Luminaries & Lies

by Jeremy Dwyer

  “I know. We’ve met before,” Pradrock said.

  “When?” Akylas asked.

  “Ask me later,” Pradrock said.

  Pradrock then looked at how Fritz was using crutches to get around. He remembered how the man hadn’t been able to use his legs at all, and how that had been an odd sort of advantage, under the circumstances at the time.

  “It get around a bit better than I used to, captain,” Fritz said.

  “I can definitely put your talents to good use, Mr. Fritz. Having an alchemist aboard is always a benefit,” Pradrock said. Not all crystal benders were good alchemists, but all good alchemists were at least adequate at the manipulation of crystals, and Pradrock knew that Fritz was highly skilled from their prior meeting in Duke Hagan’s Castle.

  “Akylas, what did you mean when you said it is getting worse?” Massimo asked.

  “How much worse?” Pradrock asked.

  Akylas drank anew of the Atrejan Ocean waters from his vial and concentrated. He could hear sounds that were the usual movement of the stars or stars that were nearly standing still. On top of that, he could he hear another sound, of something else, and it was interfering with the usual solar sounds, more than before.

  “The usual star sounds are there. And so is something else, and it’s getting in the way. It’s like the sound of a high wind,” Akylas said.

  “Sometimes, that’s how ghosts sound,” Akantha said.

  “You said it wasn’t ghosts, though,” Torin said.

  “Akantha, are there spirits attached to this ship or not? We really need to be clear on the matter,” Pradrock asked.

  “No. There aren’t. I was just comparing the sound. It was strange for him to say that. I’ve never heard Akylas say that before about the stars,” Akantha said.

  “I wouldn’t call it the sound of high wind,” Torin said.

  “What do you think it sounds like, Torin?” Pradrock asked.

  “Like the sound of a loud waterfall. It gets in the way of hearing what everyone around you is saying, but you can still strain and hear them,” Torin said.

  Massimo drank anew of the waters of the Lujladia Ocean and was energized. He looked to the sky and saw nothing unusual.

  “I don’t see anything out of the ordinary,” Massimo said.

  “You can’t stare at the suns long enough to find it. Look there,” Akylas pointed.

  Massimo looked in the indicated direction and, by the powers of light within him, was able to sense a slight darkness. Because he looked in the right direction, it was clearer now. A tiny sliver of darkness had encroached upon several of the suns.

  “I do see a slight tint of darkness on the suns of the sky, almost as if there were an eclipse,” Massimo said.

  “I see it too,” Fritz said, following the direction Akylas pointed.

  “It’s small, but definite,” Pradrock said, looking in that same direction.

  “I’ve seen some dark and scary spirts. I’ve never seen dark skies,” Akantha said.

  Niels briefly looked up at the sky in the indicated direction and saw something very slight, and drew a sketch of it in his book. Then, he wrote all of what he saw and heard into his book, including the names and descriptions of the crew, and the conversations among them.

  CHAPTER 22: Haunted by a Spirit of Cruelty

  In the Zovvin Ocean was a great warship – the Obliteration – which was three hundred twelve (312) feet in length and had six (6) pairs of pivot-enabled masts, ninety-one (91) feet in height.

  “The sea is now calm. No more excuses of storms from any of you. Let your eyes be fixed upon the greatest catch, and you knives be upon their throats,” the captain said, while standing on the deck. Captain Elidyr was a healthy man of thirty-nine (39) years, with a sharp mind and a heart of stone. He had a red mustache and narrow pointed beard and a skinny but tall frame. Piracy was in his blood and a most atypical water was in his vial.

  Many pirates used powers like darkness – gotten from drinking the Ikkith Tar Ocean waters – to stealthily commit and hide their crimes. Many others used powers of strength and speed – gotten from drinking the Nabavodel Ocean waters – to win the respect of their surly crew. Not a small number used the powers of illusion – from drinking the Lujladia Ocean waters – to deceive their prey and thereby win their prizes. A few, like Keallach, had used spirit powers – from drinking the Zovvin Ocean waters – to call on favors from beyond. Elidyr, however, chose another route. He believed that a captain’s job was to lead the way, and the crew’s job was to kill the prey and seize the wealth. Elidyr studied maps – found in old books, chests and even in Emeth, when he could get there – and he cross-referenced them with the positions of the suns.

