RRR V. 2007.3 (Capt. Pye & Co.) — Part 2
RRR = Round-Robin ‘Riting, as every MuseBlogger must know by now.
Continued from Part 1.
Date: May 2, 2007
Categories: Fiction, poetry, and fanfiction, Nonrandom Craziness
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Red-tailed HAWK
in May 2nd, 2007 @ 14:00Wow I really should follow these more. I didn’t even know about this one.
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Alice
in May 2nd, 2007 @ 14:02Thank you!
Here are the last few posts from Part 1.Ren said nothing. He didn’t really understand why it was such a problem, after all, they wouldn’t need him until Tam could no longer work the Orb, and that was sure to be a while from now. But he could see that it was a much larger dilemma than he could comprehend, and he knew better than to ask the Captain why.
Yet he did.
“Why is this such a problem, sir?” Ren asked.
“Well, not to make you feel a little jealous or something, but Tam, unlike you, is more gifted, in some ways, that is. He can have more control of his powers for a longer time. They aren’t as powerful as yours, but he can use them, with the proper training, up to an hour at a time. You can, at the most, only use yours for about a twenty minute period. Your powers are stronger and can cause more damage, but the time difference will certainly make a problem. He will be able to cause just as much, if not more harm than you ever could even with the best training. If he works for them, who knows what could happen.”
It took a moment for Ren to register this. “You’re saying that even though I am Powerful, Tam is even more Powerful?”
“Well, yes,” the captain replied.
“WHat if the two of us are working together? Does that change anything?”
“Yes. Your two strengths will combine, and with the globe, will make you two more powerful than anyone in Sphaere, except for the Unknowables.”
The Unknowables? Ren thought. What are those? Ren wanted to ask, but knew it was not the right time. Perhaps, later he would.
The captain and Ren were quiet for a long time, but Ren finally piped up. He said, in his most confident voice, “We must get Tam back, and we will.”
The Captain sighed. “I admire your confidence, Ren, but it may be too late.”
“What do you mean?”
~~~~~~~
The Unknowables can’t be like gods, or else Ren would have known about them. Unless they’re gods that the emperor has banned.
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Alice
in May 2nd, 2007 @ 14:101- Yeah you did. You posted on part one asking why we needed a new thread, and saying you couldn’t read fast enough to follow RRRs.
I’ll give you a summary if you want to join! *is hopeful*
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Red-tailed HAWK
in May 2nd, 2007 @ 14:18I did? Did it have this title then? I completely forgot
the clueless
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Alice
in May 2nd, 2007 @ 14:30No, it was just called RRR v. 2007.3, and you would have come through the recent comments.
Do you want to join?
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Prarilius Canix
in May 2nd, 2007 @ 17:11*********
Back on the Blood Storm, Vashkar was ecstatic. “This is wonderful news, Tam. I’m glad you saw our- ” He broke off, staring upward at a stormy petrel hovering above the topsail. It uttered a series of harsh croaks, and the stormmaster’s expression changed.
“They have another person with fire talent aboard the Sea Roc. Well, we can turn that to our advantage. Contact this person and tell him that you are being held captive aboard the Blood Storm at the Free Isle of Kievl. We’ll trap them there.”
“Contact him, sir?” Tam said.
“Through fire scrying. Like you did a few hours ago, before you passed out. Surely you know how?”
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Purple Panda
in May 2nd, 2007 @ 17:13We should probably write a summary for people who want to join…since we got a new thread.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in May 2nd, 2007 @ 18:46THANK YOU GAPAS!
6-Come up with a better word than “scrying”, if you can. It is tooEragoncliche of a word(just a suggestion.)
2-I know they can’t be like gods, but I love your idea about them being banned gods. Maybe if we continue this story after this first part, then Ren can find out what the Unknowables are, you know for a sequel. And Ren did pipe up. He did not “perk up.” He did speak, though.Tam did not want to say know. He hadd no idea how Ren and him had contacted each other before. Tam did not want to get the old man angry, though, so he said, “Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Very good,” said Rake, and with that he walked away, leaving Tam to try and contact Ren by himself. He went down to his cabin, feeling sick.
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Alice
in May 2nd, 2007 @ 19:208- Yeah, but earlier Captain Pye “piped up”. Anyway, who cares? I didn’t know you hated Eragon too. Interesting.
7- I’ll double post, so I can write a summary that will show up in the recent comments.
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Alice
in May 2nd, 2007 @ 19:38ANYONE WHO WOULD LIKE TO JOIN AN RRR! Here’s a summary:
Ren Splayr’s last remaining relative was killed by the Emperor Sanguinus IX for writing an unfavorable article about the Emperor. Ren was planning to stow away, but instead he was captured by Captain Octavio “Krakeneater” Pye, aboard the pirate ship the Sea Roc. Aboard the ship Ren learned that he had fire power, a very rare kind of magic, and was therefore wanted by the Sanguiz Empire not only for associating with his uncle (the one who wrote the article), but also to work a magical object known as the Orb of Centaur. Meanwhile, Tam Eizid, the only other person in all of Sphaere that has fire power, and who was the midshipman on board the Sea Roc (Ren is powder monkey), was washed off the ship by a manmade storm , right to the Blood Storm, the Emperor’s flagship and the ship that owns the Orb. There Tam is asked to work the Orb, and he asks for time to think about it. He meets Tera, the emperor’s fourth child, who is the same age as him and a total snob.
Ren goes to a place called Lithuslov, one of the Free Isles (free from the tyranny of the Empire, that is) and finds out that he can set himself on fire. The Pukises (little dragon/cats) are attracted to him, and he befriends a flame-blue one named Alexis. He contacts Tam through a mysterious burnt goo, and discovers that tam has been told about his powers.
Unbeknownst to the Captain or Ren, Tam agrees to work the Orb. The Captain, having learned that Tam knows about his powers, gets all worried about it.
You can read the rest so far from the top of this thread.Whew.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in May 2nd, 2007 @ 22:309-I like Eragon. I thought it was wonderfully written. He had lots of plot twists, too, and surprises, which I loved. But the plot line seemed really cliche an over-used. However, depending on who you talk to, experts will say there are either 7. 42. or 112 plot lines or something like that.
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Alice
in May 3rd, 2007 @ 11:12Did anyone here know that “scry” isn’t actually a word? There’s descry, but not scry. Somebody somewhere once upon a time must have thought there was, and used it in a book, and it’s kind of passed into fantasy language. Scrying glasses, and everything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tam sat down on his bunk. This was the worst thing that had ever happened to him. Well, maybe not the worst… He shook his head sharply to clear that thought away and turned his, mind to something else. It had been a mistake to agree to the terms of the stormmaster. He could see that now. And yet, he still wanted that lovely high-up position. He had better try the fire scrying. Tam rolled onto his stomach and tried to remember what he had been thinking about when he had gone into a trance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I think Tam should be somehow connected to the Unknowables. They could be evil, and made his previous life miserable, or they could misunderstand humans and therefore made his life miserable, or they could have been the one ray of sunshine in a miserable life.
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Alice
in May 3rd, 2007 @ 14:33Red-tailed HAWK, on looking back, I see you posted on this once before. A story-content post, that is. You said that the wind was coming from the south, just before the storm hit.
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Prarilius Canix
in May 3rd, 2007 @ 21:42As Tam concentrated, he began to feel strangely hot around his extremities. I wonder if I’m getting a fever, he thought. Then he realized that, whatever was happening, it was not normal.
There was a loud, muffled fump, as though an alchemical cannon had gone off behind heavy doors. A small ball of white-hot flame hit the floor in front of him. At first, it was nebulous, flinging out small shreds of fire. Tam concentrated, willing it to help him contact Ren. To his surprise, it did, shrinking to a pinprick before vanishing in a burst of light that momentarily blinded him.
As Tam blinked away dazzling sunbursts of color, he saw that he was in the mysterious gray space that he had been in once before. Ren was standing in front of him, wearing a startled expression.
Tam quickly gabbled out what he was supposed to say. “I’m on the Blood Storm, berthed at the Isle of Kievl. Tell Captain Pye to send help- or, better yet, come himself!”
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Alice
in May 3rd, 2007 @ 22:25Ren passed on the message, along with the fact that Tam had looked rather surprised and scared, spoken quickly, and broke contact as soon as he had finished talking, or sooner.
Captain Pye gnawed another kraken tentacle- unless it was the same one, Ren couldn’t be sure and didn’t know how tough kraken tentacles were- and thought about this.
~~~~~
I’m scared for them. No, really.
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Prarilius Canix
in May 4th, 2007 @ 16:4615- I love setting traps for the good guys in books.
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Alice
in May 4th, 2007 @ 18:1116- Really? I don’t especially, but they have to go.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in May 4th, 2007 @ 18:2416-Me too.
12-I think the Unknowables should be extremely powerful creatures that no one is supposed to know about, and since they were banished from the Sanguiz Empire, they misunderstand humans, and did not treat Tam well, no matter how uch he tried to make peace with them.
Can’t think of anything right now, but I will try.
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Alice
in May 4th, 2007 @ 19:12Finally he heaved a great sigh and stood up. “We must rescue Tam. But I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
“Why?” asked Ren, hoping that the Captain would not ignore this like his last question. He didn’t. Quite.
“I don’t know, boy, I don’t know. It just…” he trailed off. Ren waited patiently for five long minutes before Pye spoke again. “Tam’s an odd one, and I don’t understand him. Certainly not when I can’t look him in the face.” And having delivered that uninformative and puzzling message, he left the cabin.
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Cat's Meow
in May 4th, 2007 @ 22:14I am really really really REALLY sorry. I couldn’t get on the computer for 3 days and then I forgot to check in with the MBers when I got back. I’m afraid that kind of sort of forgot.
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Cat's Meow
in May 5th, 2007 @ 19:08Can somebody catch me up on what’s going on?
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Alice
in May 6th, 2007 @ 01:1821- Where did you leave off?
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Alice
in May 6th, 2007 @ 11:18Okay, I found your last post, which was with Ren, Alexis, and Captain Pye in the cabin talking about how Marmalade might burn down the ship. Since then, Ren found that he could contact Tam (but he doesn’t know how it works) through a thing called fire scrying. When he contacted Tam, he learned that Tam knew that Tam had fire powers. Ren told Captain Pye, who got really worried. The rest can be read from the top of this thread.
Donaldo and PC, your fire scrying descriptions are contradictory.
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Horseback Saddle
in May 6th, 2007 @ 12:0523-I don’t really care. We can change the fire scrying descriptions to one or the other. Or we could use both of them-Tam and Ren do have slightly different powers
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Alice
in May 6th, 2007 @ 14:0824- Yeah. Or it could be because Tam was initiating the scrying and Ren was on the receiving end.
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Alice
in May 6th, 2007 @ 16:20Fine. I’ll post if no one else is inspired. Just one question before I launch into the story. Who is Horseback Saddle?
Three days later they reached the Isle of Keivl. The Captain was unnaturally edgy, and Ren was nervous too. He had tried to contact Tam, but the older boy hadn’t spoken to him, and had cut off the scrying as quickly as he could.
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Alice
in May 7th, 2007 @ 19:01Where is everyone?
?????
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E2MB
in May 8th, 2007 @ 16:33Dunno.
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Alice
in May 8th, 2007 @ 18:06You wanna write? I wrote a summary, if you want to read it.
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Alice
in May 8th, 2007 @ 23:42Eyeargh. This sucks. No one is here/inspired. I could write more, but I wrote the last 3 story-posts, so it doesn’t seem right.
I’m going to go read Lady Friday now.
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THe Dylanman
in May 9th, 2007 @ 13:38Ok, Muse. No more funny business. It’s time to get serious about some of the genders of the muses.
1. BO!?! Bo’s a bull, right? So why does Bo have an udder? Does muse just have good censorship, or do they know the difference between a male and female cow/bull?
2. PWT?!? Pwt has long hair, but then again, I’m a guy with hair down to my shoulders. Pwt also wears a skirt, but it could just be the bottom half of robes which are manly, too. And that necklace-thingy? That totally makes me confused.
3. MIMI?!? Sounds like a girly name, but is it? Mimi…. Well, the clothes aren’t very obvious.
4. KOKOPELLI?!? Actually, I know this is a guy. HINT HINT: All the other muses refer to Koko with words like ‘him’ or ‘he’.
5. URANIA?!? Well, I guess Urania’s a girl. Mostly because of that ponytail.
6. FEATHER?!? Feather is actually kinda man-ish. So I guess Feather’s a guy.
7. CRRAW?!? Hmmm. Well, they never really mention what gender Crraw is when Pwt yells. I’d say boy.
8. AEIOU!?! Definitely girl. Oh, and I just realized her name is all the vowels. Except that “Sometimes Y” rule.
9. CHAD?!? Actually, Chad’s a guy. What kind of a girl name would Chad be?
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Alice
in May 9th, 2007 @ 13:47I’m going to use this thread to world- and character-build. But not right now. Later.
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Alice
in May 9th, 2007 @ 15:3831- You’re a newbie, aren’t you. That sort of thing is usually put on a different thread. This is an RRR, which stands for Round Robin Riting, and this particular one is about pirates. You can read a summary in post 10, if you’d like to join, and an explanation of RRRs in the welcome thread. Oh, and Bo is a girl.
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Fourth Demension
in May 9th, 2007 @ 18:44I’m really sorry that I haven’t been here. =/
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Cat's Meow
in May 9th, 2007 @ 18:4834-Who are you?
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Alice
in May 9th, 2007 @ 18:4935- You. I think.
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Cat's Meow
in May 9th, 2007 @ 18:5436-Yup.
I made that stupid mistake. Oh well.
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Alice
in May 10th, 2007 @ 16:57I’m going to world- and character-build now! I’ll start with spells, since they need the most working out…
Flamulo Podias
Used by Ren. It sets his feet on fire to enable him to run faster. Unfortunately he doesn’t know that, and therefore used up his time watching the fire and became susceptible. It lasts for about ten minutes before it starts to burn him.Flamulo Helioso
Used by Ren. It sets his arms on fire, enabling him to fly. Lasts about ten minutes before the magic is gone and it burns.Fire Scrying
Used by both boys. It makes them go into a trance, during which able to speak with each other on a gray ship. However, the way they see it is somewhat different. Tam sees a bright burst of fire that disappears to leave him on the ship, and Ren sees a little fire that burns out into a gray ashy goo that seems to pull him in through lots of images and leaves him on the gray ship. Neither boy is on the ship in body, though they speak out loud, thus enabling anyone around them to hear a one-sided conversation.
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E2MB
in May 11th, 2007 @ 12:5028 – All right, I’ll see if I can write something.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was unusual for Tam to refuse communication with him.
The ship landed safely, but the captain was still worried.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, that sucks, I know. All I did was read the summary and spead-read this thread.
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Alice
in May 11th, 2007 @ 13:5239- Okay, that works. Thanks!
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E2MB
in May 11th, 2007 @ 14:01Since I’m new at this RRR, I didn’t want to mess things up too much.
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Alice
in May 14th, 2007 @ 17:03Someone! Help! Please! Anyone! Well, almost anyone . . . Anyone who is willing to read the summary and all of this thread.
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Alice
in May 16th, 2007 @ 12:45We can do better than this! Come ON! I know that is physically possible to finish an RRR, so there’s no excuse for this dreadful inactivity.
Like my pep talk?
~~~~~~~~~~
Ren stood on deck, watching the jolly boats being lowered into the water. The Isle of Keivl was another of those “uninhabited” isles, but, in contrast to Lithuslov, it was practically uninhabited. There were a few tiny villages, and a port about half the size of Pukislyn, but nothing really big.
~~~~~~~~~~
Hope you can do something with that.
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Alice
in May 17th, 2007 @ 23:23This is pathetic. PA-THE-TIC. Someone write something already! Even if you’re not inspired, surely you can squeeze out something remotely resembling a story.
Where is Donaldo? Cat’s Meow? PC? I know you’re around.
Please, someone!
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Alice
in May 18th, 2007 @ 11:59Tam felt a surge of guilt as he saw the Sea Roc come into harbor. He had tried to minimize the guilt and anxiety by not speaking to Ren, half-hoping that if he refused communication Ren would know it was a trap. But it hadn’t worked, as was clear from the trusting way Ren tried to contact. “We’ll rescue you, Tam,” he had said only an hour or so ago. “Don’t worry.”
“Oh, forget it,” Tam told himself now. “It’s not as though you owe them anything. Any rate, you have to take the chance you get.” He was beginning to wish he wasn’t the bait, that he could go down into his cabin and curl up on the bunk and not come out until they were very far away. But that wasn’t going to happen, was it?
~~~~~~~~
Please, please nobody kill them.
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Prarilius Canix
in May 18th, 2007 @ 16:27I’m sorry, I’m just not inspired! I’ve been through a really tough day (Three HUGE tests in a row) and my imagination is legally and medically dead.
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Alice
in May 18th, 2007 @ 16:36It’s alright, as long as you haven’t clean forgotten about it.
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Donaldo the supercoolio nerd
in May 18th, 2007 @ 21:2024-Who are you? What are you doing on this thread?
I AM SO SORRY I HAVE NOT POSTED IN A WHILE. WE NEED TO POST PEOPLE. I SWEAR I DID NOT FORGET ABOUT IT!!!!
Here is my post:
The pirates on the Sea Roc brought it into the harbor and hung it into the shore. They let down the jolly boats and started making there way towards shore. Tam, nearly shaking, put his hands behind the back, sending the first signal: Get ready.
The crewmembers of the Sea Roc were on the shore now, getting out of their boats, and looking around at the island. Tam jumped up: Weapon set. Captain Pye told the crew to stay there, and he and Ren walked towards Tam nervously, as if they were expecting something to jump out at them. How right they are, Tam thought.
Captain Pye and Ren were only about three feet away from him now. He lifted up his hands, causing looks of confusion on the captain’s face, and dropped them: ATTACK! was the signal.
A loud cry from the woods, and then more yells, and then pirates came running at Ren. One advanced very quickly towards Ren, swung his wooden stick, and heard Tam yell, and Captain Pye yell, “Retreat to the east!” and then everything went black.
When Ren woke up, Captain Pye and Tam looked over him, worry knit in their eyebrows.( I love that phrase!) Captain Pye was the first to speak, ‘We were able to keep you and Tam safe,” he said, “but they took our ships and killed twelve of our thirty men.”
“I’m sorry, Ren,” Tam said sadly.
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Alice
in May 18th, 2007 @ 21:51“Oh, right,” said Ren bitterly. “I sure believe that. You could have at least hinted it was a trap, if you were too scared-” he spat the word out as though it were a wind-beetle- “to actually say outright.”
“I did!” cried Tam. “Why do you think I wouldn’t talk?”
“Boys,” said Captain Pye, breaking up what might have become a verbal fight, if not a physical one. “You can quarrel later, right now we have to think about escaping.”
“Escaping? You mean we’re prisoners?”
“Yes. But at least we’re not dead,” said Captain Pye.
“Where are we?” asked Ren, raising himself up on his elbows to look around. They were in a rough cabin, with two hard beds, one of which Ren was laying on, and nothing else.
“We’re on the Isle of Keivl, in a stockade guarded by twenty-five warriors. We have to think of an escape plan.”
“Not me,” said Tam quietly. “I already made my choice. I’m going to work the Orb of Centaur for them. You could too, Ren. We could work it together, and live in the utmost comfort. It would be a wonderful life.” He looked hopeful, until Ren shook his head.
“Have you any idea what the Orb does to you, Tam? It’ll kill you if you work it!”
~~~~~~~~
Long post, eh? And a tad cliche, but who cares!
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Prarilius Canix
in May 19th, 2007 @ 12:4148- The people who set the trap aren’t pirates. They’re the navy.
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Prarilius Canix
in May 19th, 2007 @ 14:18Ren sat up and looked around. Most of the crew-members he’d met were still there. Vushtek di Fundermuult was lying on the ground, barely conscious, with a bloody rag wrapped around his arm. Niria Tolmark was hunched over in the corner, face buried in her hands, body shaking with sobs. Tzil Azuro was just coming round, staggering to his feet.
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Prarilius Canix
in May 19th, 2007 @ 14:31Tzil’s eyes rolled wildly, then focused on Tam. “You!” he roared. “Traitor!”
Ignoring Captain Pye’s alarmed cry, he snatched up a blazing phlogiston lamp from its alcove in the wall and hurled it straight at Tam’s chest.
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Alice
in May 19th, 2007 @ 14:41Oh, great.
~~~~~~~~
Tam ducked, but although it missed his chest, it caught his hair on fire.
~~~~~~~~
He can die, or he can live. I don’t much care especially, though I’d rather he live, and continue being a traitor. He has a history that I would like to develop.
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Prarilius Canix
in May 19th, 2007 @ 17:2753- I want Tam to live, but this will create conflict. Tzil will probably storm out in a rage, and either get tragically killed or seem to be tragically killed and then turn up later to save everyone’s butt.
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Alice
in May 19th, 2007 @ 17:43Yeah, that sounds good, except that due to the fact that their imprisoned and guarded, he can’t just storm out. Which is where the tragically killed part comes in, I suppose.
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Alice
in May 20th, 2007 @ 09:51I’m going to post the whole story so far. I’ve been rearranging bits that don’t fit and correcting spelling and grammar.
the word count is 11634. Hope it fits.
~~~~~~~~~~
The Inner Sea had formed hundreds of years before, when the lowland flats in the center of Sphaere had been deluged constantly as the Age of Ice ended and the great glaciers melted. Now, the only land surface of Sphaere is the mountains around its shores.
The Sanguiz Empire soon took advantage of the confusion caused by the Deluge to expand its territory from the handful of states it once commanded. As our story opens, all of Sphaere is under its iron grip.
That is, almost all.
Hardy bands of seafarers, disgusted with the decadence and corruption that infects Sphaere, have taken to the Inner Sea and the scattering of lawless isles in its center. They raid the prosperous, Empire-sanctioned merchant ships that cross the Sea and bamboozle the incompetent navy.
One ship in particular is notable among these: The Sea Roc.Ren Splayr dashed down the narrow alley, the loose soles of his sandals flapping on its damp bricks. The whistles of the soldiers weren’t far behind. Ren hoped he could get to the seafront before they caught him and he went the same way as his uncle. Perlan Ethor, Ren’s only remaining family, had taken him in when his mother died and his father disappeared. Now Perlan was gone too, shot by the captain of the guard for writing an article about corruption in the Sanguiz Empire. Funny how a few strokes of ink in the Hermetopolis Gazette could translate into a puff of alchemical smoke, a flying musket ball, and death. Ren was wanted too, simply for knowing Perlan and “possible aiding and abetting propaganda against our glorious Emperor Sanguinus IX.”
Ren’s only hope was to stow away aboard a merchant ship bound for the opposite side of Sphaere, all the way across the Inner Sea.
“Where are you running to, boy?” said a gruff voice, and Ren looked up into the eyes of a man. Probably a sailor of high rank, to judge by his clothes. Maybe even a captain. He wore a very large and ridiculous three-cornered hat. In spite of his present state, Ren wanted to laugh, but there was no time. He dodged the man, and sped off down the alley again.
Octavio Pye watched the boy go. He automatically sized him up. Limber, agile, small for his age of maybe fourteen… he would be a good powder monkey. Why was he in such a hurry?
A bunch of officious-looking people in the uniforms of Imperial soldiers rushed down the alley after the boy. Octavio was experienced at looking as though he had no idea what was going on. The guards didn’t question him.
So the boy is in trouble with the Sanguiz Empire, Octavio mused. I think he won’t refuse a job aboard the Sea Roc.
He turned and took one of the many shortcuts he knew to the harbor.
Ren ran on, his heart pounding in his chest, his breath coming ragged. He reached the harbor, and looked wildly from side to side for a place to hide. The soldiers were gaining, and there was nowhere to go.
Nowhere except the stinking black water of the harbor.
One of the soldiers, a lean, athletic one, pulled ahead, raising his musket to his shoulder. Ren leaped into the sea, hearing the bullet whiz over his head.
With a loud sploosh, the water closed over him. He fought to get to the surface, flailing wildly. When he reached it, though, he almost wished he hadn’t. Three soldiers were pointing guns at him, and looked like they intended to use them.
There were three loud cracks, and Ren cringed, expecting to feel the bullets smashing into his chest. But they didn’t. He looked up to see the soldiers clutching their injured hands, their unfired muskets on the ground beside them.
What happened? thought Ren. The soldiers were pushed out of the way as a man with a long beard and a green robe pulled him out of the water with a grip as strong as a lion’s. The man, judging by his appearance was an alchemist, maybe a doctor. “Come on! We must hurry! These soldiers will wake up and call for reinforcement very soon.” Ren had no choice but to follow the alchemist through the crowds of people, hoping that wherever he was going, it was somewhere safe.
The alchemist stopped in front of a small three-masted ship moored at an out-of-the-way corner of the dock.
“Vushtek!” came a cry from on board. “You found him!”
“Yes, and I’m being pursued. Let me up, quick!”
A head poked over the rail. It was the man from the alley. “If they catch up to you, they’ll be sorry they messed with the crew of Octavio Pye. Tzil? Niria? I need a wind.”
Ren dimly noticed a man in blue and white clothing raising a hand, and a strong breeze blowing across the waterfront. A weatherweaver, he thought, but he wasn’t surprised. His head was still reeling from hearing the name of Octavio Pye. Octavio Pye! The dreaded Captain Krakeneater of the pirate ship Sea Roc!!
When Ren came to, he was lying on a berth in a ship that rolled alarmingly beneath him. It took him a few minutes to remember where he was and what had happened, and he would have gladly slipped back into unconsciousness and forgotten all about it again. He groaned, and almost wished that the soldiers had caught him. What they would do to him couldn’t be much worse than what was going to happen to him now, he thought. But then again, he was still alive, and he wouldn’t be if the pirates hadn’t saved him.
The door opened and a boy came in. He was perhaps two years older than Ren and carrying a pile of clothes. “You’re awake,” he said with obvious surprise.
“Yes.” And I wish I wasn’t, he added silently.
“I brought you some dry clothes,” said the older boy. “And when you’re dressed, Captain Pye would like a word with you.” And he left.
Ren slowly dressed into the brown corduroy shirt and maroon panties the boy had brought him. He stumbled out of the cabin and onto the main deck of the ship. All around him, pirates were pulling ropes, swabbing the decks, or playing cards. Over in a corner, the boy who had brought him the clothes silently scrubbed the wooden deck, every once in a while being kicked by a man in a long cerulean robe and striped pantaloon. Ren walked over to the side of the ship and looked out into the cool, clear waters. The splash of the waves that hit the ship and the caw of the seagulls all seemed to mock him. I wish I were back home in Hermetopolis, thought Ren.
“Ah, there you are,” said a voice.
Ren spun around and found himself face to face with Octavio Pye. “I want to get off,” he said flatly.
“I think we had better talk about this in my cabin,” said the captain, and steered Ren down below.
“I want to get off,” Ren repeated when they were in the captain’s cabin. “I want to go home.”
“You have no home, if I am correct in my guessing. In Hermetopolis, you were on the run from the law. You were about to be killed.”
Ren could not deny this, though he wanted to.
“I need a powder monkey,” continued Captain Pye. “You need safety. Is it a deal?”
Ren closed his eyes, and nearly shook his head, when the full truth came home to him. He paused, reliving the moment of his uncle’s death. He opened his eyes.
“It’s a deal.”
“Good, then. Report to me tomorrow morning at 5:45 sharp. I will give you your duties then. For today, explore the ship! Learn everything you can today, because starting tomorrow, if you fail, you will be punished.”
Ren gulped. What kind of punishments? he thought. He’d heard of pirates and how they hurt and killed their prisoners. They’d walk the planks, get flogged, or even be shot! Ren was not sure if he was considered a prisoner, but after seeing the way that cabin boy was treated on the deck, Ren knew that Captain Pye was harsh on punishments.
“Aye aye, sir…er, captain,” Ren quickly said. He spun around, and ran back out to the main deck, trying to get as far away from Captain Pye as possible.
“Boy!” said Captain Pye.
Ren stopped, terrified, and turned around. “Yes, sir?”
“Are you frightened of me?”
“Yes, sir,” said Ren woodenly.
“You needn’t be.”
“Yes, sir.”
“STOP!” bellowed Octavio Pye. “Stop saying that!”
“Ye- alright, sir.”
The captain put his head in his hands and sighed. Then he took off his hat, and Ren saw that he was completely bald, though he couldn’t have been fifty yet. “Why are you frightened?”
“You’re a pirate, sir. You just told me you’d punish me, and I saw the cabin boy being beaten just now-”
“What!”
“He was being beaten, sir, while he scrubbed the deck.”
“I know for a fact that the cabin boy is asleep in the bows at this very moment.”
“No, he’s not.” Somehow Ren couldn’t stop himself, he knew he was talking back to a pirate captain, but he was so frightened he didn’t even care.
The captain took no notice, but replaced his hat and rushed onto the deck. Ren sat with wobbly knees and a stomach turned to jelly, and wished that none of it had ever happened.
The boy worried him. He was brave, that was for sure. But he was prideful and bold. Still, that wasn’t what was bothering me. The Captain couldn’t place his finger on it.
Suddenly, it hit him. The boy had no knowledge of his powers. That he was the sole key to the galaxy’s greatest treasures! This means he had no idea his father was Rifle Ryan, one of the most feared pirates in all of Sphaere! Oh no! He had to think about this. He went over and sat down on a barrel. And what of Tam Eizid, the midshipman? Did he know his powers? Ay ay ay! What to do when you have two of the most powerful people in the known universe, and they don’t even realize it?
Captain Pye walked over to where Tam Eizid was scrubbing the deck.
“What are you doing?” he asked, though he knew perfectly well. “This is the cabin boy’s job.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The cabin boy is getting positively lazy. I haven’t seen him working once this week, but all his jobs are getting done. I was beginning to think we had a fairy aboard. But no, it’s you, isn’t it?”
Tam nodded miserably.
“You go and attend to your own duties. And wake Arnold while you’re at it. Where’s that new boy?”
Ren wandered about waiting for something to happen so he could stop waiting for nothing. As he walked, a small figure (if you could call it that) rushed across the deck. It resembled a small, winged dragon with ivory scales and golden pinions. It made a noise similar to a caterwaul, then transformed into a skinny, cream-furred kitten that dashed around the corner of a cabin and out of sight.
A Pukis! thought Ren. One of the fiercely protective dragon-cats from the Free Island of Lithuslov!
But what was a Pukis doing here aboard the Sea Roc? He followed the Pukis around the corner, and then through a corridor, but it was gone. Ren looked around and then saw a flash of ivory scales and followed the Pukis through a small trapdoor halfway covered by a barrel of apples. Without thinking, Ren hopped down through the hole in the floor and found Captain Pye leaning over a desk. The Pukis flew up onto the pirate’s shoulder and perched itself there, before transforming back into a kitten.
“Well, hi there, Marmalade! How’s it going? Is everyone behaving?” the captain asked the Pukis.
Marmalade purred and pointed towards Ren.
The captain turned around in his chair to see what Marmalade was gesturing towards. When he saw Ren, his face grew red with anger, and then his face turned back to its normal pigment, as he calmed down and grew a calm, almost embarrassed, expression.
“Well, you’ve found my treasure hut. I guess you’ll be questioning me from now on unless I tell you. So sit down, and I will tell you all,” said Captain Pye, gesturing towards a small stool in the corner.
Ren did not understand a single thing that was going on, so, seeing as he had no other choice, pulled the stool over towards the captain and sat down.
“Now,” began the captain,” I will tell you all…”
Ren sat uncomfortably on the wooden stool. The wood was poorly cut, and had severe water damage. When he shifted his position on the stool, a faint creaking sound emerged from the legs. There were four of them, and they were quite thin and taking on a green tinge. Ren sat on his hands, as he usually does when he is uncomfortable, but vetoed that idea soon after he tried it, as the wood was so rough. Little splinters of wood stuck to his hands, and he tried to inconspicuously pick the slivers out of his skin. Captain Pye looked at him strangely, so he put his hands in his lap and focused all of his attention on the Captain.
“…about our plan,” the captain finished. “We’ve been collecting treasure of all kinds from merchant ships, naval ships, and even those two-timing privateers. Eventually, we hope to get enough so that we can set ourselves up in society as respectable people. Then-” he grinned sardonically- “we can stop bringing society down from the outside, and start bringing society down from the inside. Sanguiz IX won’t last forever, and he has twelve children. The eldest ones are triplets. While they’re fighting over the throne, we can probably carve out a good-sized chunk of Sphaere for ourselves, where people can live without being bled dry by taxes or getting shot for speaking the truth. Money always helps- bribing public officials can get you anywhere if the price is high enough. And then, when we’ve got a proper country-colony-whatchacallit, with its own army and Alchemist Corps, we’ll take over Sphaere, and hand it over to the people.”
“So you’re like good pirates, then, right?” Ren asked timidly.
“Well, sort of. We attack people for goods, but usually it is the rich we attack, and we give half of what we got to the poor. Sometimes,” at this the captain stopped for a while, staring down at the floor. “Sometimes, we do have to kill people, though. It is only because they stand in our way.” But this was enough emotional content for the pirate at that moment, for he soon piped up, and told Ren to follow him into his cabin.
At the cabin, Captain Pye started looking in his numerous dressers and drawers, and under papers around his desk. Finally, he found what he was looking for and exclaimed,†Here we are!”
He pulled out a golden sphere, with all of the known lands in Sphaere on it. From inside, Ren noticed, came a faint red glow. The golden globe made Ren shiver. It seemed as if a whole power came from inside the sphere, and it beckoned for Ren to use the power.
“Inside this globe, know as the Orb of Centaur, is a power stronger than every military member of the Sanguiz Empire Army, combined,” said the captain. “There are only two people who can control it. And now, I have both of them on my ship.”
“Who?” asked Ren, unsure if he really wanted to know.
“Well, one of them is Tam Eizid. The boy you saw being beaten, who is not, in fact, the cabin boy, but the midshipman. He feels rather sorry for the crew, I’m afraid, and seems to have made a habit out of doing other people’s work. The other one…” he paused. “Well, the other one is you.”
Ren was too stunned to answer. Captain Pye continued. “There are four essential elements in Sphaere, and talented people can work with any of them. Alchemists work with earth. They are very common; in fact people who do not have alchemical talent are rare. Stormmaster is a generic term for weatherweavers, who work air, and waveworkers, who work water. The fourth class is so rare that it doesn’t even have a name. They work with fire. You and Tam are of that kind.”
He picked up the orb again. “This, of course, isn’t the real orb, just a replica made alchemically from our best knowledge of its appearance. The real orb is in a steel strongbox in a locked compartment aboard the 200-gun flagship of the Sanguiz Navy, the Blood Storm.”
“Oh,” said Ren, wondering what that odd mix of disappointment and elation and shock was called, if it even had a name. “Does the other boy know? Tam?”
“Actually, I strongly suspect Tam may be a girl.”
Ren sat down heavily on the floor of the cabin and winced.
“Sorry, Ren,” said Octavio Pye, smiling a little bit, as he helped Ren up off the floor.
Ren grabbed Pye’s large, calloused hand and stood up, putting all of his weight on Pye’s arm. The Captain walked out of the cabin, and Ren followed, hearing the wood groan beneath his feet. Ren walked over to the edge of the boat and looked down at the water splashing against the side of the boat. Captain Pye was pacing near the door of his cabin. Ren looked closely at his hat – The Captain was famous for his large tricorn hat. Ren looked back out on the water, and saw that it was turning a darker color. Little ripples began appearing on the surface of the navy water, and Ren knew a storm was coming. He walked over to the Captain to tell him about the weather, but it seemed that Pye already knew. His head was tilted slightly upward, and his nose was working over-time trying to figure out where the storm was coming from, and where it was headed. Captain Pye’s strongest sense was his nose, at least when it came to detecting storms.
Captain Pye stared at Ren. He pulled on the brim of his hat. He sniffed again. And then he said those terrible words, “It’s coming from the South.â€
“Tzil! Niria! I need you on deck!” bellowed the Captain. “We have to quell the storm!”
A man in blue and white clothing rushed up to them, followed by a young woman of about 20 years. “We’ll do our best, Captain,” said the woman, “but there’s something wrong about these waves…”
Tzil licked his finger and raised it up. Small strands of lightning seemed to crackle across the tip. “Niria’s right,” he said urgently. “This is a made storm.”
“Can you quell it?” the captain asked.
“Well… together, Niria and I are a match for any lone stormmaster on the Inner Sea, but this one must have been sent by a confederation of twenty, possibly more. We need to find a safe harbor, and fast.”
The captain considered for a moment, and then began barking orders. “All sails up, crew! Niria, make sure the waves don’t swamp us. Tzil, keep the wind to a moderate level so the canvas doesn’t burst. We’re going to ride this storm out until we can reach the isle of Lithuslov.”
Ren stood still as confusion immediately fell upon the ship, and the crew ran every-which-way, not sure what they were supposed to be doing. He wondered where Lithuslov was.
Then he had an idea. He ran up to the captain. “Sir, could I help the weatherweavers? You said I had talent.”
“Not that kind. Fire talent. Ask them.”
Ren trotted up to Tzil and Niria, standing with closed eyes in the middle of the hustle and bustle. “Could I help?” he asked, reluctant to disturb them.
Niria opened her eyes. She closed them, and opened them again. “Tzil. Look!” she said softly. Tzil opened his eyes.
“Did you just ask if you could help?”
Ren nodded. “Can I?”
“Not with this, but you have power.” And he closed his eyes again. Niria shrugged at Ren and went back to muttering spells.
Ren stood on the swaying deck, wishing he could be happy about having power, but knowing it was no good.
The storm blew out of the south with unbelievable fury and suddenness. Massive towers of cloud piled up in the sky, crowned by lightning. A colossal wave rode the sea before it, driven by the mad wind. The Sea Roc was lifted up by the wave and flung through the air like a toy. Tzil and Niria rose into the air, wreathed in glittering chains of electricity. Ren managed to grab hold of a bulwark and prevent himself from being swept away. Tam Eizid was not so lucky. The midshipman was smashed off the deck by a freezing, gray plume of water. Several seabirds rode its crest, screaming triumphantly.
“Stormy petrels,” Captain Pye muttered. Then he shouted, “Throw Tam a line!” Another wave broke over the deck, making him cough and splutter. He knew the chances of saving Tam were virtually nil, but he had to try.
“It’s no good, Captain,” Tzil said. His voice rang like a bell through the clamor of the storm, even though he didn’t raise his voice. “I recognized those petrels. One of them had a scar above its eye.”
“How does a petrel get a scar like that??”
“I put it there. Those aren’t petrels, they’re wave spirits, and they’re in the service of Rake Vashkar, weatherweaver of the Blood Storm.”
Soon the storm began to away, leaving with the petrels. Captain Pye went down below, and the crew hurried around, trying to clean up the mess left by the storm. Ren stood on the deck, shocked and sad. He had never even got a chance to meet Tam, and now he was dead- or captured by the Sanguiz Empire.
Tzil and Niria were asleep down below, tired out by their efforts to quell the storm. Captain Pye was doing who knows what in his cabin. Ren was all alone.
Tam kept his head above water for as long as he could, and eventually the storm quieted. He floated on his back, watching petrels that shouldn’t be there flying above him. Every now and then one would seem to lose shape for a moment, only to resume the form of a petrel a little later. Tam’s head swam, and he realized his limbs were all numb. He wouldn’t survive much longer in this cold.
Then a ship loomed above him. Tam gave a weak yell and attempted to swim out of the way. His frozen legs would hardly obey him. Someone on the ship shouted something, and then down came a rope, whistling through the air from the very high deck of the ship. Tam grabbed it, and was hauled up onto the ship.
“What is it?” asked a voice, accompanied by hurried footsteps.
“Found a boy in the water, sir. ‘E’s half dead.”
“A boy? Really?” The voice seemed much too interested, and not in a good way. “Where do you imagine he came from?”
“I don’t know, sir, but he’s a midshipman, wherever he came from.”
“A midshipman! Ah! Bring him to my cabin!”
“Yes, Mr. Vashkar, sir,” said the seaman, and then Tam lost his senses, and heard no more.
Ren watched Tam drift farther and farther out of sight, until watching his bony body fade into the horizon. He leaned over the edge of the boat, watching the waves from the storm get smaller and smaller; only creating small splashes now. He heard a shout, and turned around suddenly, almost tangling himself in a net crumpled up by his feet. Someone was standing at the stern of the boat, shouting.
“What in the name of –” Captain Pye stormed out of his cabin, but was stopped mid-step when he saw what was going on…
The ship’s Pukis, Marmalade, stood on the deck in dragon form, hissing furiously and spitting fire. Across from it lay a petrel, wounded and unable to walk or change shape.
Tzil walked over to the petrel-spirit that was lying on the deck. He kicked Marmalade to the side, cursing under his breath. Marmalade spat a small ball of fire at him, then turned back into a kitten and ran over to Captain Pye.
Tzil examined the petrel-spirit, noticing it had a red feather on its right wing, and a scar right above its left eye. “Letor,” whispered Tzil. “Letor! Wake up, I command you!”
The petrel-spirit, Letor, woke up, coughed, and glared at the weatherweaver standing over him.
“Where are they?” Tzil demanded. He shook the bird, which grunted. Letor squinted, trying to turn into a coyote or something that could nip Tzil, but he couldn’t. He was too exhausted.
Tzil grabbed Letor and shook him. “Where are they taking Tam?”
Letor laughed, and said, “I’ll never tell you.”
“Niria!” Tzil called. “Grab the matches. We’re having petrel tonight!”
“OK, OK! I’ll tell you!” exclaimed Letor, fearing for his life. “They are going to Helean City, where Modran is preparing for the fight of all Sphaere!”
“Who’s Modran?” piped up Ren.
“The Emperor’s Commander-in-chief,” replied Captain Pye.
“Do they have any idea of his powers?” Tzil continued his interrogation.
“No,” gasped Letor. “What powers?”
“Then why do they want him?”
“Bait. He’s a favorite of yours, isn’t he, Captain? You won’t just let him die.”
“But we still have the advantage,” said the captain under his breath.
How wrong he was.
Even Tzil had no idea what good liars wave spirits were.
Tam woke in a dark room. It was a few minutes before he realized that his hands were tied to the sides of the hard, wooden chair he was sitting on. An alchemical lamp, a crystal globe filled with phlogiston, shone blindingly into his face. As a result, the features of the man sitting across from him were unclear. The voice, however, was anything but. It cut through his throbbing head like a knife.
“Hello, Tam.”
