Beside the Rock and Cloud

by Pete Draper

  “You never learned how to play that thing,” Cassi said. Luco stood beside her, cringing at the sharp echo.

  “I can play it fine,” Carilyo said. He poured rum straight down his throat, guzzling a quarter of the bottle in one go. “I just needed a drink first.” He grinned. Red drops trickled through his scruffy beard, turning the fair hairs brown.

  “He asked, boy, would you like, to sail away with me…” Carilyo struck the guitar again, out of time with his singing. The pace quickened, he strummed up and down, catching more of the out of tune strings now. “You can join my crew, and see the world for free.”

  Her papa used to sing Sail with Me to them when they were little. The old Katalian sailing song sounded much better from Gianlo’s mouth, Papa’s voice was much deeper.

  “Come on!” Carilyo waved his arms, wanting the rest of the crew to join in.

  Barolos started singing the chorus in his lead baritone from up in the quarterdeck. “So, come and sail with me…”

  Luco and Cassi shared an awkward glance. “You’d better join in if you want to drown your brother out.”

  Cassi covered her face as Luco started singing, the sound gradually improved when more voices joined in. “I’ll give you two sects a week, and a cabin to sleep…”

  Since she was the only person not singing, Cassi gave in, “I’ll make a sailor of you boy; you’ll be one with the sea. We’ll ride the waves together…”

  Together, everyone belted out the chorus. “So, come and sail with me, take in all the sights to see. Come aboard with me, together, we’ll sail the Merged Seas.”

  Cassi woke in the night, it was too… she couldn’t decide why she couldn’t sleep; she wasn’t too hot or cold, it wasn’t too noisy, the waves were calm. Her eyes were tired enough, as was her body, but the sore parts ached and stung, the thick lip tingled. Her fingers throbbed; she could still feel Rojey’s skin under the nails. When she closed her eyes, she could see his murderous eyes burning into her.

  Kicking the silk sheets from on top of herself, Cassi leaned out of bed. Walking past Luco on the steering wheel, the floorboards creaked as she looked at a few of the crew sat on the main deck.

  “Can’t sleep?” Luco asked.

  Cassi shook her head then stood beside him. The cool air was uncomfortable, as was being stood here in her pyjamas. But she couldn’t go back to bed and didn’t have the energy to change.

  “Alissa’s arrow is bright.” Luco pointed at the stars.

  The constellation was pretty, it dotted the sky, the row of five stars pointed to Altidore. The diagonal slope at the tip didn’t look much like an arrowhead, but Cassi could spot the arrow with ease on a clear night. They were the brightest stars in the sky.

  “Do you remember when we were little?” Luco asked. “When we’d play, you were always Alissa, and I had to be the tyrant Levac.” Luco chuckled, moonlight glinted on his handsome face. “I had to wear that stupid wooden armour while you fired blunt arrows at me.”

  Cassi laughed; it was the first laugh she’d had in a while. The great immortal Alissa of Altidore was her hero as a child, back when she believed in immortals. She still had the bow and arrows in her bottom drawer. “You have such a good memory Luco. That was fun.”

  “It wasn’t so fun for me. You were brutal, you hit me so hard with that wooden sword too. You nearly broke my arm with it once.” He winced as though she’d just hit him with it. “I tried to stop you with the tiny shield, but you kept hitting me, even after I asked you to stop.”

  “Well, someone had to toughen you up. You never stood up to my brother back then.” Cassi shook more sand from her dirty hair, she didn’t have the energy to wash it today. A grain slid up a strand from the scalp until it infuriatingly stuck to the hairs further down. She had to break the strands off to get it out. “Say, who’s that?” At first she thought it might be Sofiya, but the hair was too long, the figure was too slender. It was a woman she’d never seen before. “Looks like we’ve picked up a stowaway in Kataly.”

  “I don’t know who-” Luco tried to speak, but she was already marching down the steps towards the main deck.

  “Hey, you!” Cassi yelled at her, but she disappeared below. The hatch slapped shut behind her. By the time Cassi lifted it, there was nothing but the smooth, worn steps and the dimly lit passageway. She searched the rooms, Sofiya’s gormless face looked shocked when the door opened.

  Zellsee, Taylan and a few others were playing cards in their quarters.