  Captain Elidyr drank the waters of the Atrejan Ocean from his vial and was energized. He could hear the movements of the suns in the sky, and knew their positions as well. He also sensed something different – as if there was a storm among the stars. It was not so terrible that he could not hear them, but it was never there before, as far as he knew. He opened up one of his books of maps and began to correlate the positions of the stars as marked on the map to those he sensed, adjusting from perceptual to visual positions, as any skilled navigator did.

  “Set our course for thirteen (13) primalurens south of east,” Captain Elidyr said.

  An older, rough and strong looking man named Halwyn was at the ship’s wheel, and he knew precisely what the captain meant. However, the two (2) young men – perhaps sixteen (16) years of age – at the cords that controlled the center sails did not. They looked at Captain Elidyr quizzically, and he saw this.

  Captain Elidyr was bloodthirsty, and had no regard for the rights of others to their hard-earned wealth. He considered the world to be a competitive and animalistic realm, and he was aiming to be a predator at the apex. He had no qualms about killing men or women and taking their platinum or gold coins, their cargo of any kind or even their children to be pressed into service. These, however, he raised as his own, knowing that he would need their help as he grew older. If they had seen too much of what he did to their parents, he would have killed them. But sufficiently young ones could be impressed and trained. Part of training – when they were ready to receive it – was in the compass.

  “If you’re ready to listen, I’ll tell you, just once. Learn it right, and you’re a good part of my crew. If you don’t pay attention, or you’re just too stupid to learn, you’re going to be working for yourselves, in the swimming business. So, listen carefully,” Elidyr said.

  Halwyn looked at the young men sternly, as if to tell them that Captain Elidyr meant it. He knew that Elidyr would do what he said – he traveled with the captain for the last nineteen (19) years, and he was forty-eight (48) now. Halwyn didn’t want to frighten the young men or distract them from learning by mentioning that Elidyr also had a tendency to cut off tongues and gouge out eyes so that none of those thrown overboard could ever mention his name or recognize him to testify against him. Halwyn had no discomfort about any of this, but he knew that fear wasn’t particularly helpful for learning, especially when dealing with numbers.

  “In a full circle, my boys – you do know what a circle is, or just jump overboard now, please. In a full circle, there are two hundred ten (210) primalurens. Then, there are hundred five (105) in a half turn and fifty-two point five (52.5) in a quarter turn,” Captain Elidyr said.

  Elidyr looked at the youths to see if their facial expression showed confusion. They seemed as if they understood so far. He wanted his crew to be useful to him, so he took out a blank page from one of his books and placed it on a wooden table on the ship’s deck. He took out a geometer’s compass and drew a large circle.

  “Take a look, now, boys,” Captain Elidyr said.

  The two young men approached, hesitantly but obediently.

  “The primalurens give proper divisions of the circle into halves (1/2) and thirds (1/3) and fifths (1/5) and sevenths (1/7),” Captain Elidyr said. He began drawing di
vision lines with a straight edge to illustrate this. Then, he marked the one half (1/2) line with the number one hundred ten (110) and he marked the one third (1/3) line with seventy (70).

  “Now, you try this one, boy. Show me that you understand,” Captain Elidyr said, pointing at the one fifth (1/5) line. “How many primalurens is that?” Elidyr asked the young man.

  The young man knew that he had to take the number two hundred ten (210) and divide it five (5) ways. He struggled a moment and came up with the answer, saying: “Forty-two (42).”

  “Right. You’re going to keep doing it, so you had better get faster at it,” Captain Elidyr said.

  Captain Elidyr then looked to the second young man and then pointed to the one seventh (1/7) line and asked “How many primalurens is that?”

  The second young man knew that he had to start with the number two hundred ten (210) and divide it seven (7) ways. He struggled and struggled but wasn’t sure.