“Who are you?” Tam rasped. “How do you know my name?”
“My faithful spirits have been following the Sea Roc for several weeks. The only reason we haven’t attacked it is that we didn’t want to damage you.”
“Why the heck am I so important?”
“Tell me, Tam. Are you happy aboard the Sea Roc?”
“Well, Captain’s pretty strict, and I don’t have the best position, but it’s better than the life I left behind…”
“I could get you a job aboard the Blood Storm. Any position, even first mate. Wages of up to ten aurums a day, luxurious lodgings- oh, anything you desire.”
Tam snorted. It sounded like a good deal, but these things always did at first, and he wasn’t sure he trusted this silver-tongued stranger. “What’s the catch?”
“We want you to do us a favor.”
“What is that?”
The man reached into a deep pocket and pulled out a small, golden globe, engraved with images of all the lands of Sphaere. It gleamed in the light from the phlogiston lamp, but also seemed to produce a more subtle light from within.
“We want you to use this in the service of Emperor Sanguinus IX.”
“Wow…” thought Tam. He didn’t know if he should accept the offer. Something sounded fishy about this man and all he had to offer. “Can I think about it?” asked Tam. “Sure, sure take as much time as you want…just remember the Blood Storm is waiting for you” and with that the man disappeared.
Tam rested his head against the surprisingly hard wooden wall. It looked brand new, unlike the wood of the Sea Roc, which still held up well, but was starting to show signs of weathering, and always seemed damp. He did not trust the strange man, however intriguing his offer was. Something about his spirit and the Sea Roc…and the emperor.
Two years ago, Tam had stowed away on a exploring ship, heading out of Sphaere. Halfway across the Inner Sea, The Sea Roc had attacked them. Tam, who had remained hidden for weeks, was discovered by the first mate. Given the choice between death and a job aboard the pirate ship, Tam chose the obvious. He was made midshipman, having proved that he was strangely unused to work. The pirates, even Octavio Pye, knew nothing of his past. Tam had managed to mostly forget it himself, too.
Tam had been trained, in those two years, never to trust the emperor or any of his minions. Which was why he was reluctant to take the offer. But what would happen if he refused?Back on the Sea Roc, Ren asked the captain a question that had been floating around in his mind.
“How did you know that Tam and I were the ones with the fire power stuff?”
“That is an interesting question. We found out you were from a stowaway fortuneteller on our ship. The gypsy had a vision in which he saw your face and knew exactly where you were, which is how we ended up finding you.”
“What happened to the gypsy?”
“Oh, him? We made him walk the plank. Niria found him sneaking around the ship with a dagger one night. She cornered him and found out he was trying to kill me, although why is a mystery I will never find the answer to.
“Now Tam, he was harder to figure it out. By the time we had found the stowaway gypsy, we knew he was one of the Powerful, but it took us a while to figure it out. Tam had served aboard our ship for a whole year before we learned his secret. Not even he knew he was a Powerful. It was in his actions. When we first captured him, er, hired him, we noticed that Marmalade took a sudden liking to him, which was very strange. Other times, when we he was swabbing the deck for example, swarms of fish would surround our ship and one time, during a fierce sea storm, a dolphin even appeared and did a flip in the air, before diving back underwater. But the thing that really gave him away was when he entered my cabin one day, looking very upset and all of the candles went out.”
“Does Tam know he is a Powerful?” Ren asked.
“No, not yet. And now he might not ever,” said the captain, a faraway look in his eyes.
“Why did you tell me but not Tam?” Ren wanted to know.
“Because you stumbled on the treasure room and he didn’t.”
“Why do you think Tam is a girl?”
“My, you do ask a lot of questions,” sighed the Captain.
“Yes. Why did you?”
“And you’re persistent. I suppose because he’s so soft. And when he first came on board he seemed to be afraid of us ‘finding him out’, as he put it. I also had a childhood friend who disguised herself as a boy once, so I suppose I’m always on the lookout.”
Ren was barely listening anymore. “He told you he was afraid of being found out? That’s weird.”
“Hardly. He used to talk in his sleep.”
The storm had calmed, and the Sea Roc was drifting slowly in a gentle breeze. The horizon was featureless except for a purple-gray blur to the north.
“What is that?” Ren inquired.
Pye followed his gaze. “The isle of Lithuslov. We’ll stop there for now. Who knows what sort of weather Rake Vashkar is sending towards us. We’ll be able to survive a storm better if we’re in a harbor.”
“But Lithuslov is uninhabited.”
“As far as the Empire knows, which isn’t very far at all. There used to be a small village of Pukis trappers-”
Marmalade hissed, interrupting him. Pye glared at the Pukis, then continued.
“-which is now a thriving free port, the biggest in the six Free Isles.”
“Ok so let’s stop there. Will they have food?” Ren asked.
“Food?” repeated the captain. “Food as you’ve never seen before, Ren. The wealthy have skreeth egg omelets and orange punch for breakfast. Of course,” he added at Ren’s awed expression, “we’ll probably be eating stale bread and sour beer at some moldy old inn, but one can still dream.”
“Oh.” Ren stared disappointed out at the dark waves. “How do you know what the wealthy eat, anyway?”
“I wasn’t always a rebel, you know. Once I was the honored captain of His Imperial Majesty’s good ship Victory. I had many a good meal in that time, even on the ‘uninhabited’ isles. But when Sanguinus killed my son, I became a pirate. For vengeance.
“Or at least it was then. Now, it’s for the good of the people.”“Hello!” called an imperious -and female- voice. “Vashkar! Are you in there?”
Tam said nothing, but tried to remember if he had ever heard the name Vashkar before.
“Vashkar!” repeated the voice. “I want to go swimming. You must warm up the water for me.” When there was still no reply, th owner of the voice marched into the cabin. “It’s awfully dark in here,” she complained, and a light flared up.
“Oh!” said the girl. She was about Tam’s age, with brown hair down to her shoulders and a face that seemed to have come right off a coin. The emperor’s face, only younger and more feminine.
The light went out.
“Who are you!” Tam said as the light flared back into life a moment later.
“I could ask the same to you,” the girl hissed. “What are you doing in here? It’s PRIVATE. So leave.” She put her hands on her hips and looked much like Marmalade when she was disturbed from her rest.
“I’m in here because some weird guy told me to be. And you?”
“I’m here to keep all these stupid men in check and to stop them from caring for stowaways,” she snapped. “In other words, you.”
“I’m not a stowaway!” said Tam hotly. “I’m a midshipman!”
“We already have fifteen of them. We don’t need another.”
“I’m not a midshipman here. On my ship.”
“Well then, what are you doing here?”
“I was washed overboard and this ship picked me up. Now leave me alone.” Tam turned his back on her.
“What’s your ship’s name?” asked the girl.
“Why should I tell you?”
“Because I am your superior. I am the fourth child of Emperor Sanguinus IX.”
“Even less reason to tell you!” Tam shot back before he could stop himself. “Now leave me alone, for the last time.”
“Even less…” mused the fourth child of Emperor Sanguinus IX. She looked at Tam suspiciously. “Who are you, exactly?”
“Tam Eizid, midshipman.”
The imperial girl chewed one her long fingernails. As Tam was wondering how they stayed so long if she bit them, it grew half an inch. She saw him staring.
“I have alchemical talent.” It was most definitely a boast. It also seemed to get her off the track of wondering who he was. She held out her hand, and Tam took it gingerly. “I’m Tera,” she said.
“Hello, Tera,” said Tam, feeling slightly more confident. That was shattered as she added, “You, of course, will call me Princess.”
Just then, the man who had been interrogating Tam walked in. “I’ve done it. The water around the ship is warmed up,” he said obsequiously. However, as he executed a slight bow, a sneer of utter contempt flickered across his face. It said: I know you are currently my superior, but when the tables are turned, you will have to watch out.
“Good,” said Tera and left without so much as a thank you.
The man – Vashkar – turned to Tam with a sigh. “And how do you like Her Imperial Highness?”
Tam shook his head. “I don’t want the orb, and I don’t want this stupid power. This is worse than the Sea Roc. This is worse than what came before…” A lone tear traced its way down his cheek, and the candles guttered.
“You are tired,” said Vashkar suavely. “You will no doubt feel differently after a rest. Come, I will lead you to your cabin.” Tam let himself be led like a child to a soft berth, where he immediately fell into a deep and welcome slumber.Ren leaned against the railing at the edge of the ship, and saw the strange island growing closer and closer. It was abundant with trees and he saw a gigantic flame in the center of the island.
“Captain,” Ren asked. “Why is there an enormous fire on the island?”
“Aye, that is part of their survival,” the Captain answered. Ren gave him a surprised look…
“The Pukises are beings of flame,” Pye continued. “Just as wave spirits are beings of water. Then there are the orti and trosses, which are spirits of earth and air respectively. That flame is a Pukis nesting ground. The kittens are much more fiery when they hatch. Sort of the same as a baby rattlesnake is more poisonous than its parents, because it doesn’t have fine control over its poison glands.â€
“Oh,” said Ren, and went back to staring at that flickering beacon on the isle. So they’re fire creatures, like me and Tam. That’s why Marmalade took a liking to him.”
The Captain nodded in the dark.
Ren mused silently for a long while. Finally he said, “Two is an even number.”
“Yes,” agreed Octavio Pye. “What are you getting at?”
“Odd numbers are magic, and even numbers are ordinary, except four and multiples of four. Everyone knows that. So why are there only two with fire talent?”
Captain Pye sighed. “There were more of them once, the fortune-teller said. But they all died in a dreadful fire hundreds of years ago. Only a few people escaped who carried the gift, and their grandchildren’s grandchildren passed it on. But often a child or even an adult would get to near a fire, that shouldn’t have hurt them, but they would burn to death.”
“Why would they burn?” asked Ren, thinking of the myriad burns he had received standing to close to the fire, and the time he had almost died of a dreadful fever when he was six. A fever was a fire, of a sort.
“Don’t you know?” replied the Captain, surprised. “All those who have talent, of any kind, can only be killed by that element. That is why there were so few with water power after the Deluge. Only those with fire power seem to be more susceptible than others.”
“Still, might it be possible that there’s another?” Ren said wistfully.
Captain Pye snorted. “Well, that would be a funny story. Here I was thinking that I’ve got the only two in existence and then there’s another? Pfft. One in a million. No, one in a billion. Sorry boy, but with how common fires are nowadays, there’s no chance that there’s another one like you out there.”
“And Tam’s probably been burned at the stake right now.”
“If he’s lucky.”
“What do you mean, Captain Pye?”
“The Blood Storm’s crew may be vile and cruel, but they’re not stupid. If they figure out what power Tam’s got he’ll wish he’d been dead.”
“You mean they’ll torture him?”
“Probably, if he doesn’t do what they want. If he does do what they want, it may be like torture.”
“What do you mean?”
“According to all the sources of information on the Orb of Centaur, it’s a very exhausting thing to use. And the Empire won’t be letting him rest all that often. They’ll be after you, too, when Tam’s not able to work it anymore.”
“You mean… dead?” Ren faltered. The Captain did not answer, but his silence seemed to confirm it.
“Well then, we have to rescue him!” cried Ren. This was not mere heroism; it was the longing for another one like him, to be less alone.
“Certainly we do,” said the Captain. “And we will. But for now, they don’t know of his powers. He’s just bait for me. He won’t have the best time of it, but he won’t be tortured yet, either. And in the meantime, we lack fresh fruit. We have to have some, before the crew dies of scurvy. When we’ve refreshed ourselves at Lithuslov, then we can rescue Tam.”The next morning they sailed into Pukislyn, the biggest Free Port inside or outside of Sphaere. The Sea Roc dropped anchor in the harbor and most of the crew rowed to the quay. Ren, Niria, and Captain Pye were among the people in the longboats. Tzil stayed behind with the watch to make sure Letor didn’t escape.
The city was twice as busy as Hermetopolis, and nearly everyone was accompanied by a Pukis. Those that weren’t were wearing beautiful coats ranging in color from ivory touched with gold to a deep, fiery red, and it didn’t take a genius to deduce why these people didn’t have Pukis’ riding on their shoulders. Obviously the Pukis fur trade was not as diminished as Captain Pye would like to think.
Marmalade dove and leapt through the crowd, touching noses with every other Pukis she met. In her excitement she couldn’t quite decide which form to stay in, so she was switching from dragon to kitten and back again every instant.
Ren laughed, because in watching the small creature twirl and dance he could, for a moment, forget about his often-annoying power.
Unfortunately, the feeling didn’t last long.
While Ren laughed at Marmalade, he felt a weight settle on his shoulder. His mirth ceased abruptly. He looked up. A gold-orange Pukis sat there, in dragon form. A slight pressure against his legs made him look down, to see a trio of Pukises in cat form, two ivory and one flame-blue, rubbing against his ankles. “Oh, no,” he heard Captain Pye say, but the arrival of another of the creatures on his other shoulder, and one on his head, made it rather difficult to pay any attention to the world around him.
When every available place on Ren had been filled, the fire beings had to settle for trotting as close to him as possible, or flying around him. He couldn’t move a muscle. There was a brief scuffle on his head as Marmalade claimed her rightful throne. He knew the whole crowd was staring, though he couldn’t see past the sea of kittens and dragons.
He could hear Captain Pye muttering curses, and Niria trying to disturb the Pukises with her water magic, and hostile mutterings from the crowd, and then a child shrieking, “Nina, Nina!” and his left shoulder became a little lighter for a moment, as the child pried a Pukis off it. But not for long. The Pukis, Nina, dug her claws deep into his shoulder, and he yelped in pain. “Go on, Nina!” he cried, but not really aloud, only in his head. With a purr that sounded almost like speech, the Pukis released her claws and let herself be cuddled by the little girl, who was staring at Ren as though he was some sort of- Pukis-napper.
But now Ren knew how to get them to leave him alone. He thought hard at them to leave, and most of them did, until Ren was left with the flame-blue one on one shoulder and Marmalade on the other.
Marmalade fluttered over to Captain Pye after a few minutes, leaving only the flame-blue one on his left shoulder. It refused to leave.
Come on! he silently pleaded, but the Pukis would not leave. Ren caught sight of a portly man with a Pukis-pelt scarf making his way towards them. He was holding an empty cage of what looked like solid water, made by a waveworker. The Pukis seemed to notice the man too, because it scuttled behind Ren’s head.
Ah, so that’s how it is, Ren thought at the Pukis. Don’t worry; I’ll get you out of here.
The man with the Pukis-pelt scarf came towards Ren, who was watching him intently. Captain Pye seemed to be watching Ren, wondering what his next action was.
“Come here, Pooky, Pooky,” cooed the trapper. “Here girl.”
The Pukis hissed and turned into its cat form.
The trapper looked at Ren. “Here, little boy. Bring her to me! She’s mine ya know!” the trapper said.
“No!” Ren yelled. His body was hot and tense. He was trembling with anger, and just wanted to let it out. He could not, though. He could not get angry, or else bad things would happen. Ren took off running. He heard the shouts of the trapper, Niria, and Captain Pye behind him, but he would not stop. He ran past people of every race and every size. Many of them passed him without noticing. He looked over his shoulder and saw the man running after him. The trapper was getting closer and closer. Ren could barely run anymore though. He was about to collapse. The Pukis’ claws were digging hard into his shoulder. One thought came to his mind: flamulo podias. Ren had no idea where that thought came from, or what it meant, but he suddenly stopped running. He turned around and the man was looking at his feet. They were on fire, but Ren showed no pain.
Ren watched the fire fearfully as it licked his ankles. The Pukis hissed alternately at the flames and the trapper, who was staring frozen at Ren’s feet. Ren recalled the captain’s words: “Those with fire power seem to be more susceptible than others.” The little conflagration was gaining power, and now it was halfway up his calves. And now it hurt. Time seemed not to exist as he watched his lower body be consumed in fire.
Then the Pukis on his shoulder sprang into action. She scrambled down his shirt and puckered her lips, switching to dragon form as she did so. With a loud slurp, she inhaled the fire, ballooning out her cheeks. The trapper sprang away, but he wasn’t fast enough. With a loud sound like an alchemical explosion mixed with a massive belch, the Pukis spat a huge ball of bluish flame at her former master. The fat man’s fancy, white wig exploded into cinders, and he was left with a meager crop of thinning brown hair and several sooty marks on his face.
The Pukis shifted back into kitten form. Ren walked away with what he hoped was a jaunty, confident step.
It wasn’t very convincing, though, as a short ways away he sat down very suddenly and looked at his feet. They were badly blistered, but he decided he could walk back to the quay. If he could find it, that is…
“Where is Captain Pye!?” Ren suddenly thought as he sat down with a thud. “I must have lost him in all the confusion. What on Sphaere am I going to do?”
Suddenly a foreign thought touched his mind. “What’s going on!?” he shrieked, leaping up and raising his fists in helpless self-defense. The thought hit him again. Another small thought called out to him. “Who are you?” he snarled. Now that somebody had mastered mind touching, apparently, keeping his secret hidden from the empire would be more difficult than he thought.
However, the next thought felt not harsh and threatening, like he expected, but almost gentle. But really, who would want to be gentle if they could read minds?
A sound like a crackling flame seared through his head and the soles of his feet began to throb. “Aaaaaargh!” he yelled. In a second, the feeling passed, but when he opened his eyes there sat the Puki from the marketplace, the blue one with the shiny orange eyes.
“Felt that, did you?” the voice purred, and finally Ren understood who the mysterious mind reader was.
“There is a water spirit in the vicinity,” the Pukis continued. “His essence chills me. I believe my old master is speaking with him. Over there!”
The last thought switched from a gentle purr to a harsh yowl. Ren swiveled around just in time to overhear some of the conversation.
“…definitely had fire talent. Did you see how the Pukises were drawn to him?”
“I did. Vashkar will be pleased. Mordran may even see fit to reward you.”
The latter speaker was a mysterious figure in a blue cloak. Just as Ren tried to get closer, the figure exploded in a blast of freezing spray. A stormy petrel rose from the churning water and flew off to the East.
Ren felt as though his stomach was filled with sour milk. “They know,” he whispered.
Ren knew he had to get back to Captain Pye, but how? Suddenly, a thought came to his mind from the Pukis. “Use your power. Back there, when you scared away my owner, you used some. Try it now.”
“But how?” Ren asked.
“You mustn’t focus on using your powers. If you do, they will not work. Just let them come to you.” So Ren sat there at the bench, tending to his legs and watching the ships go by.
After about an hour, he stood up and glared at the Pukis. “This isn’t working!” he exclaimed.
“Be patient,” said the Pukis. “Later, you will learn how to use your powers in the here and now, but this is not the right time.”
So Ren sulked for about another half hour, but finally a word came to his mind. Flamulo helioso, were the words. As if it were a reflex, Ren closed his eyes, and spread out his arms. He had no control over this, and when he tried to put his arms down, they sprung up again. He felt some heat on his arms, and when he finally opened his eyes, his arms were on fire. The Pukis was flying next to him. Ren looked down: they were a good 50 feet above the island. Ren saw the Sea Roc and then glanced over at the Pukis, which was flying with him. “Quick! Get over to the ship before you become susceptible to the fire and burn!”
Ren flapped his arms and dove towards the ship like a falcon. When he got close to the ship, he slowed and landed with a thump on the deck. The fire on his arms sputtered and spat and then went out.
Captain Pye walked over to Ren and grabbed his shoulder. “What in Sphaere have you done, boy?”
He then flew into a towering rage. Ren sat there, conversing silently with the blue Pukis, Alexis, and not really listening to the Captain at all. He did, however, notice when the noise ceased abruptly.
“What?” asked Ren, startled out of his reverie.
“Your legs!” said Octavio Pye, aghast.
“What? Oh.” Ren looked down at his legs. His pants were burnt up to the knee, and what of his legs was visible was blistered. “It doesn’t hurt that much,” he lied.
“Go to your cabin right now!” the Captain commanded, fiercely staring Ren down. “Even fire WOUNDS can be dangerous to you. I believe they take you down from the inside.”
Ren sheepishly walked to his cabin and lay down on the bed. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t actually slept on it much. He lay his head down and began to doze off.
“Wake up, boy!” the voice of Octavio Pye said, searing through his groggy head. “Now, I want you to tell me exactly what happened to you. Don’t leave anything out. And I’m especially interested in learning how you came upon THIS.” With his last word he yanked the furry figure of Alexis from behind his back and waved her in front of Ren’s face. “Do you want Marmalade to be so jealous that she burns our entire ship into the sea?”
“Marmalade would do that!” Ren was shocked.
“She most certainly would,” said Captain Pye grimly. “She’s had a hand in sinking most of the ships we ever pirated, and she could certainly sink this one.”
Alexis sank her teeth into Captain Pye’s hand and jumped onto Ren’s bed.
“Alright,” said Ren slowly. “I’ll tell you the whole story.” And so he did, starting with the Pukis trapper, and ending with the fact that he could speak to Alexis.
“Wow. Simply wow,” Captain Pye said when Ren had finished. “That’s some serious stuff. I mean, being able to use powers even without the orb? I’d be willing to bet the next ship’s plunder that you are the only person in the HISTORY of Sphaere that’s been able to do that with fire power.”
Ren blushed, and stared at his feet. Suddenly his head snapped back with a jerk. Alexis looked into his eyes innocently.
“Sheesh, get a grip on yourself,” she thought calmly, only half joking. “You need to stop acting so surprised every 3 seconds when you learn about yet another of your powers. Considering how many more there are to come…”
“What!?” Ren said, shocked. “I have more?”
“What’s wrong, Ren?” the Captain asked worriedly.
“Nothing.”
“Are you sure?” For some reason the Captain was suddenly very concerned. “You’re talking to yourself.” Exactly like Tam, he added mentally.
“I’m talking to Alexis,” said Ren.
“Ah. About Alexis. We’re going to have to work something out with her and Marmalade. I understand that she’ll have to stay on the ship, but I’d rather not end up in the sea with a blackened hull for a ship.”
Captain Pye stood up and walked out of the cabin, going to find Marmalade. Alexis followed, and Ren was alone. Or so he thought.
He heard a slight rush of wind, which was odd because he was in his cabin and suddenly a small fire went on in the corner of the ship. “What the heck?” Ren said to himself. Did I do that? I couldn’t have. I don’t think so, at least.
The fire got bigger and bigger. Ren wanted to warn the captain, but his feet were glued to the spot. Soon it would reach his small bed, and then him and–Ren couldn’t think about that. Suddenly, the fire went out, leaving a dark black hole. Ren walked over to it and touched it, expecting ashes and burnt wood, but it was a gooey liquid. As soon as Ren touched the liquid, he was pulled into it. He tried to cry out, but the goo clogged his throat. He looked around and saw images moving around him and heard voices. Suddenly, the images cleared away, and he was standing on a gray ship. No one took notice of him except for a boy swabbing the decks next to him. “Ren?” the boy asked.
Ren suddenly knew who the boy was. “Tam,” he breathed.Captain Pye found Ren lying on the floor of the cabin. He was asleep or in a trance, and appeared to be holding a conversation with a voice unseen. He was talking to Tam, though the Captain didn’t know it.
Rake Vashkar looked at Tam. He was kneeling on the deck, a holystone in his hand and a bucket by his side. But he wasn’t scrubbing the deck. He was talking.
“Where is this?” asked Ren.
“The Blood Storm,” replied Tam.
“Did you set something on fire?”
“Me? No.”
“Did you know you have fire power, Tam?”
“How do you know about that?”
“Because I do too. I set my legs on fire. See?” He gestured to his blistered calves.
“Ouch,” said Tam sympathetically.
Ren frowned. Something had occurred to him. “You do know about your talent. Captain said you didn’t.”
“The Blood Storm’s weatherweaver told me about it. He wants me to use some orb.”
“Oh, no,” moaned Ren. But then the grayness that surrounded him and Tam closed in, bringing with it all the previous images. He cried out, and woke.When Tam woke up, he found himself lying on the deck of the Blood Storm. Crewmembers were running around all over, climbing up ropes, pulling up sails, and just trying to run for cover. Up by the bow of the ship was a man with a long, red robe, a golden hoop earring in one ear and short, violet hair. He was waving his arms around and shouting, looking out towards the water. Suddenly, the man stopped, and looked straight at Tam. Instantly, Tam knew who it was: Rake Vashkar, the weatherweaver who had caused the storm that brought him over to this wretched ship. A man rushed up to Rake and asked him, “How is the storm going? Are you gaining control?”
Tam, with his keen ears, was able to listen to the response.
“No,” the weatherweaver answered. “It is too much.”
He couldn’t control the storm? Why not? And what on earth was Tam doing lying on the deck? Where was Ren? These were just a few of the baffling questions that ran through Tam’s brain. His next thought was, I’m scrubbing the deck. Huh. What about all those fancy positions I was promised. Then he answered himself with, I only get a good position if I promise to work that orb. It was tempting, that was for sure.
Very, very, tempting, in fact. Tam looked down at the holystone in his hand, and the vast expanse of deck that he was supposed to scrub. If he just accepted the offer, he would never have to do this again.
At any rate, what had the Empire ever done to harm him? Just because the pirates hated Sanguinus IX didn’t mean he had to. And what the Emperor did couldn’t be any worse than what the pirates did. Could it?
Never scrub the deck again… Any position, even first mate… Wages of up to ten aurums a day…
His mind made up, Tam walked across the deck towards Rake Vashkar, who was looking drained and not a little angry. Tam summoned up his courage.
“I will use the Orb,” he said.Captain Pye’s face blurred into focus slowly, like water clearing after mud has been stirred up. “What happened, boy?” cried the Captain.
“They know!” Ren said urgently. “They’ve told him!”
“Told who? Who told him? Told him what?” The Captain was still worried, but now he was puzzled as well.
Ren sat up. “Vashkar told Tam, that he has fire powers. That means they know about it, which means that Tam isn’t safe no matter what he does.”
The Captain swore. “At least they don’t know about you.”
“Well, actually… ”
“WHAT, boy? Speak up.”
“The Pukis trapper told a disguised wave spirit that I had fire talent. The spirit mentioned Vashkar and Mordran.”
Pye jumped into the air, then landed with a loud thump. Fumbling through his pockets, he pulled out an object that looked like a dried kraken tentacle. Gnawing convulsively on it, Captain Pye paced the deck, muttering “Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.”
Ren said nothing. He didn’t really understand why it was such a problem, after all, they wouldn’t need him until Tam could no longer work the Orb, and that was sure to be a while from now. But he could see that it was a much larger dilemma than he could comprehend, and he knew better than to ask the Captain why.
Yet he did.
“Why is this such a problem, sir?” Ren asked.
“Well, not to make you feel a little jealous or something, but Tam, unlike you, is more gifted, in some ways, that is. He can have more control of his powers for a longer time. They aren’t as powerful as yours, but he can use them, with the proper training, up to an hour at a time. You can, at the most, only use yours for about a twenty-minute period. Your powers are stronger and can cause more damage, but the time difference will certainly make a problem. He will be able to cause just as much, if not more harm than you ever could even with the best training. If he works for them, who knows what could happen.”
It took a moment for Ren to register this. “You’re saying that even though I am Powerful, Tam is even more Powerful?”
“Well, yes,” the captain replied.
“What if the two of us are working together? Does that change anything?”
“Yes. Your two strengths will combine, and with the globe, will make you two more powerful than anyone in Sphaere, except for the Unknowables.”
The Unknowables? Ren thought. What are those? Ren wanted to ask, but knew it was not the right time. Perhaps, later he would.
The captain and Ren were quiet for a long time, but Ren finally piped up. He said, in his most confident voice, “We must get Tam back, and we will.”
The Captain sighed. “I admire your confidence, Ren, but it may be too late.”
“What do you mean?”
Back on the Blood Storm, Vashkar was ecstatic. “This is wonderful news, Tam. I’m glad you saw our- ” He broke off, staring upward at a stormy petrel hovering above the topsail. It uttered a series of harsh croaks, and the stormmaster’s expression changed.
“They have another person with fire talent aboard the Sea Roc. Well, we can turn that to our advantage. Contact this person and tell him that you are being held captive aboard the Blood Storm at the Free Isle of Kievl. We’ll trap them there.”
“Contact him, sir?” Tam said.
“Through fire scrying. Like you did a few hours ago, before you passed out. Surely you know how?”
Tam did not want to say know. He had no idea how Ren and him had contacted each other before. Tam did not want to get the old man angry, though, so he said, “Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Very good,” said Rake, and with that he walked away, leaving Tam to try and contact Ren by himself. He went down to his cabin, feeling sick.
Tam sat down on his bunk. This was the worst thing that had ever happened to him. Well, maybe not the worst… He shook his head sharply to clear that thought away and turned his, mind to something else. It had been a mistake to agree to the terms of the stormmaster. He could see that now. And yet, he still wanted that lovely high-up position. He had better try the fire scrying. Tam rolled onto his stomach and tried to remember what he had been thinking about when he had gone into a trance.
As Tam concentrated, he began to feel strangely hot around his extremities. I wonder if I’m getting a fever, he thought. Then he realized that, whatever was happening, it was not normal.
There was a loud, muffled fump, as though an alchemical cannon had gone off behind heavy doors. A small ball of white-hot flame hit the floor in front of him. At first, it was nebulous, flinging out small shreds of fire. Tam concentrated, willing it to help him contact Ren. To his surprise, it did, shrinking to a pinprick before vanishing in a burst of light that momentarily blinded him.
As Tam blinked away dazzling sunbursts of color, he saw that he was in the mysterious gray space that he had been in once before. Ren was standing in front of him, wearing a startled expression.
Tam quickly gabbled out what he was supposed to say. “I’m on the Blood Storm, berthed at the Isle of Kievl. Tell Captain Pye to send help- or, better yet, come himself!”Ren passed on the message, along with the fact that Tam had looked rather surprised and scared, spoken quickly, and broke contact as soon as he had finished talking, or sooner.
Captain Pye gnawed another kraken tentacle- unless it was the same one, Ren couldn’t be sure and didn’t know how tough kraken tentacles were- and thought about this.
Finally he heaved a great sigh and stood up. “We must rescue Tam. But I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
“Why?” asked Ren, hoping that the Captain would not ignore this like his last question. He didn’t. Quite.
“I don’t know, boy, I don’t know. It just…” he trailed off. Ren waited patiently for five long minutes before Pye spoke again. “Tam’s an odd one, and I don’t understand him. Certainly not when I can’t look him in the face.” And having delivered that uninformative and puzzling message, he left the cabin.
Three days later they reached the Isle of Kievl. The Captain was unnaturally edgy, and Ren was nervous too. He had tried to contact Tam, but the older boy hadn’t spoken to him, and had cut off the scrying as quickly as he could.
It seemed unusual for Tam to refuse communication with him, prisoner as he was, and presumably miserable.
The ship berthed safely, but the Captain was still worried.
Ren stood on deck, watching the jolly boats being lowered into the water. The Isle of Kievl was another of those “uninhabited” isles, but, in contrast to Lithuslov, it was practically uninhabited. There were a few tiny villages, and a port about half the size of Pukislyn, but nothing really big.
Tam felt a surge of guilt as he saw the Sea Roc come into harbor. He had tried to minimize the guilt and anxiety by not speaking to Ren, half-hoping that if he refused communication Ren would know it was a trap. But it hadn’t worked, as was clear from the trusting way Ren tried to contact. “We’ll rescue you, Tam,” he had said only an hour or so ago. “Don’t worry.”
“Oh, forget it,” Tam told himself now. “It’s not as though you owe them anything. Any rate, you have to take the chance you get.” He was beginning to wish he wasn’t the bait, and that he could go down into his cabin and curl up on the bunk and not come out until they were very far away. But that wasn’t going to happen, was it?
The pirates on the Sea Roc brought it into the harbor and hung it into the shore. They let down the jolly boats and started making there way towards shore. Tam, nearly shaking, put his hands behind the back, sending the first signal: Get ready.
The crewmembers of the Sea Roc were on the shore now, getting out of their boats, and looking around at the island. Tam jumped up: Weapon set. Captain Pye told the crew to stay there, and he and Ren walked towards Tam nervously, as if they were expecting something to jump out at them. How right they are, Tam thought.
Captain Pye and Ren were only about three feet away from him now. He lifted up his hands, causing looks of confusion on the captain’s face, and dropped them: ATTACK! was the signal.
A loud cry from the woods, and then more yells, and then sailors came running at Ren. One advanced very quickly towards Ren, swung his wooden stick, and heard Tam yell, and Captain Pye shout, “Retreat to the east!” and then everything went black.
When Ren woke up, Captain Pye and Tam looked over him, worry knit in their eyebrows. Captain Pye was the first to speak. “We were able to keep you and Tam safe,” he said, “but they took our ships and killed twelve of our thirty men.”
“I’m sorry, Ren,” Tam said sadly.
“Oh, right,” said Ren bitterly. “I sure believe that. You could have at least hinted it was a trap, if you were too scared-” he spat the word out as though it were a wind-beetle- “to actually say outright.”
“I did!” cried Tam. “Why do you think I wouldn’t talk?”
“Boys,” said Captain Pye, breaking up what might have become a verbal fight, if not a physical one. “You can quarrel later, right now we have to think about escaping.”
“Escaping? You mean we’re prisoners?”
“Yes. But at least we’re not dead,” said Captain Pye.
“Where are we?” asked Ren.
“We’re on the Isle of Kievl, in a stockade guarded by twenty-five warriors. We have to think of an escape plan.”
“Not me,” said Tam quietly. “I already made my choice. I’m going to work the Orb of Centaur for them. You could too, Ren. We could work it together, and live in the utmost comfort. It would be a wonderful life.” He looked hopeful, until Ren shook his head.
“Have you any idea what the Orb does to you, Tam? It’ll kill you if you work it!”
Ren sat up and looked around. Most of the crewmembers he’d met were still there. Vushtek di Fundermuult was lying on the ground, barely conscious, with a bloody rag wrapped around his arm. Niria Tolmark was hunched over in the corner, face buried in her hands, body shaking with sobs. Tzil Azuro was just coming round, staggering to his feet.
Tzil’s eyes rolled wildly, then focused on Tam. “You!” he roared. “Traitor!”
Ignoring Captain Pye’s alarmed cry, he snatched up a blazing phlogiston lamp from its alcove in the wall and hurled it straight at Tam’s chest.
Tam ducked, but although it missed his chest, it caught his hair on fire.
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Prarilius Canix
in May 20th, 2007 @ 12:38Captain Pye whipped off his cap and used it to smother the flames.
“Tzil! What do you think you’re doing?”
“Getting rid of a traitor,” the haggard stormmaster hissed.
“I will not permit this! The boy is under my protection.”
“He forfeited his right to that protection when he betrayed us all!” Something in Tzil seemed to snap. He pulled out his knife.
Then the door opened. The appearance of the man standing in the doorway did nothing to advertise the fact that he was one of the most feared men in all of Sphaere. He had an almost apologetic look on his pale face, and he wore gold-rimmed half-moon glasses. He was wearing a white robe that would have been dangerously fashionable about two centuries before, and he was short. The overall effect was that of a scholar who’d gotten lost and was politely asking directions.
Still, Ren couldn’t help but notice the long, razor-sharp rapier hanging from his belt.
“Mordran,” Vushtek spat.
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Alice
in May 20th, 2007 @ 14:39“Yes, the very same,” said the old man. He peered around as though he were nearsighted, but Ren had the distinct impression that the glasses were for show, as was most of his outfit.
~~~~~~~~
Sorry thats so short.
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Alice
in May 20th, 2007 @ 14:42Oh, whoops. Is he old? I’m deleting that one word from my Keepers draft.
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E2MB
in May 20th, 2007 @ 16:19I’m so sorry but this story isn’t for me. I always get confused with magic.
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Alice
in May 20th, 2007 @ 16:33Really?
Wow. I love magic. What sort of thing do you read, then?
*is unable to comprehend not reading fantasy*
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E2MB
in May 20th, 2007 @ 16:5861 – Sci-fi mostly, but I do read fantasy. What I actually meant was, I don’t know the limits of magic in your story, therefore it would be hard to write. If a character is in a situation and has magic, they can do quite a lot of things. The problem is that if the magic is all powerful the character can do almost anything, which makes for a weird sort of story. Ahhh….this sounded so much better in my head.
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Alice
in May 20th, 2007 @ 17:14I think I know what you’re saying. Their magic isn’t all-powerful, and depending on what they do can be life-threatening. There’s a short description of some of the magic in post 38, and I posted the entire story if you want to read it.
But I’m not trying to pressure you, so I should leave now.
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Donaldo the supercoolio nerd
in May 23rd, 2007 @ 17:32Whatever had made Tzil throw that lamp at Tam only snapped more when Mordran came in. Tzil raised up his dagger and ran at Mordran. Mordran simply stepped aside as if nothing had happened and spoke calmly and quietly, almost in a whisper.
“I need the boys now,” he said.
“No. I will not let them go,” Captain Pye replied. Ren could not tell how he felt, his expression strange.
“Oh, I am afraid that you do not have a choice. They work the Orb, or I make them work it.” Mordran tapped at his head, although neither Tam nor Ren could tell what this meant. He went on: “My power has increased-only slightly, but enough for me to take them.”
Niria looked up at this, but still avoided everyone’s eyes. “Jarbun magic,” she said under her breath. Then she yelled, “What have you done to the Unknowables?”
—————————————————————————
Not sure what this will do to the story. Ignore it if you want.
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Alice
in May 23rd, 2007 @ 17:57I’m not gonna ignore it, but I sure can’t do anything with it. Or maybe I can . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“What’s she talking about?” said Ren. Captain Pye only shook his head, and Tam looked stricken.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
More than that, I cannot do.
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Alice
in May 24th, 2007 @ 18:06“You needn’t take me,” said Tam hastily, stepping forward with a frightened expression. “I’ll go of my own accord.”
Ren felt put out. Everyone seemed to know about this but him. Nonetheless, he wasn’t going to work for Mordran. He would avoid it at all costs.As a matter of fact, Tam knew a good deal less than Ren thought. At the mention of the Unknowables, however, he knew enough. He was not going to go through that again. It didn’t matter whether Mordran had killed them (they couldn’t die, he was almost certain), or taken their powers, but if Mordran was strong enough to do something to them where even Tam could not, Tam was not going to get on his bad side.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Mysterious hints . . . . :bigspookyeyes:
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Alice
in May 25th, 2007 @ 15:35We need to work some things out. Jarbun magic and the Unknowables, and how those things are related to Tam. Here’s what I think:
The Unknowables are banned gods. Jarbun magic is the kind of magic that they work. Mordran has either stripped them of their powers, or learned some of their tricks.
Now, for Tam. How about this. Tam’s power came to the attention of the Unknowables at an early age. Since then, they have been tormenting him, not on purpose, but they want him to use his powers . . . um . . . they want him to use his powers to bring about the fall of the Empire, who banished them. Tam resists them, and they make his life miserable.How’s that?
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Prarilius Canix
in May 25th, 2007 @ 16:02Sounds good.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in May 26th, 2007 @ 00:2967-Sounds good. Now we need to work out exactly what Jarbun Magic consists of. I was going to think of it being controlling other people, like voodoo dolls kinda, but you can’t make them use their powers. Tell me about any suggestions.
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Alice
in May 26th, 2007 @ 00:3369- Sounds good. It would also explain why Tam is so scared of the Unknowables. I would be.
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Alice
in May 26th, 2007 @ 00:36Oh my god. Three different people just posted three posts in a row all beginning with “sounds good.”
This kind of thing happens a lot on MB. And I’m fairly sure it wasn’t on purpose. Not on my part it wasn’t, at any rate.
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E2MB
in May 26th, 2007 @ 22:3071 – Two in the wee hours of the morning, too!
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Alice
in May 26th, 2007 @ 22:4272- To me it was only ten thirty.
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Alice
in May 27th, 2007 @ 17:27“I did nothing to them,” said Mordran, barely acknowledging Tam. “Nothing permanent, at any rate. They will recover their powers sometime in the next fifty years. Not so very long to them, but long enough to prevent them rescuing your lot.”
“What are the Unknowables?” asked Ren, and once more he was ignored.
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Prarilius Canix
in May 29th, 2007 @ 13:54Mordran grinned. “Come with me, both of you.”
Ren stood his ground, though he was shaking like a dry leaf. “No.”
“Come on,” Tam implored. “There’s no way to refuse him, and if you resist, he’ll just hurt you.”
“Your colleague is a lot smarter than you are,” Mordran said to Ren. “I’ll give you one last chance.”
“No,” Ren said, in a barely audible whisper.
A bolt of pain stabbed through his temples like a red hot bar of iron. He was irresistibly dragged toward the door.
“Blast!” Captain Pye exclaimed, and leaped at Mordran, pulling out an ornate flintlock. Mordran snarled in fury and gestured once. A spurt of green flame consumed the pistol, and Octavio Pye was hurled back ten feet. He hit the wall and lay still.
But Ren was temporarily free, and he was near the door. Shoving Tam aside, he leaped out the doorway. In midair, he yelled “Flamulo Helioso!”
Two crossbow bolts whizzed past him, but he was ascending rapidly, and soon the guards running about below him became only specks.
Ren landed on a high pinnacle of rock just as the fire blazing on his arms went out. Now, he thought, to find a way to rescue the rest of the crew.
((I have resolved to make a substantial post on every RRR I follow today. Three down, one to go.))
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Alice
in May 29th, 2007 @ 14:59I WILL write! Just as soon as my sister has turned off Pink Martinique and I can think. That goes for them all.
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Alice
in May 29th, 2007 @ 18:38Ren had never been particularly good at making plans. He was as good at executing them as anyone, but he lacked the talent for making them. Now he sat on the rock till the sun went down, blazing red over the ocean, but he still could think of nothing.
~~~~~~~~~
Neither could I, which is why I wrote that rather than something more useful.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in May 29th, 2007 @ 20:06I can’t go to sleep, Ren thought. He was tired after staying up all night, but couldn’t go to sleep until he had a plan. But he was so tired. Maybe if he just closed his eyes for a few minutes. He was about to fall into deep sleep when suddenly, a voice appeared in his head. Was it his voice? No, Ren realized, it was a female. Ren was sure he had never heard this voice before, yet it sounded oddly familiar… Ren? Is that you? the voice said.
Yes. It is me, Ren replied.
Oh, splendid. I hoped I had contacted you and not that awful Mordran. He better not be overhearing us.
Ren was excited now, but scared at the same time. His eyes widened. He knew who this was.
Alexis? Is that you?
Yes, it is.
———————————————————————
Does anyone remember her? I hope so.
