by Jeremy Dwyer
However, Jolene could not get away from the memory. She spent days in Emeth, just wandering the First Hall, and then found herself distracted by a group of travelers who appeared to be looking for a telepath. Any kind of work, she thought, could distract her from the awful memories.
“It sounds as if you’re looking to add to your crew,” Jolene said.
“We are looking to add new skills,” Pradrock said.
“I’m Jolene. I drink the Elanatin waters,” Jolene said.
“Then you know my crew already,” Pradrock said.
“Torin – trained in sailcloth repair – you drink Atrejan. Akylas – Keallach’s old crew – you also drink Atrejan. Your sister, Akantha, you drink Zovvin. Massimo – the former juggler – you drink Lujladia. Fritz – good that you’ve got your legs back, mostly – you drink Kazofen. You, Captain Pradrock, drink Medathero, and play a good game. A Chronicler, as well, I guess – writing everything in the book gave it away. Who might you be? – I can never seem to read your type,” Jolene said.
“Niels, Chronicler of two thousand nine hundred fifty-seven (2957) years,” Niels said.
“You’ve been around long enough to have seen some of the worst. I wonder if you ever saw worse than what I had to watch,” Jolene said.
“Are you interested in employment on a cargo ship, with occasional passenger transport?” Pradrock asked.
“Of course. I’m ready to leave now, but I agree that we’re a transportation service, not a navy. I’ve seen what that king will do – and I know what he can do,” Jolene said.
“Some of the most heavily traveled waters are in the Gradaken Ocean, so that’s where we’ll set our sights first,” Pradrock said.
“Why not the Kazofen Ocean? That’s much busier?” Fritz asked.
“Because the profit motive in the precious gems industry all but guarantees that they already have sufficient coverage. The farming and wildlife industries are considered less important by the financial markets, even though that isn’t a proper estimation of their true worth,” Pradrock said.
Niels had been watching all of what went on, recording it into his newest book.
“Time to replenish our water,” Fritz said. He had the sensation in his legs slowly returning, but he was still not strong enough to walk without crutches.
The entire crew – Pradrock, Fritz, Akylas, Akantha, Torin, Massimo, Jolene – as well as the Chronicler, Niels, left the First Hall and made their way to the fountains of Emeth, replenishing the waters in their respective vials. After this, they boarded the Resolute Traverser and traveled southwest across the Trerada Ocean at sea level for four (4) days. They then traveled briefly as an airship over the land bridge known as the Admiral Ramalaxis Bridge and returned to sea level in the Gradaken Ocean.
~~~
Several ships in King Xander’ navy were assigned to patrol the coasts of the continents that comprised his expanding kingdom. One of these – a two-hundred thirty (230) foot long frigate named the Emboldened Flame – was deployed to the Gradaken Ocean to confront any enemy of the kingdom.
At the wheel was Captain Tallak, who had twenty-two (22) years of experience as a captain, having commanded his first ship when he was twenty-eight (28) years old. However, he no longer was his true self. Instead, his spirit was dormant while another spirit also inhabited his body. The invading spirit was that of a man named Luuk who had lived two hundred fifty-three thousand seven hundred fourteen (253714) years ago. All that Luuk remembered of the past life was sailing a strange ship and reading a book – a book that told of horrible things that happened to the previous crew – and then he fell into a deep sleep filled with horrid nightmares. In the dreams, a voice told him to kill his family and himself, which he did upon waking, at the age of twenty-one (21).
Captain Luuk / Tallak had a crew of one hundred forty-five (145) on board, some attending to the sails, many more attending to giving light, for the permanent evening sky made for the most difficult navigation since the tempest.
“Captain, a ship is approaching fast from the north, and it’s not a merchant ship of any known affiliation,” one lookout said, staring out into the distance by the powers of the Lujladia Ocean which she drank.
“How fast?” Captain Luuk / Tallak asked.
