered around the young human that the earth elf couldn’t place.
“I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt for now. Gaelin wants us to get along while we’re on the boat, so I’ll bite my tongue and do as he likes for the duration of the trip,” Lily said, speaking up and drawing Vala’s attention to her. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the bemused earth elf.
“But I’m watching you. There’s a reason we don’t trust your kind in the south. Elves have stabbed us in the back and poisoned us for generations, and it’s my responsibility to remember that.”
“Your responsibility?” Vala parroted, confused by the girl’s word choice.
“That’s right. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to prove to Gaelin that these hammocks are easy to sleep in,” Lily declared with a curt nod of her head. She lay down and closed her eyes, ready for the night.
Vala was perplexed by the red-haired human’s comments and attitude, but ignored it easily. She was used to getting a cold shoulder from the inhabitants of the west. Still, what was with her distrust? And why would protecting Gaelin be this short girl’s ‘responsibility?’
An idea was forming in the young earth elf’s mind, but she brushed it to the side and chose to lie down on her worn, but comfortable, mattress. She let the rocking of the boat lull her to sleep. Things promised to be challenging onboard the Blue Wave with these two new passengers, and she’d need all the rest she could get.
Chapter 7: Cabin fever and krakens
A week. Six days. One hundred and sixty-two hours. On a boat. In the middle of the Bluestar ocean. And the dreaded moment had finally arrived.
Boredom.
There was only so much a person could do on a ship. Not to mention the limited space and cramped quarters turned it into more of a prison than anything else.
The sailors were used to this. Plus, they had to man the rigging, check the sails, patch and fix any issues on the hull, and a whole host of other activities that needed doing. Bored they might become, but they were also almost always busy.
Not so for the quartet of passengers. They each had their own ways of trying to stave off cabin fever.
Vala chose to seclude herself in either her room or a sunny spot near the figurehead with a book or two. At times she would take her staff out on deck and practice a few of the minor spells she knew that wouldn’t cause any harm to crew or vessel. Occasionally she got into conversations with Gaelin about certain books, but the looks Lily shot her made those meetings short lived.
Bigg Guy still had some of the worst seasickness ever experienced by a giant, black furred bear. He spent his days trying to sleep, or feeding the assorted critters that lived in the ocean. The sailors were taking bets on when he’d overcome his nausea.
Gaelin trained. Unfortunately, he was limited to either physical exercises, or shadow-fighting with his halberd. He dared not practice his handful of spells, like Reinforcement, or Magic Edge, because they were too destructive for a fragile wooden ship.
Lily had an easier time with her archery training, and she took to i
t with gusto. A fire had been lit inside her after the battle with the goblins, and she threw herself into combat training. Once a day she even forced Gaelin into helping her train and made the halberdier run around so she had a moving target to work with.
Then there were the sleeping arrangements. Lily was cordial, but rarely spoke to her cabinmate Vala. The earth elf had tried to engage with the secret princess at times, but was repeatedly shot down, and eventually gave up trying to connect.
Bigg Guy snored. A lot. Since Gaelin’s hammock was so close to the large beastman, he was extremely grateful for the free earplugs. They didn’t do much to block the sound, but it was better than nothing.
And speaking of hammocks, Gaelin still could not figure them out! If seasickness was the Ursine’s running gag, then constantly falling out of his swaying bedding was his. When he was asleep he seemed to be fine, but when he was awake then the problems started.
Of course, there was the constant smug look Lily shot Gaelin every morning. That had been annoying the first time, and only continued to grow. She had had no problem with the hammocks, and slept like a baby in them. Flabbergasted, Gaelin had demanded his companion prove it by setting one up and getting into it the second day into their voyage.
She did so, and proceeded to have a nap in less than five minutes after setting it all up. The wound to Gaelin’s pride oozed, and was not at all soothed by the smugness Lily exuded whenever she saw him trying to get into a hammock.
Right now, the sun was shining, Gaelin was standing by the railing with Bigg Guy chatting in between bouts of sickness, and Vala was reading under the sunshine.
All in all, it looked to be another normal day onboard the Blue Wave.
“So, why the name?” Over in a corner on the poop deck – which had Gaelin stifling chuckles every time he was there much to Lily’s shame – the dark brown-haired halberdier was trying to hold a conversation with the Ursine. They had hit a calm patch and the enormous beastman seemed to be holding down the contents of his stomach for the time being.
“I am big, and I am guy,” the bearfolk muttered. “Simple to understand, and to remember.”
“Doesn’t that get confusing? I mean, ‘big guy’ is a pretty general way to call out to someone, and you’re surrounded by burly sailors so there must be some confusion,” Gaelin continued.
“Among humans, I am biggest guy at any given time,” Bigg Guy said with a weak chuckle. “If someone shouts out ‘big guy’ and I am nearby, they usually refer to me.”
“I guess,” Gaelin conceded.
“Among my people, names are descriptors. The name you call me now fits, and I see no reason to change it. Back home in my tribe, my name, translated to your tongue, would be ‘First Son of Chief, of Blackest Fur, of Greatest Size, of Impressive Strength, of Even Temper,” Bigg Guy explained, and Gaelin gave an impressed whistle at the length of the Ursine’s name.
“That would be a mouthful to say or write,” Gaelin claimed. “I assume it sounds different in your native tongue?”
In response, Bigg Guy let out a series of growls, barks, and snuffles.
“That is my name in my birth tongue,” he explained when he saw Gaelin’s bemused expression. “Your words sit funny on my own. Names for things which mean nothing to their purpose. So strange, in my opinion.”
“I suppose someone who has to learn it from scratch would find it tricky,” Gaelin agreed. “By the way, you said you were the son of your community’s chief?”