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Alice
in May 29th, 2007 @ 20:17Yeah, I remember her. I was wondering about her earlier, but my sister was playing music and I couldn’t think.
However, I’m still not good at making up plans.
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Alice
in May 29th, 2007 @ 21:07We need to rescue Captain Pye and the crew of the Sea Roc, thought Ren. And Tam.
Alexis made a disapproving thought. Ren, Tam may be too far gone to rescue. He is too frightened of the Unknowables to disobey Mordran.
What are the Unknowables? asked Ren. Finally, he would get some answers!I mean to finish that scene, but I have to go.
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Alice
in May 29th, 2007 @ 21:14Ah. No I don’t.
~~~~~~
The Unknowables are gods, said Alexis after a long pause. She seemed reluctant to say more, but Ren was not going to let her get away without telling him everything.
They can’t be gods! he thought in disbelief. There are no temples to them, nothing! I didn’t even know about them till the other day!
The Empire banned them. No one was allowed to worship them, and slowly the people forgot. Only a few people still know of them. Tam is one.
But why? And how does he know? And how do you know that?
Alexis did not reply.
~~~~~~~~~
I’m thinking perhaps she is in league with the Unknowables.
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Donaldo the supercoolio nerd
in May 29th, 2007 @ 23:03Alexis, please tell me! Ren begged.
Nothing.
, Ren pleaded.
Look up, she replied.
Ren did as he was told, and lo and behold, there was Alexis, softly flapping her dragon wings, and with her were… Ren gasped. Are those your children?
Yes, she replied, unhappily.
What is wrong?
Out of 30 eggs, only these 3 survived. The rest were catched by poachers and sent to incubation to be brought up and killed for their fur. Alexis was very unhappy now. They are going to be sold to the Emperor, and I seek revenge.Her voice was dripping with anger now. And I have a plan.
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Donaldo the supercoolio nerd
in May 29th, 2007 @ 23:04Sorry, for some reason, part of my post didn’t appear. Before the Ren pleaded, he said At least tell me where you are.
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Alice
in May 29th, 2007 @ 23:21Perfect! You have a plan? (BTW, that was me, not part of the story.) Or is it just Alexis that has a plan, and you hope that someone else will develop it?
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Donaldo the supercoolio nerd
in May 29th, 2007 @ 23:31No, I don’t have a plan, sorry. I hope someone else will come up with one. However that is highly unlikely seeing as we are the only two people on this thread it seems like.
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Alice
in May 29th, 2007 @ 23:37Well, right now practically everyone is asleep. I’m on because it’s only 9:30 where I am.
PC will probably be back in the next couple of days, and who knows? I may even think of something.
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Prarilius Canix
in May 30th, 2007 @ 15:04We need a sail, Alexis said.
“Over there,” Ren said, though he was confused as to the plan. “On the Blood Storm.”
The Pukises, already in dragon form, flew down to the ship and sliced off the topsail in short order. Returning it to the rock, Alexis explained.
You’ll hold on to these corner ropes, and we’ll get up to our hottest while flying right under the sail. The hot air will buoy you up. Try to jump in the general direction of the guarded compound where your friends are. You’ll be high enough that the guards won’t see you. When we get right over it, we’ll cool down and burn a hole in the roof. The sail will act as a parachute, you’ll drop down into the room, your friends will grab hold of the lines, and- Do you have a stormmaster?
“Yes.”
Good. Then he’ll blow us back to the Sea Roc, and we’ll sail off.
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Donaldo the supercoolio nerd
in May 30th, 2007 @ 18:42PC-Welcome back!!!! Genius plan!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
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Alice
in June 2nd, 2007 @ 23:58I’m just being lazy because I don’t feel like writing right now. I am still here, though.
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Donaldo the supercoolio nerd
in June 5th, 2007 @ 18:17Same with me.
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Alice
in June 5th, 2007 @ 18:23I’m also bad at action. Therefore, I’m sitting here, just like on very other RRR I’m involved in.
*sighs deeply*
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Prarilius Canix
in June 5th, 2007 @ 18:57Ren seized the lines, hoping he wasn’t making a huge mistake. The Pukises flared up, and the sail ballooned out. But Ren didn’t lift off.
Alexis closed her eyes, and a cloud of blue flame enveloped her. I’m pushing myself as far as I can. Go!
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Alice
in June 6th, 2007 @ 11:55At last I can write! My writer’s block has passed, and I feel as free as a bird!
Well . . .
Not quite, but I can write, at least.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This time Ren was hauled a little into the air, with an effort that neither Alexis or Ren seemed to enjoy. The lines cut into his hands, and the flame of the Pukises seemed frighteningly near. He took a deep breath, made a hurried prayer to no one in particular, and jumped.
For a minute Ren watched in terror as the ground grew larger and nearer at an unexpected rate, but then the heat on his hair grew stronger and he nearly cried out, but he was going up.
He didn’t know how long he could stand this. His arms felt like they were being pulled out of their sockets and he could feel the flame leaning towards him hungrily, despite the Pukis’ attempts to control it.
~~~~~~~~~
There. Can someone carry on from that?
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Prarilius Canix
in June 6th, 2007 @ 13:33Then they were above the compound. A crossbow bolt shot upward and almost punctured the canvas, but missed by inches. The Pukises stopped blazing and flew down below Ren, blowing fireballs at the roof. At first, the thatch burned merrily, but then a large timber cracked, and the ceiling fell in just as Ren landed with a thump.
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Pyro
in June 7th, 2007 @ 15:16Hey all!
I’ve been MB-less for quite a while (weeks? months? :p), and I want to get back into the RRR…I think I have some good ideas.
Thank goodness summer’s finally come. Unfortunately, I’m not good at writing action either.
Heh.
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Alice
in June 7th, 2007 @ 15:2895- Wow! Were you on this before? I can’t remember . . . Anyways, I think I can write this scene.
~~~~~~~~~
The pirates were much as before, with the exception of Tam and Tzil, both of which had disappeared. Captain Pye was pacing the floor in agitation, but stopped dead when Ren fell though the roof in a bundle of sail and Pukises.
The roof smoldered and blazed above. The pirates looked from it, to Ren, and back at the burning straw and wood again. Ren disentangled himself sail, stood up, and bowed shakily.
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Alice
in June 7th, 2007 @ 15:4395- Whoa . . . You made up Tzil. Did you ever write?
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Alice
in June 7th, 2007 @ 15:46Our word count is 13291.
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Donaldo the supercoolio nerd
in June 7th, 2007 @ 19:16Aargh! I hate writers block!
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Donaldo the supercoolio nerd
in June 7th, 2007 @ 20:49YAY!!!! Post 100(I hope)!
OK. So anyway, what I was going to say is that we have a sorta kinda big word count. When this story is finished, we could probably get it published!
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Alice
in June 7th, 2007 @ 21:39100- Not really. Well, we probably could get it published, but . . . Just a minute while I go look up old posts on the sci-fi thread . . . A very old post, but it still qualifies:
#
109. Alice �|� April 18th, 2007 at 8:09 pm
108- Short Story- “Determining what exactly separates a short story from longer fictional formats is problematic. A classic definition of a short story is that one should be able to read it in one sitting, a point most notably made in Edgar Allan Poe’s essay “The Philosophy of Composition” (1846). Other definitions place the maximum word length at 7,500 words. In contemporary usage, the term short story most often refers to a work of fiction no longer than 20,000 words and no shorter than 1,000.”
Novella- “A novella is a narrative work of prose fiction longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. While there is some disagreement of what length defines a novella, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000 or 85 to 300 pages.”
See?Basically, if you can fit it in one post, it’s too short. If you can fit it in two, it’s still too short. If you can fit it in three, it’s getting closer, and if it takes four or five it’s probably novel-length.
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Donaldo the supercoolio nerd
in June 8th, 2007 @ 14:41Well we can still probably do it. Here is a link to a possible contest:
http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/writingcontests/#youngadultI didn’t look over the rules too carefully but it seems promising.
[Link allowed. –Robert]
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Alice
in June 8th, 2007 @ 14:55102- You know, if we just keep on writing for a very long time, we should eventually come up with something long enough. That’s what we’re doing on the sci-fi one. We are writing the third book, and when we’re done we’re going to try to get it published. I’m forwarding the link, is that alright, OEADs?
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Alice
in June 8th, 2007 @ 15:00We should stop calling this Freebooters of Sphaere, if anyone still does, because they have never once called themselves freebooters, and have been called freebooters by no one, so if we call this Freebooters of Sphaere, it’s like one of those titles that were written by someone else, not the author.
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Prarilius Canix
in June 8th, 2007 @ 15:37Then let’s call it The Sea Roc. Or The Orb of Centaur.
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Alice
in June 8th, 2007 @ 15:55105- Okay.
Donaldo, it’s no good. The novel has to be set in a contemporary setting, and this is not contemporary in the least. It would have been more contemporary sometime in the 18th century, I think.
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Pyro
in June 8th, 2007 @ 16:2397-Yeah Tzil was by me…then I ran out of ideas for a while, and got lost in school junk…
I never ended up writing anything, but I want to try my hand at some of this…
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Pyro
in June 8th, 2007 @ 16:30I was looking back in the thread and saw PC talkin about Tzil dying, or seeming to die (post 54, i think). I would like to write that scene if possible…I have some ideas for that.
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Alice
in June 8th, 2007 @ 16:35108- Okay, but he’s not in the room right now. Maybe you should write the scene where Captain Pye explains his absence? Or maybe he comes back.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in June 8th, 2007 @ 18:05106-Dang it!
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Alice
in June 8th, 2007 @ 21:12“Ren!” exclaimed Captain Pye. “How in Sphaere did you get away?”
“I flew,” said Ren. “Where’s Tzil?”
~~~
There. Now Pyro can do whatever s/he intended to do about Tzil being tragically killed.
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Pyro
in June 10th, 2007 @ 01:31111-Thanks. “He” as it were
Let’s see now…
˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜
“Tzil?” said Pye. “I don’t-oh no.”
He raced outside, with Ren on his heels to find Tam backed up against the mast, desperately trying to fight off a maddened Tzil, who was snarling and pressing his long knife to Tam’s throat. Tam spied Captain Pye and Ren and screamed to them. “Help!”
They raced to his aid, but before they could reach Tam, Tzil suddenly changed tact and plunged his blade into Tam’s chest.
Ren stopped dead.
“Finally, we are rid of that traitor!” roared Tzil in triumph. Then he realized what he had done, and froze. The look of shock on Tam’s face turned to one of rage, and eldritch fire began flowing up the knife in his chest, which Tzil was still grasping. The fire wrapped itself around Tzil’s arm as he struggled to break free, using his own power of try to ward it off, but to no avail. Suddenly a huge fireball engulfed his thrashing body and he flew up in the air, finally ripping his dagger from Tam’s chest as he ascended ablaze. Lighting overwhelmed the airborne inferno and drew the hardly recognizable form of Tzil into the clouds, where all stormmasters are taken by their element to die. The long dagger carried by Tzil in life quivered upright in the deckboards. His eyes rolling back in his head, Tam collapsed on the deck.˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜
Whew!Ok, Tam’s not dead, I just don’t have any ideas about how he should be still alive.
Just another completely random (sort of) idea: the Blood Storm should have some kind of special weapon on it that the pirates should capture along with the ship.
And the title The Blood Storm sounds nice, I think, just because they don’t end up using the orb of the centaur until later books, right?Mmk, long post, i gotta go to bed now.
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Alice
in June 10th, 2007 @ 14:30112- But they’re in a stockade, prisoners of the Empire. I know! Can i redo that a bit so that it fits with the current location? It would go like this:
“Tzil?” said Pye. “I don’t-oh no.”
He raced outside, with Ren on his heels to find Tam backed up against the boards of the stockade, desperately trying to fight off a maddened Tzil, who was snarling and pressing his long knife to Tam’s throat. Tam spied Captain Pye and Ren and screamed to them. “Help!”
They raced to his aid, but before they could reach Tam, Tzil suddenly changed tact and plunged his blade into Tam’s chest.
Ren stopped dead.
“Finally, we are rid of that traitor!” roared Tzil in triumph. Then he realized what he had done, and froze. The look of shock on Tam’s face turned to one of rage, and eldritch fire began flowing up the knife in his chest, which Tzil was still grasping. The fire wrapped itself around Tzil’s arm as he struggled to break free, using his own power of try to ward it off, but to no avail. Suddenly a huge fireball engulfed his thrashing body and he flew up in the air, finally ripping his dagger from Tam’s chest as he ascended ablaze. Lighting overwhelmed the airborne inferno and drew the hardly recognizable form of Tzil into the clouds, where all stormmasters are taken by their element to die. The long dagger carried by Tzil in life quivered upright in the dirt. His eyes rolling back in his head, Tam collapsed on the deck.Not much is changed, but it works now.
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Alice
in June 10th, 2007 @ 14:39Ren stood frozen, but his brain was a whirlpool of thoughts. Why was Tam here? Hadn’t he been taken away by Mordran? Why didn’t the guards come to the boy’s aid? Surely they must have heard Tam’s cry for help, even from outside the stockade? What were they going to do without Tzil? What were they going to do without Tam? What was the fire for? It must have served some purpose, but what? And one wild notion started to blaze in a small corner of his brain, and almost simultaneously a small fire began to blaze in a corner of the stockade.
~~~~~~
Ren’s going to try to fire scry, and because Tam isn’t dead, it will work.
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Prarilius Canix
in June 10th, 2007 @ 15:18Tam didn’t die because he can only be killed by his own element. Same with Tzil. It only seemed as though he died because he called up a storm to escape. How does that sound?
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Alice
in June 10th, 2007 @ 16:48115- It sounds perfect! That would mean that Ren couldn’t have been killed by the soldiers in the first place if he had never run away. Curious.
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Pyro
in June 10th, 2007 @ 20:42113-Ah. I missed the bit about them being in a stockade. I thought they were still on the ship. Oh well. Thanks for that
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Prarilius Canix
in June 11th, 2007 @ 21:34I will be absent for the next few days, so don’t wonder where I’ve gone.
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Alice
in June 13th, 2007 @ 15:45118- OK, I won’t.
Hmm, where did PC go?~~~~
“Ren! What in Sphaere are you doing?” cried Captain Pye. But by then Ren was too far into the trance to hear him. His knees buckled, and he crumpled in a heap.
“Tam?” Ren asked hesitantly. The gray ship swayed beneath his feet, and it seemed much too silent. “Tam?” he said, a little louder.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in June 17th, 2007 @ 20:36I am back from camp for the past week. I read what is happening and will add. Pyro-LOVE YOUR POST!
“““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““
Ren was having trouble keeping focus when scrying. Where was Tam? WHy was he on a ship? Suddenly, Ren heard a shrill cry above, and a shadow came above him. There, straight above him, was a giant Pukis in dragon form. Tam was on top of it, cheering in triumph.
“I am free, Ren,” he cried. “Come join me up here!”
“Tam, you must come down!” Ren yelled up to him.
“Why? I can do anything up here! I am the most pwerful thing in the whole world!” Tam said.
Suddenly, a large dark hand came over and grabbed Tam off of the Pukis. THe Pukis roared, and flew towards the hand, but a large tentacle came out of the water by the ship and knocked the Pukis to the ground. Tam was still cheering, as if he had not noticed that he was off the Pukis. He was being carried away by the hand, off into the fog. Ren was losing him. He could barely see him. Ren screamed with all his might for Tam, but to no avail. He fell on the deck of the ship, panting. When he looked up, a huge face was staring at him.
“Speak, Powerful,” said the face. It was a face of a strong man, with curly hair and a small beard. Strangely, the face had no body.
“Who a-are y-y-ou?” Ren asked.
“Me?” the face bellowed. Suddenly, the face of the man started laughing hysterically. After about a minute, the face calmed down and said, “I am the Unknowable of the Forgotten, Missing, and Dead, and I have come to take Tam! He is our property!”
“He is, is he?” Ren asked boldly.
“Of course!”
“What if I made you a deal?”
“What kind of a deal?” the face asked suspiciously.
Ren looked around him quickly, looking for something to trade. He looked at the deck to his left and saw his trading item.
“Give me Tam, and you can have this giant Pukis,” Ren offered, hoping the face would accept.
“Why would I want a giant Pukis?”
“Well, a high and mighty Unknowable like yourself should have a high and mighty beast to ride on, your honor,” Ren said as politely and respectfully as possible.
“Hmmmm. I guess, but on one condition.”
“What condition?”
“I get the Pukis, you get Tam-or at least most of him. I get to keep his eyes.”
Ren was hesitant at this. His eyes? Why? Still, Ren needed to get Tam back no matter what. The captain needed him.
“Deal.”Ren woke up, and took a few minutes to regain his orientation.
He stood up and looked at where Tam was laying against the stockade. He lay there still. He was supposed to be okay. What happened?
Captain Pye ran over to him, and looked at him with frightened eyes. Ren had never seen the captain so scared before. “Tell me, Ren,” he said. “Tell me what happened.”
“I don’t know exactly,” Ren replied, looking down at his worn shoes. He could feel everyone’s eyes boring into him. Silence came over the group of people around him. It was like this for a few minutes, and Ren did not dare look up at the Captain.
A dark storm cloud came over the group. The winds picked up, and it began to rain. Oh no, thought Ren. What was going on?
He heard a scream and looked at Tam. A dark hand covered his head. Captain Pye roared and ran towards Tam, but bounced off the hand like it was rubber. Everyone was running amok now and screaming. But as soon as the storm had begun, the sun came out, and the hand was gone. Ren looked at Tam, and he looked fine, except for one thing. He had two black bits of goo in replace of his eyeballs. Ren gasped.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in June 17th, 2007 @ 20:37Sorry for the long post, and it may sound a little weird, too, so we can change it or delete it if you guys want. I don’t care. I was just in some weird mood I guess.
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Alice
in June 17th, 2007 @ 20:50Rather weird, to say the least. For one thing, the grey ship is the normal scrying location – you made it up, Donaldo! – , for another, we can’t do much with Tam if we don’t have his eyes. And it seems to be going kind of quickly. I don’t know. You decide whether you want it deleted or not. It is your post after all.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in June 18th, 2007 @ 15:39122-Oh! I didn’t mean for the ship to be the scrying location. I just thought that it should be wherever the receiver of the scry is. Tam was on a ship the first time, so I had it be a grey ship. Also, we can do plenty with Tam without his eyes. His power comes not from just his eyes, it comes from his head, and his arms, and his legs(remember flamulos helios or flamulos podias?) Also, I didn’t really want it to be much of a scrying with Tam. Remember how Alexis said when she contacted Ren that she didn’t want to accidentally contact Mordran? I think Ren, seeing as he is still pretty new at this, might have accidentally made a scry with an Unknowable, or something, and things got morphed and changed around.
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Alice
in June 18th, 2007 @ 15:56Oh, I see. Okay.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in June 18th, 2007 @ 16:41I still don’t really care if you want to delete it. Or we could sort it out later, with Captain Pye and Ren talking.
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Alice
in June 18th, 2007 @ 16:57It kind of creeps me out, honestly. It reminds me of that scene in The Brothers Grimm where . . . yeah.
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Alice
in June 19th, 2007 @ 17:31125-
Dear Donaldo,
So . . . Can we delete it? Not to seem mean, but it’s no good working on a story if I desperately want to turn it into a dream.
Sincerely,
AliceP.S. The letter form is for no particular reason. It’s just fun.
~ Alice
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in June 19th, 2007 @ 19:36127-I don’t care. Delete it if you want. You have my permission. BTW, what happened to Alexis after they escaped?
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Alice
in June 19th, 2007 @ 20:42128- Escaped from who? After they escaped from the Pukis-trader, she stayed on the ship, I think. But I guess she can’t have, if she then had her babies. We can fix it in the edit.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in June 20th, 2007 @ 13:52129-Alexis told Ren that she had to leave to have her babies after they excaped from the Pukis trader, but she said she’d return. After Ren escaped from the stockade using flamulos heliosa, he hid on a ledge, where Alexis met him again. Alexis then came up with a plan to help the others escape, which they did, but when they did, he found that Tam was about to be killed by Tzil. Tzil escaped through the storm and Ren had the weird vision with the Unknowable. That is when I realized Alexis was nowhere to be found.
BTW, I just came up with a title for the series(I am pretty sure someone said we could write a series) How about “Powerfuls of Sphaere”?
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Alice
in June 20th, 2007 @ 14:20130- No! We changed that, because I decided after posting my “sorry Ren I have to go” post, that it was even worse than what had been going on before.
216. Alice �|� April 26th, 2007 at 10:16 pm
Or not. Prarilius Canix’s post helps a lot.
~~~~~~~~~~
“We have to get back to the Captain,-um- what should I call you?” said Ren.
“No need to be so loud,” thought the Pukis. “Call me…” Here it thought something unpronounceable.
“What!” Ren ejaculated, accidentally out loud. “Sorry,” he thought more quietly, “but I can’t possibly say that. Can I call you Alexis?”
“I suppose,” the Pukis thought back. “Now, we must get you back to you Captain. I have to leave soon.”
“Why?” Ren didn’t want Alexis to leave, so soon after they’d met.
“I have to lay my eggs soon. I’m sorry. Perhaps when my kittens are grown we will meet again.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sorry, ’bout that, but this is reminding me of many books, and a Pukis sidekick is just going to make it worse. But she can come back later.220. Alice �|� April 27th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
I don’t like my last post. Can we just ignore it? I may still try to get rid of Alexis, but I REALLY, really, don’t want post 216. I regret it deeply.
This reminds me of other books. How irritating. Oh, well, I’ll get over it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He then flew into a towering rage. Ren sat there, conversing silently with Alexis, and not really listening to the Captain at all. He did, however, notice when the noise ceased abruptly.
“What?” asked Ren, startled out of his reverie.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~221. Cat’s Meow �|� April 27th, 2007 at 10:50 pm
220-Oh, okay…so are we backing up to the post before that?
222. Alice �|� April 28th, 2007 at 10:37 am
221- No, I think we’re just using Donaldo’s, and then my last one. (220)
You were gone then I think, because I later asked if “we were the only ones here” in regard to Cat’s Meow and myself.
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Cat's Meow
in June 20th, 2007 @ 22:34Wow…so much has changed since I was here last.
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Alice
in June 20th, 2007 @ 23:13132- Yeah . . . Remember, we are not using Donaldo’s post! If I got nightmares, it would give them to me. Well, maybe not that extreme, but yeah.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in June 21st, 2007 @ 16:08133-So Alexis left to lay her eggs, right? I am SO confused!
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Alice
in June 21st, 2007 @ 16:20134- NO, she didn’t! I got rid of that post!
READ ALL OF THIS, DONALDO.
However, the next thought felt not harsh and threatening, like he expected, but almost gentle. But really, who would want to be gentle if they could read minds?
A sound like a crackling flame seared through his head and the soles of his feet began to throb. “Aaaaaargh!” he yelled. In a second, the feeling passed, but when he opened his eyes there sat the Puki from the marketplace, the blue one with the shiny orange eyes.
“Felt that, did you?” the voice purred, and finally Ren understood who the mysterious mind reader was.
“There is a water spirit in the vicinity,” the Pukis continued. “His essence chills me. I believe my old master is speaking with him. Over there!”
The last thought switched from a gentle purr to a harsh yowl. Ren swiveled around just in time to overhear some of the conversation.
“…definitely had fire talent. Did you see how the Pukises were drawn to him?”
“I did. Vashkar will be pleased. Mordran may even see fit to reward you.”
The latter speaker was a mysterious figure in a blue cloak. Just as Ren tried to get closer, the figure exploded in a blast of freezing spray. A stormy petrel rose from the churning water and flew off to the East.
Ren felt as though his stomach was filled with sour milk. “They know,” he whispered.
Ren knew he had to get back to Captain Pye, but how? Suddenly, a thought came to his mind from the Pukis. “Use your power. Back there, when you scared away my owner, you used some. Try it now.”
“But how?” Ren asked.
“You mustn’t focus on using your powers. If you do, they will not work. Just let them come to you.” So Ren sat there at the bench, tending to his legs and watching the ships go by.
After about an hour, he stood up and glared at the Pukis. “This isn’t working!” he exclaimed.
“Be patient,” said the Pukis. “Later, you will learn how to use your powers in the here and now, but this is not the right time.”
So Ren sulked for about another half hour, but finally a word came to his mind. Flamulo helioso, were the words. As if it were a reflex, Ren closed his eyes, and spread out his arms. He had no control over this, and when he tried to put his arms down, they sprung up again. He felt some heat on his arms, and when he finally opened his eyes, his arms were on fire. The Pukis was flying next to him. Ren looked down: they were a good 50 feet above the island. Ren saw the Sea Roc and then glanced over at the Pukis, which was flying with him. “Quick! Get over to the ship before you become susceptible to the fire and burn!”
Ren flapped his arms and dove towards the ship like a falcon. When he got close to the ship, he slowed and landed with a thump on the deck. The fire on his arms sputtered and spat and then went out.
Captain Pye walked over to Ren and grabbed his shoulder. “What in Sphaere have you done, boy?”
He then flew into a towering rage. Ren sat there, conversing silently with the blue Pukis, Alexis, and not really listening to the Captain at all. He did, however, notice when the noise ceased abruptly.
“What?” asked Ren, startled out of his reverie.
“Your legs!” said Octavio Pye, aghast.
“What? Oh.” Ren looked down at his legs. His pants were burnt up to the knee, and what of his legs was visible was blistered. “It doesn’t hurt that much,” he lied.
“Go to your cabin right now!” the Captain commanded, fiercely staring Ren down. “Even fire WOUNDS can be dangerous to you. I believe they take you down from the inside.”
Ren sheepishly walked to his cabin and lay down on the bed. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t actually slept on it much. He lay his head down and began to doze off.
“Wake up, boy!” the voice of Octavio Pye said, searing through his groggy head. “Now, I want you to tell me exactly what happened to you. Don’t leave anything out. And I’m especially interested in learning how you came upon THIS.” With his last word he yanked the furry figure of Alexis from behind his back and waved her in front of Ren’s face. “Do you want Marmalade to be so jealous that she burns our entire ship into the sea?”
“Marmalade would do that!” Ren was shocked.
“She most certainly would,” said Captain Pye grimly. “She’s had a hand in sinking most of the ships we ever pirated, and she could certainly sink this one.”
Alexis sank her teeth into Captain Pye’s hand and jumped onto Ren’s bed.It’s not that long.
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Cat's Meow
in June 21st, 2007 @ 22:44Okay. So is that where we’re up to now? That’s about where I left off.
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Alice
in June 21st, 2007 @ 22:50136- No, that’s what I wanted Donaldo to read so that he understood the Alexis-status. We’re much further along.
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Cat's Meow
in June 22nd, 2007 @ 12:41137-Oh, got it. I’ll read everything that happened since I stopped posting to catch up.
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Cat's Meow
in June 22nd, 2007 @ 12:59Okay, I’m caught up. When we remove Donaldo’s post we’re back to post 119, right?
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Alice
in June 22nd, 2007 @ 14:40139- Yup.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in June 22nd, 2007 @ 18:57135-Then, we have to change a few posts. Here they are:
78. Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd �| May 29th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
I can’t go to sleep, Ren thought. He was tired after staying up all night, but couldn’t go to sleep until he had a plan. But he was so tired. Maybe if he just closed his eyes for a few minutes. He was about to fall into deep sleep when suddenly, a voice appeared in his head. Was it his voice? No, Ren realized, it was a female. Ren was sure he had never heard this voice before, yet it sounded oddly familiar… Ren? Is that you? the voice said.
Yes. It is me, Ren replied.
Oh, splendid. I hoped I had contacted you and not that awful Mordran. He better not be overhearing us.
Ren was excited now, but scared at the same time. His eyes widened. He knew who this was.
Alexis? Is that you?
Yes, it is.
———————————————————————
Does anyone remember her? I hope so.79. Alice �|� May 29th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Yeah, I remember her. I was wondering about her earlier, but my sister was playing music and I couldn’t think.However, I’m still not good at making up plans.
80. Alice �|� May 29th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
We need to rescue Captain Pye and the crew of the Sea Roc, thought Ren. And Tam.
Alexis made a disapproving thought. Ren, Tam may be too far gone to rescue. He is too frightened of the Unknowables to disobey Mordran.
What are the Unknowables? asked Ren. Finally, he would get some answers!I mean to finish that scene, but I have to go.
81. Alice �|� May 29th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
Ah. No I don’t.
~~~~~~
The Unknowables are gods, said Alexis after a long pause. She seemed reluctant to say more, but Ren was not going to let her get away without telling him everything.
They can’t be gods! he thought in disbelief. There are no temples to them, nothing! I didn’t even know about them till the other day!
The Empire banned them. No one was allowed to worship them, and slowly the people forgot. Only a few people still know of them. Tam is one.
But why? And how does he know? And how do you know that?
Alexis did not reply.
~~~~~~~~~
I’m thinking perhaps she is in league with the Unknowables.82. Donaldo the supercoolio nerd �|� May 29th, 2007 at 11:03 pm
Alexis, please tell me! Ren begged.
Nothing.
, Ren pleaded.
Look up, she replied.
Ren did as he was told, and lo and behold, there was Alexis, softly flapping her dragon wings, and with her were… Ren gasped. Are those your children?
Yes, she replied, unhappily.
What is wrong?
Out of 30 eggs, only these 3 survived. The rest were catched by poachers and sent to incubation to be brought up and killed for their fur. Alexis was very unhappy now. They are going to be sold to the Emperor, and I seek revenge.Her voice was dripping with anger now. And I have a plan.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in June 22nd, 2007 @ 18:58I mean, if she stayed with Ren, then how could she lay eggs? And why didn’t Marmalade get jealous and burn down the ship? And why didn’t Ren recognize her voice? I am STILL confused. Sorry!
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Cat's Meow
in June 22nd, 2007 @ 19:09142-I’m really not sure about the first two, but I think she left after a little while or something, so as to not upset Marmalade. And Ren was probably just sleepy or something.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in June 22nd, 2007 @ 19:58143-Then we will just add something in in the final story to make it so she left.
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Alice
in June 23rd, 2007 @ 00:10Yeah. Let’s.
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Cat's Meow
in June 23rd, 2007 @ 12:55Yeah, that makes the most sense.
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Fire_Falcon22
in June 23rd, 2007 @ 13:46146- Hey Cat (@_@ Im going to become confused after awhile.) is this the place you were talking about?
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in June 26th, 2007 @ 14:18147-Are you new? This is a great place to start off for an RRR. We really need new people for this. And you are great on the MuseBlog fanfiction thread! Please join this thread!!!
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Alice
in June 26th, 2007 @ 14:28*spinning head* Sure, we need more people, but this is really confusing! Somehow Donaldo and I always manage to misunderstand each other. But, come on, FF! If you can get past the last few posts, then everything will be alright.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in June 27th, 2007 @ 16:08149-Don’t scare him away!!!! We need more ‘Riters!!!! It isn’t all that confusing-just skip the past, um, 20 or so posts and you will be fine.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in June 27th, 2007 @ 16:09149-Don’t scare him away!!!! We need more ‘Riters!!!! It isn’t all that confusing-just skip the past, um, 20 or so posts and you will be fine.
Also, Alice-I get it now. But I don’t think we should even have him scrying right now. Tam is in extreme pain, plus, why can’t Ren just run over to him and talk to him?
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A Al Ali Alic Alice Alic Ali Al A
in June 27th, 2007 @ 16:11150- Precisely. Maybe I’ll post the whole story so far. We need it.
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A Al Ali Alic Alice Alic Ali Al A
in June 27th, 2007 @ 16:19151- Because Tam appears to be dead. But okay.
Re: Alexis. It seems like too short a time for Alexis to have had all her babies, for them to have hatched, and for the Pukis traders to close in. Maybe they could just be changed to other helpful Pukises? And if we really need Alexis to want revenge, we could make it like, her family had been caught by Pukis trappers. Who says Pukises don’t have strong family bonds?
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Cat's Meow
in June 27th, 2007 @ 18:34153-That’s an idea. I like it.
Hey, Alice, I was reading the newcomers thread and you said that you lived in Washington. What part?
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Alice
in June 27th, 2007 @ 20:52154- Let’s see, how specific can I be without being too specific? How about… South-western Washington. Several hours’ drive from Seattle. Where do you live?
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Cat's Meow
in June 28th, 2007 @ 14:56155-I live on the east side of the state. Still, you’re the first Washingtonian MBer I’ve met! A couple more and we could have a mini-Kokonvention!
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Alice
in June 28th, 2007 @ 15:05156- Hurrah! Well, it’s sad that you live on the east side, but it’s cool that we live in the same state.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in June 28th, 2007 @ 15:31153-No, I like Alexis. Pukises are magical creatures, either way, so maybe they don’t need to have labor for all that long, and the eggs hatch as soon as they are born.
156-I live in California, but all my relatives on my dad’s side live in Washington. I visit them a lot. Maybe we could have a mini-Kokonvention!
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Alice
in June 28th, 2007 @ 15:44158- But please? I really don’t like . . . Oh bother. This whole thing is about teamwork. *deep breaths* Okay. Buuuuuut – the fire is too keep them warm until they hatch, therefore it must take some time. And, (because we really must up the misunderstanding, you know) in case you were saying that I was going to -gasp- get rid of her, I wasn’t. I was just saying that the baby Pukises are not my favorite. But oh well. We can keep them if you like.
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Alice
in June 28th, 2007 @ 19:54GAPAs, can we have a Washington State kokonvention thread? Maybe it would raise awareness.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in June 28th, 2007 @ 19:59160-I agree. We should. But we should also really get back to writing.
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Alice
in June 28th, 2007 @ 20:38GAPAs, please? Please? Please?
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Alice
in June 28th, 2007 @ 22:59The GAPAs don’t want to give us one when there already is a kokonvention thread, so we can:
a) Continue to talk about it here, which is generally frowned upon by everyone including me, or,
b) Go here, where it is on topic.[Link repaired.]
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Alice
in June 29th, 2007 @ 14:01Thanks.
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Alice
in July 5th, 2007 @ 00:34Guys, Cinnamoon can come to the East side of the state in August. Where can you come to, Donaldo?
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in July 5th, 2007 @ 19:12Yakima, I guess. I don’t really know where that is in relation to the state. I don’t think my parents would let me go though.
GAPAs, can we have a part 3 for this RRR? No one is writing anymore, so maybe a part 3 will get more excitement for this story.
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Alice
in July 8th, 2007 @ 16:48166- Oh, it’ll start up again. Just give it time. I’ll keep it from becoming completely dead.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in July 8th, 2007 @ 21:12167-Thanks
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Alice
in July 10th, 2007 @ 23:28Okay, so we’re keeping Alexis’ babies? *sigh* I still think they should be Pukises that she rounded up to help Ren. Babies are just . . . unnecessary. Och, well, you can’t have everything.
The last post is this, when we delete all those posts that no one cared for:
“Tzil?” said Pye. “I don’t-oh no.”
He raced outside, with Ren on his heels to find Tam backed up against the boards of the stockade, desperately trying to fight off a maddened Tzil, who was snarling and pressing his long knife to Tam’s throat. Tam spied Captain Pye and Ren and screamed to them. “Help!”
They raced to his aid, but before they could reach Tam, Tzil suddenly changed tact and plunged his blade into Tam’s chest.
Ren stopped dead.
“Finally, we are rid of that traitor!” roared Tzil in triumph. Then he realized what he had done, and froze. The look of shock on Tam’s face turned to one of rage, and eldritch fire began flowing up the knife in his chest, which Tzil was still grasping. The fire wrapped itself around Tzil’s arm as he struggled to break free, using his own power of try to ward it off, but to no avail. Suddenly a huge fireball engulfed his thrashing body and he flew up in the air, finally ripping his dagger from Tam’s chest as he ascended ablaze. Lighting overwhelmed the airborne inferno and drew the hardly recognizable form of Tzil into the clouds, where all stormmasters are taken by their element to die. The long dagger carried by Tzil in life quivered upright in the dirt. His eyes rolling back in his head, Tam collapsed on the deck.And now we may continue writing, if anyone on here still writes.
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Alice
in July 10th, 2007 @ 23:35Oh wait, make that, “collapsed on the dirt.” I was just c+ping, and I didn’t remember that I’d forgotten to change that bit when I rearranged Pyro’s post.
~~~~
Pye rushed to the boy’s side, but Ren stood frozen, staring at the unconscious Tam. It seemed all wrong somehow. Sure, Tam had made a bargain with the Empire, sure, he was a traitor, sure, he no longer belonged to the pirates, but still! Ren couldn’t believe that Tzil had just…killed him. Just like that. And why hadn’t the guards come to Tam’s aid when they heard his call for help?
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Alice
in July 10th, 2007 @ 23:38Does Pan still come here? She’s only posted once on this thread, and that was just to say maybe we needed a summary. Pan? Are you out there?
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in July 11th, 2007 @ 18:40A thought came to Ren’s mind. He immediately recognized it as a fire word. Flamulos intherapulis. He immediately began to breathe deeply, but quickly. His mouth felt hot, and the saliva all dryed up and evaporated right out of his mouth. A light was shining out of his mouth, but not an electric light. It was a flickering, crackling light, like a fire. A 20 foot burst of fire roared out of his mouth suddenly.
Captain Pye, realizing the sudden danger, ran over to Ren. He didn’t know what to do, however, and stood there, helpless.
The fire was different from other fires. It was a bright purple flame. It ironically didn’t catch anything on fire, nor did it burn Ren, so was it really fire? An experiment is in order, he decided, and he rushed over to Tam, fire still blazing and put the flame onto Tam. It didn’t hurt him.
“REN!” Captain Pye yelled. “What in Sphaere are you doing?”
————————————————————————
I know that goes against what we said about fire, but maybe this is, like, an EXTREMELY rare power that Ren can only use during life and death situations of people he cares about.
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Alice
in July 11th, 2007 @ 19:03172- I don’t get it. Please explain? But one note: There are no electric lights. Just so you know.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in July 13th, 2007 @ 18:43173-The rule of the Powers is that you can only be killed by your Element, which is why the fire hurts Ren and Tam after awhile. Flamulo intherapulis is a fire word, like flamulos podias and flamulos helios. It causes fire to come out of the user’s mouth, but this fire doesn’t hurt the user. It has healing power. However, flamulo intherapulis can only be used on rare occasions when someone the user cares about is in a life-or-death circumstance. Make sense?
Also, thanks for pointing out the electric thing, but the flame is fire, not electric light.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in July 15th, 2007 @ 17:03Hello? Anyone home?
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Alice
in July 15th, 2007 @ 17:18175- Why hello my good sir! And what would you be doing riding in such lonely parts? Very few come here, to these tangled woods.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in July 18th, 2007 @ 18:04176-Well, hello there, my lady! I often ride through here. It’s tranquility and silence is very relaxing to me, yet also, for some reason I can’t understand, very annoying. What brings you here? Also, I believe we should embark on a quest to reach new woods, where maybe more people will come to. What do you say?
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Alice
in July 18th, 2007 @ 22:19177- Indeed, Sir Donaldo. I often ride through here as well, but it becomes lonely sometimes.
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in July 19th, 2007 @ 16:56178-Simply splendid, Madam Alice! Then we should leave to find more inhabited woods as soon as possible. Whenever you are ready, so am I!
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Alice
in July 20th, 2007 @ 00:10179- But how shall we go about it, Sir Donaldo?
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Donaldo the supercoolio awesome nerd
in July 20th, 2007 @ 14:11180-That is a wonderful question! And in the nature of wonderful questions, it has a wonderful answer. We must ask the Great and Powerful Park Rangers of these Tangled Woods to direct us to the new woods. From then, I do believe that we can find our way.
(Psst! GAPAs, we are dropping hints here for you! WE WANT A NEW THREAD!)
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Alice
in July 20th, 2007 @ 14:31O, Great and Powerful Park Rangers! I beg of you, take us out of these lonely, tangled, woods!
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Rebecca Lasley (Administrator)
in July 20th, 2007 @ 14:48(181, 182) The reason being? What will a new thread do this time that it didn’t do last time?
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Alice
in July 20th, 2007 @ 14:57183- Good question. But can I come up with a good answer? Lessee… um… maybe Canix will notice this story again if there was a new thread. But then again, probably not. Maybe a new thread would attract more writers, but then again, this one didn’t. You’re right, Lady Bunniful. It will do nothing. What we need is more writers. We have:
Donaldo
Canix
Cat’s Meow (except that she rarely comes on)
Pyro (Maybe. And he’s not especially active, either)
MePurple Panda wrote on the old thread, but hasn’t been seen since post seven. Oh dear. We appear to be lacking. What can I do to spice up the story? Not much. I don’t fully approve of Ren’s new talent, and my disapproval kind of killed my creative spark. Great. And then there’s Alexis…
And I created her, too. A lot of things are unsatisfactory, but a new thread won’t help that. Oh well. I bow down to the wisdom of the Great and Powerful Park Rangers.
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Alice
in July 20th, 2007 @ 15:26Oh well. I can make things a bit more to my liking in the edit, so I might as well write.
~~~
Ren did not reply. His mouth was full of fire, and his fingertips crackled with dancing, flickering, flames.
“Ren, you idiot!” screamed Pye. “It’ll kill you! It’ll kill him!” But his warning came too late, as the fire vanished in a shower of sparks. Tam looked no different than before ((But he’s entirely healed, just so you know)), and slowly Ren sat down on the hard ground with his back against the stockade. He saw Alexis fluttering above him in dragon form, and Captain Pye looking aghast, and then he lay his head down on his knees, and fell asleep.
~~~
I just had a good idea. Rather than this being one of Ren’s powers, how about it’s Mordran controlling him with Jarbun Magic. Mordran doesn’t want Tam to die, and he knows that this’ll drain Ren so that he (Mordran) can capture them both. Of course Captain Pye saves them. It makes more sense than Ren wanting to save Tam, because Tam himself isn’t someone that Ren would save with this talent, it’s just that Ren doesn’t like being the only one with Fire power.
~~~
Mordran sat down in the wooden-and-gilt chair that was provided for him, breathing heavily. However Ren felt, Mordran felt ten times worse. It wasn’t easy, channeling the powers of a god through yourself and into another. Especially when the other was so far away. But it had worked, the man was sure of it. Even if the first boy never recovered, the second was helpless. Mordran must give the order now, before the shock of such power had worn off. He reached into his sleeve and pulled out an item resembling a silver bell. He shook it, and a single, high-pitched, note resounded through the room. When it had faded, all was quiet. Then, and only then, did Mordran allow himself to sleep.