“Twelve (12) minutes to intercept,” the lookout said.
“What class of ship?” Captain Luuk / Tallak asked.
“Warship, three hundred twelve (312) feet in length, six (6) pairs of pivot-enabled masts,” the lookout said.
“Either a pirate ship or from the Jenaldej Navy,” Captain Luuk / Tallak said. The spirit of Luuk knew what the dormant spirit of Tallak did, and could access the knowledge contained in the mind of this inhabited body, enabling him to be aware of the modern civilization. The same duality of spirit applied to all of his crew, as they were enchanted by Aura’s song which left them vulnerable to Rivka’s spirit magic.
“The ship is accelerating, on a collision course!” the lookout said.
“Adjust our course! Prepare to engage!” Captain Luuk / Tallak said.
The crew of the Emboldened Flame maneuvered skillfully, but the other ship was more deftly handled and overtook them and its crew boarded them.
“Fire!” Captain Luuk / Tallak shouted. His crew fired several rounds of muskets and arrows from crossbows. All passed through the boarding crew and its captain, however.
“Ghosts!” Captain Luuk / Tallak said.
A ghostly captain came from the other ship onto the Emboldened Flame and looked at the ship and its crew. “That was much too easy. I am disappointed,” the ghostly captain said.
“Just who are you to board a ship in the navy of His Majesty, King Xander?” Captain Luuk /Tallak asked.
“You don’t recognize me?” the ghostly captain asked.
“Should I?” Captain Luuk / Tallak asked.
“Captain Tychon, a bringer of exquisite things,” the ghostly captain said.
“You boarded this ship – that is an act of war!” Captain Luuk / Tallak said.
“No need to be bellicose. I’m not here to fight a war. Instead, I am here to bring you death,” the ghost of Captain Tychon said.
“That is a declaration of war!” Captain Luuk / Tallak said.
“A war is conflict: a drawn out affair, wasting everyone’s precious time. Death, however, is just the remedy to your many troubles, and moves you quickly on to the best of places,” the ghost of Captain Tychon said.
“The best of places? You’re a ghost – we can all see that. If being dead is the best, why did you come here?” Captain Luuk / Tallak asked.
“Death is the ultimate destination, and pain is the pathway, so why wait to die naturally? I can kill your crew now, in wonderful ways. Look,” the ghost of Captain Tychon said.
The ghost crew under Tychon’s command moved in around the flesh and blood crew of the Emboldened Flame and used their ghostly powers to become material for a moment, slitting the throats of every member of the flesh and blood crew, and letting the blood spill on the deck. The blood fountains – and the deaths – were quickened after the materialized ghost crew impaled the abdomens, as well. Only Captain Luuk / Tallak was left alive.
“You see, that wasn’t so difficult,” the ghost of Captain Tychon said.
“What are you getting out of all of this? You just kill for no good reason. We built a kingdom and are here to defend it,” Captain Luuk / Tallak asked.
“Nonsense. My reasons are perfectly good. Death is better. You can do so many wonderful things,” the ghost of Captain Tychon said.
“Do you mean becoming a thing like you? How is that wonderful?” Captain Luuk / Tallak asked.
“Oh! You don’t appreciate me, do you?” the ghost of Captain Tychon asked.
“There’s nothing to appreciate. I’ve been dead before, and don’t plan to go back anytime soon,” Captain Luuk / Tallak said, and then he jumped overboard.
“Have you ever heard of sea serpents? If not, I’m surp
rised you survived this long. If so, that means you’re an idiot to think you will survive these waters,” the ghost of Captain Tychon shouted down to Captain Luuk / Tallak who was now in the waters.
Captain Luuk / Tallak just swam away, hoping against hope to find a small island before a sea serpent found him.
On board the Emboldened Flame, one of the ghost crew asked: “Shall we run him down with the ship?”
“That never really interested me very much. It’s a rather bland way of killing. We needn’t waste our time that could be better spent improving our game,” the ghost of Captain Tychon said.
