by Heath Pfaff
The hours drifted by, and though I was attentive, I never saw any member of the crew move in our direction. For that matter, I never saw any member of the crew speak to another, or do anything other than the task they were assigned to do. In a way, their actions reminded me of the black cloaks before they'd broken free from the magic that had bound them. They went about their business with complete focus, and with no appearance of camaraderie. They never even glanced at the other Knights, Telistera, or me. The longer I watched them the stranger it all seemed, a dance in harmony, accompanied by silence. The silence was broken. A quiet song drifted to my ears, hummed so softly that even my sensitive hearing had to strain catch it. The tone was familiar, a snippet from a dream that had been too real.
I turned, and saw that Snow was sitting with her white furred arms wrapped around her legs. She was humming softly. I'd only heard that song once before, yet coming from Snow it seemed to carry an entirely different emotional weight. I listened to it for a time as she repeated the melody over and over again. The pattern of music was simple, but beautiful, and for some reason it filled me with soothing calm. I stood up from where I'd been sitting, moving carefully away from Malice so as not to wake her.
"That's a pretty song." I told Snow as I approached. She looked up at me, and smiled. Her expression was sad.
"My mother use to sing it to me as I'd drift off to sleep. When I'm worried, it always comes back to me again. I don't remember much of it anymore." Her eyes left mine and passed over the ship, watchful. I turned to look back at my own side of the vessel. All was as it had been. Still, quiet. The strange crew went about their work with a complete disinterest for their extra passengers.
"Sing it for me." I told Snow, the impulse to hear more of the song springing from some deep need within me to be comforted, or perhaps to better understand the song that had haunted one of my vivid and surreal dreams. It wasn't right of me to ask, but I had found the melody enchanting. I turned back to the pale-furred Knight.
Snow's cheeks were cast lightly red as she answered. "I couldn't, Lowin. I don't sing."
"You've done a good job at humming. I'd like to hear the words, at least the ones that you remember." I insisted. I was glad she did not press me for any explanation for my sudden desire to hear the song, because I couldn't have given her one. There are times in a person's life when they simply need something, more than food and drink, in order to go on. At that moment, I needed Snow's song. I needed the words to match the melody that swirled through my mind, easing away the troubles that threatened to rise up like some great monster and overwhelm me. Listening to Snow hum the tune had made me relax, even if only for a short period of time. It had been too long since I'd felt such relief. Was the song magic? I didn't think so, but at the same time, I knew that its harmonies were a different type of spell entirely. No magic was weaved, but music could have its own variety of power.
Snow smiled shyly, an expression I had never really seen on her face. For a second, a brief second, I forgot about her betrayal entirely. She was my old friend again. That moment passed quickly, and my foul associations returned to my mind, tainting the moment.
"If you insist, Lowin." She said, before clearing her throat. She hummed the melody once, and then she began to sing.
In the morning, in the light,
no more worries, no more fright.
For the evening, close your eyes.
Tomorrow comes with sunny skies.
In your dreams, where heroes play,
sword and shield, you safely lay.
Sleep now child, rest and dream,
in that place of fields green.
Dream of dragons, dream of knights,
dream of brilliant, wondrous sights.
Dream of heroes, dream of flight,
dream of wrongs, all set right.
No more fear, little one.
Sleep my sweet, until the sun.
Rest your head, and be at ease,
drift and float on whimsy's breeze.
In the morning, in the light,
no more worries, no more fright.
Eyes shut softly, peace and calm,
no more troubles, night has gone.
Someday, I knew, I would write the words to that song, as she sang them there, but in no way could I ever hope to write those simple words and attach to them the depth of emotion they carried in the way she sang them. Snow's voice was not the greatest singing voice I'd ever heard, but it didn't need to be, because she was the embodiment of that song, at that time. She lent an energy to the words that I didn't believe any other ever could.
"There were other words," She explained as the song trailed off. "I don't remember them anymore. It seems like that was a long time ago, and I didn't think I would need to remember it all."
I smiled. "That was enough. Thank you, Snow." I said, as I turned and walked back to my post. I took count of the other Knights, and made sure the area was clear, and then I sat down again, next to Malice. Snow's song. I would never forget it.
"Noble, Ethaniel is gone!" Those panicked words pulled me from sleep like a dousing of cold water. I was on my feet, and reaching for my weapon before my eyes had even come fully open. Of course, my weapon was gone, and as my vision cleared, I realized there was no immediate threat to my safety. Tower was standing over me. Even though I was on my feet, I still had to look up to meet his eyes.
"What do you mean he's gone?" I asked, attempting to draw the fog of sleep from my brain. I checked the position of the sun. Two hours had passed since I'd finally been relieved of the watch. Snow and I had been the only ones sleeping.