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Rebecca Lasley (Administrator)
in July 20th, 2007 @ 15:38(184) I do sympathize, in case I sounded hardhearted before. But it would seem to be in the nature of RRRs that once they’re well underway attracting new writers is difficult at best.
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Alice
in July 20th, 2007 @ 18:36186- Yeah…
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Alice
in July 22nd, 2007 @ 17:49Octavio Pye watched as Ren’s eyes closed, and he slipped into oblivion. It didn’t seem natural. It was a magic-induced sleep, the Captain knew. He had seen enough of them, having two weatherworkers on his ship. But what he hadn’t seen was the magic that Ren had just performed. The fire consuming the boy, only to vanish as suddenly as it had come, without even the slightest traces left. No ash, no burns on Ren or Tam–nothing. But then again, he reminded himself. What did he know? He had no elemental talent at all, who was he to judge whether something was going wrong or not?
He turned his attention back on Tam, who looked exactly as before. Ah well. Unfathomable talent or not, the boys were people, not tools, and shouldn’t be treated as such. Pye turned to the hut, in front of which the remainder of the crew of the Sea Roc was standing, awed at the spectacle.
“Let’s get the boys inside,” said Pye. “it looks like it might rain.”
~~~~~~
There! That ought to help.
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Pyro
in July 22nd, 2007 @ 23:39-184 Sorry I haven’t been able to get on MB very often; my summer is way too busy. Now that I’m back from ski camp, I might be able to help some more. How much further do we want this to run, by the way? Not that I’m in a hurry to end it, but what was our target length of the story?
In any case, I have some ideas for another RRR, but I think this one should be finished first before I ask for another one. Have any of the RRR’s actually gotten finished?
Sorry if I sound negative, because I’m not trying to be.
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Alice
in July 23rd, 2007 @ 11:51189- Oh, I don’t know about length. I would like it to be longer than it is, but whatever. It would be nice if it turned out to be novel-length, actually, rather than short story length, but again, whatever.
And actually, there is an RRR that got finished. In fact, not only did we finish it, but we expanded it by twice its original size, and are currently editing madly. It was started in January.
I think that before we get any new RRRs we need to finish some of the old ones. I am on every single RRR there is, and believe me, it’s exhausting. There are too many, which is why I’m glad we just finished Terraformed. (Of course, if I automatically start writing a sequel, then I’m not really finished, am I?)
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Pyro
in July 23rd, 2007 @ 19:25-190 Gotcha. I don’t think we could stretch this to novel length, though.
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Alice
in July 23rd, 2007 @ 19:36191- You don’t think? Why not?
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Alice
in July 23rd, 2007 @ 19:41Okay, that last post sounded rude. Sorry. But really, why can’t it be stretched to novel-length? It’s got plenty of story potential, and they aren’t even close to taking over the Blood Storm.
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Pyro
in July 24th, 2007 @ 17:56-193 Nah, I didn’t think it sounded rude. But anyways, I don’t know how many ideas we can put in this or if we have the energy for it. But if the will to do it is there, we can totally make it happen.
Also, the pacing is coming pretty quickly, so a reader wouldn’t expect the story to go on for a whole novel if so much happens in the first 2 or 3 chapters of the book. Just musing.
I notice no one else has really commented on this matter.
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Alice
in July 24th, 2007 @ 21:50194- Hmm. Well, actually, there have been at least 6 chapters by now. It’s pretty long.
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Pyro
in July 25th, 2007 @ 12:10195-How many pages does it translate into? I’m thinking kind of like the 1st HP book (it’s just on my mind)
which is about 300 pages long, and I guess counts as a novel… so ours might reach 200-250 depending on page size, font size, etc.…ok. Strike that, I just looked up and saw your post about story length. what was the goal for word count on this story, and how long is it now? Maybe that will clear things up.
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Alice
in July 25th, 2007 @ 12:33196- We didn’t have a goal for word count, and I can’t exactly tell you how many words it has right now, because I haven’t yet copied the most recent posts into my Keeper’s Draft. Somewhere around 13000 or maybe more, I should think, but see what we have to do:
•Escape Mordran
•Find out more about the Unknowables
•Learn Tam’s past (well, put it into the book)
•Capture the Blood Storm.
And depending on how we go about those things, we’ll probably create even more loose ends that we need to tie up. I like the thought of them capturing the Blood Storm, but then discovering that some treacherous steward (or other less cliched person) had run off with the Orb.
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Alice
in July 25th, 2007 @ 15:34It has 14098 words so far.
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Pyro
in July 26th, 2007 @ 11:38197- Ok. That’s all cleared up; now I have to go back and read the whole story again. : sigh :
198-That’s a tad over 13000
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Alice
in July 27th, 2007 @ 00:38I’m going to be gone for the weekend, and I will have no access to a computer while I am gone. I may get on tomorrow morning, but if I do it won’t be for long.
‘Bye!
~Alice
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Pyro
in July 28th, 2007 @ 17:04I will also be gone for the entire rest of next week and possibly longer.
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Supergeek and the Deathly Hallows
in July 28th, 2007 @ 22:45Oh man…Buh-bye everyone! I’ll post when I can!
197-We weren’t going to capture the Blood Storm. I thought we were going to capture that warship. Or did we change that?
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cilroxmysox
in July 29th, 2007 @ 13:44no i think we will capture the blood storm. it sounds like more fun.
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Supergeek and the Deathly Hallows
in July 30th, 2007 @ 12:34203-OK, fine… Wait, are you new to this thread? WOOHOO!!!! NEW WRITER!!! NEW WRITER!!! HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
*does new writer dance* OH BOY! I WISH ALICE WERE HERE!!!! FANTASTIC!!!!
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Alice
in July 30th, 2007 @ 13:17The Blood Storm is the warship!
204- I’m here! Yay! Did you miss me? Who are you?
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Alice
in July 30th, 2007 @ 14:18By the way, Cilroxmysox isn’t new. S/he was Pie Parade on the earlier thread.
Hey cil, do you know what’s happening? Have you read the posts since you left?
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kiwimuncher
in August 1st, 2007 @ 07:51What’s going on? Are we capturing a ship or something! AWESOME! Wait, a WARSHIP! Even MORE awesome! How shall we acheive this feat? Cabbage guns?
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kiwimuncher
in August 1st, 2007 @ 08:15Oh! Oops!
I get it! We’re writing story!
*Reads story*Well, it seems to me that we should have Mordran’s plan to capture the boys come next. We shouldn’t just go and capture a ship. Any reader, Example=me, wants to know what Mordran’s planning.
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Alice
in August 1st, 2007 @ 09:45208- Oh yes. Capturing the warship is just the goal. When we’ve finished that, we will be done with the story. Are you going to join? It would be great if you did.
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Cat's Meow
in August 1st, 2007 @ 14:23184-I think I actually created her, but you named her…
Oh yes, and I’m back. *jabs self to stay active*
*goes to read posts*
Okay, somewhat caught up. What are the properties of this magical induced sleep that Ren is? Is it basically becoming so exaughsted from magic that you fall into a sleep? How long does it take to wear off? Is Tam in one too?And did the Washington Kokonvention idea die?
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kiwimuncher
in August 1st, 2007 @ 17:55209) Si! Wee! Yes! I’m joining!
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kiwimuncher
in August 1st, 2007 @ 18:00Sorry about the double post, but what should Mordran’s plan be?Is he going to send an evil minion to capture the boys and carry them away? Sort of clique.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. Perhaps he will send an evil spirit into thieir minds and capture their minds. Then………………….
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Alice
in August 1st, 2007 @ 18:50210- No, I created her. I think. But you were probably the one to make her actually significant.
The magically induced sleep is basically what you thought it was. Tam isn’t in one, because he didn’t do any magic, but he was stabbed in the chest, so it’s not surprising he’s unconscious.
The WA kokon idea didn’t quite die, but if you leave, then yes, it’s dead. I’d still like to have one.
211- YAY!
212- He wants them because they are the only ones who can work the Orb of Centaur, if that’s what you were wondering. I like the idea of something getting in their minds, though. Write it in!
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Alice
in August 1st, 2007 @ 21:28Right. I’m bored, and I don’t have Photoshop so I can’t make a map, or not one I can send, so I shall start writing an encyclopedia-type thing. I’ll post when I have anything worth mentioning.
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Alice
in August 1st, 2007 @ 22:08Note: Much of this encyclopedia/history/guide is fragments of the story and miscellaneous other posts taken and edited to suit my needs. In such cases, I shall credit the person who wrote.
Sphaere
Sphaere is more of a country or a continent than a whole World. It is believed by many, though by no means the majority, of the people that there are in fact other places beyond it, but no one has succeeded in finding out.
The Inner Sea was formed hundreds of years before, when the lowland flats in the center of Sphaere were deluged constantly as the Age of Ice ended and the great glaciers melted. Now, the only land surface of Sphaere is the mountains around its shores.
The Sanguiz Empire soon took advantage of the confusion caused by the Deluge to expand its territory from the handful of states it once commanded. At the time of our story, all of Sphaere is under its iron grip.*
In the midst of this there are a few holdouts from the days of relative freedom before the Deluge. These are the pirates, and the six Free Isles, ranging from Lithuslov, the largest, to Kievl, the smallest. All of these Isles are thought by the Empire to be uninhabited, but even so, it is not uncommon for an Officer in the Sanguiz Navy stop at one of them for refreshment.Lithuslov
Lithuslov is the biggest of the Free Isles, and the home of Pukises, the dragon-cats, as well as housing the largest Free Port inside or outside Sphaere. This port is Pukislyn. Once a small Pukis trapping village, it is now almost as large as the capital of Sphaere. Supposedly Pukis trapping is outlawed, but that is not a strongly enforced rule.
*Prarilius Canix, prologue, March 31 [I edited it some, but most of it came from him. –Alice]
By the way, is Hermetopolis the capital? Or somewhere else?
~~~~~~~~~IMPORTANT! DONALDO AND KIWIMUNCHER ESPECIALLY NEED TO READ THIS! ESPECIALLY DONALDO, SO WE DON’T GET CONFUSED!!!!!!!!!!!!
In my draft, I have eliminated the possibility of Tam being a girl. It doesn’t fit with this particular story, and I have given the idea back to the story from whence it came. Please acknowledge that you have read this so that I know you understand. Please.
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Cat's Meow
in August 1st, 2007 @ 22:51213-Nu uh. https://musefanpage.com/blog/?p=766, Post 206. Nevermind, it doesn’t matter.
—
Moments later the rain came down heavy on the deck. Captain Pye crouched over the boys, inspecting Tam’s wound in particular. It was only a physical wound, not a magical wound, thank goodness, so it would heal in time. But in his current state he wasn’t in any shape to tell them exactly what he’d been doing for the past (however long he’s been gone, I’m not sure). Too, bad, really, Pye thought.Hours later, after everybody but Tam and he had left the room, Ren shifted restlessly in his sleep. His dreams were uneasy. He kept seeing a fire, burning, burning, burning his skin, burning away his strength. He tried as hard as he could, but he couldn’t scream. Then, right before the flames consumed him, he woke up to find sunlight streaking through the cracks and Tam’s body still unconcious beside him.
—
How’s that?
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Alice
in August 1st, 2007 @ 23:08A few inconsistencies (sorry, when I get into these, I really get into them):
A while ago Donaldo said, “Now we need to work out exactly what Jarbun Magic consists of. I was going to think of it being controlling other people, like voodoo dolls kinda, but you can’t make them use their powers. Tell me about any suggestions.”
Later, forgetting this, I said,
“Rather than this being one of Ren’s powers, how about it’s Mordran controlling him with Jarbun Magic.”My personal opinion is this: You can’t make someone use their powers through Jarbun magic, but you can use them as vessels for power that they don’t have. Ren does not have the power to heal with fire, but that power does exist, or did before the Deluge when Fire powerfuls were wiped out and watered down. The original Fire powerfuls were almost godlike, but these new ones are weak. Mordran has taken the Jarbun magic and his own and with both of these he wove a spell and placed the power and the words in Ren for a short space of time. He could have had help from an object too, very much like the Orb but usable only by the Unknowables. Mordran, though, has the temporary power of an Unknowable, and is taken advantage of that.
It’ll take editing to put this into the story, but editing is fun.
I’m sorry, but I love making up complicated systems like that.
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Alice
in August 1st, 2007 @ 23:32216- It doesn’t matter who created Alexis. I admit, it was you. *bows*
Your story is flawed in only one way. They’re in a stockade, not on the Sea Roc. But that can be fixed.
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kiwimuncher
in August 2nd, 2007 @ 06:39Wow. I’m confused. This is really comnplicated.
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Alice
in August 2nd, 2007 @ 11:00219-
Recipe for Complexity
Ingredients
A simple plot
Elements of magic
Two or more inconsistencies
A devoted, bored, and over imaginative RRRiterGive the first three ingredients to the last. Wait.
Ta-DA!
Please don’t leave, Kiwimuncher! It’s not that bad, and we can always change some things around if you have any suggestions.
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Cat's Meow
in August 2nd, 2007 @ 13:08217-Makes sense. More or less. xD
218-Oh, oops. So change the first sentence to “Moments later the rain came down heavy on the room.”
220-Yes, please don’t leave!
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kiwimuncher
in August 2nd, 2007 @ 14:41I shall not leave.
But I am puzzeling about how Captain Pye will miraculously save the boys if Mordran captures their minds.
Perhaps he will hit them on the head with a frying pan. Ha ha!
Just kidding!
Maybe he gets worried while they are in their magical sleep and he performs an ancient medicinal process that allows him to send soothing signals to the sleepers brain through his own. A very risky procedure. He is immediately overwhelmed by the brain of whitchever boy he chose to do the procedure on. Even though it causes much pain to Captain Pye, it helps the boy to escape. Then the boy somehow wakes up his fellow. How’s that?
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kiwimuncher
in August 2nd, 2007 @ 14:47Of course, it would be cool to include a part about how it felt to be captured by Mordran. It could be like they in a torture chamber in their own minds. While being held down by Mordran’s minion, Mordran could asking them questions, or he could just be gloating like all big shot villions do. I don’t know enough about Mordran to tell whitch he would do. Maybe I should go back over the story again. *goes back to read*
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Cat's Meow
in August 2nd, 2007 @ 15:16222 & 223-cool ideas. Do you want to try continuing off what I wrote including some of that?
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Alice
in August 2nd, 2007 @ 15:30222- If you make the person who does that Vushtek, the achemist/cook/doctor, because it makes more sense and he plays such a very minor role, it’s a perfect plan.
*suddenly realizes she’s being bossy* Sorry.
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kiwimuncher
in August 2nd, 2007 @ 15:57OK! I have now read the WHOLE thing and am now less confused. One thing though, I like it when Ren has the fire dream but I thought that we were going to have Mordran minion get into the boy’s minds. If that happens then Ren probubly should stay asleep.
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Alice
in August 2nd, 2007 @ 16:00What fire dream?
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Alice
in August 2nd, 2007 @ 16:01Oh, that one.
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Cat's Meow
in August 2nd, 2007 @ 16:06226-Okay. So cut out the last sentence. And you can continue writing from there. ^_^
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kiwimuncher
in August 2nd, 2007 @ 16:43OK! Here goes!
_______________________________________Hours later, after everybody but Tam and he had left the room, Ren shifted restlessly in his sleep. His dreams were uneasy. He kept seeing a fire, burning, burning, burning his skin, burning away his strength. He tried as hard as he could, but he couldn’t scream.
Then, right before the flames consumed him, the vision changed. Ren suddenly found himself sitting on a cold floor in what looked a lot like a dungeon. On impulse, he tried to stand, but quickly realized that he was held down by shadow-like chains.
“No!” A scream filled the room.
Ren looked up abruptly and saw Tam rolling around in agony on the damp dungeon floor.
“What have I done to you?! Why do I deserve such agony?! Please! No!” Tam screamed again.
“Tam!” Ren yelled. “Snap out of it!”
The other boy shuddered and ceased his thrashing. Ren sat there for what felt like hours, watching Tam sleep. He kept trying to tell himself that this was all a dream, but the longer he remained in the dark room his doubts continued to grow. A yawn escaped Tam’s lips and he sat up.
“Where…….where are we?” Tam asked.
“You,” answered a sinister voice,” are in my mind cells. Nice aren’t they?”
Mordran strode confidently into the room.
“This intire facility, including myself, is an illusion, it only takes place in your mind, but it is very afffective as a prison.”
The two boys gazed at Mordran, clearly overwhelmed.
Mordran smiled nastily in return. ” You will remain here until you give me what I want, your alliegance.”
With that, Mordran stalked away, leaving the faint stench of something that was clearly rotten.
_______________________________________________How’s that?
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Alice
in August 2nd, 2007 @ 19:08I love it!
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kiwimuncher
in August 2nd, 2007 @ 20:17Yay!
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Cat's Meow
in August 2nd, 2007 @ 22:19230-That’s incredible! Keep writing!
—
Tam panicked. “What are we going to do?” he gasped.
“I don’t want to be his servant!” Ren added. He glanced around the small room, if you could even call it a room. It was revolting. The rotting smell that he had noticed came from the rotting flesh of a body in the chamber. Was it just him or was the smell growing stronger?
“I would be his servant, if I could just get out of here!” Tam seemed to be immobile, staring into space at something invisible. “I don’t want to die! I don’t want anybody to die while he tries to get to me!”
“Tam, that’s very noble, but think of all the people that would die if he got his hands on the orb!”
“I don’t care!” Tam’s face had grown very white, and his hands were making the chains shake.
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Alice
in August 2nd, 2007 @ 22:38The noise only added to Ren’s growing sense of claustrophobia and desperation. He wanted to stop the noise, stop the smell, stop everything but his own mind, and think. He reached out to hold Tam’s hands steady, but his own chains would not allow it. The smell was becoming a thick, impenetrable fog, and Tam moaned on. Finally Ren snapped. “SHUT UP!” he yelled. “Let me think!”
“Oh no, dear boy. You cannot think here,” said Mordran’s voice from somewhere inside the depths of the room – his own mind, Ren realized. He felt betrayed. How could his own mind have come up with something so awful? But of course it hadn’t. This was Mordran’s invention, and Ren could do nothing but watch.
So watch he did. He watched Tam grow more and more frightened, more and more willing to serve Mordran in exchange for release from this prison, and he watched the chains crumble until finally they gave way all together and Tam fainted.
“There,” said Mordran, entering the room again. “Perfect. Now, my dear boy, you shall be all alone.” As Ren watched, Tam’s inert form faded until nothing was left.
“Is–is he dead?” Ren asked.
“Oh no, not dead,” said Mordran. “He is my servant, and will work the Orb until he does die, and an unpleasant death it will be, too. But he hasn’t any choice. Neither have you. No one can endure this for long, and in the end everyone gives up. Or,” he added, motioning to the rotting carcass, “you end up like him.”
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kiwimuncher
in August 3rd, 2007 @ 09:10—————————————————————————
Captain Pye sat awkwardly on the edge of a small bunk. Across from him, lay his unconcious cabinboy and powder monkey. He sighed and put his head in his hands. The pair of boys had been in a state of sleep for weeks.
Suddenly, there was a rustling in the sheets. One of the boys turned and sat up in bed. It was Tam! Captain Pye gasped in surprise and grabbed Tam’s shoulders.
“What’s going on boy? Why isn’t Ren awake?”
Tam’s eyes seemed to flash a slight red color, but immediately returned back to normal. Captain Pye blinked, perhaps he had imagined it.
“What? Ren?” Tam asked innocently.”What a sleepy head! He’s still in bed?”
“Yes.” Captain replied stonily “You and him have been sleeping for weeks now.”
“Ren’s problems are no concern of mine.” Tam said with only a fleeting look of guilt. “Now, please excuse me, I wish to get out of this room.”
Tam pushed the Captain roughly out of the way and stode purposefully out to the deck. By now, Pye had begun to suspect something. He watched Tam walk toward one of the row boats on the far side of the ship.
Captain Pye’s eyes grew wide and he shouted, “Stop him!”
The crew instantly stopped what they were doing. The men closest to Tam tried to grab him, but Tam was quicker. Muttering a word under his breath, his arms caught flame and he rose into the air. Without a word, he landed on a small boat. With a wave of his hand the ropes securing the vehicle burned away. The row boat wobbled and fell into the water. The crew watched as Tam rowed furiously away. Captain Pye stared after the boys receding figure with worry. Tam’s escape could only mean one thing, Ren was in trouble!
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Alice
in August 3rd, 2007 @ 10:59How’d they escape? Someone should write a scene where they get out of the stockade. Actually, I’ll do it. This first piece will go right before kiwimuncher’s first post.
~~~~~~~~
“There is nothing we can do about Tzil,” said Vushtek to Niria. “He is dead.”
“Perhaps,” replied Niria calmly, and the others relaxed. Niria Tolmark was still young, not yet hardened by a life of piracy, and no one was sure how she would take the death of her fellow stormmaster. “It is not Tzil I worry about,” she continued. “It is them.” She jerked her chin toward first Ren, and then Tam, lying on the two hard bunks. “That wasn’t natural, what Ren did.”
“He isn’t natural,” Captain Pye informed her. “Not to us.”
“I suppose not,” she sighed. “I know nothing of fire.”
This conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a smug-looking Mordran, who bowed smoothly and said, “I have decided to let you go free.”
There a was a stunned and mistrustful silence, and then Pye said, “And the boys?”
“The boys as well. Your ship is in the harbor still; she is unharmed. Now go.”
They did not have to be told twice.
~~~~~~~
There. I can’t think of anything to write on the actual current story, I’m afraid.
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kiwimuncher
in August 3rd, 2007 @ 13:28—————————————————-
Niria stared her captain in concern. “Are you sure captain?” she asked carefully.
Pye nodded sharply. “The Shriak Mind Bonding is the only way that I can communicate with Ren. We can not let Mordran take Ren as he so obviously did Tam. Letting this happen would be disatrous to the whole world as we know it.”
“But sir!” Niria protested. “The Bonding is an extremely ancient process! We do not even know if it works! It could very well backfire and kill you!”
Pye shook his head and chuckled. “Then, you can have my hat.”
Niria sighed. She had tried to warn him.
——————————————————
Ren lay on the cold dungeon floor, miserable. He wished that he could strangle Tam. At least before he had someone to talk to.
“If I get out of here, I will personally make Tam wish he had never been born.” he vowed.
It was only then that he realized that he had been talking aloud. Great, he thought, now I’m talking to myself. I’m going crazy.
Suddenly, something touched his thoughts. Ren was instantly alert. Who was it? What if it was Mordrid trying to give him a new form of torture? No! He wouldn’t let Mordrid win! With as much savagery as he could muster, he attacked the strand of thought.
—————————————————
Niria watched Captain Pye as he concentrated. A look of satifaction told her that he had succeeded with making contact with Ren. Niria let go of the breath which she had been holding since the beginning of the Bonding process. It had worked!
A sharp intake of breath told her something was wrong. Captain Pye was kneeling on the floor, holding his head in agony, his mouth open a silent scream. Niria rushed to his side, but there was nothing she could do. Captain Pye’s veins stuck out on his neck, which was red and covered with seat. His eyes bugged out of his head. The strain was too much on him. He collasped in a dead faint.
A moan came out of the far corner of the room. Niria looked up and saw Ren sitting up in bed, his eyes wide in alarm.
“Niria?” Ren questioned in disbeleif.
______________________________________________
What do you guys think?
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kiwimuncher
in August 3rd, 2007 @ 13:30Oh. Sorry about the italics. I don’t know how to work it.
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Alice
in August 3rd, 2007 @ 15:03Okay. That’s fine.
~~~~
“Ren!” Niria gasped. “Get Vushtek! Now! Quick–”
Ren nodded and jumped out of bed. He didn’t know what was going on, but he did know where to find Vushtek. He ran to the galley as fast as he could.
“Vushtek!” he called into the open doorway. “The Captain–” Vushtek appeared in the door in a twinkling, wearing a grubby white apron over his emerald green robes.
“What about him?” he asked, concern etched on his face.
“I don’t know! Something’s wrong!”
Vushtek needed no more explanation than that. He did not bother to take off his apron, but headed towards the cabin right away. Ren followed rather uncertainly.
~~~~~
Hmm. Hang on a minute, I think I have some conflicting accounts to fix.
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Alice
in August 3rd, 2007 @ 16:08Character profiles are in order. I need them to keep myself straight. And a timeline, Year 1 being the birth of Captain Pye, just because.
Oh, by the way, I’m changing a few details to fir better with the story and to make it more original. But only details that I made up.
1 Captain Pye is born.
14 Vushtek is born.
22 Captain Pye becomes captain of the Navy’s ship Harmony.
23 Tzil is born.
29 Sanguinus kills Pye’s brother and Pye rebels, becoming a pirate.
33 Niria is born.
34 Vushtek comes aboard the Sea Roc.
37 Tam is born.
39 Ren is born.
47 Tzil comes aboard.
48 Niria comes aboard.
51 Tam comes aboard.
53 Ren comes aboard.It’s okay, I guess. Now to character profiles.
REN SPLAYR
Ren is an orphan, and lived in Hermetopolis with his uncle, Perlan Ethor, until he was fourteen, and his uncle wrote an article about corruption in the Empire and was killed. Ren, on the run from the law, was taken in by the pirates of the Sea Roc, and discovered that he had fire talent.OCTAVIO PYE
Octavio “Krakeneater” Pye, captain of the Sea Roc. His hair was blown off in an alchemical explosion, and he’s been bald ever since. He wears a large tricorn hat to conceal this fact. A pirate of the old school, but he is less ruthless to innocent people than some of his contemporaries. He has a taste for kraken calamari, hence his name.TAM EIZID
Because of his unique power, Tam led a troubled life, pestered by th Unknowables to use his power to bring down the Empire, and finally, at fourteen and two years before the story starts, he stowed away on an exploring ship determined to prove that there other countries outside Sphaere. Unfortunately for the explorers, their ship was attacked by the Sea Roc. Tam was found and made midshipman on the Sea Roc. Despite all this, he has nothing against the Empire, unlike most of the other pirates.TZIL AZURO
Tzil Azuro, weatherweaver extraordinaire! Head Stormmaster of the Sea Roc, he is one of the pirates who is most attuned to the sea. He only wears blue and white clothing, and carries with him at all times a long silver knife. He is also a vegetarian, as he can speak with all manner of creatures in the sea and sky.NIRIA TOLMARK
Niria is the Assistant Stormmaster and a Waveworker. She’s about twenty years old, the youngest of the entire crew save Tam, Ren, and the cabin boy, and the only woman. She’s not very used to the hardships of pirate life, as the other pirates tend to be gentler to her, but she has her own ways of finding things out.VUSHTEK DI FUNDERMULLT
Alchemist, ship’s cook and doctor, or as he calls it, “alchooktor.” A fat, jolly, dark-skinned man, he is a great fighter when he’s roused. He completed his intermediate degree in alchemy at the Alchemical School of Hermetopolis with honors. Unfortunately, the last vacancy in the advanced class he applied for was also desired by an untalented cousin of Emperor Sanguinus. Vushtek was dropped in favor of the royal relative. Furious, he signed on aboard the Sea Roc as cabin boy. Captain Pye recognized Vushtek’s talent for improvisation when the alchemist blew up three naval ships with only pickles, coffee beans, and a pinch of alchemical powder that normally wouldn’t even singe a Pukis’s whiskers. Over the years, Vushtek’s job description has increased, as has his waistline.MARMALADE
A sort of creamy-blond-furred kitten, female, who morphs into a creature like an ivory-scaled snake with lizard legs and golden-feathered wings. Often found perching on the captain’s shoulder.ALEXIS
Like Marmalade, a Pukis, but there the similarity ends. She is blue and orange, and she can communicate telepathically with Ren.The whole story in a while.
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kiwimuncher
in August 3rd, 2007 @ 19:14What about Mordrid?
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Alice
in August 3rd, 2007 @ 19:26241- Mordran. I forgot him.
Anyhow, next part.
Vushtek entered the cabin and stopped in his tracks when he saw the Captain. “What happened?” he demanded of Niria.
“He – he tried to do the Shriak Mind Bonding. And it went wrong,” Niria stammered, her pretty face distraught.
“He tried to do the Bonding? And you let him? Of course it went wrong! It’s the Bonding!” He knelt by the unconscious captain, and started to take his pulse. “I’m not one to criticize my captain,” he said, “but this is ridiculous.”
Niria nodded. “And he said – he said that if he died, I could have his hat!” This was too much for her, and she started to cry.
Ren looked on, hardly hearing a word, as Vushtek, in an unusually bad temper, questioned Niria, who continued to cry. But then something brought him back down to earth.
“It wasn’t during the Bonding that it all went wrong,” said Niria, gaining some measure of control. “It was after, once he’d done the actual spell and it ought to have been easy.”
Ren turned cold. He cleared his throat. “What exactly does this Bonding do?” he asked, his voice perilously close to cracking.
Vushtek and Niria turned to look at him. “It gives two people contact through their minds,” Niria explained. “Didn’t you feel it?”
But Ren could not reply.
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Alice
in August 3rd, 2007 @ 19:35“Oh no,” he murmured. “Oh no, oh no, oh please no.”
“Ren?” asked Niria, comprehension dawning in her eyes. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t . . . mean . . .” began Ren through a fog of horror. “I thought it was Mordran . . . trying to get into my mind . . .”
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kiwimuncher
in August 4th, 2007 @ 18:11Niria eyes grew as big as saucers. Vushtek stared at Ren as if he wanted to peirce his brain.
“You attacked his mind.” Vushtek stated calmly.
The large man knelt by the Captain and felt his pulse.
“He’s not dead, but near it. I may be able to soothe the pain slightly, but he needs to get expert help. We will need to stop at the nearest port as quickly as possible if he is to survive.”
Vushtek grunted and lifted gently Captain Pye onto a bed. He motioned for Niria and Ren to leave them in peace. Niria brushed past Ren as they left, she didn’t meet his eyes.
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kiwimuncher
in August 4th, 2007 @ 18:12Oops! I meant “lifted Captain Pye gently onto a bed”!
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kiwimuncher
in August 4th, 2007 @ 18:15Oh No! Oops again! Vushtek had already knelt by the Captain! I’ll change it too……….
“Vushtek turned to the Captain and felt his pulse.”
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Alice
in August 4th, 2007 @ 18:38Ren stared hollowly at nothing. He did not feel the deck rolling beneath his feet, or the wind on his face, or hear the men working behind him. He did, however, notice when someone appeared at his elbow and asked, “What’s going on? No one’ll tell me.”
Ren turned and met the eyes of the cabin boy, Arnold. “Oh, hello,” he said, deadpan. The other boy looked alarmed.
“What’s going on?” he asked again.
Ren looked back out across the stern of the ship, at the great blue-green watery expanse. “Go ask someone else,” he said. “Leave me alone.”
“No,” replied the cabin boy stubbornly. He was much larger than Ren, although a peaceful person, and most smaller boys would not dare refuse such a large an ferocious-looking person. Ren did not spare him a glance, nor say another word.
Arnold waited, leaning his arms on a bulwark. Ren would give in and say sooner or later. He could wait.
He did not have to wait long. In a few minutes, Ren spoke.
“I think I may have – I might have . . . killed the Captain.”
Arnold looked at him in mingled astonishment and anger. “Why in Sphaere?” he exploded. “What did he do to you?”
“Nothing at all,” Ren said. “I didn’t mean to. He tried to get inside my mind. Don’t ask. Please leave me alone.”
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Alice
in August 4th, 2007 @ 18:40The Captain is dead?” Arnold asked, his fury giving way to incredulity.
“No,” said Ren. “Not yet. Hopefully never. But he might die. If he did it would be all my fault. Go away. Don’t tell anyone, please.”
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kiwimuncher
in August 5th, 2007 @ 07:12Arnold stared at Ren curiously, but did as asked.
————————————————————–
Tam had no idea where he going. In fact, if he had been in his right mind, he would not have left the (name of Ren’s ship) at all. There seemed to be a buzzing in his head, telling him where to go.
Tam looked around himself. He saw no evidence that he going anywhere near land. Eveything was ocean, as far as his eyes could see. He wondered silently if he was doing the right thing.
He thought about Ren. Ren seemed so certain about what he should do, when he, Tam, had no idea what was right. Guilt filled him as he remembered that Ren was still trapped in the dark mind cell. Tam couldn’t beleive that Ren would ever surrender. He imagined Ren staying trapped in his mind, until he died, leaving his rotting corpse to lay there forever.
The buzzing filled Tam’s head again and he shook the thoughts of Ren out of his mind. Ren was a fool to not give his services to the empire. If he didn’t use his powers for the greater good then he deserved his fate.
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Alice
in August 5th, 2007 @ 10:16249- The ship is The Sea Roc.
I’ve been thinking about the cabin boy, and it hit me that in this world with names like Tzil, Niria, and Vushtek, Arnold just doesn’t fit. If you want to use real names that’s one thing, but use names with some measure if exotic-ness, like Alexis. No offense, Donaldo, but I think we should rename him.
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Robert Coontz (Administrator)
in August 5th, 2007 @ 10:32Scrambling Arnold would give you some exotic names: Noldar, Oldarn, Darnol, Lanrod, even simply Arn or Nold.
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Alice
in August 5th, 2007 @ 10:36I like Noldar. Should we take a vote?
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Alice
in August 5th, 2007 @ 10:40Oldarn or Darnol might work best. The cabin boy doesn’t quite seem like a Noldar.
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Robert Coontz (Administrator)
in August 5th, 2007 @ 10:42Radlon? Landor?
Somehow “cabin boy” says “one syllable” to me.
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Alice
in August 5th, 2007 @ 10:48254- Yeah, I know what you mean. Most of the younger set have one-syllable names, actually. Maybe it’s a trend…
Let’s use Arn, then.
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kiwimuncher
in August 5th, 2007 @ 12:17Arn’s good!
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kiwimuncher
in August 5th, 2007 @ 12:30Oooooooooh!
I have an idea! the next part of our story could take place on the island that The Sea Roc goes to to get help for Captain Pye. But, it could just so happen that that is the same island that Tam is headed toward, where Mordran is waiting for him. The Sea Roc could have found a good doctor for the Captain. The Captain will have almost healed when Ren finds Tam in the port city. Mordran finds out and sends his minions to capture Ren and kill the rest of the crew. A lot of the crew is killed, including Vushtek. (It makes a story seem real when a character like that dies) Captain Pye knows that there’s not much hope left, so he tells Nadira to leave with Ren. On the way out, they run into Arn, who is struggling with the lead minion who has him cornered. Nadira and Ren yell and distract the minion and Arn kills it when it’s not looking. The 3 escape together. They find out later that Captain Pye has been captured.
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Alice
in August 5th, 2007 @ 14:22257- Impressive. I like.
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Prarilius Canix
in August 5th, 2007 @ 16:28I haven’t come on here in a really long time, will someone do me the kindness of posting a summary?
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kiwimuncher
in August 5th, 2007 @ 16:46Wow! You really haven’t been on here for a long time! Uh………..
Mordrid gives Ren the power for a short amount of time to heal Tam. Tam is healed but both boys are put into a magical sleep. During this time, Mordrid mysteriously decides to let the whole crew of The Sea Roc go back to their ship. Meanwhile, Tam and Ren are being held in a mind prison, where they will remain until they agree to help Mordrid. Tam eventually gives in and he wakes up from his magical sleep. Tam then escapes from The Sea Roc in a row boat. Captain Pye realizes that Ren must be in trouble, so he decides to perform the Shriak Mind Bonding, an ancient medicinal process that helps one make contact with someone through thoughts. Ren feels Captain Pye’s thoughts but thinks that it is Mordrid, so he attacks Captain Pye’s mind. Ren wakes up unharmed but Captain Pye is seriously injured.
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kiwimuncher
in August 5th, 2007 @ 16:53Sorry to double post, but I was thinking about how we are going to develope Niria and Arn’s personalities. I think that Niria should be really bitter toward Ren because he attacked Captain Pye but how should we do Arn? Should Arn turn out to be hard and reckless or should he be an innocent and peaceful character? I like hard and reckless myself.
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Alice
in August 5th, 2007 @ 16:54259- Yeah, if I can find where you left before. Just a minute.
Oh how I love Control-F!
After you left, there was a lot of discussing Alexis, various other confusion, and talk of a WA kokon. (Yeah, we got really off-topic.) Then we finally got back to writing. So basically, Ren did this weird and powerful spell that he oughtn’t have been able to to heal Tam, and they were both so tired that they fell asleep. It was then revealed that it had been Mordran controlling Ren with Jarbun magic.* Having done this, Mordran let everyone go free, because he has a dastardly plan up his sleeve. Meanwhile, Ren and Tam find themselves trapped in Mordran’s “mind cells” which are pretty much dungeons with all sorts of nasty elements. Tam finally gave in and said he would work the Orb, then woke up on the Sea Roc, where he had been asleep for weeks. He talked back to the Captain, stole a rowboat, and started rowing away. The Captain realized that Ren must be in danger and, with the help of Niria, he started a process known as the Shriak Mind Bonding, which would basically get him inside Ren’s mind. It worked, but Ren thought that the person in his mind was Mordran and attacked it, then woke up. At the moment, Ren is feeling guilty and horrified at what he did, and the Captain is lying close to death. The Sea Roc is heading to an island where they can get medical help, and Tam is in a rowing boat somewhere.
That help, or have I just confused you?
*There was some confusion about this. This explains it best, if it makes any sense:
You can’t make someone use their powers through Jarbun magic, but you can use them as vessels for power that they don’t have. Ren does not have the power to heal with fire, but that power does exist, or did before the Deluge when Fire powerfuls were wiped out and watered down. The original Fire powerfuls were almost godlike, but these new ones are weak. Mordran has taken the Jarbun magic and his own and with both of these he wove a spell and placed the power and the words in Ren for a short space of time. He could have had help from an object too, very much like the Orb but usable only by the Unknowables. Mordran, though, has the temporary power of an Unknowable, and is taken advantage of that.
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Alice
in August 5th, 2007 @ 17:01261- I was thinking with doing that with Niria, yes, and let’s see, about Arn… Hard and reckless is fine, as is innocent and peaceful. Up to you.
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kiwimuncher
in August 6th, 2007 @ 07:31Ren stood silently on the deck of The Sea Roc, looking out over the small port town where they had docked. A numb feeling was quickly rushing up inside him. It was the worst sensation he had ever experienced.
Hushed voices drifted toward him from the captain’s cabin. Out of corner of his eye, he watched a small, frail man making frantic hand gestures to Vushtek. The large man nodded and left the older gentelman alone with Captain Pye’s still form.
Ren heard soft footfalls behind him and felt a rather large hand rest on his shoulder. It was Vushtek.
“The doctor is starting the procedure.” he said.”The Captain should survive.”
Ren gave a stiff nod and Vushtek turned away. No one seemed eager to stay in his company. After all, hadn’t been he, Ren, who had attacked the Captain and practically killed him?
——————————————————————-
Tam stared at the sky, brooding. His mind kept telling him to keep rowing onward, but his mouth was parched and his stomach had been empty for days. He lowered his eyes and looked desperately into the distance. His eyes grew wide and he jumped up in excitement. The boat wobbled dangerously, so he sat back down. With a sudden new burst of energy, Tam began rowing again with vigor. Land was in sight!
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Alice
in August 6th, 2007 @ 10:38The ship was silent and Ren felt horribly conspicuous. He continued to stare woodenly at the port in front of him. Jartuvi, his mind told him. The third Free Isle you’ve seen. But he didn’t care. It was simply another thing to stare at, unseeing. He was such an idiot. He ought to have known better than to attack someone’s mind, after Alexis. But he had done so anyway.
Somewhere that seemed a world away, Niria started to cry. ((The Captain isn’t dead, but maybe she’s crying from relief, or something.))
It was all too much for Ren, and without a second thought, he slipped over the side of the ship and plunged into the water.
It was greasy, and dark, and made his clothes stick to his skin, but he rose to the surface anyway, spit out a mouthful of the foul harbor-water, and started to swim doggedly toward shore.
He was almost there when he felt something touch his mind. His first instinct was to defend himself, but he stifled that and went under with surprise.
When he come back up to the surface again, he saw an amused-looking blue Pukis hovering above him.
“Alexis!” he gasped out loud, going under again.
Of course, she replied. I wasn’t going to abandon you. She regarded him for a moment and then said, On second thought, why don’t we just talk when we get to shore.
Ren nodded in agreement and swam the remaining strokes to the horbor wall, once there, he pulled himself up onto it and looked back towards the Sea Roc. No one was looking for him. No one had noticed his splash. He wasn’t sure whether to be glad or desolate. He settled on simply pushing the thought out of his mind.
Come on, said Alexis. We should go somewhere where there aren’t quite as many people.
Ren nodded in agreement. Where?
I know a place. Come on. With that she turned into a kitten and trotted off towards what appeared to be a completely abandoned shack. Ren followed with a little trepidation.
Where are your children? he asked.
They went back to Lithuslov. It has been several weeks, you know. This last was said with a touch of amusement, but Ren remembered the mind cells and could find nothing even remotely funny.
————————–
On the Sea Roc, things were much as Ren had imagined them. The Captain was still asleep, the doctor was getting into his rowing boat, and Niria was still sobbing from the emotional stress of the last few days. By now the last few days had morphed into the last few weeks, and she was crying for Tzil and the dead crew members as well as the Captain.
But someone had noted the splash. Perched high on the cross-trees was a monkey, carefully watching the scene below.
When the doctor had rowed off towards the shore, Vushtek turned to Niria. “Would you like to stand guard over the Captain?” he asked kindly. “I’ll make you some tea if you’d like.”
Niria nodded mutely, wiped her eyes, and went into the cabin. Vushtek disappeared into the galley. No one mentioned a splash, or noticed that Ren was missing. The monkey-that-was-not-a-monkey smiled an eerie grin, turned into a wind-beetle, and flew off to the other side of the Isle. Its master would be pleased with it.
~~~~~~~~
Okay, so some things need clearing up before I hit submit. The monkey/wind-beetle is a wave spirit, and its master is Rake Vashkar, who will be pleased to hear that Ren is apparently no longer under the protection of the Sea Roc and will send word to Mordran.
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Cat's Meow
in August 6th, 2007 @ 11:19Wow, we’re suddenly making progress now!
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Prarilius Canix
in August 6th, 2007 @ 11:39~~~
The deck of the Blood Storm was empty, except for one man. Rake Vashkar smiled thinly, projecting his thoughts through the rippling spray, calling back his servants.
