Only now can I understand that he is no longer there, and that he won’t be ever again. A frightening feeling, and yet I believe that I have done the right thing.”
Isaac took off his glasses and rubbed his hand through his face. I could see his fatigue, but just like me he was unable to sleep from hearing the noise of the lawless hour by hour just past the inn, like a raging storm. The Golden Road led to nearly all areas of the kingdom, and it was therefore the nodal point of all activities. We were in the heart of the chaos, but soon it would be more than a few knights could control.
“I am sure that the king will be sending for help soon enough, now that his fortress is no longer besieged. They will catch or maybe kill the escapees and the kingdom will be safe. My true fear is following Aton’s plan. Persuading a couple of pirates to grant us passage to an island with a treasure? That is more than a few words can muster,” I said and looked out of the window once more.
“One question remains. What exactly was the reason for the death of Jasper Lawrence? According to all that I have heard this was not his first adventure. Why would he publicly denounce the king? And who would risk supporting a rebellion that would inevitable fall into chaos? For me these things make no sense. He must have planned something,” said Isaac and put his glasses back on while also standing up from the bed.
“Do you think that he wanted to die? What reason would he have?”
“He knew the solution to this mystery, and I do not think that he wanted to die, but that he had to. Someone was on his trail, a powerful person, more powerful than the king of Jimosien.”
“But if you are right in that assumption, where is this person now?” I asked, as I opened the window and the strong wind blew out the candles in the room.
Chapter 13: Greybeard
We reached Amnia a few days later than expected, and it had also cost us more in terms of most that we had left. Our gold was spent and since neither Isaac nor Magnus ever had worked a real job, I could not expect help from them. The city had, to my surprise, changed very much and many shady figures had found their way here before us. Of course it made sense that most of the men wanted to flee to the high seas, because they feared that the knights of the five kingdoms would be pursuing them soon. My first point of interest was therefore the 'Anchor Chamber', a small inn very close to the harbour. I had however not only hoped to find a drunken pirate there, but also wanted to see if Lucia had stayed at her shop. Much to my regret it was abandoned and closed off, no one seemed to have been here since we left. So I went on and continued my way to the inn, while Isaac withdrew from our little band and tried to find what he could to make our trip easier.
Only little hope remained to me that Lucia could forgive me, but I didn’t want to go on without her. The inn had seen better days, and the lack of a door, windows, and some wooden boards on the outside told me, that I found who I’d been looking for. The stone walls were stained with alcohol, and inside the bards played the music of the seafarers. I had never seen any of the men inside, and although it was a beneficial circumstance it also made it harder for me to find the exact person that I was looking for. Only little time remained, and the pirate we searched could have already disappeared, I was also concerned about Aton, as he was probably the most important person for the trip.
“What is it going to be little man? Out or in?” roared a drunken man who was about to leave the house.
“In, and if you allow me the question, do you maybe know a man named Lloyd Dylan?” I asked politely, as I was used to it, but the man only laughed at me for it.
“Of course. Who doesn’t know him? As far as I know, he died a few years ago. It is said that he had accumulated plenty of assets, but the debtor houses were on his heels. Well, we all need help to start a business, but I guess it was already over when he did,” replied the man and pushed past me.
I thought it was only natural that many thought him dead, because in a business such as this the reputation is much easier destroyed than it is established. But what surprised me was that there was only one man in this place who had a grey beard. Risking my sudden exposure I sat down near him and observed him for a bit.
His manners were obviously not existent and his appearance seemed to more than match this personality. He wore short leather trousers, almost like a thin piece of cloth wrapped around his groin, and his naked torso was dripping wet from all the sweat, while little drops of alcohol drew little lines every time he spilled his drink. Unfortunately my experience in the field of spying was more than just poor, which is why one of his men quickly noticed what I did.
He signalled his captain my position with a nod, and soon afterwards the captain stood up storming through the bar like a madman, ringing me down to the ground. He kept me down with all his power, while both sweat as well as alcohol dripped down from him into my eyes. His breath was heavy and it smelled like death itself, while his body seemed to be still missing his full strength, as he started to cough heavily from the stress.
“Who are you, bub? The king sent you?” he asked and held a small knife to my throat.
“My name is Jacob Ayrs; I am the son of the mayor. I apologize if I shouldn’t have bothered you. I just noticed your unusual appearance,” I replied, while I tried to gasp for air.
“Unusual appearance? So in your opinion I am just an ugly old man who begs to be stared at? Perhaps I should teach you some manners.”
“Don't get me wrong, but you have no idea of manners,” I forced out of me, and pressed his heavy body away from me.
