Captain Black Shadow

by Janina Franck

  When he arrived, no one was there, not even Balthasar or Ference. He had avoided the library for the past couple of days because Ference occupied it almost constantly and Griffin didn’t have any wish to be drowned in his grumpy and smug comments.

  Griffin wandered to the myth and legends section, looking for books about cloudships. But strangely, he couldn’t find any. Griffin couldn’t imagine that Balthasar didn’t have any books on one of their nation’s greatest legends, but where were they? He carefully searched the entire library and finally, he did find some. About two dozen to be more specific, filed under ancient history. Keeping this in mind, he chose one of the books and took it over to the table.

  He flicked through it absent-mindedly until he got to a section that caught his attention. On the left page there was a picture of a Klabautermann; on the right page there was a passage that read, “…widely believed that Klabautermann are connected in some way to the cloudships, as back then, they appeared to be quite common, but with the disappearance of the cloudships, most of the Klabautermann vanished as well. Yet evidence suggests there are still Klabautermann in Jianlah, so this claim is to be discounted. If Klabautermann really did have a connection to the famous cloudships, then they would surely have vanished alongside them.

  It is utter nonsense to believe that a creature without wings has the power to lift a ship out of the water and let it sail among the clouds. If that were the case, surely, we would still see barks in the sky challenging birds for their territory.

  However, there are other theories, such as the suggestion of a balloon in the body of the ship filled with a gas lighter than air, which then carries the ship higher and higher. It might be regulated by temperature [see Chapter Eleven]. Another theory proposes that the so-called “cloudships” were not ships at all, but really giant dragons, raised to obey the commands of their handlers [see Chapter Twenty-Three]. Nobody really has a full grasp on what enabled those ships to fly – if they were indeed ships – and connect Jianlah to the rest of the world.

  Marine Cardinal Reginald Tryles himself stated, on the 4th of…”

  Griffin stopped reading.

  Balloons, Klabautermann, giant dragons… Unlike most books about cloudships, the author of this one seemed to have been more interested in the science behind them and less in the different legends of their mysterious appearances.

  Griffin made a mental note to ask the Klabautermann about the section regarding his kin. If Balthasar agreed to it, he might also borrow the book for a little while.

  It was probably time for his turn to keep watch soon, though. He had better get a move on.

  He closed the book and put it back on the shelf while looking curiously at the other titles. He made another mental note to read a few more of them.

  On his way up, he came across Zero, who was also on his way to deck.

  Griffin thought about asking him what had happened when they had gone to find Selene but decided against it. If Selene didn’t want to speak about it, it wasn’t fair to ask someone else. She would tell them if she wanted them to know. He had no right to pry.

  Zero gave his usual shy smile and turned into an owl to soar up to the crow’s nest. Griffin took his first round about deck. Everything was quiet.

  The wood underneath his feet creaked gently, a familiar sound that almost seemed to echo through the otherwise still night. It was accompanied by the constant splashing and gurgling of waves breaking against the Bat. A soft hoot joined the melody. And, if Griffin focused, he could even faintly make out Ryo’s snoring.

  The night wasn’t quite dark. A faint glow surrounded them in form of a thick mist. Griffin couldn’t see the sky or even the crow’s nest when he looked up. As he stared into the soupy fog, it moved in swirls and waves, slowly heaving, as though an enormous creature were taking slow, deliberate breaths, just out of sight. The moisture in the air clung to him, making his clammy clothes stick to his skin.

  Moving about the ship, he felt like he were floating, almost as though his footsteps exerted no force on the world. The mist induced a silky, web-like feeling, like in a dream.

  Did the sailors on cloudships feel like this when sailing through an ocean of clouds? Or maybe the clouds up there were different. They looked solid enough; was there perhaps a port up there? Perhaps people were still living up there in the sky, on one of the clouds, dreaming of a land beneath them, a land they could never reach – unless they fell to their deaths. A great civilization, completely secluded. Maybe that was what the Veil was. Perhaps it carried people up into the sky, onto a solid land of clouds. And cloudships were waiting in the cover of the Veil for new passengers to transport up. Maybe they didn’t dare to come out because the Marine had declared war on any cloudship that came too close to Jianlah…

  Griffin shook off those thoughts.

  For his eighth birthday, he had wished to become captain of a cloudship one day, though he would have been satisfied with just seeing one.

  As he grew older, he had come to believe them to be myths, legends – stories to tell small children with active imaginations. But even then, deep down, he had always hoped that the stories were true. After all, there were rumors of some official records that proved they were real, even though he couldn’t say that he had ever met someone who had actually seen them.

  But now this book… The author seemed to be certain that they existed and appeared to be fascinated by the science that could have made it possible. Griffin could barely wait to take it back into his hands and read on.

  He thought of other legends and stories his mother had told him as a little boy. The original myth of Captain Black Shadow had supposedly begun when cloudships had still existed. In fact, his ship was meant to have been one of those that soared the highest and fastest. But then the new stories about Captain Black Shadow, the current ones, had overtaken the old legends. Selene had become the new legend, whether she had intended it or not.

