Father of Zaan

by C. K. Rieke

  "Well, I'll be off in two days," Brando said. "If you want to join, you're welcome to, if not . . . Dillengrad has its wonders, too."

  So, I figured why not? I'd already sped past Auracity, my main destination. I'd now seen Dillengrad with my own eyes. Why not just keep going? Brando meant well, and I'd like to see the look in my father's eyes when I tell him I made it to the sea.

  ***

  Up back upon the wagon again, Janos found a sense of ease as he'd slept upon soft sheets with a roof over his head the last couple of nights. Brando was at the reins again, and they were heading due east to the small port of the ships of Dillengrad's navy. He had to hold his gray hood up over his eyes to block the blinding light of the rising sun.

  Not pushing on too hard, and giving the horses enough time to relax and graze, they made it to the port city of Fallon's Break. Janos could see the thin streaks of smoke rising from the small town, but the city wasn't what caught his eye. It was the ships— three of them, each with jutting masts and many glowing sails in the sunlight. They were just like the drawings he had seen in his books back in Fur-lol.

  "They're magnificent," he said.

  "Aye, all three are here, just like when I left," Brando said.

  "How long you been away?"

  "A year, give or take. The work is good here, but seasonal, and I usually want some down time after a voyage," Brando said, and gave the reins a shake.

  "What kind of voyage?"

  "I've only been on one to be honest, and we were just running goods down to Vallenhalen," he said. "Even a short voyage like that isn't usually a pleasant one though."

  Janos stared up to the sky out over the Elden Sea that stretched on further than anything he'd ever seen.

  "Nice thing about this port is the break wall." Brando pointed out the break wall in the water, past the ships. "Breaks the waves down before they hit the ships. Only way they're still in one piece, I betcha."

  They rolled down into the town, and within a couple of hours had met with the porter. To Janos's surprise, they were given jobs on one of the ships sailing out in two days’ time.

  Brando led him onto their ship, the Conquestor, and showed him the basics of sailing. He showed him the knots he'd be using, and the names of each of the masts. He introduced him to the captain, a weathered man in his sixties, who was unwelcoming to Janos. The feeling of a great ship like that on the water was unfamiliar to Janos. Sure, he'd been on a small boat in the river, but he could already feel his stomach swaying on the ship. He was quick to get off the ship once he'd been shown the basics.

  ***

  They set sail two days later at dawn. Janos remembered the feeling of the sea air blowing through his hair and beard as they left Fallon's Break. The water was choppy and the sky was dressed with thick, white clouds. He dared not ask about the Aterax, or speak its name aboard, as the sailors were a superstitious lot, but that was surely the fear on everyone's mind.

  Their destination was Garmos Castle, on the northwest side of Essill. They sailed north along the coastline and entered the mouth of the Cariaan River, flowing west to Garmos. To their delight, they made it there without a storm within a week's time, unloaded their cargo, and loaded back up with fresh cargo: boxes, crates, barrels and a few animals.

  "That wasn't so bad," Janos said to Brando, as they set sail back towards the east coast.

  "Don't jinx it," he replied.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  HANGING his bare feet over the side of the ship, Janos felt the cool breeze blow through his toes. He held out the long fishing pole, watching the line glide through the water behind them as the ship sailed on. Janos smoked from his pipe, and smiled. Aye, this is the life. No one back in Fur-lol knows it. It'll be a pleasure to head back home someday, and tell them of my travels. Aye, this is surely the life.

  His fingers wrapped firmly around the pole as it jutted back towards the river's waters. His teeth clenched down on his pipe, and his dark eyebrows turned down.

  "Whoa boy! Yer a big one."

  Brando came rushing over with a handful of other sailors, watching Janos struggle with the pole bowing like a longbow being pulled taught. Brando had to reach over Janos and grab it to help his friend.

  "My lord, Janos, what've you got on the end of this line? You throw a rump o' lamb on the end of the hook? This thing pulls like the devil in a brothel!"

