The Panagea Tales Box Set

by McKenzie Austin

  Elowyn smirked. The booze flowed in equal doses through her veins and banished any hesitation. She accepted his hand, though she used her strength to pull herself up, not wanting Rennington to apply any unnecessary pressure to his healing wound. The two crossed the distance over to the front of the table as Elowyn pushed an old, dusty cloth off the body of her cello. Rennington removed his trusty harmonica and balanced the crutch in the crook of his armpit. “Ready when you are, m’lady,” he said with a juvenile grin.

  Elowyn playfully rolled her eyes and placed the scroll on her shoulder, resting the bow on the strings. Though Nicholai thought the liquor would dull her movements, her fingers and arm moved with grace across the instrument. Rennington joined in with his harmonica and the two played a haunting song in a minor key Nicholai hadn’t heard before. Her ethereal voice weaved through the crowd and silenced the other noises with its gentle caress:

  “Though land be still, and sea be wild,

  the two, they lovers be.

  The calm of earth, the rising wave,

  remind of you and me.

  Your heart, ‘tis steady, yet mine, untamed,

  but I was ready to be reclaimed,

  two opposites joining so perfectly

  just as the land and the sea,

  just as the land and the sea.”

  Nicholai found himself stunned by Elowyn and Rennington. The two performed together with the skill of professionals—it was almost as though he were at an elaborate event. The blue bloods of Panagea, and even the other Time Fathers, on occasion, sprang for extravagance of the like, ushering in the most talented musical performers in their divisions for a night of high-class elegance and entertainment. Nicholai never squandered his division’s treasury on unnecessary luxuries. He admitted to wishing he could attend one, not just to sample the first-rate meals, but to bask in the glory of the musicians’ talents.

  From the corner of his eye, Nicholai spotted another instrument hiding beneath the cloth Elowyn used to unveil her cello. He narrowed his gaze, believing it to be a clavichord. Before he knew it, the song finished, and most of the crew clapped and hooted their approval.

  “That’s what we’ve been missing!” Brack shouted, filled to the brim with booze and sentiment that only moving music brought. “Good ol’ Rennington and Elowyn, gods damn it all, I missed that sweet harmony!”

  Elowyn tried not to blush while Rennington ate the praise as though it sustained his entire being. Everyone thrived in the environment, showcasing the best of themselves. Even Nicholai found a smile on his face. Though he spent the last month with these people, he never saw them like this. The dining hall was a magical place. Barriers faded, apprehension melted away. It was one of the first times he felt the companionship of man since leaving Southeastern behind. In his newfound sense of ease, he asked, “Who does the clavichord belong to? I should love to hear it join in,” he motioned to the instrument beneath the shroud.

  The boisterous laughter of the crew died down to near silence. A sudden change in demeanor occurred; it caused Nicholai to cringe. The energy shift was sudden and abrupt, summoning discomfort in his stomach. He wasn’t sure what happened until Bermuda piped up. “I played the clavichord,” she said, taking a mindless swig from her beverage.

  Kazuaki bristled, and he turned to burden Nicholai with the weight of his gaze. Soon, the Time Father felt the heaviness of everyone else’s eyes upon him. They shifted between looking at him and looking at Bermuda as if waiting for her to react. Nicholai soon figured the reason the instrument retired; it was hard to play a clavichord one-handed.

  The quartermaster took a long, calculating sip from her glass of liquor and placed it back down on the table, unfazed by the exchange of events. Everyone seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief. There would be no panic attack from the quartermaster today.

  Nicholai no longer handled the crushing weight of everyone’s stares. His simple sentence interrupted an entire evening of freedom amongst the crew. The dining hall, where they enjoyed their meals and a song or two if they were lucky, the place where they escaped the trials and tribulations of a long day’s work, shifted from a sanctuary of joy to a tomb of discomfort with six little words. He wasn’t even sure why. He turned to Brack for an answer, but the Rabbit only offered a sympathetic shrug.

  Nicholai was about to excuse himself, but Bartholomew burst into the dining hall with great haste. His eyes were wide as he looked out at his comrades, a look of pure excitement on his face.

