by Jamie Davis
* * *
Rapier of Quickness - +2 to hit, +3 defense
* * *
Cari nodded and smiled. This would come in handy in a fight, even more so given her special burst of speed ability. She wasn't really looking forward to testing it against an actual opponent. She also knew that it might be unavoidable. She was in no hurry to enter combat again, but when she did, Cari and her newly enhanced blade would be ready.
Heath returned and set Sterling to work on the remainder of the blades to fill the order for the Baron. He and Cari gathered up the four enhanced blades and took them into the small office at the back of the smithy.
He opened an iron bound chest there, wrapped each blade in a cloth and set them one at a time inside the chest with some other very fine examples of his smithing skill. Heath closed the chest and locked it before turning to Cari.
"Here, this is for you. You've earned it."
He held out his hand. In it he held a bulging pouch. When Cari took if from him, she felt and heard the slight jingle of coins from inside. Working the drawstring and opening it, Cari saw flashes of both gold and silver.
"That should be enough to purchase you passage to Tandon and then some."
Cari tried to hand the pouch back. She knew Heath wasn't a wealthy man and she'd come to know his family over the last two weeks. This represented their life's savings.
"I can't take all of this, Heath. It's too much."
"Given what you just taught me, I'll make it back and more in a day at the weapon faire this year in the capital. No one will be able to replicate what I can now do with a blade of sufficient quality. When word gets out about the quality of my blades, I'll be commissioned to make blades for the highest of the nobles."
"As long as you're sure. I understand if you want to discuss this with Becca first."
"I will but she won't make me take it back. She will see the possibilities even more than I. Becca always has had a better head for business."
Cari smiled, excited to get back on her quest to find her friends. She also had a moment of melancholy, too. Her time here in Morton Creek had been peaceful and almost like home in its sense of belonging. She'd miss it.
"Go to the harbor, Cari and ask about a ship to Tandon. There'll be time to come back and say goodbye to Granny, Becca, and the kids."
Tying the pouch to her belt, Cari grabbed her sword and coat and headed down the street towards the harbor. She was on her way.
* * *
Quest completed - Earn passage to Tandon
2,500 experience awarded
Quest accepted - Travel to Tandon
* * *
The notification reminded her to check her level status and she looked over her stats once more before adding two more points to her brawn attribute in an effort to balance things a bit. She also spent her skill point to acquire a new ability, Prescience. The Prescience skill gave her the ability to detect sneak attacks from people who were behind her or out of sight. She figured it would come in handy if she ever faced multiple opponents in combat like had happened at the dueling ground back in the capital.
She scanned her stats as she finished her adjustments and thought about future upgrades and possibilities as she walked into the center of town to book her passage to Tandon.
* * *
Name: Cari Dix
Class: Duelist
Level: 7
* * *
Attributes:
Brawn: 12 - +2
Wisdom: 8
Luck: 10 - +1
Speed: 18 - +5
Charm: 14 - +3
Health: 70/70
* * *
Skills: Two-Weapon Combat, Acrobatic Dodge — 2, Multi-Foe Tactics — 2, Feint — 2, Bladesmith — Master, Prescience
Experience: 12,100/19,200
Chapter 22
Cari hugged Becca and then Granny Gerald. They'd accompanied her down to the docks to see her off despite the early morning hour. The eastern horizon showed the promising glow of the coming dawn but stars filled most of the early morning sky.
I expect you to send word when you reach your friends in Tandon safely, young lady," Grandma Gerald said. "I'll be worried sick about you in the meantime. Raiders have been active in these waters of late. Have the captain send word to Becca when he returns here to Morton Creek on his return journey. She'll pass it along to me."
"I will, Granny. Thank you both again for letting me stay with you over the last two weeks. I can never repay you for the kindness you've shown me."
Becca smiled. "Think nothing of it, Cari. It was nice having another girl in the house for a change. Having all boys can be more than a little taxing for a mom."
Captain McShea called out to her from the ship, the Bethany.
"Miss Dix, we're ready to cast off. It's time and we must catch the morning tide."
Grandma Gerald handed Cari a bundle of cloth. "Just a few odds and ends every girl should have on a long trip. You've been traveling light, I know but you can make room for them."
"Thank you," Cari said taking the gift. "Well, I'd better get aboard or they'll leave without me. Goodbye."
"Safe journey child," Grandma Gerald said. "I hope we can see you again, but if not, I hope you find everything you're searching for."
Cari smiled and walked up the narrow gangplank to the ship's rail. She jumped down to the deck and turned to waive one last time.
The captain shouted orders and the crew began rushing about, climbing up into the rigging and spreading out up and down the three masts to unfurl the sails and get the ship underway.
"Miss Dix, ma'am. If you'll come with me?"
A boy who couldn't be older than ten years of age stood next to her.
"And what's your name?"
"I'm Percy McShea, Miss. I'm the ship's boy. The cap'n asked me to show you to your room. If you'll come this way, please?"
Cari followed the boy down the stairs beneath the quarterdeck, along a narrow corridor until he stopped at one of the doors.