Even if he was famished and weak, his strength still exceeded my own by a long shot. He laughed and put the blade away. He had difficulties getting up again and without help he couldn’t even manage to stand and so he sat down and asked me to take the chair at his side.
“What exactly do you want from the mighty Greybeard? And do not tell me that you did not know who I am. Neither am I special nor am I in any way threatening. I know what I am talking about, because I know where I came from. But how do you know?” he asked me and took a sip from the cup that almost overflowed with beer.
I sat down and fixed my clothes, which not only amused the men of the crew, but also diminished the respect they had for me even further. They looked at me like everyone used to look at me, but I knew, that I had changed and I wasn’t afraid of these men at all.
“I will take your ship. I don’t care what you think you are or who you think you are, but I know that I will leave this city with your ship,” I said, but the captain drank his beer without even giving me a look.
Only when he had emptied his cup he rammed the knife into the table in front of me and looked me straight into my eyes.
“In this world there are two things that count. Reputation and Expectation. The one develops while a man lives, and the other is what he leaves behind for the ones he loves. In my world we believe in the Iron Ocean, an eternal foray, in which only the best pirates of the world participate. It is said that the legacy of an iron pirate lets his clan bloom, but I personally do not believe in this crap. I have no family, no wishes, no dreams and also no interest in the likes of you. I spent half of my life in a cell of the Fortress of Shadows and it took from me my unstoppable force that once made me immortal.
Do you know why it is called the Fortress of Shadows? They call it that way, because if you stay in there for a longer period of time, you start to talk with the shadows that surround you. And if you survive the phase in which you doubt your own existence, then you come to the conclusion that you are not alone. It is the only thing that helps you survive. Now I don’t need to search for treasures anymore, because they have taken away from me what made me. My body is dead and all that remains is my weak spirit. This spirit has everything it needs right here. A beautiful woman in one hand, and a mug of beer in the other” he said and ordered a further big pitcher.
I pulled the knife from the table and in one go all of the men jumped in front of their captain and drew their swords.
&nb
sp; “What if I know a way to renew this body? A treasure, which can grant you the strength you lost. Would that be enough for you to give me your ship?” I asked, and the captain leaned forward and looked deep into my eyes.
“What have they done to you, bub? Your soul is cold, but I see the fear that you are hiding behind all this courage. There is more to you than the eye can see. From fear grows anger, but it can destroy what it seeks to protect. Do not mess around with me. For my anger grows out of the greatest fear of all.”
He took the knife from my hand and laughed whereupon his men joined in. I have had no success with my plan, and perhaps this captain would never sail again. My next goal was Lucia, and with her I would not fail.
Chapter 14: I never wanted this...
I wandered through the streets of my home town and even if many faces were unknown to me, I was equally as an unknown to the people who lived here. No one greeted me, or saw me in the eyes and it was as if I had never been gone. I haven’t even met my father yet, but I was sure that he hadn’t cried himself to sleep over me. Outside the house I already saw Emmerich, who immediately recognized me and I almost felt like I had arrived at home, as his kind words were the first to welcome my return.
“You wastrel! I beat you to death if you ever come into our house again. Lucia does not want to see you and I don’t want to see you as well. You have brought us nothing but trouble. You have always been a freak of nature. Your father recognized this at an early stage, but unfortunately still not early enough. And now leave me be,” he cried out loudly while waving around with his walking stick in the air.
“I want to hear that from Lucia herself. There is no reason for us to argue. Please get her,” I said politely, while I tried to forget the words of this old and angry man, even if it was very difficult this time around.
These people were the only family that I had and to hear that they despise me made it impossible for me to continue onwards. This treasure was Lucia's task and still I took this responsibility away from her. My ego had revealed itself, and apparently I had always a lot less fear in my heart than I would have expected to be possible. After many minutes of protest and arguing Emmerich finally went back into the house and sent Lucia out a few moments later. She had cried, and tried to hide it now. I knew this face only too well, and I knew that this time I was the reason for her sorrow, and not her father.
“I'm sorry, Lucia,” I said and lowered my head.
She ran up to me, and each of her steps felt endless while my heart began to beat faster until she delivered me a blow that send my head spinning and my body to the ground.
“You are sorry? Then go away, and finally do what you always wanted to. Disappear and let the world forget who you are. I have already done so. Once there was a time in which I would have sacrificed everything for you; I saw you as my brother, and I knew that no matter what happens one man will always be with me. But now that I see who you really are, I see, that you know nothing but fear, and that is why you see this fear in every soul you meet. My father was a hero, and even though I would want to find this treasure so much, I also know that I alone can’t do it. I wanted to save my father, like he once wanted to save my mother. However you have abandoned and destroyed, what was my last hope. Just because your own dreams crumbled,” she said and took a step back.