  “Come to join ush Captain?” Zellsee leered at Cassi in her pyjamas.

  After a shake of the head, she pulled the door behind her. “She wouldn’t go in there,” Cassi said.

  The next room was Carilyo’s hideout after he’d been drinking, the paint on the door was peeling away.

  Cassi nudged it open, taking a step inside. The stench was so foul, the acid in her stomach rose to escape. Luckily, there was a bucket in the corner. Cassi knelt over it, spewing her guts out. When she opened her eyes, she saw the orangey concoction inside. She vomited again at the smell of it. Despite her violently unsettled stomach, she evacuated the room and breathed in the slightly fresher air.

  “I’m going to kill him one of these days.”

  The last door was the cargo hold. The best place for someone to hide.

  Cassi crept inside, keeping the door’s creak to a minimum. A little light shone through from the crisscrossed hatches above. Keeping her breaths as quiet as possible, she stared around from behind the rum barrels with silent footsteps. Passing every barrel, she expected someone to burst out from them and attack her.

  The floorboard creaked loudly.

  She turned her head, half expecting someone to come scurrying out, but there was nobody here. Cassi approached the door at the back, the red paint was scratched away in the centre.

  The woman couldn’t be in there, Carilyo had the only key.

  Cassi wiped the acidic saliva from her stinging lip. She considered what could be behind that door. What could someone want to transport to the New World so desperately? She was going to find out, sooner or later. An opportunity would present itself for her to grab that key.

  “Pah.”

  Cassi slapped the door and turned, then headed back above.

  “If you see my half-wit brother, tell him to throw out that bucket or I’ll dunk his head in it.”

  “Did you find her?” Luco asked.

  “No, it’s like she vanished,” Cassi said.

  “They said the immortal Complessa could vanish into thin air,” Luco said. “She could go to another plane of existence, the Complex Plane.” His lip curled into the smirk he’d been trying to hide. Staring into one another’s eyes, they burst out laughing.

  “We shouldn’t laugh too much.” Luco tried to stop. “Taylan believes that’s where he’ll go when he dies.”

  “She’ll turn up,” Cassi said as she let the last few chuckles out, looking to the side of the deck with a gleeful brightness. “Then I’ll kick her off the end of the plank.”

  “Remind me not to get on the wrong side of you, Cassi.”

  “I could never get angry with you Luco,” Cassi gave him a crooked smile. “You were the first boy I ever kissed.” She stroked his skinny arm, then headed back to bed.

  “That was before your pops gave me the warning,” Luco rolled his eyes and sighed.

  The Might of Rockland

  A stone horseshoe welcomed them in, the mix of grey and black rock walls were plated with steel on the edges. The great chains of the defensive boom sank into the water like giant serpents beside their winches at the tips of the horseshoe. It could be raised in times of war. The port of Corov was a pretty sight, as were the mountains at the back of the island where the house of Governor Stovesson stood. Beside the ballista towers, the green flag of Rockland swirled in the wind, the yellow star of Corsov decorated its centre.

  “It should go without saying, do not tell anyone my name. We are not the most popular crew around he
re, particularly after that business with the Storr-el-Stark.” Carilyo faced the crew, some were covering the Howling Dragon figurehead with a sheet.

  Approaching a wall, Carilyo snatched the poster of himself from it. They hadn’t captured him very well; the veiny nose was much larger than his. The eyes were too dark, as were the bags beneath them. There were ugly creases on his cheeks too, the face was bony as a skeleton. Is this how I look now? No way.

  “I’d better disguise myself,” Carilyo said. He took the beads out of his hair; with the string in his pocket, he tied it into a bun above his head.

  “You look fucking ridiculous.” Cassi’s jagged smile softened as she laughed at him. Taylan’s cheeks wobbled with a giggle, then he stuck his face forward and howled his hyena laugh. Cassi japed, “please keep this look. Perhaps you can get an artist to paint you, then it will last forever. I would pay so much for such a painting. Maybe we could donate it to the gallery in Puritudo, it would give me a reason to visit that dog-hole of a city.”

  “Why must you insult me Cassi.” Carilyo wore a pained look on his face and a hurt feeling in his chest. “I have always been good to you.”