  “Land ho!” he shouted as he stumbled into the room. “Captain! The coordinates—” He barely pulled himself together, trying to find the right words. “There’s an island. It’s straight ahead.”

  Kazuaki’s chair flew out from behind him and clattered to the floor. “Do not lie to me, Bartholomew,” he uttered, his face intense.

  “Land, indeed,” Bartholomew clutched his chest. “And Captain,” he tried to steady the anticipation in his words, “’tis dark, but through the telescope ... be it the liquor or whatever else,” he started, drawing much-needed air into his lungs before he made eye contact with Kazuaki again, “I’ll be damned if I don’t see a slew of trees.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Tension clung to the air as the crew readied the ship in the moor. They approached the island as far as they could without the risk of running the ship aground. All anchors dropped the evening before to hold the ship in place. Though anxiousness vexed everyone, Kazuaki forced all to wait for the aid of daylight before they departed. Charging into unknown terrain in blindness from the night was a rookie move. Dawn cast new rays over the scenery and illuminated the foreign land before them in great detail.

  Huge, towering trees, climbed high into the sky with lush, green leaves clinging to their branches. The sounds they made as the wind rustled them was unlike anything the crew heard before, almost like a downpour of rain without a storm cloud. Various species of flowers sprinkled across the grasses in hues of lavender, sapphire, ruby, gold—not one color remained untouched from the palette of whoever created this place. A fresh scent carried through the air. Their eardrums perked at the strange noises coming from the hidden creatures who dwelled on the shores. All of their senses spiked from the ship. Life hurled toward them across the distance, more than ever emanated from Panagea. It awakened a sense of prodigiousness in everyone, minus the unimpressed quartermaster.

  “Gentlemen, ladies,” Kazuaki addressed the crew, all on deck for the event. Though he knew they all craved a new adventure and the excitement it brought, the best interest of the ship came first. “While my instincts tell me we’re safe this far off Panagea, I’d be a fool to leave the ship unattended. Rennington, you’ll be staying.”

  Rennington appeared deflated by the captain’s announcement but understood the logic behind it. He still hadn’t recovered from his injury in Avadon; his presence would only slow the team down. “Understood, Captain,” he replied with a morose sense of duty.

  “Penn, Brack, you two stay behind. Rennington will need help to watch over the ship,” Kazuaki stated as he shoved supplies into a pack.

  Penn did not mind hanging back. Fighting and socializing weren’t his forte. He stabbed a man or two before in self-defense, but he wasn’t a brawler. He preferred the company of the ship.

  Brack, however, did not appear pleased. Ever the social creature, the Rabbit craved adventure and any opportunities to delight in potential danger. “Aw, Cap, you’re breakin’ me heart!” he protested, putting his hands together in mock prayer. “I beg you to reconsider.”

  Kazuaki shook his head. He knew he could’ve left any of the other crewmen behind as a replacement, but he wasn’t in the mood to tolerate Brack’s off-handed banter. He had a way of turning a serious situation into a mockery, which Kazuaki enjoyed once in a while, but not today. Not with something this big. “Rabbit, you’ll be of far more use here in the event something goes astray,” he patted Brack on the shoulder before he turned to the crew. Kazuaki would take a bul
let for Brack, but his pleas did not compel him. The ship needed to be watched. “All right, let’s move out.”

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  The cockboat and its passengers approached the shore in silence, except for Granite’s excited dog. It barked with an untamed wildness and tried to chase after each seagull that flew overhead. The boat possessed limited room to run; the beast jostled all the travelers as he tripped over their laps. When the boat neared the shore, the dog jumped out and swam the rest of the way, too enamored by all the available things to chase to stay put.

  What the dog soaked in without hesitation remained overwhelming for everyone else. Even Kazuaki found the sight exquisite. While the captain had memories of wildlife and trees burned into his mind from hundreds of years ago, he had not seen a forest this lush in his existence. Everyone exited the cockboat, splashing into the clear water. Granite hauled the small vessel onto the sands of the shore, wiping sweat from his brow before he turned to watch his dog chase a displeased crab into the waves.

