by Allan Joyal
I shook my head and sat up slowly. Sometime during the night I had rolled over and my knees had come to a rest against the starboard railing. I reached out and used the railing to steady myself as I carefully stood up.
Jessop was standing behind me at the tiller. He held out a mug as I wiped the sleep dust from my eyes.
"Did you sleep well?" he asked.
"I've slept better," I admitted as I accepted the mug. "But I can't really complain. Is everyone back?"
"Culax and Lucis arrived back some time ago," Jessop said. "They must have found someone who was making alcohol from the tubers. They are complaining about headaches while they work on the sails."
"Did we get the torn sail patched?" I asked.
"Patched it during my watch," Jessop said. "Not as good as new, but it should serve."
I looked out over the harbor. The horizon to the west was just starting to turn brighter. The air was still as the sky slowly lightened.
"Will we be able to sail?" I asked. "There's no wind."
"It will pick up soon," Ushcail said. "And this way everyone can have a bite to eat. Hadlor will be bringing out some cheese and hard biscuits."
I paused in my drinking. "How hard?" I asked.
"You'll want the water to soften them," Jessop said. "They can break teeth."
Hadlor was climbing up the stairs. He walked over to me and held out a hand that contained two thin biscuits and a small wheel of cheese. "Breakfast," he told me.
"Thanks," I replied as I accepted the food. I immediately dipped one of the biscuits in my mug of water and brought it to my lips.
The biscuit was hard even after being dunked in the water. There was little flavor as I chewed my first bite.
"Alternate with the cheese," Jessop suggested. Hadlor turned and headed back down the stairs.
I nodded. The cheese proved to be extremely sharp. The flavor lingered on my lips helping make the biscuits more palatable as I finished off the breakfast. It was not a lot to eat, but I found it filling.
I was licking my fingers to get a few last crumbs when Ushcail climbed up to the stern. "The wind is picking up," he said. "We should untie and get ready to set sail."
"I can handle that," I said. I rushed to the stairs and ran down to the main deck of the ship.
"Untie the stern first," Ushcail shouted as I leapt over the railing and onto the pier.
"The wind is slow and out of the northwest," Lucis called out. "We should have no problem escaping the harbor if we take the south passage."
I walked over to the rope holding the stern of Gypsy in place. The knot that had been used was one that Hadlor had shown me. I had to struggle for a moment until I could remember the quick way to unravel it. One it was loosened Jessop called down. "I can pull this in. The wind is picking up so get the anchor back aboard and we'll set sail."
I ran to the bow of the ship. Ushcail was calling out orders to Lucis and Hadlor. The stern of the ship was starting to slowly pull away from the dock as I reached down to pick the anchor up.
"Throw it carefully," Culax shouted. "I'll reel in the line and put it in the bracket."
"What if you drop it?" I asked.
"I can catch it," he said. "Just don't throw it hard or high."
I waddled over to the edge of the dock. Culax was standing at the side. He leaned over the railing as I approached. I lifted the anchor up and then leaned out over the water to hand it to Culax.
My fellow crewman took it. "You could have thrown it," he said as he turned to carry it to the bracket.
"I didn't want to chance it being dropped," I muttered as I took three steps back. Gypsy was starting to pull away from the pier. I lunged forward, taking only two steps before launching my body over the water.
My left foot cleared the railing, but my right foot caught. I fell forward onto the deck. The impact stunned me as I tumbled across the bow of the ship.
"We're all aboard!" Jessop called out.
"Anchor and lines are in!" Culax said.
"Raise the sails," Ushcail shouted. "Main sail first and then the foresail."
"Pan take the tiller, we're going to head for the passage just off our starboard bow," Jessop called. "Kaven, get up and help raise the foresail!"
I climbed to my feet. The ship was gathering speed. "Starboard side lines," Ushcail shouted.
Jessop threw two ropes to me. I had to struggle to remember which one I needed to pull first. I was still deciding when Culax took one of the ropes from me. "Too slow," he muttered as he pulled hard on the rope.