“I did not want for this to happen. I have always been someone who saw no meaning in this world. But this treasure is a threat to us all and the knowledge behind it could bring endless destruction. Every good tool is also a weapon and as such its user can lose control. What if we destroy the world that we want to protect so much?” I said and got up from the cold ground.
“You have already destroyed my world. Now go and save what is left of yours, but I will never forgive you.”
Without another word she went back to the house and I understood what I had done. Aton had told me, and yet I had not listened to his warnings. The captain was right and from my greatest fear the most powerful anger I had ever felt was slowly born. It was just an idea, only for a second, but I wanted to ensure that the world ends. And this was what I feared. This power was too great for just a man. For the time being I managed to forget my pride and I accepted that Lucia saw what I did as a mistake.
I went back to meet with Isaac and saw, that he was already head over heels in danger. Several criminals had beaten him up and stolen some of his bottles with the elixir. Although he still had a small amount of it left, it was not enough for the journey ahead.
“It was a whole keg. I finally had prepared enough for the trip. Now I need to start again from the beginning. Have you achieved anything?” he said and looked at his torn clothing.
“Are you ok? From the looks of it, they really did you in. And what about the keg? What happens when these men drink from it?” I asked him and examined his wounds.
He healed faster than anything I had ever seen. And even if the scratches in his face cut deep into the flesh, they left nothing when they slowly dissolved, not even a scar.
“Do not worry about me, this body is virtually indestructible. And these men will die if they drink the elixir. I think that is more than fair, if you ask me. It would not make sense to track them down and save them,” he said and went back to town in order to obtain further ingredients.
“Where do you want to get the gold to pay for even more elixir?”
“Lucia has given me some money. I met her shortly after we walked into the village. Even if she doesn’t want to talk to you, she still wants me to succeed.”
I had little hope for our success at this point, but I wanted it to come true. If Isaac succeeded, my mistake could maybe one day be forgotten. But if these men planned what I suspected, we would soon no longer have a ship on which we’d be able to travel. A small keg full of alcohol was worth a small fortune at times like these and I was sure, that I knew just the place where one would try and sell it. I ran in the direction of the inn, but when I walked in, the owner was already handing out jars with the elixir in them.
Even Dylan had a filled up jug in the hand, but luckily he seemed too busy to drink from it just yet. If I’d warn them they would suspect this scenario as some kind of regretted action. And if they believed, that it was me, who wanted to poison them, I would certainly be done for. I had to at least keep the captain busy until everyone else had emptied their cup.
I made another hard choice and again people would die because of my actions, but all things considered it was only the captain we truly needed.
“Ah, who do we have here? If it isn’t our little bub. And have we finally lost our anger problem? Just take a look around and tell me what you see. Isn’t this all a man needs?” said the captain cheerfully and raised his cup to his men.
“I would like to join you,” I replied immediately and kept him from drinking.
I knew that men like him would never refuse another man a drink. The owner filled a cup for me, but now the captain expected a toast. It was clear to me that this would mean that all of these men die, and so I tried my best to keep the words long.
“In an unknown way we are all connected. Out there in the world, full of treasures and secrets, we are outcast. We are looking for something that changes who we are, that makes us more like the people we admire. But I have now understood that there is no such thing. If even the greatest pirate of this world is afraid and if his life is nothing more than a shadowy existence, then I also no longer want to be an adventurer. So let us drink, to the fear, and the simple life!”
Of course I awakened the anger of the crew and the attention of their master. He suspected that there was something wrong, but at this moment I could only hope that he couldn’t see through me completely.
“What a load of rubbish! Our captain is the greatest hero the world has ever seen. I shit on your simple life, bub! To captain Greybeard! To the Iron Ocean!” called one of the men and drank a sip of the elixir.
Many followed his example, but quick-thinking I grabbed the arm o
f the captain before he could take a sip as well. He looked me in the eyes and knew immediately what had happened.
It did not take long for most to fall from their chairs. They tripped and vomited on the ground before their body began to tremble and all that was left for them to do was to scream and die. It only took a few minutes for silence to return and the captain and I were the only survivors.
“I warned you. An attack on a pirate, you must have truly given up on your life. Meet me in the morning in the harbour; we set the sails, as soon as the sun shows itself. If you come late, you shall die, like the rest of this village,” said the captain and left.
He went past the corpses of his men, and threw a last glance at the round, but it was still just the two of us who had survived.
“What do you mean by die?” I asked him and he spat on the ground and drew his sword.
Ultimus Thesaurus: The last Treasure (Era of Change Book 1) Page 8