  “Hidden in the back of a book all this time,” Bartholomew breathed. The air smelled of salt and floral tropics. How long had this place existed? This small slice of nirvana? It proved to be everything Panagea was not. It came as a shell shock to the majority, but the breathtaking view eased most of their anxieties. Their hunts for the world’s legends opened them up to astonishments often, but finding a paradise hidden in the limitless ocean countered any phenomena they witnessed so far.

  Nicholai drew in a deep breath. His chest felt fuller. No longer did the crippling presence of dissatisfaction linger in his lungs with each inhale. Instead, they felt a deep sense of satisfaction they never experienced before. The oxygen seemed richer, cleaner, and the waters reflected a purity that matched the air. Little streams bubbled down rocky paths with crystal clarity. Even the water purification plants of Southeastern never provided water so wholesome. So uncontaminated. He couldn’t get past it. The purity put him in mind of Lilac. She would have loved this place.

  The group felt the watchful eyes of curious creatures staring at them from the safety of the dense forest. Kazuaki recognized some from personal experience, but most were faces he saw in old encyclopedias. They did not appear scared in the humans’ presence, only curious.

  “Do you ... think we’ll find them here?” Nicholai asked with a faintness. He directed his question at the captain, for he knew the object of Kazuaki’s search. “The Earth Mothers?”

  The captain ignored Nicholai and motioned for the others to follow him into the forest. He addressed the Time Father, though he did not turn his head to look at him. “Based on what Bartholomew and I have read ... let’s say I’m feeling optimistic.”

  The others followed their captain in quiet. The emergence into the forest put Kazuaki in mind of the last time he left the ship on a quest such as this. This island held many glaring differences when compared to Mimir’s. Birds chirped overhead, and the forest, while growing darker the farther they walked inside, held no ominous undertones. Enough sunlight shined through the branches to bring warmth to them with every other step.

  Nicholai pushed a low hanging branch out of his way before he looked at Kazuaki again. He pegged the man for a bloodthirsty sort, with all the tales of Captain Hidataka he and many others grew up with. One thing struck Nicholai as odd as they traipsed deeper into the woods. There didn’t seem to be any financial gain from this endeavor, no treasure to divide amongst the crew. He couldn’t pinpoint Kazuaki’s drive. It vexed him. “Can I ask, Captain, why is it you wish to find the Earth Mothers so much?” he asked, leaves crunching under his boots as they walked.

  “Am I to believe we’re looking for a literal woman? Or literal women?” Bermuda’s voice called out from the back, stopping the captain from issuing a reply.

  Strategy and irritation prompted Kazuaki to ignore Nicholai’s inquiry. He nodded to Bermuda and said, “Aye, from my understanding, that’s exactly what we’re looking for.”

  “Hey, E.P,” Iani called out from behind the medic.

  Elowyn spun on her heels and turned around in time to have a lizard flung at her. She shrieked and brushed the tiny creature off her body while Iani laughed without restraint, finding great amusement in his prank. “You little fecker!” she hissed and continued to wipe at her clothing, though the minuscule creature already fell to the ground and ran off unharmed. “That thing could be poisonous for all you know!”

  In between laughs, Iani wiped a tear that leaked from the corner of his eye. “I hope not,” he chuckled, finally composing himself. “Little bugger bit my thumb when I picked him up.”

  “Next time, pick up something bigger,” she spat as she crossed her arms, “so you might bleed out if it bites you. See if I help you then.”

  Bartholomew, unaware of the others’ shenanigans, lost himself in exploration. He knelt beside various plants and removed a glove from his pocket, sliding it on before he touched, smelled, and cataloged different notes in a journal he brought with him. He sketched the various shapes of as many creatures as he could. The scholar thrived in his new environment. All other sounds drowned out as he immersed himself in his surroundings.