I joined in the efforts to raise the sails. The ship was starting to gain speed as we left the pier behind and began to head west.
Ushcail had us make a couple of adjustments to the sails as we made our way out of the sheltered bay. The ship was soon gliding on the top of the waves as we made our way westward.
Chapter 15: First Sight of Land
The next eight days were some of the hardest I ever faced. The routine of sailing the ship was mindnumbingly repetitive. Ushcail would have us set the ship on a course we would hold for half a day or more as we sailed westward. The only changes would occur when he had us turn the ship northward to compensate for the fact that we had been heading southwest rather than directly west. Even then other than working hard during the turn, we spent little time adjusting the sails.
I did finally get time to learn more about how to raise and lower the sails as well as how to adjust the sails based on if a turn was to starboard or port. Some of the knots that Culax and Lucis called for me to tie would occasionally trip me up, but the rest of the duties proved to be routine.
Panalope was usually asked to work the tiller, but she insisted on helping with the sails. The main boom was far too heavy for her, but she proved adept at tying knots and could help with the foresail.
The weather had held steady during our journey. The wind was almost always out of the northwest, allowing us to sail mostly westward for long stretches of time. We saw a couple of squalls, but Gypsy was able to outrun the approaching rain. Ushcail said it was great that we were avoiding trouble.
On the morning of our ninth day Ushcail had us turn once again northward as the sun rose. Panalope and I were working the foresail and had just finished tying it off when Culax walked up to stand at the port railing.
"You know, I never noticed the horizon having that black line," Culax commented.
I looked over the port railing. We were heading north, so this meant I was looking to the west. "Is that a line, or land?" I asked.
Ushcail rushed to the bow. "Jessop, turn just a bit to port. Don’t allow us to be caught by the wind, but I'll accept slowing a little if it gets us closer to that horizon."
Panalope had her hand over her eyes to shade them from the sun. "It does seem to be something solid," she mused. "Kaven, you did say nine days."
"I didn't expect to be vindicated so quickly." I said. "And if it is land, why aren't there other ships on the ocean?"
"You can make a run from Isla Lava all the way to Isla Magestica without seeing another ship," Ushcail said. "The ocean is vast and sometimes there just aren't any other ships around."
I was looking at the horizon. "That line seems to stretch as far as I can see," I said.
"Should we turn now?" Jessop called. "It might be easier to decide what to do once we are closer and can see things clearly."
"Good idea," Ushcail said. "Everyone, prepare to turn to port."
Panalope groaned. "We're turning again already."
I just reached down and started to untie the knots I had just finished tying. I could hear Hadlor and Lucis talking as they worked on the ropes securing the main sail.
"He was right," Lucis said. "You didn't believe."
"If there was land here, why have we never seen a ship?" Hadlor asked.
"Start the turn!" Ushcail shouted. "Jessop, bring us about."
Gypsy began to turn. Everyone seemed to have extra energy as we threw ourselves into getting the turn completed. The shi
p turned smoothly.
I was tying off the ropes when Ushcail shouted. "It's definitely land. Kaven, Panalope get to the bow and see if you can spot any buildings."
"Why them?" Culax asked.
"Because we might have to do some fine maneuvering and they aren't as good on the sails," Ushcail replied as I ran to the bow and looked at the land.
The land seemed to be revealed slowly as we continued to sail westward. At first all I could make out was dark green. Then as we approached I realized we were looking at a large grove of trees. Some of the trees were growing in the salt water.
"Kaven?" Panalope asked. "How can the trees grow there? I've never seen that."
"I have no idea," I replied.
There was a large splash between two of the trees. I looked and could see something moving under the surface of the water. It was retreating away from us as we approached the wall of trees.
"I don't see any buildings," Panalope said.
"I'd say we should turn north," I called back. "The route we'll use to return to the islands is supposedly north of here."
"Where did you take us?" Culax asked. "I don't see anything except trees."
