by Allan Joyal
I turned to look at my fellow crewman. "Actually, this might not be completely terrible. This at least gives us proof that the empire did exist and that there may be a good reason they never returned."
"How so?" Culax said as he waved towards the shore. "All I see is a pathetic ruin. Even Isla Oerste has buildings in better repair."
"Which is in a way exactly what we expected," Ushcail said. "Look around. This harbor was almost certainly built rather than just a safe bay someone discovered. It offers better protection that just about any harbor in the islands."
"But there is no treasure here," Culax complained.
The ship was coming up to the pier. Hadlor, Lucis and I worked to bring down the sails. Jessop was offering some encouragement as he held the tiller and kept us from running into the stone pier.
"Throw the anchor," Ushcail shouted. "Pull in the sails. We're alongside the pier."
Gypsy came to a halt. I looked over the starboard railing and saw that we were floating just a hand’s-span away from the stone pier. The water was still and it looked like the ship was going to remain where it was.
Culax came over and looked at the pier. "I've never seen water this calm," he said.
"Just more proof that this is not a normal harbor," Ushcail said. "Kaven, get those boat hooks. Pan, if you insist on coming, take the second hook."
"What about you?" I asked.
"Give me a moment," Ushcail said. He walked towards the stern and entered his cabin. We could hear him moving about as I collected the two boat hooks and jumped ashore.
Ushcail emerged from the cabin with a small circle of hard leather buckled over his left hand. He was holding a cutlass in his right. "Think this will work?" he asked as he walked to the side and jumped over the railing.
Panalope followed Ushcail over the railing. She walked over to stand by me. I could see her eyes darting around as she scanned the crumbling stone walls on the shore. She reached out for one of the boat hooks. "Kaven? Why are we doing this?"
"We need to get an idea of what might be around," I said. "I think we should check out the tower where the smoke is coming from. It seems strange to see smoke when there are no people around."
Ushcail turned and looked at me as I started to walk down the pier. "That does make sense," he said quietly.
Panalope and Ushcail started to follow me. The moss that had covered the pier made a strange sound as it was crushed under our bare feet. Panalope ran ahead and then squatted down so she could put a hand on the moss.
"I've never seen anything like this," she said.
"No one has walked on this pier for some time," I said. "And its clear that no one has maintained the buildings."
"Not that!" Panalope said. "I mean that the moss is different. We do have some that grow in the islands I know, but it's never as thick as this."
"I wonder if this area sees more rain," I said.
Ushcail looked off to the west. "It's hard to say. I know a bit about the islands and where and why there will be storms, but just the coastline we've sailed today is larger than any island I've seen."
We had covered about two-thirds of the pier. The moss was a thick carpet under our feet. I was surprised to see that carpet of moss ended as the stone of the pier gave way to the shoreline.
Panalope noticed my gaze. She stood up and ran past me. "Pan!" I shouted. "Careful. We can't see past the walls."
The young woman stopped at the edge of the moss carpet. She stood and turned her head.
"Pan?" I asked.
Panalope held her left hand up. She cupped her hand around her ear and closed her eyes while turning her head from side to side.
"I don't hear anything moving," she said. "Well, except for you and Ushcail."
I reached the edge of the moss and looked around. The two closest ruins appeared to have been built by stacking stones. There were a few fist sized rectangular holes near the top of one of the walls. A grey moss was growing on the stone, but it was not as lush as the carpet of moss we had just walked through.
"Where are the people?" I asked. "What happened here? These walls are grander than anything I've ever seen, but."
"I don't see any signs that the walls were attacked," Ushcail said. "Let's head north and check the smoke. We can look for any openings in the walls."
Ushcail took the lead in stepping off the moss and walking northward. At first I thought we were waking on dirt, but it felt wrong. I squatted down and used my left hand to brush at the ground. It took a moment to clear the loose dirt before I revealed a pattern of tightly packed stones.
"What are you doing?" Panalope asked from ahead of me.
"The ground felt wrong," I said. "Now, I'm wondering if the dirt covered this area after the empire fell. Look at what was under it."
I kept clearing the ground. The dirt was a bit more than a hand deep. Once this was brushed away the stones were revealed. Panalope tried checking a couple more areas between the pier and the first two walls. Each time we revealed the stone.
"What is it?" Panalope asked.
"Its almost as if someone wanted a solid surface to travel on," I said. "But look at how deep the dirt is. It hasn't been traveled in a long time."
"Kaven, what does this mean?" Panalope asked.
"We have proof that something once existed. This whole place was probably built by the Empire that is little more than legend to us now. However, its also clear that this city has been abandoned completely. Let's check the smoke. I doubt we'll find much we can use right now," I replied as I stood up and jogged over to where Ushcail stood waiting.
Ushcail smiled when I ran up to him. "So now you have your proof. There was an Empire."
"It doesn't help much right now," I said. "I had hoped to find people as well. So far all we have is a ruin. Although; it seems in better repair than I would have expected. The stone is still standing."