"I took a head count less than five minutes ago, but when I checked again, he was missing." Tower explained as calmly as he could. He was obviously agitated, and I couldn't blame him. Ethaniel had been acting strangely, and his sudden disappearance did not settle well with me either. I scanned the deck looking for where he might have gone. There was no sign of him.
"Malice, I'd like to borrow your sword." I picked her because she was nearest to me other than Tower, who, like me, did not have a weapon. I wasn't sure what I was going to do yet, but I had no intention of doing whatever it might be without a sword. Steel, cold thought it may be, is as warm a companion as any in times of strife. "I'll need the scabbard as well." She hesitated only a moment before unfastening the weapon and passing it to me.
"Thank you." I said as I took the blade from her and fastened its scabbard around my waist. It was a difficult process with one hand, but one I'd grown familiar with over the years. I placed my hand on the weapons hilt. It was immediately comfortable and familiar to me. That sword of fine king's steel was as tried as an old friend, one I had not seen in a while, but one I would never forget and could always trust. It was a standard sword of the Knights of Ethan, and probably would have served much better in Malice's hand than in my own. However, I would not send the others into danger if I did not have to.
All eyes were upon me. "I want you to stay here. I'm going to find Ethaniel. In the mean time, keep a close watch on one another. No one leaves the group for any reason. This whole ship, and everyone aboard it, sets ill with me. Be vigilant." I turned quickly, and walked away from the others, not giving anyone time to protest. I knew some would want to. They would tell me I shouldn't go alone, and perhaps they were right. I'd never been great at taking the advice of others.
I moved quickly across the deck, passing along the wood planking while keeping my eyes open for any sign of Ethaniel's passing. I approached one of the crew, cautiously moving in until I knew I would be near enough for them to hear me without having to yell.
"Have you seen one of our men - a little taller than me, with wings - did he come by here?" I asked. The crew member did not even lift his eyes to look at me, nor did he turn in my direction as though he'd heard me. He failed to acknowledge my presence at all.
"Hey, did you see a tall man with wings come through here?" I repeated my question again, with more volume. Nothing.
I grabbed one of his shoulders, and turned the figure towards me. There was no resistance, but the man did not look up at me at all. He kept his hooded head bowed low. The shoulder I'd grabbed on to was bony to the point of famine through the cloth, but firm and I could feel the muscles move as his arms shifted. Sinew, bone, and muscle. Once more I felt a sense of familiarity wash over me, but I put it aside.
"Please, I just want to know if you saw our friend pass this way." I released the shoulder, and the crewman turned away from me and went back to his job without a single word. My ire rose, and I was assailed by a sudden urge to strike out in violence. I had to restrain the impulse, though it was quite a difficult thing to do. The urge to maim and kill raced through my blood, causing my hand to twitch towards my weapon. It took a strong effort on my part to resist. How much time had passed since Ethaniel had vanished? Five minutes? Ten?
I realized there would be no answers forthcoming from the crew of the ship. They were no ordinary crew. Whatever was wrong with them, I did not believe it was a sickness. I walked towards the door to below decks. I'd known it would probably be necessary, but I hadn't wanted to go that route until all others had been extinguished. Ethaniel was not atop the ship, and the crew would not speak to me. My options were limited. I drew my borrowed sword as I approached the door.
I half expected the entry way to the ships interior to be locked, but the door swung easily open as I pressed it with the tip of my sword. The latch was not fastened at all. Someone had gone through, and not bothered to close it on their way by. The door opened into complete darkness. Where the last of the sun faded from the opening created by the door, so too did the light penetrating the level below the main deck. The ship was eerily quiet on the inside. I stepped into the dark, shutting the door behind me, though I did not allow the latch to catch. I wanted to be able to get out quickly if it was necessary.
I briefly considered calling out to Ethaniel, to see if he would reply, but I did not believe that the other Knight had been dragged away against his will. That would have attracted too much notice. He had left of his own volition, and come below decks. Why would he do that? What secrets did the old Knight keep that he was unwilling to share with those who'd come so far with him? I gripped my sword firmly and pressed on through the dark, listening for any sound of voices. There was nothing. The only sound was the quiet pad of my own feet upon the wooden floor. I had a brief memory of the old stories about ghost ships I had read in my youth. I shook my head, dispelling those thoughts as foolish.
The air was clear and fresh, not the stale, sickly air I would have expected of a ship crewed by those with a terrible, wasting disease. Everything was wrong about the ship and its crew. Ethaniel was part of it as well. He had changed, and had been changing even more recently. He was not the man he'd once been. There was a tie between him and the ship, him and the captain and her strange crew. I couldn't imagine what the connection was, but I knew it was there just the same. I pressed on through the dark.
Footsteps sounded down the corridor from me, and I stopped in place. Someone was coming in my direction. My nerves began to jump, and I took a few deep, yet quiet breaths to ease the tension. I held my position, sword at the ready. The footsteps were soft, widely spaced. It was a Knight. Ethaniel?