"Trees that are growing down to the water," I said. "The only problem with using them in shipbuilding is that I see mostly short branches. I doubt Marrisey could use the wood."
"Would it burn?" Hadlor wondered.
"I don't know," I admitted. "But right now I don't see any land. I've never seen anything like this grove."
"Turn to starboard," Ushcail called out. "Pan, Kaven, keep an eye out. If you find a place to pull in, we'll do that."
"How do we get to shore?" Panalope asked.
"We'll have to swim," Ushcail said. "Unless we find an old pier."
"I don't know how to swim," Panalope said sorrowfully.
"We don’t have time to teach you," Ushcail said. "But the empire had piers. We'll have to watch the coastline."
"All I'm seeing is trees," Hadlor said.
"There better be more," Culax said bitterly.
Chapter 16: Smoke on the Horizon
We sailed northward along the coast as the sun continued to rise in the sky. Panalope watched the shoreline intently. I tried to help with the sails, but Ushcail requested few adjustments and I found that I spent long stretches of time next to Panalope as we leaned on the railing and watched the shoreline.
The strange mix of trees and seawater lined the shoreline for some time. The sun had cleared the horizon and was perhaps halfway to its zenith before we spotted a break in the trees. Panalope pointed to it, but it was Culax who shouted.
"What is that? It looks like someone rolled a boulder and broke up the trees," he said.
I looked to the north along the coastline. The stone we were looking at appeared to continue for several boat lengths. Here we could finally see waves crashing against the wall of stone.
"Now this is something I've seen," Jessop said. "Some of the islands in the north look a bit like this."
"Walls of stone?" I asked.
"Sometimes," Jessop said as Ushcail called for us to turn to starboard to open up a bit of space. He was clearly worried about the depth of the ocean near the stone.
"I've seen ships run aground near walls of stone," he said. "Let's move back, we will still be able to see the shore."
Everyone except Panalope turned to work on the sails. She was going to join us when Ushcail threw her a rope. I could see that there were regular knots in the rope. A ball of metal was affixed to one end of the rope. "Throw that into the ocean and see how many knots deep it sinks. Keep tension on the rope," Ushcail said.
"Kaven, help with the bow lines for the foresail!" Hadlor called out.
I was working on setting the bow lines so that the ship could make the turn. As we worked I heard Panalope shout. "Captain, six of the knots went in the water before the rope stopped pulling. Should I bring it out?"
"Quickly before it snags or some fish decides to attack it," Ushcail said. "But if it went that deep we should be safe. Hold on the north heading."
"Turn, then don't turn?" Culax called out. "We just released most of the lines."
"Just get them tied back down," Jessop said. "It happens."
I was still holding the ropes I had released, so it was easy to turn and lock the ropes back in place. I was checking one of my knots when Panalope shouted. "Captain, I see a break in the wall of stone, and there's smoke behind it."
"Smoke?" Culax asked.
I was surprised to hear that Panalope spotted smoke. I rushed getting the rope secure and then looked off to port. The opening in the stone wall was easy to spot. Beyond it I could see a single column of smoke rising into the sky.
"Captain?" I asked.
"Reduce sail," Ushcail shouted. "We'll need to be north of the opening to be able to sail through it. Pan, get a boat hook and watch the water at the bow. If you think its too shallow, use the hook to check."
"How will I know?" Panalope asked.
"If you can touch something with the boat hook, its too shallow," Ushcail said.
"Wouldn't it be too late by that time?" I asked.
"With our sail reduced, we should be able to limit the impact," Ushcail said. "Everyone listen to my commands."
I looked back at Ushcail. He was watching the opening in the stone. The man appeared relaxed as the ship slowly moved northward and passed the opening. We were only about a boat length north of the opening when he shouted.
"Hard to port. Let's make directly for the opening," he commanded.
I jumped with the rest of the crew to get the ship to turn. The wind was still coming from the northwest and for a moment I thought the ship would get caught facing the wind, but it kept turning.