  Revi and Granite stood beside one another. Each found amusement as they watched Granite’s dog romp through the terrain without restraint. The creature zoomed in one direction and tried to stop itself, but failed due to the speed it built up, and crashed into the trunk of a tree. Unfazed by its actions, the dog continued its play, until it tired itself out and walked to a stream to lap up a drink.

  “The beast has the right idea,” Revi said as he motioned to the animal. “If we get a few casks down here, we could load up on fresh water.”

  Kazuaki nodded, cradling his chin in his hand. It was an excellent idea, but he was far too obsessed with trying to figure out where this group of women could be hiding. The life that surrounded the island coincided with what he learned from ‘The Balance of the Earth Mothers’. He remained confident they were here somewhere. Though the island was small, there were plenty of places to hide. It could take weeks to comb the contents of this place. His anticipation did not wish to wait that long. There had to be a faster way. “We can break off into groups,” he said as he turned to look at his crew. “That’ll help us cover more ground. We should be able to find something much more efficiently then. We’ll meet back at the shores near the ship before nightfall.”

  The crew members nodded. It seemed like a solid plan. As they were about to separate themselves into thought-out groups, a voice sounded from above:

  “There’ll be no need for that. I will not make you hunt me, for I am not prey.”

  With elegance and grace, the woman, who stood high in the limbs of the looming trees, leaped downward from branch to branch. She chose only those that held the weight of her lean, limber frame. In the blink of an eye, she dropped from her high point and landed on the ground in a crouched position, then straightened herself to stand. Though she was naked as the day she came into the world, she showed no evidence of embarrassment. Long, silver streaks of her hair covered her exposed breasts, but the occasional breeze uncovered her, “I will not beg. If you came to finish what you started, I only ask that you do it quickly.”

  Everyone stared at her unceremoniously, shocked by her sudden appearance and brazen nudity. “Suppose it’s well you left the Rabbit back at the ship, Captain,” Revi muttered without moving an inch. “He would’ve passed out from lack of blood flow to his brain right about now.”

  The woman tilted her head and blinked, confused, but undeterred. Her eyes zeroed in on Nicholai and she stepped forward. “I want you to know I forgive you,” she said with sincerity. The woman closed her eyes and bowed her head to await her death.

  “Forgive me?” Nicholai tried not to turn red from embarrassment at the naked woman before him.

  “You know each other?” the captain growled.

  “No!” Nicholai held up his hands in defense. “How could I?”

  “Forgive you
for what?” Bermuda asked, looking back and forth between Nicholai and the nude woman.

  “For the gods’ sake,” Elowyn shook her head, wriggling out of her vest before she tossed it to the stranger. “Cover yourself.”

  Revi and Iani mumbled quiet noises of disapproval toward Elowyn as the woman caught the vest with a great deal of perplexity. She looked back and forth between the individuals, appearing civil even in her state of bewilderment. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.” Her voice possessed a delicate nature as she turned to Nicholai, her eyes falling to the Chronometer around his neck. “Are you not here to kill me, Time Father?”

  “Kill you?” Nicholai’s eyes grew wide as saucers. He took several steps back and shook his head. “Gods alive, madam, I would do no such thing!”

  “Yeah, he’s pretty useless with a gun,” Iani interjected.

  “We’re here to find the Earth Mothers,” Kazuaki said, taking an authoritative step forward to cease the madness.

  The woman turned her attention to the captain, still holding the vest in her arms. Her face showed a gentle acceptance. These people weren’t who she thought they were. “Earth Mother,” she corrected. “I am the last among them, I’m afraid.”

  “Oh,” Elowyn sounded from the back, taking a step toward the woman. “What of the rest?”

  “Gone,” the stranger explained. She gestured a hand to Nicholai. “I apologize for my assumption. The last time I saw a Time Father, he was crushing the life from my companions with a slab of stone. I thought, perhaps, six hundred years later, you manufactured a supplement for oxygen and came to finish the job.”

  Though her words were horrid, the tone of voice with which she spoke held no malice. Nicholai, however, remained horrified. “Crushed?” he asked, disgust on his face. “Time Fathers ... killed the other Earth Mothers?”