Reborn: Demons Return

by D. W. Jackson

  The next few days passed without incident though anytime Ash or Tina left the church they were followed by knights as well as the city guard. Ash knew that the guard was only looking for a chance to grab him but with the knights around that chance never presented itself.

  Soon the day came for them to board the Unity with Jaren, which was located in the east docks. Jaren had sailed with the captain of the Unity who was named Thorn many times over the years and seemed to know the man well. The captain was a believer in the goddess of the harvest and unlike many of the sailors worshipped her over the god of the sea. This was because Thorn had been born to two farmers. When he was just a teen he had left home but he had never forgotten his parents or his heritage and thus the reason that Jaren had a standing job in presiding over the safety of the ship.

  The port area of the town was much different than the rest of the city. It was spaced out farther and was mostly filled with storage buildings. The shops that did exist were tailored toward sailors or ship captains. Most of which were bars and brothels with not the best of merchandise either in ale or women or in some cases boys. The ship was anchored to the second to last pier in the dock. It was a slightly larger ship than those anchored around it and had five masts standing tall in the air. The ship itself was made of a dark purple wood that almost seemed to shine in the sunlight and from the ports on the side of the ship Ash could see large broad tip arrows sticking out from ballista. Thanks to the laws of the god of war gun powder had not been developed so much of warfare was done blade to blade instead of from afar.

  As they approached the long ramp that led up to the deck of the ship a man in his late thirties yelled down at them. “Jaren I didn’t think you were going to make it this trip,” the man yelled loudly. “The boys said that they didn’t see you in any of the shops. I thought that the old priest of yours had finally nailed you down when he learned that most the bastards running around the dock district belonged to you.”

  Jaren coughed awkwardly and looked toward Ash and Tina but when he saw neither of them seem bothered by the news he just gave a slightly strained chuckle. “I don’t think I have that claim. Your first mate easily has twice as many little runts running around than I do. Not to mention none if my church would fault me from sowing my seeds. As long as I tend to them when the weather is harsh which I figure I do by visiting their mothers from time to time with more coin.”

  The man on the ship gave a long and hardy laugh. Ash figured from the way Jaren was speaking to him that he was the captain of the ship Thorn. “Who are your friends? She doesn’t look like the sort that would give you the time of day.”

  “This is my guard for this trip Ash. Trep is taking a break on this journey. The fine young lady next to him is his wife and just a word of warning he isn’t a knight but a reaper so I would warn the boys before any of them have even the slightest wrong idea. I would prefer to reach the next port with a full set off hands and not having to run about pulling on ropes like I did on the trip to Yenfer a couple years back.”

  “A reaper,” Thorn said as he looked at Ash again this time looking at him much closer. After looking at Ash the captain turned his attention to Tina. “Lady I will have a talk with the boys but they are from the cultured kind that a lady of your bearing would seem more at home with. I ask that you give them some leeway but if one does anything you just let me or brother Jaren know and we will see that it is fixed. No need to get your man to go around cutting off heads or scooping out eyes.”

  Tina laughed a light bell like laugh and gave the captain a smile that seemed to steal his breath. “I am sure that your crew will be as gentlemanly as you yourself seem my dear captain.”

  “Dear god I better go speak with the boys,” the captain said after Tina had spoke.

  “Lady if you act like that around these sailors we will be lucky to have a hand left by the time we reach half way to the next port,” Jaren said shaking his head with a thin smile on his face.

  “I am sure that everything will be fine,” Tina said refuting his claims.

  Ash knew what the captain and priest were worried about but there was little he could do about it other than make sure that his sword was visible and that he stayed with Tina as much as possible. Just like Jaren Ash had no desire to have to reach the port with less than a full crew especially since this was his first time aboard a ship and he didn’t know his left from his right when it came to sailing.

  The deck of the ship was far more crowed then it seemed from the ground. The masts took a fair amount of room but it was the ropes that made everything seem like it was crowded. There were ropes everywhere and in the middle of the front and rear deck were large wheels with pegs in them. As they walked to the house like rise in the center of the ship Jaren explained what everything was. The large wheels were for raising the anchors, the ropes were for adjusting the sails. The wheelhouse was directly above the captain quarters and could be reached by the stairs on either side of the deck or from a trapdoor in the roof of the captain’s cabin. Below deck was the storage hold, rooms, chapel, and galley where meals were held. Most of the trip they would spend below deck as it was not advisable to spend much time on deck as it was much busier than one would expect and getting in the sailors way was not advisable.

  Ash and Tina’s room was small and there was no beds. Near the far wall there were two cloth hammocks for sleeping. There was also a truck but it was attached to the floor so that it couldn’t move around while sailing. In fact everything was nailed to the floor or wall in some fashion. “It seems interesting to sleep in a hammock together,” Tina said as she opened up one of the hammocks and put her weight on it causing it to swing backwards.

  “There is barely enough room for one in that thing how do you expect two people to fit?” Ash asked as he looked at Tina in wonder.

  “Very carefully it seems,” Tina said with a bubbling laugh.