The ship finally finished turning. The bow was pointed at the middle of the opening in the stone wall. We were heading mostly west and the ship slowed to a crawl as we approached.
"The water here is clear," Panalope said. "I can see the bottom, it looks smooth."
"Smooth?" Ushcail shouted.
"I see some loose rocks, but it looks like someone carved a canyon through the bottom of the ocean," Panalope said. "It looks deep."
"How deep?" Culax asked worriedly.
"Deeper than this ship is long," Panalope said. "I could drop the rope to try to check, but I don't think its long enough."
"It isn't," Ushcail said. I looked over at him and noticed that he was gazing over the starboard railing. "And I agree the bottom here is not natural."
"Should we worry?" I asked as I looked over the side.
Panalope had been telling the truth about how clear the water was. The water distorted things, but I could see the curved surface of the ocean floor far beneath Gypsy. Some particles of sand and rock had tumbled onto the unusually flat and smooth rock. The channel led directly through the cleft in the stone wall.
"If it wasn't under water, I'd almost say it was a road," Jessop said. "At least I know the rudder is safe from running into something."
Ushcail moved to the bow. He was scanning the clear water. "This is just not right," he muttered.
"What have you gotten us into?" Culax asked.
I was working on the ropes holding the foresail. Gypsy was passing through the gap in the stone wall and the breeze had dropped. Our speed was dropping as the sails began to flutter in the faint wind.
A hand dropped onto my shoulder. "I asked you what you had gotten us into," Culax hissed. "What is this place?"
I looked ahead. Gypsy had passed through the gap and it was finally possible to see what had been concealed. There were three stone piers similar to the ones we had been using in the islands. These were covered in algae and moss. I looked to the shore and was surprised to see the ruins of several stone buildings.
"Look!" Panalope shouted. "The smoke is coming from the tower at the north end of the bay."
I looked to starboard. At first I could see no tower, but as I scanned to my left I finally spotted the ruin of a tow
er. It was easy to spot the column of smoke wafting from the top of the crumbled stone.
"Captain?" Lucis asked.
"Jessop make for the first pier. We'll want to dock at the end, it will be easier to launch from," Ushcail said.
I looked around the sheltered bay. "This looks strange," I said.
"It's too uniform," Ushcail said. "Look at the shoreline, it's almost perfectly straight. I've never seen anything like this. And look to the wall. It is standing in the water."
"Its thick," Hadlor said. "I'd guess its thicker than any wall I've seen. Probably why the waves haven't caused it to crumble."
"The inside is starting to crumble," Ushcail said nodding towards a couple of failing sections. "But this would make a great harbor for the galleys of the islands."
Jessop had guided Gypsy through a gentle turn to port. The light breeze was propelling us right to the end of the closest pier. "What happened here?" Panalope asked. "And why are we stopping?"
"I want to look at things," Ushcail said. "And we should check on the smoke. That could mean that people are still around."
"No good lumber around here," Culax said. "Those trees we saw before the wall started would have been horrible for shipbuilding."
"Would have been?" I asked. "Or will be if we try it? Actually I'm wondering how long this harbor has been unused. It looks like it might have once been a thriving town."
"Why would it have been?" Lucis asked.
"Another question we need to answer," I said. "I'm guessing that fishing could be a factor. Perhaps there were some valuable goods found in that strange grove of trees."
"Only one way to find out," Ushcail said. "But we need to be careful. Kaven, get two boat hooks out. It will be you and me only on this initial exploration."
"I'm going with you!" Panalope said.
I turned to look at the young woman. "What?" I asked.
"Kaven, I told you I came because I wanted to be with you. I won't allow you to go wandering off without someone to watch your back," Panalope said firmly.
"Pana!" I called back. "This could be very dangerous. We have no idea what might be out there."
"No empire that's for sure," Culax muttered. "Unless it’s an Empire of Ruin. This is pathetic."
