by Garry Spoor
Boraro gave one of his harrumphs before turning his back on Elmac. “Fine, maybe the Hunters should take care of it,” he added before descending back down into the hold of the ship.
Elmac sighed and shook his head. Clearly the mystic had no patience for the Hunter.
“Well, that was entertaining,” Daniel said. “Come on, Ki, let’s go get some breakfast.”
“You go,” Kile said. Food was something she didn’t want to think about at the moment. “I’m going to hang around here for a while.”
“Suit yourself.” Daniel pushed himself away from the rails and kept going.
The other members of the company headed off to wherever they were heading off to. Only Elmac remained.
“Do you really think the Custodians were put there for a reason?” she asked the mystic.
“Who’s to say?” He shrugged. “We don’t know anything about them. They could have been created for a purpose, or they could simply be a natural rock formation.”
“Are there any mystics actually studying them?”
“To tell you the truth, I don’t think so. At the moment, the mystics have enough to worry about.”
“You mean the failing magic.”
Elmac looked at her curiously. “What do you know about the magic?”
“Only what Morgan told me,” she answered. “He said the magic isn’t working the way it’s supposed to. Is that what the mystics are looking into?”
“Some are… I suppose,” Elmac stammered. “There are many different… studies, going on at the Tower. It would make sense that a few might be directed toward the problem of the disturbances in the mystic fields, but I wouldn’t worry about it too much.”
“Is that why you’re here? Do you think this expedition might have something to do with the failing magic?”
“I’m not sure I understand.”
“The return of the Alva, the appearance of the Valgar, the disturbance in the natural realm, the failing magic, this… this Heart of Nilak, these can’t be all coincidences.”
“I fear you might be looking into this more than you should, Kile.” Elmac turned away from her and started toward the doghouse. “I don’t think there are any connections between any of these,” he said, descending the stairs, but Kile knew he didn’t believe it any more than she did.
~~~***~~~
Kile stayed on deck most of the afternoon, either staring out at the sea or up at the clouds—either way, the scenery didn’t change much. She thought about going back to the hold, back to the damp little room in the ship’s basement, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. When the night watch came on, she would have to return to her quarters. Until then, she planned to spend as much time on deck as possible.
She tried to help out when she could but she knew absolutely nothing about the sailing life. The only job that didn’t seem to require any real skill was mopping the decks, and that wasn’t something she wanted to do for the rest of the voyage. Daniel, on the other hand, didn’t have any problem finding things to occupy his time. If he wasn’t helping the sailors splice the lines or mend the sails, he was purifying the water or playing games of chance in the dining room with Jasa, Eafer, and Awald.
Heaney was usually with Captain Dotol, whether they were on the aft deck, steering the ship, or in the captain’s quarters, plotting out their course. Boraro and Creech remained below deck most of the time, which was another reason Kile didn’t want to go down there too often. Elmac spent his time reading through the countless volumes of books he had somehow packed away. As for Galan and Darfin, they kept themselves hidden from sight and didn’t even join the company when they dined in the evenings. At one point, Kile wondered if they had even boarded the ship when they left port.
Flopping down on a coil of rope, she leaned back against one of the barrels and watched the water go by. She wondered, did people actually sail for pleasure?
-Greetings, child.-
Glancing up, she saw an orange tabby cat looking down at her.
“Oh, hello.”
-You do not seem to be enjoying the voyage,- the cat purred.
“No, I’m afraid this isn’t really my thing,” she said. Sitting up, she turned and faced the feline. “My name is Kile, Kile Veller. What’s yours?”
-They call me Custard-
“Custard? That’s an interesting name for a cat. Do you have any other names?”
-No. I’ve always been called Custard ever since I was a kitten, and that was some years ago,- Custard said, and in his words, Kile saw the old cat as a kitten, sitting in the captain’s lap. The two had been together for some time.
“Well, no matter. Custard is a nice name. Have you sailed with the captain long?”
-More years than I can remember.-
“So, you know everything about this ship, don’t you?”
-I’ve been on this ship longer than some of these vir have.-
“That deck over there, where the captain is standing. What do they call it?”
-The vir call it the poop deck-
“I was afraid of that. I thought he was making it up.”
-I’m sorry?-
“A friend of mine… oh, never mind. It doesn’t matter.” Kile waved it off. “So, you know the vir word for just about everything on this ship, don’t you?”
-I suppose I do. I hadn’t given it much thought.-
“Well, maybe you can help me out. If you’re not busy that is.”
-There’s not much for me to do once we leave port other than being a good luck charm for the vir, and of course, keeping the rats in line,- Custard said, and Kile could tell he didn’t like that part of his job.
“Then maybe we can help each other,” she suggested.
~~~***~~~
-I’ve seen one-handed sailors, tie better knots than you.- Custard laughed.
“Come on, I got it now,” Kile said, pulling the knot tight. Unfortunately, the knot disappeared and she wound up with the same straight bit of rope she started with. The cat only laughed harder.