  Ash looked at the hammocks which were situated one after the other. Thankfully they were not on top of each other. Opening up one Ash tried to lay down but as soon as he sat down on the cloth it shifted under him dumping him unceremoniously on the floor causing Tina to laugh at him. The next time he was able to get half his body on the hammock before it shifted sending him once again to the floor with a much louder thump this time. After a few more tries Ash was able to climb inside the hammock. Once he was situated he found that it was rather comfortable that was until Tina jumped on top of him knocking the breath out of his lungs. After wiggling around she was able to find a spot that seemed comfortable to her though Ash could feel Tina’s thin elbow digging into his side. After a little more shifting Tina and Ash were able to find spots that allowed both of in the same hammock and while it was as comfortable as before it had its own charm but not one that Ash thought he could deal with for two months.

  Shortly after Ash had situated himself the ship started jerking sending him and Tina swinging back and forth in the hammock. Tina laughed as if it was some sort of game while Ash held on to the sides of the cloth hammock. It took nearly an hour before the swinging motion of the hammock calmed down enough for Ash to loosen his death grip on the cloth edges. While Ash tried to get the blood to flow in his fingers again Tina was breathing calmly as she slept like a baby still in swaddling.

  Unable to move Ash stared at the wood planks above him while he slowly rocked back and forth while listening to Tina’s rhythmic breathing. Though it was still early and he had woken only a handful of hours earlier his eyes started to grow heavy and soon just like Tina he was soon sleeping soundly.

  When he woke later he found himself alone in the hammock with Tina nowhere in sight. Hoping that nothing had happened to her Ash tried to climb out of the hammock but ended up just dumping himself on the floor. Crawling up from the ground he found that his legs were asleep and not listening to his commands really well. Rubbing his legs to get the blood flowing again Ash winced as needle like pain stabbed through his lower body. He hated the feeling of sleeping limbs but i
t was part of being with women. They always wanted to use you as a pillow which ended with numb body parts.

  Once he could move without looking like a toddler Ash left his room and searched below deck for his wife. He first checked the chapel which seemed like a good place to look for a goddess but it was empty. Next Ash checked the galley but only a few sailors and the cook were inside. Thinking it unlikely that she was in the hold or in any of the other sailors’ rooms which were large shared areas Ash was only left with the choice to check on the top deck for Tina.

  Opening the thick door Ash walked onto the hardwood of the deck. Looking around he noticed a dozen if not more sailors moving around as they adjusted the sails and secured ropes. Every so often all the sailors would look toward the front of the ship. Following their gaze Ash saw Tina standing near the rails as she looked out over the water. Smiling Ash walked up behind her while dodging the sailors that were moving around. As he stood beside her he looked out and saw the vast expanse of water stretching out beyond him. No matter how far he looked all he could see was the blue of water. Where the water and sky met it looked as if it just changed shade a little. Turning his head Ash looked at Tina whose eyes were still fixated on the horizon. “Enjoying the view?”

  “It is beautiful,” Tina said without moving her eyes. “Do you know this is the first time I have been on a ship?” Tina asked. “I always came down to meet with farmers and live a simple life. It is rare for my followers to live near the ocean or be interested in ships. I have been on a few boats but this is completely different.” Tina took in a deep breath of the salty air and gave a contented sigh. “There is more water on this planet than land but this water is poison to life. For all the water here you might as well be sitting in the middle of a desert for all the good it would do you. It is the great expanse that separates the continents and harder to cross than any mountain.”

  “I can’t tell if you like or hate the ocean,” Ash said with a soft chuckle.

  “Neither,” Tina answered as she turned her eyes to Ash for the first time since he had joined her on the deck. “Just like most things the ocean has its place in this world and helps to keep the worlds balance. The goddess of the ocean Uren.”

  “I thought Uren was a god?” Ash asked cutting Tina off.

  Tina gave a soft chuckle. “That is because sailors have trouble thinking of her as a woman. She doesn’t really mind though. They believe their ships are women, and that the ocean itself is a woman, but they can’t see Uren as one. She finds it humorous most days. Every now and then she gets in a mood and a few sailors pay for it though,” Tina added with a good natured chuckle. “I remember when she destroyed a small island kingdom when she learned that they believed that she and the goddess of the earth were married.”

  “She destroyed them?” Ash asked slightly surprised that a god would go that far.

  “Yes,” Tina said nodding her head. “The other gods were quite mad at her for some time but since she had just used her natural powers she argue that it was no different that when the god of the wind destroyed a small village with his storms. You have to understand that the goddess of the earth and the goddess of water do not get along at all. You have heard the saying like fire and water well it should be earth and water. The god of fire gets along just fine with Uren. In fact there have been long stretches where they have been married. Until Blaze pisses her off and she spends the next thousand years ignoring him.”

  “Seems like gods, goddesses, and humans aren’t that different,” Ash said with a grin.

  Tina turned on Ash and ran her hand along his chin. “That is where you are wrong. You piss off a mortal wife and she might give you the cold shoulder for a few days or maybe even a weak. You piss off a goddess and she will give it to you for centuries while at the same time never letting you forget where you messed up at.”