  “Dat business with de ale was your fault,” Barolos said. “You know as well as anyone it’s illegal to remove that stuff from anywhere in Rockland. You know how precious they are over the strong beer. It is sacred to them, it was the property of Corsov himself, they’re as precious about their beer as they are about him.” Barolos shook his head and sighed, “You’ll do anything to get drunk, no matter who you put in danger.”

  “Never mind,” Carilyo waved an arm. Barolos and the others would never understand, they couldn’t understand. A few annoying strands of hair sat in front of his face, he tucked them behind an ear. “What’s done is done. Now let’s enjoy what Corov has to offer.”

  A single street fed up the hill, widening a little at the top. Pubs, traders and houses sat above the rock either side of it. Grim faces and dark hoods sapped the life from the island.

  “This place is miserable.” Cassi wore a dark purple silk blouse and a black skirt with silver sequins. A long graze over her knee was nearly healed, but it was still darker than the skin around it. “Everyone is wearing grey or black.” She power-walked ahead of Carilyo. “I don’t want to be seen next to you, while you’re looking like that.”

  As Cassi disappeared ahead, Carilyo eyed the aura of misery that followed, he didn’t remember the place looking so glum last time.

  Dozens of sad faces filled the crowded street. Carilyo spotted the pallbearers coming off the great Rockland war vessel which was moored ahead. Edging down the ramp, five strapping Rocklanders and a woman in a red Levacian uniform held the thick wooden stretcher on their shoulders. Laid on it was a black-haired man in a spotless green uniform with shiny black boots.

  “We should wait on the ship until the funeral is over.” Carilyo turned back to the Howling Dragon, but a black wave blocked his path. The narrow street was full to the brim.

  “Move along, yer bellends!” A Rocklander shouted. “We’re gonna be late fer the fun’rel.”

  A large throng of mourners blocked the narrow path, moving towards them like a giant sweeping brush.

  “Guess we’re going to the funeral.” Barolos rolled his eyes at Carilyo.

  The funeral procession ascended the hill over the grey paving stones. The dead man’s horrid, disfigured teeth chomped together like they were crunching through an apple. Each clatter echoed through the chilly, silent hill. Carilyo tried not to watch, out of disgust and respect, but he couldn’t help looking. There was nowhere else for his eyes to wander aside from the disjointed sky.

  “Who was he?” Carilyo asked a man in a green moleskin coat.

  “Capt’in Thomasson. ‘e died fightin’ Shades in the Battle o’ Coraltin.”

  “He must have been important; those are the shiniest boots I have ever seen.”

  The Rocklander thought for a moment. “’e ‘ad a big ‘eart, but ‘e were also a bit er a dick. ‘e were popular in these parts at least.”

  “What happened in Coraltin?”

  “The Shades ‘ave bin ousted. Rockland ‘as the island back.”

  The Passage of Corsov. That means Rockland now controls it.

  Carilyo gulped, then twisted his head, the tight new hairstyle shifted uncomfortably. There had to be a pub to escape into, to gather his thoughts and formulate a plan to get to the Green Sea. A picture of five heavily bearded men with kegs and steins welcomed him.

  Cutting through the crowd in their sealskin coats was like fighting against the tide, but he arrived at the door.

  As he entered The Five Brewers, a warm roaring fire greeted him. A man sat next to it, prodding a log with the hot poker. The embers flittered, their tips were the same colour as his hair and moustache.

  “Donal!” Carilyo approached. Donal turned slowly, peering with perplexity. The Rocklander was probably already drunk. The purple veins in his nose flowed like rivers.

  “A drink, my friend?” Carilyo asked.

  “I won’t say no to one,” Donal obliged. “Gotta be some Storr-el-Stark.”

  “What else?” Carilyo chuckled. “You can’t come here without having a stein of it.”

  He got the drinks and slapped them on the shiny varnished table. After he sat in the armchair, they tapped their stone steins, sloshing the beer all over. “Skal!” They both shouted before taking a big gulp of the dense, frothy beer. It was blacker than the night sky; it sure left a bitter aftertaste on his tongue. It had been a while since Carilyo had drunk it. The smell and taste brought back memories of his experiences in Rockland.