The soft padding rounded a corner and my motion sensitive vision traced a winged outline moving through the darkness in my direction. It was Ethaniel. He stopped after a few more steps in my direction.
"Noble." He said, his voice giving me the last identification that I needed to be sure. I did not lower my sword.
"Ethaniel." I replied, uncertain how he had seen me in the complete darkness below decks. The eyes of a Knight could not see in complete darkness, not without movement to trace. Was it the other eyes that had betrayed my position or perhaps it was those dark pits on his face? I understood little of what they were or how they functioned.
"Do you plan on cutting me down in cold blood?" Ethaniel's voice was calm. He wasn't worried, and he wasn't bothered that I had discovered him somewhere he wasn't supposed to be.
"What are you doing here, Ethaniel?" I ignored his questions. I knew they had been spoken to attempt to throw me off, to make me panic. Inside my mind, I could feel the Fell Beast part of me pacing the hollows of my darkest thoughts. It sensed the onset of blood. I stifled it.
"Since when is it my responsibility to answer to your paranoia? Will you strike an unarmed man?" Ethaniel's answer shot back. His reply had been angry, but his voice had not held any of that anger. It was as though he were reciting a rehearsed reply. He lifted his hands.
"You left us without so much as word, and stole away into the bowls of a ship allegedly carrying a crew of gravely sick men and women. I believe that my paranoia is justified in this situation. Besides, even unarmed you are more than a match for me. You have experience, strength, and a repertoire of battle strategies that I cannot hope to compete with. Now, what are you doing here?" I asked the question again, more firmly. Could I kill Ethaniel if it came to it? Would I be strong enough to defeat him? Not with one arm. He was a better swordsman then me, and he was not burdened by the loss of a limb. If it came to a fight, all my strength and speed would not amount to much. At least in the close confines of the ship his wings would be of no use to him. That did little to bolster my confidence.
"You underestimate yourself, Lowin Fenly. Your potential is far greater than mine, even if you are maimed. Your strength and speed are boundless, and your determination is like a mountain." The old Knight's reply struck me as odd. I thought for a moment he was simply avoiding my question again, but he went on.
"If you must know, I came to speak with the captain." He said, and there was a certain sense of triumph in his voice. I felt as though I'd just fallen into a trap of some sort, yet the nature of the trap was beyond me. "I came to get charts for you and the others to study, so that you could rest assured that we are heading in the right direction. Since my word is apparently not good enough anymore, I thought it would be advisable for you all to see for yourselves."
I lowered the point of my sword. It was a good explanation, even if it didn't make complete sense. The charts would be invaluable to us, though I still did not believe the old Knight. Would he really come uninvited into the depths of a ship full of the sick just to acquire some charts? I didn't believe he would, unless he was certain that there was no chance of him actually getting sick. His trip had been quick, as well. How had he known exactly where to go? He surely must have gotten the captain's permission before taking the charts. How long would it take to find the captain, get permission to take the charts, and then to get the charts? Longer than he had been gone, I reasoned. However, I had no solid evidence that proved anything he'd said was untrue.
"This ship is dark, and quiet. Where are the sick crew?" I asked, not willing to let the matter rest yet. Too many questions remained, and too much rode upon getting to our destination safely.
"The disease spreads faster in the light, so the crew stays below decks with the lights out unless they are on duty. When we came aboard, they moved everyone to the bottom decks, to assure none of ours would be near the sickness. Those on duty have been instructed not to socialize or come too close to you. Their coverings are standard practice. As I said, the light irritates their condition, so they remain completely covered unless absolutely necessary." Ethaniel explained. Had he learned all of that in his short time with captain? It seemed unlikely. I was, however, at a loss to call him on anything else. His explanations, while unlikely, were not impossible.
"Let us return to the others with the charts." I said, defeated. I put away the sword I'd borrowed, and turned about. The path back was dark. Ethaniel fell in behind me without another word. The fur along my shoulder blades stood on end. I knew Ethaniel had not drawn a weapon, but I felt no safer for having him behind me.
He was lying. The ship we were on was bad news. I could feel it all the way to the center of my being. Danger lay just
below the surface of our situation. I would need to be watchful.
Time passed uncomfortably aboard ship. We saw nothing of the mysterious captain, and the crew avoided us as though we were the ones suffering from a plague. A week dragged by, and then another, all the while we watched the charts to track our progress. Whatever else the ship's crew might be, they seemed to be taking us in the right direction, if the charts were to be believed. We crossed the border into shallow waters late the second week of travel. The fear of the great monsters of the sea could finally come to a rest, but instead of relief, I was filled with a sense of impending doom. I had not grown complacent because of lack of action aboard ship. The mysteries still remained, and, if anything, I had become more agitated by the strange behavior of the ship's allegedly sick workmen. It was two days after the crossing into shallow water that Silver had a run in with one of the crew.