  Griffin’s mother had always thought that the current Black Shadow was the same person as the one back then, perhaps returning from the Nether to take revenge on the descendants of old enemies. How surprised she would be to find out that the feared pirate was nothing more than a young girl!

  He had to grin when he thought of Selene as a ‘young girl’. If she could hear his thoughts, he would probably already be down an ear by now. Although really, she was a young girl, well, young woman. But there was a whole lot of pirate in her, too. And Falician, as their little visit had made clear to him.

  Griffin had rounded the ship several times now. Wondering how much time had passed, he took a seat by the wheel. After a moment, a bat fluttered down next to him and changed into Zero.

  “You seem troubled,” the shapeshifter said.

  Griffin looked at him with surprise.

  “No, I’m fine, really. Just a little lost in thought is all.”

  Zero nodded understandingly and sat down next to him.

  “You are a strange one,” Zero noted, watching him.

  The boy was surprised to hear Zero start a conversation. He wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it.

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “You have no reason to be here.”

  “Of course I do!”

  “I apologize,” Zero said, recognizing the hurt in Griffin’s voice. “It was not meant like that. I simply don’t understand your reasons. Your life has been calm and peaceful, unlike the rest of us. Nor are you fighting to rebel against something. In fact, you refuse to fight whenever you can.”

  Griffin had never heard Zero speak as much in his whole time on the Bat. For a moment, he was speechless. Then he gathered himself.

  “I do not refuse to fight. I refuse to kill, that’s different. And… and… I am rebelling against something!” Griffin tried to defend himself.

  Zero watched him, waiting for more.

  “I… uh… I’m…”

  What was he rebelling against? Why had he l
eft home?

  “I’m rebelling against my decisions being made for me by people who don’t know what I think. I’m rebelling against my life being decided by others, however well they may mean. I’m rebelling for the freedom of my own fate,” he decided. And he knew it was true. This was why he had set out in the first place, why he was on the Bat, why he had stayed.

  “How did you come to be a pirate?” he asked before Zero could challenge him.

  The shapeshifter looked to the ground for what felt like several minutes and Griffin, feeling guilty for asking, was about to tell him not to worry about it when Zero finally spoke.

  “Karim attacked a port where scientists were experimenting on me.”

  He didn’t have to say more. Griffin understood. Shapeshifters were rare. They were normal humans, born of normal humans, but with a strange ability that scared many people. They weren’t born often, and most shapeshifters who got to see the light of day were killed by their own families or neighbors. Those allowed to live were excluded from society, living alone their whole lives or as a freak in some traveling show. It was no wonder that the Marine decided to experiment on a shapeshifter they found. Naturally, they would try to figure out how this anomaly could have happened and how they could use it. Griffin himself had always been more intrigued than scared. He had always liked the idea of changing who or what you looked like, but he was a minority in that way of thinking.

  “I’m sorry,” Griffin said quietly. Zero waved it away, but Griffin meant it. He became suddenly aware of how lonely it must be to be a shapeshifter. Knowing that people were afraid of what he was, even though he was supposed to be the same as them… Being aware that his own family had abandoned him out of fear or disgust… And then being treated like nothing more than a scientific subject without rights or even feelings.

  It made Griffin want to apologize for the doings of his race, for all of the evil they had brought into this world.

  “It’s time for change,” Zero said, before he turned into a badger and scurried under deck to wake his relief.

  Griffin remained sitting there, leaning against the railing, lost in thought.

  “Make me something to eat.”

  He looked up. His captain was looking down at him, her arms crossed.

  “I’m hungry.”

  Without arguing, he got up and moved toward the galley, Selene close behind him.

  “What would you like?”

  “Anything.”

  Griffin was glad she was asking for food. She had been eating less since they had fled the Falicia Islands and she was often deep in thought. He considered her request for food a good sign.

  He made her a quick omelette while she took a walk around the ship. It seemed that she was taking over this watch with him. It was strange. This was his first time being on duty with her. He hadn’t even realized that she took guard duties at all.

  After a few minutes, he brought the dish outside and handed it to Selene. She devoured it without saying so much as a single word. It was astonishing to see how quickly an omelette could disappear.

  Griffin stayed by her side until she handed the plate back, at which point she turned away and walked to the front of the ship. He had a feeling that she needed some time to herself, so he left her alone.

  He was once again deep in thought when she returned.

  “Make me something else.”

  “Any preference?”

  “Something sweet.”

  “Sweet?”

  Griffin reflected for a moment. He didn’t often make desserts for the crew, but he did know how. His mother had often given him the task of making desserts whenever they had had guests over. She always said that he was far better at making sweet things than she was.

  But what did they have on the ship that he could make into a dessert?

  He disappeared into the galley, only to return a little later with a bowl of fruit salad and cream.

  Again, Selene dug into it and within seconds it had disappeared.

  “Something to drink, please.”

  Griffin stared at her. She looked back impatiently and slightly annoyed.

  “What?” she asked.

  He stuttered, “Uh… you… you said please.”

  “Yeah? So what?”