Ushcail laughed and pushed me ahead of him. "You aren't going to try to move here just yet. You'd need support. Let's check that tower."
I led the walk along the shoreline and toward the tower. As we walked I looked at the ruins. Most of the walls were crumbled and starting to fall down. None of the building remnants had a roof, but at the same time, the sections of wall still standing looked sturdy.
There was no wood visible. The ruins seemed to be stone and dirt. Panalope tried looking though a couple of still standing doorways. She returned to Ushcail and me with a scowl on her face. "There's nothing to see. I haven't seen a single scrap of wood, but there are no signs of where the wood went."
"No sign they used wood either," I said.
"I found a hearth in the last building," Panalope said. "At least it looked like one. There was a raised stone circle in the middle of the room. The top was made out of a red stone that reminded me of the hearth in the tavern back home."
We had reached the edge of the city. The tower was just to the left of the dirt path we had followed. I looked up and stopped. Unlike the other ruins, the tower looked like someone had recently scraped the stones to remove any moss. There was a doorway, but a strange wooden panel blocked the lower half of the opening.
I walked up to the tower and carefully looked inside. The inside only added to my confusion. The tower was built in a large circle. Stone walls half a span thick rose well above my head where a stone ceiling stood. Along the far wall I could see stone stairs ascending through an opening in the ceiling.
The floor was clear of debris, and I could see that it was made by carefully placing flat stones. There was no sign that anyone had used the room recently.
"What?" Ushcail asked.
"There is a stairway heading upward," I said. "This chamber is empty, but it's clean."
"Clean?" Panalope asked as she pushed me aside. She looked into the room.
"The wood in the door is in good shape," Ushcail said. "And I've never seen anything quite like it."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Look at it?" Ushcail said.
"I've never seen its like," I said. "Why would someone do this?"
Panalope looked down. She paused and then knelt to look more closely at the wood. "It's almost like someone wanted to make one piece of wood out of a bunch of scraps. Look, they even installed something on this piece."
I was surprised to see her pointing on the left side. She was right. Two leather straps were attached to the wood and the stone next to it.
Panalope stood up. "I wonder," she said as she reached out to touch the wood.
"Pan?" I asked in a near panic.
"Just testing something," she said as she pulled on the wood. She was holding it from the middle and at first it refused to move, but then it swung out from the side without the leather straps.
Ushcail gasped. "Why? That is a waste of wood to do that."
"Is it?" I asked as I carefully stepped past Ushcail and Panalope and entered the tower. "I'm thinking that it is an effective way to keep some things out. After all, you have to know to pull on the panel to gain entry."
I looked around the tower again. The area I was standing in was clean. Nothing stood out except the stairway. I made my way to the base of the stairs and looked up.
Light was streaming in through the opening. I glanced back at Panalope and Ushcail. "I'll be right back." I said.
I lowered the boat hook so that the hook was at eye level about a span in front of me. I pushed it forward as I slowly ascended the stairway. "Kaven!" Panalope called out in a panicked tone.
The stairs were clean, but surprisingly rough. My bare feet had no trouble finding purchase on the stones as I continued upward. I kept a close watch on the opening, but nothing moved to stop me as my head finally penetrated the opening.
I discovered that I was standing in a circle of stone. The walls of the tower ended abruptly barely a span above this new floor. I slowly turned in a circle and realized that from this tower I could see the entire harbor clearly. I could even look out through the gap in the wall to view the open ocean.
"This must have once been a guard tower," I shouted down to Panalope and Ushcail.
"And the smoke?" Panalope reminded me.
I spun around and looked again. I found that there was a smoldering pile of damp sticks stacked on top of the wall on the north side of the tower. The smoke was coming from this pile.
"There is a pile of wet branches on the top of one of the walls. It's the source of the smoke," I replied.
"Wait, it’s a pile? Do you think someone left it like that?" Panalope asked. "Is there any ashes around it?"
I reached out but the pile was too hot to touch. I looked around for anything I could use to push the pile. The floor here was cleaner than the one below. I turned to shout down to the lower floor only to have the shaft of the boat hook catch on the wall.
The metal of the hook's head glinted in the sun. I laughed at my absent-mindedness and stepped away from the smoke signal. Using the tip of the boat hook I tried to spread the sticks. A sizable quantity of grey dust began to fall to the floor of the tower roof.
"More than I expected," I said. "This has been burning for a while."
"I wish we'd looked more closely at the dirt," Ushcail said. "We might have spotted tracks saying what created the fire and where they went. But at least we have an indication that there might be a source of trade. Let's get back to the ship."
"Kaven, this is great news," Panalope said. "We have hope that we'll find what we need. But where do we go from here?"
"North," I said. "We still have to find that Leviathan place so we know where to turn eastward. And think about who made this fire. They probably headed north or west when they left. South would lead into that strange grove of trees and water."
"North it shall be," Ushcail said. "Kaven, we also should start watching for a stream. We need fresh water."
"I'll keep an eye out," I said as I started down the stairs. I looked back at the branches. My actions had caused the fire to die out. A few faint wisps of smoke signaled the dying of the fire as I left the tower to return to Gypsy and continue our journey.