  “Make a guess, boy. I’ll give you one (1) mistake, but no more,” Captain Elidyr said.

  The second young man panicked and said: “thirty-five (35).”

  “Wrong! That’s your one (1) mistake!” Captain Elidyr shouted.

  The second young man jumped back, terribly frightened.

  Captain Elidyr took out a jagged knife and asked the young man: “Do you know what you’re supposed to do? Don’t you know any math? Are you a real boy or just a dunce?”

  “I tried to break two hundred ten (210) into seven (7) parts,” the second young man said, stuttering and nervous, seeing as the knife was rather jagged and Captain Elidyr had killed before in his sight.

  “Good! That’s the right thing to do, with the right numbers! If you didn’t have that much, I’d say you were too dumb to keep breathing. You just need to do a little arithmetic, that’s all,” Captain Elidyr said.

  The second young man had a strained look on his face and struggled to perform the division in his head. He had logical thinking, but was never properly trained in arithmetic. He could add and subtract, and do a little multiplication. Division, however, was something he never had time for, as he had been raised on a farm where it wasn’t needed. He joined Captain Elidyr’s crew at age fifteen (15), hoping for better pay and lighter work. The work was harder, and he had no time to spend the better pay.

  Captain Elidyr watched the second young man, and twirled the hilt of the jagged knife in his fingers.

  The second young man watched, thinking of what might happen to him, and then considered a way out of the predicament. He started taking numbers and adding them up, seeing which could turn into two hundred ten (210) after adding seven (7) times. He had an answer, and then tried again and came up with the same answer, thinking it must be correct, and said: “thirty (30).”

  “You can live today, boy, but you’re going to have to be much faster, and not make any more mistakes,” Captain Elidyr said, putting away his dagger.

  Captain Elidyr then said: “These numbers are good. You can take those same fractions of each other. Then, you can quarters (1/4) of a circle and sixths (1/6) and tenths (1/10) and fourteenths (1/14) and ninths (1/9) and fifteenths (1/15) and twenty-firsts (1/21) and twenty-fifths (1/25) and thirty-fifths (1/35) and forty-ninths (1/49) of a circle, too. Many other combinations are possible, like forty-seconds (1/42). You know why? That’s a half (1/2) of a third (1/3) of a seventh (1/7). Practice your numbers if you want to understand.”

  Captain Elidyr had to know a fair amount of geometry in order to convert the perceptual information he received from the stars to visual information you could navigate by, especially since that was what the maps were marked with. He spared the second young man, despite the fact that he was a bit dense. The fact that he chose the right operation on the right numbers gave him hope – a failure of arithmetic could be accelerated with practice; a failure of basic logic was much more serious, and possibly not worth the effort.

  “Now, get to the sails, and control our course,” Captain Elidyr said.

  The young men returned to the cords that controlled the sails and Halwyn remained at the wheel to steer the ship. The wheel had the greatest impact on the ship’s bearing while the sail cords were for making slight fine adjustments. The first young man actually did the work with these, while the second young man watched and learned, fearing making another mistake.

  The lookout was a thirty-two (32) year old man named Bran who drank the waters of the Lujladia Ocean, which gave him light powers such that he had far sight. After a day of sailing, he could see an island at a distance far greater than the unaided eye could hope to see. “I see an island, seventy-three (73) miles directly ahead, captain,” Bran said.

  “Full sails!” Captain Elidyr shouted.

  The sail cords also had another function, where they had a far greater impact than fine adjustments to the bearing. They were also used to open the sails to catch the heat of the suns. The sails had many sailing stones embedded into their fabric, and the solar energy that they collected propelled them along at a greater speed. With all sails on all masts fully opened, in little over an hour, they reached the island.

  “Continue your watch, Bran, for any interlopers that might approach. This island and all on it are now mine, for the moment of glory and plunder,” Captain Elidyr said.

  “Stand ready at the wheel, Halwyn, that we may leave in haste,” Captain Elidyr then said to the man at the wheel.

  Captain Elidyr then looked to a strong man at his side and said: “Maldwyn, you are to come with me, and put an end to any opposition.”