-Maybe you should stick to untying knots. You seem to have a fair knack for that.-
“No, I did it right that time, I know I did.” She tied the knot again, but it still fell apart in her hands. “Okay, what am I doing wrong?” she asked, finally admitting defeat.
Custard stretched out on the table and sighed. -It’s simple. The rabbit comes out of the hole, goes around behind the tree, and jumps back into the hole.-
“Yeah, but my rabbit keeps taking the hole with him.”
-That’s because you keep looping your hole in front of the tree and not behind. Try it again.-
“Is this one all that important?”
The cat suddenly sat up. -Important! If you can’t tie a bowline knot, you might as well forget the others. No sailor will ever take you seriously.-
“All right, all right, show me again… please.” Kile closed her eyes.
The cat stretched out again, getting comfortable while repeating the rabbit mantra. In his words, Kile saw the deft hands tie the knot with ease. She wasn’t sure whose hands they were, but they clearly knew what they were doing. Following the motion of the phantom appendages, she tried the knot again. When she pulled the ends, it formed a lopsided loop.
“I did it.”
-Well, you’re on the right track. Try it again, and this time pull the rabbit’s ears as well as the tree. Then we’ll try the double bowline.-
“Wonderful,” she mumbled, untying the knot.
“Hey, I found you.”
Kile looked up to see Daniel climbing through the workshop door.
“Congratulations. I didn’t know I was lost,” she remarked.
“Well… I’ve been looking for you all morning.”
“Danny, it’s a sixty-five-foot boat. It doesn’t really take a Hunter to find someone on it.”
“Yeah, I know, but—”
“What, did you think I jumped ship or something?”
“It did cross my mind.” Daniel pulle
d up one of the crates and sat down. “Where have you been anyhow?”
“If you must know, I spent the morning in the lower hold negotiating with the rats. They’ve agreed to be more selective while hunting for food and they are as eager to get off this ship as I am. I dined with Lothran, before the first meal shift, and since then I have been here, learning how to tie knots because I’m bored out of my skull.”
“Well, I was invited to a game this evening if you want to come along.”
“Somehow, I don’t think so.”
“Why? You’d be more than welcome.”
“Games of chance are not my specialty. I like to hold on to what little coin I have.”
“Suit yourself, but that’s not why I was looking for you. Heaney’s having a meeting in the captain’s quarters in about an hour.”
“What for?”
“Don’t know. He wants everyone there.”
“Well, anyway, it’s about time. It’s been four days since we passed the Custodians, and we still don’t know where we’re going.”
Daniel laughed. “I think they know exactly where they’re going, but they’re not telling us.”
“You’re probably right,” Kile said. “It’s only that—” but before she could say what it was, Vesper jumped down from her shoulder and started running around the table. He seemed nervous and was looking for a place to hide. “What’s the matter, Vesper?”
He didn’t answer and disappeared into the courier’s bag that lay open on the floor. Kile was about to check on him when Custard sat up and turned toward the ship’s bow. The cat started acting as strange as the yarrow.
“What’s going on here?” Daniel asked nervously.
Kile closed her eyes and fell into her Edge. Her first thought was that somehow the shadows found their way onto the ship, but it wasn’t the shadows, nor was it the Maligar; it was something more physical. It took her awhile, but even she felt it. A palatable sense of dread had descended on the Charlotte.
“Come on.” Kile grabbed the courier’s bag and headed for the stairs.
“What’s going on?” Daniel asked.
“Our voyage is about to get a lot more exciting,” she said.
When she reached the main deck, she expected to see the crew in a panic, but instead, the sailors were casually going about their duties. Climbing up to the foredeck, she looked toward the horizon, but as far as she could see, there was only water. The skies were a little cloudy in the north, but nothing out of the ordinary. Did she imagine it?
Closing her eyes again, she fell into her Edge, although this time she let the feral side of her rise dangerously to the top. With her senses turned up, she could smell the change in the wind. There was a storm on the horizon, and they were heading toward it. Kile climbed down to the main deck and made her way to the captain’s quarters.
“Kile, what’s going on?” Daniel asked when he caught up to her.
“I’m not sure yet,” she answered.
Knocking on the captain’s door, she was greeted by Heaney.
“Veller, Leary, ya a little early,” he said, stepping aside.
It was the first time Kile had seen the captain’s quarters. It was a spacious, well-decorated room, but that was expected. She had seen the captain’s lavatory, and that was quite ornate in its own right. The room was rustic, with charts, maps, and pictures hanging from every wall, except for the rear one, which was actually a large window that provided the perfect view of where they came from. In the center of the room was a massive oak desk covered with even more maps and small, strange devices Kile couldn’t begin to describe. She had once seen Dotol holding one of these devices up to his eye while looking in the sky. What he was looking for, and what the device did to help him find it, she didn’t know.
Master Boraro looked up from the chart he and the captain were studying when Kile entered. He rolled his eyes and gave her a disgusted look. Creech was sitting against the far wall, hiding in the shadows, while Jasa paced the floor, but what surprised her the most was the presence of the Alva. While Galan acknowledged Kile’s arrival, Darfin was more interested with the view out the window.