  It was a stupid, impulsive decision to steal all those crates of Storr-el-Stark; the kind of decision Carilyo often made. Thankfully, he wasn’t too inebriated to give those Rockland captains a masterclass in sailing through bad weather.

  “I heard earlier that Rockland and Levac were victorious in Coraltin,” Carilyo’s mind drifted back to the Passage of Corsov. The stein dropped on the table, the beer exploding out of it like Mount Cyborn had just erupted. The froth continued to bubble around the edges for a while.

  Donal nodded as though nothing had happened; his muttonstache was covered in froth. “Yous should be careful going trew the Passage of Corsov.”

  “I should remind Cassi when I find her.” Carilyo’s eyes scanned the pub; none of the crew had followed him. He must’ve lost everyone in the crowd.

  Donal tapped him on the arm repeatedly until he had Carilyo’s attention. “Yous should offload your cargo sout’ of the passage. There’s a mountain pass, it’s a couple of days walk, but yous’ll be able to retrieve it on the other side.”

  “Thank you, Donal.” Carilyo nodded. “My papa spoke of the path when I was younger, it has not been monitored for some years.”

  “When yous see the rock that looks like the hilt of a great sword, turn sout’. Yous’ll see the bank and the mountain path tree or four miles from there. It’s a cold walk over Mount Cyborn, the volcano has biyn dormant for a very long time. Make sure yous wear sometin’ warm.”

  “Thank you, Donal. Now I still owe you for the drinks in Cathis.”

  Carilyo marched over to the bar and slapped a setag note on it, then grimaced when he only got two-thirds of it back with his next two steins. He hadn’t bothered counting the change last time, he’d just slid it into his jacket pocket.

  “What is this?” He narrowed his eyes at the barman.

  “What?” The barman grunted. “Two pints, ten sects each. Do you need me to write it on a clay tablet for you? It might take a while for it to bake in the sun, especially around here.”

  Carilyo threw his head back and cackled, “I like you. But how does it cost so much more than in Traki?”

  “Excuse me, Manbun,” The barman smirked at the insult. “Do I really need to explain to yer that yer can’t get Storr-el-Stark in Traki?” The barman snorted. “Besides, yer Golden Empire money’s worth little in Rockland. Also, you
get twice as much in a stein.”

  “But we’re not in Rockland, we’re in the Arrizean.” Carilyo shrugged, his eyes looked deep into his brain as he performed some basic calculations, “Twice as much? For ten times the price?”

  A flash of anger flickered in the man’s pointy eyebrows. “Maybe you should go outside and look at the green flag with the yellow star flying high up in the castle.” He gestured Carilyo closer with a finger, his voice dropping to a whisper, “If you cup your hand around your ear, you’ll hear it.”

  “Hear what?” Carilyo’s face was close to the barman’s.

  “You’ll hear it scream,” The barman voice quietened moreso, “It screams.”

  Carilyo edged even closer, feeling the breath on the hairs of his ear.

  “THE MIGHT OF ROCKLAND!”

  Carilyo backed away, his ear ringing. The barman laughed heartily. After sticking a finger in his ear and wriggling it, Carilyo joined in. “I like you,” Carilyo said again, pointing at the barman as he grabbed the drinks.

  Storr-el-Stark

  Ripples of darkness swished and swayed like a murky wave. The grim, grey faces were like an army of the undead. A swathe of black forced Cassi up the hill.

  The bitter wind was freezing on her arms and legs. She wanted to go back to the ship and put something warmer on, but there was no passing the mourners and their sad faces in this narrow walkway.

  Five large Rocklanders and a woman whose origin was hard to place carried the stretcher up the hill. The woman wore Levacian red, she had shaved hair on one side, dark brown braids on the other.

  After her shoulders wriggled from the cold breeze, Cassi strolled behind them, looking for a way out of the throng of mourners. There wasn’t one. In fact, the crowd was growing and the streets were narrowing. She would have to follow the man’s corpse all the way to his wretched funeral.

  There was something about funerals, she hated them more than the average person. She could never cry at them, no matter who’d died; even her papa, the tears only came that night when she went to bed. It wasn’t that she couldn’t feel sadness or empathy. Her feelings just took longer to express themselves, and usually they only happened when she was alone, she wasn’t one for sharing emotions, particularly sadness.