  "She's a big one alright," Janos said, and spit his pipe to the side. Another grabbed at the pole, and Janos reeled in the line, little by little, as the sun began to sink behind them.

  "Janos, give me the line," said one of the sailors. "I can hold it while you rest, you've been at it for hours now."

  "No, she's not getting away from me," he said, with thick beads of sweat streaming down his face and neck. "She's mine."

  Brando looked over into Janos' eyes. Janos saw the light and tenacity in his friend's eyes. "Let's get her," Brando said.

  He heaved and pulled, yet made sure to give the fish slack when she pulled, and she pulled like a monster. Janos fought long and hard, almost losing the pole from his hands a couple of times. His feet were placed up on the railing of the ship as he battled for hours.

  Eventually, one of the sailors watching yelled out, "There she is!"

  Janos poked his head up over the railing to see the body of the beast just below the waterline. That's no fish, it's too long, it looks more like a snake! Do I really want to catch a snake?

  "I'll be damned, Janos," Brando said. "You've got a damn eelshark on the end of your line, and big one at that."

  "An eelshark?" Janos said, still struggling with the line and pole.

  "Yup, let's get her," Brando said.

  Two sailors both ran up to the railing of the ship in the twilight with long hooks, ready to pierce its slick skin.

  Brando and Janos used every last bit of their strength to reel the creature closer to the ship. Once they had it close enough, and its strength was fading, they drove sharp hooks into its flesh and brought it up on the ship's deck. Janos and Brando had to jump out of the way as the eelshark thrashed and slithered like nothing he had ever seen before.

  "She's a big one alright," Brando said. "What would you say? Fifteen-footer?"

  "Sure, what'd we do with her now?" Janos asked, as he watched the two men hold her in the center of the deck while she writhed and tried to return to the water.

  "We're gonna eat her," Brando said. "She's great for-"

  A sudden snap of lightning hit the water near them, and the winds blew the ship nearly sideways. Loud thunder cracked and boomed in the sky directly overhead.

  Janos looked over to see the panic in Brando's eyes. "Get ahold of something!"

  ***

  Heavy rains washed down on the ship's deck like the river itself was pouring down on them. Janos ran over and wrapped his hand around a mast as the ship lifted to its starboard side He watched as the deluge of rain and waves washed the eelshark over the side and back into the water. Behind it, Brando was being swept down the inclined deck and about to be washed overboard.

  I've got to help him. Instinctually, Janos released his arm from around the mast and let the waters rush him towards his friend. He caught Brando by the arm just before he was going to be swept over. At the last second, to not be swept overboard himself, he put his feet on the railing to the side of where the sea tried to pull Brando under., Janos felt a tear in his knee from the impact, which he ignored the best he could, and his shoulder pulled tight from Brando's weight. Lightning shocked the air as it struck nearby, and the sailors, and captain, yelled frantically around.

  "Hold on!" Janos said, and Brando struggled to reach up and grab Janos's other arm. "I've got you."

  The ship turned on its other side, and Janos managed to pull his friend up onto the deck. They both scurried over to another mast to hold onto.

  The rains were blinding, and the shock waves of the thunder overhead were terrifying. It was the c
losest Janos had felt to death at that point. It feels as if the world is tearing itself apart. I've never seen or been through such chaos. Why would the Forgotten Gods ever create such a monster? If you're up there somewhere, please save us. Spare me and my friends. I don't want to die, I still haven't started my family yet. I haven't yet had children. Please, spare us this one time, and I promise, I'll live my life in a manner worthy of such a blessing. I know I'm meant to have children that'll grow to be something special. Please, gods above, hear my plea.

  With that, the clouds parted, the lightning receded, and the waters calmed.

  "Thank you, thank you," Janos said, and grabbed at his knee that throbbed in pain.