“What’s wrong?” Heaney asked.
The Hunter’s question brought her back to reality. She hadn’t expected to address a full audience.
“You do realize… we’re heading into a storm?” she asked meekly.
Boraro gave one of his harrumphs and shook his head. “Why did we bring her along, again?” he asked no one in particular.
“Everyone has their part to play. Ya know that as well as I, Master Boraro,” Heaney remarked. Something passed between the two Hunters that made Kile feel a little uneasy.
“What makes you think we’re heading into a storm?” Jasa asked.
“Don’t indulge her, Sergeant,” Boraro said, returning to the maps. “We’re not heading into a storm. If we were, I would know.”
“Then you sense nothing?” Heaney asked.
“Nothing. She’s overreacting.” Boraro grimaced. “She probably felt a strong breeze and panicked. You know how girls are.”
Captain Dotol stepped forward and cleared his throat. “On the contrary, Master Boraro, she is quite right. We have reached the outer edge of the stormwall.”
“The stormwall?”
“Aye, Jasa. If these maps are right, we must find a way through, before our journey’s end.”
“You knew about this Heaney?” Jasa asked.
Heaney slowly nodded. “Aye, I knew.”
“When were you going to tell us?”
“When I thought it was necessary.”
“Did you now?”
Heaney held his hand up to calm the old soldier. “Ships have passed through the maelstrom before.”
“How many times before?”
“A few,” Dotol replied, although he didn’t sound too confident in his answer.
“And how many times have you done it?” Jasa asked.
The captain hesitated while sharing a look with Heaney.
“Wonderful.” Jasa threw his arms up. “I don’t believe this. You’re actually planning on sailing directly into a storm.”
The Hunter stepped forward and tried to calm the old soldier down again, but before he could say anything, the door behind him opened.
“It would seem you started without me, Master Heaney,” Elmac remarked from the doorway.
Eafer and Awald stood behind the mystic, their arms filled with even more books and charts.
“Not by choice, I assure you, Mystic Elmac,” Heaney said, stepping aside to let them in. The two soldiers quickly dropped their burden on the captain’s large oak desk, much to Dotol’s visible displeasure.
“The plan was revealed slightly ahead of schedule, I’m afraid,” Heaney added, nodding to Kile.
“Yes, I thought something like this might happen,” the mystic said. “Not that I mind. It was going to come out sooner or later.”
“So, it’s true, you’re planning on sailing the Charlotte directly into a storm?” Eafer asked.
“Oh no… well… not exactly,” Elmac said. “You see, the stormwall isn’t actually a storm.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s a whole line of storms.”
“I’m sorry,” Jasa interrupted. The old man pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. Clearly the discussion was giving him a headache. “How is that any better?”
“Well, you see, we’re not going to head directly into the heart of a storm,” Elmac slowly explained. “We’re going to try to sail… between them.”
“Between storms?”
“Yeah, you know, like we did with the Custodians.”
Boraro looked up at the mystic “Are you mad?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” Elmac said. “Look, I know you’re all concerned, but if we are to reclaim this Heart of Nilak, we must pass through the stormwall. If the compass is correct, it’s the quickest way to reach it.”
Galan quickly stepped forward. �
��The compass is correct.” He said with a little more force than he probably intended. He looked at Darfin and calmed himself down before continuing. “As are the maps. They had better be, for the lives they cost.”
Jasa looked over at the Alva. “Lives?” he asked.
“This is not the first expedition that set out to retrieve the Heart. My people have tried on five separate occasions to pass through the stormwall.”
“And you succeeded,” Elmac quickly added, “Or, I should say, you succeeded in at least getting through since the Heart is still on the other side… but that’s how we know it’s possible. These maps show the course they took through the wall.”
“If you had all this success passing back and forth through the stormwall, why do you need our help, elf?” Boraro asked.
Darfin turned from the window and glared at the Hunter, but Galan motioned for his companion to stay calm. “I did not say every trip was successful, vir,” the Alva said, making a point to stress the last word of his statement.
“So how many times have you successfully passed through the wall?” Jasa asked.
Galan hesitated. “We haven’t.” he reluctantly answered.
“What are you saying, Alva? That you failed five times?”
“I am embarrassed to admit that it is true.”
“So, where did the maps come from?”
“Birds,” Galan said as if the answer was obvious.
Kile looked up at the Alva. “Birds?” she echoed.
“Yes, every Alverian ship that set sail carried with them messenger birds. Every twenty minutes or so, they would release a bird with the ship’s estimated position. This way the observation vessel could track their progress through the storm.”
“That’s insane,” Boraro blurted out from the far side of the room, and for once in her life, Kile agreed with him. “How do you get an exact position from inside a storm? It can’t be done. What you have there is a best guess and nothing more.”
“We realize the maps aren’t accurate,” Heaney added. “But they’re not the only thing we’re relying on.”