Chapter 17: Culax's Surprise
We hurried back to Gypsy. The sun was still rising in the sky and Ushcail wanted to see if we could find a stream we could use to refill the water casks.
When we arrived back at the ship we were surprised to find Hadlor and Culax fishing in the harbor. We had fished occasionally during the crossing, but rarely caught anything. Now the two men were relaxing at the port railing as they dangled lines in the clear water.
"Is there anything to catch in the harbor?" I asked as I jumped aboard.
Panalope jumped after me. She grabbed at the boat hook in my hand. "Kaven, let's get the anchor and then push the boat away from the pier. We'll need to turn around to exit the harbor."
I jumped back onto the pier and walked to the anchor. When I picked up the anchor I noticed that it felt significantly lighter than I remembered. I was able to heft it to my shoulder and then jump back onto Gypsy. My landing was more of a stumble than I would have preferred, but I was able to carry the anchor to the bow and secure it with the bracket.
I was still winding the anchor rope when Culax ran over to me. "Ushcail seemed excited. What did we find?"
"The tower has been occupied recently, or at least the smoke is coming from a fire that appeared deliberately set," I said.
Culax looked back at the tower. "There is no smoke now."
"The fire has gone out," I replied as I finished with the anchor rope. "And we should get to work on the sails. This harbor is a bit small and we have to make a hard turn to port if we are going to exit safely."
The boat started to lean to starboard. "Hey!" Culax shouted.
"Hard to port!" Ushcail ordered belatedly. "Let's get underway."
I moved to the port side of the ship to help with the foresail. Hadlor and Lucis already had the mainsail more than halfway up the mast, and the ship began to turn as the breeze caught in the sail.
Panalope came over to help me. "You could have said something," she grumbled to me as she assisted in hoisting the foresail.
"About?" I asked as we finished with raising the sail. I started tying off lines while Panalope worked to get the sail angled properly through the turn.
Ushcail called out no orders. I was surprised by this and looked around for him once the sail was in place. He was standing next to Jessop. The two were involved in a whispered conversation.
I was so intent on the conversation that I did not notice Panalope marching up to me. My first inkling that she was there was when my left ear was seized in an iron grip. Pain nearly forced me to my knees.
"Kaven," Panalope hissed to me. "Don't ever ignore me."
"Was I ignoring you?" I asked as I tried to knock her hand away.
"You didn't wait for me when you went up the stairs. You didn't say a word after I took the boat hook," Panalope complained. "Kaven, you are going to get hurt."
"We all might," I said as I finally managed to dislodge her hand. "That is why everyone on this ship volunteered for this trip."
"Everyone," Ushcail called out in a booming voice. "The good news is that we found proof that there was once a civilization here."
"Anyone can see that!" Culax responded.
"We also found evidence that suggests that there is some being that has visited the ruins recently. The problem is that there is little we could find and none of us are trackers," Ushcail said.
Culax snorted. Ushcail glared at him and then looked at the rest of us. "We're going to sail north for the rest of today. The tales we are following say that the place the Empire ships turned eastward is north of here. Watch the coastline. If you see any evidence of c
ivilization or people call it out."
"Like we'll find anything," Culax muttered as Gypsy sailed out of the harbor.
"Prepare to turn to port!" Ushcail shouted once we had cleared the harbor walls.
I jumped up and moved to the ropes holding the foresail. If we were going to sail northward, there was only a slight adjustment required, but I wanted to be ready. Lucis and Hadlor had already taken up positions by the mainsail.
"I was going to ask," Hadlor called out. "Where do Syrina and her daughters live?"
"Did you just ask about the captain's daughters?" Lucis asked.
Panalope and Jessop burst out laughing. "Come to port until we are heading north!" Ushcail shouted.
I jumped to make the sail adjustments. The ship rolled a bit as we got caught by a couple of waves heading towards the shore, but soon we were making progress northward.
"Captain, we're making more speed than we should," Jessop said. "I'd say we are in an ocean current."
"Northward?" Ushcail asked.
"Yes," Jessop said. "It's helping keep us moving."
"Interesting," Ushcail said. "Kaven's route keeps looking more and more likely. We probably rode an ocean current to the coast here."
"Useful," I said.
Ushcail nodded. "And Hadlor, let's worry about getting the ship back to the islands before you ask about more than that."
"Nereid won't want him anyways," Lucis called out. "I'm sure she wants a man who can swim!"
"I can swim," Hadlor replied testily.
I turned to look over the port rail. Part of the reason was to make sure Hadlor could not see the huge smile on my face as I listened to Lucis tease him. As they bantered, I was surprised to realize that the two seemed to have a great respect for each other.
"Kaven?" Panalope said. She put a hand on my left shoulder. "What is that?"
Panalope pointed to shore at a spot ahead of the ship. I looked and could see that we were passing a strange flatland. The ground looked like someone had once left a huge slab of rock a few feet above the ocean, but later gouged a number of depressions into it.