“More bones, then?” the ghost crew asked.
“Of course. Remember: skulls and femurs only. Leave the rest to burn,” the ghost of Captain Tychon said.
The ghost crew – still in material form – removed the skulls and femurs from the corpses of the Emboldened Flame’s crew and took these bones back to their ship, the Obliteration.
The ghost of Captain Tychon returned to the Obliteration and took several torches, bringing them back to the Emboldened Flame and lighting its deck and sails ablaze. He then returned to the Obliteration and maneuvered the ship away from the burning ship.
On board the Obliteration, the ghost of Captain Tychon and his ghostly crew took turns batting the skulls with femurs across the length of the ship, intent on besting their previous scores and each other. They each found the grisly sport immensely entertaining, and it gave them a renewed sense of purpose, until some of the femurs began to crack.
“Soon, game time must end and the killing time must return. Yet, I don’t wish to cease our practice as we are all clearly improving,” the ghost of Captain Tychon said, batting a skull with a femur, causing it to ricochet off of the deck railing and into a bucket sunk into the deck. “That’s three (3) more points for me,” the ghost of Captain Tychon said, delighted with his own progress.
~~~
The Resolute Traverser sailed westward across the Gradaken Ocean when Massimo looked out and saw a burning ship in the distance, and another ship further off. He drank anew of the waters of the Lujladia Ocean and was energized so that he could see farther and more clearly.
“There is a burning ship in the distance – a two-hundred thirty (230) foot frigate. On board, the crew is already dead, with cuts in their throats. There is another ship, further off, as well, sailing away,” Massimo said.
“Who is on the other ship?” Pradrock asked.
“I cannot be sure, but it is a three hundred twelve (312) foot long warship with six (6) pairs of pivot-enabled masts,” Massimo said.
“It may be him,” Pradrock said.
“Wait. I see more: a man swimming in the water, away from the burning ship,” Massimo said.
“He’ll never make it. Sea serpents will get him,” Akylas said.
“How far away is he?” Pradrock asked.
“Thirty-five (35) miles southwest of here,” Massimo said.
“Keep watching him, Massimo. Set our course, Akylas,” Pradrock said.
“If the other ship is Tychon’s, we don’t want to attract his attention,” Akantha said.
“He’s sailing away, is he not?” Pradrock asked.
“In fact, he is,” Massimo said.
“Jolene: Signal to him, telepathically, so that only the living will notice. No light signal, Massimo,” Pradrock said.
Jolene drank anew of the waters of the Elanatin Ocean from her vial and was energized. She reached out with her mind and tried to connect with the swimming man, but got nothing. “He’s too far away,” Jolene said.
“Or he’s a ghost, too,” Akantha said.
“Can you verify, either way?” Pradrock asked.
Akantha drank anew of the waters of the Zovvin Ocean from her vial and was energized. “If he is a ghost, his presence isn’t powerful enough to detect at this range. I’ll continue to watch him,” Akantha said.
“Guide us to stay on course, Massimo, without drawing Tychon’s attention, assuming that’s him. Ghosts can see light all too well. Akylas will steer,” Pradrock said.
The Resolute Traverser approached the man swimming in the water, with Akylas at the wheel and Massimo guiding him.
After an hour of slow and careful maneuvering, they were able to directly see the man swimming without Massimo’s far sight. The man also saw them.
“There’s something strange about him,” Jolene said.
“Strange?” Pradrock asked.
“He has a dual nature – two (2) sets of thoughts, but some are stronger, and the others are much weaker,” Jolene said.
“I’m getting it, too. It’s like there’s two (2) spirits in him,” Akantha said.
Pradrock got into one of the lifeboats and said: “Akylas, lower the lifeboat. I’ll get him. Jolene, you watch his thoughts and intentions, and don’t forget to watch for sea serpents. Akantha, keep me aware of any spirit activity, either within this man or from Tychon.”