"This'll be your cabin, Miss. You're right next door to the Cap'n. I expect he'll want you to take your dinner meal with him. The other meals are served in the galley with the rest of the crew one deck down from here."
"Thank you, Percy. Did I hear your last name was McShea just like the captain?"
"Yes, ma'am. I'm his nephew. My Ma wanted me to learn a useful trade. He took me in and plans to teach me to be a captain, just like him."
"That sounds like an exciting life, being the captain of a ship at sea."
"Oh, yes, it is. I'm very lucky. Um, if you don't mind, I should get back on deck. I have duties to attend to."
Cari smiled at the young boy's serious expression.
"Of course. I hope I'll see you later. You can show me the rest of the ship if your duties will allow it."
Percy's face split with a huge grin.
"I can do that, Miss. I'll ask the cap'n if he can spare me later once we're into open water."
Percy left and Cari opened the door to her cabin. It was a tiny room with a built-in bunk along the outer hull with cabinets built in below and above the bunk. A small table and chair were the only furnishings, not that there'd be room for anything else. Cari could stretch out her arms and touch the cabin's walls on either side of her.
She unpacked her few belongings, placing the only personal items of clothing she wasn't wearing into the cabinets below the bunk. Once that was finished, Cari opened the cloth bundle given her by Grandma Gerald.
The contents brought an instant smile to her lips. A matching bone-handled comb and hair brush with bristles stiff enough to work through her thick strawberry blonde hair lay inside. A rectangular bar of home-made soap and lavender sachet rounded out the gifts from her elderly friend.
Cari carefully packed the new items away in her cabinets and decided to head back up on deck to see the sights and get her bearings on the ship.
The bustle of the crew setting sail had calmed some by the time she climbed th
e ladder to the quarterdeck. Captain McShea stood by the ship's wheel, pointing to something mounted on a post in front of the spoked wheel. The helmsman nodded and made an adjustment with the wheel.
"Ah, Miss Dix. It's going to be a fine day at sea today. Once we round the headland and are free of the harbor, the wind will be at our backs and we can set a direct course to Tandon. I just directed the helmsman with the proper compass setting. The Bonnie Beth is a good ship. She'll make good time on this journey."
"That is very good, Captain. I hope that's true. I have friends waiting for me in Tandon and I don't want to have them worry about my delayed arrival any longer than necessary."
"Unless we run into trouble of some sort, I think we'll have you there in a fortnight."
Cari turned and leaned on the rail at the edge of the quarterdeck overlooking the main deck below. It was her first time at sea and she wanted to take it all in and learn as much as she could about how the ship operated. It seemed like a glamorous life to live like this, traveling from place to place, wherever the winds took you.
"Excuse me, Captain. Are those cannons down there on deck?"
"Uh, yes they are. We just had them fitted in Morton Creek on the visit before this one. Not many merchantmen have them. We only have the four, two on each side, and they’re relatively small when compared to the Empire’s warships, but they should be enough to scare off most of the raiders plying these waters."
"Don't the raiders have cannon, too?"
"A few do, but most do not. Having cannons on a ship, especially a privately owned merchant ship, are a relatively new innovation. Don't worry about raiders, Miss. Most of them run to the south and east where the spice traders and large merchant ships run between the larger cities of the Empire."
"I'm glad to hear that, Captain."
"If you'll excuse me, I have other duties to attend to. Would you be so kind as to join me at eighteen hundred hours for dinner?"
"I would be happy to."
"Excellent. If you have any other questions, I'm sure my first mate, Mr. Bowcott can answer them or my nephew Percy, for that matter. Mr. Bowcott, the deck is yours."
The captain executed a slight bow in her direction and turned to head down from the quarterdeck to his cabin below. The man indicated by the captain stood on the opposite side of the quarterdeck. Mr. Bowcott called out more orders and sailors in the rigging above unfurled more sails as the ship rounded point at the end of the harbor.
The first mate was a big man, easily a few inches over six feet tall. He had tattoos up and down both arms, most with a nautical theme from what she could see.
The vast expanse of the open sea stretched before them as the ship picked up speed, racing through the ocean swells. As the up and down motion of the ship increased, a queasiness welled up inside her, along with the small amount of breakfast she'd eaten at the Fletcher's before she'd left that morning.
Cari rushed to the side rail, leaning out over the passing water below as she vomited her breakfast into the sea. Soon, the food within her was all gone, but the nausea was not and she collapsed to sit beside the rail, afraid to move lest she have to throw up again.
A booted foot shoved a bucket with a rope handle next to her.
"Here you go, Miss," Mr. Bowcott said. "I'd rather you throw up in here than lean over the rail like that. It wouldn't do to lose our only passenger on our first day at sea."
"Thank you, sir."
"No need to call me sir, Miss. I'm no officer. Mr. Bowcott or First Mate will do."
She sat there for a long while, at least four hours, leaning over the bucket on occasion to deal with her protesting but now empty stomach. She felt embarrassed by what she considered a display of weakness on her part.
It was sometime after noon when Percy showed up with a small ceramic cup.
"Miss Dix, drink this."
“I don’t want anything to eat or drink right now, Percy.”