A wind beetle landed on the deck in front of him. Fluttering its delicate, blue-patterned wings, it slowly dissolved into a puddle of salt water.
With frightening speed, a cloaked man grew out of the puddle like a rising pillar. “The Fiery One is no longer aboard the Sea Roc,” it hissed. “He will be easy to find and capture.”
“Go. Take your brethren and bring him to me. I will send word to Mordran.”
Vashkar’s smile grew into a grin. Ren’s will would be easy to break, and with two Fire Powerful on his side, Mordran would easily be able to wipe out every freebooter in the Inner Sea. His faithful stormmaster would certainly receive a sizable percentage of the enormous reward that Sanguinus IX would give him.
Of course, if Vashkar had known the full scope of Mordran’s plan, he would have jumped over the side and raced to warn the Emperor before it was too late.
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Alice
in August 6th, 2007 @ 12:24266- Yes, kiwimuncher has saved us.
And you coming back. And Canix coming back helps too. This is so exciting!
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kiwimuncher
in August 6th, 2007 @ 13:04OK. I’m going to try to do italics in this. It probubly won’t work though.
——————————————————————-
Ren followed Alexa along the beach. After walking for several minutes, they arrived at a small clump of trees away from the city. Alexa curled up under one of the trees, so Ren followed suit.
Alexa said with an amused glimmer in her eye.
Ren related his story to Alexa gratefully. He had needed to talk to someone for a long time.
she commented with an amused purr.
Ren nodded but worry was still etched across his face. Alexis looked like she wanted to say something more but she was interruped by a crunch of wood grounding against rock and a boyish whoop. The friends peered though the foliage and glimpsed a young man with scraggly hair and a hungry look in his eyes. The boy left his vehicle behind and began hiking toward the city.
Ren crept causciously toward the abandoned row boat and peered inside. It was totally empty except for a small sign carved into the back. Ren stared at it and immediately recognized it as the signature of . With alarm, Ren turned from the boat and watched the boys disapearing figure. Tam!
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kiwimuncher
in August 6th, 2007 @ 13:06Oh no! What happened?! All the talking is gone! OK. Let’s try that again.
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kiwimuncher
in August 6th, 2007 @ 13:07OK. I’m going to try to do italics in this. It probubly won’t work though.
——————————————————————-
Ren followed Alexa along the beach. After walking for several minutes, they arrived at a small clump of trees away from the city. Alexa curled up under one of the trees, so Ren followed suit.
“So.” Alexa said with an amused glimmer in her eye. “What has my human been getting up to while I’ve been gone?”
Ren related his story to Alexa gratefully. He had needed to talk to someone for a long time.
“Well, you’ve certainly had a time without me haven’t you?” she commented with an amused purr. Don’t worry about Captain Pye, he has a strong mind, you have not broken it.”
Ren nodded but worry was still etched across his face. Alexis looked like she wanted to say something more but she was interruped by a crunch of wood grounding against rock and a boyish whoop. The friends peered though the foliage and glimpsed a young man with scraggly hair and a hungry look in his eyes. The boy left his vehicle behind and began hiking toward the city.
Ren crept causciously toward the abandoned row boat and peered inside. It was totally empty except for a small sign carved into the back. Ren stared at it and immediately recognized it as the signature of The Sea Roc. With alarm, Ren turned from the boat and watched the boys disapearing figure. Tam!
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kiwimuncher
in August 6th, 2007 @ 13:08Oh Well. I just can’t get the italics to work. But at least you can read it!
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Red-tailed HAWK
in August 6th, 2007 @ 13:21272-What were you doing?
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Alice
in August 6th, 2007 @ 15:41Very nice. The itals don’t show up in Word anyhow, and I have to implant them.
~~~~~~
He almost yelled after him to come back, he had so much to talk about, but he remembered in time Tam’s treachery and was silent.
Well, what are you going to do about it? asked Alexis, reading his tumbled thoughts.
“I don’t know, he replied aloud, sounding suddenly both very young and very unhappy. “Shoudl I follow him?”
She replied with another question. Does the crew of the Sea Roc know where you have gone?
“No. But they don’t care anyhow. I nearly killed the Captain, they can’t ever forgive me.”
I wouldn’t be so sure about that. I strongly suggest that you return before they start to worry.
“Fine.” Ren turned and trudged back towards the harbor, with Alexis sitting contentedly on his shoulder. A small brown wren detached itself from a twig and flapped off in the direction of the Blood Storm.
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Alice
in August 6th, 2007 @ 21:06Ren was halfway back to the Sea Roc when it struck him that he had no way to get across the harbor save by swimming or going back to get the boat. The next thing that struck him was a large stick on the back of his head.
The impact knocked him face first onto the path, and when he rolled over onto his back, still clutching his head with his ears ringing, he saw a tall cloaked man with watery eyes looking down on him. The man raised his stick for another blow–
And Alexis flew into his face, a small, hissing ball of fire, fur, and scales. The man looked taken aback, but he said a word and a moment later Alexis fell to the sand, dripping with water and steaming slightly. Ren dove forward to grab her before the man could do any more harm, but the Pukis spit a tiny ball of flame that scorched Ren’s hand and lit the man’s robes on fire. A single word appeared in Ren’s mind, etched on the back of his eyelids in blazing letters, and that word was,
RUN!
He did. He ran back along the beach towards the town, away from the rowboat, (away from Alexis!), knowing that he had to get back to the Sea Roc. He had to warn them, and he had to get to safety. There was not the slightest doubt in the boy’s mind about what the man was – who the man was. He had seen the scar above his right eyebrow.
Who had let Letor out, Sphaere knew. But he certainly was no longer a prisoner.
~~~~~
Dun dun dun DUNNNN…
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Alice
in August 6th, 2007 @ 21:28Our word count is 18,272. That means we wrote almost 4,200 words since the first of the month, and there have been 68 posts since then, not including this one.
I love it when RRRs are active.
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kiwimuncher
in August 7th, 2007 @ 08:59Whoa! Brain freeze! Who is Letor again? I don’t remember him.
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Alice
in August 7th, 2007 @ 12:21277- A wave spirit that works for Rake Vashkar. Tzil has a long history with him. For a while he was in a cage on the Sea Roc, but then everyone forgot about him, so I decided to make him escape.
By the way, Tzil is still alive. We just want an opportune moment to exploit that.
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kiwimuncher
in August 7th, 2007 @ 13:31278) Whoa! He is?
———————————————————————
Tam wandered purposefully through the streets of Jartuvi. He was looking for something or someone, but he had no idea who. Tam found himself walking inside a small side tavern. He headed straight for the barman.
The barman took one look at him and said, “Oh, his grace told me I would be expecting someone like you.” He reached under the table and produced a grubby little key. “Your room’s up the stairs on the right.” he said gruffly and turned to a waiting customer.
Tam stumbled up the stairs and managed to open the door to his room before collasping on the bed.
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Ren couldn’t remember a time where he’d run faster in his life, not counting the time when he had run from the emperors guards. That day seemed ages ago.
Ren picked up even more speed as the docks came into sight. He dived into the water and swam toward The Sea Roc. With the last strengh he could muster, he hoisted himself onto the ship’s deck. One of the crew noticed his sudden appearance and helped him to his feet. Ren stumbled over to Vushtek and related what happened, breathlessly.
Vushtek stared at him with growing alarm on his face.
“We can’t possibly leave the city with the Captain in the condition he’s in. We can only hope that Letor does not send us into the hands of the enemy, but trust me, if he does, we certainly won’t be taken without a fight!”
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Alice
in August 7th, 2007 @ 18:07279- Everyone thinks he’s dead, but he’s really still alive.
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Pyro
in August 7th, 2007 @ 23:12Wow. A LOT happened while I was gone! I’m pretty stoked about this now! Anyways, just checking in… back from camp.
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Alice
in August 8th, 2007 @ 10:59I know. It picked up quite a bit, now I just need to write…
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Cat's Meow
in August 8th, 2007 @ 12:17282-Me too. I keep getting brain freeze.
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kiwimuncher
in August 8th, 2007 @ 12:59Man. I was hoping that someone else didn’t have brain freeze so I could pretend that I don’t have it as well.
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Alice
in August 8th, 2007 @ 15:38I’ll manage to drag something out sometime today.
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Alice the Exception to the Rule
in August 8th, 2007 @ 21:32That was very comforting, Ren decided sarcastically, lying on a bunk an hour later. He didn’t want to be taken at all, with or without a fight!
Niria looked in. “Oh, you’re here,” she said, her voice heavy with anger and sorrow.
“Yes,” he said dully. Life had gone from bad to worse in the space of an instant.
“This is the stormmaster’s cabin,” said Niria, with a touch of accusation.
“The First Mate put me here,” said Ren. “There was nowhere else.”
Niria’s expression made it clear that she disapproved, but there was nothing she could say or do about it.
“Well,” she said. “I am the stormmaster, since Tzil is dead. I will have to collect the necessary equipment. Don’t mind me.” And she busied herself with gathering up the instruments that littered the tiny cabin. Tzil certainly hadn’t been very tidy.
Ren turned his face to the wall.
~~~~~~~
Tam lay in a half-awake stupor on the bed, until the smell of soup brought him to his senses. He sat up eagerly. The little child who had brought the soup bowed solemnly to him and left.
When he had finished, he lay back down, ready to sleep, for days, if necessary. The time spent in the mind cells had been anything but refreshing, and now he was ready for some proper sleep.
But he was not to have it. The door opened and in walked Mordran, looking as benign as when Tam had first seen him. Behind the little man stood another, much taller, his hair a lurid and conspicuous violet. Rake Vashkar.
~~~~~
Ask Donaldo about the purple hair. I’m just repeating what has been said.
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kiwimuncher
in August 9th, 2007 @ 08:10Wow. Purple hair. Awesome.
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kiwimuncher
in August 9th, 2007 @ 16:33Mordran sat fluidly into one of the small, hard chairs that stood by the door. Vashkar did not sit in the chair beside Mordran’s, but Tam did not expect him to anyway. He didn’t think that Vashkar was the kind of person who was often seen in a chair.
Mordran had a calm, dangerous expression on his face.
“Do you have any idea how much you have damaged my plans?” he asked angrily.”You were seen on your way here. We would have captured a dangerous batch of pirates, along with that treacherous boy, Ren, if you had been more careful. Now we have lost our element of surprise. We have to risk open combat.”
Tam’s eyes grew wide in amazement. “Ren’s alive?!” he asked in awe.
Mordran’s eyes flashed mercilessly. “Ren is no concern of yours.”
With that, he got up from his chair and headed toward the door. “You will be punished for your mistake.” He motioned to Vashkar and left.
Rake Vashkar grinned and cracked his knuckles. Tam face was a look of pure horror.
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Alice the Exception to the Rule
in August 9th, 2007 @ 17:13Uh-oh.
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Cat's Meow
in August 9th, 2007 @ 17:29“So, you thought you would make things better by running, didja?” Vashkar said in a tone that made it sound slike he was talking about the weather.”
“No, I-” Tam stammered.
Vaskar hit him on the side of the head, in a sudden burst of violence. “Don’t lie!” he hissed, spitting in Tam’s face. “We know everything that you’ve been doing since you left our presence last. Did you think we would let you wander around unchecked?”
“But I- I’ve come to help you,” Tam said feebly, recoiling.
“And this is the sort of help you’re going to offer? Revealing our general location to the one of the few people that would use that information to hurt us? A bunch of help you are!”
He circled Tam, who cowered in the center of the tiny room, trying not to show his fear and failing miserably.
“If it wasn’t for Mordran’s orders,” he whispered hungrily. “I’d have more than half a mind to kill you, right now.”
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Cat's Meow
in August 9th, 2007 @ 17:29289-Uh-oh what?
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Alice the Exception to the Rule
in August 9th, 2007 @ 19:25291- You’re joking, right? Just look at it! Is it any wonder I say uh-oh? I feel sorry for Tam, even if he is traitorous. (Even if. Ha.)
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Cat's Meow
in August 9th, 2007 @ 22:03292-Oh, sorry. xD I thought you said “Uh-oh” because we’d said something terribly wrong. :oops;
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kiwimuncher
in August 10th, 2007 @ 09:28Hmmmmmmmmmm. I have gotten Tam in a sticky situation haven’t I?
—————————————————————
Vashkar nodded silently to himself. Then he turned back to Tam again and said, “But I won’t. Instead, I will have to satisfy myself with giving you your first lesson in what happens to the servants of Mordran that fail him.”
Vashkar reached into his belt and pulled out a rather nasty knife. With a wicked grin, he grabbed Tam’s arm roughly and held it down. Tam struggled but he couldn’t get free. Vashkar grunted and swung the weapon with expertise. When he let go of Tam’s arm, Tam stared at his hand in disbelief. It was only when Vashkar had calmly left the room that Tam started to scream. A pitiful stump was all that was left of his right pinkie finger.
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Alice the Exception to the Rule
in August 10th, 2007 @ 10:42294- Well. At least that’s over.
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Alice the Exception to the Rule
in August 10th, 2007 @ 11:31Gah. Blood. Again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Who knows how long he sat there, staring at it, tears streaming down his face? After what seemed ten years the door opened. The little girl who had brought him the soup looked in.
She made a small noise of disapproval when she saw what had happened, and the small pool of blood on the floor, but she did not seem surprised. She looked sympathetically at Tam, and then disappeared.
Half an hour later, the girl returned, and she brought a man with her. “This is the doctor,” she whispered, and ran from the room, pulling the door shut behind her.
The doctor did not look very qualified to be a doctor. His hair was disheveled and and he was older than Tam’s great-grandfather. His clothes were not very clean, and there was no reason to suspect that his bandages were any cleaner. He looked at the blood, looked at Tam, and muttered something that sounded like, “Sailors.”
He crossed the room, picked up a pitcher of water, and dumped it over Tam’s hand.
Or at least that what he must have meant to do. What actually happened was that Tam got absolutely soaking wet, and the room was suddenly awash with water.
The man disregarded this, and pulled from his coat pocket a roll of bandages, which he wrapped around Tam’s poor hand until it was almost as big as the boy’s head.
“There,” he muttered, while Tam sat on the wet floor, still in shock. “That’ll be four gold pieces.”
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Cat's Meow
in August 10th, 2007 @ 11:33294-0_0
Ew.
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kiwimuncher
in August 10th, 2007 @ 19:47Wow. What now? I’m Braindead.
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Alice
in August 10th, 2007 @ 20:20298- Well, he doesn’t have the money.
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kiwimuncher
in August 11th, 2007 @ 07:53Maybe we can have Tam knock himn out and storm out of the tavern. Of course, that would make Mordran even more mad because he might think that Tam was deserting. ………………..
OOOOOOOOOOOOO!
I have an idea!
Tam leaves and is wandering aimlessly around when he runs into Ren, Niria, and Arn, who are escaping from Mordran and his hinchman after the battle at the Sea Roc, in whitch captain Pye is captured. That could get interesting!
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Alice
in August 11th, 2007 @ 11:26300- Write it!
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kiwimuncher
in August 11th, 2007 @ 14:18Oooooooooooooooooooookey doooooooookey! I will!
——————————————————————–
Tam stared at his hand stupidly. He looked up at the man with a look of confusion on his face.
“4 gold peices.” the old man repeated slowly.
“Uh…………I don’t have any gold.” Tam said dully.
The man stared at the boy with growing anger on his face. “You filthy brat! That was the last of my best medical bandages!”
Tam tried to get away from the man but was instead tackled and held to the ground. The “doctor” savagly tried to rip the bloody bandages off Tam’s hand. Anger surged through Tam and a word phrase came to his mind. “Flamula Infenso Pilus”
Instantly, the “doctors” hair was ablaze. The man screamed in terror and ran from the room.
Tam looked cautiously at his hand. It was not damaged, the bandage was only slightly ripped. A few angry shouts were heard down the hall and Tam had a feeling that he wouldn’t be wanted anymore in the tavern. Without a backward glance, Tam went out the back door of the building and into the streets.
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Well, I won’t be here after today until Wednesday. I’m going to my granparent’s house.
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Alice
in August 14th, 2007 @ 01:03He ran, his hand throbbing faintly and words of power tumbling through his mind. It was all he could do, in the face of the pain and fear and hatred – such definite feelings, and welcome as respite from the constant uncertainty – not to yell them out, to burn the town to the ground, and himself with it. Something was wrong, something had happened, and Tam, in this strange confident state, could not see it. His feet carried him closer to the harbor, where he knew he would find the Sea Roc, and Captain Pye, and Ren, and the rest of the crew. And he would be safe there, safe from – there was a surge of pain through his hand, and a surge of realization through his mind. Them, he thought, and then the remains of rebellion and confidence drained away, leaving nothing but guilt and a deep, nagging, fear that something had gone wrong and it was all his fault. They were manipulating him still. Would he ever be free?
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Ren was awakened from his much-needed nap by a noise that at first, in his sleep-befuddled state, he could not identify. “Mmmm,” he mumbled. “Mustadozedoffsorry.” When the noise persisted, he said, louder and with more clarity, “I’m getting up. You don’t have to set off cannons in my ears.” With this half-asleep realization, Ren sat bolt upright and wide awake. “Cannons!” he gasped, horrified. “Oh no!” With a blatant disregard for the various stormmaster’s implements still scattered throughout the cabin, he rushed onto the deck.
It was not cannons, only muskets, and that was bad enough. A badly-aimed musket ball whizzed past his cheek as he stepped onto the deck, and he coughed at the harsh acrid smell of alchemical powder, and stood there blinking in the bright afternoon sun.
“Idiot!” hissed the first mate from Ren’s right, where he sat crouched beneath a bulwark. “Get down!”
Ren did as he was told, and scooted across the deck on his stomach. “What’s going on?” he asked the first mate.
“The harbor patrol had the brilliant idea to attack the pirates with muskets! I don’t know what put it into their heads, but there must be some reason. They usually leave us alone, since pirates make up the majority of the people who actually come to the Free Isles.” ((That’s an awkward sentence, but whatever. And I know we wanted it to be the Blood Storm, but a 200-gun warship does NOT fight in the harbor, and not with muskets, either. Cannons seemed a bit overkill for this.))
“Oh,” said Ren, sighing with relief. He had been sure that it was the Empire, for a moment or two. Not that the harbor patrol was that much better.
The first mate continued. “I want you to go to the Captain’s cabin. Niria and the cabin boy are already there.”
Ren opened his mouth to protest at being shoved out of the way, but remembered that the first mate was in charge, and almost surrendered. He remembered his own status in time. “But sir–” he said. “I’m the powder monkey. Oughtn’t I to be doing something?”
“Not if we’re not using cannons. You’re just in the way. Now GO!” Ren obeyed without another word.
~~~~~~~~~
It’s 11:00 and I’m falling asleep. I’ll finish this tomorrow, or if someone else wants to they can. But I have a plan.Goodnight.
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Alice
in August 14th, 2007 @ 12:33“Oh, it’s you,” said Niria coldly when Ren entered the room. She was sitting in a chair by Captain Pye’s bed, her face hard but her eyes frightened. When she saw Ren she turned away, a gesture that cut Ren to the quick.
“Yes,” he mumbled. “Me.”
Arn leaped up from where he was sitting on the floor, and ran over to the other boy. “What’s going on?” he asked. “Who’s shooting at us? Why aren’t we allowed to help?”
“The harbor patrol,” explained Ren. “Supposedly we’re too young and would just get in the way.”
Arn’s expression grew dark, like a thunderstorm over the sea, and he, too, turned away from Ren. “The Captain would have let us help,” he muttered.
Ren had never felt worse.
But he didn’t have much time to feel bad, because there was suddenly a crunching sound from above, and someone yelled, and then the cabin door burst inward.
For a moment or two nothing more happened. No threatening figure strode through the gap, and the sound of fighting disappeared altogether. Ren, Niria, and Arn exchanged glances. Then Arn crossed the floor in one bound and leaped through the open door. With a guilty look at Niria, Ren followed.
The deck was a horrible mess. Clearly he battle had escalated to using cannons, because the mast had come down and nearly crushed a sailor. The deck was awash with blood and water, and not one of the crew of the Sea Roc was to be seen.
“Oh my,” said a faint voice from behind them. Niria had followed them onto the deck, and was staring with wide eyes at the carnage.
“No one’s left,” said Ren hollowly.
“That’s not true,” said a firm voice from the galley. “There are a lot of people left, but most of them are injured.”
“Vushtek!” cried Arn. “You’re still alive!”
“Yes,” said Vushtek gravely. “But you should leave now.”
“Why leave?” Niria asked. “It’s over, and you’ll need help.”
“It’s not over,” said Vushtek. “That wasn’t the harbor patrol, and they aren’t gone. I can’t leave the injured like this, but we can’t take chances.” At this he looked straight at Ren, and Ren wondered exactly how much the alchooktor knew. “Niria, you will take the boys to the city, and stay there.” Niria nodded mutely.
“Then go,” Vushtek said.
~~~~~~~
Okay. The harbor patrol was taken over by the Empire, just so you know.
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Alice
in August 14th, 2007 @ 16:25Here’s a rough sketch for the rest of the plot, if you want to use it:
Niria, Ren, and Arn have a battle with Mordran and his minions, because they’re trying to capture Ren. After they escape that, they run into Tam, and drag him forcibly back to where the Sea Roc ought to be. The ship is gone, captured by the Navy, and everyone on it is gone too. The quartet signs onto another pirate ship, with no discernible plan. This pirate ship later captures what used to be the Sea Roc from the Navy (it has been renamed), and the two pirate ships manage to capture the Blood Storm. On the Blood Storm is Captain Pye, but Tera, the Orb, and Tam have vanished, along with a small portion of the crew (yes, I want Tam to be a traitor. I also want to make his life as miserable as possible, and putting him in the same boat as Tera will do that). This ends the book.
I have tons of ideas for a sequel or two, but I don’t want to map everything out. This plan can be abandoned by the wayside anytime you like, too.
In later books, we should bring Tzil back to life and maybe even kill Tam. (Oh, shut up! Tam would be a good character to kill!)
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kiwimuncher
in August 15th, 2007 @ 06:23Remember, we have to take the unknowables into this somehow!
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kiwimuncher
in August 15th, 2007 @ 06:30whoa! Sorry to douuble post, but why would they return to the Sea Roc? Vushtek told them to leave and they pretty much know that the ship will be captured. Why don’t we just have them go to the harbor to join up with another pirate crew. When they’re in the harbor, they can see what’s going on with the Sea Roc.
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Alice
in August 15th, 2007 @ 11:50306- Oh, you’re right. We have a LOT of plotlines.
307- Okay.
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kiwimuncher
in August 15th, 2007 @ 15:13The 3 escapers crept carefully across the carnage on the vast deck of the Sea Roc. They made it to the bow of the ship with little difficulty and peered over the side. The dock in front of them was surrounded by a line of soldiers. Each soldier was dressed smartly in a black uniform with a shiny badge on there chest. Ren watched them with growing unease. The faces of the men were so cold and emotionless that they seemed unreal.
Niria motioned impatiently for him to follow her lead and he turned to watch what she was doing. With unimaginable stealth, Niria slid under the ship’s railing and onto the side. Using handholds that were invisable to Ren, she climbed down into the water with not even a slight splash. Arn was already in the water, waiting for her. The two stared at Ren expectantly and he wondered what in the world he was going to do.
With a sigh, Ren braced himself and lowered himself clumsily over the side of the Sea Roc. His muscles strained as he searched frantically for a foothold. Finding none, he looked desperately over his shoulder. Niria and Arn were looking up at him in alarm. Ren scanned the side of the ship for a place that would assist him in his climb and saw a slight protrustion in one of the panels covering the ship to his right. Just as Ren rested his weight on the plank, the whole ship shuddered. Ren’s hands were violently thrown away from their hold and he fell with a loud splash into the harbor.
The trio watched in horror as the soldiers who had been standly silently moments before went into action. The attack on the Sea Roc had resumed! Niria determinly tore her gaze away from the scene and motioned for everyone to swim away from the battle.
———————————————————–
Among all of the harbor patrol, no one noticed the 3 escapees except one lone monkey. It wore a grave expression on it’s face, even for a primate, as it bounded away to report to it’s master.
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Supergeek and the Deathly Hallows
in August 15th, 2007 @ 18:05286-Purple hair? AWESOME!!!
OK, I am back. I have been on vacation in Yakima, Washington with my cousins.
kiwimuncher-THANK YOU FOR COMING TO THIS THREAD!!! HOORAY!! NEW RITER!!!!It will take me a while to catch up, but I will.
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Alice
in August 16th, 2007 @ 00:21310- YOU gave him purple hair! How are you surprised?
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Supergeek and the Deathly Hallows
in August 16th, 2007 @ 16:18311-I did? Wow, I don’t remember that.
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kiwimuncher
in August 17th, 2007 @ 09:10OMG! It’s RAINING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow. I’m so EXCITED!
Whew! I MUST calm down!Well, what now? I guess that Mordran is going to send his evil minions after them and they are going to have to fight them. Niria and Ren will escape their pursuers and they will help Arn whilst he is trying to kill the lead minion. Arn kills the leader (the monkey) and the 3 of them escape while the other minions are confused.
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Alice
in August 18th, 2007 @ 11:49This isn’t working. I tried to write, and failed. Oh well. Whatever. I’ll wait until I’m not thinking about Etheterre. I think it would confuse everyone if I ended up merging the stories.
Can we have a new thread?
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kiwimuncher
in August 19th, 2007 @ 08:29Well, I guess that I must try to do the fighting part. I don’t think that I’m very good at writing battle scenes. Oh well. I shall try.
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Vushtek stood guard determinly over Captain Pye. The battle was not doing well for the crew. They were quickly loosing men. It would be only a matter of time before the ship was breached. Vushtek breathed slightly easier knowing that Niria and the others had escaped. At least Niria was safe.
There was a groan from the Captain’s bed and Vushtek ran to his side, alarmed. Captain Pye smiled weakly and patted Vushtek’s large scarred hand.
“Are they gone?” Pye asked.
Vushtek nodded slowly. He knew that Captain Pye was attached to the boy Ren, even though it had been the boy that had left him in this sickly state.
The Captain smiled painfully and relaxed. Vushtek returned to his post at the Captain’s cabin door.
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Oops! I’ll write more later! I gotta go!
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kiwimuncher
in August 19th, 2007 @ 15:41Outside, things were not doing well. The dwindling amount of crewman was quickly turning disatrous. Vushtek braced himself as the several patrol men climbed aboard the Sea Roc. The men were immediately taked down by some of the remaining crewman, but even more of the harbor patrol took the place of the dead. It wasn’t long before the entire deck was covered with fighting men.
Over all the melee, Vushtek’s eyes only saw one man. The man wasn’t hard to miss because of his bright violet hair. He held his muscular body in a commanding way as he strode toward Vushtek. This man would NOT hurt Captain Pye. Vushtek’s eyes gleamed with the light of battle as he shouldered his axe. He had been around weaponry all his life. He didn’t even need to glance at his belt to know that his collection of butcher knives where hanging at his side.
The voilet haired man noticed Vushtek’s reaction and drew his sword. With a yell, Vushtek lunged forward and butted the man in the face with the head of his axe. Blood streamed from the man’s broken nose and he slashed Vushtek’s shoulder in his anger. The attack continued furiously. The man kept trying to trick Vushtek into turning his back to the door of to the Captain’s cabin, but Vushtek kept defying him, much to the man’s anger.
Vushtek had been so preoccupied with the battle that he hadn’t noticed that the ship had become strangly quiet. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the remaining harbor patrol standing to attention on the deck. All of the other crewman were either dead or captured and tied to the mast. Vushtek’s attacks were now filled with the strenght of desperation.
Suddenly, a powerful force hit him from behind and he fell to the ground. His hands were instantly bound by a clear, waterlike rope. Vushtek chanced a look behind him and saw a man in a long dark cloak. He seemed to flow as he walked toward the violet haired man.
Vushtek’s eyes grew wide with recognition. The cloaked man stopped and kneeled at the feet of the man Vushtek had been fighting moments before.
“Master,” he said in a gurgly whisper. “The fire master has escaped with two others. They are headed toward the town.”
The violet haired man glanced at his servant, alarmed. He strode past Vushtek into the cabin but came back shortly with a scowl on his face.
“It’s just the captain! You are right my faithful servant, this battle has been for nothing. The boy is gone.”
“You are a fool Vashkar!” Vushtek yelled up at his captur. “Do you seriously think that Mordran will give you all the you desire? You are but a puppet in his hands, that he can dispose of whenever he wants!”
Vashkar looked down at Vushtek with disgust on his face. He turned to one of his commanders and said, “Take a force down to the village. 3 crewman have escaped the ship. One of them is a boy who goes by the name of Ren. Capture this boy alive and bring him to me. Kill the others.”
Vushtek’s eyes grew wide with anger. With a yell, he lunged at Vashkar, knife in hand. He would have killed Vashkar, had it not been for the mysterious cloaked man. Vushtek had no chance. He fell face down on the deck of the Sea Roc. His eyes empty in death.
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Alice of the Blackberries
in August 19th, 2007 @ 16:57Gosh! That’s kind of sad. I don’t know what to say. I’ll have to think about what to write…
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kiwimuncher
in August 21st, 2007 @ 06:39Ren followed Niria and Arn thorugh the streets of Jartuvi. He had no idea where they were going. He only knew that they were looking for a safe place where the empire couldn’t find them. Arn pointed to a small tavern on the street and they walked inside it. A gruff looking bartender stood at the counter and Niria went up to talk to him. Ren and Arn sat at a table and waited for her.The barman listened pathiently for a while and then left for the back room.
Niria turned to them and shrugged. “He said that he needed to get something for our room in the kitchen.”
After several minets, the man returned with a little girl. He sent her up a flight of stairs with some fresh sheets, supposedly for their room.
The bartender turned to the trio and said, “I suppose that you would like some drinks to calm yourselves after your journey.”
He rolled up his sleeves and looked at them expectantly. The 3 escapers however, were more interested in the tatoo on his arm inseaad of what he had to drink. Niria declined stiffly and steered the boys out of the bar. They strode briskly away from the bar with nervous expressions on their faces.
“When we reach the next block, run as if your life depends on it, because it does.” Niria muttered under her breathe.
Ren would have done just that, had it not been for the hordes of harbor patrolmen waiting for them around the bend. At their head stood a tall man in a black cloak, Letor.
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Supergeek and the Deathly Hallows
in August 21st, 2007 @ 19:00205-Just to make sure, you do know now that I am Donaldo the SAN, right?
237-It’s Mordran, not Mordrid, just so ya know.
255-Arn’s great.
257-Me likey.
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Supergeek and the Deathly Hallows
in August 21st, 2007 @ 19:02Sorry for the double post, but I think having the names Vushtek and Vashkar are easily confused, and I keep forgetting who’s who. I think, unless they are like twins or brothers or something(forgive me if they are-i hhaven’t fully caught up yet) then they should have different names.
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Alice of the Blackberries
in August 22nd, 2007 @ 11:34320- We can’t very well change their names! But you’re right… Oh well. We’ll get to that in the edit.
319- I know that now, yes. Now I have to train myself to call you Supergeek. Bother.
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kiwimuncher
in August 22nd, 2007 @ 16:24319) Oh! Oops!
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Alice
in August 22nd, 2007 @ 23:46Mmm. Let’s see what I can come up with. Oh, by the way, what was the tattoo?
~~~~~~
“Oh no,” said Niria, her eyes not on Letor, but a smaller and more hunched figure standing behind the wave-spirit. “This is bad, very bad. Getting worse every moment.”
Ren and Arn glanced at her questioningly, but she said nothing. Her eyes, however, seemed to hold the light of hope, of a plan, and Ren relaxed ever-so-faintly.
“When I say so,” Niria murmured, “we are going to head back in th direction of the bar and go right in. Don’t worry about the bartender, because he’s whole lot less dangerous than the people who are looking at us right now. I can deal with him. Now: Run.”
~~~~~~~~
I’m not too sure what’s going on myself, but I have a vague and shadowy plan that I need to develop a little more, so please let me write the next segment.
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kiwimuncher
in August 23rd, 2007 @ 07:11OK. The tattoo is a mark that means that the bartender is a spy working for the empire.
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Alice
in August 23rd, 2007 @ 11:07Yah, I gathered that much. I was wondering what it looked like so that I could use it later. And how Niria, Ren, and Arn knew that it meant he was working for the Empire.
Now, I don’t have time to write the next segment, so you can either wait till I return or you can use my notes (below) to write the next part.
The man Niria was looking at is anyone you care to make him. The Emperor’s uncle, the man that Rake Vashkar learned from, the – Ooh! Ooh! I have it! The man that made the copy of the Orb of Centaur in the Captain’s cabin! Admit it, it’s great! And he works for the Empire, but they didn’t know that, so after he made the fake Orb for them he told the Empire and there was a big fight! And that was how they knew about the tattoo, that man had the very same one! And he’s a really powerful alchemist.
What do you think?
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kiwimuncher
in August 23rd, 2007 @ 17:34Oooooooooooooooo! Good! What is Niria’s plan? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Maybe she accuses the spy of being a double agent and Letor beleives her because he doesn’t like the man anyway. This creates a huge rift between the troops because half of them work for Letor and the other half work for the spy, who’s name is……………..Scrimage. (Do you like that name?) This causes the troops to attack each other, causing enough of a diversion for Niria, Ren and Arn to escape. what do you think?
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kiwimuncher
in August 23rd, 2007 @ 17:37Sorry to double post, but we shouldn’t have Ren and Arn run away. That would cause the troops to instantly give chase, seeing as it’s Ren that they want. That wouldn’t give Niria a chance to do any plan at all.
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kiwimuncher
in August 24th, 2007 @ 15:04Hmmmmmmm. I’m trying to think of a good idea for what the tatoo should look like.
*thinks*
Perhaps some weird design? Hmmmmmmmmmmm.
*thinks*
What about some kind of animal symbol?
*thinks some more*
what about really cruel looking sparrow like bird with a sharp, menacing beak? That might be interesting.
What do you guys think?
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Supergeek and the Deathly Hallows
in August 24th, 2007 @ 18:17294-Wait, what? Is Vashkar bad then? I don’t get it! Please someone explain!
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kiwimuncher
in August 25th, 2007 @ 14:15Si. Vashkar is bad. He works for Mordran. He thinks that Mordran will get rid of all pirates for good, of course, he has no idea what Mordran’s real plans are.
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kiwimuncher
in August 25th, 2007 @ 15:07Niria smiled confidently. Her plan was flawless. It could no fail.
“Good work Scrimage!” she said triumphantly, “We have them exactly where we want them!”
Letor stiffened and glanced over his shoulder. Scrimage, the man who Niria had noticed before, seemed to shrink before Letor’s gaze.
Niria’s satisfaction grew. Everything had played into her hands, even the alignment of both captan’s troops. Letor, being the self absorbed being that he was, couldn’t stand any troops but his own to march at the front of a formation. Consequently, all of the soldiers following Scrimage were forced to march at the back. This meant that all of Letor’s troops were trapped between Scrimage’s followers and Niria, along with Arn and Ren. Letor knew that he could possibly be in BIG trouble.
Scrimage probubly noticed this too and his eyes grew as big as saucers. “No!” he squeeked. “There must be a mistake! I wouldn’t………. I’d never……….”
Letor’s eyes gleamed underneath his hood. “I knew the empire should have never trusted you! I knew that you were always really working for……..” he paused hesitantly and hissed,”THEM”.
Scrimage trembled and a bead of sweat dribbled down his cheek.
Letor advanced toward Scrimage theateningly, saying, “Why else would you have given the enemy a copy of the Orb? Well, you won’t get away with it this time!” An evil grin twisted across Letor’s face. “I’ve been waiting for the moment to get rid of you for a long time!”
Scrimage shook his head and tried to stop Letor, but with to avail. Letor merely muttered a word under his breathe and Scrimage exploded like a popped balloon.
This action created a surge through out the men. With a roar of anger, the troops turned on each other. The street was instantly transformed into a confusing mass of enraged soldiers. Clearly forgotten, Niria, Ren, and Arn quietly slipped away from the battle.
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kiwimuncher
in August 26th, 2007 @ 14:00Ren followed Niria and Arn out of Jartuvi’s busy streets and into the tavern that had been origonally their first stop. The barman looked up at them uncertainly from the counter as they sat down at a table close by.
What had just happened finally seemed to dawn on Ren and he sank heavily into a chair. “Wow.” he commented.
Niria nodded her head understandingly. “I agree.”she said, a little louder then usual,” It was a pity that Scrimage perished, but at least the plan ran smoothly. They did, after all, fall directly into our hands.”
Niria glared at Ren and Arn, demanding them to pick up on what she was doing.
————————————
Oops! Gotta go! I’ll continue later!
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kiwimuncher
in August 26th, 2007 @ 19:12The 2 boys had to stare at her for several moments before they got a vague idea of what was going on. Arn was the first to react.
“Yeah!” he exclaimed with a loud laugh, “Did you see the look on Letor’s face? He was furious! Who wouldn’t be after having half their troops destroyed in a surprise attack that was thought up by a few teenagers? I feel sorry for the spy that was “smart” enough to give him the infomation about our whereabouts!”
Ren hid a grin at the look on the bartender’s face.
Niria smiled and motioned for the rest of them to leave for their room.
—————————————————————————————–
Ren heard a knock at their door an hour later. He paused and opened the door a small crack. The barman and the little girl they had seen earlier was standing in front of him. Reluctantly, Ren opened the door wider and gestured for the man and his daughter to come into the room.
The man strode gravely into the room and studied the faces of the 3 fugitives in front of him. Ren did not know how he should react to this man. He knew that the barman was a spy working for the empire, but he also knew that the man was only trying to make a living like everyone else.
The spy took a deep breath and began, “I know your situation with the empire. I also know that it will not be a good idea for you to remain in this area for much longer. Therefore, I have arranged for you to join up with a group of pirates who are by chance leaving shortly. They are similar to the last crew you were traveling with, seeing as they have an enormous price on their heads. I have no doubt that these fiends will asist you in your quest.”
A long shocked silence stretched over several minutes. Ren frowned suspiciously. “What’s the catch?” he asked.
The barman shuffled his feet shyly and continued, “I can not stay here. The empire is angry with me. It is best that I go into hiding.” At this, he took his eyes off his grubby feet and stared, pleading with them. “I am a failed parent, the places that I will be forced to go are not places for a little girl. I could not possibly put her in danger. I have given you a chance of escape from the empire, in return, you will care for my daughter.”
Ren’s eyes widened in alarm, though it was nothing compared to the expression on Niria’s face. She looked like was going to refuse, even though this was their only chance to avoid the empire. Ren quickly intervened and nodded gratefully.
“Of course, your daughter will be safe with us.” he said forcefully.
The barman smiled thankfully and left with his daughter. Ren nervously avoided making eye contact with Niria. He knew that she was furious with him.
———————————————————————
Do you guys like it? I know that we hadn’t planned on introducing a new character like that but I had to think of some reason that the barman would want to arrange for them to escape.
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kiwimuncher
in August 29th, 2007 @ 06:27Oh dear. Where is everyone?
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Alice
in August 29th, 2007 @ 10:18KIWIMUNCHER! You’re BRILLIANT! Now I’m going to write a veryveryveryvery long post to make up for my sad absence. Sorry about that, by the way, but I really didn’t anticipate how long we would be gone.
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Alice
in August 29th, 2007 @ 10:21Actually, I’m going to wait until there’s moderation so that I know that kiwimuncher hasn’t been making a veryveryveryvery long post at the same time that I was.
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Alice of the Blackberries
in August 29th, 2007 @ 12:04She hasn’t been. Good. Now I’ll write. No sense procrastinating.
~~~~~~
The pirate ship lay silent and majestic in the harbor, sails furled. The flag was not flying from the masthead, and had it not been for the bartender’s assurance that this was the one, Ren would never have suspected that it was a pirate ship.
~~~~~~
Okay, so it’s a very short post. I’ll write more later, I promise.
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Alice of the Blackberries
in August 29th, 2007 @ 12:50The bartender’s daughter let out a tiny sob at the sight of the man who came down the gangplank. ((Ugh, wrong word?)) Neither Ren nor Arn could comfort her, given their own feelings, and Niria uncomfortably leaned down to squeeze the little girl’s hand. “It’s alright,” she whispered, “and then stood up again.
The man was indeed frightening; his black hair was cropped short on his head but allowed to grow long on his chin, and where there had been streaks of silver, now there were streaks of crimson. He was dressed in a navy uniform, dyed the same black and red as his beard, and around his waist and across his chest and probably in his boots too were weapons. Knives, swords, pistols, and every other imaginable death-dealing object hung in plain view. Unlike the ship, this man made no attempt to conceal the fact that he was a pirate. His eyes were harder than granite, and a similar color, and when he came close enough, Ren realized with a shock that the smell of alchemical powder that had permeated the quay came from the pirate. He felt ill, and wished to be anywhere but there.
Arn, on the other hand, was gazing up at the man with something akin to worship in his eyes. Ren turned away.
Niria drew herself up to her full height, and spoke to the pirate. “We wish to speak to the captain of this vessel,” she said clearly.
The man looked coldly at her. “I am he.”
Though Ren had no doubt that it was not normal procedure for a pirate captain to come and talk to people on the quayside himself, he was relieved that this was the captain, and that no one worse would be coming out of the ship. To judge by Niria’s expression, she was feeling much the same way as him.
She recovered her composure and said, “Since our own ship was destroyed by the harbor patrol, we are looking for a place on another.”
“I see,” said the captain. “And you hope it will be this one.”
Niria was about to speak, but Arn got there first. “Yes, sir!” he said, his face shining as though lit by a candle from within. The captain ignored him. Niria resumed her speech.
“I am a waveworker,” she said, “and the boys can both work.” When the captain made no move to accept, she began to clutch at straws. The straw she grabbed hold of first was perhaps the most effective. She lowered her voice considerably and put her hands over the little girl’s ears. Then she said, “We were on the Sea Roc, under Octavio Pye. The Krakeneater has been captured or killed, we cannot say which. But there was somthing he was looking for, a great treasure, and it is kept on the Blood Storm, which you surely know of. We must get that thing, and I assure you, when we do, you shall have a share.” To indicate that her speech was finished, she removed her hands from the girl’s ears.
The captain looked at her a long while, and then he said, “Come along then. But remember, I must get my share.”
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kiwimuncher
in August 29th, 2007 @ 19:50Ooooooooooooooooooo! Cool! Now, how will they get Tam into all of this? Perhaps the pirates will take him prisoner? But how?