  They managed to repair the ship just enough to get it back to the port at Fallon's Break. Janos had been left to a cot the remainder of the voyage, and once they were at the dock, Brando and another sailor helped him from the ship and to the infirmary. While they assisted him off, Janos kept cursing the sea. "I'd rather be landlocked the rest of my life than be one foot out onto those wicked waters ever again!"

  It took him the better part of a month for his knee to heal enough he could put his body weight back on it, and his shoulder had mended as well. However, being bedridden had depleted his pile of coins, so he was back at it, working on the pier with Brando. He refused to board the ships, but he had to earn enough to get back down south, away from the sea.

  Together, Brando and he worked another three months. It was backbreaking work, lifting countless barrels and crates every day, but they did gather enough funds for them to make it back down towards Auracity. With their supplies purchased, farewells given their acquaintances, and a final curse from Janos to the sea, they made their way back on the road, with the light of the rising sun veiled by a thick fog.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  TO their right was the cool, dark waters of the Rangk River, to their left were the long, rolling fields of green grass and sparse trees. They were heading south from Fallon's Break and Dillengrad towards the Himlas mountain range. There was a path large enough through the mountains for their wagon, Brando believed.

  Janos figured it might be worth the adventure to take a different route back home, and it wouldn't take that much longer, Brando had told him. It was hundreds of miles, but they kept good pace, and eventually the peaks of the Himlas came into view. The closer they got, the more intimidating the range became.

  "You sure we can make it through those?" Janos asked. "Or should we just take the long way around?"

  "We'll be fine, don't you worry. I took the path once, albeit, many years ago."

  They rode on closer to the path Brando had mentioned. To their left, Janos marveled the broken lands of a great delta, littered with thousands of streams.

  "I'm always amazed by Darkar Delta every time I see it," Brando said. "No place else in Essill looks quite like it. Legend has it the ground was broken apart by a great battle centuries ago."

  "A battle?" Janos asked, his dark eyebrow upturned, and his pipe smoke blew past him. "What kind of battle?"

  "Who knows, that was the Olden Age, full of long-lost gods and who knows what else."

  Janos puffed his pipe and watched as they rode on with the great delta on one side and the high peaks of the Himlas on the other. I've heard of both of these before in the history books back in Fur-lol, but being here makes me feel so small, so unimportant, in the life of these lands. Once back home, I'm going to find a purpose in this life, leave some kind of legacy, I swear it.

  They camped that night at the mouth of the path Brando had spoken of. Janos looked down the path that twisted and turned as it carved around at the bases of the mountains. It was a gradual uphill path from what he saw. He fed the horses, and then lay on his back by the warm fire, staring up at the stars. He felt the soft grass on his back, and a cool breeze flow down from the mountains. He smiled, knowing it wouldn't be long before he was back home, and all this would be over, so he might as well enjoy it while he could.

  The following morning, they set course through the mountains. The horses pulled the wagon up into the Himlas, it slowed their pace as they traveled up into the mountains.

  For five days, they traveled through the mountains, and the path had become rockier and narrower the farther in they got. Janos had to help get the wagon wheels back on the path more than once, and he wondered how much further the path would go on, it seemed unending.

  The night of the sixth day, they had their fire roaring in a small clearing at the base of a sheer cliff, and after a meal of stale biscuits and dried mutton, they fell asleep under the dark, starless sky. Janos dreamed of a cold, bitter winter in the mountains. He dreamed he was lost, barefoot, and freezing as he staggered through the thick snow and looked down to see his fingers had turned black and were stiff. His breathing was quick and he began to panic.

  He clawed his way through the deep snow, yelling, but he had no voice to make sound. He tried to scream for help, but again, he didn't make a peep, as hard as he tried. He collapsed onto his back in the snow and felt the all-encompassing darkness of the cold. He closed his eyes to give in to the bitter cold. But then, as he lay on his back in the deep snow, he began to feel a heat like he'd never felt before. His hands and bare feet started to burn with a searing pain.