Bigg Guy’s eyes filled with sadness. “Yes, I was. But I leave home. Now, I am still his son. I do not have an adult title.”
“Pardon?”
“The first part of Ursine name is their position in tribe. Only children referred to as ‘son or daughter of another.’ I never received chance for adulthood. I stay child for a long time.”
“I’m sorry?” Gaelin wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so he went with ‘Standard Condolence Number One.’ Bigg Guy snorted, but it was one without any ill thoughts.
“No need to speak. I young. I weak. One day, I return home stronger than I left. Until then, I honor promise.”
“I see. Is this promise something to do with why you’re accompanying Vala?” Gaelin asked. Bigg Guy only nodded.
While he was curious, Gaelin decided not to bother him or the earth elf about the matter between them. They had been polite enough to refrain from investigating his and Lily’s full background, so he would give them the same courtesy.
Suddenly, Bigg Guy stiffened, and he settled into a half crouch with his nose twitching. Gaelin did not miss the movement.
“Is something wrong?” he asked nervously.
“Smell blood,” the Ursine growled. He padded over to the edge and peered into the water, seasickness pushed to the side for the moment.
Bigg Guy took a deep breath of the salty air before emitting another growl. “Something approaches. Something big.”
As he spoke, ripples could be seen in the water a league away from the ship. At first, this went unnoticed. However, a large, dark shape appeared within the ripples, and steadily approached the Blue Wave’s portside.
The snarls from their largest passenger alerted the nearby crew that something was up, and soon people were spotting the submerged creature.
“Monster off the port bow!” a sailor in the crow’s nest called out. “All hands to battle stations!”
“Let’s go, Bigg Guy! Let’s grab our weapons and do what we can to help!” Gaelin shouted, already dashing off to fetch his halberd.
The Ursine let out a weak growl and staggered after the young man to fetch his own equipment.
Lily darted over to Jenner who was helping the crew haul a pair of large artifacts out from their resting spot and bringing them over to the port side.
“What can I do to help?” she asked.
“For now, stay out of our way. This isn’t our first time driving off a beast from the ocean,” the bosun said curtly, busy with preparations. “We can’t afford to have unexperienced people with ship-to-monster combat interfere at the moment.”
Lily scowled at the dismissal but nodded.
“Alright, I understand,” she said sullenly as she lifted up her bow and began to check it over. “But I’ll be ready to provide firing support.”
One of the sailors lugging the pair of weapons snorted at her confidence. She studiously ignored him and turned her attention back to Jenner as he placed the duo of unusual artifacts against the railing. Intrigued, she examined them curiously.
In appearance, the objects resembled an oversize jousting lance melded with an inverted bronze bell, the weapon-like part acting like the clapper. Runes spiraled around the entirety of the artifacts, and the tip of the lance was capped in electrum. At the back was a tube made of polished wood, and looked a lot like a fat wand. It was all mounted on a rough but sturdy wooden stand that allowed the weapon to peer over the railing of the ship.
Jenner noticed Lily’s gaze on the mounted weapons and couldn’t help but smile.
“Impressive, aren’t they? These are the Blue Wave’s Magic Cannons.”
“Amazing! I’ve heard of these before. They’re rather expensive, though, right?” the archer inquired, looking up from them.
“Black powder cannons are a bad idea for wooden boats. The ammunition could either ignite and blow us to bits, or it would get soggy and prevent us from using them at all. Magic Cannons may cost more, but they have proved their worth time and time again,” Jenner said quickly.
When he spotted Vala hurrying over with her crooked wooden catalyst in hand he smiled.
“Miss Vala, what is the highest-level spell you can cast?” he inquired with a worried glance back at the shape of the monster approaching. It was starting to circle the boat in an attempt to find out the origin of the object that blocked its path.
“Level Four,” the earth elf claimed, gripping her Druid staff tighter as she did so.
“Could you use your mana to fire one of these thin
gs?” the bosun inquired. Hesitantly she reached out and grabbed the wooden pole at the back of the closest Magic Cannon and sent a tentative probe of power through it.
“I have enough magical power to fire one of these five times before I’m completely drained,” she claimed after a second.
Impressed looks were sent her way by the crew, but Jenner simply nodded.
“Miss Vala, if you could, please provide power for three shots. We can’t risk you or anyone else passing out from mana exhaustion in the midst of a battle,” Jenner pleaded. She hesitated only for a moment before nodding.
“I’ll do it!”
“Is the monster here yet?” Gaelin asked eagerly as he arrived up top, his halberd gripped tight.
Almost as if on cue a burbling roar shook the boat and the dark shape beneath the water exploded upwards, revealing the creature.
It was similar to an ammonite, only many hundreds of time larger and angrier. There were sharp looking spines running along its spiral shells as well, and the tentacles it waved around ended with claws and barbs.
“Armored Kraken!” someone shouted, and Jenner quickly grabbed hold of the second Magic Cannon and aimed it while channeling as much of his own mana as he could.
The runes lit up, and sparks of raw magic coursed along the lance tip, coalescing into an orb of pure power. The ball of compressed energy surged forward like a beam of sea-green light and stabbed into the closest tentacle.
The gargantuan cephalopod screeched in pain and lashed out, but a second beam of energy knocked it away. Vala was panting slightly from the sudden loss of mana, but the Magic Cannon had worked.
Lily looked down at her bow and arrows, then up to the vast tentacled sea creature, then back down to her dinky weapons. She harrumphed in annoyance but took aim all the same at the Armored Kraken. A pinprick might not do much, but it could still distract.
Gaelin glanced over at some of the other sailors who were arming themselves. They had long boarding pikes, and were using them to ward off the questing limbs of the monster. He joined in, slicing at the rubbery flesh.