“It will help you feel better, Miss Dix. I promise.”
"What is it?"
"Ginger tea. It is something the cook made for me when I first came aboard. I was seasick something awful in my first days on the ship. This helped a lot though. Don't worry, with the help of the tea, it will pass as you get used to life on board."
Cari doubted she'd ever get used to this, but she took the warm cup of tea and sipped at it, trying not to upset her delicate stomach once more. Surprisingly, her nausea lessened almost right away and soon she was standing at the quarterdeck's front rail again.
She wasn't a hundred percent by any means but she felt better than she did for sure. She'd have to remember to thank Percy when she saw him again, and the cook, too.
Cari sipped at the remainder of the tea determined to finish all of it to get the maximum benefit of the herbal remedy. She decided to see if she could get some more later in the afternoon so she'd be able to eat dinner with the captain in a few hours. Heading below, she searched until she found the galley. A short, squat goblin with a big round belly pushing out from under his shirt stood before a stove. He stirred something in a big pot while he added a pinch of some spice from a bowl on the counter.
"Um, are you the cook? I'm looking for some more of your ginger tea."
The cook answered her without turning around.
"You must be our passenger. Percy's been talking my ear off about you. He's excited to have someone new on board aside from his usual crew mates."
"He seems like a nice boy. Do you have any more tea?"
"Yes, yes," the cook said, still intent on his stewpot. "There's a kettle warming over there. Help yourself. I'll keep some brewing all the time in here as long as you need it. You can help yourself as much as you want."
"Thank you for brewing it."
"Can't have you throwing up my food. It's wasteful and I can't stand waste."
He looked her way for the first time, flashing his pointed teeth in a big grin. His face was covered with blue tattoos, tiny dots forming a complex pattern on either side of his broad, flat nose and circling either eye.
"You don't look like the other goblins I've seen. Are you from a different tribe?"
The cook turned and spat on the floor.
"I ain't no goblin. I'm a grendling, from the north. We're not bound to the land with no sea legs or longing for the sea. We’re not like our goblin cousins to the south."
"Oh, yes, I'm sorry. I didn't know. Perhaps we can start over. Do you have a name, Mr. Grendling?"
He cackled at the name she used for him and waggled a taloned finger in her direction.
"Mr. Grendling. That's a good one. Perhaps you should just call me Cookie or just Cook. That's what the others aboard call me. I don't think you could pronounce my real name."
"Alright, Cook, in that case, you may call me Cari."
She poured a little more tea from the kettle to top off her cup.
"Thanks again for the ginger tea. I'll look forward to whatever it is you're making me and the captain for dinner."
Cookie waved a hand in answer as he took down another covered bowl and pulled out a small root of some kind from which he scraped shavings into the pot with a paring knife.
Cari left him there, grumbling over his work. She decided it would be best to get some rest before dinner. The bout of seasickness had taken a lot out of her and she hoped the nap would refresh her.
Sipping at her tea, Cari returned to her cabin, happy she was on her way to catching up with her friends once again.
Chapter 23
Each day at sea, Cari found she needed the ginger tea less and less, allowing her to spend more time on deck. She started lending assistance where she could, always at the direction of Mr. Bowcott who followed her progress on the tasks he assigned with a steely gaze and sharp criticism if she did something wrong.
"There is no room for halfway or almost on board a vessel at sea. That can mean the difference between survival or being lost at sea with all hands, especially during a storm or sea battle."
/> Cari took the criticism as a challenge to do better, working even harder at her tasks until she could tie off lines or coil hawsers as well as any crew member, man or woman. The hard work paid off on the sixth day at sea when she heard a chime and a new message appeared in her vision.
* * *
New skill learned - Seamanship
* * *
In the evenings, after their dinners together, Cari inquired about how the captain navigated in the open ocean. Where she came from, satellite communications made knowing your location anywhere on the planet a simple thing. Here, she had no idea how they could know anything about where they were.
Captain McShea offered to answer her questions about navigation, along with the disposition of different parts of the Empire he’d visited on his travels as a merchantman. He started off showing her his collection of charts, noting areas with dangerous shoals and regions most likely to be inhabited by raiders, the pirates of the seas around the Empire. She noted how he left hand-written comments on them to remind him of important things to remember when navigating in those waters.
Cari pointed to the area labeled in the captain’s hand with the single word “Raiders.” She noted they skirted around it on the way to Tandon.
"Why do all the raiders seem to congregate in this area, Captain?"
"Two reasons in my estimation. First, it is farthest from the closest Imperial naval base and second, there is an island chain off to the south which most of the raiders call home. In the time of my youth, they used to be a people who valued trade and traveled far and wide all along the coast. They’re fine seamen. That changed about twenty years ago when most of them started taking up piracy as a profession over merchant trading.”
“It is why we don't sail directly to Tandon in a straight line but curve around, taking a great deal more time to get there. To sail directly through would be suicide for a small ship like mine. I don't even think a naval vessel would try the transit unless it was part of a flotilla. I still don’t know why the Imperial navy doesn’t make it a priority. I guess they’re too busy with the war to the east."