  He opened his eyes to look around and found he was on a dark mountain, no, a volcano. Hot lava poured down it and his eyes burned and watered just looking at it. He tried to scream, he tried to run, but he was stuck. Smoldering smoke plumed to the sky in thick, hot ash. He looked down at his hands being burned away, and he began to cry and sob.

  Turning to look up to the sky above the tall, sprawling volcano he saw something, a figure in black, sitting, watching him. He sat upon a throne high up on the cliffs of the volcano, his eyes hot, white flames staring into Janos's eyes. Janos tried to yell for help as the figure began to laugh, a menacing, evil laugh. The terror Janos felt turned to a longing for his home, his family, and safety. Please, someone, anyone, may the Forgotten Names of the Gods take me away from this place, save me.

  His eyes shot open, and he looked over to the smoldering fire to his right. Looking over, he saw Brando and the horses sleeping soundly. He breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat from his brow. He sat up, and brushed his thin, scratchy blanket off him. His head felt foggy still and looked up into the dark, starless sky. He stood and began to walk over towards a small pond of water made from clear streams rolling down the rocks. The light of the fire behind him dimmed, and the path at his feet was as dark as the sky, but he could see the faint light of the water just paces in front of him.

  Striding in the dark, he approached the small pond, a slight shimmer of dull blue reflecting off its glass-like surface. He stopped just before it and knelt, dipping his hands into the cool water. He looked at his fingers as he did this, in his dream they were black and frostbitten. He pulled the crisp water up to his face and it fell down his black beard back into the water.

  As he opened his eyes back up, he noticed a light glowing not on the surface of the water, but in the water itself. He leaned down closer to inspect the dull blue light, now beginning to glow brighter. He watched as the light then grew to a beautiful sky blue color, and he drew his head away slightly. He watched as the light began to illuminate his own reflection in the water, and he saw himself lit in its cool light.

  The water began to ripple with thin waves, and he watched as his reflection began to turn to the image of another face, similar to his, but not. This figure had a silver beard and eyes as blue as he'd ever seen. He looked with astonishment at the face.

  "Janos," the figure said, and Janos almost fell over, he was so startled. But he managed to look back at the figure in the water. "Janos, hear me."

  "I- I hear you. Who are you?"

  "There is much to do, much that must be done," the silver-bearded figure said with a voice that was calming yet strong.

  Janos knelt closer.

&nbs
p; "You will have a family. You will face grave times, but you must raise them to be strong. There will come a time when they will leave you, and it may be difficult, but there is a strength in your family, a strength your ancestors bore. It will rise again."

  "What're you saying? Who are you?"

  "Return home, and make a family. Much depends on it. A new age is coming, and you may be the defining factor of which way the tide goes. Raise your family to be strong, teach them to be humble, and the name Talabard may return to its former glory," the figure said.

  Janos watched as the face of the figure with the blue eyes faded and the water turned black under the night sky. He knelt, looking for the face again, and he ran his fingers through the water, but there was no light, and no figure. He walked back to the light of the smoldering fire, he sat and stoked the fire with a fresh log.

  "A new age is coming?" he said to himself. "And I may be a factor?" Was that a dream? Part of the dream of my being in the cold snow? No one would believe them if I told them any of that.

  He didn't sleep at all that night, and with the rising sun hours later, he decided not to tell Brando of the blue light in the water, and the strange figure that spoke to him.

  CHAPTER SIX

  THE events of his dreams lingered in Janos's mind for the days and weeks following, but just like everything else in life, his memories faded. The fear he felt in his dream began to diminish, though he didn't forget what he felt and saw, the pain washed away. It was the same as with the vision in the water, he didn't forget entirely, but it felt more like a dream in itself, and the impact of it lessoned over time.

  He'd traveled with Brando for many months, and they'd become great friends, but as the familiar sight of the rolling hills surrounding Fur-lol came into view, he knew he was home again. The horses carried their dark, wooden wagon into the small roads of the city, and an audience had gathered. Janos smiled and puffed his vanilla-scented tobacco from his pipe. Where are my parents? My family isn't here to see me yet.