Akylas lowered the lifeboat down to sea level by turning a crank. Pradrock detached the cables from the lifeboat, rowed the lifeboat toward the swimming man and allowed him to climb on board.
“Quickly, please,” Pradrock said to the man.
Pradrock then rowed the lifeboat back to the side of the ship and reattached the hanging cables. After he tugged on the cables, Akylas quickly raised the lifeboat by reversing the crank and Pradrock and the rescued man came on board the Resolute Traverser.
Instantly, Akantha knew that something was awry, and Jolene was nearly certain.
“Welcome aboard to the man with two (2) souls,” Akantha said.
“So it was Tychon who tried to kill you this time. And it was the book that made you kill yourself, last time,” Jolene said, reading the man’s mind.
“This is going to be real interesting. I’ve never heard this one before,” Akylas said.
“I am Captain Luuk, of King Xander’s navy,” the man said.
“Even more interesting,” Massimo said.
“And more dangerous,” Fritz said.
“Who’s the other one?” Jolene asked.
“I know many things about this body, but not everything,” Luuk / Tallak said.
“The other spirit inside you is named Tallak. This is his body, and you’ve overtaken it,” Akantha said, disgusted.
“How is that even possible?” Torin asked.
“With the right techniques, the Zovvin waters let you do almost anything, but it can be a little creepy,” Akantha said.
“If a spirit can go into someone else’s body, does it mean we don’t have to die?” Torin asked.
“Not quite…unless you’re really good at it, and you don’t miss the jump. But it does mean you can sometimes come back,” Akantha said.
“I lived long ago. All I remember is being on board a ship and reading a book, telling of horrible things that happened to everyone else who ever sailed on that ship. Then, I had nightmares, and a voice commanded me to kill my family, and myself, which I did,” Luuk / Tallak said.
“What was the ship? What was the book?” Pradrock asked.
“The ship was named My Soul to Sin, which is a fitting name, no doubt,” Luuk / Tallak said.
“That ship is infamous: every crew who sailed it is said to have a negative outcome,” Pradrock said.
“I know the stories. That ship was cursed, forever, and it floats around the ocean. Occasionally, someone is unlucky enough to find it,” Akantha said.
“I remember you telling me about that ship before,” Akylas said.
“I’ve never heard of it, and I’ve sailed for years,” Fritz said.
“Studying spirits is different from working with crystals,” Akantha said.
“You read a book and then had nightmares that made you kill others and yourself?” Torin asked.
“The tales in the book were horrid – about murder and suicide – and no good dreams or actions could follow,” Luuk / Tallak said.
“Is the book cursed?” Torin asked.
“Being near – or on – that ship,” Pradrock said.
“Doesn’t sound like a good idea. We go through life together, and we’re not going anywhere near a cursed ship, unless it’s to get away from an even more cursed ship,” Akylas said.
“Yet more weird words of wisdom from my brother…but I agree,” Akantha said.
“What do we know about the other one? Tallak? He’s also alive in you?” Pradrock asked.
Jolene and Akantha both probed the body and mind of this new arrival and Akantha found that Tallak’s spirit was almost entirely dormant, but she was able to learn a bit about him.
“Tallak had twenty-two (22) years of experience as captain, and then this spirit – Luuk – took over, with the help of one of the king’s agents using spirit powers,” Akantha said.
Jolene read the thoughts of Luuk, and found some of what had recently occurred. “So, Tychon kills just because it pleases him. No search for wealth or anything else: he just killed your crew of one hundred forty-five (145) because he wanted the joy of seeing them dead, not for revenge,” she said.
“That’s all I know of him and his intentions,” Luuk / Tallak said.
“There’s someone else who knows a lot more about Tychon,” Pradrock said.
“Irina, you mean?” Akantha asked.
“Yes, Baroness Irina. We should visit her again,” Pradrock said.