  “I see that you two are enjoying the view,” the rough voice of Captain Thorn said from behind the pair. “The ocean is as beautiful as any woman but only half as deadly. She will let you know when trouble is about, and when she takes your life she will hold you in her embrace forever. A woman however will never let you know when a storm is brewing. One day her swells will just break and when she is done she will leave you broken without so much as a kiss to sooth the pain.”

  “Not true captain,” Tina replied with a smile. “Women will always let you know when the storm is about to break as well. It is only that men are often too daft to notice the signs.”

  Thorn laughed and winked at Ash. “Seems like you got a good woman there; pretty, smart, and a temper. Better watch her boy or when she is done she won’t even spit out the bones.”

  “Too late captain he was long ago caught in my web and I have no intention of letting so much as a hair slip out,” Tina said as she grabbed Ash’s arm.

  “It is such a sad thing when a good boy dies so young,” Thorn said with a laugh before walking away.

  “He seems like an interesting man,” Ash said as he walked away.

  “He is a good man though his manners are a little rough,” Tina said with a smile. “A sailor’s life is hard and their manner reflects that. Just like the life of a farmer is reflected in his. What we do shapes us just as we shape the world we live in.”

  “Want to head back below deck and get something to eat?” Ash asked. “Or do you want to stand up here for a bit more and wait for one of the sailors to fall overboard while they are looking at you.”

  “If they fall they have ropes around them so they can be pulled back on-board,” Tina said with a slight grin. “That said I could use something to eat and no matter how beautiful a sight if it doesn’t change it will get boring fast.”

  As they left the deck every eye was on Tina but Ash couldn’t fault the sailors. Tina was beautiful, far more beautiful than anyone he had ever seen before. If she couldn’t grab a man’s attention than no one could.

  14-7

  They were out to see for three days before the first sitting of other ships. As Ash and the others gathered on deck until they could decide whether the ships were friend or foe he talked to Jaren. “It is a little early for pirates but it would not be the first time that they attacked before we passed Lima Port.”

  “Lima port?” Ash asked having never heard the name before.

  “Small Island, and open port to any who wish to dock. A lot of pirates but no one fights near their waters otherwise all hell breaks loose. All the ships there will fight if another ship is attacked no matter who is attacking. It keeps the other kingdoms from targeting them.

  “Are we in their waters?” Ash asked.

  “No, we are still half a day away from where they call their waters. They only guard half a day out from their port. Everything outside of that is fair game. Most pirates wait until you have passed Lima port before attacking so they don’t risk you running to port or worse yet accidentally chasing you into Lima territory and getting sent to the bottom of the ocean because their charts or navigator were slightly off.”

  The man in the crow’s nest called out something but it was too far for Ash to hear what was yelled. Another sailor standing on one of the masts had heard it though and relayed the message. “First ship is flying the duke’s flag, the second ship is flying Harken’s flag.”

  “Crap,” Jaren said as the sailor’s voice reached his ears. Looking at Ash his voice narrowed slightly. “Looks like the duke wants you in a bad way if he is willing to work with Harken.”

  “Who is Harken?” Ash asked having not heard the name before.

  “One of the people who fancy themselves a pirate lord,” Jaren said with obvious distaste in his voice. “He has four ships under his command but two of them are little better than fishing boats but his flag ship is a whale. Even the Unity would be hard pressed to fight her on out on open water. Luckily there is no way the ship behind us is the Intrepid but the duke’s ship is another problem. It isn’t made for fighting but the men won’t be wanting to fight the duke if they can avoid
it. I better speak to the captain to make sure he knows that the duke isn’t out checking shipping permits.”

  Shortly after Jaren left the sailors started yelling to each other. Ash pulled back as they started moving around on deck so that he wouldn’t get in their way. As he moved back near where the wheel of the ship was he heard the captain calling him. Turning around Ash climbed the steps to where the wheelhouse was located though it was hard to call it a house since it was out in the open. “What is it captain?”

  “Jaren tells me the good duke is after us because you and he had some disagreements,” The captain said his voice neither hot nor cold giving Ash no idea to his intent.

  “That is true,” Ash said not planning to hide anything. “He set his eyes on my wife and at the same time was marked by the goddess so I tried for his head. He was able to hide behind his guards and they paid the price for his deeds. When the church verified that he had been marked for reaping by the goddess they were honor bound to let the king know. His time as a duke will come to an end shortly and he blames me for that instead of looking at the failings in his own demeanour.”

  “My parents said that it was impossible for a good man to run afoul of any god much less the goddess who was among the most forgiving. I’ve known men who would stab you in the back the second the opportunity arose and none of them had been marked as far as I know.”

  “I can promise that the duke is far from a good man,” Ash said nodding his head. “I don’t enjoy the duty the goddess has picked for me but I have done it as faithfully as I could. The duke is one I have failed at reaping and the goddess will most likely not be happy that he has escaped her wrath,” Ash said as he thought about Tina telling him to kill the duke over and over.

  “We can’t fight the duke’s ship,” the captain said after a pause. “Harken we can send to the depths but if we fire on the duke’s vessel they can charge us. And many of my men will hand without as much as an outspoken cry for justice. We will have to run.”