*thinks*
Perhaps Tam is trying to find a way to get away from Mordrid and to Ren because……… he feels a strange connection to him. He heads toward the docks because, of course, Tam thinks that The Sea Roc is still there. Tam is stupid enough to walk up to one of the cruman of the ship that Niria, Ren, Arn, and…………….. (what’s her name? Tina? El?) is on. The pirate thinks that Tam is with the empire. The pirate REALLY hates the empire because they ordered the death of his father. So, the pirate decides to kill Tam. The captain sees him doing this and stops him. But, because Tam was attacked, the Captain thinks that it would be unwise to let Tam go, so he takes him prisoner. How’s that?
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kiwimuncher
in August 29th, 2007 @ 19:55Sorry to double post but, I have another idea about the little girl!
How about she has this thing where she doesn’t talk, but that she’s a wonderful artist? Like, so good that it’s magical how she does it! So, they don’t really know her name, but they just give her a nick name and it sticks?
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Alice of the Blackberries
in August 29th, 2007 @ 20:46239- Yes. Yesyes! But I sort of think we’re going a little overboard on how many long-dead family members were slaughtered by the Emperor. Let’s see, Ren’s uncle and Pye’s brother were already killed, so maybe we should think of a different reason.
240- That’s sort of what I was thinking.
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kiwimuncher
in August 30th, 2007 @ 06:23Hmmmmmmmm. I see your point. How about the crewman dislkes the empire because……….because…………… OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Idea!
What if the crewman is somehow connected to Tera? Like, they were best friends or something and then something bad happened. Tera did something bad, but she blamed the crewman for it. The crime, whatever it was, was disatrous for the crewman. He lost everything, and I mean EVERYTHING! So, now he hates the empire.
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Alice
in August 30th, 2007 @ 12:03342- Good idea! Tera’s only, like, 16, but maybe it’s a fairly young crewman. I’ll write. Gosh, we haven’t written about Tam in a loooooooong time.
~~~~~~
Somewhere far away, there were shouts and sounds of battle. Tam half-turned, but thought better of it and walked onward. He would go to the harbor and find the Sea Roc. Whether the Captain and crew would forgive him or not, he didn’t know, but he couldn’t go back to Mordran. . . . His bandaged hand throbbed slightly, and he shook his head vigorously. If he had not borne a grudge towards the Empire before, he did now.
Then, as suddenly and as welcome as the sun breaking out of the clouds, the damp and smelly little alley opened up, and Tam found himself standing on the quay. The Sea Roc was not there. But then, that was understandable, seeing as she hadn’t been tied up in the first place, but anchored in the harbor.
But she wasn’t there either. Tam began to panic. They had sailed away without him! They had never known he was there.
Tam stared despairingly out at the idyllic harbor scene. Idyllic to anyone else looking on, but to Tam, it was something out of a nightmare.
He turned away. It was no good. He would have to go back to Mordran and the Empire after all, assuming they would take him back after what had happened.
~~~~~~~
328- I like it. Are you any good at drawing? Could you possibly draw it? Somehow I think it would be good to have a visual aid. Now that I know how to send stuff to the GAPAs again, I’m going to make a map of Sphaere.
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kiwimuncher
in August 30th, 2007 @ 19:25Yeah, I’m good at drawing, but how do you send it?
————————————————————————-
Tam could not give up. He wandered aimlessly through the docks, looking desperately for any sign of The Sea Roc. He found none. The crowd at the docks slowly dwindled away and soon Tam found himself alone among the ships. It was only then that Tam noticed that the sun had disapeared over the horizon. What could he do? His only choice now would be to return to the empire. Suddenly, Tam saw a man up ahead. Perhaps he would know where the ship was docked! He caught the man’s eye and hurried toward him. All hope was not lost!
————————————————————–
Jaroff leaned casually against a pole by the dock. It was his turn to take watch over the front of his ship, The Wavebreaker (do you like that name?), in case there were any unwanted visitors. He doubted there would be. It was starting to get late and no one in their right mind would be wandering around the docks at this time of night. Well, maybe there were a few nutcases around. A boy had just walked into Jaroffs line of vision.
Jaroff immediately disliked the boy. He was pale, as if he had never seen the light of day. It didn’t help that the boy looked as though he had no idea where he was going, a suspicious character.
It seemed that the boy had noticed Jaroff as well because he strode determinly toward him. Jaroff scowled. The boy’s attitude was exactly like that of a nobles. Jaroff despised nobles.
“Do you know where the ship called “The Sea Roc” is docked?” he asked commandingly.
Jaroff tried his best not to show his alarm. The boy was looking for “The Sea Roc”?! But that ship was now taken over by the empire! So, this little brat really WAS working for them! Anger boiled up in Jaroff’s stomache when he thought of the empire unexpectantly attacking “The Sea Roc” when the ship’s captain was injured. This was only yet another grudge he held against his country’s cursed government. Jaroff did not stop to think. He was determined that this little empire rat would not live to hurt anyone else.
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kiwimuncher
in August 30th, 2007 @ 19:29Oh! Oops! It sounds like Jaroff is asking where “The Sea Roc” is!
I’ll change that to……“Do you know where the ship called “The Sea Roc” is docked?” the “noble” asked commandingly.
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Rebecca Lasley (Administrator)
in August 30th, 2007 @ 19:52Alice sent this map of Sphaere.
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Alice
in August 30th, 2007 @ 20:24344- Ulp. Very good, though.
It’s not the greatest map, since I only put in the few things I knew the whereabouts of, but it’s okay.
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the man for aeiou
in August 30th, 2007 @ 20:51can some one post the story so I can read it and maybe ‘rite?
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Alice of the Blackberries
in August 30th, 2007 @ 23:16348- Oh god. Yes, I can. But it’s super long. I’m going to write now, I’ll do that next post. (If you couldn’t tell, I really want to write this piece.)
~~~~~~~
“No,” he replied coolly, as his hand slid towards his belt, where a sharp dagger lay in its sheath, looking harmless. “I have no idea where she’s docked right now. I do know, though, that most of her crew is probably dead, and it’s in the hands of Empire scum – like you.” He had always wanted to say that to someone from the Empire, and as this brat was going to die within minutes, it didn’t matter what he heard.
Tam staggered back as though struck, and gasped, “I’m not!” But then the dagger sliced through the air, and Tam found that his eye was a mere inch away from a very sharp point.
“Don’t lie, empire scum,” hissed Jaroff, “or I’ll kill you slowly, not quick like I mean to.” The point withdrew, but now it was pointed at Tam’s throat, and a strong brown hand was firmly locked around a pale thin wrist. Tam let out a tiny sob of despair.
“Don’t kill me,” he said pleadingly. “I’m not from the Empire. I’m from the Sea Roc.”
Jaroff’s hard expression did not alter. “Then you’re a deserter,” he said. “And deserve to die as much as the Emperor himself. You might even be the one to have betrayed the Sea Roc yourself. If I was going to believe that, at least, and I don’t think I am.” The point was pressed against Tam’s neck a little harder. Not hard enough to draw blood, but hard enough for only a little more pressure to break into the vein.
Tam closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable death. At last I’ll be free from the Unknowables and the Empire then, he thought, and his mouth twisted slightly. It came to this, then. He was willing to accept Death for a little piece of quiet. What a mess.
But the fatal cut never came, and Death did not relieve Tam of his troubles.
“Jaroff!” said a hard voice. “What are you doing, man?”
The dagger dropped away from Tam’s throat, but the grip on his wrist did not lessen. “Killing this boy, sir,” came Jaroff’s steady reply. “He’s from the Empire, looking for the Sea Roc.”
Tam wanted to insist that he wasn’t, but suddenly he was too scared to speak. The figure now looming over him was enough to make a braver man than Tam feel weak at the knees.
“How do you know?” asked the captain of the Wavebreaker, stroking his black-and-red beard.
Jaroff stiffened. “Don’t you thinjk, sir,” he said reproachfully, “that I can tell a ‘servant of the empire’ as well as the next man? He looks like it, sir. Acts like it, too.”
Tam was astonished. This Jaroff dared to talk back to his captain! Tam would have thrown himself overboard rather than attract the anger of this man with so many weapons.
“Yes,” said the captain of the Wavebreaker. “I agree. But what did you intend to do with the body?”
Tam shuddered to hear his imminent death spoken of so lightly.
Jaroff was still. “I don’t know, sir.”
“It will be noticed, if you aren’t careful. We will take this boy as a prisoner, and what we do with him later will be decided later. Come. And bring him with you.” And he turned and strode back onto the ship.
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kiwimuncher
in August 31st, 2007 @ 06:42OMG! That gave me goosebumps!
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Alice of the Blackberries
in August 31st, 2007 @ 10:08350- Cool! I love it when books to that to me.
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the man for aeiou
in August 31st, 2007 @ 16:47so can you please post it? I am saving this web page and puting the posts on my computer.
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kiwimuncher
in August 31st, 2007 @ 18:26352) Sorry, I’m really slow but, what does that mean?
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kiwimuncher
in August 31st, 2007 @ 18:29Oops, I forgot to ask, but how do you send a drawing to the GAPA’s?
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the man for aeiou
in August 31st, 2007 @ 19:22353- I saved this page to my comuputer and am c+p story posts from that to a document.
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Alice of the Blackberries
in September 1st, 2007 @ 02:04352- Yes. I’m sorry, I meant to post it, but my mom was looking at me meaningfully, and since I’d done nothing but Blog for the past few days, I wasn’t about to spend a lot of time on the computer while she was watching.
I’m sorry. I’ve been feeling ever-so-slightly guilty all day.
354- Send it to gapa @ musefanpage.com without the spaces.
And now, the story:
~~~~~~~
The Inner Sea had formed hundreds of years before, when the lowland flats in the
center of Sphaere had been deluged constantly as the Age of Ice ended and the great glaciers melted. Now, the only land surface of Sphaere is the mountains around its shores.
The Sanguiz Empire soon took advantage of the confusion caused by the Deluge to expand its territory from the handful of states it once commanded. As our story opens, all of Sphaere is under its iron grip.
That is, almost all.
Hardy bands of seafarers, disgusted with the decadence and corruption that infects Sphaere, have taken to the Inner Sea and the scattering of lawless isles in its center. They raid the prosperous, Empire-sanctioned merchant ships that cross the Sea and bamboozle the incompetent navy.
One ship in particular is notable among these: The Sea Roc.Ren Splayr dashed down the narrow alley, the loose soles of his sandals flapping on its damp bricks. The whistles of the soldiers weren’t far behind. Ren hoped he could get to the seafront before they caught him and he went the same way as his uncle. Perlan Ethor, Ren’s only remaining family, had taken him in when his mother died and his father disappeared. Now Perlan was gone too, shot by the captain of the guard for writing an article about corruption in the Sanguiz Empire. Funny how a few strokes of ink in the Hermetopolis Gazette could translate into a puff of alchemical smoke, a flying musket ball, and death. Ren was wanted too, simply for knowing Perlan and “possible aiding and abetting propaganda against our glorious Emperor Sanguinus IX.”
Ren’s only hope was to stow away aboard a merchant ship bound for the opposite side of Sphaere, all the way across the Inner Sea.
“Where are you running to, boy?” said a gruff voice, and Ren looked up into the eyes of a man. Probably a sailor of high rank, to judge by his clothes. Maybe even a captain. He wore a very large and ridiculous three-cornered hat. In spite of his present state, Ren wanted to laugh, but there was no time. He dodged the man, and sped off down the alley again.
Octavio Pye watched the boy go. He automatically sized him up. Limber, agile, small for his age of maybe fourteen… he would be a good powder monkey. Why was he in such a hurry?
A bunch of officious-looking people in the uniforms of Imperial soldiers rushed down the alley after the boy. Octavio was experienced at looking as though he had no idea what was going on. The guards didn’t question him.
So the boy is in trouble with the Sanguiz Empire, Octavio mused. I think he won’t refuse a job aboard the Sea Roc.
He turned and took one of the many shortcuts he knew to the harbor.
Ren ran on, his heart pounding in his chest, his breath coming ragged. He reached the harbor, and looked wildly from side to side for a place to hide. The soldiers were gaining, and there was nowhere to go.
Nowhere except the stinking black water of the harbor.
One of the soldiers, a lean, athletic one, pulled ahead, raising his musket to his shoulder. Ren leaped into the sea, hearing the bullet whiz over his head.
With a loud sploosh, the water closed over him. He fought to get to the surface, flailing wildly. When he reached it, though, he almost wished he hadn’t. Three soldiers were pointing guns at him, and looked like they intended to use them.
There were three loud cracks, and Ren cringed, expecting to feel the bullets smashing into his chest. But they didn’t. He looked up to see the soldiers clutching their injured hands, their unfired muskets on the ground beside them.
What happened? thought Ren. The soldiers were pushed out of the way as a man with a long beard and a green robe pulled him out of the water with a grip as strong as a lion’s. The man, judging by his appearance was an alchemist, maybe a doctor. “Come on! We must hurry! These soldiers will recover and call for reinforcements very soon.” Ren had no choice but to follow the alchemist through the crowds of people, hoping that wherever he was going, it was somewhere safe.
The alchemist stopped in front of a small three-masted ship moored at an out-of-the-way corner of the dock.
“Vushtek!” came a cry from on board. “You found him!”
“Yes, and I’m being pursued. Let me up, quick!”
A head poked over the rail. It was the man from the alley. “If they catch up to you, they’ll be sorry they messed with the crew of Octavio Pye. Tzil? Niria? I need a wind.”
Ren dimly noticed a man in blue and white clothing raising a hand, and a strong breeze blowing across the waterfront. A weatherweaver, he thought, but he wasn’t surprised. His head was reeling from hearing the name of Octavio Pye. Octavio Pye! The dreaded Captain Krakeneater of the pirate ship Sea Roc!!!
When Ren came to, he was lying on a berth in a ship that rolled alarmingly beneath him. It took him a few minutes to remember where he was and what had happened, and he would have gladly slipped back into unconsciousness and forgotten all about it again. He groaned, and almost wished that the soldiers had caught him. What they would do to him couldn’t be much worse than what was going to happen to him now, he thought. But then again, he was still alive, and he wouldn’t be if the pirates hadn’t saved him.
The door opened and a boy came in. He was perhaps two years older than Ren and carrying a pile of clothes. “You’re awake,” he said with obvious surprise.
“Yes.” And I wish I wasn’t, he added silently.
“I brought you some dry clothes,” said the older boy. “And when you’re dressed, Captain Pye would like a word with you.” And he left.
Ren slowly dressed into the brown cotton shirt and maroon breeches the boy had brought him. He stumbled out of the cabin and onto the main deck of the ship. All around him, men were working, in the rigging and on the deck. Over in a corner, the boy who had brought him the clothes silently scrubbed the wooden deck, every once in a while being kicked by a man in a long cerulean robe and striped pantaloon. Ren walked over to the side of the ship and looked out into the cool, clear waters. The splash of the waves that hit the ship and the caw of the seagulls all seemed to mock him. I wish I were back home in Hermetopolis, thought Ren.
“Ah, there you are,” said a voice.
Ren spun around and found himself face to face with Octavio Pye. “I want to get off,” he said flatly.
“I think we had better talk about this in my cabin,” said the captain, and steered Ren down below.
“I want to get off,” Ren repeated when they were in the captain’s cabin. “I want to go home.”
“You have no home, if I am correct in my guessing. In Hermetopolis, you were on the run from the law. You were about to be killed.”
Ren could not deny this, though he wanted to.
“I need a powder monkey,” continued Captain Pye. “You need safety. Is it a deal?”
Ren closed his eyes, and nearly shook his head, when the full truth came home to him. He paused, reliving the moment of his uncle’s death. He opened his eyes.
“It’s a deal.”
“Good, then. Report to me tomorrow morning at three bells–that’s five thirty to a landsman like you. I will give you your duties then. For today, explore the ship! Learn everything you can today, because we cannot afford failure.”
Ren gulped. Will they punish me? What kind of punishments? he thought. He’d heard of pirates and how they hurt and killed their prisoners. They’d walk the planks, get flogged, or even be shot! Ren was not sure if he was considered a prisoner, but after seeing the way that cabin boy was treated on the deck, Ren knew–or thought he knew–that Captain Pye was harsh on punishments.
“Aye aye, sir…er, captain,” Ren quickly said. He spun around, and ran back out to the main deck, trying to get as far away from Captain Pye as possible.
“Boy!” said Captain Pye.
Ren stopped, terrified, and turned around. “Yes, sir?”
“Are you frightened of me?”
“Yes, sir,” said Ren woodenly.
“You needn’t be.”
“Yes, sir.”
“STOP!” bellowed Octavio Pye. “Stop saying that!”
“Ye- alright, sir.”
The captain put his head in his hands and sighed. Then he took off his hat, and Ren saw that he was completely bald, though he couldn’t have been more than a few years over fifty. “Why are you frightened?”
“You’re a pirate, sir. You just said you couldn’t afford failure, and I saw the cabin boy being beaten just now–”
“What!”
“He was being beaten, sir, while he scrubbed the deck.”
“I know for a fact that the cabin boy is asleep in the bows at this very moment. He’s getting lazy, too.” The Captain added, half to himself.
“No, he’s not. Asleep in the bows, I mean.” Somehow Ren couldn’t stop himself, he knew he was talking back to a pirate captain, but he was so frightened he didn’t even care.
But it didn’t really matter at all, because the Captain took no notice, but replaced his hat and rushed onto the deck. Ren sat with wobbly knees and a stomach turned to jelly, and recovered from his fear.
Octavio Pye was worried, and with good reason. The boy was enough to make anyone worry. It wasn’t that he was prideful or bold, although he was both of those things, especially the latter–no, it was something else. And the Captain knew exactly what it was, because it had been worrying him for two years, since he had acquired a new midshipman, Tam Eizid. Tam and Ren were hardly alike, except in one respect, and that was this: both boys had power. Incredibly strong and incredibly rare power, and neither of them knew it. And Tam needed a good talking-to, decided Octavio. The boy was too soft.
Captain Pye walked over to where Tam Eizid was scrubbing the deck.
“What are you doing?” he asked, though he knew perfectly well. “This is the cabin boy’s job.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The cabin boy is getting positively lazy. I haven’t seen him working once this week, but all his jobs are getting done. I was beginning to think we had a brownie aboard. But no, it’s you, isn’t it?”
Tam nodded miserably.
“You go and attend to your own duties. And wake Arn while you’re at it. Where’s that new boy? Oh, never mind, I’ll deal with him later.”
Ren wandered about waiting for something to happen so he could stop waiting for nothing. As he walked, a small figure (if you could call it that) rushed across the deck. It resembled a small, winged dragon with ivory scales and golden pinions. It made a noise similar to a caterwaul, then transformed into a skinny, cream-furred kitten that dashed around the corner of a cabin and out of sight.
A Pukis! thought Ren. One of the fiercely protective dragon-cats from the Free Island of Lithuslov!
But what was a Pukis doing here aboard the Sea Roc? He followed the Pukis around the corner, and then through a corridor, but it was gone. Ren looked around and then saw a flash of ivory scales and followed the Pukis through a small trapdoor halfway covered by a barrel of apples. Without thinking, Ren hopped down through the hole in the floor and found Captain Pye leaning over a desk. The Pukis flew up onto the pirate’s shoulder and perched itself there, before transforming back into a kitten.
“Well, hi there, Marmalade! How’s it going? Is everyone behaving?” the captain asked the Pukis.
Marmalade purred and pointed towards Ren.
The captain turned around in his chair to see what Marmalade was gesturing towards. When he saw Ren, his face grew red with anger, and then it turned back to its normal pigment, as he calmed down and grew an almost embarrassed, expression.
“Well, you’ve found my treasure hut. I guess you’ll be questioning me from now on unless I tell you. So sit down, and I will tell you all,” said Captain Pye, gesturing towards a small stool in the corner.
Ren did not understand a single thing that was going on, so, seeing as he had no other choice, he sat uncomfortably on the wooden stool. The wood was poorly cut, and had severe water damage. When he shifted his position on the stool, a faint creaking sound emerged from the legs. There were four of them, and they were quite thin and taking on a green tinge. Ren sat on his hands, as he usually does when he is uncomfortable, but vetoed that idea soon after he tried it, as the wood was so rough. Little splinters of wood stuck to his hands, and he tried to inconspicuously pick the slivers out of his skin. Captain Pye looked at him strangely, so he put his hands in his lap and focused all of his attention on the Captain.
“I will tell you all about our plan,” the captain went on. “We’ve been collecting treasure of all kinds from merchant ships, naval ships, and even those two-timing privateers. Eventually, we hope to get enough so that we can set ourselves up in society as respectable people. Then-” he grinned sardonically- “we can stop bringing society down from the outside, and start bringing society down from the inside. Sanguiz IX won’t last forever, and he has twelve children. The eldest ones are triplets. While they’re fighting over the throne, we can probably carve out a good-sized chunk of Sphaere for ourselves, where people can live without being bled dry by taxes or getting shot for speaking the truth. Money always helps- bribing public officials can get you anywhere if the price is high enough. And then, when we’ve got a proper country-colony-whatchacallit, with its own army and Alchemist Corps, we’ll take over Sphaere, and hand it over to the people.”
“So you’re like good pirates, then, right?” Ren asked timidly.
“Well, sort of. We have a good cause, I suppose, but I have no illusions. We have killed people and we have robbed ships, and we will continue to do so until we have finished what we started out to do. Come into my cabin, I have something to show you.â€
In the cabin, Captain Pye started looking in his numerous dressers and drawers, and under papers around his desk. Finally, he found what he was looking for and exclaimed,†Here we are!”
He pulled out a golden sphere, with all of the known lands in Sphaere on it. From inside, Ren noticed, came a faint red glow. The golden globe made Ren shiver. It seemed as if a whole power came from inside the sphere, and it beckoned faintly for Ren to use the power.
“Inside this globe, know as the Orb of Centaur, is a power stronger than every military member of the Sanguiz Empire Army, combined,” said the captain. “There are only two people who can control it. And now, I have both of them on my ship.”
“Who?” asked Ren, unsure if he really wanted to know.
“Well, one of them is Tam Eizid. The boy you saw being beaten, who is not, in fact, the cabin boy, but the midshipman. He feels rather sorry for the crew, I’m afraid, and seems to have made a habit out of doing other people’s work. The other one…” he paused. “Well, the other one is you.”
Ren was too stunned to answer. Captain Pye continued. “There are four essential elements in Sphaere, and talented people can work with any of them. Alchemists work with earth. They are very common; in fact people who do not have alchemical talent are rare. Stormmaster is a generic term for weatherweavers, who work air, and waveworkers, who work water. The fourth class is so rare that it doesn’t even have a name. They work with fire. You and Tam are of that kind.”
He picked up the orb again. “This, of course, isn’t the real orb, just a replica made alchemically from our best knowledge of its appearance. The real orb is in a steel strongbox in a locked compartment aboard the 200-gun flagship of the Sanguiz Navy, the Blood Storm.”
“Oh,” said Ren, wondering what that odd mix of disappointment and elation and shock was called, if it even had a name. “Does the other boy know? Tam?”
“He hasn’t the faintest idea. And I don’t intend to tell him yet, either.†The Captain walked out of the cabin, and Ren followed, hearing the wood groan beneath his feet. Ren walked over to the edge of the boat and looked down at the water splashing against the side of the boat. Captain Pye was pacing near the door of his cabin. Ren looked closely at his hat – Octavio Pye was famous for his large tricorn hat. Ren looked back out on the water, and saw that it was turning a darker color. Little ripples began appearing on the surface of the navy water, and Ren knew a storm was coming. He walked over to the Captain to tell him about the weather, but it seemed that Pye already knew. His head was tilted slightly upward, and his nose was working over-time trying to figure out where the storm was coming from, and where it was headed. Captain Pye’s strongest sense was his nose, at least when it came to detecting storms.
Captain Pye stared at Ren. He tugged on the brim of his hat. He sniffed again. And then he said those terrible words, “It’s coming from the South.â€
“Tzil! Niria! I need you on deck!” bellowed the Captain. “We have to quell the storm!”
A man in blue and white clothing rushed up to them, followed by a young woman of about twenty years. “We’ll do our best, Captain,” said the woman, “but there’s something wrong about these waves…”
Tzil licked his finger and raised it up. Small strands of lightning seemed to crackle across the tip. “Niria’s right,” he said urgently. “This is a made storm.”
“Can you quell it?” the captain asked.
“Well… together, Niria and I are a match for any lone stormmaster on the Inner Sea, but this one must have been sent by a confederation of twenty, possibly more. We need to find a safe harbor, and fast.”
The captain considered for a moment, and then began barking orders. “All sails up, crew! Niria, make sure the waves don’t swamp us. Tzil, keep the wind to a moderate level so the canvas doesn’t burst. We’re going to ride this storm out until we can reach the isle of Lithuslov.”
Ren stood still as confusion immediately fell upon the ship, and the crew ran every-which-way, not sure what they were supposed to be doing. He wondered where Lithuslov was.
Then he had an idea. He ran up to the captain. “Sir, could I help the weatherweavers? You said I had talent.”
“Not that kind. Fire talent. Ask them.”
Ren trotted up to Tzil and Niria, standing with closed eyes in the middle of the hustle and bustle. “Could I help?” he asked, reluctant to disturb them.
Niria opened her eyes. She closed them, and opened them again. “Tzil. Look!” she said softly. Tzil opened his eyes.
“Did you just ask if you could help?”
Ren nodded. “Can I?”
“Not with this, but you have power.” And he closed his eyes again. Niria shrugged at Ren and went back to muttering spells.
Ren stood on the swaying deck, wishing he could be happy about having power, but knowing it was no good.
The storm blew out of the south with unbelievable fury and suddenness. Massive towers of cloud piled up in the sky, crowned by lightning. A colossal wave rode the sea before it, driven by the mad wind. The Sea Roc was lifted up by the wave and flung through the air like a toy. Tzil and Niria rose into the air, wreathed in glittering chains of electricity. Ren managed to grab hold of a bulwark and prevent himself from being swept away. Tam Eizid was not so lucky. The midshipman was smashed off the deck by a freezing, gray plume of water. Several seabirds rode its crest, screaming triumphantly.
“Stormy petrels,” Captain Pye muttered. Then he shouted, “Throw Tam a line!” Another wave broke over the deck, making him cough and splutter. He knew the chances of saving Tam were virtually nil, but he had to try.
“It’s no good, Captain,” Tzil said. His voice rang like a bell through the clamor of the storm, even though he didn’t raise his voice. “I recognized those petrels. One of them had a scar above its eye.”
“How does a petrel get a scar like that??”
“I put it there. Those aren’t petrels, they’re wave spirits, and they’re in the service of Rake Vashkar, weatherweaver of the Blood Storm.”
Soon the storm began to away, leaving with the petrels. Captain Pye went down below, and the crew hurried around, trying to clean up the mess left by the storm. Ren stood on the deck, shocked and sad. He had never even got a chance to meet Tam, and now he was dead- or captured by the Sanguiz Empire.
Tzil and Niria were asleep down below, tired out by their efforts to quell the storm. Captain Pye was doing who knows what in his cabin. Ren was all alone.
Tam kept his head above water for as long as he could, and eventually the storm quieted. He floated on his back, watching petrels that shouldn’t be there flying above him. Every now and then one would seem to lose shape for a moment, only to resume the form of a petrel a little later. Tam’s head swam, and he realized his limbs were all numb. He wouldn’t survive much longer in this cold.
Then a ship loomed above him. Tam gave a weak yell and attempted to swim out of the way. His frozen legs would hardly obey him. Someone on the ship shouted something, and then down came a rope, whistling through the air from the very high deck of the ship. Tam grabbed it, and was hauled up onto the ship.
“What is it?” asked a voice, accompanied by hurried footsteps.
“Found a boy in the water, sir. ‘E’s half dead.”
“A boy? Really?” The voice seemed much too interested, and not in a good way. “Where do you imagine he came from?”
“I don’t know, sir, but he’s a midshipman, wherever he came from. He’s got the proper badge.”
“A midshipman! Ah! Bring him to my cabin!”
“Yes, Mr. Vashkar, sir,” said the seaman, and then Tam lost his senses, and heard no more.
Ren watched Tam drift farther and farther out of sight, until watching his bony body fade into the horizon. He leaned over the edge of the boat, watching the waves from the storm get smaller and smaller; only creating small splashes now. He heard a shout, and turned around suddenly, almost tangling himself in a net crumpled up by his feet. Someone was standing at the stern of the boat, shouting.
“What in the name of –” Captain Pye stormed out of his cabin, but was stopped mid-step when he saw what was going on…
The ship’s Pukis, Marmalade, stood on the deck in dragon form, hissing furiously and spitting fire. Across from it lay a petrel, wounded and unable to walk or change shape.
Tzil walked over to the petrel-spirit that was lying on the deck. He kicked Marmalade to the side, cursing under his breath. Marmalade spat a small ball of fire at him, then turned back into a kitten and ran over to Captain Pye.
Tzil examined the petrel-spirit, noticing it had a red feather on its right wing, and a scar right above its left eye. “Letor,” whispered Tzil. “Letor! Wake up, I command you!”
The petrel-spirit, Letor, woke up, coughed, and glared at the weatherweaver standing over him.
“Where are they?” Tzil demanded. He shook the bird, which grunted. Letor squinted, trying to turn into a coyote or something that could nip Tzil, but he couldn’t. He was too exhausted.
Tzil grabbed Letor and shook him. “Where are they taking Tam?”
Letor laughed, and said, “I’ll never tell you.”
“Niria!” Tzil called. “Grab the matches. We’re having petrel tonight!”
“Fine, fine! I’ll tell you!” exclaimed Letor, fearing for his life. “They are going to Helean City, where Mordran is preparing for the fight of all Sphaere!”
“Who’s Mordran?” piped up Ren.
“The Emperor’s Commander-in-chief,” replied Captain Pye.
“Do they have any idea of his powers?” Tzil continued his interrogation.
“No,” gasped Letor. “What powers?”
“Then why do they want him?”
“Bait. He’s a favorite of yours, isn’t he, Captain? You won’t just let him die.”
“But we still have the advantage,” said the captain under his breath.
How wrong he was.
Even Tzil had no idea what good liars wave spirits were.Tam woke in a dark room. It was a few minutes before he realized that his hands were tied to the sides of the hard, wooden chair he was sitting on. An alchemical lamp, a crystal globe filled with phlogiston, shone blindingly into his face. As a result, the features of the man sitting across from him were unclear. The voice, however, was anything but. It cut through his throbbing head like a knife.
“Hello, Tam.”
“Who are you?” Tam rasped. “How do you know my name?”
“My faithful spirits have been following the Sea Roc for several weeks. The only reason we haven’t attacked it is that we didn’t want to damage you.”
“Why the heck am I so important?”
“Tell me, Tam. Are you happy aboard the Sea Roc?”
“Well, Captain’s pretty strict, and I don’t have the best position, but it’s better than the life I left behind…”
“I could get you a job aboard the Blood Storm. Any position, even first mate. Wages of up to ten aurums a day, luxurious lodgings- oh, anything you desire.”
Tam snorted. It sounded like a good deal, but these things always did at first, and he wasn’t sure he trusted this silver-tongued stranger. “What’s the catch?”
“We want you to do us a favor.”
“What is that?”
The man reached into a deep pocket and pulled out a small, golden globe, engraved with images of all the lands of Sphaere. It gleamed in the light from the phlogiston lamp, but also seemed to produce a more subtle light from within.
“We want you to use this in the service of Emperor Sanguinus IX.”
“Wow…” thought Tam. He didn’t know if he should accept the offer. Something sounded fishy about this man and all he had to offer. “Can I think about it?” he asked.
“Sure, sure… take as much time as you want…just remember the Blood Storm is waiting for you.” And with that the man disappeared.
Tam rested his head against the surprisingly hard wooden wall. It looked brand new, unlike the wood of the Sea Roc, which still held up well, but was starting to show signs of weathering, and always seemed damp. He did not trust the strange man, however intriguing his offer was. Something about his spirit and the Sea Roc…and the emperor.
Two years ago, Tam had stowed away on an exploring ship, heading out of Sphaere. Halfway across the Inner Sea, the Sea Roc had attacked them. Tam, who had remained hidden for weeks, was discovered by the first mate. Given the choice between death and a job aboard the pirate ship, Tam chose the obvious. He was made midshipman, having proved that he was strangely unused to work. The pirates, even Octavio Pye, knew nothing of his past. Tam had managed to mostly forget it himself, too.
Tam had been trained, in those two years, never to trust the emperor or any of his minions. Which was why he was reluctant to take the offer. But what would happen if he refused?Back on the Sea Roc, Ren asked the captain a question that had been floating around in his mind.
“How did you know that Tam and I were the ones with the fire power stuff?”
“That is an interesting question. We found out you were from a stowaway fortuneteller on our ship. The gypsy had a vision in which he saw your face, and luckily he was good at sketching likenesses. It was pure luck that we found you, however. We’d expected something a bit quieter than what actually happened.”
“What happened to the gypsy?”
“Oh, him? We made him walk the plank. Niria found him sneaking around the ship with a dagger one night. She cornered him and found out he was trying to kill me, although why is a mystery I will never find the answer to.
“Now Tam, he was harder to figure it out. By the time we had found the stowaway gypsy, we knew he was one of the Powerful, but it took us a while to figure it out. Tam had served aboard our ship for a whole year before we learned his secret. Not even he knew he was a Powerful. It was in his actions. When we first captured him, er, hired him, we noticed that Marmalade took a sudden liking to him, which was very strange. Other times, when we he was swabbing the deck for example, swarms of fish would surround our ship and one time, during a fierce sea storm, a dolphin even appeared and did a flip in the air, before diving back underwater. But the thing that really gave him away was when he entered my cabin one day, looking very upset and all of the candles went out.”
“Does Tam know he is a Powerful?” Ren asked.
“No, not yet. And now he might not ever,” said the captain, a faraway look in his eyes.
“Why did you tell me but not Tam?” Ren wanted to know.
“Because you stumbled on the treasure room and he didn’t. And because I’m really not sure about Tam.”
“What do you mean?”
“My, you do ask a lot of questions,” sighed the Captain.
“Yes. What do you mean?”
“And you’re persistent. I suppose because he won’t tell him anything about his past, for one. And yet it’s always nagging at him, you can tell. Something certainly is. And when he first came on board he seemed to be afraid of us ‘finding him out’, as he put it.â€
“He told you he was afraid of being found out? That’s weird.”
“Hardly. He used to talk in his sleep.”
The storm had calmed, and the Sea Roc was drifting slowly in a gentle breeze. The horizon was featureless except for a purple-gray blur to the north.
“What is that?” Ren inquired.
Pye followed his gaze. “The isle of Lithuslov. We’ll stop there for now. Who knows what sort of weather Rake Vashkar is sending towards us. We’ll be able to survive a storm better if we’re in a harbor.”
“But Lithuslov is uninhabited.”
“As far as the Empire knows, which isn’t very far at all. There used to be a small village of Pukis trappers-”
Marmalade hissed, interrupting him. Pye glared at the Pukis, then continued.
“-which is now a thriving free port, the biggest in the six Free Isles.”
“Will they have food?” Ren asked. He was suddenly ravenous.
“Food?” repeated the captain. “Food as you has never seen before, Ren. The wealthy have skreeth egg omelets and orange punch for breakfast. Of course,” he added at Ren’s awed expression, “we’ll probably be eating stale bread and drinking sour beer at some moldy old inn, but one can still dream.”
“Oh.” Ren stared disappointed out at the dark waves. “How do you know what the wealthy eat, anyway?”
“I wasn’t always a rebel, you know. Once I was the honored captain of His Imperial Majesty’s good ship Harmony. I had many a good meal in that time, even on the ‘uninhabited’ isles. But when Sanguinus killed my brother, I became a pirate. For vengeance.
“Or at least it was then. Now, it’s for the good of the people.”“Hello!” called an imperious -and female- voice. “Vashkar! Are you in there?”
Tam said nothing, but tried to remember if he had ever heard the name Vashkar before.
“Vashkar!” repeated the voice. “I want to go swimming. You must warm up the water for me.” When there was still no reply, the owner of the voice marched into the cabin. “It’s awfully dark in here,” she complained, and a light flared up.
“Oh!” said the girl. She was about Tam’s age, with brown hair down to her shoulders and a face that seemed to have come right off a coin. The emperor’s face, only younger and more feminine.
The light went out.
“Who are you?” Tam said as the light flared back into life a moment later.
“I could ask the same to you,” the girl hissed. “What are you doing in here? It’s PRIVATE. So leave.” She put her hands on her hips and looked much like Marmalade when she was disturbed from her rest.
“I’m in here because some weird guy told me to be. And you?”
“I’m here to keep all these stupid men in check and to stop them from caring for stowaways,” she snapped. “In other words, you.”
“I’m not a stowaway!” said Tam hotly. “I’m a midshipman!”
“We already have fifteen of them. We don’t need another.”
“I’m not a midshipman here. On my ship.”
“Well then, what are you doing here?”
“I was washed overboard and this ship picked me up. Now leave me alone.” Tam turned his back on her.
“What’s your ship’s name?” asked the girl.
“Why should I tell you?”
“Because I am your superior. I am the fourth child of Emperor Sanguinus IX.”
“Even less reason to tell you!” Tam shot back before he could stop himself. “Now leave me alone, for the last time.”
“Even less…” mused the fourth child of Emperor Sanguinus IX. She looked at Tam suspiciously. “Who are you, exactly?”
“Tam Eizid, midshipman.”
The imperial girl chewed one her long fingernails. As Tam was wondering how they stayed so long if she bit them, it grew half an inch. She saw him staring.
“I have alchemical talent.” It was most definitely a boast. It also seemed to get her off the track of wondering who he was. She held out her hand, and Tam took it gingerly. “I’m Tera,” she said.
“Hello, Tera,” said Tam, feeling slightly more confident. That was shattered as she added, “You, of course, will call me Princess.”
Just then, the man who had been interrogating Tam walked in. “I’ve done it. The water around the ship is warmed up,” he said obsequiously. However, as he executed a slight bow, a sneer of utter contempt flickered across his face. It said: I know you are currently my superior, but when the tables are turned, you will have to watch out.
“Good,” said Tera and left without so much as a thank you.
The man – Vashkar – turned to Tam with a sigh. “And how do you like Her Imperial Highness?”
Tam shook his head. “I don’t want the orb, and I don’t want this stupid power. This is worse than the Sea Roc. This is worse than what came before…” A lone tear traced its way down his cheek, and the candles guttered.
“You are tired,” said Vashkar suavely. “You will no doubt feel differently after a rest. Come, I will lead you to your cabin.” Tam let himself be led like a child to a soft berth, where he immediately fell into a deep and welcome slumber.Ren leaned against the railing at the edge of the ship, and saw the strange island growing closer and closer. It was abundant with trees and he saw a gigantic flame in the center of the island.
“Captain,” Ren asked. “Why is there an enormous fire on the island?”
“Aye, that is part of their survival,” the Captain answered. Ren gave him a surprised look.
“The Pukises are beings of flame,” Pye continued. “Just as wave spirits are beings of water. Then there are the orti and trosses, which are spirits of earth and air respectively. That flame is a Pukis nesting ground. The kittens are much more fiery when they hatch. Sort of the same as a baby rattlesnake is more poisonous than its parents, because it doesn’t have fine control over its poison glands.â€
“Oh,” said Ren, and went back to staring at that flickering beacon on the isle. So they’re fire creatures, like me and Tam. That’s why Marmalade took a liking to him.”
The Captain nodded in the dark.
Ren mused silently for a long while. Finally he said, “Two is an even number.”
“Yes,” agreed Octavio Pye. “What are you getting at?”
“Odd numbers are magic, and even numbers are ordinary, except four and multiples of four. Everyone knows that. So why are there only two with fire talent?”
Captain Pye sighed. “There were more of them once, the fortune-teller said. But they all died in a dreadful fire hundreds of years ago. Only a few people escaped who carried the gift, and their grandchildren’s grandchildren passed it on. But often a child or even an adult would get to near a fire, that shouldn’t have hurt them, but they would burn to death.”
“Why would they burn?” asked Ren, thinking of the myriad burns he had received standing to close to the fire, and the time he had almost died of a dreadful fever when he was six. A fever was a fire, of a sort.
“Don’t you know?” replied the Captain, surprised. “All those who have talent, of any kind, can only be killed by that element. That is why there were so few with water power after the Deluge. Only those with fire power seem to be more susceptible than others.”
“Still, might it be possible that there’s another?” Ren said wistfully.
Captain Pye snorted. “Well, that would be a funny story. Here I was thinking that I’ve got the only two in existence and then there’s another? Pfft. One in a million. No, one in a billion. Sorry boy, but with how common fires are nowadays, there’s no chance that there’s another one like you out there.”
“And Tam’s probably been burned at the stake right now.”
“If he’s lucky.”
“What do you mean, Captain?”
“The Blood Storm’s crew may be vile and cruel, but they’re not stupid. If they figure out what power Tam’s got he’ll wish he’d been dead.”
“You mean they’ll torture him?”
“Probably, if he doesn’t do what they want. If he does do what they want, it may be like torture.”
“What do you mean?”
“According to all the sources of information on the Orb of Centaur, it’s a very exhausting thing to use. And the Empire won’t be letting him rest all that often. They’ll be after you, too, when Tam’s not able to work it anymore.”
“You mean… dead?” Ren faltered. The Captain did not answer, but his silence seemed to confirm it.
“Well then, we have to rescue him!” cried Ren. This was not mere heroism; it was the longing for another one like him, to be less alone.
“Certainly we do,” said the Captain. “And we will. But for now, they don’t know of his powers. He’s just bait for me. He won’t have the best time of it, but he won’t be tortured yet, either. And in the meantime, we lack fresh fruit. We have to have some, before the crew dies of scurvy. When we’ve refreshed ourselves at Lithuslov, then we can rescue Tam.”The next morning they sailed into Pukislyn, the biggest Free Port inside or outside of Sphaere. The Sea Roc dropped anchor in the harbor and most of the crew rowed to the quay. Ren, Niria, and Captain Pye were among the people in the longboats. Tzil stayed behind with the watch to make sure Letor didn’t escape.
The city was twice as busy as Hermetopolis, and nearly everyone was accompanied by a Pukis. Those that weren’t were wearing beautiful coats ranging in color from ivory touched with gold to a deep, fiery red, and it didn’t take a genius to deduce why these people didn’t have Pukises riding on their shoulders. Obviously the Pukis fur trade was not as diminished as Captain Pye would like to think.