  Maldwyn was a man of twenty-nine (29) years who drank of the Nabavodel Ocean waters. He was strong and swift because of them, and he was highly combat-trained with both sword and axe. He had been on the crew for five (5) years and had proven his worth many times over.

  Captain Elidyr then looked to an empty space at his other side and said: “Renfrew, you will be our cloak of darkness, so that none can see us coming.”

  Renfrew was a man of twenty-eight (28) years who drank of the Ikkith Tar Ocean waters. He was able to control the darkness because of them, and he extended an aura of darkness that was already around himself so that it surrounded Elidyr and Maldwyn, and they disappeared from the sight of the crew.

  The raiding party – Captain Elidyr, Maldwyn and Renfrew – made their way onto the island and ventured through its jungles.

  Captain Elidyr drank anew of the waters of the Atrejan Ocean from his vial and was energized again. He sensed the positions of the suns once more, and still sensed the storm above. Now, however, it was almost painful for him. Something was wrong in the sky, but he had no idea what it could be. Still, he knew where he was going, and he pointed the way.

  Maldwyn sliced through the vines with a finely balanced sword, but its blade was inferior to that of a machete for this purpose, so the going was slower than it would have been. He wielded the blade with great strength and speed, but things could have been better. Still, he cut through the vines much more quickly than someone who did not drink the Nabavodel waters.

  Renfrew made it possible for them to proceed without being seen, yet to see as the cloak of darkness he generated was directed against foes, not against their own eyes which would make it impossible for Maldwyn to see where to step and cut.

  After four (4) hours of this penetration, they found themselves at the base of an old, hexagonal stone pyramid with dozens of steps leading to the top. There were stone carvings of snakes and jaguars along sides of the steps, which were thirty (30) feet wide.

  “What is this place?” Renfrew asked.

  “The old name for this place is Vobarin Island. Many superstitious jungle people lived here in the past, and stored gold and platinum in pyramids like this,” Captain Elidyr said.

  “You’re saying that things have changed?” Renfrew asked.

  “Some say the place is haunted, and the ghosts scared away the primitive minds,” Captain Elidyr said.

  “What do you believe about it?” Re
nfrew asked.

  “Might be true. Might be false. A few ghost stories were enough to scare away most travelers, but that doesn’t make them real. Rumors spread, and the story changes in the telling. Everything I’ve read tells me there’s plenty of treasure here, and the fewer people who come here, the more there is for us,” Captain Elidyr said.

  “What do the snake and jaguar statues mean?” Maldwyn asked.

  “The primitives went to the temple at the top and worshipped the god of snakes and jaguars – Havatissa, they called him,” Captain Elidyr said.

  “They were afraid of ghosts, but they believed this junk was real and came here to worship it?” Maldwyn asked, surprised.

  “You’re trying to understand primitive minds, that believe without proof,” Captain Elidyr said.

  “Is any of that stuff real?” Maldwyn asked.

  “Is an echo real? Of course it’s real! So are ghosts. But they don’t mean much. Ghosts are just left over energy when a person’s body dies. Soon, it runs out and the ghost disappears, just like an echo fades away. These religious beliefs are a search for answers, and their silly minds can invent any sort of religion with animals or trees or anything else as their gods, to help them understand the frightening things beyond their understanding, like ghosts and death,” Captain Elidyr said.

  “What is after death?” Maldwyn asked.

  “For the dead, nothing,” Captain Elidyr said.

  “That’s scarier than either snakes or jaguars,” Maldwyn said.

  “Are you a man or a boy? Don’t be afraid of death. Just live your life, and enjoy it. We’re here for riches, and you can spend them in the next port. Then, you can forget all your fears when you spend it on the rum, and the ‘friendly’ service,” Captain Elidyr said.

  Maldwyn thought of how he enjoyed himself at some of the ports – the sleazy holes where pirates were the paying customers – and looked forward to his next friendly visit.

  “Enough of this talk of fear. Follow me,” Captain Elidyr said.

  The trio walked up the steps, with Captain Elidyr in the lead.