  “Uh… Nothing, nothing!”

  He hurried to get her some water as well as rum, just in case, before he brewed himself a storm. If he kept talking, he would probably say something stupid to make her mad. She ignored the rum but downed the water.

  “Are you feeling alright?” Griffin asked uncertainly. Selene was acting rather strangely.

  “Hmm? Yes, of course I am,” she said in her disregardful way.

  But then her eyes fell to the floor and she stared at it intensely.

  “Actually,” she began again, “I think I ate too much.”

  “Can you walk?”

  “I’d rather not,” she confessed.

  Griffin fretted. “Alright, then, uhm… lean against the railing here and just sit there for a little while until you feel a little better. Then you should probably take a little walk around the ship. Hold on. I’ll get you some more water, but don’t drink it all at once again!”

  Selene nodded weakly.

  While he was back in the galley getting the water, Griffin also got a blanket for her to keep herself warm. Once he handed the items over to her, she looked at him defiantly and said, “Okay, now go away.”

  He was baffled for a moment, wondering if she was serious. But judging by the look in her eyes, she was. In response, he climbed up to the crow’s nest and spent the rest of his watch overlooking everything from there. When he eventually came back down and retreated to his cabin, Selene was already gone again.

  The first thing Griffin did after breakfast was return to the library. He took out the same book as the day before – The Science of Cloudships – and studied it from cover to cover. He read a great many theories on how the ships were built, what shape they took, if they even looked at all like normal ships, how they could float in the sky, increase or decrease their altitude, how much weight they ought to be able to lift, what dangers, different to those at sea, could befall a sailor in the air, and so on.

  The entire book was purely scientific and matter-of-fact. Any theories suggesting some mystical or magical involvement were immediately shot down. Aside from those, it seemed that the author had researched every avenue and was enthusiastic about the subject. He had even added diagrams and illustrations to aid comprehension.

  Griffin was astonished at the depth of research. But then… If any of these ideas worked, why hadn’t the Marine brought back the cloudships a long time ago? Unless, of course, they didn’t know about this researcher and his work. Plus, many of his ideas were entirely hypothetical, such as the one involving giant dragons.

  Once he finished with that book, he looked through the others on the same subject. He studied them all morning, until it was time to make lunch. But right afterward, he rushed back to the library to continue his reading. He was so completely caught up in his little world of imaginary cloudships, lost in theories and legends, that he didn’t notice Balthasar and Ference come in.

  “So another one of your rats actually reads,” Ference noted dryly.

  Griffin looked up, blinking as if he had just left a faraway land in his mind.

  Balthasar laughed.

  “Our Griff’n reads, alright! He’s usually down ‘ere every other day! Smart boy, he is! A lil’ scholar!”

  Ference eyed Griffin suspiciously. The boy’s face reddened.

  “Stop it, Balthasar…” he mumbled.

  Balthasar kept laughing and walked past him.

  “So you are interested in cloudships,” Ference stated.

  Griffin didn’t bother to answer. Ference pointed to one of the books Griffin had accumulated on the table.

  “Don’t bother with that one, it’s rubbish. The author is a good-fo
r-nothing ignoramus!”

  Griffin glanced at the book. He hadn’t opened it yet since the title didn’t sound promising: Cloudships Ahoy! Now he wanted to read it, just to spite Ference. Still, he said nothing. Ference shrugged and joined Balthasar and they immediately began debating once again.

  Griffin decided this would be a good time to leave. He didn’t tell Balthasar he was taking The Science of Cloudships with him because he would ask too many questions. Questions Griffin didn’t want to answer in Ference’s presence. He just hoped that Balthasar wouldn’t notice the empty space on the shelf where the book was supposed to stand, or that he would go easy on Griffin if he did. But for now, there was other business to attend to.

  Griffin rushed around the ship, trying to find the Klabautermann. Instead, he bumped into Skip, causing them to topple over one another. The book slid through Griffin’s fingers. Skip picked it up as he got to his feet, understanding the situation immediately.

  “Balthasar is going to be so mad at you.” He grinned.

  “Shshshhh!” Griffin tried to silence his friend.

  “What are you doing with it anyway? Trying to read in peace away from Ference?”

  Griffin shook his head.

  “I need to ask the Klabautermann about something that’s in there. Do you know where he is?”

  Skip turned it around in his hands to look at the cover.

  “The Science of Cloudships?” he marveled. “They’re great legends but I don’t think the Klabautermann knows much about ’em. Balthasar’s the expert, really.”

  “Never mind that. Do you know where he is?”

  “Think he’s polishing his beloved cannons.”

  “Thanks!”

  Griffin hurried to the Klabautermann’s favorite spot: the armory. The little blue man seemed to have an obsession with guns and cannons, which was why he was generally the one handling them in fights.

  Skip was right. The Klabautermann was indeed polishing one of his cannons. He was doing it with enthusiasm and careful, practiced movements. He almost looked like a proud father.

  Griffin stood in the door for a few moments, watching him. The Klabautermann circled the cannon, polishing a spot here and another one there, eager to leave it perfect and pristine.