Marmalade dove and leapt through the crowd, touching noses with every other Pukis she met. In her excitement she couldn’t quite decide which form to stay in, so she was switching from dragon to kitten and back again every instant.
Ren laughed, because in watching the small creature twirl and dance he could, for a moment, forget about his often-annoying power.
Unfortunately, the feeling didn’t last long.
While Ren laughed at Marmalade, he felt a weight settle on his shoulder. His mirth ceased abruptly. He looked up. A gold-orange Pukis sat there, in dragon form. A slight pressure against his legs made him look down, to see a trio of Pukises in cat form, two ivory and one flame-blue, rubbing against his ankles. “Oh, no,” he heard Captain Pye say, but the arrival of another of the creatures on his other shoulder, and one on his head, made it rather difficult to pay any attention to the world around him.
When every available place on Ren had been filled, the fire beings had to settle for trotting as close to him as possible, or flying around him. He couldn’t move a muscle. There was a brief scuffle on his head as Marmalade claimed her rightful throne. He knew the whole crowd was staring, though he couldn’t see past the sea of kittens and dragons.
He could hear Captain Pye muttering curses, and Niria trying to disturb the Pukises with her water magic, and hostile mutterings from the crowd, and then a child shrieking, “Nina, Nina!” and his left shoulder became a little lighter for a moment, as the child pried a Pukis off it. But not for long. The Pukis, Nina, dug her claws deep into his shoulder, and he yelped in pain. “Go on, Nina!” he cried, but not really aloud, only in his head. With a purr that sounded almost like speech, the Pukis released her claws and let herself be cuddled by the little girl, who was staring at Ren as though he was some sort of- Pukis-napper.
But now Ren knew how to get them to leave him alone. He thought hard at them to leave, and most of them did, until Ren was left with the flame-blue one on one shoulder and Marmalade on the other.
Marmalade fluttered over to Captain Pye after a few minutes, leaving only the flame-blue one on his left shoulder. It refused to leave.
Come on! he silently pleaded, but the Pukis would not leave. Ren caught sight of a portly man with a Pukis-pelt scarf making his way towards them. He was holding an empty cage of what looked like solid water, made by a waveworker. The Pukis seemed to notice the man too, because it scuttled behind Ren’s head.
Ah, so that’s how it is, Ren thought at the Pukis. Don’t worry; I’ll get you out of here.
The man with the Pukis-pelt scarf came towards Ren, who was watching him intently. Captain Pye seemed to be watching Ren, wondering what his next action was.
“Come here, Pooky, Pooky,” cooed the trapper. “Here girl.”
The Pukis hissed and turned into its cat form.
The trapper looked at Ren. “Here, little boy. Bring her to me! She’s mine ya know!” the trapper said.
“No!” Ren yelled. His body was hot and tense. He was trembling with anger, and just wanted to let it out. He could not, though. He could not get angry, or else bad things would happen. Ren took off running. He heard the shouts of the trapper, Niria, and Captain Pye behind him, but he would not stop. He ran past people of every race and every size. Many of them passed him without noticing. He looked over his shoulder and saw the man running after him. The trapper was getting closer and closer. Ren could barely run anymore though. He was about to collapse. The Pukis’ claws were digging hard into his shoulder. One thought came to his mind: flamulo podias. Ren had no idea where that thought came from, or what it meant, but he suddenly stopped running. He turned around and the man was looking at his feet. They were on fire, but Ren showed no pain.
Ren watched the fire fearfully as it licked his ankles. The Pukis hissed alternately at the flames and the trapper, who was staring frozen at Ren’s feet. Ren recalled the captain’s words: “Those with fire power seem to be more susceptible than others.” The little conflagration was gaining power, and now it was halfway up his calves. And now it hurt. Time seemed not to exist as he watched his lower body be consumed in fire.
Then the Pukis on his shoulder sprang into action. She scrambled down his shirt and puckered her lips, switching to dragon form as she did so. With a loud slurp, she inhaled the fire, ballooning out her cheeks. The trapper sprang away, but he wasn’t fast enough. With a loud sound like an alchemical explosion mixed with a massive belch, the Pukis spat a huge ball of bluish flame at her former master. The fat man’s fancy, white wig exploded into cinders, and he was left with a meager crop of thinning brown hair and several sooty marks on his face.
The Pukis shifted back into kitten form. Ren walked away with what he hoped was a jaunty, confident step.
It wasn’t very convincing, though, as a short ways away he sat down very suddenly and looked at his feet. They were badly blistered, but he decided he could walk back to the quay. If he could find it, that is…
“Where is Captain Pye!?” Ren suddenly thought as he sat down with a thud. “I must have lost him in all the confusion. What on Sphaere am I going to do?”
Suddenly a foreign thought touched his mind. “What’s going on!?” he shrieked, leaping up and raising his fists in helpless self-defense. The thought hit him again. Another small thought called out to him. “Who are you?” he snarled. Now that somebody had mastered mind touching, apparently, keeping his secret hidden from the empire would be more difficult than he thought.
However, the next thought felt not harsh and threatening, like he expected, but almost gentle. But really, who would want to be gentle if they could read minds?
A sound like a crackling flame seared through his head and the soles of his feet began to throb. “Aaaaaargh!” he yelled. In a second, the feeling passed, but when he opened his eyes there sat the Pukis from the marketplace, the blue one with the shiny orange eyes.
“Felt that, did you?” the voice purred, and finally Ren understood who the mysterious mind reader was.
“There is a water spirit in the vicinity,” the Pukis continued. “His essence chills me. I believe my old master is speaking with him. Over there!”
The last thought switched from a gentle purr to a harsh yowl. Ren swiveled around just in time to overhear some of the conversation.
“…definitely had fire talent. Did you see how the Pukises were drawn to him?”
“I did. Vashkar will be pleased. Mordran may even see fit to reward you.”
The latter speaker was a mysterious figure in a blue cloak. Just as Ren tried to get closer, the figure exploded in a blast of freezing spray. A stormy petrel rose from the churning water and flew off to the East.
Ren felt as though his stomach was filled with sour milk. “They know,” he whispered.
Ren knew he had to get back to Captain Pye, but how? Suddenly, a thought came to his mind from the Pukis. “Use your power. Back there, when you scared away my owner, you used some. Try it now.”
“But how?” Ren asked.
“You mustn’t focus on using your powers. If you do, they will not work. Just let them come to you.” So Ren sat there at the bench, tending to his legs and watching the ships go by.
After about an hour, he stood up and glared at the Pukis. “This isn’t working!” he exclaimed.
“Be patient,” said the Pukis. “Later, you will learn how to use your powers in the here and now, but this is not the right time.”
So Ren sulked for about another half hour, but finally a word came to his mind. Flamulo helioso, were the words. As if it were a reflex, Ren closed his eyes, and spread out his arms. He had no control over this, and when he tried to put his arms down, they sprung up again. He felt some heat on his arms, and when he finally opened his eyes, his arms were on fire. The Pukis was flying next to him. Ren looked down: they were a good 50 feet above the island. Ren saw the Sea Roc and then glanced over at the Pukis, which was flying with him. “Quick! Get over to the ship before you become susceptible to the fire and burn!”
Ren flapped his arms and dove towards the ship like a falcon. When he got close to the ship, he slowed and landed with a thump on the deck. The fire on his arms sputtered and spat and then went out.
Captain Pye walked over to Ren and grabbed his shoulder. “What in Sphaere have you done, boy?”
He then flew into a towering rage. Ren sat there, conversing silently with the blue Pukis, Alexis, and not really listening to the Captain at all. He did, however, notice when the noise ceased abruptly.
“What?” asked Ren, startled out of his reverie.
“Your legs!” said Octavio Pye, aghast.
“What? Oh.” Ren looked down at his legs. His pants were burnt up to the knee, and what of his legs was visible was blistered. “It doesn’t hurt that much,” he lied.
“Go to your cabin right now!” the Captain commanded, fiercely staring Ren down. “Even fire WOUNDS can be dangerous to you. I believe they take you down from the inside.”
Ren sheepishly walked to his cabin and lay down on the bed. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t actually slept on it much. He lay his head down and began to doze off.
“Wake up, boy!” the voice of Octavio Pye said, searing through his groggy head. “Now, I want you to tell me exactly what happened to you. Don’t leave anything out. And I’m especially interested in learning how you came upon THIS.” With his last word he yanked the furry figure of Alexis from behind his back and waved her in front of Ren’s face. “Do you want Marmalade to be so jealous that she burns our entire ship into the sea?”
“Marmalade would do that!” Ren was shocked.
“She most certainly would,” said Captain Pye grimly. “She’s had a hand in sinking most of the ships we ever pirated, and she could certainly sink this one.”
Alexis sank her teeth into Captain Pye’s hand and jumped onto Ren’s bed.
“Alright,” said Ren slowly. “I’ll tell you the whole story.” And so he did, starting with the Pukis trapper, and ending with the fact that he could speak to Alexis.
“Wow. Simply wow,” Captain Pye said when Ren had finished. “That’s some serious stuff. I mean, being able to use powers even without the orb? I’d be willing to bet the next ship’s plunder that you are the only person in the HISTORY of Sphaere that’s been able to do that with fire power.”
Ren blushed, and stared at his feet. Suddenly his head snapped back with a jerk. Alexis looked into his eyes innocently.
“Sheesh, get a grip on yourself,” she thought calmly, only half joking. “You need to stop acting so surprised every 3 seconds when you learn about yet another of your powers. Considering how many more there are to come…”
“What!?” Ren said, shocked. “I have more?”
“What’s wrong, Ren?” the Captain asked worriedly.
“Nothing.”
“Are you sure?” For some reason the Captain was suddenly very concerned. “You’re talking to yourself.” Exactly like Tam, he added mentally.
“I’m talking to Alexis,” said Ren.
“Ah. About Alexis. We’re going to have to work something out with her and Marmalade. I understand that she’ll have to stay on the ship, but I’d rather not end up in the sea with a blackened hull for a ship.”
Captain Pye stood up and walked out of the cabin, going to find Marmalade. Alexis followed, and Ren was alone. Or so he thought.
He heard a slight rush of wind, which was odd because he was in his cabin and suddenly a small fire went on in the corner of the ship. “What the heck?” Ren said to himself. Did I do that? I couldn’t have. I don’t think so, at least.
The fire got bigger and bigger. Ren wanted to warn the captain, but his feet were glued to the spot. Soon it would reach his small bed, and then him and–Ren couldn’t think about that. Suddenly, the fire went out, leaving a dark black hole. Ren walked over to it and touched it, expecting ashes and burnt wood, but it was a gooey liquid. As soon as Ren touched the liquid, he was pulled into it. He tried to cry out, but the goo clogged his throat. He looked around and saw images moving around him and heard voices. Suddenly, the images cleared away, and he was standing on a gray ship. No one took notice of him except for a boy swabbing the decks next to him. “Ren?” the boy asked.
Ren suddenly knew who the boy was. “Tam,” he breathed.Captain Pye found Ren lying on the floor of the cabin. He was asleep or in a trance, and appeared to be holding a conversation with a voice unseen. He was talking to Tam, though the Captain didn’t know it.
Rake Vashkar looked at Tam. He was kneeling on the deck, a holystone in his hand and a bucket by his side. But he wasn’t scrubbing the deck. He was talking.
“Where is this?” asked Ren.
“The Blood Storm,” replied Tam.
“Did you set something on fire?”
“Me? No.”
“Did you know you have fire power, Tam?”
“How do you know about that?”
“Because I do too. I set my legs on fire. See?” He gestured to his blistered calves.
“Ouch,” said Tam sympathetically.
Ren frowned. Something had occurred to him. “You do know about your talent. Captain said you didn’t.”
“The Blood Storm’s weatherweaver told me about it. He wants me to use some orb.”
“Oh, no,” moaned Ren. But then the grayness that surrounded him and Tam closed in, bringing with it all the previous images. He cried out, and woke.When Tam woke up, he found himself lying on the deck of the Blood Storm. Crewmembers were running around all over, climbing up ropes, pulling up sails, and just trying to run for cover. Up by the bow of the ship was a man with a long, red robe, a golden hoop earring in one ear and short, violet hair. He was waving his arms around and shouting, looking out towards the water. Suddenly, the man stopped, and looked straight at Tam. Instantly, Tam knew who it was: Rake Vashkar, the weatherweaver who had caused the storm that brought him over to this wretched ship. A man rushed up to Rake and asked him, “How is the storm going? Are you gaining control?”
Tam, with his keen ears, was able to listen to the response.
“No,” the weatherweaver answered. “It is too much.”
He couldn’t control the storm? Why not? And what on earth was Tam doing lying on the deck? Where was Ren? These were just a few of the baffling questions that ran through Tam’s brain. His next thought was, I’m scrubbing the deck. Huh. What about all those fancy positions I was promised. Then he answered himself with, I only get a good position if I promise to work that orb. It was tempting, that was for sure.
Very, very, tempting, in fact. Tam looked down at the holystone in his hand, and the vast expanse of deck that he was supposed to scrub. If he just accepted the offer, he would never have to do this again.
At any rate, what had the Empire ever done to harm him? Just because the pirates hated Sanguinus IX didn’t mean he had to. And what the Emperor did couldn’t be any worse than what the pirates did. Could it?
Never scrub the deck again… Any position, even first mate… Wages of up to ten aurums a day…
His mind made up, Tam walked across the deck towards Rake Vashkar, who was looking drained and not a little angry. Tam summoned up his courage.
“I will use the Orb,” he said.Captain Pye’s face blurred into focus slowly, like water clearing after mud has been stirred up. “What happened, boy?” cried the Captain.
“They know!” Ren said urgently. “They’ve told him!”
“Told who? Who told him? Told him what?” The Captain was still worried, but now he was puzzled as well.
Ren sat up. “Vashkar told Tam, that he has fire powers. That means they know about it, which means that Tam isn’t safe no matter what he does.”
The Captain swore. “At least they don’t know about you.”
“Well, actually… ”
“WHAT, boy? Speak up.”
“The Pukis trapper told a disguised wave spirit that I had fire talent. The spirit mentioned Vashkar and Mordran.”
Pye jumped into the air, then landed with a loud thump. Fumbling through his pockets, he pulled out an object that looked like a dried kraken tentacle. Gnawing convulsively on it, Captain Pye paced the deck, muttering “Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.”
Ren said nothing. He didn’t really understand why it was such a problem, after all, they wouldn’t need him until Tam could no longer work the Orb, and that was sure to be a while from now. But he could see that it was a much larger dilemma than he could comprehend, and he knew better than to ask the Captain why.
Yet he did.
“Why is this such a problem, sir?” Ren asked.
“Well, not to make you feel a little jealous or something, but Tam, unlike you, is more gifted, in some ways, that is. He can have more control of his powers for a longer time. They aren’t as powerful as yours, but he can use them, with the proper training, up to an hour at a time. You can, at the most, only use yours for about a twenty-minute period. Your powers are stronger and can cause more damage, but the time difference will certainly make a problem. He will be able to cause just as much, if not more harm than you ever could even with the best training. If he works for them, who knows what could happen.”
It took a moment for Ren to register this. “You’re saying that even though I am Powerful, Tam is even more Powerful?”
“Well, yes,” the captain replied.
“What if the two of us are working together? Does that change anything?”
“Yes. Your two strengths will combine, and with the globe, will make you two more powerful than anyone in Sphaere, except for the Unknowables.”
The Unknowables? Ren thought. What are those? Ren wanted to ask, but knew it was not the right time. Perhaps, later he would.
The captain and Ren were quiet for a long time, but Ren finally piped up. He said, in his most confident voice, “We must get Tam back, and we will.”
The Captain sighed. “I admire your confidence, Ren, but it may be too late.”
“What do you mean?”
Back on the Blood Storm, Vashkar was ecstatic. “This is wonderful news, Tam. I’m glad you saw our- ” He broke off, staring upward at a stormy petrel hovering above the topsail. It uttered a series of harsh croaks, and the stormmaster’s expression changed.
“They have another person with fire talent aboard the Sea Roc. Well, we can turn that to our advantage. Contact this person and tell him that you are being held captive aboard the Blood Storm at the Free Isle of Kievl. We’ll trap them there.”
“Contact him, sir?” Tam said.
“Through fire scrying. Like you did a few hours ago, before you passed out. Surely you know how?”
Tam did not want to say know. He had no idea how Ren and him had contacted each other before. Tam did not want to get the old man angry, though, so he said, “Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Very good,” said Rake, and with that he walked away, leaving Tam to try and contact Ren by himself. He went down to his cabin, feeling sick.
Tam sat down on his bunk. This was the worst thing that had ever happened to him. Well, maybe not the worst… He shook his head sharply to clear that thought away and turned his, mind to something else. It had been a mistake to agree to the terms of the stormmaster. He could see that now. And yet, he still wanted that lovely high-up position. He had better try the fire scrying. Tam rolled onto his stomach and tried to remember what he had been thinking about when he had gone into a trance.
As Tam concentrated, he began to feel strangely hot around his extremities. I wonder if I’m getting a fever, he thought. Then he realized that, whatever was happening, it was not normal.
There was a loud, muffled fump, as though an alchemical cannon had gone off behind heavy doors. A small ball of white-hot flame hit the floor in front of him. At first, it was nebulous, flinging out small shreds of fire. Tam concentrated, willing it to help him contact Ren. To his surprise, it did, shrinking to a pinprick before vanishing in a burst of light that momentarily blinded him.
As Tam blinked away dazzling sunbursts of color, he saw that he was in the mysterious gray space that he had been in once before. Ren was standing in front of him, wearing a startled expression.
Tam quickly gabbled out what he was supposed to say. “I’m on the Blood Storm, berthed at the Isle of Kievl. Tell Captain Pye to send help- or, better yet, come himself!”Ren passed on the message, along with the fact that Tam had looked rather surprised and scared, spoken quickly, and broke contact as soon as he had finished talking, or sooner.
Captain Pye gnawed another kraken tentacle- unless it was the same one, Ren couldn’t be sure and didn’t know how tough kraken tentacles were- and thought about this.
Finally he heaved a great sigh and stood up. “We must rescue Tam. But I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
“Why?” asked Ren, hoping that the Captain would not ignore this like his last question. He didn’t. Quite.
“I don’t know, boy, I don’t know. It just…” he trailed off. Ren waited patiently for five long minutes before Pye spoke again. “Tam’s an odd one, and I don’t understand him. Certainly not when I can’t look him in the face.” And having delivered that uninformative and puzzling message, he left the cabin.
Three days later they reached the Isle of Kievl. The Captain was unnaturally edgy, and Ren was nervous too. He had tried to contact Tam, but the older boy hadn’t spoken to him, and had cut off the scrying as quickly as he could.
It was unusual for Tam to refuse communication with him.
The ship landed safely, but the Captain was still worried.
Ren stood on deck, watching the jolly boats being lowered into the water. The Isle of Kievl was another of those “uninhabited” isles, but, in contrast to Lithuslov, it was practically uninhabited. There were a few tiny villages, and a port about half the size of Pukislyn, but nothing really big.
Tam felt a surge of guilt as he saw the Sea Roc come into harbor. He had tried to minimize the guilt and anxiety by not speaking to Ren, half-hoping that if he refused communication Ren would know it was a trap. But it hadn’t worked, as was clear from the trusting way Ren tried to contact. “We’ll rescue you, Tam,” he had said only an hour or so ago. “Don’t worry.”
“Oh, forget it,” Tam told himself now. “It’s not as though you owe them anything. Any rate, you have to take the chance you get.” He was beginning to wish he wasn’t the bait, and that he could go down into his cabin and curl up on the bunk and not come out until they were very far away. But that wasn’t going to happen, was it?
The pirates on the Sea Roc brought it into the harbor and hung it into the shore. They let down the jolly boats and started making there way towards shore. Tam, nearly shaking, put his hands behind the back, sending the first signal: Get ready.
The crewmembers of the Sea Roc were on the shore now, getting out of their boats, and looking around at the island. Tam jumped up: Weapon set. Captain Pye told the crew to stay there, and he and Ren walked towards Tam nervously, as if they were expecting something to jump out at them. How right they are, Tam thought.
Captain Pye and Ren were only about three feet away from him now. He lifted up his hands, causing looks of confusion on the captain’s face, and dropped them: ATTACK! was the signal.
A loud cry from the woods, and then more yells, and then sailors came running at Ren. One advanced very quickly towards Ren, swung his wooden stick, and heard Tam yell, and Captain Pye shout, “Retreat to the east!” and then everything went black.
When Ren woke up, Captain Pye and Tam looked over him, worry knit in their eyebrows. Captain Pye was the first to speak. “We were able to keep you and Tam safe,” he said, “but they took our ships and killed twelve of our thirty men.”
“I’m sorry, Ren,” Tam said sadly.
“Oh, right,” said Ren bitterly. “I sure believe that. You could have at least hinted it was a trap, if you were too scared-” he spat the word out as though it were a wind-beetle- “to actually say outright.”
“I did!” cried Tam. “Why do you think I wouldn’t talk?”
“Boys,” said Captain Pye, breaking up what might have become a verbal fight, if not a physical one. “You can quarrel later, right now we have to think about escaping.”
“Escaping? You mean we’re prisoners?”
“Yes. But at least we’re not dead,” said Captain Pye.
“Where are we?” asked Ren.
“We’re on the Isle of Kievl, in a stockade guarded by twenty-five warriors. We have to think of an escape plan.”
“Not me,” said Tam quietly. “I already made my choice. I’m going to work the Orb of Centaur for them. You could too, Ren. We could work it together, and live in the utmost comfort. It would be a wonderful life.” He looked hopeful, until Ren shook his head.
“Have you any idea what the Orb does to you, Tam? It’ll kill you if you work it!”
Ren sat up and looked around. Most of the crewmembers he’d met were still there. Vushtek di Fundermuult was lying on the ground, barely conscious, with a bloody rag wrapped around his arm. Niria Tolmark was hunched over in the corner, face buried in her hands, body shaking with sobs. Tzil Azuro was just coming round, staggering to his feet.
Tzil’s eyes rolled wildly, then focused on Tam. “You!” he roared. “Traitor!”
Ignoring Captain Pye’s alarmed cry, he snatched up a blazing phlogiston lamp from its alcove in the wall and hurled it straight at Tam’s chest.
Tam ducked, but although it missed his chest, it caught his hair on fire. Captain Pye whipped off his cap and used it to smother the flames.
“Tzil! What do you think you’re doing?”
“Getting rid of a traitor,” the haggard stormmaster hissed.
“I will not permit this! The boy is under my protection.”
“He forfeited his right to that protection when he betrayed us all!” Something in Tzil seemed to snap. He pulled out his knife.
Then the door opened. The appearance of the man standing in the doorway did nothing to advertise the fact that he was one of the most feared men in all of Sphaere. He had an almost apologetic look on his pale face, and he wore gold-rimmed half-moon glasses. He was wearing a white robe that would have been dangerously fashionable about two centuries before, and he was short. The overall effect was that of a scholar who’d gotten lost and was politely asking directions.
Still, Ren couldn’t help but notice the long, razor-sharp rapier hanging from his belt.
“Mordran,” Vushtek spat.
“Yes, the very same,” said the man. He peered around as though he was nearsighted, but Ren had the distinct impression that the glasses were for show, as was most of his outfit.
Whatever had made Tzil throw that lamp at Tam only snapped more when Mordran came in. Tzil raised up his dagger and ran at Mordran. Mordran simply stepped aside as if nothing had happened and spoke calmly and quietly, almost in a whisper.
“I need the boys now,” he said.
“No. I will not let them go,” Captain Pye replied. Ren could not tell how he felt, his expression strange.
“Oh, I am afraid that you do not have a choice. They work the Orb, or I make them work it.” Mordran tapped at his head, although neither Tam nor Ren could tell what this meant. He went on: “My power has increased-only slightly, but enough for me to take them.”
Niria looked up at this, but still avoided everyone’
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Alice of the Blackberries
in September 1st, 2007 @ 02:09Ugh. It’s bogging down my computer. Let’s see if I can get through this next one without waiting a year-and-a-half.
~~~~~~~
Niria looked up at this, but still avoided everyone’s eyes. “Jarbun magic,” she said under her breath. Then she yelled, “What have you done to the Unknowables?”
“What’s she talking about?” said Ren. Captain Pye only shook his head, and Tam looked stricken.
“You needn’t take me,” said Tam hastily, stepping forward with a frightened expression. “I’ll go of my own accord.”
Ren felt put out. Everyone seemed to know about this but him. Nonetheless, he wasn’t going to work for Mordran. He would avoid it at all costs.As a matter of fact, Tam knew a good deal less than Ren thought. At the mention of the Unknowables, however, he knew enough. He was not going to go through that again. It didn’t matter whether Mordran had killed them (they couldn’t die, he was almost certain), or taken their powers, but if Mordran was strong enough to do something to them where even Tam could not, Tam was not going to get on his bad side.
“I did nothing to them,” said Mordran, barely acknowledging Tam. “Nothing permanent, at any rate. They will recover their powers sometime in the next fifty years. Not so very long to them, but long enough to prevent them rescuing your lot.”
“What are the Unknowables?” asked Ren, and once more he was ignored.
Mordran grinned. “Come with me, both of you.”
Ren stood his ground, though he was shaking like a dry leaf. “No.”
“Come on,” Tam implored. “There’s no way to refuse him, and if you resist, he’ll just hurt you.”
“Your colleague is a lot smarter than you are,” Mordran said to Ren. “I’ll give you one last chance.”
“No,” Ren said, in a barely audible whisper.
A bolt of pain stabbed through his temples like a red hot bar of iron. He was irresistibly dragged toward the door.
“Blast!” Captain Pye exclaimed, and leaped at Mordran, pulling out an ornate flintlock. Mordran snarled in fury and gestured once. A spurt of green flame consumed the pistol, and Octavio Pye was hurled back ten feet. He hit the wall and lay still.
But Ren was temporarily free, and he was near the door. Shoving Tam aside, he leaped out the doorway. In midair, he yelled “Flamulo Helioso!”
Two crossbow bolts whizzed past him, but he was ascending rapidly, and soon the guards running about below him became only specks.
Ren landed on a high pinnacle of rock just as the fire blazing on his arms went out. Now, he thought, to find a way to rescue the rest of the crew.
Ren had never been particularly good at making plans. He was as good at executing them as anyone, but he lacked the talent for making them. Now he sat on the rock till the sun went down, blazing red over the ocean, but he still could think of nothing.
I can’t go to sleep, Ren thought. He was tired after staying up all night, but couldn’t go to sleep until he had a plan. But he was so tired. Maybe if he just closed his eyes for a few minutes. He was about to fall into deep sleep when suddenly, a voice appeared in his head. Was it his voice? No, Ren realized, it was a female. Ren was sure he had never heard this voice before, yet it sounded oddly familiar… Ren? Is that you? the voice said.
Yes. It is me, Ren replied.
Oh, splendid. I hoped I had contacted you and not that awful Mordran. He better not be overhearing us.
Ren was excited now, but scared at the same time. His eyes widened. He knew who this was.
Alexis? Is that you?
Yes, it is.
We need to rescue Captain Pye and the crew of the Sea Roc, thought Ren. And Tam.
Alexis made a disapproving thought. Ren, Tam may be too far gone to rescue. He is too frightened of the Unknowables to disobey Mordran.
What are the Unknowables? asked Ren. Finally, he would get some answers!
The Unknowables are gods, said Alexis after a long pause. She seemed reluctant to say more, but Ren was not going to let her get away without telling him everything.
They can’t be gods! he thought in disbelief. There are no temples to them, nothing! I didn’t even know about them till the other day!
The Empire banned them. No one was allowed to worship them, and slowly the people forgot. Only a few people still know of them. Tam is one.
But why? And how does he know? And how do you know that?
Alexis did not reply.
Alexis, please tell me! Ren begged.
Nothing.
At least tell me where you are, Ren pleaded.
Look up, she replied.
Ren did as he was told, and lo and behold, there was Alexis, softly flapping her dragon wings, and with her were… Ren gasped. Are those your children?
Yes, she replied, unhappily.
What is wrong?
Out of 30 eggs, only these 3 survived. The rest were caught by poachers and sent to incubation to be brought up and killed for their fur. Alexis was very unhappy now. They are going to be sold to the Emperor, and I seek revenge. Her voice was dripping with anger now. And I have a plan.
We need a sail, Alexis said.
“Over there,” Ren said, though he was confused as to the plan. “On the Blood Storm.”
The Pukises, already in dragon form, flew down to the ship and sliced off the topsail in short order. Returning it to the rock, Alexis explained.
You’ll hold on to these corner ropes, and we’ll get up to our hottest while flying right under the sail. The hot air will buoy you up. Try to jump in the general direction of the guarded compound where your friends are. You’ll be high enough that the guards won’t see you. When we get right over it, we’ll cool down and burn a hole in the roof. The sail will act as a parachute, you’ll drop down into the room, your friends will grab hold of the lines, and- Do you have a stormmaster?
“Yes.”
Good. Then he’ll blow us back to the Sea Roc, and we’ll sail off.
Ren seized the lines, hoping he wasn’t making a huge mistake. The Pukises flared up, and the sail ballooned out. But Ren didn’t lift off.
Alexis closed her eyes, and a cloud of blue flame enveloped her. I’m pushing myself as far as I can. Go!
This time Ren was hauled a little into the air, with an effort that neither Alexis or Ren seemed to enjoy. The lines cut into his hands, and the flame of the Pukises seemed frighteningly near. He took a deep breath, made a hurried prayer to no one in particular, and jumped.
For a minute Ren watched in terror as the ground grew larger and nearer at an unexpected rate, but then the heat on his hair grew stronger and he nearly cried out, but he was going up.
He didn’t know how long he could stand this. His arms felt like they were being pulled out of their sockets and he could feel the flame leaning towards him hungrily, despite the Pukis’ attempts to control it.
Then they were above the compound. A crossbow bolt shot upward and almost punctured the canvas, but missed by inches. The Pukises stopped blazing and flew down below Ren, blowing fireballs at the roof. At first, the thatch burned merrily, but then a large timber cracked, and the ceiling fell in just as Ren landed with a thump.
The pirates were much as before, with the exception of Tam and Tzil, both of which had disappeared. Captain Pye was pacing the floor in agitation, but stopped dead when Ren fell though the roof in a bundle of sail and Pukises.
The roof smoldered and blazed above. The pirates looked from it, to Ren, and back at the burning straw and wood again. Ren disentangled himself sail, stood up, and bowed shakily.
“Ren!” exclaimed Captain Pye. “How in Sphaere did you get away?”
“I flew,” said Ren. “Where’s Tzil?”
“Tzil?” said Pye. “I don’t – oh no.”
He raced outside, with Ren on his heels to find Tam backed up against the boards of the stockade, desperately trying to fight off a maddened Tzil, who was snarling and pressing his long knife to Tam’s throat. Tam spied Captain Pye and Ren and screamed to them. “Help!”
They raced to his aid, but before they could reach Tam, Tzil suddenly changed tact and plunged his blade into Tam’s chest.
Ren stopped dead.
“Finally, we are rid of that traitor!” roared Tzil in triumph. Then he realized what he had done, and froze. The look of shock on Tam’s face turned to one of rage, and eldritch fire began flowing up the knife in his chest, which Tzil was still grasping. The fire wrapped itself around Tzil’s arm as he struggled to break free, using his own power of try to ward it off, but to no avail. Suddenly a huge fireball engulfed his thrashing body and he flew up in the air, finally ripping his dagger from Tam’s chest as he ascended ablaze. Lighting overwhelmed the airborne inferno and drew the hardly recognizable form of Tzil into the clouds, where all stormmasters are taken by their element to die. The long dagger carried by Tzil in life quivered upright in the dirt. His eyes rolling back in his head, Tam collapsed on the ground.
Pye rushed to the boy’s side, but Ren stood frozen, staring at the unconscious Tam. It seemed all-wrong somehow. Sure, Tam had made a bargain with the Empire, sure, he was a traitor, sure, he no longer belonged to the pirates, but still! Ren couldn’t believe that Tzil had just…killed him. Just like that. And why hadn’t the guards come to Tam’s aid when they heard his call for help?
A thought came to Ren’s mind. He immediately recognized it as a fire word. Flamulos intherapulis. He immediately began to breathe deeply, but quickly. His mouth felt hot, and the saliva all dried up and evaporated right out of his mouth. A light was shining out of his mouth, but not an electric light. It was a flickering, crackling light, like a fire. A 20 foot burst of fire roared out of his mouth suddenly.
Captain Pye, realizing the sudden danger, ran over to Ren. He didn’t know what to do, however, and stood there, helpless.
The fire was different from other fires. It was a bright purple flame. It ironically didn’t catch anything on fire, nor did it burn Ren, so was it really fire? An experiment is in order, he decided, and he rushed over to Tam, fire still blazing and put the flame onto Tam. It didn’t hurt him.
“REN!” Captain Pye yelled. “What in Sphaere are you doing?”
Ren did not reply. His mouth was full of fire, and his fingertips crackled with dancing, flickering, flames.
“Ren, you idiot!” screamed Pye. “It’ll kill you! It’ll kill him!” But his warning came too late, as the fire vanished in a shower of sparks. Tam looked no different than before, and slowly Ren sat down on the hard ground with his back against the stockade. He saw Alexis fluttering above him in dragon form, and Captain Pye looking aghast, and then he lay his head down on his knees, and fell asleep.Mordran sat down in the wooden-and-gilt chair that was provided for him, breathing heavily. However Ren felt, Mordran felt ten times worse. It wasn’t easy, channeling the powers of a god through yourself and into another. Especially when the other was so far away. But it had worked, the man was sure of it. Even if the first boy never recovered, the second was helpless. Mordran must give the order now, before the shock of such power had worn off. He reached into his sleeve and pulled out an item resembling a silver bell. He shook it, and a single, high-pitched, note resounded through the room. When it had faded, all was quiet. Then, and only then, did Mordran allow himself to sleep.
Octavio Pye watched as Ren’s eyes closed, and he slipped into oblivion. It didn’t seem natural. It was a magic-induced sleep, the Captain knew. He had seen enough of them, having two weatherweavers on his ship. But what he hadn’t seen was the magic that Ren had just performed. The fire consuming the boy, only to vanish as suddenly as it had come, without even the slightest traces left. No ash, no burns on Ren or Tam–nothing. But then again, he reminded himself. What did he know? He had no elemental talent at all, who was he to judge whether something was going wrong or not?
He turned his attention back on Tam, who looked exactly as before. Ah well. Unfathomable talent or not, the boys were people, not tools, and shouldn’t be treated as such. Pye turned to the hut, in front of which the remainder of the crew of the Sea Roc was standing, awed at the spectacle.
“Let’s get the boys inside,” said Pye. “It looks like it might rain.”Moments later the rain came down heavy on the roof. Captain Pye crouched over the boys, inspecting Tam’s wound in particular. It was only a physical wound, not a magical wound, thank goodness, so it would heal in time. But in his current state he wasn’t in any shape to tell them exactly what he’d been doing for the past four or five days. Too, bad, really, Pye thought.
“There is nothing we can do about Tzil,” said Vushtek to Niria. “He is dead.”
“Perhaps,” replied Niria calmly, and the others relaxed. Niria Tolmark was still young, not yet hardened by a life of piracy, and no one was sure how she would take the death of her fellow stormmaster. “It is not Tzil I worry about,” she continued. “It is them.” She jerked her chin toward first Ren, and then Tam, lying on the two hard bunks. “That wasn’t natural, what Ren did.”
“He isn’t natural,” Captain Pye informed her. “Not to us.”
“I suppose not,” she sighed. “I know nothing of fire.”
This conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a smug-looking Mordran, who bowed smoothly and said, “I have decided to let you go free.”
There a was a stunned and mistrustful silence, and then Pye said, “And the boys?”
“The boys as well. Your ship is in the harbor still; she is unharmed. Now go.”
They did not have to be told twice.Hours later, after everybody but Tam and he had left the room, Ren shifted restlessly in his sleep. His dreams were uneasy. He kept seeing a fire, burning, burning, burning his skin, burning away his strength. He tried as hard as he could, but he couldn’t scream.
Then, right before the flames consumed him, the vision changed. Ren suddenly found himself sitting on a cold floor in what looked a lot like a dungeon. On impulse, he tried to stand, but quickly realized that he was held down by shadow-like chains.
“No!” A scream filled the room.
Ren looked up abruptly and saw Tam rolling around in agony on the damp dungeon floor.
“What have I done to you?! Why do I deserve such agony?! Please! No!” Tam screamed again.
“Tam!” Ren yelled. “Snap out of it!”
The other boy shuddered and ceased his thrashing. Ren sat there for what felt like hours, watching Tam sleep. He kept trying to tell himself that this was all a dream, but the longer he remained in the dark room his doubts continued to grow. A yawn escaped Tam’s lips and he sat up.
“Where . . . where are we?” Tam asked.
“You,” answered a sinister voice,” are in my mind cells. Nice aren’t they?”
Mordran strode confidently into the room.
“This entire facility, including myself, is an illusion, it only takes place in your mind, but it is very affective as a prison.”
The two boys gazed at Mordran, clearly overwhelmed.
Mordran smiled nastily in return. ” You will remain here until you give me what I want, your allegiance.”
With that, Mordran stalked away, leaving the faint stench of something that was clearly rotten.
Tam panicked. “What are we going to do?” he gasped.
“I don’t want to be his servant!” Ren added. He glanced around the small room, if you could even call it a room. It was revolting. The rotting smell that he had noticed came from the rotting flesh of a body in the chamber. Was it just him or was the smell growing stronger?
“I would be his servant, if I could just get out of here!” Tam seemed to be immobile, staring into space at something invisible. “I don’t want to die! I don’t want anybody to die while he tries to get to me!”
“Tam, that’s very noble, but think of all the people that would die if he was able to use the Orb!”
“I don’t care!” Tam’s face had grown very white, and his hands were making the chains shake.
The noise only added to Ren’s growing sense of claustrophobia and desperation. He wanted to stop the noise, stop the smell, stop everything but his own mind, and think. He reached out to hold Tam’s hands steady, but his own chains would not allow it. The smell was becoming a thick, impenetrable fog, and Tam moaned on. Finally Ren snapped. “SHUT UP!” he yelled. “Let me think!”
“Oh no, dear boy. You cannot think here,” said Mordran’s voice from somewhere inside the depths of the room – his own mind, Ren realized. He felt betrayed. How could his own mind have come up with something so awful? But of course it hadn’t. This was Mordran’s invention, and Ren could do nothing but watch.
So watch he did. He watched Tam grow more and more frightened, more and more willing to serve Mordran in exchange for release from this prison, and he watched the chains crumble until finally they gave way all together and Tam fainted.
“There,” said Mordran, entering the room again. “Perfect. Now, my dear boy, you shall be all alone.” As Ren watched, Tam’s inert form faded until nothing was left.
“Is–is he dead?” Ren asked.
“Oh no, not dead,” said Mordran. “He is my servant, and will work the Orb until he does die, and an unpleasant death it will be, too. But he hasn’t any choice. Neither have you. No one can endure this for long, and in the end everyone gives up. Or,” he added, motioning to the rotting carcass, “you end up like him.”Captain Pye sat awkwardly on the edge of a small bunk. Across from him, lay his unconscious cabin boy and powder monkey. He sighed and put his head in his hands. The pair of boys had been in a state of sleep for weeks.
Suddenly, there was a rustling in the sheets. One of the boys turned and sat up in bed. It was Tam! Captain Pye gasped in surprise and grabbed Tam’s shoulders.
“What’s going on boy? Why isn’t Ren awake?”
Tam’s eyes seemed to flash a slight red color, but immediately returned back to normal. Captain Pye blinked; perhaps he had imagined it.
“What? Ren?” Tam asked innocently.”What a sleepy head! He’s still in bed?”
“Yes.” Captain replied stonily “You and him have been sleeping for weeks now.”
“Ren’s problems are no concern of mine.” Tam said with only a fleeting look of guilt. “Now, please excuse me, I wish to get out of this room.”
Tam pushed the Captain roughly out of the way and strode purposefully out to the deck. By now, Pye had begun to suspect something. He watched Tam walk toward one of the rowboats on the far side of the ship.
Captain Pye’s eyes grew wide and he shouted, “Stop him!”
The crew instantly stopped what they were doing. The men closest to Tam tried to grab him, but Tam was quicker. Muttering a word under his breath, his arms caught flame and he rose into the air. Without a word, he landed on a small boat. With a wave of his hand the ropes securing the vehicle burned away. The rowboat wobbled and fell into the water. The crew watched as Tam rowed furiously away. Captain Pye stared after the boys receding figure with worry. Tam’s escape could only mean one thing: Ren was in trouble!Niria stared her captain in concern. “Are you sure, Captain?” she asked carefully.
Pye nodded sharply. “The Shriak Mind Bonding is the only way that I can communicate with Ren. We cannot let Mordran take Ren as he so obviously did Tam. Letting this happen would be disastrous to the whole world as we know it.”
“But sir!” Niria protested. “The Bonding is an extremely ancient process! We do not even know if it works! It could very well backfire and kill you!”
Pye shook his head and chuckled. “Then, you can have my hat.”
Niria sighed. She had tried to warn him.Ren lay on the cold dungeon floor, miserable. He wished that he could strangle Tam. At least before he had someone to talk to.
“If I get out of here, I will personally make Tam wish he had never been born,” he vowed.
It was only then that he realized that he had been talking aloud. Great, he thought, now I’m talking to myself. I’m going crazy.
Suddenly, something touched his thoughts. Ren was instantly alert. Who was it? What if it was Mordran trying to give him a new form of torture? No! He wouldn’t let Mordran win! With as much savagery as he could muster, he attacked the strand of thought.Niria watched Captain Pye as he concentrated. A look of satisfaction told her that he had succeeded with making contact with Ren. Niria let go of the breath that she had been holding since the beginning of the Bonding process. It had worked!
A sharp intake of breath told her something was wrong. Captain Pye was kneeling on the floor, holding his head in agony, his mouth open a silent scream. Niria rushed to his side, but there was nothing she could do. Captain Pye’s veins stuck out on his neck, which was red and covered with sweat. His eyes bugged out of his head. The strain was too much on him. He collapsed in a dead faint.
A moan came out of the far corner of the room. Niria looked up and saw Ren sitting up in bed, his eyes wide in alarm.
“Niria?” Ren questioned in disbelief.
“Ren!” Niria gasped. “Get Vushtek! Now! Quick–”
Ren nodded and jumped out of bed. He didn’t know what was going on, but he did know where to find Vushtek. He ran to the galley as fast as he could.
“Vushtek!” he called into the open doorway. “The Captain–” Vushtek appeared in the door in a twinkling, wearing a grubby white apron over his emerald green robes.
“What about him?” he asked, concern etched on his face.
“I don’t know! Something’s wrong!”
Vushtek needed no more explanation than that. He did not bother to take off his apron, but headed towards the cabin right away. Ren followed rather uncertainly.
Vushtek entered the cabin and stopped in his tracks when he saw the Captain. “What happened?” he demanded of Niria.
“He – he tried to do the Shriak Mind Bonding. And it went wrong,” Niria stammered, her pretty face distraught.
“He tried to do the Bonding? And you let him? Of course it went wrong! It’s the Bonding!” He knelt by the unconscious captain, and started to take his pulse. “I’m not one to criticize my captain,” he said, “but this is ridiculous.”
Niria nodded. “And he said – he said that if he died, I could have his hat!” This was too much for her, and she started to cry.
Ren looked on, hardly hearing a word, as Vushtek, in an unusually bad temper, questioned Niria, who continued to cry. But then something brought him back down to earth.
“It wasn’t during the Bonding that it all went wrong,” said Niria, gaining some measure of control. “It was after, once he’d done the actual spell and it ought to have been easy.”
Ren turned cold. He cleared his throat. “What exactly does this Bonding do?” he asked, his voice perilously close to cracking.
Vushtek and Niria turned to look at him. “It gives two people contact through their minds,” Niria explained. “Didn’t you feel it?”
But Ren could not reply.
“Oh no,” he murmured. “Oh no, oh no, oh please no.”
“Ren?” asked Niria, comprehension dawning in her eyes. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t . . . mean . . .” began Ren through a fog of horror. “I thought it was Mordran . . . trying to get into my mind . . .”
Niria eyes grew as big as saucers. Vushtek stared at Ren as if he wanted to pierce his brain.
“You attacked his mind,” Vushtek stated calmly.
The large man turned to the Captain and felt his pulse once more.
“He’s not dead, but near it. I may be able to soothe the pain slightly, but he needs to get expert help. We will need to stop at the nearest port as quickly as possible if he is to survive.”
Vushtek grunted and lifted Captain Pye gently onto a bed. He motioned for Niria and Ren to leave them in peace. Niria brushed past Ren as they left, she didn’t meet his eyes.Ren stared hollowly at nothing. He did not feel the deck rolling beneath his feet, or the wind on his face, or hear the men working behind him. He did, however, notice when someone appeared at his elbow and asked, “What’s going on? No one’ll tell me.”
Ren turned and met the eyes of the cabin boy, Arn. “Oh, hello,” he said, deadpan. The other boy looked alarmed.
“What’s going on?” he asked again.
Ren looked back out across the stern of the ship, at the great blue-green watery expanse. “Go ask someone else,” he said. “Leave me alone.”
“No,” replied the cabin boy stubbornly. He was much larger than Ren, although a peaceful person, and smaller boys would not dare refuse such a large an ferocious-looking person. Ren did not spare him a glance, nor say another word.
Arn waited, leaning his arms on a bulwark. Ren would give in and say sooner or later. He could wait.
He did not have to wait long. In a few minutes, Ren spoke.
“I think I may have – I might have . . . killed . . . the Captain.”
Arn looked at him in mingled astonishment and anger. “Why in Sphaere?” he exploded. “What did he do to you?”
“Nothing at all,” Ren said. “I didn’t mean to. He tried to get inside my mind. Don’t ask. Please leave me alone.”
“The Captain is dead?” Arn asked, his fury giving way to incredulity.
“No,” said Ren. “Not yet. Hopefully never. But he might die. If he did it would be all my fault. Go away. Don’t tell anyone, please.”
Arn stared at Ren curiously, but did as asked.Tam had no idea where he going. In fact, if he had been in his right mind, he would not have left the Sea Roc at all. There seemed to be a buzzing in his head, telling him where to go.
Tam looked around himself. He saw no evidence that he going anywhere near land. Everything was ocean, as far as his eyes could see. He wondered silently if he was doing the right thing.
He thought about Ren. Ren seemed so certain about what he should do, when he, Tam, had no idea what was right. Guilt filled him as he remembered that Ren was still trapped in the dark mind cell. Tam couldn’t believe that Ren would ever surrender. He imagined Ren staying trapped in his mind, until he died, leaving his rotting corpse to lay there forever.
The buzzing filled Tam’s head again and he shook the thoughts of Ren out of his mind. Ren was a fool to not give his services to the empire. If he didn’t use his powers for the greater good then he deserved his fate.
Ren stood silently on the deck of The Sea Roc, looking out over the small port town where they had docked. A numb feeling was quickly rushing up inside him. It was the worst sensation he had ever experienced.
Hushed voices drifted toward him from the captain’s cabin. Out of corner of his eye, he watched a small, frail man making frantic hand gestures to Vushtek. The large man nodded and left the older gentleman alone with Captain Pye’s still form.
Ren heard soft footfalls behind him and felt a rather large hand rest on his shoulder. It was Vushtek.
“The doctor is starting the procedure,†he said. “The Captain should survive.”
Ren gave a stiff nod and Vushtek turned away. No one seemed eager to stay in his company. After all, hadn’t been he, Ren, who had attacked the Captain and practically killed him?Tam stared at the sky, brooding. His mind kept telling him to keep rowing onward, but his mouth was parched and his stomach had been empty for days. He lowered his eyes and looked desperately into the distance. His eyes grew wide and he jumped up in excitement. The boat wobbled dangerously, so he sat back down. With a sudden new burst of energy, Tam began rowing again with vigor. Land was in sight!
The ship was silent and Ren felt horribly conspicuous. He continued to stare woodenly at the port in front of him. Jartuvi, his mind told him. The third Free Isle you’ve seen. But he didn’t care. It was simply another thing to stare at, unseeing. He was such an idiot. He ought to have known better than to attack someone’s mind, after Alexis. But he had done so anyway.
Somewhere that seemed a world away, Niria started to cry.
It was all too much for Ren, and without a second thought, he slipped over the side of the ship and plunged into the water.
It was greasy, and dark, and made his clothes stick to his skin, but he rose to the surface anyway, spit out a mouthful of the foul harbor-water, and started to swim doggedly toward shore.
He was almost there when he felt something touch his mind. His first instinct was to defend himself, but he stifled that and went under with surprise.
When he came back up to the surface again, he saw an amused-looking blue Pukis hovering above him.
“Alexis!” he gasped out loud, going under again.
Of course, she replied. I wasn’t going to abandon you. She regarded him for a moment and then said, On second thought, why don’t we just talk when we get to shore.
Ren nodded in agreement and swam the remaining strokes to the harbor wall, once there, he pulled himself up onto it and looked back towards the Sea Roc. No one was looking for him. No one had noticed his splash. He wasn’t sure whether to be glad or desolate. He settled on simply pushing the thought out of his mind.
Come on, said Alexis. We should go somewhere where there aren’t quite as many people.
Ren nodded in agreement. Where?
I know a place. Come on. With that she turned into a kitten and trotted off towards what appeared to be a completely abandoned shack. Ren followed with a little trepidation.
Where are your children? he asked.
They went back to Lithuslov. It has been several weeks, you know. This last was said with a touch of amusement, but Ren remembered the mind cells and could find nothing even remotely funny.On the Sea Roc, things were much as Ren had imagined them. The Captain was still asleep, the doctor was getting into his rowing boat, and Niria was still sobbing from the emotional stress of the last few days. By now the last few days had morphed into the last few weeks, and she was crying for Tzil and the dead crewmembers as well as the Captain.
But someone had noted the splash. Perched high on the crosstrees was a monkey, carefully watching the scene below.
When the doctor had rowed off towards the shore, Vushtek turned to Niria. “Would you like to stand guard over the Captain?” he asked kindly. “I’ll make you some tea if you’d like.”
Niria nodded mutely, wiped her eyes, and went into the cabin. Vushtek disappeared into the galley. No one mentioned a splash, or noticed that Ren was missing. The monkey-that-was-not-a-monkey smiled an eerie grin, turned into a wind-beetle, and flew off to the other side of the Isle. Its master would be pleased with it.The deck of the Blood Storm was empty, except for one man. Rake Vashkar smiled thinly, projecting his thoughts through the rippling spray, calling back his servants.
A wind beetle landed on the deck in front of him. Fluttering its delicate, blue-patterned wings, it slowly dissolved into a puddle of salt water.
With frightening speed, a cloaked man grew out of the puddle like a rising pillar. “The Fiery One is no longer aboard the Sea Roc,” it hissed. “He will be easy to find and capture.”
“Go. Take your brethren and bring him to me. I will send word to Mordran.”
Vashkar’s smile grew into a grin. Ren’s will would be easy to break, and with two Fire Powerful on his side, Mordran would easily be able to wipe out every freebooter in the Inner Sea. His faithful stormmaster would certainly receive a sizable percentage of the enormous reward that Sanguinus IX would give him.
Of course, if Vashkar had known the full scope of Mordran’s plan, he would have jumped over the side and raced to warn the Emperor before it was too late.Ren followed Alexis along the beach. After walking for several minutes, they arrived at a small clump of trees away from the city. Alexis curled up under one of the trees, so Ren followed suit.
So, Alexis said with an amused glimmer in her eye. What has my human been getting up to while I’ve been gone?
Ren related his story to Alexis gratefully. He had needed to talk to someone for a long time.
Well, you’ve certainly had a time without me haven’t you?” she commented with an amused purr. Don’t worry about Captain Pye, he has a strong mind, you have not broken it.
Ren nodded but worry was still etched across his face. Alexis looked like she wanted to say something more but she was interrupted by a crunch of wood grounding against rock and a boyish whoop. The friends peered though the foliage and glimpsed a young man with scraggly hair and a hungry look in his eyes. The boy left his vehicle behind and began hiking toward the city.
Ren crept cautiously toward the abandoned rowboat and peered inside. It was totally empty except for a small sign carved into the back. Ren stared at it and immediately recognized it as the signature of The Sea Roc. With alarm, Ren turned from the boat and watched the boy’s disappearing figure. Tam!
He almost yelled after him to come back, he had so much to talk about, but he remembered in time Tam’s treachery and was silent.
Well, what are you going to do about it? asked Alexis, reading his tumbled thoughts.
“I don’t know, he replied aloud, sounding suddenly both very young and very unhappy. “Should I follow him?”
She replied with another question. Does the crew of the Sea Roc know where you have gone?
“No. But they don’t care anyhow. I nearly killed the Captain, they can’t ever forgive me.”
I wouldn’t be so sure about that. I strongly suggest that you return before they start to worry.
“Fine.” Ren turned and trudged back towards the harbor, with Alexis sitting contentedly on his shoulder. A small brown wren detached itself from a twig and flapped off in the direction of the Blood Storm.
Ren was halfway back to the Sea Roc when it struck him that he had no way to get across the harbor save by swimming or going back to get the boat. The next thing that struck him was a large stick on the back of his head.
The impact knocked him face first onto the path, and when he rolled over onto his back, still clutching his head with his ears ringing, he saw a tall cloaked man with watery eyes looking down on him. The man raised his stick for another blow–
And Alexis flew into his face, a small, hissing ball of fire, fur, and scales. The man looked taken aback, but he said a word and a moment later Alexis fell to the sand, dripping with water and steaming slightly. Ren dove forward to grab her before the man could do any more harm, but the Pukis spit a tiny ball of flame that scorched Ren’s hand and lit the man’s robes on fire. A single word appeared in Ren’s mind, etched on the back of his eyelids in blazing letters, and that word was,
RUN!
He did. He ran back along the beach towards the town, away from the rowboat, (away from Alexis!), knowing that he had to get back to the Sea Roc. He had to warn them, and he had to get to safety. There was not the slightest doubt in the boy’s mind about what the man was – who the man was. He had seen the scar above his right eyebrow.
Who had let Letor out, Sphaere knew. But he certainly was no longer a prisoner.Tam wandered purposefully through the streets of Jartuvi. He was looking for something or someone, but he had no idea who. Tam found himself walking inside a small side tavern. He headed straight for the barman.
The barman took one look at him and said, “Oh, his grace told me I would be expecting someone like you.” He reached under the table and produced a grubby little key. “Your room’s up the stairs on the right.” he said gruffly and turned to a waiting customer.
Tam stumbled up the stairs and managed to open the door to his room before collasping on the bed.
——————————————————————
Ren couldn’t remember a time where he’d run faster in his life, not counting the time when he had run from the emperors guards. That day seemed ages ago.
Ren picked up even more speed as the docks came into sight. He dived into the water and swam toward The Sea Roc. With the last strengh he could muster, he hoisted himself onto the ship’s deck. One of the crew noticed his sudden appearance and helped him to his feet. Ren stumbled over to Vushtek and related what happened, breathlessly.
Vushtek stared at him with growing alarm on his face.
“We can’t possibly leave the city with the Captain in the condition he’s in. We can only hope that Letor does not send us into the hands of the enemy, but trust me, if he does, we certainly won’t be taken without a fight!”
That was very comforting, Ren decided sarcastically, lying on a bunk an hour later. He didn’t want to be taken at all, with or without a fight!
Niria looked in. “Oh, you’re here,” she said, her voice heavy with anger and sorrow.
“Yes,” he said dully. Life had gone from bad to worse in the space of an instant.
“This is the stormmaster’s cabin,” said Niria, with a touch of accusation.
“The First Mate put me here,” said Ren. “There was nowhere else.”
Niria’s expression made it clear that she disapproved, but there was nothing she could say or do about it.
“Well,” she said. “I am the stormmaster, since Tzil is dead. I will have to collect the necessary equipment. Don’t mind me.” And she busied herself with gathering up the instruments that littered the tiny cabin. Tzil certainly hadn’t been very tidy.
Ren turned his face to the wall.
~~~~~~~
Tam lay in a half-awake stupor on the bed, until the smell of soup brought him to his senses. He sat up eagerly. The little child who had brought the soup bowed solemnly to him and left.
When he had finished, he lay back down, ready to sleep, for days, if necessary. The time spent in the mind cells had been anything but refreshing, and now he was ready for some proper sleep.
But he was not to have it. The door opened and in walked Mordran, looking as benign as when Tam had first seen him. Behind the little man stood another, much taller, his hair a lurid and conspicuous violet. Rake Vashkar.
Mordran sat fluidly into one of the small, hard chairs that stood by the door. Vashkar did not sit in the chair beside Mordran’s, but Tam did not expect him to anyway. He didn’t think that Vashkar was the kind of person who was often seen in a chair.
Mordran had a calm, dangerous expression on his face.
“Do you have any idea how much you have damaged my plans?” he asked angrily.”You were seen on your way here. We would have captured a dangerous batch of pirates, along with that treacherous boy, Ren, if you had been more careful. Now we have lost our element of surprise. We have to risk open combat.”
Tam’s eyes grew wide in amazement. “Ren’s alive?!” he asked in awe.
Mordran’s eyes flashed mercilessly. “Ren is no concern of yours.”
With that, he got up from his chair and headed toward the door. “You will be punished for your mistake.” He motioned to Vashkar and left.
Rake Vashkar grinned and cracked his knuckles. Tam face was a look of pure horror.
“So, you thought you would make things better by running, didja?” Vashkar said in a tone that made it sound slike he was talking about the weather.”
“No, I-” Tam stammered.
Vaskar hit him on the side of the head, in a sudden burst of violence. “Don’t lie!” he hissed, spitting in Tam’s face. “We know everything that you’ve been doing since you left our presence last. Did you think we would let you wander around unchecked?”
“But I- I’ve come to help you,” Tam said feebly, recoiling.
“And this is the sort of help you’re going to offer? Revealing our general location to the one of the few people that would use that information to hurt us? A bunch of help you are!”
He circled Tam, who cowered in the center of the tiny room, trying not to show his fear and failing miserably.
“If it wasn’t for Mordran’s orders,” he whispered hungrily. “I’d have more than half a mind to kill you, right now.”
“So, you thought you would make things better by running, didja?” Vashkar said in a tone that made it sound slike he was talking about the weather.”
“No, I-” Tam stammered.
Vaskar hit him on the side of the head, in a sudden burst of violence. “Don’t lie!” he hissed, spitting in Tam’s face. “We know everything that you’ve been doing since you left our presence last. Did you think we would let you wander around unchecked?”
“But I- I’ve come to help you,” Tam said feebly, recoiling.
“And this is the sort of help you’re going to offer? Revealing our general location to the one of the few people that would use that information to hurt us? A bunch of help you are!”
He circled Tam, who cowered in the center of the tiny room, trying not to show his fear and failing miserably.
“If it wasn’t for Mordran’s orders,” he whispered hungrily. “I’d have more than half a mind to kill you, right now.”
Vashkar nodded silently to himself. Then he turned back to Tam again and said, “But I won’t. Instead, I will have to satisfy myself with giving you your first lesson in what happens to the servants of Mordran that fail him.”
Vashkar reached into his belt and pulled out a rather nasty knife. With a wicked grin, he grabbed Tam’s arm roughly and held it down. Tam struggled but he couldn’t get free. Vashkar grunted and swung the weapon with expertise. When he let go of Tam’s arm, Tam stared at his hand in disbelief. It was only when Vashkar had calmly left the room that Tam started to scream. A pitiful stump was all that was left of his right pinkie finger.
Who knows how long he sat there, staring at it, tears streaming down his face? After what seemed ten years the door opened. The little girl who had brought him the soup looked in.
She made a small noise of disapproval when she saw what had happened, and the small pool of blood on the floor, but she did not seem surprised. She looked sympathetically at Tam, and then disappeared.
Half an hour later, the girl returned, and she brought a man with her. “This is the doctor,” she whispered, and ran from the room, pulling the door shut behind her.
The doctor did not look very qualified to be a doctor. His hair was disheveled and he was older than Tam’s great-grandfather. His clothes were not very clean, and there was no reason to suspect that his bandages were any cleaner. He looked at the blood, looked at Tam, and muttered something that sounded like, “Sailors.”
He crossed the room, picked up a pitcher of water, and dumped it over Tam’s hand.
Or at least that what he must have meant to do. What actually happened was that Tam got absolutely soaking wet, and the room was suddenly awash with water.
The man disregarded this, and pulled from his coat pocket a roll of bandages, which he wrapped around Tam’s poor hand until it was almost as big as the boy’s head.
“There,” he muttered, while Tam sat on the wet floor, still in shock. “That’ll be four gold pieces.”
Tam stared at his hand stupidly. He looked up at the man with a look of confusion on his face.
“Four gold pieces,” the old man repeated slowly.
“Uh . . . I don’t have any gold.” Tam said dully.
The man stared at the boy with growing anger on his face. “You filthy brat! That was the last of my best medical bandages!”
Tam tried to get away from the man but was instead tackled and held to the ground. The “doctor” savagely tried to rip the bloody bandages off Tam’s hand. Anger surged through Tam and a word phrase came to his mind. “Flamula Infenso Pilus”
Instantly, the “doctors” hair was ablaze. The man screamed in terror and ran from the room.
Tam looked cautiously at his hand. It was not damaged; the bandage was only slightly ripped. A few angry shouts were heard down the hall and Tam had a feeling that he wouldn’t be wanted anymore in the tavern. Without a backward glance, Tam went out the back door of the building and into the streets.
He ran, his hand throbbing faintly and words of power tumbling through his mind. It was all he could do, in the face of the pain and fear and hatred – such definite feelings, and welcome as respite from the constant uncertainty – not to yell them out, to burn the town to the ground, and himself with it. Something was wrong, something had happened, and Tam, in this strange confident state, could not see it. His feet carried him closer to the harbor, where he knew he would find the Sea Roc, and Captain Pye, and Ren, and the rest of the crew. And he would be safe there, safe from – there was a surge of pain through his hand, and a surge of realization through his mind. Them, he thought, and then the remains of rebellion and confidence drained away, leaving nothing but guilt and a deep, nagging, fear that something had gone wrong and it was all his fault. They were manipulating him still. Would he ever be free?Ren was awakened from his much-needed nap by a noise that at first, in his sleep-befuddled state, he could not identify. “Mmmm,” he mumbled. “Mustadozedoffsorry.” When the noise persisted, he said, louder and with more clarity, “I’m getting up. You don’t have to set off cannons in my ears.” With this half-asleep realization, Ren sat bolt upright and wide awake. “Cannons!” he gasped, horrified. “Oh no!” With a blatant disregard for the various stormmaster’s implements still scattered throughout the cabin, he rushed onto the deck.
It was not cannons, only muskets, and that was bad enough. A badly aimed musket ball whizzed past his cheek as he stepped onto the deck, and he coughed at the harsh acrid smell of alchemical powder, and stood there blinking in the bright afternoon sun.
“Idiot!” hissed the first mate from Ren’s right, where he sat crouched beneath a bulwark. “Get down!”
Ren did as he was told, and scooted across the deck on his stomach. “What’s going on?” he asked the first mate.
“The harbor patrol had the brilliant idea to attack the pirates with muskets! I don’t know what put it into their heads, but there must be some reason. They usually leave us alone, since pirates make up the majority of the people who actually come to the Free Isles.”
“Oh,” said Ren, sighing with relief. He had been sure that it was the Empire, for a moment or two. Not that the harbor patrol was that much better.
The first mate continued. “I want you to go to the Captain’s cabin. Niria and the cabin boy are already there.”
Ren opened his mouth to protest at being shoved out of the way, but remembered that the first mate was in charge, and almost surrendered. He remembered his own status in time. “But sir–” he said. “I’m the powder monkey. Oughtn’t I to be doing something?”
“Not if we’re not using cannons. You’re just in the way. Now GO!”
Ren obeyed without another word.
“Oh, it’s you,” said Niria coldly when Ren entered the room. She was sitting in a chair by Captain Pye’s bed, her face hard but her eyes frightened. When she saw Ren she turned away, a gesture that cut Ren to the quick.
“Yes,” he mumbled. “Me.”
Arn leaped up from where he was sitting on the floor, and ran over to the other boy. “What’s going on?” he asked. “Who’s shooting at us? Why aren’t we allowed to help?”
“The harbor patrol,” explained Ren. “Supposedly we’re too young and would just get in the way.”
Arn’s expression grew dark, like a thunderstorm over the sea, and he, too, turned away from Ren. “The Captain would have let us help,” he muttered.
Ren had never felt worse.
But he didn’t have much time to feel bad, because there was suddenly a crunching sound from above, and someone yelled, and then the cabin door burst inward.
For a moment or two nothing more happened. No threatening figure strode through the gap, and the sound of fighting disappeared altogether. Ren, Niria, and Arn exchanged glances. Then Arn crossed the floor in one bound and leaped through the open door. With a guilty look at Niria, Ren followed.
The deck was a horrible mess. Clearly he battle had escalated to using cannons, because the mast had come down and nearly crushed a sailor. The deck was awash with blood and water, and not one of the crew of the Sea Roc was to be seen.
“Oh my,” said a faint voice from behind them. Niria had followed them onto the deck, and was staring with wide eyes at the carnage.
“No one’s left,” said Ren hollowly.
“That’s not true,” said a firm voice from the galley. “There are a lot of people left, but most of them are injured.”
“Vushtek!” cried Arn. “You’re still alive!”
“Yes,” said Vushtek gravely. “But you should leave now.”
“Why leave?” Niria asked. “It’s over, and you’ll need help.”
“It’s not over,” said Vushtek. “That wasn’t the harbor patrol, and they aren’t gone. I can’t leave the injured like this, but we can’t take chances.” At this he looked straight at Ren, and Ren wondered exactly how much the alchooktor knew. “Niria, you will take the boys to the city, and stay there.” Niria nodded mutely.
“Then go,” Vushtek said.
The three escapers crept carefully across the carnage on the vast deck of the Sea Roc. They made it to the bow of the ship with little difficulty and peered over the side. The dock in front of them was surrounded by a line of soldiers. Each soldier was dressed smartly in a black uniform with a shiny badge on their chest. Ren watched them with growing unease. The faces of the men were so cold and emotionless that they seemed unreal.
Niria motioned impatiently for him to follow her lead and he turned to watch what she was doing. With unimaginable stealth, Niria slid under the ship’s railing and onto the side. Using handholds that were invisible to Ren, she climbed down into the water with not even a slight splash. Arn was already in the water, waiting for her. The two stared at Ren expectantly and he wondered what in the world he was going to do.
With a sigh, Ren braced himself and lowered himself clumsily over the side of the Sea Roc. His muscles strained as he searched frantically for a foothold. Finding none, he looked desperately over his shoulder. Niria and Arn were looking up at him in alarm. Ren scanned the side of the ship for a place that would assist him in his climb and saw a slight protrusion in one of the panels covering the ship to his right. Just as Ren rested his weight on the plank, the whole ship shuddered. Ren’s hands were violently thrown away from their hold and he fell with a loud splash into the harbor.
The trio watched in horror as the soldiers who had been standing silently moments before went into action. The attack on the Sea Roc had resumed! Niria determinedly tore her gaze away from the scene and motioned for everyone to swim away from the battle.Among all of the harbor patrol, no one noticed the three escapees except one lone monkey. It wore a grave expression on its face, even for a primate, as it bounded away to report to its master.
Vushtek stood guard determinedly over Captain Pye. The battle was not doing well for the crew. They were quickly loosing men. It would be only a matter of time before the ship was breached. Vushtek breathed slightly easier knowing that Niria and the others had escaped. At least Niria was safe.
There was a groan from the Captain’s bed and Vushtek ran to his side, alarmed. Captain Pye smiled weakly and patted Vushtek’s large scarred hand.
“Are they gone?” Pye asked.
Vushtek nodded slowly. He knew that Captain Pye was attached to the boy Ren, even though it had been the boy that had left him in this sickly state.
The Captain smiled painfully and relaxed. Vushtek returned to his post at the Captain’s cabin door.
Outside, things were not doing well. The dwindling amount of crewman was quickly turning disastrous. Vushtek braced himself as the several patrol men climbed aboard the Sea Roc. The men were immediately taken down by some of the remaining crewman, but even more of the harbor patrol took the place of the dead. It wasn’t long before the entire deck was covered with fighting men.
Over the entire melee, Vushtek’s eyes only saw one man. The man wasn’t hard to miss because of his bright violet hair. He held his muscular body in a commanding way as he strode toward Vushtek. This man would NOT hurt Captain Pye. Vushtek’s eyes gleamed with the light of battle as he shouldered his axe. He had been around weaponry all his life. He didn’t even need to glance at his belt to know that his collection of butcher knives where hanging at his side.
The violet haired man noticed Vushtek’s reaction and drew his sword. With a yell, Vushtek lunged forward and butted the man in the face with the head of his axe. Blood streamed from the man’s broken nose and he slashed Vushtek’s shoulder in his anger. The attack continued furiously. The man kept trying to trick Vushtek into turning his back to the door of to the Captain’s cabin, but Vushtek kept defying him, much to the man’s anger.
Vushtek had been so preoccupied with the battle that he hadn’t noticed that the ship had become strangely quiet. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the remaining harbor patrol standing to attention on the deck. All of the other crewman were either dead or captured and tied to the mast. Vushtek’s attacks were now filled with the strength of desperation.
Suddenly, a powerful force hit him from behind and he fell to the ground. His hands were instantly bound by a clear, water-like rope. Vushtek chanced a look behind him and saw a man in a long dark cloak. He seemed to flow as he walked toward the violet haired man.
Vushtek’s eyes grew wide with recognition. The cloaked man stopped and kneeled at the feet of the man Vushtek had been fighting moments before.
“Master,” he said in a gurgly whisper. “The fire master has escaped with two others. They are headed toward the town.”
The violet haired man glanced at his servant, alarmed. He strode past Vushtek into the cabin but came back shortly with a scowl on his face.
“It’s just the captain! You are right my faithful servant, this battle has been for nothing. The boy is gone.”
“You are a fool Vashkar!” Vushtek yelled up at his captor. “Do you seriously think that Mordran will give you all the you desire? You are but a puppet in his hands, that he can dispose of whenever he wants!”
Vashkar looked down at Vushtek with disgust on his face. He turned to one of his commanders and said, “Take a force down to the village. Three crewmen have escaped the ship. One of them is a boy who goes by the name of Ren. Capture this boy alive and bring him to me. Kill the others.”
Vushtek’s eyes grew wide with anger. With a yell, he lunged at Vashkar, knife in hand. He would have killed Vashkar, had it not been for the mysterious cloaked man. Vushtek had no chance. He fell face down on the deck of the Sea Roc. His eyes empty in death.Ren followed Niria and Arn through the streets of Jartuvi. He had no idea where they were going. He only knew that they were looking for a safe place where the Empire couldn’t find them. Arn pointed to a small tavern on the street and they walked inside it. A gruff looking bartender stood at the counter and Niria went up to talk to him. Ren and Arn sat at a table and waited for her. The barman listened patiently for a while and then left for the back room.
Niria turned to them and shrugged. “He said that he needed to get something for our room in the kitchen.”
After several minutes, the man returned with a little girl. He sent her up a flight of stairs with some fresh sheets, supposedly for their room.
The bartender turned to the trio and said, “I suppose that you would like some drinks to calm yourselves after your journey.”
He rolled up his sleeves and looked at them expectantly. The three escapees however, were more interested in the tattoo on his arm instead of what he had to drink. Niria declined stiffly and steered the boys out of the bar. They strode briskly away from the bar with nervous expressions on their faces.
“When we reach the next block, run as if your life depends on it, because it does.” Niria muttered under her breathe.
Ren would have done just that, had it not been for the hordes of harbor patrolmen waiting for them around the bend. At their head stood a tall man in a black cloak, Letor.
“Oh no,” said Niria, her eyes not on Letor, but a smaller and more hunched figure standing behind the wave-spirit. “This is bad, very bad. Getting worse every moment.”
Ren and Arn glanced at her questioningly, but she said nothing. Her eyes, however, seemed to hold the light of hope, of a plan, and Ren relaxed ever so faintly.
“When I say so,” Niria murmured, “we are going to head back in the direction of the bar and go right in. Don’t worry about the bartender, because he’s whole lot less dangerous than the people who are looking at us right now. I can deal with him.”
Niria smiled confidently. Her plan was flawless. It could not fail.
“Good work Scrimage!” she said triumphantly, “We have them exactly where we want them!”
Letor stiffened and glanced over his shoulder. Scrimage, the man who Niria had noticed before, seemed to shrink before Letor’s gaze.
Niria’s satisfaction grew. Everything had played into her hands, even the alignment of both captain’s troops. Letor, being the self-absorbed being that he was, couldn’t stand any troops but his own to march at the front of a formation. Consequently, all of the soldiers following Scrimage were forced to march at the back. This meant that all of Letor’s troops were trapped between Scrimage’s followers and Niria, along with Arn and Ren. Letor knew that he could possibly be in BIG trouble.
Scrimage probably noticed this too and his eyes grew as big as saucers. “No!” he squeaked. “There must be a mistake! I wouldn’t… I’d never…”
Letor’s eyes gleamed underneath his hood. “I knew the empire should have never trusted you! I knew that you were always really working for…†he paused hesitantly and hissed, “THEM”.
Scrimage trembled and a bead of sweat dribbled down his cheek.
Letor advanced toward Scrimage threateningly, saying, “Why else would you have given the enemy a copy of the Orb? Well, you won’t get away with it this time!” An evil grin twisted across Letor’s face. “I’ve been waiting for the moment to get rid of you for a long time!”
Scrimage shook his head and tried to stop Letor, but with to avail. Letor merely muttered a word under his breath and Scrimage exploded like a popped balloon.
This action created a surge through out the men. With a roar of anger, the troops turned on each other. The street was instantly transformed into a confusing mass of enraged soldiers. Clearly forgotten, Niria, Ren, and Arn quietly slipped away from the battle.
Ren followed Niria and Arn out of Jartuvi’s busy streets and into the tavern that had been originally their first stop. The barman looked up at them uncertainly from the counter as they sat down at a table close by.
What had just happened finally seemed to dawn on Ren and he sank heavily into a chair. “Wow.” he commented.
Niria nodded her head understandingly. “I agree,” she said, a little louder then usual. “It was a pity that Scrimage perished, but at least the plan ran smoothly. They did, after all, fall directly into our hands.”
Niria glared at Ren and Arn, demanding them to pick up on what she was doing.
The two boys had to stare at her for several moments before they got a vague idea of what was going on. Arn was the first to react.
“Yeah!” he exclaimed with a loud laugh, “Did you see the look on Letor’s face? He was furious! Who wouldn’t be after having half their troops destroyed in a surprise attack that was thought up by a few teenagers? I feel sorry for the spy that was “smart” enough to give him the information about our whereabouts!”
Ren hid a grin at the look on the bartender’s face.
Niria smiled and motioned for the rest of them to leave for their room.Ren heard a knock at their door an hour later. He paused and opened the door a small crack. The barman and the little girl they had seen earlier were standing in front of him. Reluctantly, Ren opened the door wider and gestured for the man and his daughter to come into the room.
The man strode gravely into the room and studied the faces of the three fugitives in front of him. Ren did not know how he should react to this man. He knew that the barman was a spy working for the empire, but he also knew that the man was only trying to make a living like everyone else.
The spy took a deep breath and began, “I know your situation with the empire. I also know that it will not be a good idea for you to remain in this area for much longer. Therefore, I have arranged for you to join up with a group of pirates who are by chance leaving shortly. They are similar to the last crew you were traveling with, seeing as they have an enormous price on their heads. I have no doubt that these fiends will assist you in your quest.”
A long shocked silence stretched over several minutes. Ren frowned suspiciously. “What’s the catch?” he asked.
The barman shuffled his feet shyly and continued, “I can not stay here. The empire is angry with me. It is best that I go into hiding.” At this, he took his eyes off his grubby feet and stared, pleading with them. “I am a failed parent, the places that I will be forced to go are not places for a little girl. I could not possibly put her in danger. I have given you a chance of escape from the empire, in return, you will care for my daughter.”
Ren’s eyes widened in alarm, though it was nothing compared to the expression on Niria’s face. She looked like was going to refuse, even though this was their only chance to avoid the empire. Ren quickly intervened and nodded gratefully.
“Of course, your daughter will be safe with us.” he said forcefully.
The barman smiled thankfully and left with his daughter. Ren nervously avoided making eye contact with Niria. He knew that she was furious with him.The pirate ship lay silent and majestic in the harbor sails furled. The flag was not flying from the masthead, and had it not been for the bartender’s assurance that this was the one, Ren would never have suspected that it was a pirate ship.
The bartender’s daughter let out a tiny sob at the sight of the man who came down the gangplank. Neither Ren nor Arn could comfort her, given their own feelings, and Niria uncomfortably leaned down to squeeze the little girl’s hand. “It’s alright,” she whispered, “and then stood up again.
The man was indeed frightening; his black hair was cropped short on his head but allowed to grow long on his chin, and where there had been streaks of silver, now there were streaks of crimson. He was dressed in a navy uniform, dyed the same black and red as his beard, and around his waist and across his chest and probably in his boots too were weapons. Knives, swords, pistols, and every other imaginable death-dealing object hung in plain view. Unlike the ship, this man made no attempt to conceal the fact that he was a pirate. His eyes were harder than granite, and a similar color, and when he came close enough, Ren realized with a shock that the smell of alchemical powder that had permeated the quay came from the pirate. He felt ill, and wished to be anywhere but there. Arn, on the other hand, was gazing up at the man with something akin to worship in his eyes. Ren turned away.
Niria drew herself up to her full height, and spoke to the pirate. “We wish to speak to the captain of this vessel,” she said clearly.
The man looked coldly at her. “I am he.”
Though Ren had no doubt that it was not normal procedure for a pirate captain to come and talk to people on the quayside himself, he was relieved that this was the captain, and that no one worse would be coming out of the ship. To judge by Niria’s expression, she was feeling much the same way as him.
She recovered her composure and said, “Since our own ship was destroyed by the harbor patrol, we are looking for a place on another.”
“I see,” said the captain. “And you hope it will be this one.”
Niria was about to speak, but Arn got there first. “Yes, sir!” he said, his face shining as though lit by a candle from within. The captain ignored him. Niria resumed her speech.
“I am a waveworker,” she said, “and the boys can both work.” When the captain made no move to accept, she began to clutch at straws. The straw she grabbed hold of first was perhaps the most effective. She lowered her voice considerably and put her hands over the little girl’s ears. Then she said, “We were on the Sea Roc, under Octavio Pye. The Krakeneater has been captured or killed, we cannot say which. But there was something he was looking for, a great treasure, and it is kept on the Blood Storm, which you surely know of. We must get that thing, and I assure you, when we do, you shall have a share.” To indicate that her speech was finished, she removed her hands from the girl’s ears.
The captain looked at her a long while, and then he said, “Come along then. But remember, I must get my share.”Somewhere far away, there were shouts and sounds of battle. Tam half-turned, but thought better of it and walked onward. He would go to the harbor and find the Sea Roc. Whether the Captain and crew would forgive him or not, he didn’t know, but he couldn’t go back to Mordran . . . His bandaged hand throbbed slightly, and he shook his head vigorously. If he had not borne a grudge towards the Empire before, he did now.
Then, as suddenly and as welcome as the sun breaking out of the clouds, the damp and smelly little alley opened up, and Tam found himself standing on the quay. The Sea Roc was not there. But then, that was understandable, seeing as she hadn’t been tied up in the first place, but anchored in the harbor.
But she wasn’t there either. Tam began to panic. They had sailed away without him! They had never known he was there.
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Alice of the Blackberries
in September 1st, 2007 @ 02:24That time it only took eight months.
One more, and then I have to go to bed. I can barely see for tiredness.
~~~~~~~~
Tam stared despairingly out at the idyllic harbor scene. Idyllic to anyone else looking on, but to the boy, it was something out of a nightmare.
He turned away. It was no good. He would have to go back to Mordran and the Empire after all, assuming they would take him back after what had happened.
Tam could not give up. He wandered aimlessly through the docks, looking desperately for any sign of The Sea Roc. He found none. The crowd at the docks slowly dwindled away and soon Tam found himself alone among the ships. It was only then that Tam noticed that the sun had disappeared over the horizon. What could he do? His only choice now would be to return to the empire. Suddenly, Tam saw a man up ahead. Perhaps he would know where the ship was docked! He caught the man’s eye and hurried toward him. All hope was not lost!Jaroff leaned casually against a pole by the dock. It was his turn to take watch over the front of his ship, The Wavebreaker, in case there were any unwanted visitors. He doubted there would be. It was starting to get late and no one in their right mind would be wandering around the docks at this time of night. Well, maybe there were a few nutcases around. A boy had just walked into Jaroff’s line of vision.
Jaroff immediately disliked the boy. He was pale, as if he had never seen the light of day. It didn’t help that the boy looked as though he had no idea where he was going, a suspicious character.
It seemed that the boy had noticed Jaroff as well because he strode determinedly toward him. Jaroff scowled. The boy’s attitude was exactly like that of a noble’s. Jaroff despised nobles.
“Do you know where the ship called the Sea Roc is docked?” the “noble” asked commandingly.
Jaroff tried his best not to show his alarm. The boy was looking for the Sea Roc?! But that ship was now taken over by the empire! So, this little brat really WAS working for them! Anger boiled up in Jaroff’s stomach when he thought of the empire unexpectedly attacking the Sea Roc when the ship’s captain was injured. This was only yet another grudge he held against his country’s cursed government. Jaroff did not stop to think. He was determined that this little empire rat would not live to hurt anyone else.
“No,” he replied coolly, as his hand slid towards his belt, where a sharp dagger lay in its sheath, looking harmless. “I have no idea where she’s docked right now. I do know, though, that most of her crew is probably dead, and it’s in the hands of Empire scum – like you.” He had always wanted to say that to someone from the Empire, and as this brat was going to die within minutes, it didn’t matter what he heard.
Tam staggered back as though struck, and gasped, “I’m not!” But then the dagger sliced through the air, and Tam found that his eye was a mere inch away from a very sharp point.
“Don’t lie, empire scum,” hissed Jaroff, “or I’ll kill you slowly, not quick like I mean to.” The point withdrew, but now it was pointed at Tam’s throat, and a strong brown hand was firmly locked around a pale thin wrist. Tam let out a tiny sob of despair.
“Don’t kill me,” he said pleadingly. “I’m not from the Empire. I’m from the Sea Roc.”
Jaroff’s hard expression did not alter. “Then you’re a deserter,” he said. “And deserve to die as much as the Emperor himself. You might even be the one to have betrayed the Sea Roc yourself. If I was going to believe that, at least, and I don’t think I am.” The point was pressed against Tam’s neck a little harder. Not hard enough to draw blood, but hard enough for only a little more pressure to break into the vein.
Tam closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable death. At last I’ll be free from the Unknowables and the Empire then, he thought, and his mouth twisted slightly. It came to this, then. He was willing to accept Death for a little piece of quiet. What a mess.
But the fatal cut never came, and Death did not relieve Tam of his troubles.
“Jaroff!” said a hard voice. “What are you doing, man?”
The dagger dropped away from Tam’s throat, but the grip on his wrist did not lessen. “Killing this boy, sir,” came Jaroff’s steady reply. “He’s from the Empire, looking for the Sea Roc.”
Tam wanted to insist that he wasn’t, but suddenly he was too scared to speak. The figure now looming over him was enough to make a braver man than Tam feel weak at the knees.
“How do you know?” asked the captain of the Wavebreaker, stroking his black-and-red beard.
Jaroff stiffened. “Don’t you think, sir,” he said reproachfully, “that I can tell a ‘servant of the empire’ as well as the next man? He looks like it, sir. Acts like it, too.”
Tam was astonished. This Jaroff dared to talk back to his captain! Tam would have thrown himself overboard rather than attract the anger of this man with so many weapons.
“Yes,” said the captain of the Wavebreaker. “I agree. But what did you intend to do with the body?”
Tam shuddered to hear his imminent death spoken of so lightly.
Jaroff was still. “I don’t know, sir.”
“It will be noticed, if you aren’t careful. We will take this boy as a prisoner, and what we do with him later will be decided later. Come. And bring him with you.” And he turned and strode back onto the ship.
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kiwimuncher
in September 1st, 2007 @ 07:52Wow. That’s long!
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the man for aeiou
in September 1st, 2007 @ 12:36I need more!
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Rebecca Lasley (Administrator)
in September 1st, 2007 @ 13:34I grew impatient waiting for this to load. You are hereby granted a new thread.
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